Random Thoughts

Short review: This little thing ROCKS. It's tiny, crystal clear, and very usable.

Long review: This little thing still rocks. I have to say that one thing Nintendo does well is handhelds. I love the Gamecube, but I think they fumbled the ball on it and it lost some of its potential to the other, lesser (yes, I said LESSER) console offerings from Sony and Microsoft. I look forward to the Revolution, but I am giving them 6 months to get their act together before plunking money on one. I am not interested in the 360, because I don't have an HD TV, nor do I plan on getting one before I'm 70. Why? That's for another post.

So on to the Micro. Well, it's tiny. It's not Nano tiny in terms of thin, but it certainly is a small console. I traded in my GBA-SP (launch SP) for it. Cost me $50 more, but I think it was worth it. Besides, if I need a larger GBA screen, I can just use my massive (soon to be two) Nintendo DS, which has a nice backlit screen, unlike the SP which was front lit. The SP had washed out colors and an overall pale look to it. The GB micro and DS on the other hand look wonderful. Those little GBAs can put out some colorful stuff!

The buttons feel good, though they feel more, how to say this, delicate (for lack of a better word) than the SP or the DS (or the original GBA for that matter.)

Here's how little the thing is: GB Micro Size

I like the screen. Some people might find it a tad on the small side, but it's very functional, not to mention VERY crisp. It's the best handheld screen this side of that power hog PSP. (Honestly, the PSP is not my thing. It's too expensive, too delicate, and has the crappiest battery life this side of a 1984 cell phone.)

Games play the same as always on it... I think the minor complaints about the shoulder buttons are true... they seem to be oddly placed with the unit pinching in a tad in the center like a bowtie.. (it's not a rectangle, more like a very faint bow.)

I recommend the GB Micro for anyone who still has the original GBA, or just has a DS. If you have the 2nd wave GBA SP, the choice is more difficult (not because the 2nd wave SP is better, just newer and has a backlit screen too...) If you have a 1st wave SP, I recommend either the 2nd wave SP (if you are partial to GB Classic games and the clamshell design of the SP) or this Micro. You can't go wrong and as its been shown before, Nintendo really knows how to build consoles.

Yes, it certainly has. It's been many years since I posted to this Blog. I've tried a few other sites, but this one is the one I'll post to from now on I guess. I've got some posts from a blog I used to host on my .Mac account that are pending....

So stay tuned...

Current uptime stats: (damn updates...)

Processes: 85
Averages: 1.37 1.25 1.31
Uptime: 2 days 9:47
(crappy uptime!) heheh.

[composed and posted with ecto]

Yep, that's true! Tiger's on the way.

[composed and posted with ecto]

Legend DVD Mini-Review:

In case anyone was wondering if I had died or not, the rumors of my untimely passing have been greatly exaggerated. I've been having fun scanning photos of Project:Impala into my Mac, making mp3 compilation CDs for work, using this amazing Mac tool called "Dragthing" (which is the neatest tool since LaunchBar), and last but not least, trying to get Linux to recognize my Southbridge chip on my Athlon. I also spent a bit of time trying to pipe an X-Session into my Mac from my Laptop (running Slackware 8.0), but all I can get so far is the terminal. I'm working on it.

So on to the review: "Legend" by Ridley Scott is one of those movies you either love or hate. There is no middle ground with this movie (not unlike his other masterpiece "Blade Runner"), the latter being something of a cult classic, even though it didn't follow the book except for the premise itself. It was still a good movie, though. The book it is based on ("Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick) is rather tough to get through if you're not paying attention. It's decidedly weird. I recommend it. *grin* Most of PKD's work is good right up to the point where he believed he was visited by aliens. After that, the proverbial "foil hat, shiny side out" comes to mind when you read his work. Tragically, he was too good for his own good it seems. The tough questions he asked were his undoing I suppose.

But this isn't about "Blade Runner", this is about "Legend"! You're right. So on with the DVD review. If you've not seen the movie, I'm not going to spoil it for you, but I will point out expanded sequences and differences between the European and American theatrical releases. The European version, in my opinion, should have been released here instead of what was released. It is more coherent, more plot driven, and it has a better score (not to take anything away from Tangerine Dream) for the type of movie it is.

Well, I should amend the "better" score comment a bit. All in all, the movie's score is spot on fantastic with either Tangerine Dream or Jerry Goldsmith. But I must say, the sequence where Lily dances with her gown (eerie as it is without music), is much more tragic and inescapably creepy with the Tangerine Dream song rather than Goldsmith's piece. I do not think that Goldsmith's song for that section is bad, it's just that when you see it with the Tangerine Dream song, it just gives you chills.

One thing that the European Director's Cut version did that made perfect sense to me was the hiding of Darkness before his travel through the mirror. That sequence alone was amazing in both movies, but I can see if you've not known what Darkness looks like before he comes through the mirror, you most likely will gasp a bit. (If you are into the movie and are enjoying it, I mean.) The American version filmed some alternate sequences with Darkness, revealing him too soon, I think to make an impact with the story. I think the sequence where Lily meets Darkness for the first time should be what our reaction to him is. Revulsion, surprise, and devilish (pardon the pun) curiosity. What is this 10 foot monster? How is he so smitten by a pure heart? What motivates him to risk the eternal darkness he craves for the love of one woman? That last one is most likely unanswerable within the context of the movie, barring Darkness' fascination with that which is pure. (Except for Unicorns. Their sacred protector status surely irritates him.)

Another fine portion of the European cut of the movie was the opening monologue of Darkness. It not only explained his intentions rather well, it framed the story impeccably. You know why Darkness hates the Unicorns. You know why he must destroy them. And you hear his devotion to utter darkness infinitely better than you do in the American version. That's not to say the opening of the American version is bad necessarily, because it does have one of the most memorable lines I've heard in a while, when Darkness laments "Mother Night, cloak thy dark arms about me." He's cursing the light at the same time he retreats to his safety within the Great Tree. I have to say, Tim Curry was excellent as Darkness. I don't know of many actors today who could have pulled off the over-the-top persona of Darkness, and at the same time making him sufficiently menacing and altogether scary. After all, he is a 10-foot Satyr-like monster with enormous horns and the flesh tone of deep blood.

One of the weak points of the European version is Darkness' father's voice. In the American version, you hear Darkness' father as a whispering evil. He sounds as if he is trying to get you to try something you know is wrong. His answer to why Darkness is vexed so by the innocence of Lily, is quite chilling. In the European version, Darkness' father sounds more like a goblin than anything else. It does not hold the same "punch" the still-small voice of the American version, to me at least. I suppose that is open for debate.

More is made of the love between Princess Lily and Jack O' the Green in the European version as well. It bookends the story a bit better, particularly with regard to the ring. In the American version, it seems almost symbolic that Jack searches for the ring at the end of the movie. In the European version, he must find the ring in order to break Darkness' spell over Lily. (Among other things, of course. I won't spoil it for you, dear reader.) Lily also sings to Jack as well. And Jack teaches Lily how to speak finch. She desperately wants to speak rabbit, but Jack of course has more important things to impress her with.

The conversations between Lily and Darkness in the dining room are very detailed in the European version. They are detailed so much so that the dynamic actually changes between the American and European versions of the film. In the American version, Lily is very quick to appease Darkness so she may hatch her plot to free the mare Unicorn. In the European version, you get the sense that Darkness is tempting Lily more than trying to convince her to love him. You almost get the feeling that if she does anything he says, her transformation to the side of evil will be complete. That also implies (if you really stretch it) that Darkness cannot harm her innocence because her heart is pure. ("As long as these creatures roam the earth, evil cannot harm the pure of heart." -- Jack referring to the Unicorns.) The purpose of the unicorn's significance makes more sense here than in the American version. You see Darkness' frustration, not of Lily's flippant attitude (like in the American version), but his frustration stems from not being able to influence her into taking that final step to seal her fate and allow Darkness to rule the earth, with her at his side.

Other little things are different between the American and European versions that are incidental, and really do not add anything more than extras such as the Meg Mucklebones sequence is longer and more creepy. And the strange cat-like creatures that come out of the ground to attack Gump and Jack on their journey inside the Great Tree to find the Unicorn are not in the European release. Una's more developed as well. And the fellow who tries to use the unicorn's horn against Darkness (and gets stuffed down into the dungeon by a mummy) is more explained and drawn out in the European version. All in all, it makes for a richer story, because there simply is so much more. But the American version has within a quality of its own, because it is entirely more mysterious and other-worldly.

So, I recommend you get the "Ultimate Edition" of Legend on DVD. It comes with both versions, a commentary track, all the TV spots, trailers, and a making of "featurette" that interviews everyone from the director to Screwball and Browntom. (Conspicuously absent is Tom Cruise...)

That's all for now. Goodnight.

The Mold of Britney I just finished reading Philip K. Dick's short story "Mold of Yancy", about a fictitious character that is "everyman" and how it was used by Trade Syndicates on Callisto to brainwash the citizenry to accept a future war between Callisto and Ganymede over markets and profit. Yancy was based on Eisenhower, as PKD mentions in the notes section of my short story collection, because as he saw it, Eisenhower was dangerously close to making the entire United States a bunch of flannel suit wearing clones of himself. That, of course, got me to thinking about today's media, popular culture, and other disposable entertainment we have saturated ourselves with over the years. We don't necessarily have a single "Yancy" to tell us what to think, wear, and believe, but we have thousands of little "Yancys" that collectively make us think one way and to believe what we're told. It is nefarious, I must say. But I'm sure the natural "skeptic" in you will probably think to yourself "no one's telling me what to think", but aren't they? Let us consider pop music for a moment, for lack of a better whipping boy. Everyone likes music of some sort. The "intellectuals" listen to classical music, because some university study said listening to Mozart made rats go through mazes faster. The "popular" people listen to whatever is on MTV (or eMpTyV, as I like to say). The "rebellious" people listen to whatever is shown on MTV after 9 pm, or on such "edgy" shows as "Extreme Rock" or whatnot. The "Genuine Americans" listen to country music, because it is patriotic and it is sung by guys and gals who they can "relate" to on an emotional and spiritual level. It has somehow been dubbed "the music of the common man" by the marketroids in Nashville and New York. Is it really? Or is it something to keep the complacency of the blue collar worker in constant refresh mode? I will leave that question to the "communist" sympathizers in the audience. I have no delusions about organized unskilled labor being anything more than a front for mafia operations. Just like I have no delusions that corporate America is anything more than "legitimized" organized crime, set up by wealthy families to keep the 1% having 90%. Recent scandals with Enron and MCI/Worldcom should be enough evidence to the average Jerry Springer fan that Corporate America is out to get them, but I suppose until the thought police come and steal their VCRs, John Q. Public will soak all the propaganda in like a sponge. But I digress. Back to the original thought. Then there are those who listen to music because they like what they hear. Those are indeed a rare group. Who does this sort of individual thinking? Who would shun the popular notions and listen to music because it sounded good to them? That is a tough question, and I do not have an answer. For every piece of music I like, there are "safe" songs that I have in my collection. I suppose I am somewhere between thinking and not-thinking when it comes to music. I have music that is, or was, charted at some point in time now or in the past. Since it has fallen out of favor with the media Goebbels, er moguls, I consider it worth keeping in my collection. This is not a paper about my listening habits, however. It is a paper about groupthink. What possesses a person to follow rather than lead? Why is the "road less traveled" never even considered by some people? Is the "mayonnaise/white bread/apple pie" mold something everyone strives for consciously, or is it something they accept subconsciously because of too much exposure to it in all forms of media? Even books espouse the same corporate line as the rest of popular culture. So much for the bastion of rebellion we so cleverly clung to over the years. Books have tainted the landscape with hack novelists disguised as good writers. Science Fiction seems to be the only thing left that challenges the norms of popular culture, but that is slowly giving way to subtle propaganda designed to make sure people "toe the line" and view the world the same way as their neighbor, and to turn in their neighbor if they disagree with them. (Dubya's "TIPs" squads are a good example of this.) Why is the universe spiraling towards the inevitable "swirly of doom", flushing the world in one big slurp? I do not have the answer. I just want to show people a possible scenario, not unlike the one based on PKD's "Mold of Yancy." So grab a beer, wine, soda, or a slurpee and read on, oh member of the Great Unwashed, as I give you a possible reason for all this "sameness." Globalization. We have all heard this word at one time or another. Does it mean we're all going to sit in a big circle, smoke the same cigarettes, wear the same clothes, sing the same songs, and believe in the same corporate god that made this utopia possible? You bet it will. Globalization has been used to espouse a future without war, strife, or pain, and it has been used to describe a world where we have lost all individuality and the great "corporate state" has taken over as our god, our love, and our life. The former definition of Globalization is what is used by those in power to both remain in power and protect their interests so that the latter definition will come true. Why would a corporation like say, Sony or Microsoft, want a homogenous populace that greedily sucked up all product as if it were vital to life itself? I believe I just answered my own question, wouldn't you agree? The homogenous population saves the corporation money (no need to make regional-friendly items, the world will truly be "one size fits all"), and it will ensure that sales will always go up as population rises. In "Mold of Yancy", PKD enlightened the reader with Yancy's view on war. All war is wrong, horrible, and should be avoided at all costs. But a "just war" is one we should all get behind and fight for it. What is a "just war", you ask? A "just war" is one in which the "us vs. them" mentality is most polarized. "They" want to take our way of life away. "They" are trying to eliminate us, and all we stand for. "We" have to prevail so "we" can be a world of "laws". None of "them" know "we" have a better view than "they" do. Seeing a pattern here? Pretty much every global conflict in the last 200 years has been sparked by one or more nationalistic sentiments clashing over something (in the "Mold of Yancy" it was market-share.) As a general rule, extreme nationalism leads to extreme action. I am not saying we sacrifice our identities and become some homogenous "global village" like most politicians feel we need to be, but I think we need to realize that other countries self-determination may take them down a road different from ours sometimes, and we should just allow it to take its course. It's a tricky business, this balance. I am not equipped to know how to do it, and unfortunately 99% of the politicians in this day and age don't either. We are either going to end up going to war over this, or surrendering our identity to the "global mindset." That all depends on how we vote. We have a duty as thinking people to question authority. Questioning authority does not mean we should spend our lives chanting "don't trust anyone over 30" or "Commie Pigs == Police" or "Down with Gestapo Nazi Police dogs who wear knickers!" It means that when we are presented with a view, we should consider it. We should realize that not everyone in the world wants us to be informed. We should take the initiative to find out what they are telling us. As Philip K. Dick would do it, I am going to simply end this entry. Resolution? Not hardly. Just think about it, would you? ...Don't let Britney think for you.

Good books: I don't see why some people hate to read. Sure, it's not the most exciting thing to do with your eyes and brain, but it certainly flexes the muscle that is your brain. I don't read as much as I want to, because I am so tied up with other interests. My reading suffers a bit from time to time. I haven't finished "A History of the Vikings" quite yet, but it's getting juicy, so I probably will get pretty far in it before I have another bout with "sidetrack-itis." Speaking of Vikings, I loved "Eaters of the Dead" (or known as "The 13th Warrior" by movie goers.) It was quite something to behold good old fashioned storytelling in the midst of such a beautiful part of the world. The movie really put perspective on the descriptions of the lands put forth in the book. Rarely do I consider the director's vision regarding a location or style, but in this case, they did excellent work. I really enjoy the Viking period for some reason or another. I have been fascinated with ancient warfare and cultures for as long as I can remember. The Middle Ages were of particular interest to me back when I was trying to play Dungeons and Dragons and its various computer RPG counterparts (Ultima, Wizardry, and Bard's Tale). I've since "branched out" as it were to more ancient times (like Rome and the Viking Period), but I nevertheless am fascinated by the armor, weaponry, and general atmosphere of the Middle ages. Interestingly enough, there has been talk that the Middle Ages saw a "mini ice age" in Europe, which could explain the dark and forboding tone that permeates the histories, accounts, and other non-fiction works of the period. For the most part, the "revised" historical perspective for the Middle Ages(or "Dark Ages" as they like to call them) tends to focus on the power of the Catholic Church over day-to-day activities in Europe for the greater part of the period. While it is true the Church held to some fairly draconian beliefs and practices, the art, architecture, and advancements in weaponry alone make the Middle Ages far less "dark" than originally thought. But, I leave specifics for the reader. There are a great many books that dispel the myths of the "Dark" Ages quite well. On another note, one of my favorite movies, "Legend" is coming to DVD! Finally, after ALL these years, it's coming. May 21st is the street date for the DVD. It has the director's cut of the movie, as well as the original theatrical release. The director's cut is of particular interest to me, because Ridley Scott has mentioned that the Theatrical version wasn't what he intended (perhaps he meant the US release only.) It looks quite amazing for a movie that came out in 1985. It nearly slipped under the radar that year, but I am glad I caught it. Tim Curry as Lord Darkness is a character you HAVE to see. Speaking of Lord Darkness, EBGames has a preorder for the special McFarlane toys figure of Darkness. I am going to have to get it, and place it near my Spawn, Odin, and Samurai Spawn figures. McFarlane toys seems to have the greatest model makers in history designing their figures. The Pumpkinhead Figure alone is worth looking at (but if you look, you'll want to buy it for certain.) Due to space constraints (and my Megatron figure), I have only been able to keep Diablo and Yoda on my monitor of late. One of my other monitors is loaded down with Star Wars figures. It's a scary moment when one of those things falls off and hits the keyboard. I am careful nowadays not to rattle the desk too much, in order to prevent spillage. *grin* Has anyone noticed the subjective nature of the network news anchors? It used to be quite subtle, and if you were not paying attention, you would actually be fooled into thinking they are unbiased and simply telling the headlines as they happened. The reporter's job is to tell the WHO/WHAT/WHERE/WHEN/HOW of a story, and leave the WHY for the Op-Ed section. It makes it simpler to categorize news that way. I am not saying the opinions need to be stricken from reporters' heads, but if they are going to be biased, it is their duty to tell the less aware of their viewership/readership that they are not simply presenting an unbiased look at the facts. Even word choice is critical to setting the tone of a story. For instance, consider the headline: "Fire rips through home, slaughtering 10" with the following: "Fire burns home to the ground, killing all 10 occupants." Granted, the 2nd headline seems more antiseptic, and yes more clinical than the first one since we are so used to the hype factor of the major news outlets, but which would you rather read in a newspaper if you were simply looking for news? The first one sensationalizes the fire in a way that should not be happening, even in tabloid newspapers. I am not trying to minimize the loss of life in either case, but I feel in a news situation, the facts and a cool head make for more effective reporting than rampant speculation and fearmongering. Such reporting has been what has galvanized movements like the World War II propaganda films and newsreels, that carefully mentioned things always in a positive light. It lightened the burden of those who were manning the home front to be sure, but in times of peace, we do not need to invoke the emotions of the listener/reader/viewer at every story. Scoops are best handled by the news organizations themselves. "Exclusive Interviews" are for the "Inside Edition" and "Enquirer" worlds, not the ABC Nightly News. But, I guess people are used to this brand of banter, and we are loathe to change it for fear of losing viewers. Edward R. Murrow must be tossing in his grave by now. Episode II. Who else is psyched? I know I am. After Episode 1, I was a little worried how the story was unfolding. The original saga (4-6) was darker, more frank series, with the Empire Strikes Back being extremely dark. It was very good, but then again, all of these movies (including Episode 1) are better than the best non-Star Wars movie. I am not just saying that because I love the series, but because it is just a timeless story that everyone can relate to. Star Trek isn't universal, as most Sci-Fi. Star Wars is a universe, while taken from familiar information and storylines, that melds the universal aspects we all cherish with cool explosions, robots, and ships. I mean, after all, who can argue that Darth Vader is not the most sinister villian in Sci-Fi?

RPG games and who knows what else: I love computer games. I always have. The only reason I ever wanted a computer was to play computer games. I remember back before my first Atari (an 800XL), I used to take my mom's old manual typewriter and pretend I had a computer that wanted my input. A few years before I got my first computer, I saw at a friend's house the amazing Vic-20. We spent 30 minutes typing in obscure "data" numbers and all sorts of pokes and peeks to get the machine to sound like a UFO. Of course he didn't have a disk or tape drive, so he never did get to keep his long, difficult, programs that he typed in saved for later. I marveled at the big colorful 22-column screen, the full keyboard and all the neat graphics you could make with the shift key (they were printed on the sides of the keys so you could reference them when needed.) I remember how much I wanted one of these things. They were nothing like my old Atari 2600. These machines were wonderful. I remember one Sunday right before my birthday, I got the impression (I don't know how) that I might have a computer waiting for me when I got home. It didn't happen of course, but that Christmas, I got one. I also got a few weeks before that, a 13" color television (which, btw, still works after 19 years). I loved my computer. It was the most amazing thing in the world. I typed in a basic program and saved it to tape. (for those who are not familiar with Atari computers, their BASIC was built-in like the CBM machines, but Atari had commands to do graphics and sound, whereas the C-64 and Vic-20 had lots of obscure pokes and peeks to get the powerful sound and graphics chips working. ) The first program was simple enough. Take user input and go to a color graphics mode and flash in big type (while playing a laser shot sound) "*input* is a flashy person!" Oh it was hilariously fun. Somehow I equated that with wanting a job in computers. :) I have no idea where that sprang up, to be perfectly honest. I really didn't have much of a backup plan. Still, it pays well. Most folks don't remember the Amiga. It was a great computer for its time, but it was saddled with a company intent on bringing itself down. Atari and Commodore spent the better part of a decade hitting the big time in home computers, yet Jack Tramiel killed Atari and Commodore killed Commodore. It was sad to see it go. I remember the day CBM announced bankruptcy. It was a mess. The Amiga had faltered under a lack of direction, and Commodore could not duplicate the success of the C-64 by word-of-mouth alone. It simply was not possible in the shadow of the x86 clone behemoth to sit and wait for the sales to come to them. Yet CBM thought they could accomplish just that. The AGA Amigas were some amazing systems, but no one could get one. When they finally were available in quantity, CBM was toast. Like the days when computers were just geek toys, I miss the height of Commodore's reign. They had some terrible mistakes (the Plus 4 anyone?), but their design was great, and the engineers of the Amiga were some of the most innovative geniuses the Computer Industry has or will have ever seen. The Amiga was an impressive machine. Anyone who hasn't had the privilege of using one should jet over to Cloanto.com and get themselves a copy of Amiga Forever. It's $30 for a fully functional Amiga emulator. It works on most PCs with Win9x or greater. I frequently use it to play some of the more amazing Amiga games I have in my small, but very cherished, collection. Cloanto gives you the ability to take a serial cable and an Amiga and make an ADF disk image of any amiga disk you own. It shows up as a special "explorer" on the PC, and it works great. I have done many of my games (before they decay into nothing), and I plan to do more, when I can rig up a mouse that works. Alas, the only thing bad about Amigas was the mouse. They were flimsy and lacked the durability of even the weakest mice on the PC. It was merely a trackball-like joystick, so it isn't too hard to rig something up, but it'll take a little effort. Speaking of emulation...Has anyone played with MAME lately? THAT is a great program. It takes the concept of "arcade at home" to a new level. It is the best thing in the world for reliving the best days of arcade hopping you may have done (as I did) when I was in Junior High and High school. Everything from Space Invaders (that I first played at a Pizza Inn on a cocktail machine with colored bands to make the invaders look multicolored), to Donkey Kong....MAME has it. I recommend it for anyone serious about the emulation of old arcade machines. It saves a piece of history for the next generation. :) And it does it in a cool way! Speaking of old games, I found the NEATEST thing for the Palm PDA the other day. It is called Frotz, and basically it is an Infocom game data parser. It makes some NIFTY short work of the game (with grafitti shortcuts, as well as the ability to type using the keyboard overlay that Palm has.) It really would shine if it were attached to a fold-up keyboard. I wouldn't mind it a bit if I could type away like I used to on the Atari. I briefly had an Atari 1200xl (the one with the screwed up ports), but it had THE most amazingly good keyboard. It was great to use. I remember one summer spending two weeks with a friend mapping and playing Planetfall. I wish I still had that map, to be honest. It was a great big map with several sheets representing the major parts of the ship and planet you were on. We even had little notes letting us know where things were that we found through the course of the game. It was quite a feat. We never did it for any other game, though I spent quite a bit of time mapping Zork 1. I never finished mapping it, though I was close. I should have bought Zork 2 and 3, but never got around to it. I recommend Zork for anyone who likes a good interactive fiction puzzle. Well, I have written a book once again. This is Invader Fenris, signing off! --Thanks for reading.

Stargazing, Photography, or something like them:

I recently subscribed to Weatherunderground.com ($5/year no ads), and I started to look seriously at the Astronomy section (which is a little restricted for non-members). I found the information on the astronomy site quite something to behold. I have never been seriously interested in astronomy before, but I have had a few telescopes. The most recent was a Tasco refractor that I got for Christmas in 1990, I believe. It worked great for looking at the moon, or distant water towers in dusk light, but for pinpointing a star or distant planet it was lacking in the fine-grained controls necessary to focus on the object. I'm sure anyone who has had a telescope without fine azimuth control can attest to the difficulty of trying to focus on the distant stars.

I am going to start looking into purchasing a telescope for casual viewing, perhaps even one that can be adapted for use with a 35 mm camera. I've often marveled at the interesting photos captured by amateur astronomers, and believe me, Iâ??m the most amateur. I particularly enjoy the time-lapse photos you can see with some of the more adept photographers. I've been recently photographing cloud formations (late winter, early spring of sorts), and I have gotten quite a few well-formed, billowing clouds. I will probably post them to my mac.com home page in the near future. This sort of imagery has gotten me to rethink my telescope purchase to include the ability to attach photography equipment to the lens. I don't know how expensive this attachment would be, but as with all projects, I will scale back accordingly in order to keep the costs within my reach. Once I finish purchasing some much needed parts for my 1962 Impala restoration project, I will be on the lookout for a telescope. (I need chassis bushings, and other rubber sorts of things to replace the 40-year old items on the car itself.)

On a side note, I am nearly ready to undertake my archiving process for photos from my grandmother's collection. I look forward to all the fond memories contained in each of the photos. When I was younger, I had an emotional detachment from all things in the past. I assume that was because there was so little of it. Now that Iâ??m older, and not so much wiser, I find the past to be a great place to visit now and again. Some folks think I might be dwelling too much in the past, but I can see where it will teach us if we would only listen. Things grandmothers said, strange statements made at Christmas time, and so on serve as markers if we would only take the time to read them. So, that said, spend a little time in the past once a week. You'll be suprised what you might learn.

The week should start out quite well I think, considering how time is rocketing along at a dizzying pace. I have surmised that in the scant 4 months of this year that have elapsed, I have accomplished exactly 0% of my resolutions. Resolutions are for making one feel better, and to lessen the blow of the abrupt holiday ending. Christmas is too quick to disappear every year, and I think it has steadily increased its rate of disappearance each successive year since high school. But, with the rapid exit of Christmas comes the new year that looks to be long and difficult. In reality, though, the year zooms by faster than you can say "let me smell the flowers!" If I have one piece of advice for anyone younger than me it is this. Do not look to the future, keep a stopwatch on your visits to the past, and always look in the here and now for happiness. You will always find it. It took me 31 years to figure that out, and now I hope it doesn't take another 31 to apply it. When I was younger, I spent all my time wishing I was an adult so that I could talk in the conversations, have interesting things to say, and so forth. I wondered what I would be driving, looking like, or doing when I was 25. It didn't consume me to the point of missing childhood, but it did pave the way for me to regret some things I didnâ??t get to because of this or that. I often would wonder how authors could write about such interesting things, much less have found the time to do them all. (I admit the fascination with the accumulation of domain knowledge was a bit odd.) Never forget that you only are guaranteed now. The past is already spent. The Future is never certain. All you have, or ever will have, is now. Use it wisely. Give yourself no time for regret.

Take care. Thanks for reading.

-- JFT

Random thought patterns:

Sorry for the delay in posting, but I've been having small problems with Blogger's editing facilities. I can't complain. It's free. ;) So, I sit here listening to Moonsorrow's new CD, and I start thinking. What *IS* it with music these days? I don't have a real answer, considering every generation that passes to adulthood says the same thing about the current generation's tripe. But this is not about "why is band X cool to these little pimple-faced goons"? It is more about what is happening to the music industry? It has always been a meatgrinder, ready to spew out clone after clone of whatever is selling at the time. Sure, some producers (like the one who "discovered" Green Day) have some delusion that they just "know" the real deal, and they are so "into" the genre of their latest discovery that they almost believe themselves to be the biggest fans. Never mind the corporate shill has signed the band to a lucrative deal for the company. (I don't think Green Day is anything more than a bunch of non-playing morons from California who should have stayed there sniffing glue and stealing car-stereos. I am using them as a recent example, because VH1 put "Dookie" as one of the greatest albums of all time. Why? Because it sold millions of copies? Zyklon B killed millions of Jewish people in World War 2, are we going to consider that fertilizer to be the greatest?) I am not saying that music has to convey a message, be political or socially conscious. It should entertain, and not rely on the force of the record company and their army of lawyers/marketeers/and corrupt boardmembers to force the popularity out like a zit. In other words, it should be the listener's choice what he/she likes. It should not be MTV's or VH1's. It should be based on the songs, the band's ability to play the songs, and whether or not their live show is good. It should NOT be based on who just had a guest shot in Episode II, or who has the latest ABC "rake in the advertising money" special "event".

But I digress. Most record labels, including the once venerated Metal Blade, have become factories. Some labels have always been factories, churning out the "poop-du-jour" at an almost frightening rate, but lately all major labels suffer from the same ailment. Never mind that Rap music isn't music at all, and that 90% of the "record producer moguls" who drink expensive liquor while driving equally expensive cars are nothing more than corporate goons themselves, robbing their unsuspecting "artists" of royalties while amassing a Gates-like fortune for the label they started two weeks ago. In this world where Intellectual Property is hoarded like gold bars, Rap is an anomaly. It samples from other successful songs and creates a sing-songy derivative poem about how rich or famous the rapper is. It has even become a parody of itself, considering most of the rapper "ho's" who grind away at the platinum-laden stars are seen in other videos doing much the same thing with other "ultra-producers" and their latest find. All these videos do is project an image that being extremely rich will get you anything, including happiness. When poor fans idolize these morons and try to do the same thing, only to be shot down repeatedly, their heroes have long since sold their product-heavy fortunes and returned to middle-class obscurity. We never see THAT in videos.

Rap is not the only lost wasteland of junk and expensive sales pitches called videos. Pop music, which has been the corporate mainstay since the 70's, churns out the most offensively untalented goons who ever put on fancy clothes and harped on about love, the Titanic, or love. Did I mention how much I hate Pop music? Mariah Carey is a recently excellent example of how the music industry just "doesn't get it." Who were the 5 people on the planet, besides Mariah's family, who saw her movie "Glitter?" Talk about over-exposure. Let's see if we can find another over-exposed pop "sensation" (nausea is a sensation, people) that has been over exposed. Who am I kidding? You can't swing a dead gerbil around without hitting 50 or 60 over exposed pop "product" that should have been left on the County Fair talent show stage. Britney Spears, N-Sync, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Linkin (log) Park, Slipknot, System of a Down, and Tool. Yes, I consider all those bands/people to be Pop music. They are product, made solely for the purpose of tapping a revenue stream. No one seriously LIKES the "twin gay duo" of Linkin Park, do they?

It seems that MTV (or eMpTyV, as I like to say) is responsible for most of that trash getting beyond the bargain bins of Tower Records. They are the primary vehicle (movies/tv/commercials being the secondary) of over-exposure. If MTV thinks they are some sort of "hip" voice of the current generation, they should realize their age. They were supposed to be the "hip" voice of my generation too. Nothing like trying to put makeup and facelifts on a tired philosophy. They are about as edgy as a bowling ball. I think its time to turn them into VH1 and turn VH1 into perpetual Lawrence Welk reruns.

By now, (if you're still reading...) you have got to be wondering "what is YOUR favorite music?" What bands do *I* like? As I stated before, I wish people would choose music they liked because THEY liked it, not because Carson Daley said it was cool. I don't want to hear that the band is "so political" like the corporate-backed "Rage against the Machine". I'm sorry, how can a bunch of self-proclaimed Marxists (who have Che' on their amp screens, and Soviet symbols everywhere) rake in millions of dollars? They have become what they supposedly wail against in their songs. How is THAT political? Bob Marley these people are NOT. But I digress again.

I like music that sounds good to me. Rap isn't it. Country isn't it. Soul isn't it. I like metal music. I don't like metal music because it annoys old people, or because it is "ub da debbil." I like it because metal bands sing about subjects I like. Bands like Moonsorrow, In Flames, Stratovarius, Helloween, and Gamma Ray are all singing about things I find cool. Bands like Rhapsody and Guardians of Time sing about subjects I find cool as well (swords, sorcery, dragons, and so on). Do I care that most people have dismissed this music as dead? No, I don't. If everyone and his college roommate started listening to Rhapsody tomorrow, I would not mind. I would not feel the need to tell everyone I liked them "before they got corporate." If more people liked things because THEY alone picked them, the world would be a better place.

That's the key, folks. Like what you like because YOU alone like it. Not because someone told you it was cool, or because some famous spokesman said it would grow hair or make you rich if you liked it. For crying out loud, Moonsorrow doesn't sing in English. I went to their website to read the translations of lyrics (www.moonsorrow.net) and I still think this band is awesome. I think the chaff would fall away if more people simply decided to start liking things because THEY like them. It also gives you the freedom to choose whatever you like that might seem contradictory. I also like New Age music. How's THAT for contradiction?

For people who have been blinded by the corporate line, it is difficult to figure out what is really your own likes/dislikes and what is implanted there by the mega machines. The trick is to stop listening to and watching everything you have now. Whatever truly is good music or movies in your collection will bubble up to the surface. Then, head over to the internet and go to independent record label sites, CDNow, or MusicMailExpress and find a song you like. Just randomly pick a song from a band you've never heard of before. Keep doing that until you find something you might like. Then go to the "related artists" section and see if there might be similar good sounding artists. (Be careful of this one, because CDNow plants music that is purely driven by market pushes from the major labels.) Once you do that, and start thinking for yourself, perhaps some of the mainstream drek that comes from the studios will be to your liking. The difference will be that YOU chose it of your own free will. You didn't have to rely on the marketing spin and trickery that snare the unaware.

Go forth. Do something for yourself. Don't do it because Michael Eisner said it was fun.

-- JFT proudly pissing off the Corporate Shills for 10 years.

Delays, delays.

Sorry folks, but it's been quite a couple of weeks. I haven't been posting regularly because, well, I'm lazy. So I figured I'd latch on to another topic and give you my special brand of sarcasm. What is the topic, you ask? Digital TV.

I confessed last month that I like gadgets. I have exceptions to the 'gadget rule' so to speak, and a big one is Digital TV/HDTV. First of all, who cares? I haven't met too many fellow nerds who even watch much television, much less want to see it in 16x9 digital widescreen crispness. Most television, scratch that, ALL television is derivative and pointless to begin with, so why would it matter if it were a cleaner picture? Show of hands, who wants to see "the tonight show" in HDTV digital "glory"? I thought so. The shows that most benefit from Digital TV are products of an industry bent on crushing fair use, squeezing every last dollar out of the "consumer" all in the name of entertainment. Entertainment. There's a word that hasn't applied to television since I was in high school. Classic shows that were meant for NTSC television broadcast are not going to cut it in the new "digital world", simply because they are too old. So, we hit the proverbial brick wall when it comes to getting our entertainment value from a $10,000 box.

That reminds me, with all the new standards for encryption and "plugging the analog hole" (as Jack Valenti so ignorantly put it) most HDTVs sold now are probably not going to be useful when they finally DO iron out the fair-use robbing features of the "new" broadcast encryption standards. From an industry who has executives clamoring for Nazi-esque lockdowns of our computers, VCRs, and televisions, we see their intent. Their intent is a "pay per view" universe in which they get TONS of money for every viewing of a program, listening of a CD, or reading of an e-Book. If we sit back and take it like the sheep we have shown to be thus far, we deserve what we get. I don't care if they put "Friends" or "Oprah" on pay-per-view, but I want my paper books. If I lose those, I'm not going to be happy.

You are probably wondering why the conceptual Fascism keeps spewing from Hollywood. I have wondered that myself, and judging by comments from the CEO of Turner Entertainment, Jamie Kelner (If you FF through commercials, you're stealing TV), I tend to see where their motivation lies. This is purely about the piles of money these corporations are raking in from us normal people. Every summer, we pile into the theaters for derivative, half-baked action/adventure movies that are light on story and high on merchandising (even Star Wars is guilty of this, but I make an exception because the story is actually quite good), and we throw stacks of money that would make the Vatican blush right into the vaults of all the major studios. Every Christmas, we buy the equivalent of Texas Stadium full of toys and other Tie-ins which also fill the coffers of the licensees (you guessed it...the studios). All this showering of money has made for a superlatively greedy bunch of money-grubbers in Hollywood. They "expect" it. My father had a saying: "Expect in one hand, crap in the other, and see which one fills up first."

It's time to cut off their air supply (and the re-release of all albums BY Air Supply). Pick one movie in the summer, and see it once if you happen to be bored enough to need to go. Cut your video/DVD rental/purchasing in half. Let them know we are NOT going to take it anymore. Now, what is going to happen is the big studios are going to start claiming we are all stealing these things we aren't seeing in the movie theaters, rental stores and Best Buy Stores from the internet using that "most evil of inventions: P2P" (Never mind that FTP has been around alot longer...and it's basically the same thing... they are clueless about technology.) THEN is when we need to write them a letter, and write our representatives letters, claiming character assassination and slander by the big studios to actually have the GALL to accuse us of thievery simply because we HATE THEIR PRODUCT. Venomous comments (not personal attacks) should follow about the studios' desire to rob citizens of money and freedom to protect their ancient business model, how the major studios hold back items to try and create artificial demand for a product so they can rake in the money, and how the extension of copyrights is UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

If 45% of us did that (oh heck, how about 30%), the studios would FEEL the power of the public. WE are their boss. WE decide what WE want to see. WE vote with the most powerful drug known to man: Money. Until studios return to the servant positions they had when they were small and poor, WE will not take nor TOLERATE their vicious attacks because they feel the need to squeeze every last nickel from the wallets of the REAL producers in America: you and me!

Thanks for reading:

BTW, I got the latest firmware for my Nomad Jukebox, and all the bugs that Creative attributed to my Mac are somehow gone. What has changed? Not my Mac, folks. ;) I still won't buy another product from them like this, not even another soundcard. Their insistence on bringing out shoddy products is evidence enough for me to seek out other manufacturers that listen to their customers.

*************** Support the EFF! http://www.eff.org **************************

I would like to leave you with a quote from Robert Heinlein about the very subject I am talking about:

"There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion
that because a man or a corporation has made a profit out of the public for
a number of years , the government and the courts are charged with the duty
of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing
circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not
supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations
have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be
stopped ,or turned back, for their private benefit."


We know, big studios, we listen. Beware the wrath of your customers.


...all typos are the property of JFT. If it makes you feel better that you found them, go with that and learn to write your own typo-laden work.

- JFT

This is just a test post to see if my Blogscript is working.

Creative Nomad Jukebox: or, Stuff that Frustrates

I guess I like gadgets. I have lots of little things that serve no other purpose than the "gee whiz" factor. I have a PDA, but I find it not so useful for much beyond little games and storing my emails once in a while. (Top that off with Palm/Handspring's slow acceptance of OS X.) I have a flatbed scanner too. Well, I have two. Of all my gadgets, these are most useful. The one attached to my PC (a simpler, cheaper model Microtek) is used to fax things for my parents. It occasionally gets a CD cover or two so I can make a wallpaper or something similar. The one attached to my mac (that I am diligently waiting for OSX drivers) is going to be used (along wih my 120 gigs of Firewire drives) to catalog and archive my grandmother's photo collection. It should be a very rewarding project, provided I start before the year 3000. I guess I'm the world's worst procrastinator. Pretty much everything is put off, with the exception of showering and bodily functions (which you can't just put off until later, no matter how much you think you need to.)

Still, this isn't about my gadgets. This is about one I picked up that doesn't work. The Creative Nomad Jukebox doesn't work for me. I tried to get it working. Sure it works most of the time if I transfer one song at a time and give it plenty of time between song transfers, but how is that a convenient gadget? (especially at USB 1.1 speeds.) I guess I ask too much of innovative technology, but I can't understand why it behaves as if I'm beta testing a prototype. Through the various firmware patches (not the least of which don't have much MAC support, even from Creative), I've eliminated some major glitches, but this transfer glitch is beyond me. I have tried my PC, but the Nomad just locks up my Windows computer (says lots about the stability of OS X compared to Windows.) It just plain stops taking files when you hit roughly 5 gigs. It appears this is an actual problem with the Jukebox, but no response that I've seen from Creative regarding this particular issue. And to top it off, the batteries got REALLY hot when I was trying to get the thing to copy a single file. I mean, REALLY hot. Like "unable to touch" type hot. I've tried without batteries, but nothing works.

Would I recommend the Nomad Jukebox? No. Not unless I didn't like the person. *GRIN* It's just more cost-effective to buy a $50 solid-state player, or spend $79 and get an MP3 CD player like the RioVolt. (Which I have, and it's completely flawless operation is a big plus in my book.) So the moral of this story is, don't be a beta tester unless you like that sort of thing. In other words, avoid the Nomad Jukebox. (This refers to the 6 gig model...but I'm sure the 20 gig sucks wind too.)

On a happier note: Heroes of Might and Magic IV is AMAZINGLY fun!

Take care...

Diablo II for OSX!

Woohoo! Well, folks, it's here. go to http://www.blizzard.com/diablo2 and get yourself the first Carbonized version of Diablo II and Diablo II:Lord of Destruction! I know, I know. Most people are done playing...but I am still yearning to get my damn paladin through Nightmare mode alive. He's level 42, and full of great junk...though his skills are weak against non-melee creatures (though I'm working in Normal mode to get him back to a respectable Paladin skillset.)

I was silly. I spent lots of skillpoints on Thorns because, well, by golly it helped me kill ol' Diablo in Normal mode. Trouble is, now I have ALL these skillpoints (8 to be exact) in Thorns, and I am of course having to get TOO close to these buggers to get any benefit from the skill. I mean, when you get hit over the head with a ton of bricks, it doesn't take too many of those type monster hits to send you back to town naked. But, all is not lost. I have invested heavily the last two levels in both dexterity and strength....plus I've added Salvation to my skill list. Works great in the Ice caves on Act V. Buttloads of fun, to be sure.

On a different note. TODAY IS THE DAY! YES! It's FINALLY ARRIVED! Soon, in my grubby little hands will be the awesome MAGNIFICENT, GAME of the YEAR (no, not Warcraft III), Heroes of Might and Magic IV! Oh YEAH, baby! It's ON now! New skillsets, new hero features. Classes of monsters and armies GALORE. All new 3-d map! It's COMING via my good pals, "EBGames." :) It's supposed to rain this weekend, so heck, I'll be sitting in front of the PC (barring a power outage) going APE making armies in the lands of Erathia. I know, I've never finished all the maps and campaigns of Heroes III (to be honest, I can't find my CD that has all the user maps on it...bah!), but of the games that are coming out this year.....HOMM IV was tops on my list. Warcraft III was a close second (of which I got the collector's edition, because I want the soundtrack and cinematics DVD....because they ROCK. Anyone who hasn't gotten their hands on a Diablo II cinematics DVD should get one....RIGHT NOW. The cutscenes are not done justice on the PC....seeing them on a DVD is awesome!)

On a sad note, I have to retire my barbarian character from Diablo II. He basically was a mule for testing and keeping goodies for me and friends who played the game, but now since most of my friends' handlers, wardens, er uh, wives won't let them play Diablo II, I am forced to shoot my barbarian to the recycle bin. Why not keep him, you ask? He's got zero skillpoints, plus his one weapons skillset is terrible (mace? Come ON, he's a barbarian!) and he is in dire need of equipment of his own. I don't fancy starting over with a Barbarian when I've got a level 22 Assassin (affectionately named "boobychick") who's taking up lots of time even from my amazing Sir FenrisUlf paladin warrior. ;)

Oh yeah, Age of Wonders II and Master of Orion III are due out in May. Get your credit cards ready to avoid the rush!

Screw console games. PCs STILL have the crown!

speaking of console games....who still thinks the Xbox isn't a PC? Morrowind is coming out for it at the SAME TIME as the PC version. How's THAT for a "quick port?" HOW could it have been so quick had it not had PC-like innards? Don't tell Jason Cross "hardware goon" at Computer Games magazine that it's a PC, or he'll wet himself. I know he's never going to read this, but heck, he gave up trying to convince me it was not a PC by simply ignoring me. :) Nothing like not being a good sport about things. And of course having the column to himself, he proceeded to make offhand remarks about the whole group of us who know the XBox is a PC.

Oh, and BTW....as for game quality, I have found the GameCube to actually have more FUN games than even the PS2. It seems that eye-candy, lens flares, and user adjustable soundtracks are the only thing the XBox programmers think are worthwhile. Anyone who's played Dead or Alive 3 knows Tekken beats the daylights out of it. And with Virtua Fighter IV coming for the PS2 (wait, that's out too! heheh), the XBox has lots of catching up to do. It'll be a while since Soul Calibur II is coming to the PS2 first as well. Guess I won't need an XBox. With its dismal performance in Japan, and lackluster showing in Europe (it's too damn expensive, Bill. nearly $350 or something in Europe is NOT going to garner much support since the PS2 is $199 and has a ton more games), the XBox is on life-support right now. It needs a killer title to resurrect it. Pretty much nothing has come out exclusively for the Xbox that is worth a damn, to be honest. So I will trudge along with my PS2 (after getting the Final Fantasy games for PSX....I'll never need another console game until Tekken 4 comes out...oh yeah, PS2 first.)

Oh well. I'm going to bed. My package will be here Friday! WOOOOOHOOOO! HOMMIV! It's your birthday, go hero, go hero!

---- JFT the loon.

Okay, I apologize for that last one, but I forgot to format! :P

The great Motherboard Fiasco Part 2:

I know, you don't know about part 1. Part 1 involved USB troubles with the A7V from Asus. I tried to get it to work. First the original back two USB ports refused to work, and would lock up the system solid if anything was attached to them (including a hub.) Then, the backup system failed (the A7V has room for 7 USB ports.) So I retired it. I decided to get the Abit KT7E, because it was both a budget board, and I didn't have to toss my ram for DDR. (I wasn't about to toss 512MB of ram out and start again.) So I ordered one from Comp-u-Plus. Due to a shipping snafu I actually receieved an FIC motherboard. For some reason, they were closed for nearly a week after they shipped my motherboard. (Perhaps there was a death in the family or something. That was a private matter.) Anyway, I couldn't wait for over a week to get my motherboard replaced with the one I ordered. So I decided that I would use it and get the $12 credit to my account for the price difference between the two motherboards. All went well. It is a nice motherboard.

In the immortal words of Homer Simpson "And that's when the CHUDs came after me." (That episode, Simpsons go to New York, was on tonight.) Everything has been flying along for about 6 months. I should first mention that I use my computer ALOT. When I say "alot", I mean it's on nearly 24/7. That being said, the FIC was a little workhorse. I stripped out most of the non-essential items from the motherboard (NIC, disabled onboard sound), and put 1 CD-RW and 1 40GB hard drive in it. It was a good game machine, that's for sure. Since my beloved Macintosh doesn't have very many commercial games (but some great shareware ones), I do a bunch of gaming on my PC. The FIC wasn't without its stability problems, though. I had a tough time with ACPI in Win98, lockups because my SBLive hates to share IRQs, and a few freeze-ups related to IE6. (I since moved back to 5.5 for stability.) I got all the glitches out of the system by November (I bought the motherboard the first week of October 2001), so I was ready to surf and play games. Overall, the motherbard was worth $62. :) But then, something weird happened last week.

Sure, I say, it happens after I make a major purchase (I bought a brand new 21" Sony Trinitron Monitor. It's GREAT), but this time I am right. All of a sudden, the stable setup stopped being able to write CDs. Despite the buffer underrun protection, the TDK VeloCD 24x burner was having errors writing to the CD. It would spin up the CD, try to write some, and stop. It would do this up until about 52% of the CD was "written" and then die. Roxio EZ CD Creator 5 was all patched up, so I couldn't figure out the problem. I tried Nero. Same result. Two coasters. :) No matter what speed I burned at, the system would just grind to a halt. I checked the hard disk for errors, and it was fine. I replaced my rounded cable with a flat one (just in case it was the cable). I got yet another coaster. I tried new media, because I've heard stories of certain CD-Rs not liking certain media. No luck.

I assumed I killed the CDR, so I dug out my old 4X HP burner and gave it a shot. If my HP worked, it would prove I needed to call TDK. So I started to burn a CD (at 4x) on the HP and it seemed to creep along fine. Things looked good, and EZ-CD said it was completed. The problem was, there was nothing on the CD. It took over 30 minutes to burn at 4x (which was a tad long I thought.) But sure enough, the CD had 0 bytes free and 0 bytes of data on it. Yet another coaster. So I thought I may be having intermittent bus problems. I checked all the drivers, and it looked fine. *shrug* I really don't know anymore with these AMD chipsets. I reinstalled Win98, and I got the same problem. I assume I have a dying 2nd IDE channel, but I can't pinpoint it. So, I check the newsgroups and all, but come up empty. I suppose I should try Linux and see if it burns anything. But I decided it was time to get a DDR motherboard now.

I decided to get an ABit KR7A-133. It has 4 DDR sockets, which can be advantageous when RAM hits the dumper again pricewise. I bought an Athlon 1600+ (1.4ghz) because it was cheapest of the mid-range XP processors. Plus it was in the retail box. I also bought a MONSTER fan, but I have heard the Dragon Orb is hard to install (bending capacitors? FAT CHANCE, people) , so I may go with the stock fan for now. I also got summarily hoodwinked for $200 worth of 512mb of DDR PC2100 ram. Yeesh, they are making a killing now. Ah well. When it hits $100, I'll buy some more. :) 1 gig of ram is a cool thing. I want to trade my leftover 256mb PC133 sims for a 512mb one. :) So I can go up to 1 gig on my beloved Mac. :)

So there you have it. 3 Motherboards in less than 3 years. I guess I'm a little peeved that I break so many, but thankful I have enough smarts to build myself a PC. I went out yesterday and shopped for pre-built PCs. For the $600 it cost me to get these parts, I could have gotten a Celeron...with integrated Intel 3D video and "audio." For the $1100 worth of parts I have from the original machine, I could've gotten a P4 1.5ghz with a GeForce 2MX (I have one of those in my P2 400) and maybe 512mb of ram (if I wanted a Compaq. Blech.) So I figure building is SO much better than buying. All I need is another decent case, and I'm going to make my own cheap Firewall (or MAME cabinet machine, whichever works for me.) I swore off building PCs when I had such stability problems last time around. But I just can't help tinkering. ;) Plus this $250 Coolermaster aluminum case is just TOO neat to let sit and collect dust (well more dust than normal. heheheh.)

...take care everyone. I'll let you know how the install goes in a few days.

- JFT