I have 10 9 no more. Leave a comment for an invite!

I have 9 extra invites to the beta version of Windows Live Messenger (MSN Messenger 8.0). If you would like one, just drop me an email.

**UPDATE**

Sorry, all gone! More when they become available.

**UPDATE**

And now I have 7 more…

**UPDATE**

All gone again.

**UPDATES - SCROLL DOWN**

Hey - get your mind out of the gutter. I am talking about the new computer I am building tonight. If you are not a computer geek, these specs won’t mean squat to you.

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Mobo
AMD Athlon64 X2 4400+ Dual Core (2MB L2 Cache)
4GB DDR400 PC3200 Dual Channel RAM
74.6GB 10,000 RPM Western Digital Raptor SATA HD (OS - Primary)
300 GB 7,200 RPM Seagate Barracuda SATA HD (Secondary)
ATI All-In-Wonder X600 PCIe 256MB DDR
Plexxtor DVD-+RW, CD-RW Combo Drive
Aspire X-Crusier Case w/420W PS

Slammin.

**UPDATE**

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

Word to the wise - if the case LOOKS cool, something is likely wrong with it.

So I get the motherboard in and go to connect the power supply and, shocker, the power supply doesn’t have a 24-pin power connector. Seriously - for 100 bucks the freaking thing should have a 24-pin connector (yes, 100 is a lot for a case, but just look at it!). Not to worry, right? I have a spare power supply that has the right connector, BUT 20 less watts. So I give that a shot - no dice. 400 watts isn’t cutting it. The mobo standby light is on so I am guessing there ain’t enough power to fire it up. Fans (case & CPU) and fan lights come on, but no panel LEDs, no beeps - nuthin.

So tomorrow I have to buy a new power supply - I am going with 500 watts. That should do the trick, I hope.

**UPDATE**

I just got an email from someone saying this post is porn for computer geeks. I can’t argue with that.

**UPDATE** 10/11/05

Well, after 4 days of running this new monster, I have to say I am very happy with it. I ended up going with a 480 watt power supply. I also had to return the PIQ RAM I bought because at least one of the four sticks was bad - they didn’t have another pair to replace the one with the bad stick in it so I ended up going with 2 new pairs of CORSAIR DDR400 dual channnel - more expensive but better memory and it has been flawless since I installed it on Sunday.

I have had one minor issue with random lockups that I have traced to the drivers for the Linksys PCI Wireless-G card w/ SRX. I went with this option because it boosted my speed from 54Mbps to 108 but this is the first version so the drivers need some work. Other than that, this thing is smokin’ fast.

I played Sim City 4 (Deluxe Edition) last night on it and it didn’t miss a beat. No skips, no hangs - smooth as a baby’s ass 3D effects - REALLY nice. It also doesn’t hurt to have a video card with 256MB of DDR RAM.

Like the world needs this. Thanks, but no thanks. Obviously this inventor hasn’t seen the new Battlestar Galactica.

Windows Vista? Are they serious? I saw that on a Microsoft watch blog yesterday and thought for sure it was a parody. So what does it mean? You can watch your computer crash from a hilltop?

Note to microsoft: Hire new marketing firm.

**UPDATE**

Well, if they decide to change it, which is quite likely given the feedback I am seeing in M$ newsgroups, they now have a convinient excuse.

It looks like Microsoft is playing around with a web-based RSS aggregator. Click the Show link on that page to give it a spin.

The design is really simplistic but it works great. The only drawback so far is that you have to put the actual URL of the RSS feed in. I tried several blogs with just the blog’s URL and no dice, although, it did say something about “Checking for AutoDiscovery Tag” so that may be in the works.