[Drewcifer]

I play through my computer. You do need an external power source, like a distortion pedal or effects pedal of some kind. I run my guitar through a digitech metal master, then run that through the computer. I got a little adapter I bought at the source that has a 1/4" input to 1/8" output, plugs into the microphone jack on my pc.
I use Adobe Audition to record but whenever I record for a few minutes it skips for some reason so I might switch back to Acid Pro which I was using before. Both programs are "free" if you know what to do.