http://dfarq.homeip.net Silicon is cheaper than steel en-gb http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080513222345359 So, my no-name compact flash adapters arrived today. I ripped one open like a kid at Christmas, pulled a PC off the scrap heap, yanked my 128 MB compact flash card out of my PDA, and went to town. http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080512214028920 This weekend was Mother's Day, which meant a family get-together, which inevitably led to some computer questions. A few months ago I found a PC for my mom that's for all intents and purposes identical to my main PC. Now that my sister and brother in law are due for a computer upgrade, I suggested they get the same mod... http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080512211604911 PC Magazine has a feature about inexpensive PC upgrades. There's some good advice there, but some questionable advice too. Since I really did write the book on free and inexpensive upgrades, I'll present my own advice (but I'll skip the pretty pictures). http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080509180559821 SSDs are the first technology to excite me in a very long time. Next-generation drives with ultralow seek times and transfer rates around 100mb/s are finally available from Crucial and OCZ, but at a price of $600-$700 for a 32gb drive.I'm going to wait for prices to come down and experiment with a cheaper alter... http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080506195605701 A story today about the possibility that a prominent California Republican was once a co-founder of the Commodore 64 warez group Fairlight caused an uproar on Slashdot today.Reading it brought back some memories. http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080501123116464 So the expensive Toro mower I bought a year ago decided to go on strike. Unfortunately, Toro's "Guarantee to Start" is only as good as the place that looks at it. In my case, the authorized service center charges a $62 bench fee, did its best to convince me the problem isn't covered under warranty (they can'... http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080427075028979 I switched to Office 2007 on Friday. The reason given was that updates to Office 2003 were failing to install, so the remedy was to install 2007. The change happened Wednesday night. I was out of the office Thursday, so I had a nice surprise waiting for me when I returned on Friday. http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080417220632305 On Monday, a group of protesters gathered outside the Vatican, er, 1333 S. Kirkwood Road.Their complaint: Issues, Etc., a popular radio show on the LCMS's unpopular talk radio station, got cancelled without warning, and the host and producer were fired. http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080408210503480 I don't think I've been able to write those words since 2003, so I'd better use them when I can. This team has been making me eat my words almost non-stop since 1986. Aside from briefly recapturing the magic in the summer of '03, the only highlights I can think of revolve around the twilight of George Brett's career. ... http://dfarq.homeip.net/article/20080330185218139 I think I'm going to take the train to work tomorrow. It won't save me any time, although with some creativity I could save five minutes some days (but lose five on others). I do figure it can save me some money.