The noisy, overheated case:Well, I got a newer case and PSU (one of my old PSU's wasn't up to the newer CPU's) and ended up playing musical cases with the wife's machine due to various aesthetic and noise issues. Finally I was going to keep the PSU but get rid of the case (upgrading a friend) but first I needed to add a side fan because the case sufferes from the standard absence of incoming air passages. So, nibble, nibble, nibble, nibble...hole, and then I decided, "What the heck" and put a piece of hardboard on the inside of the case to see if it'd help with the noise.

Wow, what a difference. The added weight really cuts down on the vibration and I think having the rough side exposed reduces the noise even more. Going to add pieces to the other side pannel and probably the top/bottom pannels. Another nice thing is that it adds a little structural integrity (and yeah, weight). Right now the hardboard is just held on with the fan screws. I'll use some contact cement on it tomorrow when I put on the other pieces. Of course if you wanted an easier time of it you could just use that self-adhesive vinyl floor covering on the inside of your case. It wouldn't strengthen the case any but it probably would drastically reduce any rattle

Pretty cold:That's pretty much it...it's going to be cold over the next few days. Lows are supposed to be around 20 (7C)

Doing more hobby stuff: One nice thing is I seem to be doing more hobby related stuff. Years without any money had kind of burned me out. Not being able to buy $1 worth of parts can do that to you. Hoping to do more water rocket/air cannon stuff next year...one of my Christmas presents is a cordless compressor. Might also get back into gaming a little now that I can afford (and more importantly possess) reasonably fast hardware.

Lions and tigers and...LIGERS...OH MY! one final thought. I saw some show today (hmmm, almost 4am. ok, yesterday) about hybrid animals. One they showed was a liger. Apparently the growth inhibiting genes are carried by the FEMALE tiger and the MALE lion. If you manage to breed a male tiger and a female lion you get a wimpy little 'tigon' but if you breed a female tiger with a male lion...you get freakishly huge cats over a meter tall at the shoulders!