I love building computers. Not only do I love building them, but also taking them apart. Tracker and I [Dark] have striped an entire computer down to nothing in just 1 minute flat. Thats no joke either. When building a new Desktop there are many things to consider. These are just some of the ones on my top priority list.
1. OS
An OS is a very funny thing. If your like me you want a Hack-n-tosh. At the same time you want to run Windows 7 and a Linux distro. OSX is very picky I hear about running on special hardware, atleast if you want it to run well, so maybe you really want to get an Intel processor with an ASUS motherboard because I hear they work best. Now for Windows 7 your also going to need a decent card, not to mention OSX. Linux is happy on almost any system so really if you wanted to you’d be fine getting lower specs.
2. Uses
Different uses of a computer are also important to me. Can I make this computer a Home server? Or will it only be able to surf the web? Will it be an HD movie machine or a gaming PC perhaps? I love all of thee above so my new machine is going to have to be powerful in many areas. But if maybe I wanted to make a simple computer for lets say, Boxee? Then I would be able to not spend so much money.
3. Lifespan
Lifespan is important because even if your computer is outdated before its even shipped (and it is) it still should last you a good 3 to 4 years, hopefully more, but that is very unlikely in these times where everything it obsolete the moment its created.
4. Hardware release dates
If you buy something the day it comes out its extremely expensive, but if you wait to long then its outdated and worthless. So your pretty much playing russian roulette and hoping you don’t shoot yourself later on down the road.

-Dark

Well I was actually going to post this last night, but I didn’t get around to it. So when I look to buy a new product the first thing I always do is look for creative mods and hacks. For this particular find I was looking into some DSi hacks. While I have found a few PoC Videos (Proof of Concept) and a few flash carts I have yet to see any real progress as of yet to make me want one of these instead of just working with my normal DS. So as I was trolling through youtube looking at some PoC’s I found this. A DS that has been modded to play on two tablet screens! Apparently there is quite a lot of hardware hacking in this, its not so simple that you could just go buy a touch screen and go to town on it. This was really just something that interested me and I would really love to try, but with this recession I really can’t afford it. In any case its pretty interesting to watch.
-Dark (happy tracker? lol)

-> Source: http://home.comcast.net/~olimar/DS/jumbotron/

EDIT: Just a thought but let me break down the cost that he estimates it would be to make this again and this is a direct quote:

“Parts and approximate cost (you can do better scrounging for stuff on eBay):

Gateway M275 screens (14″ 1024×768): $100*2 (eBay)
LVDS modules (Advantech PCM-205): $60*2
Digilent S3BOARD + headers: $130
Nintendo DS: $100
Wacom pen: $30

Grand total: $580 (let’s make it an even $600 for any other miscellaneous junk). However, _MOST_ of these things were spare parts I had laying around from earlier projects, so it didn’t cost me anywhere near that much. I wouldn’t have bothered if it did.”

There you have it, now I know I can’t afford it! Dammit its just so cool!

[Tracker: OMG HE LIVES!!!!!!!]

Want another good reasion to get a EEEPC? How about getting over 20% off.

[Source: Tech Deal Digger]

-Tracker

In this episode I have some friends joining me! Welcome the newest members Caboose and Care Bear!

We are talking about what to do with your old computer that you have collecting dust in your closet. A rant about ISP service and support and some panoramic photos. This show was recorded using ventrilo and I am not to proud of the quality but I am working on some stuff so hopefully it will get better over time. Any comments or suggestions just post them as a comment I welcome them all

[Links]

• Microsoft ICE
• Linux
• Panoramic Photo Blog Post

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Enjoy

-Tracker

The image you see above is a flying fuck…no really it is. Its a RC Helicopter toy but instead of it having a model helicopter it has the word fuck. GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!

I cant be the only one who wants one

[Source: Nerd Approved]

-Tracker

OMG WTF H4X!!!! I have a real podcast now…a bit long I know but hey its real stuff not just crap…well it may be crap let me know in the links what you think.

Long show…Close to 30min long but the content is there.

Including

• Internet Radio Station thoughts
• Vonage Review
• Free crap from NameCheap
• Free Voip software and where you can get cheap phone numbers
• Bongs! [Like for smoking]
• Me asking for money so that I can do more mods
• A song!
• Free Music [Sort of]

Enjoy

Mentioned Links in the show…

• Radio Streaming Info
• Pod Safe Radio
• Track3r.Net
• My Twitter
• Name Cheap
• Donations
• 3cx
• callcentric

*all links open in a new window*

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Apparently someone has more time on there hands than I do and put a Mac Mini into a Apple 2 Disk drive.

[Read On]

-Tracker

Ok so if you know me at all then you know for the past like 3 months ive been complaining that my computer sucks major ass and I needed a new motherboard and processor. Well a few months back my motherboard failed. So I went out and spent some cash on parts for a new system and to get my old system running while I saved some money. Below is a list of parts I got.

• EVGA 01G-P2-N795-TR GeForce 8600 GT 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
• WINTEC AMPX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
• Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound
• BYTECC 18″ Serial ATA-150/300 Cable w/Locking Latch Model SATA-118C
• MSI 945GCM478-L 478 Intel 945GC Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
• SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD322HJ 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Ok so the parts themselves are new tech. The motherboard was a decent board that would play nice with all the parts and my old ass processor. So I was able to get my system back up for a while at a cheap price [$250~]. However performance on this thing. Sucks major ass. The CPU [p4 ht 3.2ghz] only gets a passmark score of like 300 to 500. So ya it sucked. Im talking 30~fps on counter strike source suck here.

So anyway. Today someone bought some old domain names I had and that pushed me over the top and I was able to order my new parts. Im going to use the parts from above because they are all compatible with these new parts and ill upgrade the ram to 8gb later on down the road.

• Foxconn A7GM-S AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard – $79.99
• AMD Phenom 9850 2.5GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HD985ZXAJ4BGH – $149
• XIGMATEK EP-CD901 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler – $17.99

I spent around $200 on this after discounts. [combo deal] This new processor aside from being a quad core beast. It also gets a passmark score of 2500!!!! Thats going to be a major boost to my current system. It will be the most powerful system I have ever built. I will be doing a whole write up on how to install the parts once I get them here. Should be no later than Wednesday. Hopefully they will ship it out monday and I will get it tuesday because of how close I am to neweggs shipping warehouse for the east coast.

So for now I am going to start backing up my 300gb of pron documents and music.

My first PDA was a PalmOS device. My first real smartphone was PalmOS. Ever since I have been into computers I have know palmOS so this is sad news that Palm is no longer going to make devices with the wonderful mobile operating system. While it will live on in the centro for a while they wont make any new devices. So after 13 years a operating system that has been adapted and upgraded from its former [colorless shell] it comes to a slow painful death.

Oh and my TREO 650 is in on suicide watch right now….lets hope it pulls through!

-Tracker

[On a side note visit THIS link to see the upgrades to palm over the years]