Author: Paul Tomblin

And so it begins…

I’ve started ordering the parts to build my new computer. So far, after a long struggle with Newegg’s refusal to accept either Paypal or the credit card they have on file for me, I’ve ordered the following:

  • 2 Maxtor Diamond 500Gb 15Mb Cache SATA-II drives
  • A Rosewill R5604-TBK mid-tower case with lots and lots of drive bays
  • A Cooler Master eXtreme RP-500-PCAR 500W power supply

Next step is to buy a motherboard/cpu/memory bundle from JNCS. I’ve bought at least three bundles from them in the past, and it’s one way to make sure the components all work together. They’ve got one bundle that I’m leaning towards right now – it has an Intel Core 2 Duo, and 6 SATA II ports on the motherboard. It also has built in video and audio as well as a PCI-E slot, which means I can save some money and then upgrade the video if I need to.

The death of professional bike racing, or the rebirth?

The 2007 Tour de France is over, and what a strange and exciting one it’s been. There are those out there who want to stress the negative – both the overwhelming pre-race favourite Vinokourov and the guy who probably would have won it kicked out of the race. But to me there is much to be positive about.
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New glasses

I got new glasses on Tuesday. I had reading glasses before, but I hardly ever wore them because until recently I didn’t need them unless the light wasn’t very bright. There were only two times I really felt the need – when I was reading in bed, and when I was trying to plug something into the back of a computer. Plus they gave me horrible eye strain if I looked through them at distant things. My eye doctor recommended that I get those no-line multi-focus lenses, because then I could keep them on all the time and they’d be there when I needed them, plus there would be one part of the lens that was good for up close stuff and another part that would be good for computer screens.

Ok, two days on, here are my impressions:

  1. They do fulfil the promise of something I could keep on all the time, so they’re handy when I need them.
  2. There are some things that don’t fit the multi-focal glasses paradigm of “close things are down low, far things are up high” – the one I notice most is the wing mirror on my car.
  3. I’ve got to learn to ignore them, because I think I stare when I’m looking through them. A few hours and my eyes get really dry.

Also, I was walking into work yesterday and I thought something was wrong with my iPod – there was a large dark area on the screen. A little while later, sitting at my desk I looked and was releived to see it was no longer there. And then l saw it again on the way out to the parking lot. That’s when I realized that the clip-on sunglasses that came with the glasses are polarized. D’oh!