Genenut

Was reading the news and read about the shooting near stuttgart germany and southern Alabama and was just wondering if all our members from the area(s) are okay? On a side note I'm beginning to think reading the news is not a good idea any more. While this was happening in Germany an idiot in Alabama decided to prune his family tree and any near by passers by too the old fashion way with a gun ... Last week our little state of just over a million residents had 3 child abuse cases hit the state news (usually we have like 1 every six months) ... The news has gotten to be way too depressing lately and not just due to the economy being in the tank... *hugs* all and stay safe

I hate it when this show puts kids in danger or appear to put them in danger.... *sigh* and they have kept such a tight lid on the finale that I cant find out the result of the sit with the kid . I dont know how much of the last 3 episodes I'm going to watch ...

and you can say this without shuddering in fear? *lol* you have stronger nerves than I .... my 14 yr old cant drive a shopping cart straight (he ran into the sliding exit door at walmart a few weeks back so hard it went off its track) so the thought of him wanting to drive a CAR in a couple of years is truly frightening....

idk lego land sounds like it could be dangerous ;-) I mean I know what a few thousand legos can do to my feet in the boys room here at home, the millions that must be scattered at that place must make foot travel painful *lol* .... legos = land mines .... *lol* looks like you had fun though ...

Happy birthday Ari!

I know many "granolas" who wash thier ziplocs over and over again, Im sure there is a site with instructions on how to do it safely. then you can re use them for the next trip to the super supermarket ;-)

*hugs*

There is also the pre-loaded debit card that looks like a visa/mastercard/amex but only has a certain amount 25, 50, etc "loaded" on to it like a gift certificate. They are not connected to your bank account in any way and so if you buy a 50.00 one and spend 50.00 the thieves can get the card info but it wont do them any good as there isnt any money on it and there wont be...

I agree, either pay pal or use a debit card only loaded with exactly how much you want to spend... that way if they do get your # they wont get your $$$ (someplaces wont take pay pal)

friday, drop youngest and todd off at daycare and work. then I go to work... *blah* Then repeat in reverse to pick everyone up. Get home about 5pm Then mad dash to clean house and make dinner before company comes over for game night. 6:30-9pm , role playing and no tv except for the youngest who since he cant read cant play... Then get online for some facebook/guildwars playtime *g* Best friday would be no work, no kids and maybe no todd for a few hours and I get to use the bathroom for a BATH in peace and quiet .... then guild wars for a few hours... the RPG in the evening with a maid/cook to do the cleaning and cooking... *g* I'm still waiting for that dream to become reality.... I think I might have to wait til the kids move out to have it... (using the bathroom in peace and quiet)

I use a logitech wave keyboard, the keys "click" and its comfy. It holds up to playing on sacred and guildwars and such even with mashing the keys. Todd and I both have this keyboard and love it. my recent problems with certain keys not working was resolved by prying certain keys off and removing the crumbs that had accumulated under them ... We also have an old MS natural keyboard thats about 10 yrs old and other than several keys having had thier letters worn off the surface of the keys it still works like it did out of the box 12 years ago... I cant stand a straight keyboard , my wrists dont bed that way naturally ... I even got work to get me a split keyboard. my wrists dont hurt after working any more... Its branded "corporate express" but I suspect its a stripped version of a ms natural keyboard since it has keys labeled "word" "excel" and "power point" and other brands wouldnt call them that just simply " work processor" " spreadsheet" , etc ... it works great too , except for the static elec in the office that zaps the keyboard regularly making the usb port think its asleep but thats not the keyboards fault.

the diff between oem vista 64 bit and retail is closer to 150$ which is the cost of a video card or more. Last time I called MS support was prior to 1998 as I had to call from Japan ... my BIL is IT mgr for an online company and my sis is a programmer... I can probably get better and faster support from them than I can from MS ...

You could come play guild wars....

so long as you don't want to get a second HD 4850 and run them in Crossfire. ...........quickly exits. Is there a less $$ option than the 4850 that when run cross fire would give the same or better performance as a single 4850? Or should I look at nvidia cards instead of ati? Otherwise a 2nd 4850 will have to wait a while (over a year) and then I can always upgrade the power supply at the same time.

well as I have yet to actually fill out my taxes (but I know how much we should get back) it might be upwards of 4-6 weeks before I can think about buying the parts and then it would only be me... Todd is saving his pennies for a new car as his truck is getting close to the it wont pass inspection ever stage (body rust is the mortal enemy of all vehicles up here due to the salt from the snow ..) so we have to think of replacing it in the next year or two ... But I am seriously considering getting a new puter myself this year.

Personally if you are thinking of a mmorpg I would try Guild Wars. no monthly fee and the graphics are nice. I've been playing for over a year now and I still havent been even close to everywhere. And for those who like HC , try to get the survivor title.... The closest I've ever gotten was a level 18 ranger... (have to get to level 20 without dying to get the 1st level of the title, there are 3 levels for the title track)... I am still trying to get that title. They have events for most of the holidays and a few others that are specific to the game. I really enjoy the game.

So Sorry to hear about your friend Funky:-( I hope all turns out okay Im very happy to see the amount of support being given to help those affected by the fires. I have a friend who lives in San Diego CA and I know last year he gave us a few heart skips when the fires were so out of control as he lives very near where they were. He was fine but I know the feeling of not knowing for a while. I hope they catch those who have started the fires (the press here states at the moment only 1 is know to have been deliberate but another one hasnt been determined yet) and throw the book and the kitchen sink at them... Thanks everyone for checking in ... *hugs*

I had a case on the list, must not have copied when I highlighted everything... My cuurent computer has a 160 gb drive in it and I havent used 1/2 of it. Thats with GW, oblivion, and quake 3 with lots of add on stuff in it and COD 1&2 ... I run lean systems in terms of disk space. I figure the 250gb will do me fine and if not and I need more room I'll just add another drive on. I have a nice protector I dont skimp on them. It has a warrenty for replacement if anything gets fried ... UPS is overkill for me. Last time I called MS for support was add on software that had disabled itself (early form of secure rom) and even MS couldnt override the lockout... I had a nice set of coasters then ( MS Sheduler back when win95 had just come out) Otherwise I use knowledge support articles and try to not mess with things... *lol*. Last issue I had was SP3 and the internet had more info on how to get around it on an amd system than MS did... But the difference between retail and system builders is whether I build my own or buy a pre built and upgrade... It all seems alot more confusing since the last time I tried to put a system together ....More choices and speeds... *lol* I feel like a noob again..

Was playing in new egg and put this together on a wish list. MSI P35 Neo-F LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard MSI P35 Neo-F LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Model #:P35 Neo-F Item #:N82E16813130095 Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy In Stock $84.99 -$5.00 Instant $79.99 HIS Hightech H485FN512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card HIS Hightech H485FN512P Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail Model #:H485FN512P Item #:N82E16814161259 Return Policy:Standard Return Policy In Stock Mail-in Rebate $149.99 -$10.00 Instant $139.99 2 A-DATA 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1B16 A-DATA 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model ADQVE1B16 - Retail Model #:ADQVE1B16 Item #:N82E16820211272 Return Policy:Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy In Stock $23.99 $47.98 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail Model #:BX80570E8400 Item #:N82E16819115037 Return Policy:Processors (CPUs) Return Policy In Stock $164.99 $164.99 COOLMAX V-500 500W ATX Power Supply COOLMAX V-500 500W ATX Power Supply - Retail Model #:V-500 Item #:N82E16817159062 Return Policy:Standard Return Policy In Stock Mail-in Rebate $34.99 -$10.00 Instant $24.99 SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black IDE Model SH-S222L SAMSUNG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black IDE Model SH-S222L - OEM Model #:SH-S222L Item #:N82E16827151176 Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy In Stock $23.49 $23.49 Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500AAJS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM Model #:WD2500AAJS Item #:N82E16822136113 Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy In Stock $47.99 $47.99 Subtotal: $529.42 Is everything on this list compatible with each other and whats the difference between regular versions of windows and the "system builders" editions? Did I forget anythin? I dont need a monitor (have 21inch crt at the moment thats just fine) and I dont need speakers, keyboard or mouse and if it has on board sound thats fine too since through headphones you dont get any more from a separate card than you do on board sound... Will this run Sacred 2 at medium or higher with all the bits and bobs turned on at 40fps or better? Im thinking of what I want to spend part of our tax refund on .... Thanks in advance ...

Glad to hear from you Jun and Anestty that you are both okay. *hugs*

Thanks for posting guys, Has anyone heard from Funky or Jun or know if they live in the affected area? Sorry if I forgot anyone else down under I dont tend to notice where everyone is from most of the time. As to the theory now that atleast one if not more of these fires were deliberately set, I say the perfect punishment is to have them stand in the middle of the fires they set while they are still burning..... eye for an eye. *hugs* all

Just quickly reading about the terrible brush fires down there in SW Australia and was just wondering if all our "down under" friends are okay?

When will my youngest get better ... pukies on sun/mon and today sent home from preschool with a fever and no energy (when I came in he had his head on the table in front of him and his lunch untouched while the rest of the kids got dressed to go out side and were genreally bouncing all over the place *sigh*) I'll be working this weekend to get done what I needed to do today :-(

Oh poor knuckles ... that sounds like poor dederman. He'd get up to answer the phone and his little boy would "play" with his s1 toons ... or unplug the modem, etc and he would come back to either a neked toon or a dead one.. *g* GL on the rebuild ...

I dont know about your trees but mine are a bit more buried since that pic was taken .... I have to laugh though that 3-6 inches of snow can stop an entire city like London... up here it doesnt even delay school... takes atleast 12 inches or ice to delay or cancel school and the town keeps running as do jobs and transport... wimpy londoners ... I begin to see how we won the war back in 1776 .... we threw snow at them ....