:: PC - Vista 64, no thanks ::

Yeah! Right after assembling the new encarnation of Coruscant I installed BlueWhite64, as you already know. Then... since I am A LITTLE addicted to playing games on my PC, I decided trying Vista 64 on it. I got this DVD from my friend (who was not using) and gave it a try.

Well, since I was quite busy at home, I didn't have too much time to really use/test it. Then, when I finally got that time, I decided to test BF2 (Battlefield 2) on it. Result? A "nice" crash. Yep, with bluescreen and all that crap that only M$ can provide you. OK, I noticed the graphics were weird, so I uninstalled the NVidia driver (suposedly stable) and installed the latest beta driver. It worked fine... for some time. On Vista (2D graphics) it was really fine. No more bugged screens as I was getting with the "stable" driver. Then on BF2, it lasted like 2 minutes before exploding again.

So, the drivers for Vista 64 still suck! Then I went to video encoding, that is converting AVI files into DVD-Video. Could I do it? No, no, no. My Nero 7 Premium wouldn't work properly on Vista 64 (so M$ tells me with one of those "nice" messages of theirs).
Bottom line, I wouldn't be able to do ANYTHING using that crappy "OS". So this weekend I talked to the same friend, returned his Vista 64 and he lend me Vista 32bits. Since he is not really using it (he still runs WinXP)...

I installed it yesterday, installed BF2 and installed Nero 7 Premium. Last night I already encoded one video and this morning I tested BF2 for about 15min without a single bug or crash.
OK, I know it is not all M$'s fault. But they always play some part on the crap, don't they? :) NVidia and the other guys making drivers... please you either do something decent, or you simply don't do anything.

Enough of this. I've got a laptop (not mine) which needs a WinXP reinstall.

:: PC - Microsoft and its bullshits ::

Well, it happened by accident. Last week I found out MSN doesn't allow you to send messages containing certain URLs. For instance, I was trying to send the link for those pictures on the last post to a friend, then I got a message saying it couldn't be delivered. OUCH! I tried it again, and again... tried some other URLs, but they worked. Googlepages's URLs are blocked!

I don't know if any other URLs are blocked, but I know those ones are. Doubting me? Try sending a message to a friend with the following URL --> http://www.googlepages.com <-- then tell me the restults ;)

I tried using Live Messenger; a friend tried using amsn; and another using Kopete.

Happy now? I am not! M$ and its bullshits all over the Matrix... errrrr.... internet and market ;)

:: PC - The new Coruscant and about Linux x86_64 ::

OK, as promised on the last post, here go two pictures of the new encarnation of Coruscant:

Coruscant front

Coruscant side

So, what do you think? Weird enough?

About Linux... as I said before... or at least I think I did, I am running Bluewhite64 on my computer. It is an unofficial port of Slackware for the 64bits architeture. The thing is I was willing to compile and create packages for BW64 of KDE4 (and its dependencies). I did it. But since some programs I do need don't compile under QT4, like K3B (a software to help burning CDs/DVDs)... I had to go back to KDE 3.

Oh well... I spent a good amount of time on this task on the weekend. But ok, it wasn't a wasted time. I learned a bit more about the process. Now all I have to do is wait for the K3B guys to port it to QT4... and then.. bye bye KDE3 ;)

OK, I am in a rush to go home. See ya!

:: PC - Coruscant is back to life ::

All in the multiverse rejoice! *LOL* Coruscant, my computer, is back to life. All the parts arrived, I have already assembled them and my dear tool for fun and work is already working fine AND FAST.

So, for those possibly interested to know, bellow I will list the specs Coruscant had since it's creation, finishing with the shining new ones:

2002 - Coruscant is created: ASUS A7N-Deluxe (motherboard), Athlon XP 1500+, 512MB DDR 333MHz, NVidia MX440 64MB (AGP), HD of 40GB, 17" CRT monitor LG 777Fn+ and a "generic" power suply;

2004 - about this time came the first upgrade: Athlon XP 2400+, 1.5GB DDR 333MHz, NVidia FX 5900XT 128MB (AGP), 2 HDs of 40GB each, same monitor and a SevenTeam 520W power suply (stronger and more decent than the predecessor);

2006 - next upgrade, arriving at the 64bits era: ASUS A8N-E (motherboard), Athlon 64 3500+, 3GB DDR 400MHz, NVidia 6800GT 256MB (PCI-Express), 2 HDs SATA-2 (250GB and 320GB), 19" LCD (LG) and same power suply;

2007 - only the monitor is upgraded: I sold the 19" LCD and bought a 20.1" widescreen LCD (also LG);

2008 - last upgrade (so far), arriving in the multi-core era: ASUS P5K-SE (motherboard), Intel Core 2 Quad (Q6600), 4GB DDR2 800MHz, same video card, same HDs, same monitor, same powersuply, new case.

As soon as I can, I will post some pictures from the past and the present encarnation of Coruscant.

So, Nova, how computer freak am I now? :D