And here I though I was going to get the last laugh

HA! I should have known better. This is a continuation, for the lack of a better word, of my clash with the GeForce 8800GTX.

"So, what happened?" you ask. Windows wanted me to reactivate, after changing just the graphics card. And Microsoft claims it isn't so sensitive to hardware changes. Of to activating it then. Won't work: "Your product key is already in use" it tells me. What? Yeah, well I'm using it. Lets just try to enter it all over again. Nope, still won't accept it. Phone activation, here I come. After navigating through the automated system it asks me for an installation ID. Just one problem: My installation ID field is empty. Right about now Windows Update tells me it needs to restart the computer.

After the restart I figure I might try to activate it again. Product key is still in use. But now I have a installation ID. I call the automated system again. It won't accept my installation ID. Arrgh! Now it connects me to a real life person. He is so quiet I can barely hear him. After explaining my problems to him, he puts me back on the automated system, which read up a number for me to enter. It is quick about it, really putting my numpad skills through their paces. At least it accepts the number and I get Windows activated once again.

I must say this was way too many hops to jump through just to get Windows to accept that I upgraded my graphics card. Now I'm waiting on what will be The Revenge of the Graphics Card.

Mr Alpha VS GeForce 8800GTX

I actually treated myself to a 8800GTX. Getting it installed turned into a bloody clash of titans.

I was worried that it wouldn't fit in my Antec P180 case. The card is huge; 27.9 cm to be exact. Taking it out of the box the first time was an awe inspiring experience. Turns out if fits! Had to reroute some cable, but it fit. Barely.

Seeing this as an good omen I shut down the computer. Then I remembered I might want to uninstall the old drivers first to make this switch as painless as possible. So I booted the machine back up, and it gave me a black screen instead of the welcome screen. Telling myself it was just a bad mistake I restart the computer hoping for everything to start as it should. No such luck. Restart again, this time to safe mode. In safe mode I uninstall the graphics drivers. Lo and behold, the machine now booted properly.

With that heart wrenching moment out of the way I set myself to mounting the new graphics card in the case. It won't fit! But it just did and I can't figure out what is wrong now. After some head-into-wall-pounding, world-in-general-cursing and other standard troubleshooting techniques I noticed that my northbridge heatsink was in the way. The motherboard (ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe) orginally came with a deceptively small, but loud fan, which I had replaced with a Zalman northbridge heatsink. Some of the northbridge pins got in the way of the 8800GTX HSF. When I first checked the fit I hadn't actually tried to mount the card.

"I can fix this, I can fix this", I kept telling myself. If I break of a few pins and bend away a few others this should work. Just to prove the world was against me the northbridge heatsink was attached with plastic clips you had to remove the motherboard to get to. I wasn't going to let that stop me. Digging up some tools of destruction from my toolbox I set about doing some open computer surgery. I do not recommend trying to rip things loose from a heatsink while it is still mounted in the computer. You can easily damage the motherboard. But I have never been good at heading my own advice, so I set about demolishing the heatsink while it still was mounted. Partially destroyed heatsinks can be really sharp, let me tell you. Soon I was bleeding all over the place. Band-aid to the rescue!

When I had gotten the card into the computer it was time to boot up. Everything worked fine. (Had you there for a sec, didn't I?) Of to nVIDIA's site to get the latest drivers. After a few more reboots I was of to play System Shock 2.

Joost Invites

Nice! Seems the Joost team delivered on their promise of unlimited invites for I now have 999 invites.

The Socratic Paradox

Socrates claims to have no knowledge. This has traditionally been seen as a dialogue tactic, and that he isn't serious. It has even become known as Socratic irony.

Problem is that it isn't really consistent with what he actually says. As an famous example when Chaerephon asked the Oracle at Delphi: "Is there anyone wiser than Socrates?", and the oracle answered, "No". About this Socrates says: "When I heard this I kept thinking: 'What on earth does the god mean? What is he hinting at? For I am aware of being wise in nothing, great or small. What then could he mean by saying that I am wise?'". This is far from the only place where Socrates clearly denies any knowledge. One of his main rules of elenctic dialogue is to say what you believe.

So, Socrates really didn't have any knowledge, where's the paradox? For a guy claiming to have no knowledge he sure says he knows a lot: ". . . but that to do injustice and I know to be evil and disobey my superior, god or man, this base" and "I know well that if you will agree with me on those things which my soul believes, those things will be the very truth".

Can't make it too easy now, can he? Clearly stating that he knows nothing and the turning around five minutes later and claiming to know important ethical truths. For somebody who had spent his life digging through the statements of others it seems unlikely that he isn't aware of the contradiction he said.

He claims to know what makes life worth living, and then gives us a riddle.