Tannishblog

I just may become a turncoat. For the past seven days, I've been wrestling with a mysterious Windows XP slowdown. I've read about it, but never paid much attention. My latent teenager is in play whenever I get near technology, and when reading the horror stories, the teenager said, "That won't happen to me."

It did. And a gamut of diagnostics ensued:

1. Update virus definitions and run Symantec: nothing.
2. Update and run Spy-bot Search and Destroy: nothing.
3. Research the problem online and discover a free malware utility (a-Squared) download, install and run: nothing.
4. Defrag hard drive, even though windows said I didn't need to: no improvement.
5. Update drivers for mother board, video card: no effect.
6. Research some more and discover a PC fixing utility, Error Doctor, download the free scanning utility and run (incredibly slow, points our a couple hundred errors, then does nothing about them - until you pay for the fixing part of the program for $30.) Too gimmicky, but it did clue me in on the possibility that DirectX was at fault.
7. Opened IE (which I hate), ran Windows Update which located a need for .NET framework update, clicked proceed, then went to the local CompUSA seeking inspiration, got my haricut, came back and the screen hadn't changed one iota. Frozen PC-cicle. (You know there's a problem with the software when even the new machines still have a reset button front-and-center.)
8. While at computer store, I take a chance on a PC repair utility suite, System Tech XP ( not too expensive) and, after rebooting the frozen machine, installed it and ran the registry clean-up tool. CRASH! half way through the registry scan, I'm greeted with the MS friendly crash-report message (as if that ever does anything constructive) offering to sent Microsoft information on the crashing of a third party program. (I imagine is goes into a vast electronic round-file or inter-dimensional vortex of some kind - same thing.)
9. during the hassle of registering new, worthless software with vendor to facilitate a fix or an RMA, I remember the DirectX clue. So, I again visit Microsoft Update, and reinstall the latest version. The machine seems fine, now.

Can computers laugh? If only it knows how far I've come in saving for new components. Sure; play your games now, buddy. Your days are numbered. As soon as Vista comes out I'm gutting you, ripping out your innards, and upgrading like mad, you…you Frankenstein!

Wait a minute! Do I really want to waste more money on the Microsoft Hegemony? My older, mellower machine runs Ubuntu like silk. And Most geeks know - even if they're in denial - that Apple makes a better Operating System. The upcoming Windows Vista is only playing catch-up with OSX, anyway. From all I've read, it will be just a cosmetic upgrade. Nothing new to prevent crashes, spyware, virii, trojans, worms - all the nastiness of a Windows machine will still prevail Should I even bother?

Damn, it sounds like I'm contemplating treason!.

… I hit that nail square on!

As I surmised in a Geek Alert last month, in response to learning about the merger between AMD, the best CPU chip maker on the planet (am I gushing?) and ATI, the largest maker of Graphics silicon, engineers will start working on a new unified chipset promising to host a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) on the same wafer of silicon.

This is great news for consumers, as it may eliminate the daunting extra cost of a graphics card, the fastest of which can cost over $500. Its also good for enthusiasts like me (can’t you tell?) because upgrade paths are simplified.

From an industry standpoint this move, if successful, will redraw the map. It should be interesting.

I’ve been getting into online comix lately. (I spelled that intentionally.) While most showcase artists and/or writers with much talent to share, they are just a lineal extension of the old paperback comic books and , as such, nothing new. That doesn’t deter their entertainment value, not does it demean the art form. But the Internet is used only as a new form of distribution. The paper version of the art, from Superman to Snoopy, has run its gamut whether it is online or not.

Sometime there are visionaries able to merge an existing art form via technological advances. One such site, Electric Sheep, does just that. The creators have taken the linear story board and married it with wen design tenets to great effect. to morph the art in order to fulfill the possibilities of digital media. In a real sense the results are a New Media, as communication of a story line is enhanced through a fresh vision. Check out the online comic the Spiders, as my favorite example of a powerful story enhanced by the medium, instead of being distracted by it. Check it out.

As fatigued as I am tonight, my inner geek leapt from his habitual slouch at this news: AMD acquires ATI. That’s right. The World Best CPU maker has merged with the Worlds Largest GPU maker, a move that will surely shake things up in the tech sector. While the story is two days old (centuries in Internet time,) I find out about it tonight through Digg, via a hardcore hardware site I visit infrequently, [H]ard OCP.

There’s bound to be virtual reams of speculation about this unprecedented move, so here’s my first guess. As AMD and Intel continue their slug-fest over processor technologies, the biggest buzz words this past year is "dual-core", of two processor cores on one socket. Effectively this provides a properly equipped computer access to two CPU’s which could run in parallel or in tandem, depending on the needs of the current software application. That said, both chip makers are looking into their scrying devices and seeing possibilities for quad-core processors.

Now imagine if a dual- or quad- chip had its own graphics unit, aka a GPU, built right in. This would be wonderful for laptops, as circuitry real estate and power usage are factors in the design. Such a strategy would decrease latency for data traveling through the graphic subsystem to you monitor, as it would run throught the microscopic pipelines within chip itself and never need to travel along the (comparatively) interminable traces of a motherboard and video card, resulting in faster, smoother pixel pyrotechnics in games and video.

Nvidia, the competitor to ATI and my favorite GPU brand, must be convulsing this week. A quick check at Morningstar showed no change for today, but investors probably can’t yet fathom the merger’s effects yet. Stay tuned.

The NY Times has a too-short blurb (see: Go Speed Racer!) on a Silicon Valley start-up named Tesla Motors, which is producing the first ever all-electric sports car. Great Name!

According to the web site, the Tesla Roadster can do 0 to 60 in four seconds and run 250 miles per charge. Yes, its expensive, as is all new technologies. The company is marketing it as a must-have status symbol With it’s looks, it will be. After all, what’s a mere 75,000 to the average pro quarterback or to a multi-platinum rapper? Chump change.

All new technologies must become commercially viable before they’re adapted by the public, first as a niche then going mainstream as competition and other market forces demand affordability. The rapid advances in computer tech is a great example of this paradigm. I’m waiting eagerly for space travel to follow the same pattern. This little guy is a good start, though.

This is one hot-looking car! A geek’s dream. I might have a tough time choosing between Racing Green or Thunder Gray Metallic finishes (Electric Blue is cool, too.) Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?

As I read this article in the Washington Post, the shadow of a voice echoes in my head. The rumblings about the NY Times' disclosure of yet another secret program of Cheney-esque subterfuge of sifting through banking records, and the reaction to the story by the Conservatives, reminds me of a snippet of wisdom gleaned through a favorite form of entertainment. The voice says:

Now we can start counting the deaths in the War on Immigrants… ONE… Remember the War on Drugs? That one is still going on, I think. Meawhile designer drugs have emerged, the CIA has bee accused of drug trafficking, and still there are drug gangs, and the rest of the symptoms in the inner cities. That war is not going well.

And then there’s the War on Terror. “Nuff said.

Iran seems to be political suicide in these days of declining poll numbers and nervous incumbents, so let’s start a NEW war! (Strains of Randy Newman drift through my mind: “Let’s drop the big one and see what happens…”)

…..

As the flood waters recede in Blue Country, I haven’t heard a peep from the MSM about a federal declaration of emergency relief.. Maybe I missed something. Or maybe the blue-staters don’t want FEMA’s help.

…..

Jimmy Hoffa is making a comeback – and it’s not even Halloween yet. I ask you: does anyone really care? Maybe the President can nominate him for some committee…

…..

Dell computer bought out tres chic computer boutique venor Alienware a while back, which gives it an end run around its Faustian deal with Intel to not sell AMD Processors. Most PC hardware nuts like myself have preferred AMD for years in their boxes, and the gaming aficionados whom Alienware built its business around helped propel the chip makers market share into the mainstream, thus catching the eyes of Dell.

Just as HP can sell AMD in its Compaq line of computers without outwardly flaunting its own deal with Intel, so is Dell making the same moves. Today, Dell announces plans for using the underdog processors (which are arguable a better value) in their server line.

Okay. So I’m a chiphead. My motto? Achieve Total Geekosity! AMD is the best; I won’t build with anything else. Go Dell!

I was just sitting here minding my own business, doing my nightly blogging run, when all of a sudden my computer locked up (gasp!). I had a Washington Post article about our administration’s group hallucinations loading, choice fodder for tannishblog, when the cursor froze. Upon pressing the reset button, I watch carefully as my computer goes through its post routine:

DETECTING IDE DRIVES…

That’s where it stopped. Two minutes passed as I stared at the screen hoping against hope that the lines upon it would start moving again. No such luck. Reset again; same results.

At this time I start cataloging in my head all the photos, music, and documents I’ve collected on this machine. Before you ask – no, I don’t have a backup set. This computer doesn’t have a RAID array, either. With a resigned sigh, I unplug the beast; take it to my workstation in the basement, and start tearing it down. As an enthusiast, I have inherited many of my friends’ old machines, of which I still have many loose pieces. I plug in an old 6.5GB drive and fire the sucker up. It boots fine. For good measure, I try another older and smaller drive: This one still has WIN95 on it, which boots quick and easy.

After spraying all the cat hair and dust bunnies out of it with compressed air (I know…), I take a chance and hook up the original drive. At this point, I’m already resigned to shelling out a hundred or so in a new drive and mourning the loss of precious data. I envision myself cramming until midnight to load software and tweak the machine until it purrs.

Then the stupid thing boots like it’s supposed to. If it had a face, it would be smirking at me.

Now I begin my overdue archiving project. How should I do this: burn a bunch of CDs and try to keep them organized, or take one of the old hard drives, hook it up to the second IDE port and copy the file onto it? The first is safer and much slower than the second option. I think I’ll do both for extra safety. And start shopping for a new, larger disk – just in case.