July 2006 Archives

   Yep, I still haven't updated to Mac OS 10.4.7. I'm waiting around for the new updated version of CPU Director to come out. Otherwise, my G3 will be stuck at 800MHz and I'm not willing to lose what little speed I have. Plus, I have to wait until I'm sure the Quartz Extreme hack I use still works on the new version.
   So, I'm off to do some more waiting. Damn Powerlogix, why do they take so much time?

   This time around, I think I'll review some Windows software. Unusual, I know.
   The software in question is one I use strangely often on my "Gaming PC". GhostIt does basically one thing and does it well. Its function is to turn windows transparent. When they are transparent, they remain on top but will not react to anything but a special hot-key combination or via the GhostIt taskbar icon, of course.
   This is rather useful, as I've found. For instance, you could find something useful browsing the web and wish the interact with another app in some manner. Thus, you could simply make the browser window transparent and then work in the application you want, without losing sight of your browser. Kinda handy, eh?
   There was a Mac OS X equivelant for this, but I've forgotten it at the moment. I'll remember it later...

   As of yesterday, I'm now running the relatively new Athlon XP 3000 gaming PC. I built it up to retire the Tualatin Celron system that I was running.So far, it is doing quite well.
   Mind you, I'm not completely done with my upgrade yet. I still have to get a new/faster hard drive to replace the myriad of drives I usually throw my games onto. Plus, I then have to upgrade the video card to something along the lines of a Radeon 9600 or better.
   Also, I'm meaning to put a larger heatsink and fan combo on that damn Athlon. I've always heard they run rather hot but damn. It hits about 50 degrees C just sitting idle. I might just be overreacting becuase I've never had a computer that ran a chip this hot. So, I'll do something. All of my computers run hot in our barely 'air-conditioned' apartment, as a matter of fact. Damn uncooperative management.
   I did play some World of Warcraft today to give my new Gaming PC rig a try. It played better but that hard drive just isn't fast enough. In fact, framerates in relatively populated areas actually seemed to be higher than it was on the Tualatin.
   I kind of miss my old gaming PC now...