It's been quite a while since I last posted anything on here, as you can see it's been just over a year ago. Although I haven't posted anything, I've still regularly visited GameSpot for my gaming news. The reason why I haven't posted anything of interest is due to my unbelievably boring job. I moved out of my parent house around six months ago and since, I've had to work almost ever day to fund my own flat. Back breaking, I can tell you.

However, I've been graced with a week off (finally!) and have decided to dedicate my spare time to building a customized computer made from bits of my old one. The project is nicknamed Biomechanical, as the theme is black and blood red. While writing this, I have already started and progressed with the build so not much needs doing. I have cable braided every collection of cables, fan, molex, even the SATA cables. I've added 3 120 mm Akasa Red LED fans to the top vent and replaced the 140 mm at the back of the case with a fourth Akasa 120 mm fan. They're fairly quiet but I really wanted to go the full nine yards on quietness so I purchased a Scythe Kama-Meter and wired up all four 120 mm fans. Now, they're running at 800 rpm instead of 1200 rpm which is almost like a whisper. Finding a Scythe Kama-Meter wasn't an easy task, I can assure you. Originally, I ordered one through eBay for around £50, only to be told a few days later they hadn't any left in stock and refunded me. Luckily a few months later, I found one for half the original price at £25. It was very easy to install and looks fantastic with the black front plate and red LED panel. I will get some pictures up later of the current status of the project.

I have some big plans for this project however it's mainly funding I'm waiting on. As soon as I can afford it, I'll be adding a watercooling loop and a new graphics card. Maybe even a new 24" monitor? But I doubt that one. I need to afford bills and the upcoming release of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

EDIT: It seems in the past month, luck was on my side with money. I've recieved a new 22" widescreen Samsung SyncMaster from my father as he bought a bigger model. And I've also saved enough money to buy a new graphics card. A EVGA GeForce GTX 285 to be exact. Since I have never bought a extreme card, I was in for quite a shock at the size and weight of it! It's bloody huge! Luckily, my Coolermaster HAF 932 has more than enough room to house this super card. I'm even more surprised at how quiet the card is, I'd heard reports it was a noisy card but it's virtually silent even under load!

I've never considered my profile blogs to be ramblings of personal issues and problems however I believe what happened a couple of day ago was a serious enough to break that rule.

As I'm sure some of you know, I usually spend most of my time playing online on Call Of Duty 4 for Xbox 360. I've played for a total of 8 days or so and still cannot see an end in sight.. yet something intervined. As I was accepting an invite from a friend to join his party, my Xbox threw me off the game, claiming the disc was unreadable. I didn't panic as this has happened before on several games, in random situations, usually after perlonged periods of playing. So I checked the disc, dusted it off and slip it back into the drive only to be presented with another 'unreadable disc' error. After three attempts, the disc didn't even read and I am now without the best multiplayer game.

If this wasn't enough to irratate me, my second option was to finally 100% GTA4. But this ended rather quickly as this disc didn't read. Another three attempts persude but to no avail. What is worse about this copy of GTA is that it's a mates, not mine so I'm more than likely going to have to shell out for a replacement. What confuses me however, is the GTA disc was fine, almost scratchless before the COD problem so I'm wondering if the COD4 disc has damaged the laser inside my xbox. I'm a little reluctant to play anymore games incase they deside to break aswell.

I'm sure most of you have had problems similar to these but my options are limited in terms of money saving. I can't really trade in my copy of COD4 as it has a giant, gaping crack about an inch long and even if I did, it'd look suspious, asking for another copy. I'm gonna try the GTA4 disc again tomorrow and if it still persists, I'll pay GameStation to buffer it for me. I can feel widthrail symptoms coming on from COD and I better get down a copy soon.