e's blog

For a variety of reasons I'm buying my first gaming PC in a long, long time.  I've been doing some research and I'm somewhat settled on what I want but I'm throwing it up here for some random feedback first.  Here's an approximation of my criteria:

• Really good but not top-of-the-line

I want fast gear that'll do the trick for some time but I won't pay the price premium for the absolute latest-and-greatest.

• This will be going in my A/V rack in my living room

If you've been to my house you know that everything happens in that room.  If I put it anywhere else in the house it'll sit idle.  Therefore it'll be connected to my big screen and I'll be using a wireless keyboard and mouse.  It doesn't have to be silent - the room also holds a DVR, laptops, dogs, and cats - but it can't be a screamer.

• There are brands I like and brands I don't

I've been using Asus since the early '90s they get the benefit of the doubt from me.  There are many brands - which I won't name - that I won't ever buy.  I prefer to pay for quality.

The List:

MB:  Asus P5E3 Deluxe/Wi-Fi AP

I don't need the wi-fi functionality but I love this board otherwise.

CPU:  Intel Core 2 Duo E8600

Yes, I know that I could get a Quad w/ 1333FSB for the same price.  I'm currently swayed by the much lower power draw (65W vs. 95W) but I still might get a Q9400 instead.

RAM:  4GB DDR3-1333

Video Card:  Sapphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB

I already have this so just tell me how great it is, please.

HD:  WD Caviar Black 1TB

No need for RAID, everything important will be backed up on my WHS.

DVD:  Lite-On Black SATA, 2MB Cache, Lightscribe, blahblahblah

Case:  Silverstone GD01-B

PS:  Enermax Pro82+

Thoughts, comments, questions?

Having an impromptu meeting in my office while I fire up my laptop and 360.

Put on some good Friday morning music – Tesla’s The Great Radio Controversy.

Fire up Geometry Wars 2 to get that blasted Treaty achievement that’s been avoiding me.

Get to 29/30 zones.

Have to go halfway across the screen to get to the 30^th.

Have a couple of baddies spawn and swerve to block my entrance and kill me less than an inch from the achievement.

Scream.  Throw controller.  Kick box under desk.

Everyone leaves my office.

Sit disconsolately in office.

Have someone walk by and ask if anyone died.

(from gizmodo)

I've never decided if the hamster wheel is a cruel or kind invention. On one hand, it keeps the otherwise inert hamster in shape. On the other, that hamster getting nowhere quickly. This LEGO elevator leaves me, again, floating in moral ambiguity. One one hand, it's LEGO and a convenient elevator. On the other...well, just watch the clip. Poor little guy. [via Neatorama]

I Can Has Cheezburger CEO allergic to cats

Consider this: Ben Huh runs a site that takes submissions of stupid cat pictures with pidgin English captions written across them. That site, I Can Has Cheezburger, pulls about 2.2 million pageviews a day. Like the HotOrNot guys — who sold their site for $10 million earlier this year — Huh is a lucky guy who's making bank off an obnoxiously simple idea. The delicious irony: According to the above excerpt from an interview Huh gave with Internet Superstar, he's completely allergic to cats. "If I pet a cat, which I can't resist, I immediately start crying. I get itchy in the face. I look like a diseased cheeseburger guy." Ben, we're oh so sorry to hear that. The full interview is embedded below.

Some people come in for trouble with Internet porn. But the computer gamers tend to be harder to treat. People feel a lot of shame around computer games. Whereas, it's socially acceptable to have a porn problem.

From an interview in the Boston Globe courtesy of the Gamerscore Blog.

Sedona's favorite new oral fixation isn't mine.  It's not Chloe's.  It's not Tyler's.  Is it yours?

Tuesday night dinner made from what was lying around.  Scrambled eggs, cilantro sausage, sharp cheddar, chipotle hot sauce, pepper, and salt on tortillas.

I made it to work in 18 minutes today.  That's unreal considering I didn't leave the house until about 8:30 and was slightly stuck behind a school bus.

<hugs new GPS>