I finally broke down and ordered a new computer. We got our old one in the fall of 2001 and while it was still running strong, it was a little slow and unable to handle really demanding programs (*cough* recent *cough* games *cough*...OK, photo and video editing software too). Since last year, I've been researching options, configuring potential systems, watching prices and waiting for new components to come out. Finally, last Friday I found I was able to use multiple discounts on a Dell build of components and options that I really liked. The final price was below even what I could get at a discount parts seller for everything unassembled. I placed the order and, today, our new Dell arrived.

The hardest decision was whether to get it with Windows XP or Vista and whether to get a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system. Long...very long...story short, once we decided that, since we weren't breaking the bank getting the most outrageous options possible, this computer would not have to have a life-span of nearly seven years. XP is sturdy, familiar, faster and more compatible than Vista. Along with many, many others, we'll be skipping Vista entirely and go straight from XP to Windows 7. Since we were staying with XP, I decided we'd also stay with 32-bit as there is simply no compelling reason to jump to 64-bit.

Once the decision was made that the computer wouldn't have to last forever, the choice of what CPU to get was also easier. At similar prices, dual core chips run at a higher clock speed than quad core chips. But, for programs that are optimized to run on multiple cores, the slower clock speed of a quad core CPU is more than made up for by the additions cores so, in theory, a similarly priced quad core is faster than a dual core. In actuality, very few programs are optimized to take advantage of multiple cores. As a result, most programs today, including high end games, run faster on a similarly priced dual core rather than a quad core. I picked out the 3.0GHz E8400 as the optimal performance value in dual cores but to qualify for one of the discounts I had to go with the slightly more expensive E8500. The end result with the E8500 and discount was much cheaper than configured with the E8400.

The final specs on our new Dell:

DELL XPS 630i

- Intel Core2 E8500 (3.16GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333 FSB, 45nm)
- 4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz, 4 DIMMs
- nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
- 750GB Hard Drive, 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
- Dual Drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer
- Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
- 750 watt Power Supply
- Windows XP Professional

I wouldn't have even gone with another Dell except for the fact that they are moving their tech support back to the United States, they are moving away from proprietary hardware and some other reasons such as their implementation of ESA (Enthusiast System Architecture).

In January we replaced our monitor. Our old CRT had grown irreversibly fuzzy. After much research and consideration, we went with a Dell 22" UltraSharp 2208WFP widescreen flat panel monitor (1680 x 1050, 5 millisecond, 1000:1, adjustable height, tilt, swivel and pivot). The quality and design of the monitor is outstanding.

[Update:] Holy cow is this thing fast! I had purposely been keeping my expectations low regarding noticing any speed change except in really demanding tasks. But, everything, from just opening a file to surfing the internet is much much faster. And, I'm not talking about just an incremental increase in speed, everything is faster by an order of magnitude! It's amazing!

My web host, TotalChoice Hosting, just doubled the bandwidth and storage space of all their plans. This is a good thing since space was starting to get a little cramped on my server. Now, I'm good to go for a few more years with 3GB of storage space and 140GB of monthly bandwidth.

I can't recommend TotalChoice Hosting enough. Just a little research and you'll come across hosting providers such as...picking just one example out of the ether...BlueHost which promises 1,500GB of storage space and 15,000GB of monthly transfer for just $6.95/month...*cough* *cough* bull droppings *cough* *cough*. So what's the catch...speed and/or CPU throttling. I've tried several hosts over the years and either their speeds are so ridiculously slow that you and the rest of the world together could never transfer your allotment or anytime your site gets a mildly busy period your visitors are greeted with a splash page stating, "This Account Has Exceeded Its CPU Quota." These sites might as well offer unlimited space and bandwidth because you aren't going to get to use either.

Anyway, I've never had any issues with TotalChoice Hosting. As you can tell, this site is very graphics intensive but always loads very quickly. Any delays are due to some third-party scripts I run (usually one of my stats providers). Just as, or perhaps more importantly, TotalChoice Hosting has the best customer support in the business. They have the most helpful forums run by many incredibly knowledgeable and helpful individuals who go out of their way to help members. Formal tech support is nothing less than amazing. The last support ticket I submitted was fixed in just three minutes. They didn't just respond in three minutes...they fixed it in three minutes! They also have a number of options for live tech support, which I haven't tried...since I haven't had that many problems.

Finally, TotalChoice Hosting is owned/run by Bill Kish known as the Head Guru who is always on the forums and available by email, AOL/Yahoo Messenger, ICQ and probably a bunch of other ways I've never bothered to explore. He's a normal guy who gets ticked at idiots and appears to really care about providing good quality, reliable hosting services at very competitive prices. TotalChoice Hosting has sponsored real life food and drink parties, given away computers and tech toys in contests and, otherwise, really makes the extra effort to provide a little more than other hosting providers.

The only caveat about TotalChoice Hosting is that they only allow one domain per hosting plan unless you get one of their more expensive "reseller" accounts. The industry standard seems to allow multiple add-on domains per plan. TotalChoice Hosting's restriction has required me to host a number of additional sites I have on a micro-account with A Small Orange where I can host unlimited sites which get very little traffic for just $25 a year. Even taking into consideration this minor annoyance, TotalChoice Hosting gets my highest recommendation for the best web host.

Ahhh, feel that? Spread your arms out...feel all the extra space? That's our new 500GB internal hard drive you're experiencing. Specifically, a Western Digital WD5000AAJB, 500 GB, 100 MB/s, 8 MB Cache, 7200 RPM, WD Caviar SE EIDE (Ultra ATA/100), fast, cool, safe and quiet with WhisperDrive™, SoftSeek™, Data Lifeguard™ and ShockGuard™ technologies.

Our primary home desktop is a six year old Dell Dimension 8200, which I'd love to replace...if I had a reason. I've previously detailed the five different upgrades we've made to it and, as a result, it runs great. It's as fast or faster than my brand new computer at work and runs all the software that I want: Photoshop, Movie Maker, Half-Life 2, Far Cry, etc., all run great.

The only problem was that the hard drive, originally 80GB upgraded to 120GB after a crash had grown too small. Now...we've got half a terabyte internal and over a terabyte external. It feels good not be so cramped any more!

A recall was announced today of various Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys sold from January 2005 though June 2007. Pictured are the pieces we have that are being recalled: James Engine and Coal Tender, stop sign, railroad sign and the 2006 Day out with Thomas car.

Here is a complete list of each piece being recalled:

* Red James Engine & Red James' # 5 Coal Tender
* Red Lights & Sounds James Engine & #5 Coal Tender
* James with Team Colors Engine & #5 Coal Tender
* Red Skarloey Engine
* Brown & Yellow Old Slow Coach
* Red Hook & Ladder Truck & Red Water Tanker Truck
* Red Musical Caboose
* Red Sodor Line Caboose
* Red Coal Car labeled "2006 Day Out With Thomas"
* Red Holiday Caboose
* Red "Sodor Mail" Car
* Red Fire Brigade Truck
* Red Fire Brigade Train
* Deluxe Sodor Fire Station
* Red Coal Car
* Yellow Box Car
* Red Stop Sign
* Yellow Railroad Crossing Sign
* Yellow "Sodor Cargo Company" Cargo Piece
* Smelting Yard Ice Cream Factory

More information can be found at the recall website. There is also a helpful list with pictures. And, here is the form you will need to send in your recalled pieces to be exchanged.

Lead is very useful in paint as it speeds drying, increases durability, improves appearance and resists moisture. In fact, it's still commonly used in industry and by the military. But, as everyone knows lead is extremely toxic and is especially dangerous to small children in which it causes nervous system damage, hearing loss, reduced IQ, kidney damage and other developmental problems.

So, guess where the lead painted Thomas toys were manufactured. Any idea? Take a wild guess. I'll give you a hint, the country just recently exported poisoned pet food all over the world resulting in the death of thousands of pets and the recall of 5300 pet food products. Yep, China. Anybody else getting a little sick of that country?

[Update:] I noticed there are a number of reddish pieces in our set that are not included in the recall, but that there is a tree which is the exact same color as the pieces which are included in the recall. A little after 6 pm, I sent the following email to the manufacturer, RC2 Corporation:

I have the Deluxe Sights and Sounds set and will be exchanging a number of pieces from the set as part of the recall. I could not help but notice that at least one of the trees from the set appears to be the same shade of red as the other recalled pieces. Would you please confirm that the red tree should not be part of the recall.

Don Danz
Tulsa, Oklahoma

Just after 8 am the next morning, I received this reply:

Dear Don Danz:

The red trees are not part of the recall.

Consumer Service

I imagine they are being deluged with inquiries so I'm pretty impressed with their response time to my question. The Danz Family will remain big Thomas fans!

Speaking of huge companies with annoying websites. Have you ever tried to log out of Amazon? Seriously, It's impossible...at least without denying your own existence. Don't believe me...go ahead, surf over to Amazon and, if you're not already logged in, sign in and then try to sign out. I'll still be here when you return.

In order to learn how to sign out you could do what I did and do a Google site search of Amazon or you could navigate Amazon's site by going to "Your Account" then to "Learn how to use Your Account" and then to "Signing Out" where you will finally be rewarded with the following:

Signing Out

If you are using a public terminal, you will want to log off, or sign out, before you leave the computer. Here's how:

1. Click the link near the top of the home page that says "If you're not (your name), click here."
2. On the next page, leave the e-mail and password spaces blank and click the Amazon.com tab at the top of the page.
3. Close the browser to prevent your name or 1-Click settings from appearing on the public terminal.

Once you have done this, your name will be removed from the home page, and your 1-Click ordering settings will be inaccessible to anyone using the same computer after you.

First off, there are no instructions for non-public or home computers. They just assume you'll never sign out and that it's just fine for anyone using your computer, a friend or visiting family member, to hop on to your Amazon account and do whatever they want.

Second, even on a public terminal, there is no way to log out without clicking on "If you're not (your name), click here." Why would I ever click on that? How stupid is it that you have to pretend you are not you just to sign out? So why is Amazon being so ridiculous? The next two sentences reveal Amazon's motives:

We recommend that you sign out only when you feel that you must. If we can't identify you, it will be difficult for us to identify items that might be of interest to you.

The reason Amazon makes it so difficult for people to log out is that they want to track everything you do on your site. I don't have a problem with this, but only if you allow me an easy way to log out. It just seems common sense that, if you have a system where you log in to you should have a easy, readily apparent, method for logging out. I don't know another major website that makes it as difficult as Amazon.

Finally, Amazon's statement that, "We recommend that you sign out only when you feel that you must" really bugs me. It's under the "public terminal" section. Accordingly, if you are using a public terminal and think you should sign out but don't think you "must" sign out, then you shouldn't. How incredibly irresponsible is this? Come on Amazon, get your act together, don't be evil.

I'm working on archiving photos to Flickr (now a part of Yahoo). I've previously had a Flickr Pro account but I let it lapse since I haven't recently needed it. So, I needed to upgrade again to a Pro account.

On the fist screen in the upgrade process, two payment options were provided; PayPal or credit card. I'm not a fan of PayPal. I have an account and use it occasionally, but they've been involved in a number of incidents and, as a result, I don't normally use it when I don't have to. So, I selected payment by credit card and started to enter my information and when I was almost done, the screen refreshed all by itself causing me to lose everything I had entered. That's nice, I thought. So, I navigated back to the first screen and chose the PayPal option.

And, that's when I was reminded why PayPal Sucks. The first thing the PayPal screen says at the top of the page is "Add Credit Card (Recommended)." To anyone familiar with the English language "recommended" means "optional" as in, you don't have to do it. However, there is no way to get past this page without entering your credit card information. At the bottom of the page, there are two buttons, "Add Card" and "Cancel." Hardly consistent with the concept of a recommendation. Further, if I had wanted to enter my credit card information I might have, oh I don't know...selected payment by credit card?!?!

The yellow box on the same screen says: "To complete this secure payment, add a credit card to your PayPal account and click 'Continue.'" I already have credit card information associated with my PayPal account, so I started to think I somehow got hijacked by a phishing site, except the URL was a legit PayPal address. Above, where I'm supposed to put in my credit card information is says: "Number of cards active on your account: 1." So, what the heck! I have an "active" credit card on the account, so there should be no reason to enter any credit card information again.

I closed down my browser, restarted and went to my PayPal account. It turns out I had not updated my credit card information with PayPal since when it expired. Like I said, I don't use PayPal unless I have to. Accordingly, the credit card on my PayPal account was not active. I updated my account with the new expiration date and went back to the Flickr upgrade page, selected PayPal and I was no longer given the "Recommended" add credit card page.

What I want to know is, how can companies as large and sophisticated as PayPal and Yahoo screw up something so simple? Do they not know the definitions of "recommended" and "active." Do people at these companies use their own products? Arrrgh!

P.S., I sequentially number the names of all the pictures I put in posts. Prior to this post, I had used a total of 664 images since June of 2004. By sheer coincidence, the PayPal Add Credit Card (Recommended) screen's number is 666. Well, at least, that makes sense!

As a gift for Easter, I received an Xbox 360 Elite. The only problem was that they didn't go on sale until today. So this morning, before church, I ran by Best Buy and picked one up. Unintentionally, due to the light Sunday morning traffic, I got there five minutes early and found myself doing something I never thought I'd do...stand in line waiting for a store to open to buy a video game console. There were six to eight people in front of me and four or five behind me by the time the doors opened. Although the black Xbox 360 is supposed to be a limited production run, there were plenty stacked high in the store for everyone.

I picked up two games, Gears of War, which looks great but is incredibly difficult to play having to manipulate three joysticks and all the other buttons and triggers at the same time. The other is Burnout Revenge which only requires a single joystick (steer), trigger (acceleration) and one button (boost). I don't bother with the brakes! Burnout is instantly enjoyable with a learning curve of under a minute. Once again, another activity to keep me from blogging.

The quality of the games is really phenomenal considering my game console evolution started with the original Pong which my family was the first of anyone I knew to get. I can still remember us and neighbors, young and old, coming over to play the simple game of paddle tennis. Later we were probably one of the last to get an Atari 2600...and that was it for console games until the Xbox 360 Elite. Granted there were a number of computers in between which I've always done a fair amount of gaming on.

At this time, We see no need for Drew to be Xboxing so we haven't told him about it. I figure he'll be old enough to play it when this conversation takes place:

   Drew:     Momma?
   Mary:     Yes, Drew.
   Drew:     Momma, do we have an Xbox?
   Mary:     Why do you ask?
   Drew:     Because there's one right here.
   Mary:     Oh, that's just part of the TV.
   Drew:     No Mamma, that's an Xbox.
   Mary:     Ask your father when he gets home.

To further aid in the deception, we keep a few things stacked in front of the console to help hide it. And, we keep the controllers and related items well hidden as well. Eventually, though, Drew will figure things out, but hopefully not for a few years. When he does, it will be time for Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.

The really amazing thing is how well the Xbox 360 fits in our TV cabinet which we've had for years...long before there ever was an Xbox. I always thought the odd-sized tubby hole next to the cable box was a wasted space, an after thought evidencing poor design. Now that I see the Xbox 360 fit there perfectly, as if it were custom made, I think the designer was a Nostradamus-like genius. Now, if Cox/Motorola would just make their cable box in black.

On the left is the standard white Apple iPod Nano (2G) dock that can be purchased as an accessory from Apple. The Nano itself, only comes with a dock connector to USB 2.0 cable forcing your iPod to lay down like a second-rate piece of hardware while it syncs and recharges. To me the beautiful black Nano sitting in the white dock just doesn't look right. I figured, no problem, I'll just hop on the internet and order a black iPod Nano dock...wrong. I searched and searched and found nothing. At least, nothing that was simple, elegant and would fit my second generation Nano. So, I figured, it was do-it-myself time.

I picked up a dock from the "local" Apple store in Oklahoma City while I was there this weekend. Bought some glossy black spray paint specially made for applying to plastics and created my own black iPod Nano dock. And, if I may say so myself...it looks AWESOME!!!

Removing the cover from the dock was fairly simple. It's on pretty tight, but a little work with a knife wedged underneath between the innards and the cover and I was able to release the small tabs that keep it in place. The only thing I might do different if I did it over was not paint it in a dusty garage with a two-year old running around "helping" me. There are some dust particles that got stuck in the wet paint. Nothing noticeable while the dock is just sitting on my desk, but if you pick it up and examine it in good light, you can see a few specks in the paint. After it dried, I just shoved the two parts back together and it works perfect. The thin layer of black paint does not seem to interfere in any way with docking and undocking the Nano.

I've posted pictures of the process on Flickr.

Apple recently updated its iTunes software to version 7. The update made improvements in a lot of places. One of the coolest additions is the 3D album cover visualization called Cover Flow (originally CoverFlow by Steel Skies). A static picture doesn't do justice to just how cool this feature is. Using the mouse to drag or click the slider, you can "flow" through all your album cover art and select what album you want to listen to.

There's only one problem...while the idea is fantastic...the implementation is horrible. In just the first 30 albums I ripped (192 kbps AAC), 10 had significant problems with the cover art from missing or wrong covers to covers which looked like someone just pulled a heavily worn LP album out of a crate and scanned it in with the lowest possible quality scanner. I had previously ripped the same albums in Windows Media Player (128 kbps MP3) and it downloaded the proper album art, of perfect quality, every time without a hitch.

And, I won't even go into all the bugs that you run into with iTunes while trying to fix the album art problems. Suffice it to say that all the various iPod forums are filled with complaints. The word is that Apple programmers are working feverishly trying to fix the problems. This is one of those things, usually associated with Microsoft, that I just wonder...did they use the product before it launched?

Here's the 10 screw-ups out of my first 30 CDs:

Atlantic Rhythm Section, wrong.
Bad Company, 10 From 6, wrong.
Badfinger, Very Best of Badfinger, missing.
Moving Pictures, Days of Innocence, poor quality.
Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon, poor quality.
Simon & Garfunkel, Bridge Over Troubled Water, poor quality.
The Who, It's Hard, poor quality.
The Who, Quadrophenia, poor quality.
The Who, Who's Better Who's Best, wrong.
U2 Best of 1980-1990, B-Sides, wrong.

And when I say "poor quality" I'm not just being picky, I'm talking about an objectively bad image that makes you immediately say, "Ewww, why is that all messed up?"

Argggh...as I type this four others albums have the wrong cover art: Best of the Animals, Best of the Alan Parsons Project, Best of the Allman Brothers Band and Aerosmith's Greatest Hits. I'm beginning to wonder, what's the point? Additionally, Apple chose to strip out the original Steel Skies program's ability to exclude albums without cover art, albums below a certain duration or song/track count and custom filters. Hopefully, these options will be implemented in future versions.

Final note, Cover Flow is just an additional feature in iTunes and in no way affects the fact that I LOVE my new iPod Nano!

[Update] Here is an excellent thread in the iLounge forums entitled: To Clarify: iTunes 7 ALBUM ARTWORK Issues...

Seriously, my hand is not that big...this thing is just tiny! The "thing" being Apple's latest iPod Nano, second generation, with 8GB of memory, enough for 2000 songs. I've put photos of the opening/unboxing on Flickr.

I can remember studying in college with a Sony Walkman tape player and a few tapes holding just a dozen or more songs each. My friend Dave recorded a bunch of Simon & Garfunkel for me which I listened to so much that, even today, when I listen to one of their CDs I occasionally think something is missing because there's not a scratch or pop where one is "supposed" to be.

Jump forward to today: 2000 songs in perfect digital clarity, 24 hour battery life, color screen with album art...all in just 3.5" x 1.6" x .26". Maybe I just need tactile feedback or my stuck-in-the-80s brain can't comprehend how it can all fit in such a small device but, for me at least, photos simply cannot convey how small this thing is. I'm in awe.

THANKS Donelda !!!