no more AIM! woooooo!! well, almost. i just got another friend to start using something OTHER than AIM, so i’m almost ready to get rid of it. finally. so maybe in a couple of weeks i can finally rid my computer of AIM.
no more AIM! woooooo!! well, almost. i just got another friend to start using something OTHER than AIM, so i’m almost ready to get rid of it. finally. so maybe in a couple of weeks i can finally rid my computer of AIM.
well, so it begins. starting this week, i begin a very long week. make that weeks. i will be starting a good ol’ fashion 4/10 week. but this will be a little unusual. it won’t be from 7:30 – 5:30 or something more normal sounding. oh no. i’ll be working a schedule of 9:30 am to 8:30 pm. yep! 11 hours! 10 hours of work, one hour of lunch. 10… hours… of… sitting… … … i don’t look forward to this.
my manager had asked me previously a couple weeks ago wanting to know if i’d work the 11:30 am to 8:30 pm shift. nobody wants to work that shift, including myself. which is why i originally rejected the offer. well, it appears nobody STILL wanted the shift, so now, it comes to me… again.
so why did i accept the offer? i don’t know. cus i’m an idiot. duh. i got a good feeling i’m not gonna be liking this in any way. sure, i get friday off, but i got a good feeling it’s gonna kill me AND i’ll be sleeping most of friday to catch up.
so, i’m gonna need plenty of caffine and sugar to keep going. and something to ensure i don’t lose my voice.
yes… i’m looking around 😛
the whole point of a media center setup is to be able to control everything you want from the comfort of your couch. but to be able to do that, there’s two key components you need: a remote and the software to do so (well, i guess a computer is important too).
earlier this month, i got my hands ahold of the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 software and the Microsoft Windows Media Center Remote Control. the Media Center software has become so big, it now requires two CDs to install: one for Windows XP and one for the actual Media Center software.
in the past, Windows Media Center use to be a subset of Windows XP Professional (the corporate version of Windows XP meant for businesses), thus making it quite expensive for users. With the 2005 edition, Microsoft has went back to the drawing board and decided to base Windows Media Center 2005 on the Professional code, but striped most of the Professional-related options (thus making it more like XP Home Edition, the consumer version of XP). by doing this, Media Center Edition now acts as the step-up from Windows XP Home Edition, but now can be sold cheaper than XP Professional.
and is it cheaper! the full install of Windows XP Media Center Edition retails for about $140-150 through online shops. a retail copy of a full edition of Windows XP Home Edition and Professional goes for about $200 and $300 respectively. now, you just can’t walk up to any ol’ best buy or compusa and purchase XP MCE. this has to be purchased through what’s called an OEM, or Original Equipment Manufacturer. these types of places only sell very barebores versions of software and hardware. no fancy packaging here. and at times, shorter warranties too. and that’s how you save money too. with the less packaging to deal with, the cheaper hardware and software can be.
the remote isn’t exactly fancy itself. it comes with a USB Infrared Receiver (to communicate the remote to the computer), two Infrared Senders (to communicate from the computer to a device like your TV or a Cable/Satellite Box), and the Remote itself. it has all the buttons you’ll need to work with XP MCE (My Music, My Videos, Home, Back, etc.). it’s a remote. not like i could write much about it. if it made me coffee and washed the clothes, then we’d have something to talk about. it you have either cable or satellite service, then you know pretty much how this remote works too.
Total Project Cost
Price Product Store
$ 114.99 Software: WinXP Media Center Ed 2005 Computer3G.com
33.00 Remote: WinXP Media Center Ed Remote Computer3G.com
0.00 Shipping and Handling
$ 148.98 SUBTOTAL
56.00 Previous Project Costs
$ 204.98 TOTAL
i’ve been pretty busy as of late, so i figure i’d update on where i’m at with my MCE computer. well, my case came in a good month back. the case does have its ups and downs, but not everything will be perfect. it is to my liking so far.
now, i would have taken pictures of my case, but i don’t have a camera that works, so you’ll get these generic product shots instead! this entry will be a little long (as will be the motherboard’s) as there is a lot to detail on this. other entries will be a lot shorter as there will not be much to say about them.
i decided to go with the Athenatech A202BB microATX Desktop Case for this project. the main reasons were a) it looked more like an actual entertainment center-type case compared to the other cases that i saw were available and b) it was the CHEAPEST case that looked like an actual entertainment center-type case. and so far, i am impressed by the case. it is very lightweight and compact, which is what you’ll want for a media center device.
another thing that impressed me about this case is the inclusion of an air vent for the processor at the top of the case as well as the side mounted fan which would be just to the right of the processor on the motherboard (1). this will be very important as the full-size desktop processor will be placed inside a smaller than normal case for operation. of course, this could also be a negative as there will be three fans running in the system at the same time: the processor’s, the power supply’s, and the side case fan. the processor i’m purchasing should be low-power so maybe heat won’t be an issue.
hidden behind the top door in the front is room for two full-size optical drives (2). which now begs the question: do i purchase just one optical drive or purchase two (one dedicated to writing, one for reading). having the door hide these drives is really nice as i am not wanting to always be looking at logos of the companies that made the drive. this will keep the layout of the device very clean.
keeping with the clean layout is another hidden compartment. behide the USB door is, well, USB ports (3). there are other ports hidden there as well, including room for a Firewire port and a headphone and microphone jack. these front USB ports will be very useful for when connecting devices like cameras and gamepads (for things like playing Arcade and Console games).
as for the outside, that leaves the mysterious panel in the lower right corner of the front of the device (4). following a cable on the inside of the case leads to a standard power connection. does this power light up when the device is on? if so, what color is it? right now, i really can’t tell until i get the device completely set up.
the inside of the case is pretty baron for now as there is no motherboard yet. my money can only go so far at this point. either way, the inside should be enough for fair to flow through. the question is will the 220 watt power supply (5) be enough to handle the devices i put in here? i won’t know this for sure until i get everything in. also, because of the slim design of the device, only Half-Height PCI cards can be used in here. thankfully, manufacturers understand that there are people out there making MCE style computers, so finding Half-Height PCI cards isn’t an issue. i do have one complaint i think could have been worked on. the case only allows for one Hard Drive to be installed (7). this really hampers my design thoughts of having one hard drive for the Operating System and one for all my files (Music, Videos, etc.). there is definitely room for more than one drive, but this could have been done because of a possible heat issue with so many devices crammed into this case, which is understandable.
i do actually have another complaint about the device. trying to get to the hard drive isn’t exactly too easy of a task… especially when there is a very neccessary screw missing. the front bay that holds the optical and hard drives flips out from it’s location to allow access to the hard drive bay. this bay is held into place by two slide locks on each side of the bay. when unlocking these locks, the spring-loaded bay will then allow you to retract it to get to the hard drive bay. the problem with this is that a) since the bay is spring-loaded, it will flip out immediately after unlocking it. hopefully the weight of the devices will prevent this when they are actually in there. and b) when a very necessary screw is missing from the bay itself, the bay wants to jump out of the case completely, most likely endangering anybody within 50 feet of it. okay. that may be a little of an exageration, but you get my point. a little warning is all i ask for.
other than that, this case looks to be very promising. but the real testing can’t be done until everything is in the case itself. but the empty case does look nice in my entertainment center for the time being.
Total Project Cost
Price Product Store
$ 46.00 Case: Athenatech A202BB mATX Desktop ChiefValue.com
10.00 Case: Shipping and Handling
56.00 TOTAL
note: normally, i’d post things as seperate entries, but these three things all seem to flow into each other… i’m sure they do… so, get ready for a long post.
i had a dream last night. i haven’t had dreams in a long time… it started with me being at a football game (which is weird for me to begin with as i’m not exactly a sports person). well, the game was almost over and the opposing team pretty much thought they had the game in their hand. they even went as far as bringing out a kicker wearing a dress and kicking the ball without any shoes on. now that i think about it, i think this was an arena football game cus i think the field seemed smaller. anyways… eventually, the opposition showed off a little too much which led to a turnover, thus allowing the home team to come back and win in the final seconds of the game.
after the event, i went to some pep-rally type event, which, again, is unusual for me. i had met up in the bleachers with who i can only assume was a friend (which i remember calling David in my dreams). we watched our winning team fill into the locker room, but one person when a different direction. it turned out to be a girl which i guess i had my eye on for some time. i can only assume she was part of the team. at this point, i wanted to get to know more about her, but my friend in this dream said i’ll never have a chance with her.
i left the rally and the building it was held. that’s when the girl i had my eye on ran up to me. when she run up to me, she held out her hand in a fist. she wanted me to press my ring against hers, like the wonder twins from the old superfriends cartoons. unfortunately, i had to inform her that i didn’t have a ring to do so. so was insistant either way, so i pressed my fist against hers. we started walking toward her van which was parked in the street. when we got there, she opened up the back of the van and pulled out baskets of flowers. i forgot to mention she was wearing a dress that looked like someone who was selling flowers would wear. i’m sure she looked cute in it, even though i don’t remember what exactly she looked like.
my friend from my dream caught up with us. we wanted to do something, but didn’t know what, so we headed on back to my parents’ house for some reason with dream-girl and dream-friend in the van and me in my car. once we got there, dream-friend ran into my parents’ house, so i’m assuming it’s not really my parents’ house. i guess we were only there to drop stuff off cus we were back on the road again, this time all of us in the van, but there was no real direction to go. i suggested we head north, so we turned around, piled into my car, and headed on out. at this point, i wake up.
that dream was definitely better than the nightmares i’ve been having recently, but at the same time, it sadden me cus it was just a dream. it seems too happy. almost depressed me more than anything. i’ve had that lonliness feeling creep up on me a couple times as of late, but nothing serious or bothersome, but this is definitely bothersome now. it also makes me wonder if this is the kind of woman i’d like to get to know better… you know… the one in my dreams. cus, well, i’ve never been able to pinpoint what i like in a woman… so confusing…
on the way to work, i had just got on the freeway when i had got that urge again to turn my car around and go in a completely different direction. i’m wanting to get away again. go away. somewhere. but reality sets in and i can’t do that. it doesn’t pay the bills. but it would be such a great feeling. to be going in the opposite direction, watching traffic drive into town, and eventually watch the sun come up as i get away from the madness.
to make things even more fun for today, i was doing really horrible at work. i just wasn’t there. i was dropping calls, unable to answer questions, and just overall not concentrating properly. lately, this has been the feeling. for some reason, my game hasn’t been what it was in the past. not to mention i come home with hardly a voice anymore or my throat really hurts and is sore. something isn’t right, but i don’t know what.
as you can see, i’m having problems right now. i need to get my head cleared. i don’t know where it’s at right now, but it needs to clear up sometime soon.
Current Music: “i woke up in a car” by something corporate
mind you, this is a completely what if scenario.
obviously, this is something people always think about. what if… just what if… of course, we all know only certain people will win. so, since i would be a very rational thinking of what i’d do with my winnings, i will definitely not win. 😛 but let’s just play this game for fun.
for example, the current state lottery is up to $8,000,000. now, i know, it really won’t be $8 mil flat because of taxes and things like that, but we’re pretending here. 😛 so, this is how i’d go. first, i’d only allow myself to be spending no more than $500,000 a year. mind you, that isn’t all for me. oh no. see, i would then split that $500,000 in the following ways.
first, i gotta take care of my family. myself and michael would get $50,000. earl and his wife would get $70,000. jon and his friend chris (she’s practically family) would get $40,000 and $30,000. why so little compared to everyone else? well, they live together, so they can save a little better than the rest of us. 🙂 and, of course, my parents would get $75,000.
oh yeah… i guess i gotta take care of myself. i would get $65,000/year. why so much? well, i was thinking about doing $50,000, but then i thought about what if i wanted to take a trip somewhere or buy some ungodly priced thing i don’t really need? 😀 okay… i can be greedy just a little…
that leaves me with $170,000. so where does that all go? well, i have to help out my best friend steph and her b/f russ. they would get $60,000. with as many financial situations they’ve been in, they deserve it. what about my other friends? well, i’m splitting up $12,000 among the rest of them. now, i’m not going to name names cus i wouldn’t want people wondering if they’re my friend or not.
so now that leaves me with $98,000. well, i always wanna give back to charity cus they’re out there to help out. so i would be giving charities $48,000 a year. now, i won’t just give it to just one charity. each month, i would give a different charity $4,000. that way i can help a lot of different causes.
so finally, i have $50,000. this would be emergency cash that would be put into something that can gain interest on it. you always want to have something to the side for those just in case reasons. but after a year, i would split that $50,000 amongst everyone (but keep the interest earned in the emergency fund) as a new set of $50,000 would be in that fund.
so, to recap
$ 65,000 for myself
$ 75,000 to my parents
$ 70,000 to earl and his wife
$ 70,000 to jon and chris
$ 50,000 to mike
$ 60,000 to my friend steph and russ
$ 12,000 to divide evenly among my other friends
$ 48,000 to charities
$ 50,000 for emergencies
so, with that $500,000 a year plan, winning a $8,000,000 lottery would last about 16 years. see! it’s call being efficient! so, the larger the lottery, the longer i can live without working. 😀 that, or i could redo the numbers. something like that.
but since i have an efficient plan that does more to help out the people around me than just being a greedy jerk who would spend the money all on himself, i will never win the lottery. i can always hope, though, just like everyone else. 🙂