Jago

And in the Houston-We-Have-A-Problem department: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/01/cuil_apology/

Damn! One thing to try, if you haven't yet, is to run the system with only the bare essentials: motherboard, RAM, CPU, and video. If it still freezes up with just those installed, then you know it has to be one of those. If it runs fine, then add your hardware one by one until the hang returns. Hopefully this will help.

Agreed. I tried it from work today, and I was not impressed. Most of the images that came up had nothing to do with what I was searching. Maybe Cuil will improve over time, but Google is my top pick for now.

I just thought of something else. If you know someone with a system that works fine, see if they're willing to give theirs a test run at your place. If their system hangs as well, then it's the power coming into your apartment. If it runs fine, it has to be something with your motherboard, for it seems the rest of your components appear to be fine. Are there capacitors on the board that look like they're bulging or leaking? Could the tech have unintentionally overclocked the RAM or CPU? That will also cause random hangs.

I thought the same thing when they were replacing the power meters. They were done with my building completely, so I thought my system would be fine. Nope. It continued to hang until they were completely done, which took about a week. So I literally had a week of random hangs. Talk about frustration! Hopefully your landlord can help you out.

zircon, I had this same problem in 2004 with my system, and I went through the same frustrating tests: CPU, RAM, software, swapping PSUs that worked perfectly, etc. The system ran like a champ for months until suddenly it would completely hang without warning. It didn't matter what I did: music, IM, DVD, computer just sitting idle, etc. That was until I realized the apartment management was getting all the power meters replaced with newer ones. For whatever reason, the voltage completely went goofy while this transition was taking place, and my system's PSU didn't like it at all, though all my other electrical appliances continued to work just fine. When they completed the transition, all my system freezes went away, so it was the power going into my apartment that was causing the problem, even though the PSUs were top-quality. See if you can get an electrician to diagnose the power going into your place. Your system might be showing correct voltages, which was my case during the transition, but there could be weird spikes happening that's totally freaking out your PSU.

Congrats from someone who recently got married. May your wedding go as smooth as mine did, and best wishes to your wife-to-be.

Here's what I use whenever I want just the audio from YouTube: http://www.brothersoft.com/downloads/flv-to-mp3.html

If straight MIDI is faster compared to MIDI-USB, it's so miniscule that one wouldn't even notice. I've been using MIDI-USB with my laptop using a Korg X5DR hardware synth, and the latency is practically non-existent as if I was using only MIDI.

Thanks for catching that bio. As for my name (spelled with a V, btw), you have no idea.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Actually, everyone else was more nervous than we were, which was strange. But then after dating that long, we had no reason to be nervous since our relationship was already set.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. LOL - try blacks with Germans (she's German)!!

Yeah, I finally did it. I guess we were about due after dating for over 7 years. We were taking our sweet time with it and really weren't thinking about it, but I guess being separated while I'm in Iraq finally triggered it. In any event, I couldn't be happier. I hope those married couples out there are having a wonderful marriage, and those who are thinking about it, best wishes to you! http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/7624/cimg2063copyab4.jpg

Hey Roz. Take me off the other track you had me listed to do. I'll keep the one I'm currently working on, which I will try to finish when I return to Iraq (on leave at the moment visiting family).

Clarinet - main instrument for 29 years Piano - 30 years, though I can't read piano music well - my own damn fault Saxophone - completely off and on, whenever the need arises in my band

I remember some demos I grabbed from bustatunez's website that, IIRC, featured EWQLSO Silver. He wrote soundtracks for a game that never materialized, according to a chat I had with him way back. I was blown away at how good he made that library sound! Man. I gotta listen to those demos again when I get back to my room.

Having used Silver myself, I can vouch for this library. It's also a good idea IMO to get its expansion, which it and the original library are currently sold as a bundle: http://www.soundsonline.com/EWQLSO-Silver-Bundle-pr-EW-161PROB1.html It's not a perfect library (I've yet to find one that is - even Complete Symphonic has some intriguing samples), but it works extremely well. I still use it to this day.

My most recent submission is from Einhander, a killer soundtrack: http://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps1/index-af.html The first two listed are what I did. And I did Arc the Lad 3 (same link) where I did versions for the Proteus 2 as well as GM...not the best of orchestral synths, but it's a classic. The oboe on it is one of its better sounds.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! Calling home from Iraq can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but I finally got through to my mom. So did you call your mom today?

Good to hear you're healing well. Keep us posted.

I also wrecked once, though it was on a normal dirt bike where you have to pedal. I had the classic Huffy, and that thing was a beast. I got together with my friends, and of all days to jump off a ramp and land on a downhill, we thought it'd be cool to do it on a rainy day. Yeah, I was just finishing elementary school at the time, so nevermind. *ahem* Anyway, as I pedaled down the parking lot towards the ramp, my feet slipped off the pedals right as I was about to hit the ramp. The bike had no hand brakes, so my ability to brake (not counting with my own body) was lost. I went up the ramp, feet dangling, and landed on the front wheel while I was still seated. The bike cartwheeled, and I kept going forward a few feet, but the bike hit me once (I don't remember where) and then flipped towards the left. That's one way to get an enema! A little bruised (ego more than anything) but nothing broken, I got up and checked out my bike.....only a few scratches. Nothing was bent. That bike was a tank!

No worries. I don't offend easily. Otherwise, I'd be going completely apeshit during my tour here in Iraq (still have some ways to go before I go home). But to call ANYONE's reason stupid could discourage an otherwise informative discussion.

Must you call people's reasons stupid because you don't agree with it, zircon?

That's the biggest reason why I won't buy dongle-based products, because there isn't a universal one. There are some EastWest products I'd be interested to get, but thanks to the dongle (and the fact it's a separate purchase - grr!), I'll pass.

I agree with the assessment about EWQLSO Silver. You can't go wrong with that purchase, and it's worth getting the expansion as well. While there are some samples that aren't the greatest, there are others that I find to be excellent. Among my favorites are some of the trombone samples, the piano (Steinway if I remember correctly), and it has decent percussion. Silver is a good library to start with, and I've had absolutely no problems using it on my Toshiba laptop with a 1.73 GHz Centrino processor and 2GB RAM.