April 2004 Archives

King County Fishing Lakes in Washington State. I think I noted this already, but if you want to fish on Lake Washington, here's the site to check out.

The other thing to go is to visit Lincs on Rainer Avenue. We never caught a single fish in Lake Washington until we visited them. They just know what lures work and what doesn't and I'd listen to them.

Freedom to Tinker: What is a Speedbump?. Wow, this guy is sure smart. He's a Professor at Princeton and I had the privilege of meeting him recently. Good notes on speedbumps as a way to slow down security and privacy issues. hat tip to Ludwig for that

a little ludwig goes a long way: Around the web this week. Ludwig has started the tradition of a weekly tour of the web. How useful to see how his mind works. Particularly good references to Ed Felton on security and also the Google file system.

Zagula spells trouble: Great Photographer. Hat tip to Zagula, Tim is a great guy and a good photographer if you need professional portraits and shots done.

MediaWiki development. Well, I loaded this up on Tongfamily. Now the question is how to use it. Here are some notes:

• User Guide's_Guide. Naturally, the documentation is itself in Wiki format, so here it is. The main interesting things are that you can edit any page you want. The default is there is no user permissions at all.
• Markup Language's_Guide:_Editing_overview. Main advantage of a Wiki is that they have a specialized markup language that makes it easy to add things. It looks a little like Textile, but is not quite the same. For instance pound sign means do a number list and an asterisk means a bullet. The main difference is this idea of an internal Wiki link that you can forward link to with a pair of square brackets.
• Strange things's_Guide:_Using_tables. The table syntax is just amazingly complicated. All this markup reminds me of the old days of LaTEX and nroff. I bet there are Wiki WYSIWYG editors now that I look at this.

Hat tip to Darryl on this one Most of the equipment is overkill for our guys but I have been looking for a good catch net and came across at baseballtips.com

X-bit labs - Articles - AMD Athlon 64 3400 CPU Review Overclocking. A good piece about the latest AMD processor. The net is that the design of the current chip (Newcastle) limits the actual clock frequency to less than 2.4GHz. The folks at Xbit think that this is due to the design of the chip. In this benchmark, they got the thing to 2.37GHz (215MHz FSB from 200MHz FSB).

This means that even with the ACP/PCI buses locked on the 754 pin Newcastle chips, you'll maybe get to 2.4GHz before you run into trouble.

AMD's Emma: $200 Internet PC :: AMDZone :: The real #1 source for AMD news, reviews, and info. Est 1998. . Wow, now that's an amazing idea. That appliance, when attached to a keyboard and a screen and an Internet connection, could deliver Internet access for less than $200

Funny thing about this months computer recommendations is that they are all for components you can't quite get yet. So, here is the dream system:

• AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 939 Socket. Also known as the Newcastle. It only has a 512MB cache, but promises to be around for longer. Not shipping yet, should be in May.
• Hitachi 7K400 400GB Hard Drive. The next step up in density. A dream for all that video editing. Will be expensive, but the density is awesome.
• Western Digital Raptor WD740GD. OK I lied, you can get this one as a really fast system disk.
• VIA KT800 based motherboard. The newest one will use 1GHz Hyperchannel so be much faster. Want to make sure to get one that actually does lock AGP/PCI so you can overclock it well. Candidates are the update to the ASUS K8V and the Gigabyte GA-K8VT800 Pro.
• Double density DVD+RW. These will be 9GB per disk and fast too. Not sure when they are out though.
• 512MB x2 Corsair LLC ram.

Sudhian Forums - Shuttle SK83G. Shuttle announces their next Athlon 64 machine. Uses a variant of the VIA chipset that has integrated graphics. Not clear how well it overclocks. It uses the older 754 pin socket, so most discussion is about whether to wait for the upcoming 939 sockets that will come in May.

So, if you can hold on a few weeks and the 939s should be here.

Well, Ludwig got a Wiki, so it was inevitable I needed one too. As usual, there seems to be no simple guide on the web to get started building one, so here it is:

1. Wiki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Here's a good general overview of what the heck a Wiki is and a history. Kind of cool that this description is itself in wikipedia which is of course a Wiki.
2. Choose a software. As usual, there are a bunch of them. The big four mentioned are MediaWiki, MoinMoin, UseModWiki and TWiki). The Wikipedia uses MediaWiki, so that's a pretty good endorsement.

NukedGallery » Forums » Gallery Integration - PHP/NSN-Nuke » Setup Errors - not even getting to Config Wizard.

OK, so I got this error message

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: getos() in /home/tongfamily/public_html/gallery/init.php on line 101

No problem, google shows us the problem is that the FTP of PHP gallery didn't take. Seems like the version.php file didn't copy successfully. Gosh darn it if they aren't right. Caveat Emptor, make sure the FTP really does complete by looking at date stamps.

Gallery v1.4.3 is now Available! :: Gallery :: your photos on your website. I haven't added to my photo gallery in forever. Of course, this means that all that software is old.

Biggest pain is that since the move to a new backend server set at tqhosting, I've never been able to logon. Sigh, I'll install and then try to see if I can clear the passwords.

Turns out that if you install a new version, it resets the admin password, so this is the easiest way to fix things. BTW, the features on 1.4.3 are really awesome. In particular:

1. Styles. They now have lots of cool styles. I'm using the spiral notebook. Looks much better.
2. Registration. They built a whole user registration system in so people can register rather than me having to give everyone logins. Best thing is that they have a password lookup feature to email, so folks have a chance of remembering their passwords.
3. Voting. They have voting buttons so folks can vote on various pictures.

X-bit labs - Articles - April 2004 Hardware News Overview. X-bit really does a very good job of summerizing an incredibly broad industry every month. About a 10 minute read, but it covers just about every bit of gossip happening.

Jon Kertzer knows so much about african music. You should check his show on KEXP.

Its interesting to see how hard it is to find experts on a given topic. For instance a search for google:"African Music" leads you to quite a bit of junk. There is a something called African Music Encyclopedia that pops up, but it doesn't really give you programming of new music. Most of the sites seem so focused on search when the issue is programming. I don't know what I want, so give me something to listen to.

These are either stuck in audio archives and not searchable or are just massive catalogs. Its interesting that there don't appear to be many blogs that merge music programming (e.g., check this out), with the ability to sample and then buy. Maybe another trend?

Well, the short answer is that I wouldn't buy a computer just yet because there are so many changes in the AMD product line in the next few weeks and then AMD are making big changes in 2H04. So if you can, wait a little for the near updates and get a better idea in about 4 weeks in terms of what specific hardware to buy. Here are the changes:

• AMD core changes on the horizon. The main news here is that they are going from the Clawhammer chipsets to the Newcastle. This means that clock rates are going up, but the Newcastle is half the cache. So the Athlon 64 3200+ is going to go from a 2.2GHz/1MB cache to a 2.4GHz/500KB cache. Benchmarks will show if the tradeoff is worth it.
• nVidia nForce 250 Pro and VIA K8T800 Pro. The current chipsets nForce 150 Pro and VIA K8T800, had the VIA part winning. Neither of the current chips did a great job at overclocking, but the upcoming new motherboards might. The 250 should be faster and the K8T800 Pro hasn't been reviewed yet.
• In May, AMD switches to socket 939. These 939 socket systems are supposed to be slightly faster than todays 754 pin sockets.

Finally, there are the longer term vagaries of Intel and what they'll do in Q304. That's harder to forecast. Some like Xbit take a pretty cynical view about things. Intel will introduce PCI Express (but will it be faster longer term), DDR2 (twice as expensive as DDR now, but faster longer term), Prescott (hotter and faster longer term). You get the picture.

Tom's Hardware Guide Games & Entertainment: Far Cry Comes Close to a Perfect Game - Tech Demos Making Gaming Memories.. I'm beginning to curse Ludwig. My goodness what amazingly cool games he finds. First there was Battlefield 1942, then Call of Duty and now Far Cry.

This new one really pushed the graphics card hard. Probably means my next update (we are going to upgrade Calvin's machine this time) is going to need a spanking new nVidia 6800 (NV40 engine) card in it and the amazing AMD Athlon 64 given its incredible game performance.

Been trying to figure out various zoning issues. Amazing how much is on the web now:

• DPD - Land Use Related Codes & Rules. The Department of Planning and Development (used to be called DCLU) has put all the regulations on the web. They even has the Shoreline regulations in detail. Almost impossible to read though.
  *

David Koh was asking me about Home Theater equipment and what he should buy. Great questions. Things as usual are in transition particularly on the video side, but here's a good equipment set to things about:

• Home Theater SPOT. YOu should register for this site and pay the $25. Best thing is that it give you discounts for bettercables and it has some great recommendations.
• The Perfect Vision. Subscribe to this in print form. They have some really good reviews.
• Secrets of Home Theater. Very accurate reviews. Most of the stuff is pretty high end, but they are smart here. I agree with their Best-of awards bTW.

In terms of actual equipment to buy, I would allocate about 50% of the budget for the actual video display, about 30% for the speakers and then 20% for the electronics. The video first, but the sound is amazingly important. For a great price-value, here are some recommendations:

• Outlaw Audio. They have some great equipment at decent prices. They are internet direct. I have both their low-end receiver and now the preamp/amplifier combination. Or to save a little, get the Onkyo TX-SR800. A good intermediate AVR. The other good one is the equivalent Denon 2803 I think is the latest.
• DVD Shootout. Secrets has the best review of the various artifacts that can happen with players. The main thing is to get one that doesn't have bugs in its video. DVD players are in an interesting state. Right now the el cheapo $200 player from Panasonic X30 or the Denon 1600 (is the same player as the X30 as long as you set it to Auto 1) is one of the best around. Go figure. USe the money you save to put into the speakers ;-) If you need audiophile je ne sais quoi, then the Denon DVD-5900 gets great reviews.
• PVR. Comcast is coming out with a High definition STB that also records. So they are being super aggressive in this area. I haven't tried it myself, but definitely something to look at.
• Axiom Audio. There are many great speakers. Frankly, I would splurge more on the speakers than anything else once you have a decent display. I have the M22tis and am getting another set. Great to work with as well.
• SVS Subwoofers. If you have the space, these big circular things are absolutely amazing. These subwoofers add the most IMHO to the experience. The other ones that are good are the various Velodyne models, but SVS is internet only and easy to buy. The PC Plus 20-39 for instance is 39" high and produces bass down to 20 Hz and has a built in 500 watt amplifier.
• Bettercables.com. The cables at Outlaw are really good, but they don't have everything. The remainder, you can get from bettercables using the hometheaterspot.com discount.
• Intrigue Harmony SST659. Remote Control. Although you won't want to invest in one, believe me not having a dozen different remotes really makes a difference. The high end one to get is the Philips Pronto Pro with a cool color screen. Otherwise, the the intrigue harmony is a nice design.
• BenQ PE8700 or whatever hometheaterspot.com is recommending right now. Now the big question right now is the right diaplay to get. There is lots of decision points. The main issue is that the flat panels are coming on strong, but the old CRTs are still pretty amazing. Personally, right now if I had the space, I'd get a projecter because its easier to explain to your wife how to replace one of those than a 400 pound monster rear projection TV.

More later, but that's the quick review for now.

AnandTech on the NV40 vs. NV3x. A great piece on the differences between the current nVidia family (5900/5700 called the NV3x series internally) and the latest 6800 (called the NV40 internally).

My brother works over at nVidia, so its great to see them getting back on their feet. The performance of the new NV40 is awesome. About twice as fast as the lastest generation ATI 9800 Pro (R350 internally) and the nVidia 5900 (NV38).

Well, the boys want a basketball hoop. Another great example of how trying a sport like B-ball creates a lifelong interest. Anyway, we don't have room for a full hoop (although I tried lobbying for that!). Instead, a portable one seems like the ticket, but which one to buy?

• Gart Sports Guide. Gart is a big retailer in our area. They have a pretty good guide to what to look for. Main things are to look for something portable. Looks like we'll want something with a rectangular backboard (easier shots) and that is adjustable.
• Garts Portable Backboard. They have a huge selection online. Not super pratical as shipping charges are $40-100.
• Lifetime 1594 Acrylic 42 inch. This seems to be the least expensive portable that has adjustment. Also a clear acrylic hoop as well. $230.
• Lifetime 71552 44 inch. This is also $230, but is a fan shaped backboard. The adjustment is a nicer counterbalanced one so you don't need a broom to adjust.
• Lifetime 42531 44 inch acrylic. This one is $250, but has a slam-it rim so that it breaks instead of the backboard.

As a quick comparison, google search for portable basketball system or portable basketball hoop got me:

• Hit Run Score. They sell a Sure Shot 67749 for $225 with $100 shipping. It is 48" backboard, so bigger, High adjusts as well.
• Sports Unlimited Inc. They have a Lifetime 71935 for $280. Also 44 inch. Quikclift tile and a 3.5" pole plus a breakaway rim, so comparable to the Lifetime 71552

So, we are off to Hawaii pretty soon and Connie asked me, how do we get a movie for the squirmy kids. Here are the options:

• Inflight Movies. This is one of those .com businesses like Netflix that don't seem to make sense, but we've actually used quite a bit. You rent a DVD player at the airport, use it and then return it at a kiosk. Makes sense when the price of portable DVDs was high. Cost is $12/day and they now deliver to you.
• Digiplayer. This is a dedicated device that uses DivX format internally, so movies are preloaded on a hard drive. You can get on Alaska Airlines now only, so that is not a total solution. These are now free if you fly first class on Alaska!

What if you use your own hardware, well you have two choices:

• Your laptop. So, you ask, why doesn't Rich just use his existing notebook computer. Well, main reason is that I have a 3 year old one and the battery has given up the ghost. Main issue with laptops, is that they have very short battery life while spinning a DVD. The Toshiba Porteges that we use at Ignition for instance won't last a whole movie on a charge. If you go to a hard disk version of a movie using DiVX or the OGM file format it works much better, but it is a pain to convert.
• Samsung DVD-L100 Portable DVD Player Review - PCStats.com. This is the high end of a whole class of players. Got good reviews. A 10 inch screen and incredibly long battery life with a huge 4400 mAh Lithium battery is supposed to be multiple hours. BTW, for the geeks, this thing is actually an embedded Sparc processor running VxWorks. It draws just 16W, so that is why the battery lasts so long. Main issue is that it has a street price of $900, so is as much as a low-end notebook.
• Panasonic DVD-LV70. This is a retailer and they tested a 7 inch screen model

Well, I've gotten Call of Duty and gone through it. Nice thing is that in single player mode, it is fast to get through. It is one of those games that at first seems just completely amazing, but as I play more, I realize it is a very sophisticated Doom. It is sort of like playing Battlefield:1942. Feels incredibly realistic in visual look, but tactically it is anything but.

Unlike Ghost Recon, it is not about being accurate, but about hitting things. Good example are the health packs. Not like you see these on the real battlefield. In that way, I love more realistic simulations like Ghost Recon better, but they are definitely harder to play and more "boring." No running along just blasting away.

On the other hand, the use of the Quake 3 engine is amazing. Most fun are things like riding in a truck and taking potshots at things. Another example is the arcade-like experience of driving a tank. The most realistic of these in my opinion is the beginning of the Russian series, where you get a clip of ammunition and that is all and they then send you into battle to pick up something there. Amazing, but apparently quite true.

Here are some other mods that people are working on. I'm amazed at the energy people put into these things:

• Eastern Front Mod - A Call of Duty Modification. This is an Eastern Front scenario.
• Market Garden. Not yet out yet, but this is a scenario for Operation Market Garden.

Jennie is looking for a new digital camera for her trip to parts unknown. Some amazing ones are around now. She's been looking at a bunch and as usual Pentax like every other consumer manufacturer has made a complete hash of the model numbers and names, so here is a decoder ring:

• Pentax Optio S Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review. This thing is the size of a credit card and fits inside an Altoid box. An amazing technology where the lense group actually slides up and out of the way. Great cuteness factor too at just 4 oz. This is actually the review 8 out of 10 which is pretty amazing for $300 camera that is only 3 Mp.
• Pentax S4. I'd bet that the s4 is a pretty good buy at $240 or so given that there is a $30 rebate through August 2004. It has a 4 Megapixel sensor, so much more than the 3.2Mp on the original S. Now out of production, it feels like a pretty good buy at $270 or so.
• Pentax S4i. This is the same as the S4, but has a 1.8 inch screen instead of 1.6 inches. Pretty small beans for something that costs $320. It has a different camera back.
• Pentax s40. This is the same camera as the s4 and s4i but uses conventional NiMH AA batteries, so weighs 6 oz instead of 4 oz. OTOH, this does mean that you can get a set of batteries just about anywhere.

As usual there are accessories that you need to get:

• Extra Battery. The battery lasts for 200 shots, but most folks recommend another battery for about $40. Not needed of course if you are getting the S40.
• SD Card. Here is a forum note on SD speeds. Basically says that you should get an SD card with Panasonic chips. The 256MB and 512MB versions should run at 9-10MBps. Thes would include the Panasonic 256 & 512 cards, Sandisk Ultra II and Sandisk Extreme.
• CF Comparisons. There really aren't any good articles on this, but DPreivew has a good write up about the speeds of various media. All flash are not created equal. A standard flash should run at 150KB/sec in terms of transfer rate, but now you can get 16x, 32x and so on. The current CF standard is up to 16Mb/sec and the fastest card is currently the Sandisk Ultra II which can write at ~9Mb/sec
  and read at ~10Mb/sec. Of course, its not clear if your camera can actually write that fast. About 5MBps is standard

I was curious about how campaign funding works. Here are some fascinating facts and figures. I literally had no idea the numbers worked this way or that so much information was available online:

• Open Secrets. A good advocacy site with mainly facts and figures. Most amazing is to see the fundraising differences. Bush has raised over $154M. Kerry has raised $46M. Also interesteing to see who the big fundraisers are. All large corporates with $1-2M raised per entity (do the math, that's about 1-2,000 people per corporation giving their $2K/couple).
• Fundrace.org. An amazing site, now you can type your zip code in and see who your neighbors are who have contributed. Interesting to see so many famous names and their addresses online. A little terrifying actually.
• John Kerry. It's interesting to see how online things have gotten. For instance, you can now use your credit card and contribute what you want. There is a $2K/person limit.
• DNC. Even the Democratic National Committee lets' you contribute. The maximums for this kind of soft dollar is $25K/person. Haven't figured out how you see these contributions yet.

Basecamp. A simple web-based project management system. From a web-design company. There really is a big future in these kind of simple weblications.

Tong's Basecamp. I did a quick site, put Ludwig and Zagula on it with the usual user names and passwords.

A nnice product that make it possible is from
Ruby. An interesting programming environment.

Will be fun to visit with them on June 25. $400 per head, but could be kind of interesting.

Interesting to see how many people have tried to build small and simple products and could be interesting.

400GB Drive Announced. Since I've been doing lots of video editing on my little Shuttle box, I need a mountain of storage in a single drive.

This 400GB IDE drive certainly fits the bill. It is basically the extremely fast 250GB drive but with two additional platters (each platter is 80GB). Drool, drool.

Tom's Hardware Guide Displays: LCD Comparison: 19" monitors. Another review of 19" monitors. This time the upcoming Samsung 193P comes out on top. Its still in preproduction and costs about $780, so it is expensive.

One of the few monitors you might think about using for gaming (fast enough) and graphics (accurate enough).