As Tech Olive’s resident gamer, I spend an incalculable amount of time playing all manner of games and eating everyone’s favorite snacks. I write about both. Gaming for me started around age 8 with Wolfenstein 3D and general PC tech interest started a few years after. Somehow over the years I have managed to find time between my gaming sessions to hone some skills of +2 Photoshopping and graphic design, which makes Tech Olive look the way it does today.
Contact Me
Stuff I Use
My Computer
As each year passes, the affectionately-titled “Reaper” evolves another step towards total gaming dominance. Dancing the line between budget and all-out gaming is hard, but she’s done the job without complaints (though it’s about time for a bit more gaming grunt).
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Case: Cooler Master CM690
Power Supply: Ultra LSP650 650W
Motherboard: Gigabyte EP43-UD3L
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
Memory: 4GB OCZ Platinum DDR2 @ 800MHz
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB
Video Card: Sapphire HD4870 @ 750/900MHz
Sound Card: Asus Xonar D2
Network Card: Bigfoot Networks Killer 2100
Peripherals/Accessories
- Logitech Performance Mouse MX: After a year of testing with the Razer Mamba, I switched to this for testing. Being the successor to the MX Revolution (which was an amazing mouse) it’s no surprise that the Performance Mouse MX is my zen between gaming and leisure.
- Logitech G19: Along the same lines of my mouse, the G19 is the successor to the Logitech G15 Ver.2, which was my keyboard previously. The only logical choice for an upgrade was the G19. In terms of value, I’d recommend the G15, but if money is no concern, you can’t do much better than the G19.
- Logitech Z-4 2.1 Speakers: They’re cheap, powerful, nice-looking, even better sounding and are shockingly reliable.
- Razer Barracuda Headset: In all honesty, I just drape them around my neck and use only the mic for VoIP chat. Unless I’m at a LAN party, playing Amnesia: The Dark Descent, or watching Band of Brothers.
- Acer X233h 23-inch Monitor: It’s one inch bigger than Craig’s. YES!
Phone and Other Misc. Devices
- LG CF-360: It was the best free choice last time I upgraded my cell plan. I have nothing more to say.
- Semi-broken 16GB 4th-Gen iPod Nano: I use it as a glorified USB drive. It may be purple, but it’s the cheapest and most reliable flash drive I’ve ever owned, save for the “broken” part.
- Canon PowerShot A1100IS: It simply takes pictures. I put them in Photoshop to make them better.
Programs
- Adobe Photoshop CS5: See this site you’re browsing right now? Notice the graphics that make up its theme? You’re welcome.
- Dropbox: Craig forces me to use it…
- Mozilla Firefox: I’m not really a browser fanboy. As long as it’s not IE, life’s good. I prefer Firefox because of the great community support with tons of themes and add-ons.
- MediaMonkey: Went with it on Craig’s recommendation. It does the job and has some nice features that are a bonus.
- Media Player Classic: I’ve used several video players and finally settled on MPC because of how small it is and how much freedom you get with filters, decoders, and tons of other features that are far too complicated.
- Pandora One Desktop Player: For when my personal music library fails to interest me, Pandora is there to help.
Websites (Other Than Tech Olive)
- DealsPlus: While I’m never actively watching for deals I can’t live without, DealsPlus makes a nice homepage that gets a quick glance every time I fire up the browser. If something catches my eye, then everyone’s happier.
- deviantART: It’s no secret that I enjoy graphic design and photo manipulation. deviantART serves as a great place to get inspiration or simply enjoy the fine works of other artists.
- Geekologie: For entertaining (although often a little immature) humor and a healthy dose of geek-appeal, Geekologie is a fantastic blog for a geek of any stature.
- Dieselstation’s Car Photography Forum: This forum appeals to me in the same way that deviantART does: Inspiration and the enjoyment of other artist’s work.
Current Video Games Being Played
- Because this is such a dynamic topic for me and the games that I play change every week, it’s best that you just watch my Xfire page for what I’ve been playing lately.
