The new computer is working fine... fine is an understatement of course when compared to the old computer. I have more USB ports than I need, programs don't lag and the display is amazing for working in Photoshop.

I've installed some of the older games I have and run them at max settings and the computer handles it with ease. I've even been able to max out some of the new demos I've downloaded over the weekend. I'm quite sure some newer stuff would tax the computer but for games the weak point is the video card I have. It's quite capable for the stuff I own, but new games would most likely push it too far. At lower graphics settings it would be fine though.

The only thing I don't like so far... well, two things I don't like so far. Dell has far too much preinstalled software on the computer. They should have an option for people who already have software they need to not have the preinstalled stuff on it. I would do well enough with just a clean install of XP and then add what I want to that.

The second thing is the card reader built into the monitor. Once you turn off the monitor you lose the connection to the card reader since the monitor is powering it. They could fix that by allowing the USB uplink to power the card reader by itself, or at least give the user that option.

I'm really nitpicking with those two things though. Overall the computer is great. The media center part of the XP media center I have is kinda lame. I guess if it was hooked up to a tv it might be different. I don't see using it very much.

I also hooked up my business continuity system (IE: Work computer) to the monitor last night and it worked flawlessly. I picked up a new power bar yesterday as well since I still want to run the old computer and network it with the new one. I'll most likely set it up as a print server so I can get rid of one of the printers we now use and just use the laser printer from work. The new power bar has 11 outlets on it with space for 6 large adapters. It's nice.

WooHoo! New Computer is here

Well, it better be or I'm typing using my imagination only. It's pretty sweet so far. So much faster than the 1.7 Ghz P4. The monitor is HUGE!

Here are some pics:

Old monitor vs. New (look at the viewing area)

And the monitor and CPU together. Apparently the computer has a an optical sound out. Sweet!

Beautiful Day

Well it looks like our cold snapped finally snapped... at least for today. It was a balmy -4 with clear skies. Given our recent lows -4 felt a little like July ;-) I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and went for a nice walk. I covered 7 km in one hour. Not bad given the snow on the sidewalks from a snowfall we had a couple nights ago.

On another topic, here's hoping we see a Colts vs. Bears Superbowl after today;-)

Computer on its way

So the computer was shipped out on Wednesday morning. Since it's coming ground from the US it most likely won't be here until Monday or Tuesday. Again, I'm looking forward to getting it. First thing will be the removal of all the un-necessary software Dell installs. Perhaps a clean Windows install as well just to make certain. Or maybe not. I'll see when I get it.

There's talk of a new football stadium to be built on the location of the current CanadInns Stadium. David Asper (Son of Izzy Asper - think CanWest Global; Global TV and National Post et al.) is willing to put up $60 million of his own money for the construction of the stadium. The total cost would be $120 million with the remainder of the money coming from government and private investors. The catch? David wants the ownership of the Blue Bombers. Personally I think it's a good idea and would be a good replacement for the aging stadium.

Here's an artist rendition:

You can check out the website for the potential stadium at http://www.blueandgold.ca

blap

Just a quick post here tonight. Per the Dell website the new computer is "in production" so the estimated delivery date next week should be met if it gets shipped out tomorrow or Friday. I'm looking forward to getting it:)



So the last post had real pictures, while this one will have a picture from the game Tourist Trophy. Remember I was fascinated with that one near the beginning of my blog? Anyway I still play it occasionally and edit pictures from the game in Photoshop. This one came out quite well and looks fairly realistic for a video game don' you think?

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A picture update!

Yay! We all like pictures! I took some pictures of the inside of our house tonight as Marla wanted some to show her coworkers and to remind her of home while she's away. We recently had it painted and I had promised a long time ago to show some here on the blog. Well, here they are, along with our new dinette table and chairs. The table finish is actually the sister pattern to our countertop and when we were picking out our countertop prior to building our house it actually had come down to what we have now and what our table is finished in. Neato they way stuff like that works huh?

This is just a test. In the event of an emergency

Just trying out a new extension for Firefox 2.0. It's supposed to let me add posts to my blog without actually having to go there. I can drag and drop images:

and some other stuff. Seems quite neat so far. Now to see if it works... *hits save*

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*bleepity bleep* It's cold

When I wake up in the mornings I check my little weather station for the outside temperature. Today it read "--.--" That translates to "it's really frickin' cold out." I forgot the weather station only goes to -29.99. That's the coldest it's been since I got it last christmas. Previous to that the coldest temp was sometime last february when it got down to -26 for an hour or so.

Anywho, I looked online and the temperature reporting for Stonewall was -38 and with the windchill it was -48.

Minus 48.

What the hell is up with that. Apparently that's the coldest it's been here in two years.

I wonder sometimes what the voyageurs were thinking when they decided to set up shop at the meeting of the Red and Assiniboine River. Summer not so bad. Winter... not so good.

Then again it's like this across the prairies, except in Calgary they get their little chinooks to help out.

Oh well, it's cold and we deal with it. Just try to remember it's a "dry cold.". Still cold enough to take your ***** off.

Brrrrrr...rrrrrr... did I mention Brrrrrrrrrrr

After driving through white out conditions this morning on the way to work we have a blue sky showing and a nice balmy temperature of -38 with the windchill! I saw a brass monkey and yes, his wedding tackle was frozen off. Tonight it's supposed to be an incredibly warm -43.

That means frozen tires on the car tomorrow morning (even with it parked in the garage) and no possibility of the car even warming up... until I get to work of course. Then it will be nice and toasty. Murphy's Law at work right there. I'll have to remember my extension cord as well so I can plug my car in at work or else it might not be starting tomorrow afternoon.

It wasn't that bad this morning, just stormy. We got another 5 or so cm of snow and plenty of wind. It wasn't fun running through snow that was shin deep in places this morning. Cedar wasn't impressed either with snow up to her bum... especially when she was trying to do her bathroom duty. Tonight I guarantee she won't even want to go out and I can't blame her for it.

We also ordered the new computer last night. Called Dell and spoke to a guy in India. Very nice guy and easy process. The estimated delivery date is in a couple weeks.

Hump Day

Not much new going on. We had another dump of snow today. I believe the total was supposed to be between 5 and 10 cm. It was enough to make the drive to work today more enjoyable. I just pretend I'm Colin McRae doing a rally stage;-)

We didn't curl this last friday night. Not due to anything we did, just the other team didn't show up. We called the head of the league to see if he knew what was going on and after he placed a call to a member of the other team they told him that we had called to say we weren't going to be playing! He did tell us they were two players down and were supposed to find some more players. I guess they didn't, but to say that we called to cancel was a bit childish. Why would we be at the arena calling him if we had called them to cancel? The organizer agreed. People are strange and we'll call it out second win.

Starting monday I'll be living the bachelor lifestyle for a month as Marla is heading for Florida for a week long sales conference. After the conference she will be going to New Jersey (new Joyzee for the locals I guess ;-) ) for 3 weeks of training for her new job duties. I don't like the amount of time she'll be gone (nor does Marla), but it has to be done. Cedar dog will be going to her grandparents for the month while the cats and I will be doing the guy thing.

Marla and I have decided to go through Dell again for a computer. I've got a nice one spec'd out and we just need to call Dell to see if they can give us a deal for being a repeat customer. Basic specs are as follows:

Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz

2 GB Ram

250 GB HD

256 MB ATI X1300 Pro video card

24" widescreen monitor (Dell 2407FPW to be specific)

Yes, a 24" monitor. I wanted something with which I could also hook my Playstation 2 up to so I don't have to use our Grand Wega. The 2407FPW has DVI, VGA, Component, Composite and S-Video connections. It also has 4 USB ports and a built-in card reader.

It is a monster though compared to average monitors. It should just fit on the desk that we have. A 19" looks puny compared to it:

More photoshop fun

Yesterday I read a photoshop tutorial on how to turn a regular automobile into a Cars (the recent animated movie) character. I could have spent some more time perfecting these shots but I believe they came out looking ok. Ramper is Grant's truck and P Tooner is well, my PT:)

Doesn't that look like fun?

Here's a youtube clip of two guys having way to much fun playing Guitar Hero. The song is Iron Man by Black Sabbath for those who don't know it;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVUgd8ot6BE

And a video of a really good player. This one actually makes me dizzy trying to follow all the notes. He does do little skits at the beginning of each of his videos so the song does come a little later:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf3PyopvxIs

While we're here I'll post some more youtube videos from Justin Timberlake on Saturday Night Live:

Dick in a box: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WOwRQ3Iib4

Homelessville: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KS865kF3vo

Punk'd parody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhTCzO0LCMQ

Happy New Year!

I know I'm a day late with that, but there it is;-) I hope everyone's new year was a good one. Marla and I spent a quiet weekend at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg. We went to the spa (www.tenspa.ca) on saturday morning, which was very nice and went to see the latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale, on sunday night. All in all it was a nice weekend.

We did get a lot of snow on saturday evening. Offical reports are now saying 29 cm in Winnipeg and I would say that we got more than that in Stonewall. I'm glad it was only light fluffy snow and not heavy stuff as it still took me an hour and a half to shovel the driveway yesterday when we got back. The PT was a trooper though and pushed through the snow that was up to the bumper to get into the garage=)

Recently I've been contemplating getting my own domain name for this blog as I'd like a bit more creative freedom with the layout. Not to mention a shorter URL as well. Not that taking out the .blogspot. will make it that much shorter, but hey, having my own domain would be nice. However I'm not sure I want to keep the name field behind the plow. Leave your ideas in the comments if you like=)