Friday, February 26, 2010

A bit about me

Not that I'm a really interesting person or anything, but I think it will be useful for readers to know a bit about my background and where I'm coming from - in particular, how much I know about computer stuff.

Ok - I work in Information Technology, but don't let that turn you off. I'm whats called a 'Business Analyst" and work for the one of the large Australian Banks in Financial Markets (not home loans or banking, etc)... if you live in Australia, then I'm sure you'd recognise Which Bank immediately (o.k. that's an inside joke for those living in Oz).

As a geeky teen, I played around programming computers (a venerable Commodore 64)  for years - but always with software, truth be told... it was mainly games (anyone remember "Jumpman",."Defender of the Crown" and "Boulderdash"?). I rarely ever cracked open the case of any computers and was happy with thinking of them as boxes at home that I did what I wanted.

At work, they are only ever a means to an end and I never develop a scrap of code, nor even see the computers that hum away at the other end of Sydney.

My mobile phone was bought in 2005 and is still going strong - I see no reason to change it as I hardly ever send SMS with it.

Words like "Motherboard", "CPU", "USB" - I've had a rough idea what they are.

HDMI? Thats some kind of video cable that is really, really expensive for some reason?

Words like "Firewire", "IDE", "SATA" and "PCI" - well, until last week, they were mysteries to me.

My computer at home is mainly used for internet, email and a bit of word processing. Every three years or so, I back up my stuff and take the PC to my friendly Chinese computer shop on Penshurst Street, Penshurst, and tell him to "upgrade it". It comes back faster with a bigger hard drive, but I never concerned myself too much with what he did in that beige box.

But at the back of my mind a niggling doubt gnawed away - my brother-in-law, who is not nearly as technically inclined as me (which isn't saying much actually), would build his own PCs! Maybe this isn't as hard as the propeller heads would have you think?

I think I'm beginning to agree with them. Of course... that could be beginners overconfidence... I guess I'll find out.

I'll fill you in on what I've discovered so far, but I'm sure I've got heaps more to learn along the way -as at the moment my HTPC consists of a completely empty case on the dining room table.


But you'd be surprised at what I've learned... even about PC cases. Or the trendy word for them is "Chassis".



Join me on my journey; benefit from my experiences; build your own ultimate Media Center at fraction of the price of that 1080p High Definition Plasma or LCD TV you bought last year; modestly accept the praise of your friends as they reappraise your magnificent technology skills as you show them your sexy new Media Centre that you built for a  fraction of the price of what LG or Sony is selling.



I've got about a weeks worth of progress to update you on - I'll blog this weekend to fill you in on whats happened to get me to the stage where a shiny and empty case was delivered this evening.


Next blog: Why?

And the next: What's in one of these media players?

And after that: Location, Location, Location

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