PC modding (modifications) was a new emerging trend. The boring industrial grey towers, monitors, keyboards, and mice bored us geeks. We dressed them up with see through enclosures, LED lights, graphics, and even water cooling systems. Some newer computer systems come bundled with these so called ‘mods’ which no longer makes them mods.
The Mini-ITX computer is screaming to be modded. The small form factor, and fanless CPU makes this system easy to fit into different, unconventional locations. I came across a website that really tickled my Mini-ITX fancy. I can’t tell which installation is my favorite. Check out the site, my dream is to make it on here one day. All I need is a mini-itx, an idea, time and energy, funding, heck… everything.
Category Archives: General
Long(awaited)horn Tested Out
Microsoft has been in the works on it’s new operating system for some time. PC Magazine got a hold of the latest Longhorn build, in order to let us PC users know what lies ahead. Longhorn will be a 64bit system, have the Avalon graphics engine, and Indigo, which end users won’t see or feel. There were plans for a spotlight type indexed search function deemed WinFS, but that’s been postponed due to deadlines not meeting.
Microsoft has taken advantage of file attributes in the NTFS file system already available in Windows XP to make Explorer better at ferreting out documents according to author, camera model (for photographs), or genre or album title (for music files). The operating system lets you create virtual lists based on these attributes so that, for example, you can see every photo on your system or all Microsoft Word files, regardless of where they are stored and without having to explicitly search for them.
Kensington’s Universal Laptop Power Supply:
Introduction
For many of us our notebook is our main computer, or even our only computer. We explored this a few months back. Notebook sales have exceeded desktop sales for the last year or so, and the trend is likely to continue. The main attraction of a notebook is portability in a reasonably sized form factor (although those 10 pound behemoths stretch the definition of “portable”). With the need (real or perceived) to be connected all the time to our email accounts, blogs, and the entire World Wide Web, it’s no wonder that we can’t seem to leave our notebooks at home anymore. Heck, even hotels on the beach in Hawaii offer WiFi access!
For the advanced notebook user on the go, more than just the notebook always travels. A bag stuffed full of accessories also comes along (incidentally, ever notice that the smaller the notebook, the more accessories the guy or gal seems to have with them? It makes me wonder if they should just buy the larger, better featured notebook to begin with). The other essential component, for anything further than the backyard, is the power supply and its cords. Sure, we’ve been promised an eight hour battery life with a miserly processor that sips electrons one at a time. The reality is that the computers we tote along have only a two to three hour battery life, with everything brand new. Using the wireless capability diminishes the untethered time even faster. To finish watching that DVD of “The Aviator” (2 hours and 50 minutes without the special features), you better not forget the power supply and cord. Continue reading
WiFi To-Go
I have done many crazy things looking for WiFi spots. I’ve slowly walked through the streets, computer in hand, despratly seeking a neighbor who didn’t lock me out. No longer I say!
Popular Science wrote an excellent “How To” article on producing your own portable WiFi spot out of a backpack. Follow the simple instructions (with McGuyver music playing in thebackground) and you got yourself a solar powered backpack that will get you connected to the net. A true hackers dream.
It is a do-it-yourself endeavor, but it aint exactly cheap. Expect to spend a little over $1,000, or what I like to call a “G.”
Supermarkets Live Up To Their Name
I heard that subliminal messages were piped in under those elevator jams that they got going in grocery and department stores. Whether or not that’s true, I don’t know. I do know that stores of all kind are moving towards technology to help market their products.
The club cards that track our purchases and cater coupons to our needs are just the iceberg’s tip. RFID transmitters that track item movements, (like picking up the leading brand of shampoo and then putting it back in order to opt for generic 2-in-1) and video cameras track shopper’s movements. Temperatures are adjusted, demographically aimed music is streamed via internet, and sensors alert bank managers when too many people pile up in a single line. Some people may feel that the stores are tricking them into buying more, or are invading privacy of shoppers. I say bring on the tech savvy stores, the tech-ier the better!
Wardriving
Almost everyone I know has a WiFi network in their house. For under $100.00 you can turn your wired mess into a personal internet hotspot. Most people plug in their newly purchased routers, turn on the computer, and start surfing the web. An unencrypted network is not an uncommon occurrence. What most people don’t know about is “wardriving” (driving around looking for unencrypted WiFi networks).
Illegal activity can be conducted on your open network unless you take a few precautions. Some people ask me, “is it illegal to steal WiFi if your neighbor doesn’t have a password on their network?” I answer that I don’t know. But one guy got charged a 3rd degree felon for doing so.
I Take That Text Back
I love text messaging. When my friends tell me how to get somewhere, I tell them to text it to me. Need a phone number? Text it to me. Talking on the phone not only requires 70% of my attention, but it also eliminates my memory from distorting the vital information I retrieve via voice calls. “Was that address 1904 or 1409?”
Text messaging brings evils along with good. I’ve sent personal messages [hey cute stuff? Doing anything tonight?] to Christine my 50ish year old co-worker instead of Christine the cute freshman who I met at summer orientation. Or after a few drinks at the bar I may send a message to that girl who broke my heart last month. You all know how embarrassing that phone call is the next day “Do you know what you texted me last night?”
Samsung has fixed it, or wants to in the near future. Retract your SMS text messages with Samsung’s new patented idea. You’d have to act rather quickly, if the message is already read, then it’s just too late.
Executive Phones
Mobiado does not make phones for cretins like you or I. No, they make only the finest of dialing devices for those who sip on champagne and at night have caviar dreams. The phone you see below combines a hardwood cover with stainless steel buttons to create the Grey Poupon of cell phones.
Despite being made of wood the technology is up-to-date. It isn’t anything amazing, but I guess it’s a little bit more classy than the phones with the flashing blue raver lights.
Met Her At The Coffee Shop
Ever sit in a WiFi café and wonder what that cutie over in the corner is working on? WiFi access points are becoming more and more abundant, which allows more of us to get out of the house and on to the net. “Computers are fabulous at connecting people over a long distance, but they can become a wall between people who are sitting right next to each other.” This quote is oh so true, I’ve been caught a few times doing just that.
Computers are sight, sound, and touch, so unless I’m smelling or tasting the person next to me they pretty much don’t exist. Well there’s a beginning to the end of this as far as Sean Savage is concerned. Bringing people together by the very means that pushes them apart, is his mission. You login and create a friendster-type account with the café’s system, then proceed to asking cute girls for their phone numbers. Great idea, if you ask me.
Bad Boss Guidelines
I have had a ton of jobs, from drive thru, to car wash, and even library security. With each paycheck came a boss. Sometimes I had a bad boss, and sometimes I had a good boss. I came across an interesting article written by Edward Prewitt today, regarding bosses. Prewitt noted something about techies that I found not only very true, but also quite comedic.
They [techies] thrive on challenges, get absorbed in what they are doing and aren’t primarily motivated by money. It follows that to keep these staffers happy, CIOs need only keep the challenges coming and (this is critical) avoid micromanagement. “If you know how to work with techies, they are the easiest kind of employees to motivate,” Jeff Chasney, CIO and executive VP of CKE Restaurants, said in an earlier CIO magazine story. “They don’t need cushy perks, personal recognition or bonuses; they thrive on creatively solving problems.”
IM at Work
I have been an avid IMer (instant messenging addict) since I was big enough to reach the keys on the keyboard. Thing with that is, I’m not the only one. There are tons of people who rely on IM’s to get them through the day.
“Try as you might, though, you can’t ignore IM. Approximately 85 percent of U.S. and Canadian companies are using it, with 88 percent of those using IM on public networks, according to a 2004 survey by The Radicati Group.”
Heck, I’m at work and I’m logged in to AIM (Aol Instant Messenger) with my mobile phone as well as the PC I’m using. Chalk me up in that 85% of people using IM at work. There’s more information on private vs public chat clients here. Interesting how internet chat was once thought of as teens and creepy old single men with rickety vans.
Breaking Down the Great Firewall
China has about 1 Billion people, well it did last time I checked. 10 percent of them have joined the digital revolution [read: go on the internet]. That’s 100 million users, no small pickin’s. These virtual surfers are restricted however. There’s now not only 1 great wall in China, but two. The traditional brick and mortar wall that lines the north boundary, and the ‘Great Firewall’ that keeps porn and politics out of the available content. My friend (who lives in Hong Kong -which isn’t firewalled) tells me about friends of hers who blog with words like tib#t instead of tibet. Who’d ever think that blogs would be illegal?