Mike Dragon

Anyone having issues with picking a load from WoT? Nothing that I pick gets synced, even on singleplayer. It just sits on  "Syncing your progress" for as long as I let it. If I cancel it, WoT loses connection. :\ I still couldn't do a single event delivery because of it.

I was wondering if any tech savvy forum users could help explain my recent... anomaly? idk.

So long story short my headphones broke. I found an old cheap pair from about 2014 sitting in my drawer completely un opened!
and apart from the fact that they're cheap as h**l, they have a weird sound to them. Pretty much they don't play back any voice sounds. Let me explain.
Say I'm watching a video of someone playing a game, I'll hear all the sounds of the game just fine, but can not hear the people at all.
Or if I'm listening to music, I can hear the music just fine but can not hear the vocals at all! This happens on every video I watch regardless of what it is. Its pretty cool actually since occasionally there will be a song/video that I can just hear the vocals in, but they're played back in such a way that it sounds like they're being played inside a house really loud and I'm outside hearing a muffled version of it.

These are obviously not a long term fix for having a proper set of headphones but I don't thi I'll ever get rid of them just because of the incredible experience you get pretty much hearing any song without its vocals.

So does anyone have the slightest clue as to whats causing this?

I don't know what to say about this video... Thought of making some joke but... Eeehh, just watch it!

I'm seeing people freaking out because of the launcher and the servers but in the meantime I am like:

How can we have a Christmas convoy without snow? I want to see snowmen xD

I saw a Gift trailer. How do I get it?   There was a ribbon in the middle.

I was wondering if any tech savvy forum users could help explain my recent... anomaly? idk.

So long story short my headphones broke. I found an old cheap pair from about 2014 sitting in my drawer completely un opened!
and apart from the fact that they're cheap as h**l, they have a weird sound to them. Pretty much they don't play back any voice sounds. Let me explain.
Say I'm watching a video of someone playing a game, I'll hear all the sounds of the game just fine, but can not hear the people at all.
Or if I'm listening to music, I can hear the music just fine but can not hear the vocals at all! This happens on every video I watch regardless of what it is. Its pretty cool actually since occasionally there will be a song/video that I can just hear the vocals in, but they're played back in such a way that it sounds like they're being played inside a house really loud and I'm outside hearing a muffled version of it.

These are obviously not a long term fix for having a proper set of headphones but I don't thi I'll ever get rid of them just because of the incredible experience you get pretty much hearing any song without its vocals.

So does anyone have the slightest clue as to whats causing this?

Remember this old MSN Messenger emoticon? ---> 

Well, because I can, I turned into a vector.

Original size:

Enjoy!

Still about that Pentium 4 system I have spent the past few days playing with... (https://forum.truckersmp.com/index.php?/profile/666-mike-dragon/&status=114783&type=status)

I can now finally say I am done playing with my "new toy". I've setup Windows 2000 Professional on it as if I was preparing the PC for my own daily use and I had fun doing it. I had fun seeing the things I expected to work, working, I had fun troubleshooting what didn't, I had fun figuring out the ethernet driver, the anti virus and I even installed Photoshop on it and spent part of the Sunday making a wallpaper for Windows 2000. And yeah, I did make the wallpaper on Windows 2000 on that Pentium 4! 

Though as I said, I have finished "playing" with this system for the time being. I'd like to build it into a case and have it ready for regular use but I lack the space in my house to install yet another computer (I already have three in my bedroom and I can only have two of them on at the same time) so since all the parts are working well and I have decided not to build it into a complete PC as of now, I have separated the parts and put them in boxes of their own then put these boxes together into a bag and put them away somewhere safe. But before I took it all apart and stored them, however, I installed a floppy drive I had stored for years. I didn't remember if it was working so it was also a good chance to get it tested. I have a lot of floppy disks around so find a few to test was no trouble. And gladly, the drive works perfectly well!  So I set it to be stored with the other parts. All this system needs to be a usable PC is a case and power supply of its own.

Oh, and here's the wallpaper I made:

You know... it is a old system and it is quite outdated but this has been a fun project to play with and I am happy that everything in it works like new. This would have been a great system back in the day for the specs it has:

- Gigabyte GA-VM800PMC

- 2x 512 MB of DDR2 RAM

- 256MB ATI Radeon 9250

- 80 GB hard drive

- DVD RW drive

- Floppy disk drive

- Windows 2000 Professional

It ran everything I've thrown at it (I've used software that the OS and hardware is capable of running, of course. You can't install and run the latest Google Chrome or the newest Forza Horizon on Windows 2000 with a 256 MB Radeon 9250, for example) and didn't crash or showed slowdowns not even once. And what's the coolest is that Windows 2000, once fully updated, can still be used as a "daily driver" OS, even today. As such, in a pinch, I could use this computer for some more basic tasks every day if I wanted to. It browses the web, it is protected by Avast! and I can type Word documents as well as watch videos and listen to music on Windows Media player and even watch DVDs. I've always liked Windows 2000. Too bad I never actually used it back in the day, when it was fully supported by everything.  Such a good OS!

Today's GCEE convoy, 96 trucks! 

Photos by:

@LUIG and @Samito_BG

Remember that Pentium 4 system I put up together a couple days ago and have been toying with since then? (https://forum.truckersmp.com/index.php?/profile/666-mike-dragon/&status=114499&type=status) I've given it 2 sticks of 512 MB DDR2 RAM (originally I had installed a 2GB stick and then two 1GB sticks, but the motherboard supports only up to DDR2 555 and those were 667, so the slots were only reading half of their capacity), a  256MB ATI Radeon 9250, replaced the defective hard drive by another one that I am sure is fine (40GB), figured out the ethernet driver, installed Windows 2000 on it and after many tests and old games (Need for Speed III Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2, King of the Road, Buzz Lightyear of the Star Command and a couple others) and I can safely say the system works like a charm! It runs smoothly and it's quite snappy for what it is.

I even installed UltraVNC for remote access!

If only I could get my hands on a small case, I could build this into it and have a new computer. lol This system can actually be used as a retro gaming PC. Might just need a few tweaks here and there.

If you remove a cup from the cup holder, does that make you the cup holder?

If you look after chickens, does that make you a chicken tender?

Traffic thoughts...

Check out what I am playing with, right now:

So, context: I got bored.

But seriously... besides feeling a little bored, I have a few motherboard and processors stored in a box and I've been wanting to test them out for a long while. These are parts that were either defective or just too old to still be used for work. These belonged to some of my clients and were discarded for those reasons I just mentioned and I've been hoarding them. Like I said, some of this stuff (I'm talking about the motherboards, now) work like new so throw them away would be a waste. On top of that, I've been wanting to toy around with a Pentium 4 system and Windows 2000 for a while (I also really want to actually build a high-end Pentium III system for myself) so upon finding this Gigabyte GA-VM800PMC motherboard in a box in apparently mint condition, I decided to take it out and test it.

After looking it up online to learn about its specs, processor and RAM support, I sourced a Pentium 4 SL96H clocked at 3.60GHz and a 2GB DDR2 RAM stick from my stashes and put them on the board. Thankfully I also had a Pentium 4 cooler somewhere so I used that. After some cleaning of the RAM, the board beeped, indicating that it, the processor and RAM are alive!  I also have a couple IDE hard drives as well as a IDE DVD drive lying around that I've been meaning to test for a long time, so I figured this would also be the perfect opportunity to test them out, so I hooked them up to the motherboard. Since this board supports Windows 2000, I am using that.  :3 Though I think the hard drive I chose for this test (A 250GB Samsung) is defective. It's making a few odd noises and Windows is taking an awful long time to install.  Well, whatever. I am testing, after all! I'm not done yet, though. Still got some fun ahead of me with this system. :3

I still want a Pentium III IBM Thinkpad, designed for Windows 2000, though.

UPDATE: The hard drive is indeed defective. Got slower and slower until errors finally popped up. The drive was literally burning hot! lol Put in a 40 GB one to find out if that one is also defective or not. I should buy myself a IDE-compatible dock station for testing these drives.

Check out what I am playing with, right now:

So, context: I got bored.

But seriously... besides feeling a little bored, I have a few motherboard and processors stored in a box and I've been wanting to test them out for a long while. These are parts that were either defective or just too old to still be used for work. These belonged to some of my clients and were discarded for those reasons I just mentioned and I've been hoarding them. Like I said, some of this stuff (I'm talking about the motherboards, now) work like new so throw them away would be a waste. On top of that, I've been wanting to toy around with a Pentium 4 system and Windows 2000 for a while (I also really want to actually build a high-end Pentium III system for myself) so upon finding this Gigabyte GA-VM800PMC motherboard in a box in apparently mint condition, I decided to take it out and test it.

After looking it up online to learn about its specs, processor and RAM support, I sourced a Pentium 4 SL96H clocked at 3.60GHz and a 2GB DDR2 RAM stick from my stashes and put them on the board. Thankfully I also had a Pentium 4 cooler somewhere so I used that. After some cleaning of the RAM, the board beeped, indicating that it, the processor and RAM are alive!  I also have a couple IDE hard drives as well as a IDE DVD drive lying around that I've been meaning to test for a long time, so I figured this would also be the perfect opportunity to test them out, so I hooked them up to the motherboard. Since this board supports Windows 2000, I am using that.  :3 Though I think the hard drive I chose for this test (A 250GB Samsung) is defective. It's making a few odd noises and Windows is taking an awful long time to install.  Well, whatever. I am testing, after all! I'm not done yet, though. Still got some fun ahead of me with this system. :3

I still want a Pentium III IBM Thinkpad, designed for Windows 2000, though.

UPDATE: The hard drive is indeed defective. Got slower and slower until errors finally popped up. The drive was literally burning hot! lol Put in a 40 GB one to find out if that one is also defective or not. I should buy myself a IDE-compatible dock station for testing these drives.

For some reason I really want a Pentium III IBM Thinkpad laptop, one that was designed to run Windows 2000.

Quick! Watch this before Monday strikes!

lol what 

Quick! Watch this before Monday strikes!

It's time to put away my Scania, take out the Renault and change the paintjob of my Pete. December first is here.

So, for context, I posted this on Tuesday: https://forum.truckersmp.com/index.php?/profile/666-mike-dragon/&status=113297&type=status

Now that you have context, on to the post of now:

I've managed to separate enough time today to dedicate to my PC and I have finally transferred all the hardware into the new case.  Took me about four hours to take it apart and rebuild into the new case, manage the cables, reorganize the desk (this case requires more space), the cables on the back and as a bonus, I installed a internal card reader on my second PC and lastly, put away the old case (I'm keeping it) and cleaned everything up on the table I used to work. My back is killing me, but it was worth it.

https://prnt.sc/loimxw

only a few hours left...

The new case I ordered has arrived earlier today!  

I am not changing computers, only the case. My current case is fine but it is no longer suitable for the hardware I have. It was perfect for what I had when I built is, years ago, but as I upgraded, it "became" small for the hardware. As such, there is very little space inside and given the fact that I have FOUR hard drives plus a GTX 1060 and a Core i5 with a stock cooler (a cooler upgrade is next in my upgrades list, btw) plus a 600W Corsair PSU, the heat it all generates inside of a case that has poor air circulation has been a problem. So for that reason (and internal space), I bought this new case which is larger and has a far superior internal air flow. For reference, the case below is what hosts my PC, currently:

Definitely not a good case for the hardware I have, currently.  I like it, though. But I do need to replace it.

http://prntscr.com/lo632z

soonTM 

Realy looking forward to play this and driving out my scania or as @Mike Dragon would call it "christmas truck" 

The new case I ordered has arrived earlier today!  

I am not changing computers, only the case. My current case is fine but it is no longer suitable for the hardware I have. It was perfect for what I had when I built is, years ago, but as I upgraded, it "became" small for the hardware. As such, there is very little space inside and given the fact that I have FOUR hard drives plus a GTX 1060 and a Core i5 with a stock cooler (a cooler upgrade is next in my upgrades list, btw) plus a 600W Corsair PSU, the heat it all generates inside of a case that has poor air circulation has been a problem. So for that reason (and internal space), I bought this new case which is larger and has a far superior internal air flow. For reference, the case below is what hosts my PC, currently:

Definitely not a good case for the hardware I have, currently.  I like it, though. But I do need to replace it.

The new case I ordered has arrived earlier today!  

I am not changing computers, only the case. My current case is fine but it is no longer suitable for the hardware I have. It was perfect for what I had when I built is, years ago, but as I upgraded, it "became" small for the hardware. As such, there is very little space inside and given the fact that I have FOUR hard drives plus a GTX 1060 and a Core i5 with a stock cooler (a cooler upgrade is next in my upgrades list, btw) plus a 600W Corsair PSU, the heat it all generates inside of a case that has poor air circulation has been a problem. So for that reason (and internal space), I bought this new case which is larger and has a far superior internal air flow. For reference, the case below is what hosts my PC, currently:

Definitely not a good case for the hardware I have, currently.  I like it, though. But I do need to replace it.