December 2003 Archives

a little ludwig goes a long way: 10,000 RPM WD drive. Now that's a fast drive. Smaller than what I normally use, but amazingly fast. Great tips on getting this right. I've only done standard EIDE so knowing the SATA trick is good.

The Windows XP defragger - is it good enough for the enterprise?. I've been running the XP defragmenter quite a bit on the video machine. Man, is it slow. Also doesn't seem to speed things up much. So I'm off to try some commercial defragmenters. Here's a quick review: * "O&O Software":http://oo-software.com. This is another defragger. Got a good review from majorgeeks.com. I like the user interface quite a bit. Lots of control over how the disk gets laid out. Its interesting to see XP layout files. Particularly for big video ones, doesn't make much sense to me. You can have 40% free drive (over 50GB), but in creating a 2GB AVI file, it creates something with over 100 fragments. So a defragger is almost mandatory. I'm going to try this on a dual partitioned disk, maybe it has to do with the fact that I have just one gigantic partition on my video edtiing machine. * "Diskeeper":http://executive.com. This review says it is 30% faster than the builtin utility. This is the grownup version of the bundled version in XP itself. Now in Version 8. Have a 30 day trial too. Doesn't have much configurability compared with O&O, but it does do a boot time defragging of the MFT (the file table) and other system files. * "VoptXP":http://www.vopt.com/VoptXP.htm. This is the number one hit on google for defragmenters. Giving it a try now. This one is OK, but doesn't give many diagnostics or configurability. * "Bootvis":http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/12/2/12-2-1.shtml. A Microsoft tool that lets you see why it takes so long to boot. This thing actually did work for me. Complained about a file not being around. Now to repartition an NTFS hard drive with real data in it. That is quite a trick. The default XP partitioner is destructive. You can buy Partition Magic (now owned by Symantec) to do a dynamic repartition, but it costs $60. One good suggestion is to use the NTFS repartitioner in Mandingo Linux. You can start the install, repartition then cancel before the install. Clever.

Well, got the MRI's of my knee and it looks like blobs of grey and black, but thanks to websites here's a view of what it should look like and what it looks like torn. Yuck, lots of blood too. ACL MRI Pictures Normal and Torn

Jennie thinks I've got a torn Meniscus too. Here's another "MRI":http://www.arthroscopy.com/sp05005.htm view of that as well. I think my MRI knows fine and I'm such an expert.

And of course, there is an entire forum devoted just to "Knee":http://www.factotem.org/cgi-bin/kneebbs.pl/ injuries. Figures :-)

AppDeploy.com > The Network Boot Disk Creation Home Page. A place to figure out how to boot up from the network. I tried using Bart's, but he's exceeded his network bandwidth for the month :-) "Tech Republic":http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6268-1054824.html. Ther e is an old Netowrk Client Administrator utility on the old Windows NT Server 4.0 CD is you still have it that is the easiest way to create this.

With Pentiums, the only way to overclock is to increase the bus speed of everything. But, the Athlon, with the right hardware and know how, you can leave the buses at their normal speeds and just increase the clock on the processor. here's how: * "XP-TMC Adaptor Socket":http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030703/index.html. This is a piece of hardware that goes between the CPU and the motherboard socket and in effect decouples the processor clock from the bus clock. You can get this in bundles with motherboards for about $10-30 extra. A nice solution. * Sharky Extreme. Or, you can go the manual route and connect together certain traces on the Athlon XP itself chip itself. "HighSpeed PC":http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HSPC&Product_Code=XPkit&Category_Code=OC makes a kit to do just that. * Other folks have used a car rear-window defogging "kit":http://www.nvnews.net/articles/athlon_xp_unlocking/page_2.shtml if you can believe that. * You can also use "Speed Strip":http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/other_misc/Speed-Strip/ which is another hack that does the connection. * "Viperlair":http://www.viperlair.com/articles/howto/cpu/unlock/ explains that for Palomino, you have to connect five things, for Barton, its just one. Also if have an nVidia nForce 2 motherboard, you don't have to do any of this which you'll need since the latest Bartons have defeated all of this "mumbo jumbo":http://www.ocprices.com/?rev_id=179.

A couple of more sources for the latest on processors. I'm thinking about spending $1,000 to upgrade two machines I have that are currently Pentium III 450Mhz and 550MHz if you can believe that (state of the art four years ago with 256MB at 133MHz and 8GB hard disk on one and 500GB on the other). So that means upgrading to a midrange system. The choices are large thanks to Intel's Pentium 4 and AMD Athlon XP and 64. Here's an analysis, but the basic conclusion is that for budget systems, an Athlon 2500+ or 2800+ with 512MB of PC3200 memory has the best price performance. Then it is as far as egos and pocketbooks go. CPU Scorecard - PC CPU Benchmarks, News, Prices and Reviews. A cool site that summarizes processor benchmarks across the Internet. HAs a scorecard that is interesting to look at as well. The site seems slightly out of date, but is super well organized in explaining the technical differences between the many processors. "Tom's Hardware":http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20031223/index.html. Just did a year end CPU buying guide, so you can figure out the sweetspot pricepoints: * "CPUs at a glance":http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20031223/images/image1_big.gif. The largest table ever, but it has every fact (including the codenames) for every processor around pretty much. * AMD Athlon XP is now at a deadend. but very inexpensive. Right now the pricing curves are $85 for 2500+, $136 for 2800+ and $205 for 3000+. Also motherboards are very inexpensive. Given its ability to overclock, its a good idea to buy a cheap processor splurge on memory. An Athlon 2600+ at $100 running at 2.3GHz instead of its normal 1.9GHz is about 20% faster and competes with the Pentium 4 2.8GHz costing $213. * AMD Athlon 64. The budget model right now is the 3000+ at $220. Since I'm not buying a whole box, we're just talking about "motherboard":http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20031201/index.html replacement. Nice thing is that is has Quiet & Cool technology to make it run super quietly if you have the right motherboard (MSI K8T Neo or the ASUS K8V Deluxe) * Overclocking. The Athlon XPs are good at it. The so called Barton cores can support up to 2.3GHz so an Athlon 2600+ at $100 is a good buy. You have to buy faster memory though to do this. * "Price/Performance":http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20031223/cpu-guide-21.html. They do a nice analysis of price performance given the very unequal pricing for CPU, motherboard and memory. Not surprisingly the Athlon XP comes out very well particularly the XP 2800+ and below then the Pentium 2.6 and 2.8. * "Time Savings":http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20031223/cpu-guide-21.html. They also asked how much time would you save on multimedia applications if you bought various systems. You could save up to 35% of your time with a Pentium 4 3.2GHz, 20% with an Athon XP 3200+ vs. the lowly Athlon XP 2600+ "PureOC":http://www.pureoc.com/amdxp2500_1.asp. Overclocking is a way to get price performance at the cost of stability. Interesting to see one man's experiment. Take the cheapest Barton Athlon, the XP 2500+ which costs about $80 and see how fast it can go. The basic point is that as you overclock the FSB, you also have to increase the voltage on the processor. Most bios let you do that. Plus you need good cooling. Here's what he found: | Speed | Voltage | Temperature | Memory DDR | Heatsink | Comment | | 1.8 GHz | 1.65V | 46C | 400MHz |Stock AMD | Using PC3200 ram | | 2GHz | 1.7V | 46C | 420MHz | Stock AMD | Requires PC 3500 ram | | 2.159 GHz | 1.75V | 52C | 431.75MHz | Thermalright SLK-800 ($45) | 10x Multiplier | | 2.319 GHz | 1.825V | 48-50C | 421.79MHz | Thermalright SLK-800 ($45)| 11x multiplier | "Tweaktown":http://www.tweaktown.com/document.php?dType=article&dId=519 and "Motherboards.org":http://www.motherboards.org/articlesd/hardware-reviews/1275_1.html did a review of coolers and liked the ThermalTake SilentBoost. It's very quiet which is nice as well and not expensive at "$27":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1365093/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 at Pricegrabber.com "OCFAQ":http://www.ocfaq.com/categories.php/overclocking has an incredible knowledge base for folks who want to know more about overclocking. "Motherboards Scorecard":http://www.motherboards.org/rank/AMD/total/motherboard-rank.html has a terrific scorecard summary. The ASUS A7N8X got a nice review in "Motherboards":http://www.motherboards.org/articlesd/motherboard-reviews/1237_1.html and costs only "$113":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=659525/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 right now. The ASUS A7N8X-X is only $72. Other high scorers were the Abit AT7-Max2 and the Gigabyte GA-7VAXP.

OK, my third system this year based on the Shuttle. Bill wants to edit videos mainly and also use this machine to access the Internet. That sort of thing. He was looking at the Sony system which costs $1900. That machine has a Pentium 3.2GHz, 1GB memory and a 200GB hard disk plus a DVD and CD drive. Let's see if we can do better. Here is the targeted buy. The main difference is that it uses the absolute best components, but doesn't have a warranty or software on it nor an extra CD. It is much more compact though.\ The main changes even since the December recommendation are the new ultra-quiet Western Digital fluid bearing drive is just out. No reviews yet, but promises to be good and finding on pricewatch.com a bundle deal for the CPU and Shuttle system at $715. | Component | Price | Comment | | Shuttle SN85G4 | "$340":http://pricescan.com/itemsx/item368733.asp | "$330":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=150965 at zipzoomfly, but out of stock. Ewiz has CPU and Shuttle for "$715":http://ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-S85G4%2BC | | AMD Athlon 64 3200+ | "$300":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80700-OEM | "3000+":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1734754/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb is $215 | | Corsair TWINX2048-3200 2GB | "$504":http://www.pricewatch.com/1/33/5550-1.htm | Or, Kingston 1GB PC3200 KHX3200AK21G for "$198":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=939430/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | | Optorite DD0401 | "$136":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1595697/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | 8x DVD+/-RW and Optorites are good | | Western Digital WD2500PB |"$210":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1571747/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 | Hitachi Travelstar 7K250 is "$292":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1519733/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 and 10% faster | | ATI Radeon 9600 All in Wonder | "$211":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1089875/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 | Has video capture too | | Total | $1,661 | Without monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers | | Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard + Mouse | "$28":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=211209 | OEM keyboard, in black as he likes | | AOpen | "$10":http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=36-154-010&catalog=60&depa=1 | He's not fussy about these :-) | | Total | $1699 | Without monitor | BTW, the really great monitors right now are is the Samsung Syncmaster "191T":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=552795/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 at $641, it got a great Tom's Hardware review. "ExcaliberPC":http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=24&products_id=2973 is doing a promotion for a Shuttle XPC SN85G4 and the AMD Athlon 3200+ for $725, which is normally $740 from Zipzoomfly. There is also a $30 rebate on SN85G4 through January 5 as well. Only issue is I've never bought from Excaliber before. "Storage Review":http://storagereview.com/articles/200309/20030904WD2500JD_1.html. The Western Digital product line is really confusing but the folks at Storage Review demystify. Basicaly, the is the basic BB line, the JB line has 8MB cache and is very fast, the PB has quieter fluid bearings and the JD are their serial ATA versions. The last should be faster but aren't because they are really using bridging from EIDE ATA-100 to Serial-ATA-150. Best best right now is the WD2500PB which is quiet and fast. "AnandTech':http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1905&p=8 had a quick review of the ATI Radeon 9600 All-in-wonder. Said it had decent performance at a decent price which at $145 makes it a great price/performance buy if you need analog input or PVR functions.

I guess it had to happen. Helping Grace out, one ski got caught under herr and the other went the other way. Nice new skis with the bindings set way to tight. Rip and the next thing you know, on your back down a sled with a torn something. Here are all the sites I've looked up as I contemplate knee surgery. Sigh :-( * Knee Problems -- familydoctor.org. A nice flow chart anyone can follow. Says something is torn :-( * "Knee Ligament Injuries":http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=157&topcategory=Knee. I'm the textbook case for an ACL. No pain and then 48 hours later swelling, plus, the knee feels like it slides forward unless I really concentrate :-( As a layman, boy this knee sure looks poorly designed. Got to talk to the guy. I'm so curious how we evolutionarily got to such an unstable joint. It is like chewing gum and bailing wire. OK, so I'm all torn up, here's a list of sites that can tell you how to fix it: * "Stone Clinic":http://www.stoneclinic.com/aclrep.htm. Hey i sound like the textbook case. Ankle and tibia fractures are down 86-88% in skiing, but ACL tears are up 178%. Why? The binding can't detect the femur rotating (makes sense, the binding is way down at the foot). So, ACL is essentially amputated by the rotation. Ugh, I feel nauseous. Median age is 38 too. _Newer techniques of surgical intervention can save the patient's torn ligament strands and incorporate them into a primary repair of the ligament or a reconstruction using a portion of the patient's patellar tendon. The techniques are ideal for the skier as they preserve the normal anatomy of the cruciate and use tissue from the patient that heals back to its original strength._ Have to learn more about that. Most folks I know (5 and counting used a cadaver's ACL instead of their hamstring).

X-bit labs - Hardware news - AMD Athlon 64 3400 to Come in December?. This chip didn't quite make it in December, but it is the 2.2GHz version of the Athlon 64. So the line looks like: | Name | Speed | Memory Controllers | L2 Cache | Price | Comment | | Athlon 64 FX51 | 2.2GHz | Dual | 1MB | $700 | Wow talk about expensive! | | Athlon 64 3400+ | 2.2GHz | Single | 1MB | >$400 | Not available yet | | Athlon 64 3200+ | 2.0 GHz | Single | 1MB | $400 | Same price as Pentium 3.2GHz | | Athlon 64 3000+ | 2.0 GHz | Single | 512KB | $200 | Same price as Pentium 2.8GHz | "Performance Rating Explained":http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20030625113439.html. x86-secret.com explains the strange conversion from performance rating and actual speed as 1.5 * CPU Frequency + 400. Strange way to reach this. "Athlon 64 Roadmap":http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20031212131528.htmlBTW, here is the rough roadmap for Athlon 64s. The current models (codenamed Clawhammer) are in 130nm technology. What's next? | Timeframe | Type | Core Pinout | | Specific Chips | | 1Q04 | 130nm | Clawhammer | 940 and 939 | Athlon 64 FX-53 | Compete with Pentium 3.4 EE | | 2Q04 | 90nm | San Diego | 940 | Athlon 64 FX-55 | 1MB cache, Dual memory | | 2Q04 | 90nm | Newcastle | 754 or 939 | 2.5GHz (3700+) | 512MB cache, 1 controller | | 2Q04 | 90nm | Winchester | 939 | 2.2GHz (3400+) | 512MB cache | | 2Q04 | 90nm San Diego | 2.40GHz (4000+), 2.60GHz (4300+) | | 2Q04 | 90nm Victoria | 2.0GHz (3100+), 2.20GHz (3400+), 2.40GHz (3700+) | | 3Q04 | 90nm Victoria | 2.60GHz (4000+) |

Dealtime.com is now shopping.com remade. Here are some parts that aren't listed on pricegrabber yet: * Athlon 64 AMD Processors - Find, Compare, and Buy at Shopping.com. The Athlon 64 family. They have both the 3200+ and folks are taking orders for the 3400+. Not in stock and no details yet. * "Shuttle SN85G4":http://www.shopping.com/xGS-sn85g4~FD-0~DL-0~SK-0~FI-0~S-1~CLT-SAM01. The Shuttle barebones are sprayed everywhere on shopping.com. Here's a text search. * "Newegg":http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=&sumit=Go&description=56%2D101%2D415&searchdepa=0. Now is stocking the SN85G4. $339.

ResellerRatings.com - Compare product prices, read customer reviews of stores.. Haven't used these guys and can't tell if these are legit, but a nice website that has reseller ratings. Will have to investigate

Connie's Dad wants to capture analog video directly. Here are some direction on how: * Ars Technica: Guide to Video Capturing - Page 1 - (03/2003). This guide uses the Happauge WinTV PCI Card. $95 typically and widely available does take up an extra slot though. * "ATI All in Wonder 9600 Pro":http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/video_graph/ati/aiw/9600pro/index.shtml. This is an ATI 9600 with a MPEG2 compression on board and analog inputs. You can watch TV too!

A quick update on buying recommendations as I'm off to buy yet another machine for Connie's Dad. The recommendations are particularly hard since between the Pentium IV and Athlon 64, things aren't super clear: h4. High-end System ($1500 target) | Component | Price | Comment | | Shuttle SN85G4 | "$330":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=150965 | SK83G2 need to check it out | | AMD Athlon 64 3200+ | "$404":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80700-OEM" | "3000+":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1734754/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb is $215 | | Kingston 1GB PC3200 KHX3200AK21G | "$198":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=939430/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | PC3500 is $250 for overclocking | | Optorite DD0401 | "$127":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1595697/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | 8x DVD+/-RW and Optorites are good | | Hitachi Travelstar 7K250 | "$276":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1146400/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | WD2000JB is $156 and 10% slower | | ATI Radeon 9800 Pro | "$273":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=704418/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | "9200":http://www.slcentral.com/Radeon-9200-SE/ for "$55":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1582127/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4basic, "$211":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1089875/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 for 9600 All in Wonder for video capture too | | Total | $1,608 | Without monitor, keyboard, mouse | BTW, the really great monitors right now are is the Samsung Syncmaster "191T":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=552795/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 at $641, it got a great Tom's Hardware review. "ExcaliberPC":http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=24&products_id=2973 is doing a promotion for a Shuttle XPC SN85G4 and the AMD Athlon 3200+ for $725, which is normally $740 from Zipzoomfly. There is alos a $30 rebate on SN85G4 through January 5 as well. h4. Mid-range ($1000 target) For gaming focus... | Component | Price | Comment | | Shuttle SN85G4 | "$355":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=150965 | SK83G2 has just come out with integrated graphics | | AMD Athlon 64 3000+ | "$230":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1734754/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | Athlon XP 3200+ is $312, Athlon 64 is $420 | | Kingston HyperX 512MB kit | $105 | $198 for 1GB "KHX3200AK21G":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=939430/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | | Optorite DD0401 | "$127":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=1595697/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | Haven't seen reviews yet but Optorite has good record | | Western Digital WD2000JB | $156 | 10% slow than the Hitachi, less important for games | | ATI Radeon 9600 Pro | "$134":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=987780/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4| "$145":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=815096/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 from ATI || | Total | $1,107 | Without monitor, keyboard, mice | For video/audio encoding and ripping: | Component | Price | Comment | | Shuttle ST61G4 | "$370":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=150966 | Use the SB61G2 at "$280":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=150956 if you don't game at all | | Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz | "$278":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=779130/ut=0ce4169308a239fb | $215 for 2.8GHz, $400 for 3.2GHz | | Kingston HyperX 512MB kit | $105 | Or $193 for 1GB kit | | Optorite DD0401 | $127 | 8x really needed for DVD writing | | Western Digital WD2000JB | $156 | Only one drive allowed, so want it big | | Total | $1036 | Add an ATI Radeon 9800 to 2x game speed | h4. Low-end system (office usage) | Component | Price | Comment | | Shuttle SK43G | "$230":http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=150967 | DDR333 or less | | AMD Athlon XP 2500+ | "$86":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=697070/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 | "$136":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=703028/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 for 2800+ | | Kingston 512MB | "$74":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=687181/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 | PC3200 so can overclock | | Lite-On LTC4816H CD-RW/DVD-ROM | "$47":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=825908/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 | Lite-ON 523227S CD-RW for "$32":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=992349/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 | | Western Digital WD1200JB Disk | "$93":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=541564/blsrt=1/ut=0ce41693ae1ec9b4 | Best $/MB and good performance | | Total | $530 | A great office machine |

Gear: Rio Karma Review. Well they had to come, here's an overview of various iPod competitors. Amazing variety from Dell, iRiver, Rio, etc.

a little ludwig goes a long way: Kevin's comments on LinkedIn et al. Well, these social network things seem like the next hot thing, so I guess I have to start signing up for them. Talked with David Sze over at Greylock and he sure knows them all. So here I go, linkedin, friendster, etc.

a little ludwig goes a long way: Carrying around gigabytes. John's right, there is going to be essentially unlimited storage sitting in your pocket. What would you do with it. Personally, I think the strongest point of these devices is that they are completely passive, so you don't have to plug a screen in. If something did have a terabyte in it, I think the long term scenario is music, video *and* applications. Wouldn't it be nice to really have the pluggable unit you could slam into any PC and have your applications, your music, your video and your files. All safe and secure and defnitely yours. Also a great way to just capture stuff. The nice thing about keyfob storage is that you never run out of batteries.

a little ludwig goes a long way: Small Form Factor Comparisons. I'm on my fourth small form factor PC buy right now. They are certainly the way to go. Small and inexpensive. Will be nice when the big boy decide to build them. This is a good guide, but I still think "Tom's Hardware":http://tomshardware.com does the best job on in depth reviews.

Freedom to Tinker: Painters Buy White Canvases for a Reason. Great points by Ed Felton and hat tip to "John":http://www.theludwigs.com about why the Internet succeeds as a platform. A great metaphor. Make it a very "stupid" network but make it flexible.

Hat tip to John, he's been trolling for personal file sharing applications. Either just for photos or more generally. Here's a short list of things to try: * a little ludwig goes a long way: Foldershare. This is a personal file sharing system done by the folks who did the Audiogalaxy PTP system. Has a client on every PC and some PTP sharing protocol. Not super smart about NATs and routers though. * "Pixory":http://www.photographyblog.com/weblog.php?id=P1389. Focused on photos, you can compose albums and then share them over the Internet. * "Electric Shoebox":http://www.theludwigs.com/archives/001217.html. Yet another lightweight photo sharing application. John is very succinct on the problems with most of these. They like to invent their own file system. * "Brilliant Labs":http://www.brilliantlabs.com/Home/Default.aspx. yet another photo manager. Glad we didn't do a product in this area.

It's been an awesome ski season so far. Amazing how much snow there's been. Here are the main resorts I look at and go to. Makes it easy to check conditions: * "Ski Washington":http://skiwashington.com/conditions.php. A great site with an overview of latest snowfalls. A great powder report email that they send too. Subscribe for sure! * "Snoqualmie":http://www.summit-at-snoqualmie.com/winter/conditions.html#t2. Really close to Seattle. About a 45 minute ride. Mainly a beginner hill except for Alpental which has some nice runs. An amazing 82 inch base and 90 inches at the top of the mountain in December. That's 7 feet of snow! * "Crystal Mountain":http://www.crystalmt.com/weathercenter/. A bit farther at 1 1/2 to 2 hours away, but great skiing. Right now 78 inches at the summit! Best thing about it is that kids 1o and under ski for just $5. Hard to beat that! A tougher hill than Snoqualmie, but amazing views of Mt. Rainier when clear. * "Stevens Pass":http://stevenspass.harborproperties.com/ResApps/Conditions.aspx. This place is a little farther if you live in Seattle, but quite close if you live on the Eastside. Another wow year with 76 inch base. 9 inches fell in the last 24 hours. It is pretty high, so you get good quality snow. * "Sun Peaks":http://www.sunpeaksresort.com/weather//history.cfm?nid=109&navid=109&catid=3. Actually, they haven't got much snow. Have 28 inches, so it looks like the Washington has them beat by quite a bit. We're going up in February so hopefully they'll have more then. A great resort for kids! * "Mount Baker":http://www.mtbaker.us/snow_report/report_fs.html. I've never been up there. It is pretty far from Seattle, but they have an amazing amount of snow. Right now they have a 10 foot base. That 121 inches!

Well, tried to get tickets for Broadway in San Francisco. Arrgh. It is amazing that a site like Ticketmaster can be continously busy. Shows what monopolies are like I think. Does anyone know a way to actually access ticketmaster.com, seems busy day and night. In any case, tickets for Lion King are hard to come by. It is supposed to be good. The recommendation is for tickets in June during the weekdays if you can believe that. Ebay tickets are $250 each for VIP seats on opening night! (OTOH cheap compared to a set of Seahawk tickets). So on to other offering there: * "SF Arts":http://www.sfarts.org/. This looks like the best calendar for upcoming SF activities despite the unfortunate url. (Think about it). * DANCE AND CLASSICAL MUSIC, SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. This is an independent site with reviews, but what I really need is a list of what is going to be showing. More previews than reviews.

Using Exchange Server with Entourage. I've been trying to get a Macintosh to work with our servers. Man, the Macintosh sure has gotten a lot more complicated since the good old days of the Mac Plus. Spent a day trying to get Exchange and Entourage, the new Mac client to cooperate. It sure is mysterious. Neither the online website nor the online help are any good. Thank goodness for Google, here is the MVPS.org site that seems the most helpful. Essentially, Entourage does not use the native Exchange protocol called MAPI, so you have to make sure lots of other things are turned on for it to work. To wit, you need: * Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 (with Service Pack 2) or later * Outlook Web Access must be installed and active (this starts HTTP DAV) * IMAP, SMTP and LDAP protocols must be on and active * Free/Busy server and Outlook Web Access URLs have to be know. These are usually http://server/exchange/public so you can see the free/busy of other people in your company and http://server/exchange/yourname respectively so you can get your calendar and contacts. The long and short of it is that you have to get your system administrator up to sped that you are doing this and he has to turn on a bunch of things he may not want to for security reasons (for instance, we don't have SMTP on because of the obvious holes it can bring up). IMAP and LDAP appear to be up though. You can sniff the path using OWA and "TCPFlow":http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/tcpflow.html by sniffing the request that OWA sends when looking up Free/Busy information (search the log for /public/).

eBags - luggage, handbags, backpacks, bags and travel accessories. Ordered from them two years ago, but haven't been there since. A nice job on the website particularly in selecting bags. The cool new things are the geek "bags":http://www.ebags.com/travel_accessories/e_device_pouches/category_search/index.cfm?N=20010810 for holding electronic gadgets and also the "backpacks":http://www.ebags.com/business_cases/laptop_cases/wheeled_cases/category_search/index.cfm?N=2006694 for laptops that are also wheelies. I use just such a thing for even week long trips to Europe if you can believe that.

Nothing beats something that is experiential. Now how do you find what's playing in San Francisco if you live in Seattle. The internet is how: First of all how to figure out what a good broadway show is: * "Playbill":http://playbill.com, "Broadway.com":http://broadway.com, and "Internet Theater Database":http://theaterdb.com. These are the big sites. Playbill is mainly a listing site that tells you want is playing where. Broadway.com is mainly for London and New York tickets but it does have some great review summaries. ITDB was just restarted so hard to tell. * "Takin' Broadway":http://www.talkinbroadway.com/, "Broadway Play Reviews":http://www.readio.com/broadway/broadway1.html. Seeing what's good is easy at this site and also at "Theater Reviews":http://www.theatre-reviews.net/reviews.htm. These are the sites with good google rankings. In terms of what is in San Francisco, you can try: * "San Francisco.com":http://www.sanfrancisco.com/theater/index.shtml. This is their theater guide. Also has an easy way to find tickets. * "Best of Broadway":http://www.bestofbroadway-sf.com/. This has the listing for three great theaters in San Francisco. The Orpheum, the Golden Gate and the Curran. * Mama Mia. One of the best sites I've seen for finding broadway in San Francisco. Thank goodness for the Internet. Mama Mia is playing February 24-April 17 there. Cats is on right now. Where can you get tickets? * "Stubhub":http://stubhub.com. The place to buy and sell tickets. I'm sure ebay is another place. * "Friendly Tickets":http://friendlytickets.com/. These folks are local to San Francisco it looks like. The main ebay posters too.

Scanning Basics 101 - All about digital images. Some great contrarian tips here. For instance he mentions that if you want to scan a print, 300 dpi is really enough.

EPSON America, Inc. - Product Information - Scanners. Well, the Epson scanners have gotten great reviews. There is a rebate on the Epson 3200 Photo and the Epson 3200 Pro of $100 right now through the end of the year, but what the heck are the differences between them. Here's a crib sheet: * Epson Perfection 3170 Photo Scanner. Although it has the same specifications as the 3200, it is much cheaper at $200 and most likely an outsourced unit. Some think from Taiwan somewhere. Has a different command set, so you can't use tools like Silverfast with it. * Epson Perfection 3200 Photo Scanner. This is the base unit. Comes with the baby version of Silverfast called SE. * Epson Perfection 3200 Pro Scanner. This comes with the full Silverfact 6 Ai and so is about $200 more expensive. If you are going to pay that much, might want to go up to a full film scanner. Also if you are ordering for Christmas like me, Pcnation.com has a special for 3-day delivery where you can still make Christmas if you hurry.

I wish I had discovered this user forum before I bought our MDX. Oh well, another example of how there are enthusiasts everywhere. This one is just for Acura MDX owners. There is a similar one for Honda Pilot owners. Here are some good things to know: * ACURA MDX . ORG - Wireless Headphones. How to use the two that came with the car. * "Honda Acura World":http://www.hondacuraworld.com/. The place for aftermarket stuff. You can get wireless headphones for $43 vs. $125 at the dealer. Other good stuff here too.

Nikon introduces affordable Nikon COOLSCAN V ED. Nikon introduced a new line of scanners. The Nikon Coolscan 9000, 5000 and V. These replace the 8000, 4500 and IV respectively. The most interesting for me is the Nikon Coolscan V. It is the entry model but now has 4000 dpi, Digital ICE 4, the fancy Nikkor ED glass lens and USB 2.0. Competes really well with the new Minolta 5400 IMHO>

Ashford.com. I hadn't tried this online store before. They have luxury items like watches, jewelry, handbags and so forth at everyday low prices. Certainly beats shopping at least for me. I've also heard that Blue Nile is another good place for getting really great diamonds.

NetMagazines.com: Low Price Guarantee with 1033 Titles!. We'll see if this works, but I used netmagazine.com last year with good success. This year, they have something called PackageMaker. If you order more than one magazine they juggle things to get you a group buying discount. Saved more than 50% off their subscription prices. Wow. Now we'll see if we actually get the magazine. They also are offering coupon discounts if you buy $20 and $60 worth. Check it out.

Supposed you have a bunch of really fat MPEG-1 files around. How can you get them into a modern format. I have one that is 600MB and I was curious to see what it could compress to. It's not clear from the web how to do all this, but the piece parts are there. Here is what you need to do: # Download Gordian Knot. This comes with various codecs like besweet that you'll need later. # Download Ogg Vorbis codec and also the related tools Oagmachine and Oggmux. # Download the latest release of VirtualDub. # Download Xvid codec pack Now the process is a little crazy, but it works at least for me: # Open up the MPEG-1 file in VirtualDub. This can read MPEG-1 and also uncompressed and very fat AVI. # Video compression. First, choose Audio/No Audio. Now choose Video/Compression. Go down to Xvid codec and choose Configure to make sure the options are correct. I normally choose 2-pass # Choose File/Save AVI and create a silent .avi file # Choose File/Save WAV to create the uncompressed wave file # Start Oagmachine and open the WAV file, pick your option and then choose OGG and click on Give me Ogg. # Start Oggmux, input file is the .avi and the .ogg file is the audio file, then choose the output file as a .ogm and click on Mux it! Not clear exactly what the compresion advantage of this is quite yet, but it is fun to learn about new codecs and how they translate. Theoretically, you should get 2x compression going from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4, but we'll experiment and see.

305595 - HOW TO: Create a Boot Disk for an NTFS or FAT Partition in Windows XP. Still trying to get my dead laptop without a CD-ROM Drive to boot, but it has an NT image on the hard disk. Here's the way to get an XP boot loader

RC: Philips Pronto NG TSU3000 Remote Control Review (1). I love the Pronto's. Here's the next generation of them coming now. The TSU3000 is monochrome and the TSU6000 is color. The best thing is that they are completely programmable with ProntoEdit.

RC: Philips Pronto NG TSU3000 Remote Control Review (1). I love the Pronto's. Here's the next generation of them coming now. The TSU3000 is monochrome and the TSU6000 is color. The best thing is that they are completely programmable with ProntoEdit.

191T Black 19" LCD Monitor (Samsung-191TBLACK) - PriceGrabber.com. It's amazing how prices have come down. Even a gigantic 19 inch monitor is now just $650 according to pricegrabber. "Tom's Hardware on 19inch LCDs":http://www.tomshardware.com/display/20030902/index.html. This Samsung unit got a good review. As usual, they really like the very expensive Illyama "AS4821DT":http://www.tomshardware.com/display/20030902/19_lcd-04.html, but the Samsung seemed to have good performance at a great price. "Tom's Hardware on 17 inch monitors":http://www.tomshardware.com/display/20031105/index.html. He also looked at budget 17" LCD panels. These are faster so are nearly Ok for action gaming. They really like the screen that comes on the "Hercules Prophetview 920 Pro DVI":http://www.tomshardware.com/display/20031105/lcd-08.html, the Ilyama or the Hyundai Q17. All are hard to find in the US unfortunately. Turns out these all use a screen made by Hyundai, so if you want a fast screen with a 16 ms response thats great for gaming, you should buy one of these.

Copy your DVD to XviD with AC3 surround sound. This one tells you more closely what is really going on.

a little ludwig goes a long way: Comcast HDTV PVR. Like me, John now has HD Comcast. Not much to watch although InHD and INHD2 are pretty good and ESPN sometimes can be. Bigger deal is the upcoming PVR box that Comcast has. There is someone locally who is on the beta list. Supposed to arrive 1Q04. Can't wait!

Stylus Epic. With the Yashica T4 Waterproof now dead and gone, you can only buy it on ebay for about $200 (!!!). So the next one that is great is the Olympus Stylus Epic. Great review in Popular Photography. The main thing is that it has a tack sharp F2.8 lenses whereas most of the zooms are very slow.

Popular Photography Magazine. The first really great sub-$1000 digital SLRs are coming out. First Canon announced the Digital Rebel with an incredible lense. Now Nikon announced their D70 at the same pricing range. This is great as it means that really high quality is coming down super fast in price. Still a ways to go before the 11-14 megapixel full-frame imagers are at $1,000 but the day is coming :-) The best things are the new lenses: * AF DX Fisheye-Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 G ED * AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12–24mm f/4G IF-ED * AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17–55mm f/2.8G IF-ED That last lense is pretty amazing. Constant aperature and it goes down to wide angle.

Tom's Hardware Guide Displays: Affordable 19" LCD Monitors - Introduction. Amazing that you can now get gigantic 19" monitors for so little. I can remember buying 15" for $1,000 less than three years ago. In any case, here's Tom's Hardware's evaluation. They like the Samsung 192B in terms of price value. Right now it is $650 if you can believe it at "Best Buy":http://tomshardware.bizrate.com/marketplace/search/search.xpml?rf=tom011&prod_id=7824370&cat_id=416&userzip=98004&zip_go=Calculate. On "Pricegrabber":http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=552795/blsrt=1/ut=0ce4169308a239fb, they have its sister model, the 191 for $630.

Scouting Resources - Camping - Tents. So, what if someone has an accident in your tent. What do you do? Well, apparently, you can wash these, just make sure to use a non-detergent soap. You can get this as Nikwax Techwash which is non-detergent and won't destroy the waterproofing. Now what do you do about your thermarest's? Can't wash these, so "Thermarest":http://www.cascadedesigns.com/customer_service/faqs.asp?Action=ThermaRest#clean recommends that ou use soap, water and a soft bristle. For tough stains use Citrasolv (citrus-based degreaser).

Downhill Ski Sizing. A good rule of thumb for sizing and also on fitting. Best short guide I've seen. Puts me in a 175cm ski.

OK I'm fully addicted again, playing Harpoon and I've forgotten all my old tricks. Here are some site to look at: * Submarine games and sims - SUBSIM Review. EVerything you ever wanted to iknow about submarine simulations if you can believe that. * "JC Press on Harpoon":http://www.jcpress.com/tailhook/basic.htm. Some good strategies. There was an old book I had that really explained this stuff. I need to dig it out again.

What is Fasicm?. OK, I admit it, I never did take a political science class. Was too busy doing the engineering thing. The other day, someone mentioned that sounds Fascist. I had always though Fascism was about being in Nazi Germany or Mussolino's Italy. It has a broader definition though (of course scholars can't agree). But here is one scholars view: bq. Beginning in the 1970s, some historians and political scientists began to develop a broader definition of fascism, and by the 1990s many scholars had embraced this approach. This new approach emphasizes the ways in which fascist movements attempt revolutionary change and their central focus on popularizing myths of national or ethnic renewal. Seen from this perspective, all forms of fascism have three common features: anticonservatism, a myth of ethnic or national renewal, and a conception of a nation in crisis.

tirechain.com. So the chains I get from Fred Meyer never seem like they'll work that well. With Connie's new car and us going in the snow, time to consult the Internet. Of course, there is an expert at tirechain.com to help you out. Never imagined so many different products could get reviewed. The long and short is that for cars there is a real chain and then there are cables which don't work as well. Check out their installation helper. I have to get one of these! "Vulcan Tire":http://www.vulcantire.com/chain.htm. On the other hand, the folks at Vulcan say that cables are just fine. They do recommend the so called Z-cable, these go diagonally across the tire so there is always traction (makes sense to me). And, they recommend that even with 2-wheel drive cars, you get chains on all the tires so handling stays the same. That also makes sense to me. Their mid-grade Z-chains are $65 to $90 for bigger tires and they include tensioners. This is about what full chains cost as well. For SUVs, the State of Washington normally doesn't require AWD vehicles to use chains except in exceptional conditions. BTW, so I remember, the Acura MDX has 235/65-R17 tires while the volvo is 205/50-R16. These designations are all a big wierd as a trivia point. 235 refers to how wide the tire is in millmeters, the 65 is the profile (so the smaller, the thiner the tire), the R means a radial tire and then 17 means the rim size in inches. There is also a beginning P that means passenger and LT that means light truck that people don't seem to use in catalogs anymore. R is usually omitted since that's the only type around anymore.

Motobecane for just $1700 with Dura-Ace 10. Hat tip to Joe, check out these new Motobecane "bikes":http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/lechampteam04pre_pub.htm that are going for $1700. They normally cost $2700. Man, I wish I needed a bike. BTW, this is less than the kit cost of a Dura Ace 10 setup at Excelsports.com