Computer Upgrade

Posting this after quite a while. I've been watching the TV series Stargate all the time (literally) so no new movies and very few books.
My computer was getting a little too old so I did a mini upgrade from my Athlon 2400 XP / Asus A7V8X-MX and a Seagate 80 GB Hard disk to (WARNING: Detailed specs follow) -
CPU
CPU Type AMD Athlon 64, 2000 MHz (10 x 200) 3000+
CPU Alias ClawHammer-512 S754
Instruction Set x86, x86-64, MMX, 3DNow!, SSE, SSE2
Original Clock 2000 MHz
L1 Code Cache 64 KB (Parity)
L1 Data Cache 64 KB (ECC)
L2 Cache 512 KB (On-Die, ECC, Full-Speed)
Package Type 754 Pin uOPGA

Motherboard
Motherboard Name MSI K8MM-V (MS-7142)

Motherboard Physical Info
CPU Sockets/Slots 1 Socket 754
Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 AGP
RAM Slots 2 DDR DIMM
Integrated Devices Audio, Video, LAN
Form Factor Micro ATX
Motherboard Chipset K8M800

RAM
Module Size 1024 MB (2 ranks, 4 banks)
Memory Type DDR SDRAM
Memory Speed PC3200 (200 MHz)

Hard Disk
Driver Description ST380817 AS SCSI Disk Device
Manufacturer Seagate
Hard Disk Name Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ 80817
Formatted Capacity 80 GB
Average Rotational Latency 4.16 ms
Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Max. Internal Data Rate 683 Mbit/s
Average Seek 8.5 ms
Interface SATA
Buffer-to-Host Data Rate 150 MB/s
Buffer Size 8 MB
Spin-Up Time 10 sec

King Kong

You have to see it to believe it! I was one of the first people to scoff at Peter Jackson's idea of remaking King Kong. I basically didn't like the plot of the movie about a giant ape falling in love with a woman (just goes to show no one knows what women want).
I only went to see the movie with some of my colleagues because there wouldn't be much dialouge (it was dubbed in Hindi) and the special effects were mouth watering.
The movie turned out to be great, make sure you watch it on the biggest cinema hall screen in your city.

Legend of Zorro

Zorro returns; and this time he's married (the delectable Catherine Zeta-Jones or is it Douglas now?) and has a trouble making son too.
The story has surprising depth so instead of just a series of hack 'n slash fights we get a pretty nice plot based around the time of the American civil war. The stunts are done well and look believable and bits of well timed comic relief are good too.
Thoroughly satisfying fare, don't miss it.

Doom (Movie)

After reading mixed reviews on the internet I watched the movie not expecting much from it. The movie is quite watchable actually, lots of action and the special effects are great although the storyline is the old rehashed government / giant corporate indulging in cutting edge genetic engineering resulting in highly dangerous mutants.
Good to watch on a quiet weekend afternoon.

Gardens of the Moon

This is book one of Malazan book of the Fallen. To compare with Song of Ice and Fire, its got a lot more magic involved (with even the gods playing a hand).
Where the Song of Ice and Fire has 3 or 4 main threads in the story this book's plot can be compared to a roomful of kittens allowed to play with large balls of yarn, it can get a bit overwhelming at times but the story is fast paced and unpredictable.
Another book highly recommended for Fantasy fans.
Note: It seems that either my online book store has stopped shipping books to my city or their site has some bugs so unless Amazon opens up shop in India this will be my last book review for a while.

SE K750i

I finally got my new phone after a lot of attempts, its the Sony Ericsson K750i.
Features include a 2 megapixel camera, 250k colour display screen, MP3 ringtones and Bluetooth, a 64MB Memory Stick Pro memory card is also included.
The camera has a nice flashlight and allows unlimited video recording (well, limited by memory size). I just love the animated themes and menus (lots of themes available online). Thankfully the MP3 ringtones are really loud ;-)
Initially I was going to buy its expensive walkman cousin the W800i but then I dropped the idea and got an iPod Mini (4GB) and the reason you don't see a review of the iPod is that it would be redundant (everyone knows its the coolest MP3 player in the market).

Wallace & Gromit

The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (complete title) is a fun movie from the makers of Chicken Run. Wallace and Gromit run a humane pest (rabbit) control company that saves the town's vegetables from the hungry rabbits. These vegetables are going to be part of the annual Giant Vegetable competition. Needless to say they (mostly Gromit) save the town from the rampaging were-rabbit.
If you liked Chicken Run you might want to give this a look but I think Chicken Run was a better movie.

Song of Ice and Fire

This is one of the best Fantasy series I've read since Lord of the Rings.
I've just finished reading the first three books of the series and they are great.
The story has three main threads, one follows the battle for succession for the seven kingdoms, another the land beyond the wall to the north of the seven kingdoms where mysterious creatures named the Others live and a third follows the exiled princess who's planning to return to the seven kingdoms (with three dragons) to regain her throne.
The story is fast paced and full of twists and turns that always keep you guessing.
This one is very highly recommended for all fantasy readers.

Dukes of Hazzard

A friend of mine advised me to write a movie review instead of the those boring book reviews so here it is.
This movie really reminds me of old Hindi films when the local village boys fight the evil and filthy rich land owner (and the corrupt cops). The plot revolves around the Dukes (2 brothers, their sister and an uncle), the brothers actually deliver moonshine which is brewed by their uncle. Their lovely cousin sister Daisy (Jessica Simpson) usually gets them out of trouble.
The movie has lots of car stunts and a few comic situations as well. Overall I'd say its good fun and definitely worth a watch.

P.S. - I also saw Fantastic 4 (too old now) and Bewitched (yeah I know, don't say anything, I was deperately bored).

Sword of Truth

I ordered this series in spite of the customer reviews for some of the books at Amazon.
The story is nothing original insofar as the basic plot is concerned, it about a simple woods guide living in a town ignorant of magic who later turns out to be the most powerful wizard in three thousand years.
Some of the characters and stories are really interesting, although I sometimes wished that the editor had done more work on flashbacks and most of the monologues/discussions.
But the series seems to be losing its way and getting repetitive so you might want to give this one a pass.