And my third monitor arrives on Friday! Eyefinity, here I come!

and just went with this: XFX HD-577A-ZNDC Radeon HD 5770 XXX Edition 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

However, I did find a better combo deal for $20 more:
Same Mobo but with 3.4ghz quadcore amd

Not to buy this:
AMD 3.2 ghz Quad Core Combo

Sweet baby Jesus! USB 3.0 with 1333 ram capability with a quad core chip! Add this sexy beast into the mix and all your troubles will seem so far away…
XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

Not to mention you can RAID 10 that bitch! Talkin’ like 15-30 sec boot times here.

Toss 8 gigs of ram into the mix: CORSAIR XMS3 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) which could be overkill. You could get by with 4 gigs most likely. Not sure what the PC3 10666 means but the specs say the board can handle 1333 ddr3 ram.

$732 upgrade that would keep you singing for about 2-3 years. Only thing you might have to replace is the graphics card after 2 years. This is assuming you have a case, hard drives and power supply already to handle that.

If you went with 4 gigs of ram: Patriot G Series ‘Sector 5’ Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
$609 Total with 4 gigs. You can always go back and add 4 more gigs at a later date with 2 gigs per stick. I will prob have to upgrade here in a few months… not because I have to but damn, new computers make me happy.

**Update**
PC3 10666 is a theoretical speed that the manufacturers use as a marketing tool. This is according to random forums I’ve read.

I get asked this all the time. What kind of computer specs are good enough to run games that you play? Most of the people I know are console gamers. That doesn’t bother me a bit. I’ve ran through 5 xbox 360′s in the past 4 years. When the fifth died, I was lucky enough to keep my warranty going through Best Buy because, lets face it, even though consoles are “next gen”, they are usually crammed with cheap parts that consumers never get to see or have a say in. I exchanged my last 360 that died for a PS3 since they refunded me the original price I bought the first 360 at which was $299 + tax. Now that prices have dropped, the PS3 was that price which allowed me to do an even exchange and get a free bluray player out of it.

There are a few hard core gamers left in the world and most of them reside in the PC world. There is no autoaim in PC games (unless you cheat and what is the fun in that). It is all decided on connection speed, computer hardware and how fast you can put a crosshairs on your opponent. Also, with the latest and greatest hardware which you can purchase, you get to see the best eye candy game developers can throw at you. With consoles, you are stuck with hardware limitations until the next “next gen” system hits the market (which are 5+ year cycles).

So, without further adieu, I am going to price 2 game systems from Newegg. The first one will be a solid PC for around $1,000. The second one will be aimed for about $600-$700 budget which is very hard to to do.

Setup 1:
Cases: Solid cases should be made solid. Avoid the general plastic ones. If you are looking to reuse the case, you want to look in the price range of $100-$150 dollars or more but I wouldn’t go over $200 unless it’s watercooled.
$139 – COOLER MASTER HAF 932 RC-932-KKN1-GP Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131392
Chips: I’ve had my eye on this bad boy for a while. With chips, you just need to make sure it’s compatible with the socket type on the motherboard.
$179 – AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
Ram: Anymore 3-8 gigs will handle most things. I like the idea of 2 gigs per core but that really isn’t necessary (it’s just me). You want to aim for getting performance ram, don’t get the cheap stuff after packing your rig out with awesome hardware. Corsair, Patriot, OCZ and G.Skill brands are great. The motherboard supports DDR3 1333 or 1066 ram. Depending on price and the amount of ram you want, I’ll give a couple options this time.
$169.99 – G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9T-6GBNQ
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231223
$229.99 – G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9Q-8GBRL
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231323
Power Supplies: Power supplies can vary. If you want a gaming rig, you want one that is SLI and Crossfire ready (power 2 cards at once). Also, your choice should depend on how many hard drives and dvd drives you have. Corsair and OCZ are pretty solid. Make sure they are 80 Plus certified. Also you can chose modular or non modular. Modular ones allow you to connect and use only cables that you need. Sleeved wires are nice as well.
$109.99 – CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
Graphic Cards: There are 2 types to chose from. ATI or Nvidia. ATI is usually partnered up with AMD products and Nvidia with Intel. I personally run Nvidia with an AMD chip and I’ve never noticed an issue. I’ve never ran Sli or Crossfire mode so that might depend on your motherboard. I’m sure you can google it. The three brands I’ve had experience with are XFX, EVGA, and Sapphire. I wouldn’t consider a card under 512mb anymore. Decent cards run $100 to $200. If you want to spend the extra cash go ahead but a $150 card will handle most workloads. You might not run everything at max, but it’ll look pretty damn good compared to consoles. The motherboard supports PCIe 2.0 cards. Pay attention to core clock speeds, shader clock speed and stream processors. Higher the better just like the ram. I heard that ATI handles AA better.
$142.99 – XFX GS250XZDFU GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card (Didn’t see any DX11 cards yet)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150439
$169.99 – XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card (DX11)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150447
Hard Drives: The bare minimum should be 7200rpm. If you can afford it, go ahead and get a 10k rpm one. You want a sata 3gb/s hard drive. You can have 16mb or 32mb cache for 7200. I’d recommend the 32mb. I personally have a 750 gig hard drive and that is enough for me. 2 tb drives run around $100 bucks anymore. You can get multiple drives and RAID them to gain performance if you are tech savvy enough.
$74.99 – Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
Burners: You can go with DVD burners or Blu-Ray burners. I’d suggest a regular DVD.
$25.99 – ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner – Bulk – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
OS: Windows 7 64 bit OEM. I wouldn’t look at anything else.
$99.99 – Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754&cm_re=windows_7_64_bit_oem-_-32-116-754-_-Product

With 6 gigs of ram and the ATI card, it puts you at $1139.95. You could even reduce the ram to 4 gigs which is fine. I run 4 gigs personally and I’ve only seen it hit 3 gigs once and that was running 2 instances of Eve Online. The motherboard can be cheaper too to get you under the $1,000 mark.

Setup 2: ($600-$700 range)
Cases:
$99.95 – Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
Motherboard and Chip Combo: Combo’s vary.
$160.98 -
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X4 635 Propus 2.9GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.382195
Ram:
$59.99 – G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-2GBPK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231144
Power Supplies:
$49.99 – CORSAIR CMPSU-400CX 400W ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139008
Graphic Card:
$114.99 – HIS H485FM1GH Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161296
Hard Drive:
$74.99 – Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319
Burners:
$25.99 – ASUS Black 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 24X DVD Burner – Bulk – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
OS: Windows 7 64 bit OEM. I wouldn’t look at anything else.
$99.99 – Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders – OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754&cm_re=windows_7_64_bit_oem-_-32-116-754-_-Product

This will give you a decent machine at $686.87 right under $700. In both cases, Windows 7 really comes back to bite you. Again, parts and prices vary. Sales usually appear when mid summer gets closer. For a $500 budget, I would suggest getting a Dell or HP and buying a nice graphic card for gaming.

****Edit****
HP Base Model for $599.99
If I find anymore deals like this I will link. The one above comes with a solid graphics card and everything you need minus the monitor itself.

****Edit**** 6/3/2010
I came across one of the new 577x ati cards for about $170 and they require a 450watt or greater power supply. So some updated parts for you all:
CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W
XFX HD-577X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16

Got my new monitors for my dual screen setup. They were only $220 a piece from newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001377&cm_re=samsung_rose_black-_-24-001-377-_-Product

Yes, I am unemployed still. You just don’t get many opportunities in Kentucky to get a decent job, especially technology oriented ones. So after dabling in Python, I will now tempt faite with C#. I doubt anyone reads this but I’m really excited about this project. My friend Adam who is a C# guru has already laid the foundation of the site we are creating. I haven’t heard of anything close to it so it should turn some heads.

I’ve installed this on a HP machine that was given to me broken. I replaced the motherboard for $50 since it used one of the cheap micro-atx ones. I was running through the normal setup commands after a fresh ubuntu install and came across this repository list generator. It’s pretty cool how it works. It helped me get google’s chromium web browser installed for it. Check it out: simply linux

So a few months ago I started researching on how to create a webspider/crawling bot that would basically go out to a specific site (which will remain nameless since I want to keep using the site without being blocked) and rip events/dates and store it into a database (mysql). On top of that, I picked to use the python language which I’ve never used in my life. To take it a little farther, I decided to use Django as a web development platform just to see how easy it is.

After searching around the net for webspiders and crawler examples, I pieced together a decent looking script that uses an useragent function to fool the servers into thinking I’m a legit web browser accessing their webpages. This was a first step. Fortunately, many others have gone before me in exploring webcrawlers so the code was easy to find. So I did what every good developer does, I copy and pasted the function into my script and modified my code to work with it.

I then discovered BeautifulSoup. BeautifulSoup allows you to “prettify” html as well as parsing it, along with xml. Very handy if you need to pull data out of tables or list. Ran into some issues where I didn’t have the latest and greatest version and it would error out half way down a page of html, but it was fixed after installing the update. This usually happens due to the website’s html being very ugly. Tip: When looking for data that’s in a table or list, you have to do a find and store the results into a variable. Then you do a findAll on the variable to home in on the list or table in question. Use google’s web browser, chrome, and highlight the area you want to find. Right click on the area and click “inspect element”. Firefox has web developer tools/plugins as well.

Initially, I was storing the results into a text file and csv file and doing a mysql command to directly import the results. After I had the format the way I wanted, I used Django’s models which allows you to store data without doing sql statements. This eliminates frustration and security threats. Django uses the database info that you put in initially to install Django.

I must apologize though. I wish I could show you code but this is a project that I want to keep quiet for now. At the moment, I have my script running on a server as a cronjob. I might add some timers to the code to seem more random but the site might just end up blacklisting my if it causes too much of a usage spike (which I don’t think it does). I still haven’t figure out views in Django to return the results that I need. Mostly I haven’t read enough on the Django framework to wrap my head around it yet.

The bot as of right now, stores about 3500 entries into the database without hanging. Keep in mind, the site just has to change its structure and my code becomes worthless.

References:
VirtualBox
Ubuntu
Google Chrome
Python
BeautifulSoup
Django

Update: First time I ran it, I had 3400 entries. This time I had 7400.

No one really knows what the iPad is intended for. It reminds me of… a giant iTouch if you will. Many complaints have hit the internet by storm. No USB, no video out, no multitasking, and a touchscreen keypad are for starters. I would wait until this years netbooks hit the shelves since some are sporting dual core chips and 720p mini hdmi out. Here are some videos as seen on digg/reddit/slashdot tech sites. I am not by far interested in this product but I am not an anti-apple guy. I personally own an iPhone 3GS, Mac Mini (instead of the lame Apple TV), and a Macbook Pro. I also run Ubuntu 64 9.10 and Windows 7 64 Ultimate on my main desktop.