Currently Black Clouds & Silver Linings By Dream Theater see related

TK-8841 Reporting For Duty

Well, my application to the 501st was not only recieved, but approved! There are a few small issues that I'll need to work out over time, but I was still able to join. Scratch one more thing off my list of Things To Do Before I Die.

It's January first, which means that we can finally start using "twenty" when referring to the year, as opposed to "aught nine" or similar. It's twenty-ten. Feels futuristic, doesn't it? It also means that yesterday was supposed to be the date of my "2009: A Year In Review," but I simply don't have time to go through an exhaustive list of everything I accomplished month by month in 2009. Not only that, but it would mostly be a minor list of things I did in my attempts to graduate from the schoolhouse in Kirtland.

However, that doesn't mean I can't make a list of things I'd like to accomplish in the coming year. Things such as:

• Complete MQT.
• Finish my CDC's.
• Get M-9 qualified.
• Get M-203 qualified.
• Finish my Associate's Degree.
• Send a package to the ASCP/SOAR program and get accepted.
• Pay off the last of Jessica's sudent loans.
• Actually find the time to finish the dozen or so entries that I've started writing.
• Get my 1.5 mile run time under 12:30.
• Go trooping at Celebration V in Orlando.
• And anything else that I happen to remember or happens along in the meantime.

Should be an interesting year.

Currently Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back see related

Trooping

  Well, today my stormtrooper armor finally arrived!

Hopefully, with a few tweaks and modifications, I'll be able to submit an application to the 501st.

Currently Velocifero By Ladytron see related

I Touched a Cloud Today

As a child, I always wondered what clouds felt like. Sometimes I'd wonder if I could trap a cloud in a jar. I even knew what kind of jar I wanted to use. Of course, the opportunity never arose, and over time, I forgot the idea entirely.

As I grew older, I learned that such ideas were based more in fantasy than reality. It seems that as we become adults, we shrug off and dismiss some of the idle curiosities and childhood mysteries that once preoccupied us so.

And yet, I couldn't help but feel childlike wonder and amazement when I stuck my hand out of the window and into a childhood dream come true.

I touched a cloud today. And for a moment, the whole world was new.

Currently Mass Effect By Electronic Arts see related

Enter Hydra (Take Two)

Well, I had an entire entry written out. It had pictures and everything. Then when I hit "submit," Xanga said that it was performing system maintenance, and I lost everything. Then, in a completely unrelated situation, I began vomiting uncontrollably and spent the rest of the night recovering or sleeping.

Sometimes I hate you, Xanga.

After a couple of weeks of trying to find time to post this, I've finally got a few minutes to sit down and type something out. Between exercises at work and unpacking/organizing at home, I've had very little time for software tweaking or just playing around on my new system. It took me a little while to do it, but once everything was finished, I was pretty happy with the results.

I doubt that most people will find meaning in comparative lists of numbers and stats, but for reference, here are the simple (and biggest) differences between Hydra and my last machine, Cerberus:

Cerberus:

• Processor: Dual Core AMD 2.8 Ghz
• RAM: 8 GB DDR2 Dual-Channel
• Hard Drive: 300 GB SATA
• Video: 512 MB nVidia GeForce 8600 (2)
• Power Supply: 550 Watts
• USB Ports: 6
• Firewire (1394) Ports: 0
• eSATA Ports: 0
• Monitor: Westinghouse 19" (3/4)
• OS: Windows XP Pro x64

Hydra:

• Processor: Intel i7 975 Extreme Edition 3.33 Ghz (Quad-Core)
• RAM: 12 GB DDR3 Tri-Channel (Patriot Viper)
• Hard Drive: 1 TB SATA
• Video: 1024 MB nVidia GeForce GTX 280 OCX Edition (2)
• Power Supply: 1000 Watts
• USB Ports: 12
• Firewire (1394) Ports: 2
• eSATA Ports: 2
• Monitor: Westinghouse 19" (4)
• OS: Windows XP Pro x64

So, at a glance, (even without getting into the EVGA X58 Classified motherboard) it's obvious that Hydra is several steps ahead of anything else I've ever built.

Getting all of the parts together (especially the processor) took some time. Most of that time was spent waiting on my travel voucher to go through.

After that, it was a fairly simple matter of organizing (sort of) all of the parts, and assembling them.

It was a fairly simple and straightforward process to put the computer together, run the wires, and check all the connections.

After that, I added a few finishing touches...

And there you have it. The most powerful computer I've ever built or used. Now if I could just find time to actually play with it.

Currently Star Wars 501st: An Imperial Commando Novel By Karen Traviss see related

Meet Lord Mirdalan

Or "Mird," for short. He's our new tabby kitten, named after the Lord Mirdalan of Karen Traviss' invention. However, that wasn't necessarily our plan from the start. It took us some time before we finally settled on the name Mird. Here's a list of cat names in no particular order that were considered (some more than others) but were for one reason or another rejected:

• Mephistopholes
• Faust
• Dog
• Sex Cat
• Kitler
• Panzer