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The Very Basics of Not Killing Your Computer

AVOID HEAT STRESS

If you have a laptop DO NOT use it on a soft surface like a pillow or on a blanket, it’ll block the vents on your computer and make it get really fucking hot inside.

If you have a desktop you gotta open it up and blow out the dust sometimes.

If you are moving your laptop in a bag turn the laptop off. Don’t put it to sleep, don’t just shut the screen, turn it off, because otherwise it’s in the bag generating heat and there’s nowhere for the heat to go in the bag. OFF. Not sleep. OFF.

DO NOT DROP

Okay I know that should be obvious but drop damage to your hard drive is bad bad news. Be as careful as you can to set your computer gently on flat surfaces; don’t leave it hanging out on a bed where it can get knocked off, don’t set it on the roof of your car. And yes, just dropping it a couple inches can kill your hard drive or totally shatter your screen.

DON’T PUT SHIT ON YOUR KEYBOARD

Look I’ve seen four people ruin their laptops because they had a pen on the keyboard and closed the laptop and it fucked up the screen and the keyboard and it sucks so much and you feel awful after it happens because it’s so avoidable just don’t put things on your keyboard and always check that your laptop is clear before you close it.

PROTECT YOUR PORTS ON YOUR LAPTOP

You’ve only got one power jack and a limited number of other inputs on your computer and if they detach from the motherboard you’re fucked. USB ports get damaged because people use them a lot and eventually it weakens the connection and then they just stop working and it sucks. You can get around this with USB ports by using a USB hub to connect things like your keyboard and mouse.

For your power plug you just gotta be careful. Avoid tripping over the cord at all costs, don’t yank the plug out of the computer. It will SUCK VERY MUCH A LOT if you have to buy a new computer because the power port lost contact with the motherboard.

Don’t move your computer with things plugged into it. Take the power cord off before you put your laptop in the bag, take out the USB mouse dongle, do not travel with little nubby bits sticking out of your computer that can easily get caught or get tweaked or snap off inside of the thing.

(I really can’t emphasize enough that most of the “it will cost more than it’s worth to fix this” laptops I see are because of USB ports and power jacks. People don’t seem to know that this isn’t something that can be fixed easily; a broken power jack is a “remove the motherboard and resoldier components” job, not a “plug a new one in in fifteen minutes” job and most computer repair shops aren’t going to solder things for you and if they DO it’s going to be very expensive)

RESTART YOUR SHIT AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH AND JUST LET THE FUCKING UPDATES RUN

You should probably restart more than once a month but whatever. This is actually something that I consider part of reducing heat stress because when your processor is straining to keep up with all the background bullshit that’s running from a program you opened three weeks ago it’s going to use up resources and get hot and look just restart it once in a while.

Also the updates are almost always okay and safe and generally running updates is a good and secure thing to do (though maybe follow a blog dedicated to the OS you run because if there IS a problem with the updates that blog will probably talk about it before the update gets forced on your computer)

ANTIVIRUS BULLSHIT

Yes you should probably be running an antivirus.

Sophos is free and it’s fine. But don’t pay for it - if you’re using Sophos use the free version.

If you’re looking for something paid and a little more comprehensive I recommend ESET - get the cheap version, renewals cost less than the initial purchase, and feel free to get a multi-year version, the credentials follow your email not the computer so if your computer dies before your license expires you can install the license on a new computer.

DO NOT INSTALL NORTON OR MCAFEE THEY ARE EXPENSIVE BULLSHIT. Kaspersky is whatever. It’s less bullshit than Norton or McAfee but not as good as ESET for about the same cost.

If you think you’ve got a virus run the free version of Malwarebytes and get your shit cleaned.

KEEP LIQUIDS THE FUCK AWAY FROM YOUR COMPUTER

Again this should be obvious and yet. But seriously, just make a rule for yourself that drinks aren’t allowed on the same table as your computer and you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches.

PLUG YOUR COMPUTER INTO A UPS

Okay I fucking hate amazon but here’s a thing you should be using, just search the rest of the internet for “surge protector/UPS” and you’ll find something that isn’t from amazon - APC is a solid brand for this.

Basically you want a fat surge protector that has a little bit of a battery backup and you want to plug your computer (desktop OR laptop) into that instead of into the wall. The benefit of this is twofold:

1) if there’s a power surge the UPS will prevent your computer’s power supply from getting fried and possibly frying parts of your motherboard

2) if there’s a power outage and you’re *at* your computer you’ll have enough time to save what you’re working on before your computer loses power (like, you’ll maybe only have a minute or two on a small UPS but that’s still time to hit CTRL+S and keep from losing work)

At a bare, bare minimum your computer should be plugged into a surge protector but NOT directly into the wall.

BACK YOUR SHIT UP

[we interrupt this yelling for me to tell you that Western Digital has apparently released their new My Passport line and I’m obligated to inform you that you can get a 2.5″ USB 3.0 backup drive with FIVE FUCKING TERABYTES OF STORAGE for $130. Or you can get 4TB for $93. Or you can get 1TB for $53. basically what I’m saying is that it is not only cheap computer season it is also cheap hard drive season.]

[also if you’re getting a backup drive get western digital not seagate seagate fucking sucks and has a much higher failure rate]

Uh, okay, anyway - Do an image backup of your computer every once in a while so that if you get infected or your hard drive dies or whatever you can just restore from backup and move on like nothing happened.

HERE’S HOW TO DO AN IMAGE BACKUP.

SAVE YOURSELF THE WEAR AND TEAR

You know what is cheap? USB Keyboards and USB mice. You know what is not cheap? Fixing the touchpad on a laptop or replacing a laptop keyboard.

Get yourself a USB hub, a USB Keyboard and a USB Mouse (wired or wireless, doesn’t matter) and if you’re using your laptop at home plug *that* into your computer.

Also if your keyboard on your laptop breaks it’s fine just to use a USB keyboard instead I promise; if the screen breaks it’s also usually cheaper and easier to get a used or inexpensive monitor than it is to replace the screen. Your laptop is basically just a very small version of whatever bullshit is going on inside a desktop, if the peripherals break but the core components are fine you can just use it like a desktop.

Unless it’s a piece of shit that doesn’t have any USB ports or video out in which case you got ripped off, friend, demand functionality in your devices I’m sorry.

/rant

AUGUST-DECEMBER 2021 MANIFESTO FOR MY LIFE

it’s time, now, for something different. it’s time for orange-pink tulips, embracing curls and waves in your hair, fey mischievous laughter echoing in your mind long after the joke is done with, cartoonish margin-drawings of chubby tinsel-foil stars hanging radiant over the dome of the world, soft jazz barely heard over the murmur of evening voices, keeping a diary written in heart-blood in black-inked words, listening to the melody and rapture of chaos till it becomes harmless and loses its edge, flinching at what terrifies yet still moving forward and doing what is necessary, keeping pain private and keeping joy occasionally expressed, surprising good friends with warm gifts, tolerating emptiness without losing sight of what matters by remembering what fullness is when you have it, working every day at the right things without downplaying how much of a struggle they are, no longer martyring yourself for the betterment of the world but making yourself an immovable part of it much like the stones and trees, fondly referring to god as a distant loved one you still dream of every now and then, picking up the pieces, resuming the task you have set yourself—to live right, live nobly—once more, and letting love back into your life.

hearts of darkness (1991) dir. eleanor coppola, george hickenlooper, fax bahr

tw

How do you cope with seasonal depression

i moved to california

but before that: 

therapy and medication management (always good ideas). 

lots of socks/hoodies/blankets + anything to maximize coziness and improve sensory wellbeing. seriously, buy a super soft blanket.

asmr videos

special attention to sleep schedule to maximize daylight. 

spent time researching tropical places/playing theoretical beach vacations. digital tropical wallpaper, followed photo-heavy blogs featuring things like travel, flowers, sun, etc, anything to change my mental landscape

cultivated soothing rituals. this can be anything (e.g. lots of people like tea). i personally loved taking long hot showers

big one: kept my room clean and inviting. when the outdoors becomes uncomfortable, it’s extra important to make your indoor environment as welcoming as possible.

made a list of favorite shows/movies/comics/books/etc, stuff i’d seen a dozen times before. when worse came to worse, forced myself to choose something to watch/read. really helped distract me through the bad patches.

force-fed self mellow-but-upbeat soundtracks. the music we listen to has a big effect

found exercises i could do easily indoors for 5-15 min at a time (it turns a few minutes of push-ups here and there are way more doable for me than say, jogging or getting to the gym). also a good way to keep my toes warm during winter.

feel free to add!

mayhaps self mythologising is okay to a small extent if you’re in control of the tint you’re applying to your life and can easily remove it and look at yourself clearly when needed. i have a friend who graduated with pink roses on her graduation cap and makes her love of roses so evident in all she does and she makes the world reflect her interests and she’s immensely clever and still teaches her students with a pink laptop full of sailor moon stickers. i admire and adore her and Know she carries her specific aesthetic immaculately (which might also have to do with her being a libra, hehe.) but she’s one example of other people i know, too, who know what they like and enjoy it instead of being self conscious and culling their interestingness to fit in—which is what i sometimes do. and I won’t do it anymore. I’ll enjoy what i enjoy; polish it till it gleams. not to be confused with grandiosity—but with living with care enough to know what i like and consciously make it larger in my life.

Deepika Padukone, Piku (2015)

manifesting my dreams. 

🦄💥✨🐬🌙🔮

they’ve come true.

like to charge

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