About protosaurus

Don't be so fucking sensitive

Recent posts

• Comment on Malcolmxy's answer…

  0 0 The damage isn't bad, it's mostly cosmetic but when they take the damaged planks off the deck next week they'll know if the insulation is damaged or not. So far, it looks fine, but if it is, the bill is going to get a zero added to it. So far the deductible and the estimate are about the same, so I think I'm going to call my insurance company, talk to them about this "subrogate" thing, and go from there. I think my neighbor has no problem paying for it, but I was a little taken aback by the fact that we didn't notice until 4 days later, and we had to go to him with it, so I'm feeling a tiny bit worried about some drama coming up. Overall I hope it resolves between two mature adults without involving any insurance companies, like it should. protosaurus commented 4 days ago

• Comment on Griffin's answer…

  0 0 I've never heard of this process, and this may be what I'm looking for. Thanks for your answer! protosaurus commented 4 days ago

• Follow Following 1 How to properly resolve damage to a common outdoor wall? protosaurus asked in Home Fix & Maintain 9 days ago by Griffin & 1 other answer by Malcolmxy…

• Comment on MR's answer…

  1 0 Stumped my movie-nerd girlfriend too. She absolutely hates it when we're watching TV or a movie and I say, "What was that other thing he was in?" and she lists every single movie he was in and I go, "Oh, nevermind, different guy." "I'M NOT YOUR HUMAN IMDB!" *throws ipad at me* protosaurus commented 9 days ago

• Follow Following 1

  Great bar near benaroya hall?

  0 0 If you're into fish, Japonessa is 1 block away and has the best happy hour sushi menu I've found downtown: http://www.japonessa.com/menu.pdf Nice place, great sushi, but I'm not sure about their drinks; I don't drink often. protosaurus answered in Eating Out 13 days ago Answer, comment & read 3 more answers »

• Comment on protosaurus's answer…

  0 0 Ah but that's part of the hassle with trying to work on laptops: they aren't really meant to be worked on (like desktop PCs) so they aren't designed to be friendly. I hate opening laptops and don't think I've ever put one back together and not had screws left over. At the end of the day working on a laptop is like nailing jello to the wall and I don't advise it for anything but the most basic things (RAM and hard drives and possibly keyboards). Assumptions like "the most commonly replaced things should be the easiest to get to!" sound perfectly reasonable, but throw them all out the window when dealing with laptops (and smaller PCs). Besides, haven't you ever heard Honda can tell you within 1000 miles when your first major maintenance is going to be needed? Most laptops are built to be replaced every 2ish years -- not fixed. Macbooks hold their value so well because they don't fall apart after years of average to heavy use, but they are even harder to open up than PC laptops. protosaurus commented 17 days ago

• Follow Following 0

  What is the best salad in Bellevue? Preferably downtown.

  0 0 Gonna throw out Specialty's, but I'm sure you can find better. The best thing about working in downtown Bellevue is ordering Specalty's from your phone and picking it up from the take out cubby without interacting with any humans. The worst thing about working in downtown Bellevue is everything else. protosaurus answered in Eating Out 22 days ago Answer and comment »

• Follow Following 2

  What is the cheapest way to get a decent computer?

  5 0 I'm not clear on if you want the cheapest "computer" possible or the cheapest laptop possible or the cheapest desktop possible. The cheapest functional computer possible is probably something along the lines of a Picotux: http://www.picotux.com/ (99 EU for the 2MB version). There are very specialized versions of Linux (such as minix, or some BSDs) that can run entirely from a floppy (1.44MB), so 2MB of flash RAM is plenty of room. Oh, but you mentioned you wanted 4GB of RAM, and 1.44MB is only 0.00036% of that, so I'm going to assume you really want the cheapest desktop or laptop available. The cheapest of both is always free. RE-PC (or one of the several other electronic recycling places with a retail store in the Seattle area) won't give you stuff for free, but the people who give them stuff for free (or even pay them to come pick it up and get rid of it!) will. You have to find those people. Since I manage a large-ish amount of computers, I am occasionally one of those people and have given away dozens (hundreds?) of things that were put up for grabs before eventually ending up at RE-PC. Everything from USB cables to hard drives to monitors to desktops to (really old) laptops. Even a couple Macs! Unfortunately, right now the closets are clear at work and I don't really have anything for you. But someone out there might! Second to free, RE-PC (and similar stores, there is another one literally across the street) are worth checking out and do sell used, bare-bones machines, but to be totally honest I have always felt their prices are too high for me when I'm at RE-PC and feeling cheap. You could try to find a decent deal on craigslist (try not to get robbed), or maybe the QuestionLand marketplace, but there is a large demand for cheap/free computers that don't suck so I wouldn't expect a miracle. If you're going to buy a new laptop, my first advice is to see if you can afford a used Macbook. They start brand new at like $899 (I think) so you may find one 4-5 years old that is in your price range. Macbooks are the best laptops in existence and anyone who disagrees is simply wrong. As far as PC laptops go, netbooks are cheaper than laptops (especially since their market is disappearing to tablets), but they are also not very high quality. I've seen a lot of people blow through a lot of netbooks from all different makes. You can find netbooks as cheap as $199, but with 4GB of RAM you're in "good netbook" to "crappy laptop" territory (aka $400-500). I have no strong opinions on good PC laptops but I have seen Dells, Lenovos, HPs, and Sonys that seemed okay in the last year. PC desktops are much more interesting to build cheaply because you can build them part-by-part if you know how to build a computer, which really isn't very hard. There are lots of videos and articles online that take you through parting out a computer to purchase and build on Newegg. Only shop at Newegg or Amazon Prime -- every other site sucks for computer hardware (unless you need any sort of cable, then you go to monoprice.com). Since Newegg rules, they have a whole category of "bare bone" computers of varying levels of bareness. Here are all of them sorted by price: http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=3&name=Barebone-Systems&Order=PRICE At the end of the day your average "cheap but decent" (as you described) netbook should cost around $300, laptop around $500, and desktop (without monitor) probably closer to $400. Keep in mind Windows 7 costs $100 bare-minimum unless you pirate it or use a free OS (I'd try out Ubuntu). Reduce all prices by 20-30% if you go for used. I'd buy a used 3-5 year old Macbook for $400-600. Some people nerd out and try to build the cheapest functional computer possible. Here is an example: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=1659798 ($210!) These are interesting and educational because you can get an overview of the specific components that make up a bare-bones system, and a functional system. Here are two other articles to help as well: http://lifehacker.com/5151369/the-first+timers-guide-to-building-a-computer-from-scratch http://lifehacker.com/5826509/how-to-build-a-computer-from-scratch-lesson-1-hardware-basics Good luck and feel free to comment if you have any specific questions. protosaurus answered in Whatever 23 days ago Answer, comment & read 3 more answers »

• Comment on Biju's answer…

  2 0 Hey just noting a minor typo... Western Digital makes the Passport drives and they are excellent! I have like 4 of the 600GB ones in various places and they all do their job; never had to replace one. Love how they get up to 600GB (and maybe higher) without needing a power adapter. protosaurus commented 26 days ago

• Follow Following 1

  Is it safe to be in downtown Seattle tomorrow, the May 1st?

  1 0 In my opinion it is safe to be in any part of downtown Seattle 24 hours a day 7 days a week... unless there is snow; then, stay far away. I don't follow May Day stuff but I read it's starting up by Judkin's Park, going to the federal building (2nd and Madison, so probably down Yesler or Madison or James), and then they said something about parts of 2nd ave being closed so maybe they are headed north on 2nd after? I doubt it will be super organized. The buses will be running but I think the biggest impact going downtown today would have on your life is wasting time in traffic. Good luck and damn the man and all that. protosaurus answered in Local News & Politics 26 days ago Answer and comment »

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