I finally upgraded my 2 year old computer. Basically I just swapped out the motherboard, cpu and memory. Inspite of the influence from the Intel camp (you know who you are), I went with AMD ... again. (The 2.4Ghz P4 did look *very* nice). Anyways, its an Athlon XP 2500+, with 512MB of PC2700 memory. All things considered, it doesn't feel much faster. Although I really haven't used it much. So now my brother gets the 1133Mhz chip. Also I can put the old motherboard into the BlackBox with his 850Mhz chip replacing the old P3 500Mhz. I'm trying to dump my SB Live! card and use the uber-powerful onboard sound but its a little trippy in Linux. Yeah, I'm a hardware geek. Oh well, back to more important things.

Posted in: Technology, Stuff,

At the beginning of the summer I visited my cousin's family outside of Chicago. When we were having dinner, the subject of drinks came up. I was so bold as to say that I would try (as in "eat") the worm that you might find in a bottom of a Tequila bottle. Everyone laughed and thought I wasn't serious (I was not drunk at the time). Anyways they told me it was called Mezcal and just as well I soon forgot about what I said. At the end of summer I visited them again, however in the meantime they had vacationed in Mexico and brought back a little gift. I now have a small bottom of Tequila with a genuine Mezcal floating at the bottom. The worm is somewhat longer than an inch and the body has many more segments than I previously assumed. Along side it are tiny dark particles of unknown origin. I'm not sure if I'll ever drink or eat it. I might just down it during a large family gathering when everyone is watching, just to prove what a good sport I am. But for now, the 100mL of 78 proof Gusano Rojo sits on my desk between a stack of CD's and old papers. Fear Factor this ain't, but I can wait to try that little guy.

Posted in: Funny, Random,

The much anticipated Dido album Life For Rent comes out today. The first single White Flag is already a hit. The chanteuse hasn't had a major release since her 1999 No Angel and the initial reviews look good. I'll wait a bit before shelling out for this one. I'll probably listen to some more singles first (in MP3? pretty shocking huh?).

News of the (now #2) Sarah McLachlan has indicated a new album slated for release Nov 5. (Hmmm, that's awefully close to ... hint hint). With a few years out of sight, much has changed ... I think.

Posted in: Music,

A conservative student group at the Southern Methodist University put together an "Affirmative Action" bake sale, where students were charged different rates for their gender and race. Apparently the university wasn't thrilled. As I recall the fine students at the University of Michigan were the first to try this. Even though that didn't sit well with the (over represented) liberal student body, it did not result in any problems. The interesting fact is that in a conservative state such as Texas, with a generally conservative student body such as SMU, it caused a notable uproar.

I prefer these aproaches to protests against Affirmative Action over the obnoxious, rude and sometimes violent protests for it.

Posted in: Politics,

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life, Try to make ends meet, You're a slave to money then you die ... I once had perceived that a good job was the gateway to happiness. I had a long conversation with a good friend who challenged that notion. The debate we had was whether or not I should try harder to find contentment in my work. The suggestion offered to me was that I should consider if the job is the issue or if it something else. And to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what it is. I was under the impression that if I obtained some higher degree, it would open the door to something better. However there is a risk involved: what happens if I end up in the same situation somewhere else? I'm just really confused. Should I be losing so much sleep over this?

Posted in: Life, Philosophy,