My extra 512MB of RAM arrived this morning from Crucial as I was getting ready to go to work. Once I've slotted it later on this evening, I'll have a whopping 1024MB (or 1GB) of RAM to play with. I'm thinking about replacing the PSU with a better model as well, but I'll have to hold off on that until I get paid!
I replaced my existing DVD-ROM and CD-RW drives last week by splashing out on an NEC ND-3520A DVD/RW drive. I'm very pleased with its performance thus far. It reads and writes DVD's and CD's with ease. I also ordered an extra 512MB of RAM from Crucial yesterday evening, and that should arrive tomorrow.
During the installation of my new DVD/RW drive I also managed to slap some Arctic Silver 5 on to my blisteringly hot Prescott CPU. The results thus far have been promising. I've noticed at least a 7 degree temperature drop, if not more. Now, let's see what happens when I put the side of the case back on tonight...
A belated Happy Easter to one and all. I've had a fairly quiet Easter so I've not a whole lot to say. Both today and Friday were Bank Holiday's in the UK, so I've had a much needed four days off work. Sadly, it's back to work again tomorrow, and I really don't want to go! Still, it's only a four day week, so that's not too bad.
I finished rereading Lost Light by Michael Connelly a couple of weeks ago (which I still think is his best work to date) and just last night I finished reading his latest novel The Narrows, which I thought was superb - really well plotted with a brilliant ending. I've now read every single one of Connelly's novels to date!
I've been working on GazNET v5.2 in my lunch hour today. Don't you just hate it when a web page looks exactly how you want it in one browser, but looks completely different - usually worse - in another browser? Internet Explorer and Firefox are disagreeing rather badly as to how my new table-less design should look.
And don't even ask me for my opinion on yesterday's disastrous game. I'm tempted to launch into an expletive filled rant but I'm not going to bother. I'm not even going to post a link to the match report as I usually do. I just cannot believe it. I really can't. But I live in hope that next season will be a different story.
I went to see Hostage last night and I thought it was absolutely superb. I really, really enjoyed it. It was a brilliantly crafted action thriller with plenty of nifty twists and turns. Bruice Willis was excellent. You should go and see it the first chance you get - I enjoyed it so much I'm going to see it again next Friday!
Since their 2-0 win against Middlesbrough two weeks ago Villa haven't had a game since. Well, they've got a game tomorrow - and what a game it's going to be. Tomorrow they play the enemy. A team I despise more than any other. The team who's name I refuse to mention on this site. Nothing but a win will do.
If you take a look at the coding for this site you will notice that the layout is created using a couple of tables. I'm currently looking at implementing a table-less version of this site using CSS. I'll call it GazNET v5.2, and if successful, you won't notice any difference except perhaps a decrease in page loading times.
Argh! I can't play Half-Life 2 or any other CPU intensive game without my CPU temperature hitting 70 degrees and above and my machines temperature warning program going off. Man, these Prescott chips run hot. I'll have to slap some Arctic Silver 5 on the CPU instead and see if that helps to cool things down a little.
Woohoo! I finally beat Half-Life last night around an hour after my post below. The ending was a bit of a let down, but at least I now understand why Half-Life 2 begins the way it does. I really enjoyed the first game, and the second is just as good, if not better. Hopefully, it won't be long before I beat that, too!
I can't believe that I've forgot to mention that I'd finished reading City of Bones by Michael Connelly a couple of weeks ago. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought it was a lot better that the previous Harry Bosch novel, A Darkness More Than Night. I then started reading Chasing The Dime a couple of days later...
And coincidentally, I finished reading that late last night - very late in fact! I felt the tiredness from lack of sleep creeping in early this afternoon at work, but I'm glad to say it was well worth it. The ending was so gripping I couldn't put it down! I'm now rereading Lost Light - Connelly's best work so far in my opinion.
And whilst I'm on the subject of redoing things, I've also been replaying the first Half-Life from the beginning all weekend, and I've almost beat it. I'm on the last but one level, and I'm finding it tough going - and that's on the easiest difficulty setting! I should finally beat it later on this evening with any luck, though.
Urgh. I'm doing the 07.00-15.30 shift this week. From now on this shift will be known as "the stupid o'clock shift". Yes, can't you tell I'm thrilled to be getting up at stupid times for work again? It brings back memories of that old place where I used to work and had to get up at stupid times in the morning almost every day.
I went to an advance screening of Constantine last night. The visuals and sounds were superb, the acting was great, and the story with the whole Heaven and Hell thing going on was pretty good, too. However, it looked and felt just like one of The Matrix movies! Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not bad at all in my opinion.
Went to see Hide & Seek in the end last night and I quite enjoyed it. It wasn't very scarey but the build up of suspense and that little twist towards the end was nicely done. I also saw the trailer for Hostage, which opened yesterday, and it looks really good. I'll be seeing that next weekend without a doubt.
It's a toss up between Hostage and Hide & Seek for tonight's movie. I quite like the look of both films. Either way, whichever one we watch, I'm sure it won't be as bad as Boogeyman.
I've not updated for over a week now so I'd better write a quick one. I went to see Boogeyman on Friday night. Unfortunately, it was a steaming pile of poo. It's the worst movie I've seen this year by far. It just didn't work for me at all. I like the look of Hostage, which opens here Friday, so I think I'll go watch it.
Still no sign of any NHL action any time soon so I'm continuing to keep an eye on the Pirates. In the month of February they won six games and lost four, which isn't bad at all. The AHL All-Star Classic was also played in February. The Planet USA All-Stars won that, beating the Canadian AHL All-Stars 5-4 in a shootout.