Songs are essential. I have played the guitar for many years. I have only recently come to the conclusion that I want to play songs that my friends can sing along to. This thought was difficult to to arrive upon. As I look back, playing guitar was centered on me. So, in an effort to find more songs to play that others can sing along to, I have landed at the chords of "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey.

I found a simple version of the song HERE

I like this song for several reasons:

1. It is kind of simple. That is to say it is not overly complicated.
2. The song is lyrical. The singing of the lyrics transform and elevate the song, as opposed to the singing taking a back seat to the sounds of the instruments.
3. It is Journey O'Clock!

Dream PC Build

I've always enjoyed building my own PCs. I've always used Newegg.com for this purpose. However, I've been using a Laptop for 2 years for all of my gaming needs. Though not ideal, it has been an acceptable compromise given the amount of traveling demanded me by my job. Here lately I've been experiencing worse than usual performance and heat. Also, I might just be done traveling for a year or so. 

My first thought was a new "gaming" laptop, like those found at Origin PC or Alienware over at Dell.com. After some research it became clear to me that no laptop is going to be able to play new video games without a lot of heat and fan noise. I also began to calculate in my head the gap in power between a new laptop and the the equevelantly priced desktop PC.

After some consideration, I've opted to build a KICK ASS gaming PC. And, in my typical style, I've gone above and beyond what any rational person would find necessary and, by buying parts over time, have accumulated an snapshot of insanity:


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xri5
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xri5/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xri5/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 OC Formula EATX  LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory
Storage: OCZ Vertex 4 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 3.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (CrossFire)
Sound Card: Creative Labs Z PCIe 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card
Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case
Power Supply: XFX ProSeries 1000W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
Monitor: Acer V243HAJbd 24.0" Monitor
Monitor: Acer V243HAJbd 24.0" Monitor
Monitor: Acer V243HAJbd 24.0" Monitor
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)
Keyboard: Das Keyboard Model S Ultimate Silent Wired Standard Keyboard
Mouse: Razer RZ01-00510100-R3U1 Wireless Laser Mouse
Other: Ergotron LX Triple Monitor Stand
Other: Koolance Complete Custom Liquid Cooling Loop + Thermal Compoud, wiring harnesses, etc

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/xri5

I am most excited about the water cooling. I've never done a liquid cooled system so this is going to be a learning experience, and I plan to video the mayhem!

Stay tuned for an update.

Doctor. Doctor... Doctor. Doctor. Doctor.

Hello and welcome to Melkoren's Musings.

I have a lot of big projects to start posting so lets make a small list:

1. Dream PC Build;
    Including a first attempt at a custom liquid cooling loop

2. 2000 points of Necron painting and modeling;

3. A transfer of my nicotine addiction from cigarettes to nicotine water vapor deliver devices;

4. The gaps will be filled in by general musing including but not limited to Android Cellular Devices, books and literature, learning the Spanish language, precision watches, non-precision watches, life, death, video games and what ever else flits through my cognitive peanut.