Uh, woops?

Man, I almost forgot about this little bugger here... Shows how short-lived some things can be.

Where to start? Well, my hardware "upgrade" spree has kinda stalled... somewhat. The GeForce 7800GT I have will be exchanged or swapped for a newer card: a GeForce 7900GT. One of the cool and interesting things about EVGA is their Step-Up program, a program that enables buyers of EVGA products to "return" the card that they have recently purchased and used the money spent from there as credit towards a different or newer card. Granted that this may not be useful for some people. But for me, it's a good advantage as I purchased the 7800GT for about $300 shipped. And fortune smiles upon me as the 7900GT that came out shortly afterwards ended up being the same price. For the price of shipping the bugger back and for them to ship it to me, it's not too bad of a price to pay for the latest. The only drawback is that overall I end up paying more for the card than what I would have paid if I had gotten it new elsewhere. But where else am I to go when it comes to getting the latest hardware? I was faced with a difficult decision: Live with an older hardware or take advantage of the investment and get the latest generation of hardware for an additional fee.

As I wait for the queue to shorten up, I play and take advantage of the things I can do with this bad boy. Amazingly this thing can run many games without breaking a sweat. And I am anxious to see how well the new card will perform when it finally arrives. However, I'll be stuck without a video card for the duration of its transit to and from EVGA themselves. In a way, I'll be happy for it... as it gives me the opportunity for a break.

On the hobby side of things, I'll be getting some new arrivals. However, my collection has continued to grow to the point where it's getting a tad out of control. For starters, Takara, the company that manufactures the Transformers toys in Japan, has created some interesting new series of figures that is not only amazing but also small in size. The Hybrid Style series now spans two figures: Galaxy Convoy and G1 Convoy. I now have both at hand and they both remain in their boxed condition, unopened, to become a valuable collector's item. In transit at this very moment is another collector's item, Toy Dream Project's Galaxy Force Soundblaster, a black recolor/repaint of the original Galaxy Force Soundwave. One of the most attractive(?) aspect about GF Soundwave is that his design stems from the original Soundwave. The moment I first saw his design and the finished painted product, I knew it's going to be a major hit with the Japanese market and the collector's market. The name of Soundwave is just as recognizable as Starscream and Megatron for those who have remembered the old days of Transformers. Yet his design is updated for the newer generation and is thus given a very favorable and honorable tribute to the original, living up to its namesake.

For those who do not know all of the above, don't worry. Just know that all of the aforementioned figures are directly imported from Japan at prices that reflect the exchange rate at the time of purchase. It's expensive at times but personally at least I know I'm getting better products than what I probably would have gotten had Hasbro released it in America.

Last, but not least, I now run a different driver for my Xbox 360 controller. Precision is one thing. Not having a dead-zone is another. The latter is essential for many games, including flying.