Day In The Life of Baz

This weekend I’m supposed to be packing up my so that I can sell it. I’m having mixed emotions about the whole thing though. The biggest problem I have is that I’m going to be without a computer for about a week or however long it takes NewEgg.com to ship my new parts. Right now, this is my current configuration:

• AMD Althon XP 2600
• 1 GB DDR RAM
• Brand New 20X DVD Burner
• 17″ Dell CRT Monitor
• Altec Lansing 251 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers
• ATI All In Wonder - 970 PRO
• Logitech Mouse
• Some No Brand Keyboard
• 120 GB Western Digital Hard Drive

So as you can see, I’m trying to make a rather big step up. This step also includes a 19″ LCD Monitor. Now I’m all excited about getting a new computer, but the problem is that I don’t know for sure whether I have a sale. The customer sounds 85% sure that he wants it.

Problem number two, is that I currently live 150 miles from this customer. So tomorrow I have to load up the computer in the car and haul it 150 miles, almost 3 hours for a possible sale. Either way it goes, I’ll be pissed:

How This Mess Started

Now I’ve always been an avid reader of LifeHacker. Last night I was doing my regular browsing on the hacker and came across an article: How to clean your keyboard. I scanned through the article and started reading the comments. A lot of people mentioned that they don’t even bother cleaning their keyboard, they simply buy a new one. This seems like a huge waste to me. Some people even posted comments with instructions on how they went about cleaning their keyboards.

Now all of this brought back some memories. I know that I had done this before. I do remember popping keys off off a keyboard sometime in my distant past. After a bit of diving into the past I realized that this was two computers ago, which equates to about 5 years. I’ve had this keyboard for a lil’ over three (3) years and I haven’t given it a thorough cleaning. I mean I’ve done the compressed air, but how much does that really get out, huh? So with inspiration from LifeHacker, I set out to clean my keyboard like never before.

I started by popping off the keys one by one with a butter knife. Most instructions say that you should take a picture of the keyboard so that you know where to put the key back. Bah, what do they know? So I started placing all the keys in a grocery bag. I was going great and feeling good. Before too long this keyboard would be clean enough to eat off (some of this is what got me into this mess in the first place).

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Brought to you complements LifeHacker:

• Haggle Like a Pro: 5 Lines That Work - I could have used this when Lava an I went down to get the car. Although we didn’t have a resource like this I still think we did alright. I just missed the part on silence.
• How to Plan a Homework Schedule - Even though I’ve had this, I still wouldn’t have used it. What I’ve learned from life and many years of school is that I’m my own worst enemy when it comes to prioritizing work. I mean stuff gets done eventually, but usually under a lot stress and most of it the night before. After starting work, I think I need to stop this.
• How do I freeze? - Wow, a guide to freezing stuff. This is for you guys with the deep freezers and for guys like me who just stick everything in a container or ZipLock bag and just smell it when I get it.
• TaskList.org - A beautiful long list of programs that show up in your Task Manager. This site gives descriptions and lets you know whether or not you really need the software. But most importantly it tells you whether you’re dealing with SpyWare or not.

For damn near forever, all I’ve been thinking about is getting myself a new computer. The main purpose of which would be gaming purposes. Since I’ve been in school for the longest while, I haven’t had a chance to even consider it, outside of the minor upgrades here and there. Now that I’m working and financially stable it would seem like the perfect time to get myself a new computer. No, I’m not looking for a laptop; the specifications are too skimpy and they cost too much and I’m not really the mobile type. I’m looking for more of an entertainment center, so it’s going to be a desktop system, most likely built from scratch by yours truly.

One of my problems is figuring out what to do with the old (I hate calling my baby old) PC. Since I’m part of a rather large student organization, it would make sense to try to peddle it off to one of the other struggling students. Although, from what I’ve been hearing, they don’t really seem to be struggling that much. So I’m guessing they can afford a lot more than what they’re willing to pay. Now being the frugal minded person that I am, I’m looking to get all that I can get. The the other problem is that I don’t want to push it too much and have it sit on my hands; on the other hand I don’t want to give it away.

Download of the Day: CamStudio (Windows) - Lifehacker

Download of the Day: CamStudio (Windows)
AdblockWindows only: Can’t bear to explain to Dad again how a bookmarklet works? Record a short video demonstration using screen recording software CamStudio.

This is a very interesting program which I have actually used. It basically records screen action as they are being performed. You can record an AVI which you can converto to a Flash file as needed and of course these files are emailable.

See where I’m going with this? For those of us who have explained to parents and even to clients how to perform certain actions over and over and over again, we now have a way out. This might even work with Jim.

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