Tech Review Hardware: Monday, April 16, 2012

https://friendly.ubuntu.com/?laptops=on&stars=3&release=4&popularity=any&term=

• I had a hard time finding this link.
• list systems and their ratings.

ThinkPad Edge E520 (1143AFU) Notebook Intel Core i5 2430M(2.40GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD±R/RW Intel HD Graphics 3000

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246283

• $655
• Doesn't have an USB 3 port

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/support-drivers.html?pageDisplay=support

http://www.buy.com/prod/western-digital-my-book-essential-2tb-usb-3-0-external-hard-drive-black/217278962.html?listingid=145700430

Tech Review Computers: Monday, February 13, 2012

HP Pavilion dm4-2180us Notebook PC - Intel Core i5-2430M 2.4GHz, 6GB DDR3, 640GB HDD, DVDRW, 14" Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1882712&sku=H25-140100

• $650 with a $50 rebate
• Look like the kind of machine I would like to get.
• Intel Core i5-2430M 2.4 GHz
• 6GB memory
• 14" screen
• How many cores?
• http://ark.intel.com/products/53450/Intel-Core-i5-2430M-Processor-(3M-Cache-2_40-GHz)
• 2 cores with 4 threads
• Max memory is 8.
• Windows 7 Home Premium (sic.) 64-bit
• Only USB 2
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• Intel HD Graphics 3000
• looks nice
• 4.41 lbs
• WiDi Widget
• Set screen to HD TV through WiFi
• 
  

Tech Review Computers: Tuesday, February 7, 2012

HP ProBook 4530S LJ532UT Notebook PC - Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.0GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, Blu-Ray Player, 1GB AMD Radeon HD 6490M, 15.6" Display, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, Silver

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1421200&sku=H24-15246&SRCCODE=WEM2996BY&cm_mmc=email-_-Main-_-WEM2996-_-tigeremail2996&utm_source=EML&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=WEM2996

• $700
• 15.6"
• 2.0GHz i7 Quad Core (turbo 2.9GHz)
• 4GB (8GB Max)
• 500 GB
• Win7 Pro
• AMD Radeon HD 6490M
• Gigabit Ethernet
• {Nice looking machine}

HP Pavilion dv6-6183nr Refurbished Notebook AMD Phenom II Quad-Core P960(1.8GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory 640GB HDD BD Combo

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834158200

• $570
• 15.6"
• AMD Quad-Core (1.8GHz)
• 8 GB memory
• 640 GB

Acer Aspire AS7551-7422 Refurbished Notebook AMD Phenom II Quad-Core N970(2.2GHz) 17.3" Wide SXGA 4GB Memory DDR3 1066 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Radeon HD 4250

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215285

• $360
• 17.3"
• AMD Quad-core (2.2GHz)
• 4 GB Memoy (8GB Max)
• 500 GB
• ATI Radeon HD 4250
• 100Mbps Ethernet

XFS:  the filesystem of the future?

http://lwn.net/Articles/476263/

• Faster at 8 threads
• actively making improvements

Understanding the /bin, /sbin, /usr/bin, /usr/sbin Split

http://www.osnews.com/story/25556/Understanding_the_bin_sbin_usr_bin_usr_sbin_Split

• really the history behind them

Intel Haswell Graphics Driver To Be Opened Up Soon

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTA1MzU

• Ivy Bridge
• launch in 1 week
• twice as fast as Ivy Bridge
• Haswell 
• launch in a year? (2013)
• should be in Linux 3.4
• Mesa 8.1 DRI driver
• Direct3D 11.1
• OpenGL 3.2
• fast - comparable to a mid-to-highend discrete GPU
• AMD Redeon HD 7000 still doesn't have a Linux driver

"We have a saying: Move fast and break things. The idea is that if you never break anything, you're probably not moving fast enough."

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook in his company's S1 IPO filing

Utah schools start adopting open source textbooks

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_bi_ge/us_open_source_textbooks_utah

• Salt Lake City
• $5 per book instead of $80 per book

Microsoft removes start button in Windows 8

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57371830-75/microsoft-removes-start-button-in-windows-8/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

• replace by hot spot in corner that will pop between Metro UI and desktop

Component Object Model (COM)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_Object_Model

• A binary-interface standard for software componentry 
• Introduced by Microsoft in 1993
• enable inter-process communication
• Used as an umbrella term for OLE, OLE Automation, ActiveX, COM+ and DCOM technologies

Cyber - a prefix used to describe a person, thing, or idea as part of the computer and information age

http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci211875,00.html

Taken from kybernetes, Greek for steersman or governor.

Kepler - an API for analyzing and modeling scientific data

https://kepler-project.org/users/faq

Supported by iRODS.

$120 Fanton 2TB External Drive

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=5384379&sku=M261-8234&SRCCODE=WEM2436BY&cm_mmc=email-_-Main-_-WEM2436-_-tigeremail

$540 11.4 Inch Lenovo

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5586720&CatId=4013

Comes with Windows 7 Pro 32 bit.

Memory is 2GB but can be expanded to 4GB.

$35 - 500 GB External Storage

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136412&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL091610&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL091610-_-EMC-091610-Index-_-ExternalHardDrives-_-22136412-L011B

IOPS (Input/Output Operation Per Second)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOPS

A common benchmark for drives and other computer storage devices.  Can be measured with Iometer (Intel), IOzone and FIO.

Common performance characteristics:

• Total IOPS
• Random Read IOPS
• Random Write IOPS
• Sequential Read IOPS
• Sequential Write IOPS

Cheap BlueTooth Headset with Noise Cancellation

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16875995108&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL083110&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL083110-_-EMC-083110-Index-_-BluetoothCellPhoneAccessories-_-75995108-L018A

I can get it for $32 with this promo code:  EMCYWPZ82

I need something that I can use in the car and Dolores can hear me.

Smartpen

The current version of these things captures pen and audio data at the same time.

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/31717/review/pulse_smartpen.html

This guy has some nice reviews; however, he doesn't date the review, so it is hard to know how really up-to-date the review is.

http://www.smartpenreviews.com/

The seem to range from $50 to $300+ in price.

The Computer Chair of My Dreams

It is at Staples.  Normally sells for $280.  Is on sale for $170.  This is the first reasonable priced mesh chair I have found.

Jabra Extreme Blutooth Headset $50

On sale at stable from Aug 29 to Sep 4.

There is a $5 coupon for a $50 purchase.

1 TB Fantom Greendrive at $60

http://www.buy.com/prod/fantom-greendrive-1tb-usb-2-0-and-esata-external-hard-drive-2-year/q/loc/101/208503758.html

This is probably what I need to get.  Not a much TB per buck as the 2 TB, but than I probably don't need the entire 2 TB.

The HP 11.1" Ulta-Portable

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Special+offers&v1=Top+deals&a2=Category&v2=Mini&series_name=dm1z_series&a1=Special+offers&v1=Top+deals&a2=Category&v2=Mini

Nice little computer.  Cost about $450 from HP with 3 GB of memory.  Memory can be expanded to 5.  I believe I could to Android application builds on this system.