Hasta La Gadget!

For all of you CS4 power users out there–I just built the Ultimate CS4 PC over at PCMag.com.

You ever try to open 10 high-res pictures in Photoshop at once and have your PC grinds to halt?  For about 4 grand, I can make sure that never happens to you again.  The secret is in the RAM.  With 32-bit Windows, your machine can’t use more than 4GB of RAM, no matter how many sticks you’ve got in there.  If you bulk up your OS to 64-bit Windows, though, you can pretty much use all the RAM you can cram into your motherboard. 

I’ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve that you can use to build your own crack CS4 system or just to upgrade your PC.  I’ll also suggest some pretty cool peripherals, like the Wacom Intuous 4 graphics tablet, that let you do away with the keyboard altogether when using Photoshop.

Yes, I know that the Amazon Kindle and other e-readers are changing the way many people read. And I chuckled a bit this morning when I heard the news that Google is spending $7 million on a print ad campaign to inform the world of its plan to digitize every book ever written. But when you get right down to it, I still prefer my page-turners to have actual, you know, pages.

Which is why I love the idea behind Icoeye’s clever Save Bookmark, which adds a little online humor to your offline reading. The best part? It’s free. Simply download and print the graphic, cut it out, and [physically] save your page.

If you’ve ever considered building your own PC I have good news for you–it’s a lot easier than you think! You’ll feel that way too once you check out the free “How To Easily Build Your Own Cheap Computer” from MakeUseOf.com.

It really can be done easily. Think Legos or some other toy where it’s reasonably difficult to plug the wrong piece in the wrong place. The same goes for computers. Even better, after you finish every time you fire it up you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you put it together.

Did you know that 33 percent* of people said they would prefer to send an SMS when asking someone out for the first time? Yes, it’s a geeky, geeky world we live in, but thankfully, there are some geeky ladies out there just waiting for that text…

OK, so the text might be a bad idea, but these Valentine’s gifts will surely woo your tech-savvy babe. Check out Part Two of Gearlog’s Valentine’s Day gifts for geeky gals, but make sure to peruse Part One for ten other Valentine’s Day ideas.

Heart Meter Shirts (above)
So, you know how in video games, if your heart meter reaches zero, you die? Buy one of the 8-Bit Dynamic Life Shirts for you and one for your girlfriend. During regular activity, only two and a half pixelated hearts will light up, but when you’re in hugging distance of your honey and she’s wearing her shirt too, the hearts on both shirts will light up until you “have full health.” Yes, the shirt is extremely cheesy, but if your girl is a fan of Zelda, she’ll appreciate it. $24.99 from ThinkGeek.com.

More geeky gal gifts after the jump!

I know this might surprise some of you, but there are women in the world who like things done a certain way–in a nerdy way, to be more specific. For example, they prefer their marriage proposals to arrive via a video game, or at least tangentially related to video games. That’s right, geeks aren’t just guys–there are lady geeks, too.

So what do you give your geeky girlfriend for Valentine’s Day? Check out Gearlog’s gifts that only a truly geekified gal will appreciate. And make sure to check back for Part Two of our geeky Valentine’s Roundup!

The iBuzz (above)
Treat your love to some pleasure–set to the sound stylings of Barry White or Al Green, of course. Plug your MP3 player into the iBuzz Two, and the toy delivers music-activated vibrations with four pulsing patterns and 11 vibrating speeds. You can plug the two provided bullets into the iBuzz Two, or you can plug in any sex toy that has a mini-jack plug. It’s £19.99 (about $30 in the US).

More after the jump.