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If you’re a geek (and since you’re reading this blog, you must be), then you’re probably at least somewhat interested in the upcoming Windows 7 release from Microsoft. I have been testing Windows 7 Beta and RC for the past few months, and I have to say that it is a lot better than Vista was when it was released a couple of years ago. My main computers still have Windows XP on them because of how bad I thought Vista was. When I return from DC, I have plans to upgrade my desktop at home with Windows 7 RC, now that I finally have everything backed up to a Western Digital Elements 1 TB external HDD.

That being said, if you will be in the market to upgrade your Windows operating system, but not your hardware, Microsoft has a great deal on Windows 7 upgrade licenses. For a limited time, you can pre-order and get 50% or more off of Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade and Windows 7 Professional Upgrade. The offer is good until July 11. Unfortunately, the discount does not apply to Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade. To get more information and to see which version is right for you, you can check out Amazon.com’s Windows 7 Resources page. Of course, you can always ask me, too.

And as an added bonus, if you purchase Windows 7 through any of the links here, you will be supporting ask-mark.com. Doesn’t that thought make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? I thought so.

It has taken me more than two years, but I have finally taken the leap and purchased an HDTV. Sunday, I was trying to catch up on my RSS feeds (124 and counting in Google Reader) when I came across a post on SlickDeals.net that featured a Sony Bravia 46-inch HDTV and 5.1 DVD home theater combo for $1,500. The Bravia Z-series 46-inch TV retails for almost $1,800 on SonyStyle.com. When you toss on the home theater system, this was a steal.

Here are the specs on this TV that are important to me:

• 1080p
• 4 HDMI inputs
• VGA input
• 120 Hz refresh
• 24 fps cinema mode

I was hoping to have everything delivered today, but Circuit City is booked with home deliveries until Sunday. Sometime tomorrow night I should receive a call to give me a 2-hour window when they will deliver everything, but I’ll be adding at least an hour to either side of that window just in case.

As soon as it’s all setup, I’ll post pics.

Much like Sarah Lane from Revision3 and TechTV fame, I am in the market for a digital SLR camera. I have been eying both Nikon’s and Canon’s line of entry-level DSLRs.

At this point, I’m leaning towards Canon and their EOS Rebel XSi. I have several friends who are acquainted with the Canon models, and they may have lenses I can poach.

The D90 is the camera I would be interested in purchasing from Nikon. It looks to be a more expensive alternative to the XSi, but with the HD video recording capability, it’s really a different class of camera.

So, at this point, I’m not sure which one to purchase. In addition to choosing the camera body, I have to figure out which lens will be best for my current shooting style. That may or may not be an easy task for me, as I have been spoiled by Sony H1, the advanced point-and-shoot camera that I have now, which has 12x optical zoom that allows me to shoot a variety of subjects from a variety of distances.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? You can see what I’ve shot in the past at Flickr. Maybe that will help any real photographers out there help me decide on my first lens.

Thank you, Mr. Bush, for the stimulus check. I am doing my part to help stimulate the economy. I have finally taken the leap and just ordered an Xbox 360 Elite from Amazon.com. I also ordered Rock Band Special Edition so that family and friends could rock out at Pete’s graduation party on Saturday. I may need to borrow a second guitar *cough* Michael *cough* if I don’t decide to just go buy one Friday afternoon.

To round out my major purchase, I also bought a second wireless controller and an S-Video cable (which will keep me content until next year’s HDTV purchase – Chris, you have been warned). I haven’t dropped the cash on GTA4 just yet, as I am still playing Guitar Hero III and Mario Kart Wii.

Since I won’t be going into work until the afternoon tomorrow, I think I’ll look at the wiring situation by the TV. I know I’ve got to clean things up a bit before everything arrives. I didn’t get the wireless adapter for the Xbox 360, but I already have a network cable just sitting by the TV for either the laptop or PS2. That should work just fine for the time being.

Well, it’s off to bed for me now, assuming I can contain myself enough to sleep.

On Saturday, we were planning on hitting up a few of the local car dealers to get some information about some of the cars I have been looking at over the past couple of weeks. I had planned on visiting Toyota, Honda and Subaru, then finishing the day at CarMax. Since we planned on visiting CarMax, Chris’s dad suggested that we stop there first. It ended up being the only dealer we needed to visit that day.

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