Just so all know, i have been having a few problems with E-ArmyU tech support but I curriently have my system up and running. Gotta love those newsgroups from question 1, I use newsgroups all the time. If it wasn't for the alt.binaries.warez.ibm-pc providing freely downloadable software(as long as your consience dont beat you up with the EULA) which I will delete after the EArmyU tech staff get me the software. And alt.binaries.e-book.technical for some good computer based reading material, providing all those ebooks necessary for those long nights when you cant get a good nights sleep. I already subscribe to a bunch of free newsletters, http://www.osdn.com/ and thier sister sites provide a lot of good technical reference on "Alternative Operating Systems" and http://www.eweek.com has several free newsletters for emerging technology.