This week we finished up our PowerPoint presentation and presented it to the class. Throughout the course of this project, I learned about the parts of the computer and how to build the computer. Although it was overwhelming at first, it's all crystal clear now. I'm able to tell the function of each part in the computer and what each part looks like. It was awesome working with Ivan and Josh on this project because we were all completely clueless at first and it was funny at first how incompetent we were. However, after much help from friends and our mentor Sun Nguyen, I have acquired a great deal of computer literacy.
After seeing Ivan's computer and how well it runs, I am now motivated to build my own computer. I have been using the same laptop for 3 years and it's really starting to fail me now in terms of gaming. Although it has served me well over the years, I have decided to build a desktop computer for about 1000 dollars. This will be a blast! I've already ordered the parts and most of them have come in already. I can't wait to play on this new computer over the break! I'll be so much better at so many games!
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Painkillers Help Recovery
Long story short, It's been a very miserable week for me. Remember when I said I was getting my wisdom teeth out? The surgery didn't hurt that much because I was numbed but the whole recovery process drove my crazy. My mom was convinced that I didn't need painkillers even though the Doctors prescribed them. Well, she was wrong. I can finally start eating normally and talking normally as of today and the swollen mass which was my cheek has finally gone back to normal.
Needless to say, all I've done this week was try to distract myself from my painful mouth through entertainment like movies and games. I haven't really done any more on the review videos than last week but I'm finally ready and in shape to start. This is due in about a week so I really need to get on top of this!
Needless to say, all I've done this week was try to distract myself from my painful mouth through entertainment like movies and games. I haven't really done any more on the review videos than last week but I'm finally ready and in shape to start. This is due in about a week so I really need to get on top of this!
Saturday, November 22, 2014
BREAK IS HERE
Well, I'm finally on break now! It's really nice to finally get a break from school. Though I do have to get my wisdom teeth pulled out tomorrow (Ouch). On Friday, I was the only one from our group in class because Ivan and Josh were at the Georgia Aquarium for AP Biology. This was ok as we already split up the work and who was going to be doing what. I looked at the parts I was assigned and began to recollect why we had chosen each part. However, I am on break, and have no desire to work on this project as soon as I got home. I will hopefully have more to post about next weekend!
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Working Out the Details
This weekend, Josh, Ivan, and I got together at Ivan's house to get some work done on these videos. Once we got there, Ivan realized that the videos which Samir uploaded to Google Drive weren't fully processed and we could not access them at all. It isn't really anyone's fault but we can't get started on the tutorial video until we can get a flashdrive containing all of the videos from Samir.
Once we realized this at Ivan's house, we decided to make the best of coming over to Ivan's house and played video games together!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Post Build Endeavors
After completing the actual construction of the computer, all we have left to do is to make the tutorial videos. We will make 2 videos: one will show the actual construction of the computer and the other will show the parts and why we chose each part. We decided to split up the work like this.
Over the next few weeks, we will start making and finish making these videos. We haven't decided when or where we are making these videos yet. We could either make them on our own or do it at someone's house one day to ensure that everything that needs to be covered is covered.
Over the next few weeks, we will start making and finish making these videos. We haven't decided when or where we are making these videos yet. We could either make them on our own or do it at someone's house one day to ensure that everything that needs to be covered is covered.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Assembly Complete!
This blog post was a little bit late because of the complications we ran into on Sunday Night. On Sunday, Albert, Fayaz, Josh, Samir, and I all came over to Ivan's house to build the computer. Everyone got there at around noon but Josh had Church for a while longer. We decided to wait for him because he had the best camera, but after waiting over an hour and him still not showing up, we decided to start.
We decided that we would get multiple angles of the building process so that we could pick out the best camera perspectives to use in our tutorial video. Multiple people held cameras while Ivan and I assembled the computer one part at a time and Fayaz held a flashlight so that the cameras could have good lighting. After a while, Josh got there. Josh brought his Nikon D5200 camera and he became the main cameraman.
Further into contruction, we realized that we were missing 2 parts. We were missing a SATA cable for the optical drive and a 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch adapter for the SSD. Half of us went to microcenter to pick up the parts while half of us manned the house. Ivan did not want to leave his computer sitting there unguarded.
As night rolled around, people began to leave and I had to leave as well. Albert stayed behind and him and Ivan finished the physical construction of the computer. Although it took around seven hours, we finally finished assembly of the computer.
All that was left was installing the OS. To save money, Samir got us a bootleg version of Windows 7 OS. Although it should have worked, it was not installing properly. The next day, Josh and Patrick came over to Ivan's house to try to install the operating system because they knew a bit about installing operating systems. However, this was all in vain and nobody knew what the problem was. Finally, we called our friend Jason and he came over. He figured out the problem in under 20 minutes. It was a broken front USB port that would not transfer the files. After installing the OS, we installed the drivers and the computer was set.
In the next few weeks, we will be managing the video files and making it into a tutorial.
We decided that we would get multiple angles of the building process so that we could pick out the best camera perspectives to use in our tutorial video. Multiple people held cameras while Ivan and I assembled the computer one part at a time and Fayaz held a flashlight so that the cameras could have good lighting. After a while, Josh got there. Josh brought his Nikon D5200 camera and he became the main cameraman.
Further into contruction, we realized that we were missing 2 parts. We were missing a SATA cable for the optical drive and a 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch adapter for the SSD. Half of us went to microcenter to pick up the parts while half of us manned the house. Ivan did not want to leave his computer sitting there unguarded.
As night rolled around, people began to leave and I had to leave as well. Albert stayed behind and him and Ivan finished the physical construction of the computer. Although it took around seven hours, we finally finished assembly of the computer.
All that was left was installing the OS. To save money, Samir got us a bootleg version of Windows 7 OS. Although it should have worked, it was not installing properly. The next day, Josh and Patrick came over to Ivan's house to try to install the operating system because they knew a bit about installing operating systems. However, this was all in vain and nobody knew what the problem was. Finally, we called our friend Jason and he came over. He figured out the problem in under 20 minutes. It was a broken front USB port that would not transfer the files. After installing the OS, we installed the drivers and the computer was set.
In the next few weeks, we will be managing the video files and making it into a tutorial.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Almost Assembly Time!
This week, some of the parts already came in and more parts are coming in later this week. It's reassuring that we are ahead of schedule. Last week, we decided upon a keyboard, mouse, and monitor for the computer. I mentioned that we would also need speakers, but it was determined that they weren't really needed because the monitor came with speakers attached. If the speakers on the monitor aren't good ( which is likely), Ivan already has speakers at home that we can use. This is the final parts list and shows when everything is supposed to come in.
The total came out to be $944.72 dollars, which was under our limit of 1000 dollars. We originally thought it would be less because we had not factored in the tax (Whoops!). The second thing we had not factored in was the wireless adapter needed for connecting to the internet. As laptop users, we had completely forgot about this because laptops usually have built-in wireless. Computers need either an ethernet cord or a wireless adapter to connect to the internet. Because Ivan's computer is two rooms away from his router, the ethernet cord solution does not seem viable. Therefore, we looked into some wireless adapters. We found a wireless adapter for 20 dollars, resulting in a total of $964.72 spent.
Now that the parts are in, we needed a schedule for assembling the computer. The schedule we came up with is right here:
I talked to Ivan and Josh and we agreed that we would work on it Sunday, November 2nd because Ivan had to finish his questbridge application on Saturday and I had orchestral obligations on Saturday. We chose the time 12-5 PM on Sunday because Josh had church in the morning and Ivan needed to leave for work at 5 PM. We will probably want some people who are good with computers there as well to make sure we don't break anything.
The total came out to be $944.72 dollars, which was under our limit of 1000 dollars. We originally thought it would be less because we had not factored in the tax (Whoops!). The second thing we had not factored in was the wireless adapter needed for connecting to the internet. As laptop users, we had completely forgot about this because laptops usually have built-in wireless. Computers need either an ethernet cord or a wireless adapter to connect to the internet. Because Ivan's computer is two rooms away from his router, the ethernet cord solution does not seem viable. Therefore, we looked into some wireless adapters. We found a wireless adapter for 20 dollars, resulting in a total of $964.72 spent.
Now that the parts are in, we needed a schedule for assembling the computer. The schedule we came up with is right here:
I talked to Ivan and Josh and we agreed that we would work on it Sunday, November 2nd because Ivan had to finish his questbridge application on Saturday and I had orchestral obligations on Saturday. We chose the time 12-5 PM on Sunday because Josh had church in the morning and Ivan needed to leave for work at 5 PM. We will probably want some people who are good with computers there as well to make sure we don't break anything.
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