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LangaList 2003-04-07 Please visit our sponsors and help keep the LangaList S.E. free!
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 1) Kiss Those Bottlenecks GoodbyeMany people don't know it, but today's PCs---
including the system you're using right now--- contain some ancient bottlenecks
that have hardly changed at all over the last 20 years. Yes, CPUs are faster,
hard drives are bigger and RAM banks are larger. But in many fundamental ways,
your PC isn't very different from the PCs of two decades ago. That change is about to happen: As the PC AT's 20th anniversary approaches, some vendors are already working on totally "legacy-free" designs that will finally do away with even such fundamentals as the BIOS--- the Basic Input/Output System that has booted every PC ever made since the original IBM PC design in 1981. (Yes, some legacy components go back even further than the AT.) BIOS, slots and system buses, ports, hard drives--- it's *all* about to change. Here's one of the smaller examples: The original AT hard drives used an electrical connector called the "AT Attachment." Sounds archaic, right? But it's not--- the "ATA" drive you probably have in your system *right now* gets its "ATA" name because it's using the same, basic 20-year old "AT Attachment" technology found in the original IBM AT! Those original drives had a theoretical maximum data
transfer rate of 4.2 Mbytes per second; today's top-of-the-line ATA-133 drives
have a theoretical maximum data transfer rate of 133 Mbytes/sec. But the
next step in hard drive bus evolution--- and a break from the classic ATA
legacy--- is simpler and much faster. It's a spec that should initially deliver
a theoretical maximum of around 150Mbytes/sec, and ramp to 600Mbytes/sec over
the next five years or so. In fact, there's so much activity in breaking from the strictures of past design that InformationWeek asked me to write a full-length special report (not just a standard column) detailing everything that's in flux in PC architecture. Some of this stuff is amazing, pointing the way to radical PC designs that will not only be faster, smaller, and better than today's designs, but that will make even the fastest of today's PCs seem positively antiquated, like a Model A car. It's literally a sneak-peek at the near-term future
of computers, and it's scheduled to be
online--- for free--- starting Sunday night (April 6) at
http://informationweek.com/story/IWK20030404S0003 or an alias of the same
url, However, as this is not one of my normal InformationWeek columns (it's a full-blown special feature!) there may be a short delay in posting the article. If the above links do not work, please check here ( http://www.langa.com/informationweek_article.htm )--- I will update this page with the correct URL as soon as it is available! Click on over and check it out! Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 2) Bad Pixels
That's right, Tony. Few vendors promise that desktop or laptop LCD panels will be perfect: Some pixels on a brand-new LCD screen may be permanently off (showing as black spots); or stuck on one color (all red, or blue, or green); or stuck at one brightness (brighter or dimmer than the surrounding pixels.) Many vendors use a simple count to determine whether a screen may be returned for replacement. If your screen has fewer than, say, 10 dead or malfunctioning pixels, they may refuse to replace the unit. Mathematically, that may seem OK: After all, on a screen with millions of pixels, a few bad ones is only a tiny percentage. But just as another tiny defect--- a pebble in your shoe--- can ruin a walk in a park, even one or two dead pixels in the wrong part of your screen can ruin your computing experience. And it's not a matter of being oversensitive: A bad pixel may masquerade as a period, comma, or other punctuation mark, for example, causing reading or editing problems; or similarly may affect image editing or viewing. So, Tony's point is a good one: See what the return/refund policy is on any LCD or laptop you buy to ensure that you can at least exchange the unit if it has dead or malfunctioning pixels. Click to email this item to a
friend 3) Linux/NTFS/FAT32 Booting...In "A Safer But Harder Way To Multi Boot" (items #4 and #5 in http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-03-13.htm#4), I wrote:
That prompted reader Dave Stockbridge to ask:
I'm using Drive Image 5, and it has no trouble restoring an NTFS image over a FAT32 partition, and vice versa. I can (and do) routinely restore, say, XP and Win2K over Win98 and WinME partitions, and back again. There's no problem in either direction. Linux doesn't play nice, though--- Linux diddles with the boot record in ways that DI5 can't handle properly. That's why I've moved Linux to another box. See next item: Click to email this item to a
friend 4) ...and More On LindowsI haven't yet found an easy-to-use imaging tool that correctly restores a Linux boot partition over a FAT or NTFS boot partition, so I test Linux by running it on one of those low-cost Lindows boxes that I wrote about here: http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20030206S0014. For example, there's this Lindows-based $230 complete PC ( http://tinyurl.com/8r47 or http://snurl.com/137o ). They even have a "barebones" system for do-it-yourselfers for as little as $60. There are other vendors selling similar Lindows-based boxes, too: See, for example, http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=lindows , or do your own search. Another (and less elaborate ) alternative is to use something like Trios and a second, dedicated hard drive http://www.romtecusa.com/ , or the "mobile racks" we've previously mentioned. ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-04-03.htm#2 ) Either way--- separate box or dedicated drive--- you can play with Linux in a controlled and quarantined way. BTW, Lindows (which comes with the cheap systems mentioned above) is the easiest way I've found to get into applications testing on Linux, bar none. You can be running half a dozen Linux-based apps and utilities within maybe 30 minutes of opening the box. What Lindows won't do is let you learn a lot about Linux itself. Just as people who only use Windows are in the dark about DOS, Lindows also insulates users from the guts of command-line Linux. Lindows makes it easy to *use* Linux, but not to *learn* Linux. Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 5) Hot-Hot-HotspotsThis newsletter is twice-weekly, but my free "Web HotSpots" page ( http://www.browsertune.com/flanga/hotspots.htm ) is updated fully 365 times a year---a new site every day, since 1995! (It's actually one of the longest-running "site of the day" services in existence!) As such, it's a great mechanism to bring you brand-new, just-available sites. Sometimes, great new sites will show up in HotSpots before I can mention them here in the newsletter. Other times, the HotSpots site proceeds normally in its mission to bring you "Every Day, The Best, Most Interesting, Most Useful, and Strangest Sites the Web Has To Offer!" For example, the Hotspots page recently offered these links:
Thousands of people have the HotSpots site set as their home page so they start each surfing session with something interesting, useful--- or just plain strange. 8-) Check out HotSpots; it's free! http://www.browsertune.com/flanga/hotspots.htm Click to email this item to a
friend 6) Want $10,000 To Spend This Season?The Recommend-It site gives away up to $10,000 as an incentive to use their service to recommend newsletters like this one! If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just
use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just
may find a new source of useful information; I just may gain a new subscriber;
and you just may win $10,000 or other prizes from the folks at "Recommend-It:" Or, win a no-strings $30 Gift Certificate for any item at Amazon.Com--- books, software, hardware, kitchenware, toys... and more. (Full details also available via this link): http://www.langa.com/recommend.htm Either way, thank you, and good luck! Click to email this item to a
friend 7) Assigning Drive Letters
Well, I can't help with your local government, but it's quite easy to assign and change drive letters in most versions of Windows:
Assign/Change Drive Letters In XP
Assign/Change Drive Letters In Win2K:
Assign/Change Drive Letters In Win9x/ME The "Lastdrive" Command: Click to email this item to a
friend 8) They Loaded The CodeDo you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://www.langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join the hundreds and hundreds of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://www.langa.com/link.txt ) Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal: View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date
Sites Starting At Portrait Styles Hanofer's Eclectica Computer Basics & Beyond AAAEO PacoTech Calypso (aircraft and more) Stress Dynamics Poets, Readers & Writers FireHawk Security Realm Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 9) MS Word "Exclude" Dictionary
Thanks, John. Indeed, that could be *very* handy! Related/Additional info: http://www.google.com/search?q=Word+%22Exclude+Dictionary%22 Click to email this item to a
friend 10) Just For GrinsIn recent issues, we've presented some of the goofy questions that US and Canadian National Park staffers have to deal with. Tourists aren't a lot brighter when they're down under, either, according to this item sent in by reader Dennis Gordge. The full list is too long for one issue, so here's Part One:
Click to email this item to a
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--------------( the above is an advertisement )-------------- 11) Plus! Edition Highlights:
DID YOU KNOW--- that Plus! subscribers have access to additional special features, extra content and links on a private web site? All that, plus 30% more content in every issue, for just a dollar a month. Full Plus! Edition info: http://www.langa.com/plus.htm Click to email this item to a
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