Why it pays to know your PC hardware. A lesson in the greatness of the internet.

I love my desktop computers, I love each and every one...Rorschach, Beebe, Theseus and even little my little suckcock (that's what I named the old HP that I frankensteined)

But lately I have been thinking about laptops. Specifically this one.

Granted having a quad core laptop would be nothing shy of silly but it engaged my brain cogs all the same. Plus I have been thinking about Nat's laptop lately and wondered if a cheap linux laptop could make its way into my possession in the next year or so.

However my enthusiasm and cognizance of PC hardware has proven an ill fit for UPOR (Uber Pwnage On the Road) I was looking at Dell's options for the attactive Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy selection of laptops and found the lightest of them debutued at a modest $649 plus shipping and all that.

That's not bad for starters but the curse of knowing what is out there prevents me from ever accepting default selections. So, just for kicks I specced out the Inspiron 1525N as I would want to purchase it. To my dismay what started as a $649 laptop quickly jumped up to a much more expensive situation.

Here's a screenie to illustrate my point.

It got me to thinking...what if instead of upgrading via dell I just bought better parts from newegg.com. It might work out better this way and I can always offload the other stuff on craigslist.

Now the four salient points for this particular brand of laptop are as follows.

CPU - Default 1.6 Core 2 Duo
RAM 1 Gig DDR2 667mhz
HDD 120 gig drive at 5400 rpm
DVD Burner/software - It's an 80 dollar upgrade for some Roxio software but HELLO this is a Linux laptop. Sheesh. Let's focus on Hardware.

From Dell. Stick with default chip or upgrade to 2.0ghz core 2 duo and pay 250 or go to newegg and spend about 210. Check it out.

So we save 40 bucks (Shipping will be factored in at the end) AND we get the 1.6 and the 2.0 chips.

RAM is so dirt cheap right now it's hard to believe that anyone could settle for a mere gig. However via Dell adding 3 gigs to the total costs 300 even. Or go to newegg and shell out 84 dollars for 4 brand new gigs of Kington Ram. You can go pqi or OCZ as well and stay under the 90 bucks neighborhood.

Plus you get to sell the other gig on craigslist.

Harddrive default is 120 gigs at 5400 rpm. That's pretty cool for a laptop since you can always warehouse your...ahem...movie collection at home on a fat Sata drive. Upgrading to a 160 gig drive at 7200 rpms adds 155 to your tag. Newegg only costs 150.

I realize that's a pretty modest difference but you aren't just upgrading you get to keep that 120 gig drive and for a measly 19 bucks you can get an enclosure and hey presto your backup situation is resolved as well. That's right, 20 bucks more gets you almost total backup coverage.

Let's review the upgrade/replacement scenario

CPU = 250/210
RAM= 300/84
HDD= 155/150

So we see that the total cost to upgrade from Dell is 705 bucks. Total cost to swap out components is 444. Add 20 for the enclosure and factor in shipping and everything and the grand total only adds up to be about 472. Not a bad deal especially when you consider the RAM CPU resale plus you'll have an easy way to backup data or just carry more around with you.


Shipping turned out to be a lot less than I thought. Still More than 200 bucks cheaper even if you just toss out the surplus hardware.

If you take nothing else away from this post remember this. RAM is just dirt cheap right now. Don't pay 300 bucks when you can shell out only 90 and get the same type and quality. A little research, and a little consumer awareness go a long long way when its time to upgrade or replace your system.

Next up I'm going to look at Alienware and see what a difference I can make there vs newegg.

BS alert!!!

Dear people...

When I read things as I am about to link to I can only shake my head with chagrin. For if people could not swallow BS in such potent doses people would have to cut it smaller and weaker for anyone to bite down.

If you feel like cutting a swath of brain cells down in their prime simply click here.

It's almost too perfect not to throw a shout out to cectic's latest comic.

If you don't want to read it that's fine the gist is that a bunch of 'scientists' supposedly built some random number generators and then had 'people off the street' come in and concentrate on shifting the patterns.

The article goes on to explain how putting these 'random number generators' all over the world that weird inexplicable spikes happen during momentous events including the death of princess diana and september 11th.

What the article fails to mention is any explanation of how the devices were built, what technology they use and how non-existant human mental powers could have any effect on them whatsoever.

The whole thing smacks of nonsensical pseudoscience, it's fucking chain-letter material at best. Here's a few problems with the article from a critical thinking stand point.

1) The biggest red flag is that the premise of the article is that there's a device capable of sensing the future. Sub-BS it does so by tapping into the non-existant group conscious of OTHER HUMAN BEINGS.
2) The work stems from a lone scientist. The guy is obviously working with subpar equipment and personnel if he doesn't even have a team or a lab or anything.
3) Random number generation is best done using computer algorithms. While they are not truly random (you'd need a quantum computer for that) that can get pretty close.
4) The human brain is a vehicle of information processing. As far as every other relevant scientific discipline can tell it works strictly in standalone mode. Sure people with brains communicate but its totally indirect. Compared to networked computers trying to talk to another brain is like typing up a report, printing it out and then physically handing it to the other brain who then scans it in, crunches the data and in turn spits out pages back (in terms of speed anyways)
5) There is no 'greater consciousness' that humans share or tap into. As a species I am sure we have a lot of redundant pathways and similar structures that allow people to understand and share culture even as we are able to absorb it when no other species can. Chimps can to a much smaller degree but that's another discussion.
6) Belief in this article requires belief in esp, shared consciousness for the human race, devices susceptible to esp and humanity's innate ability to sense catastrophe before it happens.

I'll go no further except to point out that this article fails a prime naturalistic bullshit test. Namely if we apply the standard given to humans to any other mammal it will produce absurdly sad results.

Here's a taste of the article but I have replaced all the people with monkeys.

"Dr John Hartwell, working at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, was the first to uncover evidence that [monkeys] could sense the future. In the mid 1970s he hooked [monkeys] up to hospital EEG machines so that he could study their brainwave patterns. When these [monkeys] were shown emotionally charged cartoons, characteristic patterns flickered through their brainwaves. Strangely, these patterns began to emerge a few seconds before [monkeys] actually saw the pictures.

But it was to be another 15 years before anyone else took this work further. Dean Radin, [a monkey] working in America, connected [monkeys] up to a machine that measured [monkey] skin's resistance to electricity. This is known to fluctuate in tandem with [monkey's] moods, indeed, it's this principle that underlies many lie detectors. Radin repeated Dr Hall's work whilst measuring skin resistance. Again, [monkeys] began reacting a few seconds before they were shown the pictures. This was clearly impossible, or so he thought, so he kept on repeating the experiments and getting the same results."

Sound a little far fetched? Well we share a common ancestor who's to say chimps never developed language because they're all communing on a higher plane of existence than mere physical distractions.

Suck it, pseudoscience. We're not fooled!!

Scary Dog Picture...

This will cheer me up when I am sad...

I'm actually quite ok right now, just thought I'd slap it up.

Segment: I'm a better parent than you.

For those of you who don't know my work situation goes something like this. I sit at my desk, cluster o' PC's at the ready to handle my gruntwork, our receptionist in Raleigh sends me tickets via MSN Messenger and I respond to them as needed.

It's a decent one-person-call-center sort of arrangement. I will say that our knowledge base is prone to synaptic misfires and isn't really fault tolerant (being my brain and all) but its a good enough system.

One problem is the two-tier social structure of incoming work requests. Namely Kim filters out the fluffy stuff (meaning the non-tech, sales and customer service component of our company) and the calls sluice over into my domain. As you can see there's a clear level of bias since annoying people will affect Kim first and then her reaction will in turn affect me.

This has certain...negative consequences for my day.

For example last week a certain client called in three times in rapid succession over a minor issue. I was content to let it just sit there and fester until I reached them by my priority scale. However their annoyance agitated my coworker who karmically passed it on to me.

I expressed my concern, this was after all not something I usually bow to. Why not answer a customer in distress? Because that is fucking bullshit, that's why.

I bumped three calls to respond to their minor issue. I rewarded the whiny and forsook the patient among us. That galls me in several ways. Let's set aside the very obvious cognitive dissonance of knowing the psychological implications and bowing to them anyway.

This of course leads to an ugly and unavoidable cycle of irritation at the problem and scrutiny of how to avoid it in the future. If not careful this sort of point/counterpoint can simply lead to infinite recursion.

Like this gem I got while beta testing gotoassist.


In the end it is only with a measure of fortitude that we can move past such contradictions. After all it's pretty easy to break out of recursion. It's called beer.

And it makes me happy.

Dark have been my dreams of late...

In case you're wondering the title phrase was uttered by King Theoden of LOTR fame shortly after being exorcised by one Gandalf Stormcrow.

I have been feeling somewhat disquieted and angry lately but without form or purpose this malevolence turns to pure frustration. Work has contributed but much more so than usual. It's like running a marathon with two annoying yappy type dogs in tow. I have the muscle for it sure but the constant distractions and kid gloves are getting tiresome.

Not that I've been sleeping much what with all the shenanigans and goings on. Anyway all my short term projects are over with and done. Trying to bring myself to work on a book or a short story turns instantly flustering, than galling and then I get so super pissed off because I want to do it but I can't fucking make it happen like I want to.

At the risk of sounding petulant, well no I am just going to be a bitch about it, I have been contemplating the injustices of the world lately.

Worse still so many of them prove to be good ideas in the long run or lean towards some aspect of the greater good it makes me sick. I mean of course the genetic proclivity towards certain behaviors and aspirations. I wish I could master certain parts of my brain better by allowing more conscious control and simultaneously curse the innefficent slag heap soaking up 20% of my caloric intake every day.

Stupid self-part of my brain!

Here's what I mean. When I set an alarm for myself I am perpetually waking up 30 mins or so before it goes off. I check the time and get frustrated because it's too early to get up. What sucks is that by the time the alarm goes off I just want to go back to sleep.

When Natalie's alarm goes off I snap awake in a second and it takes me an hour to get back to sleep. What possible use does that have for me? Oh good another hour to lie awake feeling like crap and accomplishing nothing. Thanks, brain. Really.

Scary how things turn out sometimes on the internet...

Take this page for example. www.passwall.com

The other day I was thinking about the problem where you have to connect a 3x3 grid of dots using only 4 lines without 'picking up the pencil' as it were. Click the link for the conventional solution.

It reminded me of my days back in Algebra class, circa 8th grade year. We had this as a bonus problem or something and I thought to myself...self, surely there's a better way to solve this problem.

The way it was phrased was that you had to draw a line through ALL the dots (not points, but dots, that's important.) and you could not draw curved lines, nor pick up the pencil and you only got 4 to work with.

Naturally people are flustered at first (at least 8th graders) because you have to draw the line outside the confines of the grid so that you can complete the puzzle. As a joke Ms. Collins said she'd give an A to anyone who could solve the problem while keeping within the rules using less than 4 lines. I examined the simple matrix and pondered it for a few minutes and finally came up with a brilliant solution using only 3 lines.

Care to see?
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Keep going VVVVVVVVVVVV
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Ok so check it out. Here's the solution using only 3 lines.

Ok I know my graphic is TERRIBLE but it was the best I could do without hating myself for wasting the time. In case it's too awful to tell the first line begins left of center for the 7 dot and crosses the right edge of the 1 dot. This line travels up to an unspecified point (I didn't do the math because I don't really care about distance and my mspaint skills aren't up to par.)

So anyway as I recall the teacher REFUSED to accept my solution citing the mathematical convention of 'point' being a formless, massless and zero space entity. I protested on the grounds that even if each dot was a single angstrom thick you could still get enough parallax to form the three line solution. It's kind of like a really steady EKG but oh well.

Needless to say my creativity, and I think that's a pretty damn creative solution, was wasted and I received a single point of extra credit for 'defending my idea' This was the same teacher who spent five minutes lecturing me on how I had a terrible work ethic, couldn't show my work and displayed very little aptitude for math (which I'll concede) and then dismissively remarked that I wouldn't fail the class because I happened to land a near perfect score on the state mandated math exam.

Gotta love standardized testing eh?

Here's your homework now. Go to google and type 'ubuntu logo' and then see what pops under images. Oh and be sure to turn safesearch off. It'll blow your mind.

Linux on my mind...

So I just wanted to write a quick note from my nascent linux machine. I don't have pics to prove it but I was finally able to restore the box to all and more of its former glory.

The Machine is called 'Argonaut' for whimsical reasons, it just popped into my head that way. The box lived in an attic for some years before I rescued it.

"Board is fried but everything else should be ok," said the former owner.

"We'll see," I replied. Granted I spent several attempts and a few cranky hours tinkering with the bios and fudging around with the system to get it fixed. At long last I was finally able to do so. Where Mandriva, OpenSUSE and Ubuntu's Feisty and Gutsy failed for some reason Kubuntu Gutsy (7.10 I believe) worked. I just had to run the Oem setup and it worked like a charm. Granted there are a few errata I am working through but for the most part all is well.

Let's consider Hardware for a moment. Even though I didn't really construct much of the guts of the case I spent enough time fucking around with cables and little components to fairly designate this PC as Build III.

If you'll remember Build I (Rorschach) is my primary system and Build II (Beebe) is my folding @home/storage box. Whie Build III is my official linux box I don't have a designated purpose for it as of now. Perhaps if Build II goes pure SATA I can gank the half-terabyte of IDE goodness for Build III to enjoy.

Anyways, here's the nitty gritty for the new Box.

****Update - Due to some serendipitous circumstances I discovered that the HP PC will not be upgradeable to 2.8 ghz after all. Luckily though one of the salvaged socket 478 chips that I had clocked out at 3.2 ghz so it all balances out. I was hoping to upgrade the 2.53 chip to 2.8 but since the 2.8 is clocked for a 533mhz front side bus the damn power supply would come on but the board just sat totally still.


Build III - Kubuntu 7.10
3.2 ghz Pentium 4 Processor
2 gigabytes DDR400 Ram (4 x 512mb sticks)
128mb AGP 8x MSI Video card (Geforce 5200 series)
160gb IDE HDD

All of this tasty goodness is sitting primly on an intel server board circa 2003. So it's a bit older than I tend to like them but it cost nothing to build, nothing to load OS and the electricity I can spare.

It's ironic that I also acquired an HP Pavilion with a dead HDD and valid XP Home Key. Luckily I had a dinky little 80gig drive laying around. I'll probably dual boot another distro or two once I decide to swap the processor out. I didn't build it so I can't designate as Build IV but here are the specs anyways.

HP Zombie - XP Home SP3 (Beta-not a real big difference)
2.53 Pentium 4 Processor
1 gigabyte DDR400 (2 x 512mb sticks)
128mb AGP 8x MSI Card (also Geforce 5200 series)
80 gigabyte IDE HDD

(I was able to double the RAM and add the card but that was about it. One upshot is that I added an active heat sink, originally it had the passive sink with the little air tunnel to the exhaust fan. Cable management's a BITCH inside that little case but the airflow dropped the cpu temp from 90f to 79f at idle. Haven't had a chance to stress test just yet.)

And yes I realize that SP3 isn't out yet and that's why its still a beta. I downloaded it because it didn't crash out one of my virtuals on Build I so I figured I'd run it through a live fire exercise. My opinion remains 'meh' with a touch of 'whatever.'

The reason for the doubling of functional PC's in my house (excluding nat's laptop) is simply due to spare part availability. I crashed a coworker's residence and ransacked a few years of discarded doodad's and semi-functional PC's. From this I got the parts to complete Build III (Ram and vcard) and I also got the guts of the HP and a host of other goodies. With a little tinkering I'll soon have access to some of this crap listed below.

-HP 3330 LaserJet printer (semi defunct but still functional, only works for ten minutes at a time)
USB Key wireless adapter (media center time, bitches!!!)
-4 Port KVM Switch + cables
-2 Wirelss access points
-VPN Router
-Wireless Router
-Cisco PIX 501(semi-defunct, just wanted it for testing/learning purposes)
-Wireless Keyboards/Mice
-1.2 shitloads of older RAM
-Semi-defunct Beige Case PC - Harvested CPU, RAM, Vcard and HDD but the board was fried.
-SCSI controller card (PCI-X interface - Adaptec)

There's a few more random upgrades and doodads but I'll have to sift and sort through the rest later. Alex is waking up but more to come soon. Probably lunch tomorrow.