The New Machine

My new PC has finally arrived and has now been fully configured and is purring like a kitten. Well, actually, it really does. The new case, the Antec p180 (as seen above) is a sick case with an extra fan located ON TOP of the case blowing down. The main features include having the power supply and the hard drives in the base of the unit using the fan from the PS to cool the hard drives as well. They are both insulated from the rest of the chamber to keep heat away from the CPU and thus keeping the system quiet and cool.

While hardly the silent predator I was hoping for, the machine covers up for its low frequency growl by producing enormous computing horsepower with freezer cool efficiency. This case also uses an advanced plastic-alloy for the covers which serve to reduce rattle and internal noise by a huge amount. How huge? I can barely hear the cd spin when the door is closed but can clearly hear it when its open. That's big enough to make me look twice. The door is also capable of opening to 270 degrees which makes long usage of the drive space less prone to running into the door while its open.

The graphics card is a BFG GeForce 6600 GT which has amazed me with its flawless setup and excellent performance. The mother board is the nVidia based DFI Lanparty Ultra-D nForce 4 model. I have never had the pleasure of a more stable, solid and easy to use mobo. The drivers are a breeze to install and the board even comes with a pre-made floppy with the required SATA drivers. Are you listening ASUS?

Windows XP was up and running inside of an hour with most major apps and devices installed later in the day. I managed to port over my complete 200 gig HD from my previous system and even fooled my iPod into thinking it was sync'ing with the same system.

I can't say enough about nVidia right now. With their unified driver system updating to the latest version of their drivers is a snap. Just go to the website, download, uninstall the old one (2 clicks), then install the new ones (2 more clicks). Infinitely easier than ASUS and VIA which caused me so many headaches. Different versions of the same driver located everywhere and some of them were prone to fatal errors! I'm never going back now after experiencing the joy of nVidia.

**** DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT HAVE STOCK IN NVIDIA NOR HAVE BETS ON WHEN ATI WILL GO BANKRUPT ****

:-D

The Pre-Wave

You may have seen this technique done while driving around lately. Someone is pulling out from a gas station or shopping mall and you are slowing to a stop. The person leaving the area pulls just slight ahead of you and smiles (optional) and waves at you, thanking you in advance for letting him ahead. If the person sees this and is okay with it, all is good. Most of the time, not so good.

Today a taxi-van pulled out in front of such a driver and when honked at responded with a raised finger, most likely the middle, but I was too far away to confirm. The taxi then stops parallel to the car (in front of it) and waits for traffic to stop so he can make a left turn. The whole time, both drivers are swearing at each other and making rather rude faces.

To avoid this kind of misunderstanding, it would be wise to either retire this communication protocol or redefine the ACK cycle to allow for better transmission and fewer dropped packets... Wait, sorry, that's network speak.

I dunno why I'm posting this. I just thought it was funny to watch this taxi guy be a total ass. If you are a pre-waver... you suck. :-D

Did you break the law today?

Well, if Bill C-60 passes you probably did. According to an article in the Globe and Mail yesterday, the bill will amend the copyright act to make providing any copyrighted material via an information search tool illegal. This of course includes tools such as the ever popular Google search engine. Sigh.

If you want to break the internet, this would be a good way to do it. Of course, this will just result in people finding new ways (yet again) to find the goods they want. Trying to police the internet is like trying to fix a leaky roof with duct tape. Instead of using fear and lawsuits to keep users from downloading copyrighted material, why not make legally acquiring the material more beneficial and a better bargain? It's hard to compete with free, but if a site could offer me convenience and quality at a low cost I would be interested. Let's see some innovation to bring the buyers back to the table. Anyways, who has $18 for a CD these days anyways?

Speed of Apple Intel dev systems impress developers

AppleInsider | Speed of Apple Intel dev systems impress developers

To post an add on to my previous Apple article, this report details how many Mac users have actually been bragging on false pretenses. I have suffered many a tongue lashing from Mac-addicts who claimed that their systems not only out-performed Intel/AMD based systems but were just flat out "better." To them, I say suck it. Suck it hard.

Enjoy your new machines and their Intel-based speed improvements.

China and Russia Give Finger to US

In a not so surprising move, China and Russia have given a veiled threat to the United States which, roughly translated, states that the US should f*** off and die. When the only two other countries in the world that have been or are referred to as "super-powers" start doing joint military maneuvers it might be time to re-evaluate your foreign policy. What drove these unlikely partners together? Russia is kinda miffed with the US meddling with ex-Soviet states and getting involved in the Chechnian affair. China is similarly PO'ed with the States dealing with Taiwan as a sovereign nation (which it technically isn't by China's opinion.)

Of course, we know the Bush Administration doesn't give a rip about what other countries think of its actions. Bush made that clear during the Presidential Debates last year claiming that sometimes you have to do things that people think are unpopular to get the results you want. Well, if your actions cause Russia and China to become good buddies you may want to re-think your strategy.