News day
Many things are going on; indeed, perhaps too many: teaching next semester, purchasing of domain names for shorter and easier email addresses, maybe some web hosting, and rising specs for the new machine.
Well, it’s yet to be confirmed finally, but it looks as though I’ll have six hours per week of teaching Java this semester. This is good, in that it is reasonably well paid work. It is bad, in that the shit is beginning to move very quickly towards the fan, and I’m currently not doing anything to slow it. I’m going to be extremely busy this semester, but at least it’s my last.
I must in the next couple of weeks purchase my domain name, and get some email action happening. It’s become embarassing having to read out my current one when people ask for it. E-L-O-Q-U-I-C-A-E-S-A-R. I love it, but not everyone can understand Latin (mind you, only the words are Latin, there’s no grammar to speak of), and I have a problem pronouncing it as /si:zar/ (if you’re lucky; /si:z@/ if you’re not), when it should be more like /k{Isa:r/. Anyway, I await the day when I can look a person in the face, and proudly proclaim, “my email address is james at meshta dot org.” Which is better. At least a bit.
Hopefully I’ll be able to afford hosting as well, though I could easily set up a server at home through the cable. It’s not like it would be any sort of drain on the bandwidth :). The only problem is that before I do that, I have to get computer hardware, network equipment, and convince my parents that the machine will not blow up if it’s left on overnight. I’ll have to do some more research into the options.
I’m amazed by how much the prices of hardware have fallen recently. The system I was looking at two months ago, which cost about $4100, would now only be about $3400. This means I can get a whole lot more. I’m thinking of a 19″ LCD (rather than 17″), the latest and greatest video card (I’m still leaning towards nVidia, even though the ATIs appear to perform better), and some kick-ass other stuff. I may even be able to afford a dedicated sound card. I’ll have to start ordering!