I added a category for my HTPC, and moved all relevant posts in there.

Twenty five people came for LAN Party of the Ages 2 which was held this last Friday from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. Saturday. There was a $6 entry fee, $5 of which went toward the tournaments.

The tournament games were
Quake 3 Arena (PC)
Counter-Strike 4v4 random teams (PC)
NBA Jam 2v2 chosen teams (MAME)
Guitar Hero 2 (PS2)

Tournament money was distributed based on how many people played in a given tournament, and how many winners there were. There were 6 tournament winners overall, with the largest winners being Chris Rugh ($40) for Quake 3 Arena and NBA Jam, and myself ($30) for winning NBA Jam and Guitar Hero 2 Faceoff.

Thanks to everyone who made this possible, including but not limited to
Kessa Dehler for hosting the party and managing money, food and drinks.
Will Supinski (and his Dad) for the 24 port 100mbit switch. It worked great, and this would not have been possible without it.
Dave Schmeller for his help on setting up and testing games.
Joe Barhoum who brought his Wii for a cameo.
Everyone who brought tables, chairs, drinks, food, cables, and anything else :).

Lets do this again soon

It’s been awhile since I said the last third of my HTPC was “planned”. I can finally say it has been completed!

Firstly, my brother-in-law and I wired from my office down to my living room. It went from the wall in my office up to the attic, over to the back-right of the house, down to the basement crawlspace, then up to the floor of right behind my TV. Then I put in a 5 port switch, which I’m using to connect my Mac Mini (HTPC), Laptop (wired > wireless), and eventually Xbox 360.

I bought a used Dell Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse combo (pics) on Anandtech for $35.50 shipped (goes for $89.00 new before shipping from Dell). It setup on OSX in about 2 minutes, and I was able to use it without problems from my couch ~15 feet away.

It works great, I’m surprised. Now that it’s all done, there’s only maintenance and improvements.

Wow, Sprint’s SERO plan is a great deal. I got the idea from Tom, who originally got a slick deal on a nice phone and a cheap monthly.

So I pursued the SERO plan for myself. I really could care less about the phone I use, and I’ve had enough gadgets in my pockets through high school and college to make me infertile for life, so I figured a cheap, low power emitting device was the way to go. I had originally decided to go with the free model phone from Sprint. After some more investigation, I changed my mind. I realized by paying $50 initially for a phone, I could make money on it in rebates, and that’s in fact what happened.

Here’s the skinny on my Sprint payments so far:
Signup for the Sprint SERO plan, including Vision (internets, lol), unlimited mobile to mobile in the Sprint network (big deal, I don’t know anyone on Sprint), unlimited nights and weekends (9PM on), 500 anytime minutes. $0 setup and $30 monthly.
$100 refundable “poor credit” deposit. Refundable after one year.
$50 for the Sprint LG Fusic LX550 Phone. Mixed reviews, but it’s a small flip phone with more features than I’d use.
-$200 rebate for the LG Fusic, found on Amazon. They say it has to be submitted with a new plan and 2 year contract, which it was. I just don’t have to pay $200 to buy it from them.
-$75 rebate from Kellogg’s, found on their box.
-$25 for saying someone referred me. When you sign up with Sprint if you say someone referred you within a month of signing up, then both you and the person who referred you get a $25 visa debit card (able to receive 12 referrals per year).

I was looking for a good deal on a cell phone, and this is about as good as it gets, I’d say. I don’t have any complaints about the service, or the phone yet.

Edit: BTW, Contact Me if you want to use me as a SERO referrer :).

There’s a LAN Party coming up, “LAN Party of the Ages 2″. I’m tossing around various ideas, but it will be PC/Console with prizes and house of fun.

I’m looking to see if I can get sponsorship currently
Alienware?

Bawls?