Recent Happenings

I've added 2 more GB to my gaming system (the Ultra that I bought from TigerDirect 2 yrs ago). The system now has a total of 4GB. It runs Windows XP, so its only seeing 3.25GB of the installed 4GB, as I'm running XP 32-bit. I need to either go to Vista or install XP 64-bit. I may just wait until the new version of Windows desktop is released.

I've also begun to (again) monitor my internal LAN traffic at home. I broke down my security systems this past Fall because I bought a house and had to move. I wanted to reinstall my external IDS but didn't want to run an ethernet tap yet, so I used the same machine to just log internal traffic for now. Later, I'll have this machine start a separate Snort process that will monitor external traffic via the tap.

I need to upgrade my Slackware boxes to v12.2. The current boxes are running v12.0, including my Linode (http://wigglit.ath.cx). I'll try to do this soon, although this will require upgrading from v12.0 to v12.1, then v12.1 to v12.2.

I'll also begin to attempt to convert all (which isn't many) my BASH scripts that manipulate text (FW log parsing scripts and such) to Perl. This is mainly as an exercise to force myself to learn Perl. I could also do Python. This is an educational 2009 goal for me. :)

Just ordered another machine

Yeah, yeah, I've ordered yet ANOTHER machine:

Abit NF-M2SV GeForce 6100 Socket AM2 Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Socket AM2 CPU
Crucial 1024MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz (X2)
Seagate 250GB Serial ATA w/NCQ 7200/8MB/SATA-3G
Power Up Silver 5511 ATX Mid-T Case w/450w

All for $199 after $30 in rebates. Note that there's no CPU heatsink/fan, no OS, no CD/DVD burner, and no vidcard (although there's an integrated one on the motherboard, which may get me through the testing/burn-in phase).

I've just ordered an Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 LP CPU Cooler for $25 from Microcenter. I'll order a CD/DVD burner in another week, and within the next month, I'll install a new vidcard. I don't know what OS I'll utilize yet...maybe Linux, but more than likely Windows (only I don't want to buy Vista [or XP, really]).

At this point, the barebones I ordered last year is still the better computer, but I spent quite a bit more for it. Until the new one is up and running, I'm also using its 2gb of RAM in the older computer, for a total of 3gb of RAM (COD4 flies during loading!).

This is the deal I saw on Tigerdirect.com that made me purchase this machine.

Ordered a new system last night

Since its been awhile since I've built a new machine and since I wanted a taste of 64-bit and dual core technology, I purchased this last night:

ECS nForce 570 SLIT-A v5.1 Socket 775 Barebone Kit / Intel Pentium D 830 OEM / 250GB SATA HDD / 18x DVD±RW DL / 1GB DDR2 PC4200 / CPU Fan / ATX Mid-Tower Case / 500 Watt Power Supply

Additionally, I bought an EVGA GeForce 7300 GT video card with 512MB PCIe, DVI, and HDTV, since the new system will require a PCIe video card, which I don't have.

I think I've accounted for everything when buying this system, hardware-wise. I'll utilize a KVM, so I won't need another keyboard/mouse for it.

Software-wise, I'll most likely be putting some form of Windows on this system. This system will be using newer technology that *nix may or may not fully support and my troubleshooting time is limited. So, I guess I'm in the market for a 64-bit OS. I don't trust Vista yet, so I'll see about getting the 64-bit version of Windows XP Professional.

This WILL be a gaming rig, but I'd also like to try my hand at 64-bit Linux when I've a bit more free time available, so eventually, it may turn into a dual-boot system. What flavor of Linux? Something that won't take long to get running and will be low maintenance, so it won't be Slackware-based, most likely, unless Zenwalk or something similar supports 64-bit Intel dual core CPUs. Hopefully Pat can look into either factoring in 64-bit support in Slackware or sanctioning and supporting Slamd64 in a way that will make it easier to use.

So, I guess I've a 1 to 3 week wait for all these parts to come in, so I can build this system. The case and power supply are on the way now, but the other parts are still in the queue with no update, with the exception of the RAM, which is on back order. Hopefully, they'll get 'un-backlogged' soon.