xkcd webcomic has today a funny comic about difference between academia research and business. Check out that Academia vs. Business strip yourself on the comic web page (the comic strip picture is too big to fit to the layout of this blog so I could not add it nicely here).
Archive for the ‘Computers’ Category
Academia vs. Business
Thursday, November 19th, 2009Fading Usenet Newsgroups
Monday, November 9th, 2009Usenet Newsgroups have been great over the past almost twenty years for me. I am finding less and less good posting and always more and more spamming. I fear that we are witnessing the death-rattle of the terminally. The problem is not Usenet newsgroups. Thousands of them are thriving quite nicely today just as they have for decades. The problem is that people do not seem to use them as much as earlier and more spam coming to them.
I still find all the web-based forums to be too primitive. Too often the problems are both user interface and the content (too many forums and too few really good and active). No web-based forum holds a candle to real Usenet. If you only know Usenet through a web-based interface like Google Groups, then you don’t really know Usenet. All web-based forums are dramatically inferior to Usenet.
Likely many of us also use web-based forums for certain specialty topics, particularly forums that are chartered for the discussion of certain hardware and or software, etc. But the Usenet newsgroups continue to be orders of magnitude faster and more efficient than any web-based forum I have seen in 20 years.
Web-based forums are generally HORRID. I avoid them unless absolutely necessary. If you have never used a real Usenet newsreader client and a proper Usenet NNTP server, then you are in no position to judge what is happening to this or any other Usenet newsgroup.
Computers at the International Space Station
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009The International Space Station (ISS) isn’t just an orbiting laboratory, spaceship testing-ground and multinational geek-fest — it’s also the world’s highest (250 miles) and fastest (17,500mph) computer network. Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) allow constant radio communications in the S- and Ku-band, while UHF signals are used to talk with the Space Shuttle and crew members on spacewalks. There’s also a single IP phone for cheap interstellar calls and ‘limited’ webcam video-conferencing abilities. There is significantly large network on board the Station, comprising 68 IBM ThinkPad A31 laptops and 32 Lenovo ThinkPad T61p devices. Space Station IT: High technology article tells about the IT technology used on board. Interview: The Space Station’s IT guys interviews Tyson Tucker and Joey Crawford, the NASA flight controllers responsible for maintaining uptime in mankind’s first permanent space colony. I saw those interesting articles first mentioned at Slashdot.
Linux for netbooks
Monday, October 19th, 2009Some users believe that Windows is the best netbook OS. You might have read countless Microsoft-funded “studies” trying to persuade that Windows is already dominating the netbook space.
Linux is not going anywhere but up in the netbook market. 10 reasons Linux should be your netbook operating system article lists reasons why Linux is a much better fit for netbooks than Windows.
Power Everything with USB
Wednesday, September 23rd, 20099 Kick-Ass DIY Projects to Get Your Hack On article on maximumpc.com web site starts with instructions how to alter a non-USB gadget so that it can be run off of USB power from your computer. The article shows you how to use USB to power a desk fan and book-light lamp.
Cardboard case for a computer
Friday, September 18th, 2009Grad student at the University of Houston who has designed a cardboard case for a computer. This is not a new concept, but this one is meant to be used in manufacture. The idea is that it will be faster and easier to produce (no fasteners for example) and dramatically easier to recycle. Houston Chronicle has a story on it and that story was mentioned at Slashdot. You can find a more detailed description of this invention at Engadget article Recompute: a closer look at the sustainable, cardboard PC.
How to build cheap cloud storage
Sunday, September 13th, 2009Petabytes on a budget: How to build cheap cloud storage tells how to store hundreds of petabytes of customer data in a reliable, scalable way—and keep costs low. Backblaze decided to build their own custom Backblaze Storage Pods: 67 terabyte 4U servers for $7,867. Petabytes on a budget: How to build cheap cloud storage article shows how to make one of these storage pods, and you’re welcome to use this design.
A Backblaze Storage Pod is a self-contained unit that puts storage online. It’s made up of a custom metal case with commodity hardware inside. Specifically, one pod contains one Intel Motherboard with four SATA cards plugged into it. The nine SATA cables run from the cards to nine port multiplier backplanes that each have five hard drives plugged directly into them (45 hard drives in total).
Backblaze decided to build their own server because the price of off-the-shelf storage solutions was 10 times as much (or more) than the raw hard drives. Here’s a comparison chart of the price for one petabyte from various venders:
Build Your Own Server
Thursday, September 10th, 2009Why pay somebody to do it for you when you can build it yourself! Build Your Own Server web page gives you instructions how to build your own file server. This server is based on normal PC hardware runs using Ubuntu Linux operating system.
Augmented Reality in a Contact Lens
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009Researches are developing a new generation of contact lenses built with very small circuits and LEDs. They promises bionic eyesight in the future. Bionanotechnology researcher Babak A Parviz writes about his research toward producing a computer interface in a contact lens at IEEE Spectrum article Augmented Reality in a Contact Lens. The author states that, ‘All the basic technologies needed to build functional contact lenses are in place,’ and details what refinements and advances will be necessary to bring this technology to reality. The picture below is from the article.
See inside PC parts
Monday, August 31st, 2009You may know what the inside of a PC looks like, but what about the parts which make up your PC components? Your Hardware Exposed! 22 PC Parts Bare All article has pictures what is inside hard drives, keyboards, soundcards, and a plethora of other PC hardware. Just to see what makes them tick.
