I'm glad I finally have a PS3 again. The hard drive I said I was missing in the Shout Box did surface. A neighbor finally called and said it was mistakenly delivered to them. So now I have a 500 GB hard drive in my brand new PS3 Slim. Things have changed a little bit since the last time I had a PS3. I'm glad that lossless WMAs now play, though there are little pops in the playback. I'm not sure yet if this is specific to the WMAs or not. I'll have to use the PS3 more and see.

But yeah, I was surprised to see that Hastings, Best Buy, Toys"R"Us, and Costco were all out of PS3s. I had stopped at Target early on and found two there, but I was hoping to find something bundled with it or some kind of deal. When I kept finding none around, I decided I'd better get back to Target. There was only one left when I made it back there, and the PS3 remote that had been there was now gone. I thought it must have been Final Fantasy XIII that made them disappear, but I guess the shortages aren't tied to that.

Moving my computer into the living room and hooking it up to my main system is what prompted me to alter how I had things arranged. I had bought a $55 5-shelf black storage shelf from Costco that also acts as two workbenches. I used half of it to put my computer and accessories on and didn't really have a use for the other half. Except then I decided it might be worth trying to use it as my entertainment stand. The TV is now 4" higher because of it, but it doesn't seem to be annoying me. This also allows the M22-as-center's tweeter to be more in line with the M80 tweeters, so that's cool. I also had the preamp-processor and A1400-8 out from the previous stand and on the floor (though elevated with pieces of black plastic pipe on each of the feet and on cardboard) since there wasn't space for proper ventilation. Now they're actually on a proper shelf again, so I'm happy about that. I need to either buy a custom FMS for my M22 center or think of something else that will work because right now it's simply sitting on the empty box for the AudioBytes.

I'm using strategically placed 1"x1" adhesive-backed mounting bases that accept cable ties on the back of the stand to try to tidy the cables up a bit, but I have so many that I sort of gave up on getting it to look great. I'll try harder when I'm in the basement. It doesn't look wonderful, but I don't think it looks absolutely horrible, either.

I also bought a Wiremold Corduct Cord Protector to keep people from tripping on the subwoofer cable I had crossing an opening on the carpet. My dad had tripped on it a few weeks back and it ripped the cable right out of my AS-EQ1. It could have been pretty ugly, but thankfully nothing was damaged. My dad was glad to see that Wiremold's products are made in the USA. I noticed that they're the same brand that Mark likes for cable raceways because they had the picture from the site when I'd looked them up before. I think I'll probably get some more of their products sometime now that I know they're at Home Depot.

Anyway, it felt like a productive day, and I'll eventually have pictures, like after I get my EP800 situation sorted and can clean up the room a little. Parts of the room will still look like crap because one wall has had holes in it due to renovation and hasn't been patched up and painted, but at least you'll get the gist.

Sounds like a fun and productive day. I was looking online at bestbuy, walmart, and gamestop and all are out of PS3's. I have no idea why there is a shortage.

I lost track of some renovation project of yours (or your father's), Charles. When are you scheduled to move to the basement again?

I don't really know when moving my home theater to the basement is supposed to go down, but I'm crossing my fingers for this summer. There's still a bit of work to do. The new stairwell still has to be finished, the old one taken out, and a wall will come out, too. It's a supporting wall, and we're going to redo where the supports are and move the beam up higher. My rent money has been getting saved toward this end, so we'll see how far the budget takes us. I'll put more money toward it to get it done faster, though, as I'm really wanting to get my home theater set up in a better location.

Yeah, I don't know if a reason has been stated. I just saw there were mentions by Sony that there could be a shortage, but they didn't say why.

Penny Arcade didn't understand why Sony thought there'd be a shortage, and limit people to buying only one PS3, either. But they did make a comic on the subject: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/2/17/

There were lots of PS3s at a local gaming shop today when I picked up a game for my son's birthday.

That's where they went! What game did your son get? Is he at least playing sports-related video games?

Good comic neon!

Oh, if you're not a regular PA reader, it would probably help a little to know who/what is talking about having two PS3s. That would be Div, a Circuit City Divx player. He took to drinking after CC discontinued their failed competitor to DVD.

Sorry for the crappy picture. I don't borrow my mother's camera enough to know how to work it well... and I don't know much about using cameras otherwise.



I had a picture of where my computer is sitting next to the couch, too, right next to where the EP800 is in the photo, but unfortunately despite snapping three different shots of it, none of them came out, and I'm not going to re-borrow the camera right now to try to make it better. Plus, I can't believe Canon doesn't have a Windows 7 64-bit compatible driver for their EOS Digital Rebel, at least that I could find, and there wasn't a driver that would work built into Windows. So I had to wait for my mom to send these to me, since I also don't have a card reader since it was built into the monitor I gave away. Frustrating day. Ha ha.

Anyway, I replaced the cheap $80 Target entertainment stand with what you see now, an even cheaper $55 storage shelf unit from Costco. Half is being used for the TV stand, and the other half is what my computer is sitting on. The mess of cables is easier to see, but I'll do something about that eventually. Maybe.

The M22 is there in all its glory, now on a stand that my dad made. Just plywood for the bases and a cut-down 2x4 inside some 3" ABS plastic pipe, all painted black. It could have been prettier with beveled edges and what not, but I didn't want him to put too much effort into something that I think is just temporary. I don't know how the speakers will be arranged when they're all moved to the basement.

Oh, you can see the $18 shoe rack/storage shelf that I'm using to hold my remotes and keyboard/mouse, too. I think I like it more than a coffee table since it doesn't take up so much space and is open, which does less to interfere with the sound.

I think the content makes up for the composition.

I admire the functionality of your setup. You have your priorities straight. The only thing that concerns me is the asymmetry of your front door windows.

Oh, don't worry. That door is going to be replaced at some point, along with at least one other exterior door. My dad wants all of the doors going outside to be wider, and plus the doors don't seal all that well anymore.

You've got to lay off the Cheetos.

I swear it only has to do with the girls I'm bringing home.

Because they're as big as my imagination.

I think the saying is aim high, not go big.

So you likey the tall ones?

Ugh. Pretend I didn't say "likey."

You can edit posts, you know... I likey the one I have, of course.

Charles likes big butts and he can not lie...

Please tell me those were digitally altered.


EDIT: Apologies for the double entendre.

I freaking hope so! Although I'm really not sure since I grabbed them off a google search.

I love what you did with the windows on the door Charles. I’ve gotten crap from 3 people for sealing mine with foil for now. I’m temped to leave it what way just to piss them off since it doesn’t bother me.

My dad's the one who put the foil in when I told him I needed to control the light in the room. He'd done it to doors himself before. Yeah, it works, though someone has poked holes in the leftmost one.

Please help me unsee that.

About the "other" picture, I don't understand what the black frame thingiee is in front of the TV. I'm wanting to think it is the TV, but it looks like the TV is behind that big black frame. It looks like the black frame is part of the stand. Optical illusion maybe?

Well, the TV screen is framed by black, and then there's parts of the shelving unit I'm using as a stand sticking up, since I didn't want to cut the thing down. I simply have the top shelf sitting as low as possible while not having the corners intrude into the picture.