So I did a little online pricing for parts and found that I could build the following machine for just under $1,000.  W00t!!  Here’s the details:

CASE: Black Aspire X-QPACK2 Aluminum Micro ATX
MOBO: ASUS M3N78-EMH Micro ATX AMD
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz
CPU FAN: ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 64 Pro *
RAM: OCZ Platinum Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB)
VIDEO: EVGA 896-P3-1266-AR GeForce GTX 260 FTW **
HD: WD Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKS 500GB
OPTICAL: Pioneer Black SATA DVD/CD Burner (DVR-216DBK)

* = May have to change this one due to a lack of “overhead” space when sliding the mobo tray into the case…
** = This video card will eat up an extra PCI slot due to overhang.  Ah well…  Just hope the 500w PS will be enough to feed this monster.

Will probably be all finished saving up in January 2009 - had a slight setback with my funds being minimized due to my beloved Volvo needing some fairly serious maintenance.  : (

I’m planning on sending the unit back to Lacie for total replacement. Thinking seriously of taking the new drive and selling it on eBay and using that money to get a Buffalo Linkstation Pro. At least the Buffalo is hackable (wiki link) with custom firmware (wink).

Nekkid Lace Pics:
My Lacie 1TB Ethernet Big Disk’s Guts
One of the two Samsung drives in the EBD

Interested in a Buffalo NAS? Check the links:
Buffalo Linkstation (UK)
Firmware passwords
Firmware FAQ
FreeLink for Linkstation Pro Info Page
Turn a FreeLink LSP into a Slim Server (SqueezeCenter 7)

Now I just need to find a way to sync automatically… Hmmmm….

Also, I fixed a broken graphic on the sidebar. Seems one of the online gamer trackers went belly-up and all I got was a broken graphic as my consolation. :/ So now I have a general image under the XBL tag that points to my video gaming page.

I should have a new Nike+iPod set up soon. The old one pooped out in near record time - hence the almost year-long gap in speed-walking logs (also) on the sidebar.

If you are having issues with spam, fear not, there are auto to semi-automatic plugins to the rescue. I use Akismet on all my blogs and it stops 99.99% attempts at posting trash. If, for some reason, that doesn’t do the trick, you can always add a “human challenge & verification” plugin (reCaptcha, etc.) and force those (bleep) bags to have to manually post their tripe (and we know they won’t do that - too (bleeping) lazy).

To get your own Akismet API key, go HERE.
Math Comment, go HERE.
Some other options, HERE and HERE.

I have a couple of small plans for this Chumby, as it is marketed as a hackable device, and hope to create a widget or two as soon as I learn how it’s done… To see the official wiki for developing widgets go HERE.

Chumby Review Links:
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/chumby-redux
http://www.geek.com/review-chumby/
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/05/14/technology/ptpogue15.php (Added)

SHOUTcasts I Fall Asleep To:
SOMA FM Drone Zone - MP3 stream
BlueMars - MP3 stream
BlueMars Cryosleep - MP3 stream
Sleepbot - MP3 stream

[[[ Updated 18 May 2008: I have added a total of 78 widgets on my Chumby - spread out over four channels. I have channels set up for Day, Night, Test and Kitchen. For one of my widget ideas, I'm looking at how I might be able to work a small search engine GUI out, using the on-screen keyboard. Why? Cause I wanna take a stab at integrating my Kitchen Assistant (using a Google API) as a means for looking recipes and drink mixes up. The only down side is that I am not certain if I will be able to work some magic and get all the clicked-through recipe pages to display right on the Chumby without a serious portal (most of these recipe sites do not export their data in XML format). The other option is to syphon a truck load of recipes from a variety of locations, convert them into an XML format and dump the whole lot into a personal SQL database on my (or a central) network. Either way, uuuggghhhhh...]]]

Brace yourself… Some of these books are a tad pricey!

Download PDF of this recipe HERE.
Download PDF of the original recipe HERE.

Yocheved’s Hamantaschen Cookies v2.0
[Kosher - Parve] Ingredients I used to make this parve

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 medium whole eggs
1 cup sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup margarine
2 Tbsp key-lime juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking powder
favorite jams or other fillings

Directions:
- Take your margarine and either allow it to get to room temperature or soften it up in the microwave. Do not overcook / burn it. Pre-heat oven to 350 F / 180 C. Put non-stick on your cookie sheet(s).

- Add all dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Mix thoroughly. In a smaller bowl combine the eggs, key-lime juice, oil, margarine (slightly melted or room temperature), and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly, and then add to the dry ingredients in the medium bowl. Mix and finally knead with your hands until you have a nice solid and semi-sticky ball.

- Pinch off and roll up a ball about the size of two of your thumbs wide (sideways). Take a cup and dust the bottom lightly in flour, then use it to flatten the cookie ball into a nice circular shape. Then roll three sides up and pinch the corners together, forming a triangular pit for your filler to sit in. Using a spoon put about a teaspoon of filling into the cookie. As you finish each cookie transfer them to the baking sheet and make sure they have plenty of space to cook.

- Let bake for 12~15 minutes – or until the dough is lightly golden in color. When done, move cookies to a cooling rack and let sit for at least 20 minutes. You may find that some filler may have leaked out during the baking process – replace what is needed during the cooling phase.

- These cookies will tolerate refrigeration and freezing, as long as they are put in an air-tight bag before hand.

Gots nothing but love for the DC757 and HRGeeks. Figured I would try my hand at making a theme for the M3 Real (for the Nintendo DS) in honor of the hardest working (or skating) geeks I know. HERE is version 1.0 of the theme. Enjoy!

…And yes, there is a back story on why it says, “We f33r teh Segway.” ; P

What a blast! ShmooCon was a little bigger this year from the last, but it had the same great speakers, organizers and attendee. Incriminating photos of my drunken state may be found on Flickr accounts of some friends (SullyJMan, Ethan, and the general ShmooCon 2008 stream) - I know I was not the only toastie that night ;P. Thanks to everyone who made ShmooCon4 a joy to attend!

While there, I was tempted to purchase three books (saving up cash):

No Tech Hacking: A Guide to Social Engineering, Dumpster Diving, and Shoulder Surfing
by Johnny Long
Publisher: Syngress (February 21, 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-1597492157
Hit up Johnny’s link (HERE) to help raise money for AOET (Action for Empowerment). For more information check out his site at: http://www.hackersforcharity.org/

Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, 2nd Edition
by Jon Erickson
Publisher: No Starch Press (February 2008, 488 pp., w/ CD)
ISBN-13 978-1-59327-144-2

Practical Packet Analysis: Using Wireshark to Solve Real-World Network Problems
by Chris Sanders
Publisher: No Starch Press (May 2007, 172 pp.)
ISBN-13 978-1-59327-149-7

To access the iTunes link click HERE, or on the graphic provided in the right sidebar.