Skype

I've been using the freely downloadable Skype for a little while now to make free computer to computer voice calls, using a [Trust] headset.

Today though I paid the £10 + £1.50 VAT for Skype credit giving me their current special offer of being able to Skype UK landlines for free for 6 months. The credit I can use for calling mobiles, texting mobiles, calling international, and call forwarding charges (I've set it up so that if I'm not at my computer, calls are forwarded to my mobile, and I pay for the call at Skype's rates which are cheap).

I also paid £20 + £3 VAT to get a Skype phone number for 12 months, allowing people to phone me on Skype. This also provides me with a free voicemail service.

For credit top-ups I have Paypal set-up to allow me to top-up in Skype with just a couple clicks.

Flickr Pro

I finally got around to upgrading my free flickr account to a Pro account.

What I didn't realise is that my photos were being stored in their original sizes and not scaled down to the maximum free account size of 1024x768. This spared me the daunting task, of deleting most of what I had up, and reuploading and retagging the full-size photos. Truly flickr is a kick-ass service.

MacBook Pro

With me getting Wi-Fi broadband, I more than ever would like a laptop, and with me getting accustomed to a 4600 Dual-Core desktop with nVidia 7600 and 19" TFT - the laptop would require that same feeling of state of the art sexiness.

With the price of the XP laptops I liked the look of, being in the region of £1800, I figured I'd be as well going with one of those MacBook Pros I've been hearing so many good things about. (Note that my knowledge of Macs is limited.)

The price, including VAT, is £1,899.00 and has the following specs:

17-inch widescreen display (1680x1050 resolution)
2.16GHz Intel Core Duo
1GB (single SODIMM) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
120GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA hard drive
SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with 256MB GDDR3 memory
One FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, and three USB 2.0 ports
AirPort Extreme (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth 2.0, Apple Remote, Power Adapter, Battery, built-in webcam, OS X Tiger, iLife '06

It needs to be noted that I currently don't have that sort of money, but hopefully soon I can make the purchase.

Microsoft Zune

The Microsoft Zune, to be released on November 14th, and priced US $249.99 sure looks nice; what with that satisfying sized screen it has.

8Mb Baby!

I've just upgraded from 1Mb ADSL to 8Mb ADSL, ie AOL Silver to Platinum. I'll also be getting my first router, with the Netgear one they're sending, and it's wireless.

Bebo & MySpace

My MySpace page I've had for a while, but aside from the occasional message of interest, I've never been overly impressed. The concept is good but it suffers from poor aesthetics. Saying that though I have been meeting folk through it, and have just updated it a bit.

bebo on the other hand I've only recently joined and am more impressed with. It's better laid out and looks better.

Update: Okay I'm gonna backtrack on what I said. Bebo is good and has its place, but currently I'm having way more fun with MySpace.

My New Computers

My main system is now a 4600+ Dual Core, with nVidia 256Mb PCI-Express 5700, 19" flat Samsung monitor, 300Gb IDE, 1Gb DDR 400 RAM, aluminium case, Alienware 450W PSU, 16 speed DVD-RW, XP Pro, and 7.1 onboard sound.

The other system, linked by crossover is a 3100+ Sempron, with 256Mb 5500 PCI-Express, 19" flat Samsung monitor, 100Gb IDE, 1Gb DDR 400 RAM, DVD-RW, UPS, and XP Home.

A Brief 40k Update

Since the last post I purchased a Catachan Battleforce, the Black Templar Battleforce & Codex, the new Chaplain with Jump-pack (so nice), a 2 pack of Catachans with Demolition Charges, a 2 pack of Catachans with Heavy Flamers, and the Cities of Death Codex.

The Beginning of a Sixth 40k Army: The Dreaded Tyranids

On the 11th August I decided as a spur-of-the-moment thing to buy one of the superb new Carnifex models because it a) looked like a fun project b) is arguably one of the best 40k models (although nowadays there's so many great models, but then this also has the size factor) c) is a model you will often/almost always field in a Tyranid army d) is kickass.

Also, having read from front to back the old and new Tyranid Codex and being impressed (especially with the new codex since Tyranids are now better) it was time for me to begin a Tyranid army.

Today I sprayed the Carnifex, and the Tau Commander mentioned in my last post, and based and commenced painting the Tau Commander.

Back to Warhammer 40k

It's been a while since I made a blog post, simply because I've had nothing to add. Watching a lot of TV programs is all I've been up to. Recently though I returned to Warhammer 40k, after being away from it for about 5 months.

So far I've sprayed 17 Catachans, 20 Dark Eldar (16 Warriors, 2 Sybarites, Haemonculous, Lord), 12 Fire Warriors, 2 Gun Drones, 4 Flesh Hounds, 10 Terminators and 2 Teleport Homers, 5 Space Marine scouts, and a Space Marine with Multi-melta. 73 miniatures. Enough to keep me very busy.

I'm well on my way to completing the painting of the 12 Fire Warriors and 2 Gun Drones, I've started to paint 3 of the Catachans, and I've based all but the 10 Terminators and Space Marine with Multi-melta.

I also bought one of the new Tau Crisis Battlesuit Commanders, which when sprayed and painted, will give me the minimum Tau starting force.