SO, I now need about 130GB for my Windows partition. Easy! Just use Boot Camp Assistant. At least I thought it was easy… Boot Camp made my partition, I inserted my Windows installation CD and we were on our way. Until it came time to do the actual install. I chose the correct drive to install Windows, but it decided to completely reformat my entire hard drive. Now I’m screwed because I didn’t back anything up (let that be a lesson to you all) and I lost all my pictures (the reason I didn’t have recipe posts this week). Not to mention all my videos, music and other stuff…

I panicked just like anyone else would. But I remembered I had my back up hard drive for my MacBook. You see… the standard 320GB wasn’t enough space for me so I had upgraded myself to a 500GB. But that meant buying an external case. So I cloned my Mac Pro onto my backup 320GB HDD and popped it in to my MBP. I took the 500GB and tried some software recovery programs. Over the course of 4 days, I tried 3 programs: only 1 of which really worked… and of course it was the last program I tried. But this program let me scan and recover 1 file of a 5MB size or less. So I chose a picture at random and BAM! I got my picture back. That meant I needed to pay the $100 for the program to recover everything else. But needless to say I got everything back, pictures and all.

Now, would you pay $100 for 16GB of pictures… thousands of pictures, countless memories and events? In my opinion, it was well worth the money, and not to mention being able to use the program again if something happened (knocking on wood as I write this). So there’s the story of my endless week. I’m still installing everything and it will be taking me another week with at least a few dozen install CDs and countless internet updates. I hope to be back soon as soon as my MBP is back up and running to its full potential.

Cheers!

• Download files while your computer is asleep. [Gizmodo]
• Most iPhones can now play WoW. [Gizmodo]
• Verizon iPhone? Maybe possible next year. [Engadget]
• Unseen usefulness of Google Earth [Techcrunch]
• Intergated MP3 player on you earbuds. [Engadget]

Burbia.com is a site where people submit stories of the suburbs, people ranting about lawn trashing, crappy paint jobs but have a right to because they own a house out in the “burbs”. One particular story from Burbia was about a husband and wife arguing about video games. That’s right… video games.

As I’ve stated in the “About Us” section, I love World of Warcraft and not just that, but many video games in general. I don’t own a 360 (although Andy is trying very hard to convince me) or a PS3 as I am a PC gamer, but I do bust out the old Xbox once in awhile. Anyways, the conversation between the couple is below:

Woman: You think it’s normal spending so much time on video games?
Guy: What’s normal?
Woman: Probably not all waking hours.
Guy: I don’t….
Woman: You’re right, once in a while you sit in front of the TV eating Doritos watching wrestling.
Guy: By whose standards is any behavior normal?
Woman: By my standards, that say if you don’t cut down the gaming by say, 90%, I’m leaving you and taking the kids.
Guy: (pauses) Those are your standards.
Woman: Yea, and you’ve got a week to make them yours.

Now, I’m not one to watch wrestling as I think its absolutely boring and stupid and I eat Doritos once in a blue moon, but I do game a lot. I play every Sunday during the 9+ hours of football, I play at night when I’m not tired from my job for a couple of hours and I play whenever I get a free chance. But when does gaming become an addiction? Nathan wrote about the movie Second Skin and how addictive gaming can be, but am I addicted?

My girlfriend thinks I am, playing while working on TNMS, while watching TV. Yes, I am a multi-tasker too! I can’t go a second without doing something constructive or reading something interesting. Maybe its ADD or ADHD or restless leg syndrome and so, I play. I play to communicate with friends and hang out in a virtual world rather than driving 30+ miles in the snow to grab a drink. I play to challenge the mind (yes, the game is like chess only instead of 1 opponent, you have many and need to plan your next several moves accordingly) and immerse myself in a world of fantasy and magic.

Am I addicted, yes, I guess I am. But will I stop like this guy did? I will soon…

• First Android phone to be shipped in November… without Microsoft Exchange? – Engadget
• Intel to release 160GB solid state hard drives, faster, bigger and use less energy – Tom’s Hardware
• Dell’s Mini Inspiron laptop specifications have leaked out – Gizmodo
• Blizzard will release the opening cinematic movie for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King at Games Convention – Kotaku

OK, so that last story is mainly for us, but I leave you with this tid-bit that I came across today. For those who watch Family Guy, there is a character named Ollie Williams, a meterologist. He apparently has his own site here. Watch this Ollie Williams montauge to fully understand if you don’t already.