Writing Phases to Avoid

Some readers might take issue with this list, but noting that sayings such as “true that” and “it’s like boiling the ocean” help people relate to one another and are helpful rather than annoying. You can’t please everyone, and the list below is an objective, unedited listing with further user-generated venting in parentheses. Please chime in if I've missed something.

• Don’t take this the wrong way/personally …
• Incentivize
• Ideate
• “Out-of-the-box thinking”
• “If you will”
• Arrrrrrggggggg!
• Open the kimono (creepy)
• Drink the Kool-Aid
• Move the needle
• Let’s talk offline
• Boil the ocean
• Awesome
• Ramp up. Tee up. Synch up. (Throw up.)
• Push back
• Thought starter
• Scalable
• Factoids
• Synergy
• Run it up the flagpole and see how it flies.
• Skin in the game
• Ping
• “Circle back” (Which means to bring your Conestoga wagon back into a circle.)
• Thought leadership
• “True that.”
• “With all due respect…” (Hearing that phrase, buckle-up: The words that follow will certainly bear no relation to “respect” or any recognized synonym.)
• “At any rate:” (It is so seldom used in connection with a literal rate of any sort.)
• “Game on.”
• Winning
• “To make a long story short” (already makes your story six words longer.)
• Meh (Thank you for your in-depth contribution to the conversation that really helps us solve the problem. Now, please, get back to your texting.)
• “I don’t hate that idea.” (Otherwise known as “let’s think about that more.”)
• “We want to be in high-profile media” (…said everyone on earth that wants to be in any media.)
• “How should we spin this?”
• “We need to be strategic.” (“Strategy” and “strategic” are so overused; no one explains what they mean by this, what the plan of action is or the tactics we’ll use to achieve the goal.)
• “Let’s take a step back.” (It’s an early indicator that you are dealing with a conservative organization where innovation is outside their comfort zone.)
• “Let’s not re-invent the wheel…”
• “Value proposition”
• “Let’s get out in front of it…”
• “Where the rubber meets the road…”
• Game time
• Irregardless
• Anyways
• Frankly …
• Honestly …
• “It is what it is.”
• “I personally feel.”
• “You need to be more passionate.” (You can’t make people feel passionate)
• The word “social” as a noun, as in, “Acme does social really well.” (Being social means having friends, not selling product.)
• “I’m passionate about _________.” (Really? Well lucky you. Guess what? I work for a living! )
• “I’m a ____________ junkie.” (Since when is addiction a virtue?)
• “I’m just doing what I’m doing.” (Redundancy will be the death of me.)
• “We need to own social media.” (Um, the public owns social media. What you really mean is you need to tie your social media efforts to a bottom line, be it financial, social good or reputation.)
• Curation
• News-jacking
• When young people say “Well in the old days…” (Really? You’ve been around for 20-something years. The “old days” for you consisted of an era before social networking boomed and boy bands were the hot topic.)
• Win-win
• Net-net
• “Put on your big girl panties.”
• I also think way too many trains have left the station and never mind how many people have been thrown under the bus.
• Utilizing
• “Transparency” (Those who use this term are anything but transparent.)
• “Balls to the walls
• Guru
• “Hit the ground running”
• “Going forward” (Meaning “from now on” as if you could also dictate past behavior)
• “No offense” (Which means “I am about to offend you.”)
• “I’m confused” (Which means “You’re confused and I am going to set you straight.”)
• Ideation
• Bandwidth
• Hard stop
• “Let’s flesh/flush this out.” I’ve heard it both ways, and both make me cringe.
• “Perfect!” (Used in response to a question answered, such as “Would you like to see the wine list?”)
• “We have a horse in this race.” (Less painful than one’s own skin the game, but same principle.)
• “Under the radar” (I understand the need for stealth at times, but it can cause mid-air collision?)
• “We will be ramping up soon, so be ready!”
• Kill two birds with one stone (poor birds)
• Self-starter
• 24/7
• Bada-bing!
• Leverage
• Give 110% (What is wrong with your math?)
• My bad
• “In the weeds.”  .”

Building Your Own PC Part Six

I apologize to my readers for the delay. technical problems at home


Hard Drive Optical Drive and (Optional Card Reader)


Hard Drive

I suggested a Western Digital 500 Gig Hard Drive (HDD) to start. You can purchase any size you like. In the In Win case you will find two places to mount your HDD. One place is the in the lower 3.5 inch bay below where a (Not used any more) 3.5" floppy drive would have gone. (Optional Card reader goes in there. A better place is the bracket provided on the inside, just behind the power button. You will find tabs made to mount the HDD. On the lower side two tabs with points fit into the screw holes on the HDD. The upper tabs have holes for you mounting screws. With the front of the case facing you, the drive mounts with power and data connections facing the right. Connect the power cable to the drive. Your motherboard should have come with two SATA data cables. Open the plastic bag and remove them. Take one cable and attach it tie the drive. If the cable comes with a a 90 degree end, use this on the HDD. Next match the holes to the points on the lower mount. Tilt the drive into place and lock it down with two mounting screws.

Optical Drive

Your DVD or DVDRW (Or both) do not require any screws to mount. Remove the plastic bay cover from the computer. Pull out the plastic posts on the inside of the case. I usually mount the first drive in the top bay. Your choice. Next slide your optical drive into place and press the posts in to lock the drove in the bay. After your done this try sliding the drive to make sure it is locked into place. Next connect a SATA power connector to the drive. Take the SATA data cable and connect it to the drive.  Again if you have a 90 degree end connect this to the optical drive.

Locate the SATA connectors on the motherboard. They are located near front of the board. These are small red oblong sockets with 'L' shaped tabs in the center. These slots line up with the slot in your SATA data cables check your manual to locate slot 1 & 2. Connect the HDD to slot one and the Optical drive to slot 2.

Optional Card Reader

In place of the old floppy drive many people are opting for a digital card reader. These readers are capable of reading a number of Digital cards and are handy for transferring pictures from you digital camera or digital files of any kind. The card reader fit in a 3.5" bay (I use the top bay) and connects to the second USB connector on the motherboard. The reader takes its power from the USB, so no additional power connectors are required.


Optional Video Card

If you've decided to install an optional video card, now is the time. Unpack the card and remove it from the anti-static bag. At the back of the case press the release clamp and rotate the clamp up. Insert the card in the PCIE slot, making sure the rear tab locks. Insert a screw and tighten. lower the clamp.

With these things done we are ready to install the operating system.

Build You Own PC Part Five

The In Win Case has raised, threaded screw receptors in the base. Open the bag of screw and ID the screw needed. Eight are required to anchor the motherboard.

Before you place the motherboard in the case, Let's ID the different power hook ups. At the front of the motherboard is the 24 pin main power connector. This one is easy to spot. Next find the CPU power. This is a 4 pin connector. It has black and yellow wires running to it. On some power  supplies this connector has 8 pins and connector can be split, for use on this board. The 8 pin plug is used larger ATX model motherboards.

If you're having a problem refer to the manual that comes with the board. All the connection are explained.

Next comes the Molex and the SATA connectors, The Molex is a four pin connector in the shape of a 'D' with for round pin holes. The SATA connector is flat. The 'L' slot in the end slides onto the back of the Hard Disk Drive and the DVDRW.

Before you  mount the motherboard you need to press the dust shield into place. The dust shield fits in the retangle opening in the back of the case. There a tabs on the shield that protrudes into the case.Make sure these tabs are bent up so they don't interfere with the rear connectors. Inserting the shield can be difficult and may take a minute. Once the dust shield is in , carefully slide the motherboard into place. Aligns the rear connectors with the dust shield and the mounting holes will line up and you can proceed to hand tighten the screws to anchor the motherboard.

With the motherboard in place you must attach the control wires, the front USB and the front sound connections. The cables are clearly marked. First find the one marked audio. This Motherboard connection is on the extreme right hand side toward the back. The connector is keyed with one hole closed so it fist only one way. The USB fits into one of the two blue connection on the same side of the motherboard.

Next you must connect the, Power Switch, Power LED, and Hard Drive LED connections. Though the motherboard has a forth connection for a reset button this case does not come with a reset button. Referring to the motherboard manual will assure you get the correct connections. The control wires. The pins for these are on the right hand side of the board cliose to the front.

The next connections come from the power supply. Connect the 24 pin power connector to the board. Make sure it is frimly seated. Next connect the 4 pin CPU power to the board. You will find this connection near the CPU. Seat this connection

Once you've anchored the board and made these connections we are ready to mount the Hard Drive and the DVDRW.

Part Four Build your Own PC

Although the motherboard we're using to build this PC has the video card on board, it also has a PCIE video slot included. This allows you to add a video card if the programs you intend to run require additional video power.

The board we're using has an AMD chipset. Some years back AMD partnered with ATI and has developed their video output around the ATI video chipsets. While I  have always liked and used nVIDIA video cards, ATI is equal if not better.

Once you've purchased all the components you're almost ready to assemble the computer. First find a place in you home with good lighting and is static free. Remove the case from the box. Removed the left side panel. Remove the bag of screws and untie the wires running from the power supply.

Next, unpack the motherboard. Remove it from the anti-static bag. Set the box on the table, place the motherboard on top of the box with the bag underneath. PLace the Manual thei the driver disk aside along with the SATA cables and the dust shield.

Open the processor and remove the CPU from its plastic case. Take care to handle it CPU by the corners. DO NOT touch the gold pins on the underside, these are easily bent. On one corner of your CPU, there is a gold colored triangle. This matches up with the with the triangle on the ZIF (Zero Insert Force) socket on the motherboard.

Remove the heatsink from its packaging. Remove the plastic protector from the bottom of the heatsink. DO NOT touch the heat paste on the heatsink. Place the heatsink squarely on top of the CPU. The heatsink is held in place by a clamp passing through the middle of the body. Line the hole in the clip on the plain side onto the plastic hold down then press the other side on and rotate the plastic tab until it locks the heat sink in place. Connect the plug on the motherboard. Check you manual for the proper plug. It is the only one with four (4) pins

Next comes the RAM. Look at the modules very carefully. Along the bottom of the of DDR3 modules are a series of gold contacts. There is a slot cut off center into the module. In the memory slots on the motherboard you will see a short and long side that corresponds to the RAM. Carefully press the RAM into the blue slot closet to the CPU. Press the second into the blue slot. Once the toggles on the side of the RAM slots snap into place you're ready to place the mother board into the case.

Part Three Build your Own PC

The last equipment you need to purchase are the Hard Disk Drive, Optical Drive (DVDRW) and a Card Reader. Let's start with the hard drive. This is where your Operationg system is stored along with your Software (Office, DVD & CD burning software, ANd any other  programs you find you need to work on your PC. 
 
Brand Names Available.
Western Digital
Seagate
Hatachi

Hard Drive
As you can see from the list I prefer Western Digital. They are reliable and well built. WD has an exchange policy for defective Hard Drives, that is second to none. I prefer their the Blue lable drives for my desktop builds or the black label. What I won't use is the green label drives because they spin at a much lower speed then the other two, 5400 RPMs verses 7200 RPMs.

The minimum size hard drive I would consider for any home system is a 500 Gig, though you might well consider a 1 or 2 terabyte drive depending on the your need to store data and what data you are storing. The Drive interface must be SATA (Serial ATA) and is really to only choice available.

Optical Drive (DVDRW)
The choice you will have to make for an internal Optical Drive is what brand you prefer.

LG
Sony
Asus
Liton
HP

The list goes on. Pick one with a SATA interface. They will all mount the same. There is an additional option to consider, a Blue Ray drive. They are a bit pricier but can be added as a second optical drive, making your PC a Blue Ray and DVD player. The case we are using will accept two.

Card Reader
The Card Reader is used to transfer photos from your Camera's digital memory card to the PC's hard disk drive. It fits in the bay were the floppy drive would go. They are simple to hook up and Windows 7 has no problem configuring them. One of the better one is the Sabrent's CRW-UINB 68-in-1 card reader. It gives you fast, easy transfer of data between your flash media and computer, and an extra USB 2.0 slot on the front of your computer. It’s designed for easy installation into a 3.5" drive bay on your desktop computer.
The 5-slot reader reads Compact Flash, Secure Digital, Multi-Media Card, xD, MIcro SD, RS-MMC and Sony Memory Stick (MS, MS-Pro, MS-Duo, and MS Pro Duo) media, and many more formats.
Please see the specifications section for complete list of compatible media and adapter requirements. The black bezel ensures an attractive, professional-looking installation in addition to easy data transfers. Sabrent makes it easy and attractive to move all the data you need to.

NEXT:  Windows 7,  Video Card (as an option),  Assembly

Part Two Build your Own PC

The PC Motherboard or main board is the foundation of the system and can make or break your build. After to many failed boards of assorted brand names, I've settled on ASUS motherboards for all my systems. ASUS quality control is superior and their buss work is some of the fastest on the market. Their boards are reliable and long lasting.
For this build I will be using the ASUS Model M5A88-M.

This motherboard supports AMD® AM3+ multi-core processors with unique L3 cache and delivers better overclocking capabilities with less power consumption. It features dual-channel DDR3 memory support and accelerates data transfer rate up to 5200MT/s via HyperTransport™ 3.0 based system bus. This motherboard supports AMD® CPUs in the new 32nm manufacturing process.

AMD® 880G Chipset is designed to support up to 5200MT/s HyperTransport™ 3.0 (HT 3.0) interface speed and PCI Express™ 2.0 x16 graphics. It is optimized with AMD®’s latest AM3+ and multi-core CPUs to provide excellent system performance and overclocking capabilities.

I always use a board with four memory slots for my systems. Using two (2) (Paired)memory modules  gives you Dual Channel 128 bit bandwidth across the memory buss and alleviates bottle necks. The board will support up to 16 gigabytes of DDR3 1333 MHz RAM

CPU (Central Procession Unit)

Since 1995 I have built all my systems around the AMD line of processors. In the early years AMD CPU's had a tendency to run hot. With the right Heat sink and fan I overcame the problems and they ran very well. With the advent of 64 bit technology AMD moved to the front of the pack. They were the first out of the gate with a 64 bit processor. Helped along by Microsoft's XP 64 Operating system the first 64 bit system hit the market. While printer were slow to adopt and create 64 bit drivers Motherboard and Video Card Manufactures quickly ccame out with 64 bit drivers to suppoet the OS.

AMD's line of processors is extensive. From  Low to high (For Desktops) SEMPRON, Athlon, Phenom, FX Series. Since our motherboard is limited to the 1333 Mhz RAM, I will be using the Phenom 3.2 Gig quad core (Four (4) Physical cores) processor  Price range for the AMD processors, $65 -- $200 
NOTE: I only purchase the boxed processors. They come with a heat sink and fan and a three year warranty. Processors labeled OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) have only a 90 warranty do not come with the heat sink and fan.
You will have to research out what you want and how much you can afford to spend on this component.

RAM (Random Access Memory)
Memory is the final component we'll discuss today. Today DDR 3 Ram runs at speeds of 1066 Mhz or higher, making computers faster and more efficient. Of course software get more complex, so your PC my not, at time feel any faster. RAM comes from a number of Manufactures. Four I recommend are (In order of preference),

G.Skill
Kingston
Super Talent
Corsair

Windows 7 64 bit is capable of addressing all the RAM this mother board can handle (16 Gig ).  Unless you have a complelling reason to require a 32 bit platform I would go with the 64 bit Version. For this build we will be useing that and eight Gig of ram. I consider 4 gig the minimum for Windows 7 64 bit.

NEXT: Hard Disk Drive, Optical drive, Card Reader, Wireless NIC>

Part One Build your Own PC

Building your own PC at home is not quite the feat of magic may people thing it is. In this next series of articles Richard is going show you the parts you need and how to assemble your computer and install Windows 7 or 8.

To start you are going to have to determine where you will purchase your parts. If you do not discount electronics store close by, you can purchase all the components you'll need online at www.newegg.com or www.tigerdirect.com. I have used both. I use newegg because it's a bit easier to find the parts I'm looking for and the brands I choose to work with.

The first component you need to decide on is the case. There are myriad of choices. For this series I'm going to stick to the smallest of the tower cases The Mini Tower, the most popular by far for the typical home user. While this series will focus on the mini tower case, all the instruction work for whatever size case and motherboard you choose to use.
 
I cannot stress enough the importance of a good solid case made of a heavy gauge steel. One of the best I've found  for everyday use is the In Win brand. The IN WIN Z583T.CQ350TB3L is a solid, well built, well ventilated component. The case is considered tool less because you need a minimum amount of tools (Phillips head screwdriver) to complete the assembly of your components.


This case comes with a 350 Watt Power supply, adequate for your basic PC with on board Video, Sound and LAN. The prices for this case runs between $65 -- $76.

Among some of the other great brand names available are,

In Win
Cooler Master 
NZXT
Antec

One added note, many of the high end cases come without a power supplies so be aware of that when selecting your case. If you decide to go for a more powerful system a 550 watt power supply is recommended.

Next: Motherboard, Processor & RAM.

More Annoying Movie Stuff

I caught a double feature of Steven Seagal's Under Siege movies on TV a while back. The first movie I've always enjoyed even if it is a little unrealistic. It's the second movie, Under Siege, Dark Territory that bugs me. It's not an escape this time, it's the way the bad guy dies twice.

The drama takes place on a passenger train in the Rocky Mountains. The bad guys take over the train to use as a platform to wrest control of two secret CIA satellites, Grazer One & Two. The bad guys have set then train is on a collision course with a huge train hauling gasoline and other fuel to kill all the passengers

They plan to escape via a Huey chopper with a rope ladder at the back of the train. After Casey Rybeck (Steven Seagal) does in all the mercs and gets the hostages safe he's faced with one last bad guy, Travis Dane a computer genius (played well by Eric Bogosian), the villain who dies twice. 

Dane is hugging a laptop with a cell phone attached. He tells Casey he has no way of stopping the satellite from completing it mission, blowing the reactor under the Pentagon. Casey shoots the cell phone and laptop, then Dane falls out of the window of the train moving at about 60 MPH or 96.56 KPH. Casey and his niece climb up to the chopper, already under the control of the porter Bobby Zachs (played by Morris Chestnut). As Casey closes the chopper door, guess who comes climbing up the ladder, Travis Dane????? Casey slams the door shut, severing Danes fingers and dumping him into the inferno he created.

Now consider this. The train is doing 60 MPH, that's a mile a minute. They are traveling through rough, rocky terrain. Dane fall out the window, wounded by the bullet, Casey put into the laptop. Hitting the ground at that speed would break most of, if not all the bones in your body. You think that's the last of the bad guy.

The scene continues, leaving Dane's smashed body at least two miles back if not more. The chopper's ladder never touched the ground. How does a man with bullet in his chest, and the bones in his body smashed, climb up a ladder he can't reach on a chopper at least two mile past where he hit the ground? 

The movie is has some mild entertainment value, but the ending destroys the whole film. 

Come on Hollywood, Dane died when he hit the ground. Stop with all these sleazy endings, just for the sake of a scene for the hero to look cool, he's already saved the world

Book Progress

Second Genesis: We're stalled for the moment. Considering were to go. Ty has proposed to Mirasol. On their way back to their quarters they are attacked and Ty is injured.

Eastward Toward Eden: Shawn Mackenna, Arturo Santiago and Liam McDonald have gotten off world just ahead of those seeking their lives.

The Adam Eradication: Finishing up the edit and putting it to bed.

The Eve Beguilement: Making fantasic progress with this book.  Our work count had jumped from 70,000 to 133,683. I should finish by Mid December, end of Janurary at the latest. This may wind up as a two part book.

From the Garden Cast: After consulting with some new pages of the journals, we're moving some of material from the third book to this story. There was some confuison at to the order of events. That's cleard up now.

The Hobbit

I went on line today to check on the progress of the movie The Hobbit. Since I've had my head buried in the Tyranny Series and The MacKenna Saga I haven't been keeping up with the progress of the film. To my surprise I discovered the the book,  a favorite of mine, (I've read it at least a dozen times)is actually 3 three movies. I thought I would be going to the theater to see one movie. Leave it to Jackson to stretch it into three. I say that not as a criticism, but in the way of a compliment. Breaking the book into three movies give Peter the ability to tell the story in greater detail. I look forward to seeing Peter's work and the attention to detail only he brings to the screen. I'm sure his love for Tolkin's work will show through as it did in the Lord of the Rings series. From the online pictures of the characters the movie should be another amazing addition to Peters growing body of work.

The film is the first of The Hobbit Trilogy made by Oscar-winning director Sir Peter Jackson is based on J.R.R. Tolkien's famous novel. The wizard Gandalf tricks Bilbo Baggins into helping the dwarfs reclaim the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the powerful dragon Smaug. Along the way the timid hobbit finds there is more to him than he imagined. By the end of the novel the dwarfs come to look at Bilbo as a leader and not just a hire burglar.

The Hobbitt and The Lord of the Rings are required by anyone wishing to understand the true are of writing. J.R.R.Tolkin was a master.

The First Film:      The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is due out on December 14, 2012
The Second Film: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, should be released on December 13 2013.
The Third Film:    The Hobbit: There and Back Again is slated for release July 18, 2014.

Peter, I cannot say thank you enough for all your hard work, though I know to you it a lot of fun. I also like to ad that your choice for the portrayal of Legolas and Aragorn were spot on.