Archive for March, 2006
The Alien has Landed
And here it is, the new Alienware m5500. By here, I mean sitting on my lap. Not that it helps you see it or anything, but I’m too lazy to actually take a picture of it.
I’ve never had a laptop before, so I am trying to use it like one would usually use one. Right now I’m in my living room. Wireless internet, battery powered. It’s neat, I suppose. If it was later in the day (I woke up at 6:30 this morning, ugh, that’s what you get for going to bed before 11pm), I’d probably be talking to people on GAIM. Which I haven’t done since, well, probably since I started playing WoW. Just like updating my blog, I hadn’t done since I started playing WoW.
I suppose that’s about it. I could probably type forever on this thing. I don’t know why, but there’s something about laptops (the feel of the keyboard, the look of the screen) that make me feel like I could write a dozen novels on them. Not that I’m inspired enough to do so, but it is a nice thing to be able to type and such wherever you want.
I think that was a squirrel that was jumping on our roof just now. Kind of loud. But as interesting as squirrels are, I digress. Because I’m just babbling at this point. Time to end this bloggy entry.
Feeling: Alone, because no one is awake yet
Listening to: I disconnected the harddrive on my desktop that has all the MP3s on it, and I’m too lazy to turn off / reconnect / turn back on… so nothing.
1 comment March 18, 2006
Major Update #3
[Alan]
We are still together and will be celebrating a 4-year anniversary in about a month. He’s going to graduate with a masters in Computer Engineering this semester. He doesn’t have any immediate job plans, and I recommended to him that he take a few months off after school is finished. Going straight from years and years of school to a full time job isn’t my idea of a good time. Everyone deserves a break once in a while. I’ve been driving down to visit him every other weekend, and due to the below reason, dragging my server-case-sized computer down with me.
[WoW]
As some of you know, I now am one of the many addicted to an MMORPG, namely World of Warcraft. I really do play it too much, but I enjoy it. It keeps me entertained daily for a monthly fee, which works out to be (like Nathaniel had once tried to convince me) cheaper than if I had been doing things IRL (in real life). Alan plays too (as well as many of my other friends from college), so it’s nice to keep in touch with everyone so much.
[Laptop]
Because dragging my heavy computer to Champaign is dangerous to its lifespan, I started looking into laptops. I’ve wanted one for a long time, but I’ve never liked how expensive they are.
Last night I purchased the following Alienware Laptop.
Area-51® m5500
Processor: Intel® Pentium® M 780 2.26GHz 2MB L2 Cache 533MHz FSB
Operating System (Office software not included): Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
Warranty: 90-Day AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support
Display: Alienware® m5500 15.4″ WideSXGA+ 1680 x 1050 LCD – Xeno Grey
Motherboard: Alienware® Intel® 915GM + ICH6 Chipset
Wireless Network Card: Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 b/g Wireless Card
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 533MHz – 2 x 512MB
Hard Drive: 60GB 7200 RPM ATA100
Video/Graphics Card: 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go MXM 6600
Sound Card: Intel® High-Definition Audio
Optical Drive: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Ethernet NIC: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Modem: 56K Modem with V.90 Technology
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
There are a lot of reasons I like this model over others, including the Dell XPS ones. First of all, it’s small. I want the option to use it as a “coffee shop chic” tool as well as a heavy duty gaming machine. Since I’ve never had a laptop, I don’t know how much I’d use it, but I want to try to take it as many places as I can. To add to this utility, it has two video cards. You can choose which one to use with a switch on the outside of the machine. The 256mb video card can be used for gaming, while the other would be good for power saving. I wanted an Alienware computer from the start. I’ve been a big fan of their brand since I built my current desktop (back in August of 2003?). I actually modeled mine after one of the ones they had, and it is pretty relatively good even now, two and a half years later.
[Betta Fish]
Brian and Stewie have both died. Brian freaked out and we think he may have had some sort of heart attack, and Stewie got pretty depressed and simply didn’t want to swim anymore. Stewie had been playing dead for weeks before he died (he’d sleep slightly on his side at the surface of the water, and when I’d tap the bowl he’d wake up… but he looked dead). I do have one fish left, Chris. I bought Chris at Walmart because he had the longest fins I’d seen on a betta that was for sale. He seems pretty young so he’s active and funny.
[Car]
My Mitsubishi Eclipse seems to be running perfectly after the folks at Weber Automotive fixed it. It’s been a long time since they fixed it, and the problem hasn’t even come close to returning. I would highly recommend them to anyone. If you have car problems that no one else seems to understand, visit them. 890 S. Milwaukee Ave, Wheeling, IL 60090. Phone: (847) 520-3740.
[Job]
I’m still working at All Tile. Not too much has changed about this. I went to Las Vegas again for the Surfaces 2006 trade show, and we again had a “Sell-A-Bration.” It went pretty well, but it was a lot of work (again). No, I didn’t win any money, but I only lost something like five bucks. I went out to dinner with one of the salesmen I’m friends with and one of his clients. We all shared 13 pound lobster, on top of our incredibly expensive and filling meals. Considering it was the second time I’d ever had lobster (the first being an Outback lobster tail that really sucked), I really liked it. If it wasn’t over $700 for 6 people, I’d think about going there on my own. 
Feeling: Glad it’s Friday
Listening to: I know it’s corny, but the Wicked soundtrack is a lot of fun to sing along to.
1 comment March 10, 2006
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