Well, I’ve been contemplating getting a second computer to mess around with. Nothing fancy, just something I can install linux on and use to browse the internet on my second monitor while I play Counter-strike:Source on the other. I’ve been meaning to use linux more, and I think a second system would be just the trick. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, so I turned to my old friend Ebay.

So far, here’s what I’ve got:

C $51.19 Athlon XP 2000+ Palomino AGOGA stepping
C $63.73 MAXTOR 80GB ULTRA ATA 100/133 IDE HARD DRIVE
C $28.91 512mb ECC PC2100 ram INFINEON matched pair
C $38.00 Gigabyte GA7N400 Socket A motherboard.
Current Total: $134.09

My biggest regret is the hard-drive so far. I could have saved about 20 bucks if I had been paying attention. I have a cd-burner that isn’t being used that I’m going to throw in, and an old GForce Ti4200. the board has onboard sound and lan. The only thing I have to get now is a case/psu(Which, oddly enough, will bet the most expensive component).

The funny thing is that the Gigabyte board I got for my “cheapie” computer is better than my main rig’s board (Asus A7N8X). It has 1 more ram-slot, takes SATA.

So now I just have to buy a case/psu and wait for everything to come in the mail. I’m really torn between getting the cheapest case I can find or one that I can use forever that is easy to work inside of.

This post is mirrored on both my wordpress blog and my livejournal blog. The comments aren’t mirrored though, because I’m not that good yet.

That time of year is coming, so here’s some stuff I think is worth buying:

1. The IPOD nano. I’ve never really been that interested in the IPod, but the nano may make a convert yet. My biggest problem with the IPod has always been the hard drive that it uses for storage. You see, one of the major appeals for me, as far as MP3 players go, is that they were originally solid-state with no moving parts. This feature was appealing to me because that meant no skipping songs, and no parts to wear out. The IPod HD was something destined to fail. With up to 4GB of storage, the nano can hold something like 3 days of music. Some people say that IPods are all over-priced. I think that the IPod interface, and the fact it auto-syncs with I-tunes make it worth it. I don’t own one of these myself, but if I did I’d probably buy the Logitech Wireless Music system for it.

2. Now if you think that loved one will want more space, and don’t mind the fact that it’s a HD player, you should check out the iaudio X5. This beauty has a 14 hour battery life, a 20-30GB HD, and a reasonable price. It also has two things that the big IPOD doesn’t:

-An FM tuner,
- And VIDEO!

Pretty cool I think. I’ve read some complaints about the interface, but most agree that if you take the time to learn it you can navigate pretty fast.

3. I got a Sony PSP on my birthday and loved it. Even though it is expensive compared to a Nintendo DS, it is definitely in a different league as well. I’d say that the PSP is targeting an older audience than Nintendo. I fell in love with the PSP when I was in Costco one day and saw them on display. I was very impressed with the screen. Even then, I wasn’t completely taken by the PSP until I found out you can run homebrew. Since the 1.0 firmware got exploited and Wipeout Pure was used to access a web-browser, homebrew for the psp has only gotten stronger. There is a ton of information out there on running dozens of emulators on the PSP. These include emulators for SNES, Gameboy, MAME, Turbo Graphics 16, NES and a slew of others (including SCUMM the lucas-arts engine). On top of that there are dozens of other homebrew aps from e-book readers, to media players, to organizers.

Unfortunately if you want to get a lot of mods, you are going to need to buy a bigger Memory Stick Pro DUO. I have a 256MB card, which is starting to feel small. Even without all of the mods, hacks and homebrew software, the PSP is a very capably video player. I often bring an hour of TV with me on my PSP (I could bring more but my card is pretty small). This is the perfect toy for someone who loves playing with ROMS and tech toys. The best games out there for this puppy are Ridge Racer (racing), Lumines (Puzzle), Metal Gear (Turn based card game), and Burnout Legends (Racing).

This post is mirrored on both my wordpress blog and my livejournal blog. The comments aren’t mirrored though, because I’m not that good yet.

I’ve decided to start posting some of my favourite recipes. I know that when I was a bachelor I didn’t cook nearly as much as I should have. It’s always handy to know how to cook. This simple recipe was given to me by a friend a number of years ago. I THINK it was the first thing I ever cooked for my wife. This recipe, like all recipes that I’ll put up, is simple but effective. I keep my instructions as simple as possible.

Tools Needed:

- Skillet or deep frying pan
- cheese grater (not needed if you have grated cheese)
- Good knife for chopping (Optional)
- a big serving spoon
- A flipper

Ingredients:

- Tablespoon of vegi or olive oil
- 1 Jar of salsa
- 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
- 1 onion(optional)
- 1 green pepper(optional)
- 3 or 4 cups of shredded mozzarella
- 2 Cups rice.

1. On a medium to high-medium element, add oil to skillet and add chicken breasts. Cook until cooked. If unsure, cut into a breast(juices should be clear, and inside shouldn’t be pink).

2. Add salsa to skillet and simmer for a half hour. Chop onion and green pepper up if desired, and add to mix.

3. While simmering, prepare 2 Cups of rice as per directions. (Basically 2 cups water for every 1 cup rice. Bring water to boil/ Add rice/reduce to min and cover for 20 minutes/remove from element and let stand for 10 min).

4. Top skillet contents with mozzarella and let melt.

5. Serve skillet contents on a bed of rice. I recommend using a big spoon to serve the breasts so that they keep a layer of salsa and cheese on top of them, and then use the spoon to snag a portion of salsa for the uncovered rice.

Here’s a small list of stuff I want. It’s not really a christmas list, but I have it here so that people can use it as such if they want to. I’m planning on making a wishlist section on my new homepage

Books

The art of Oddworld Inhabitants

Art from my favourite series of video games. These games had both style and substance. I’m still amazed that they had to put out an old-school platformer when everyone else was doing 3d crap. Unfortunately not sold on Amazon. I want the hard cover–but not the overly expensive leather bound one. Cost: 50 US. Plus shipping

Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman Latest book by my favourite “new” author. I can’t wait to get my claws on this puppy.

A Feast of Crows, By George R.R. Martin. An older “new” author. latest in his ‘Game of Thrones’ series. It’s the only epic worth reading.

My Amazon wishlist.

Contains some of the books/dvds I have contemplated buying but not quite gotten to. A quirky list at best. I paired out about 20 listing recently because I’d either purchased them or didn’t want them any more(more the latter).

Toys

The Xbox. I’m hoping it will sink to sub-100 dollar prices for the holidays. I just wanna mod the hell out of it. Xbox360 is for suckers with more money than sense.

Sigma 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 DC The next lense I want for my Canon 350d.

Intuos3 9×12 tablet. This isn’t high up on my list as I just bought a fully functional Graphire3, but I really like it. I’ve promised myself that if I do enough digital art to justify it I’ll get one.

That’s it off of the top of my head. I’ll update this post, and maybe throw in my holiday gift suggestions in the next little while.

This post is mirrored on both my wordpress blog and my livejournal blog. The comments aren’t mirrored though, because I’m not that good yet.

hapland2 The most addictive flash game ever. I can’t wait for Hapland 3!