Computer hardware prices have dropped noticeably in the past few years, to where a computer is sold more like an appliance.  While the power user and gamer computers are still pricey (as they should be, with a lot of heavy duty hardware inside), the average household user is now able to buy an affordable computer.  And as some consumers buy new computers, they hand down their older ones to friends or family members.  One hidden expense, though, is software.  What can you do to lessen the pinch?

This is a new topic for Rudy’s Corner:  bowling!   While I’m nowhere near a good bowler, I did have fun on a couple of leagues I joined a few years ago.  With my recent shoulder injury, I’m still unable to bowl, at least until things heal a bit further.

On one of my last bowling trips, though, I had just gotten a ball plugged and drilled.  I picked up a lightly used ball on eBay a few years ago, a Track Dry Heat, a ball that was designed with some extra action for use on dry lanes.  When I’ve gone open bowling in recent years, the lanes have always been on the dry side–with no league play going on, the bowling centers usually will only oil the lanes once a day to keep the lanes from burning up.  I was previously using an Ebonite Nitro/R2 that had gotten a little long in the tooth.  How did the Dry Heat compare?

Bebel Gilberto released a new CD back in March called Momento.
I’ve just received a copy of it, and am happy to report that this CD
is every bit as good as its predecessors. I will provide a more
in-depth review of this CD in the coming weeks, but for now, I’m glad
to have given it a listen. The music is similar to her other
offerings, with a mix of traditional acoustic Brazilian music (bossa,
samba, jazz) with a dash of pop and electronica, melding them all
seamlessly. The title track “Memento” I thought was excellent, and
she even takes a new look at the Cole Porter classic “Night and Day”.
Her cooled-out vocals on “Bring Back The Love” are a counterpoint to
the club beat backing it up…and it works. If you liked Bebel’s
first two releases, don’t pass this one up either!

I just received a copy of this CD, which is a collection of tunes by the UK salsa/dance band Modern Romance. I have had their Adventures in Clubland LP since the year it came out, but until now, their original music on CD has never surfaced. There have been a few CDs released, but these consisted of re-recordings of their original hits. These are the originals. Overall the sound is a bit thin on this set, but I attribute that to the usual bright/thin sound I hear on many UK recordings. So it’s rather neat to hear these songs again. The major difference from my LP is that the songs “Everybody Salsa” and “Ay Ay Ay Ay Moosey” are individual here, where they are part of a four-song medley on the LP. Other, later hits of theirs are represented here, but the one glaring omission is the big US dance hit “Can You Move”. That song still gets regular play on XM83 (Chrome). If they had included that song, and put aside the weaker album tracks like “The Counting Song”, this set would have been just about perfect. But not having heard their later recordings, it’s a nice introduction to their other hits.