Some computers, I have decided, are simply money-suckers. Regardless of how much hardware one replaces, one component always seems to upset the fine entropic balance and wreaks havoc with the others.

Over the past three days, I have — in my quest for Linux 1337dom — replaced power supply, video card, ram, hard drive, and CPU fan, only to find that the rounded IDE cable I was using is defective and causing data corruption. Whether several hundred dollars of hardware replacements could have been saved by a mere three dollar cable, I do not wish to consider.

I think I will watch some Wagnerian opera to overcome my grievances.