No sound with RealTek ALC892

Posted on 10 June 2011 by isaac

Every now and then my computer’s sound dies and my speakers only produce pops and clicks. I have a Biostar TA880GB+ motherboard with a RealTek ALC892 sound chip. I assumed the fault was with the driver and went on a quest to reinstall all of the audio-related stuff in my Fedora 15 install. Sadly, after much driver reinstalling and audio reconfiguring the speakers were still only emitting pops and clicks. I finally tried powering down the computer (who ever does that?) and now it works. I had rebooted several times – for some reason the system needed to be powered down completely.

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Alaska 2011

Posted on 06 June 2011 by isaac

I caught some fish and stuff!

King Salmon and I Eagle on a tank Just a gull Overseas Martinez Salmon face Bow Local kitty. TARDIS sighting

We spotted the TARDIS along the road to K-Bay Caffe in Homer.

Shells Pink throne Moss Maybe a car? Truck

The major sights of Sterling, Alaska.

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Vivitar 135/3.5

Posted on 18 May 2011 by isaac

Nice aperture blades Vivitar 135/2.8

I got this manual focus m42 screw-mount lens a little more than a year ago at Hampden Junque in Baltimore. Overall it’s a pretty nice lens. It’s compact, shorter than my Super Takumar 135/3.5 but a little fatter. It’s got lots of aperture blades so it produces the bubble-shaped bokeh blobs that I like. The 2.8 widest aperture is fairly fast for low-light shots and easier focusing, and it’s pretty sharp wide open. It even has a built-in sliding lens hood, much better than the screw-on hood on the Super Takumar.

Sadly, I don’t use it much because my 50/1.4 works well for me most of the time. So, the Vivitar 135 mostly gets used around the house to take candid pictures of cats.

Resting

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2011 cherry blossoms

Posted on 21 April 2011 by isaac

There are still a few blooming cherry trees out there – such as the huge one threatening our power and internet lines – but most of them are now done for the year. Oliver and I found plenty of blossoms down at the tidal basin in DC and over at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. My favorite is probably the one of the path and benches – the blossoms look like a light dusting of snow.

Floating blossoms Washington Monument and blossoms Helicopter and blossoms Benches and blossoms More pink blossoms Pink blossoms Blossoms in the sun A few blossoms Bunch of blossoms

See you next year!

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Cooper River Bridge Stroll

Posted on 04 April 2011 by isaac

We had a lot of fun walking the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston with Oliver last weekend. To give you some idea of our pace, a 90-year-old crossed the finish line a little before us.

On the bridge Bridge in sight Bridge supports Walkers on the bridge.

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