Roll Your Own SSD
Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
Tired of solid state drives that cost way too much, but you still want the advantages of having one? The linked article tells how to make an SSD of your own for much less.
Archive for April, 2008
Yankees Dig Up “Cursed” Shirt
Monday, April 14th, 2008
I thought this was a joke when I first saw the headline, but I guess it’s for real. The New York Yankees are building a new stadium, and in an effort to curse the team, a construction worker dropped a Red Sox jersey into the concrete while they were pouring. The Yankees found out about it, were able to get an approximate location, and dug up the concrete with jackhammers until they found the shirt—which they promptly removed. Apparently they were quite upset.
Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/…
(via digg)
“Disrepair” is a Serious Understatement
Sunday, April 13th, 2008
The linked video is a walk up the El Caminito del Rey in Spain. Insane, absolutely insane. I’m wondering why they don’t tear this thing down completely.
Adobe Flash Player Update
Saturday, April 12th, 2008
Adobe has posted a fairly important update to its Flash player. You can download it from this link. (I’m not totally sure about this, but it appears that Firefox users on Microsoft Windows may need to install it twice: once under Firefox and once under Internet Explorer.)
…and the World is Consumed By Self-replicating Machines
Thursday, April 10th, 2008
Chad’s News has previously discussed 3D “printers,” but a team of engineers is designing one that will be inexpensive, open-source, and capable of replicating itself. This makes me wonder how long it will be until we have functioning Von Neumann machines
Link: http://computerworld.co.nz/…
(via Slashdot)
No, I Really DON’T Want To Install Safari
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Recently, Apple quietly added the Safari browser to its automatic update program. If you simply un-check it, the update reminder will come back until you’ve installed it (or gone crazy). Here’s how to get rid of it permanently.
When you see the Apple update screen, un-select everything except Safari. Then go into the “Tools” menu and select “Ignore Selected Updates”. (Note that it’s easy to get this backwards and select everything but Safari, which will not work—you need to select only Safari.)
Link: http://cybernetnews.com/…
(via Lifehacker)
“pizza.com” Goes For $2.6 Million
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
Back in the early days of the web, this man bought the pizza.com domain on a bit of a lark. He recently sold it for $2.6 million, and says he wishes he’d had the foresight to buy more domains when they were still available.
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/…
The Problem With JavaScript
Sunday, April 6th, 2008The linked article gives a good explanation of how JavaScript negatively affects one’s web browsing experience. I know that for me, heavily scripted sites such as digg.com significantly slow down my computer. Not only do they prevent the browser from multitasking effectively, but they peg my CPU at 100%. (Note: the WebKit product discussed in the article is part of Apple’s Safari browser.)
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Police Sniper Defuses the Situation
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
A precise and difficult sniper shot, caught on video.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/…
(via digg)
Get Rid Of That Annoying “Web Service” Prompt
Friday, April 4th, 2008
If you’ve ever double-clicked on an unknown file type in Windows, then you’re probably familiar with this dialog box. Here’s how to get rid of it and go straight to the program selection list.
Link: http://lifehacker.com/…
The Pitfalls of Buying an OEM Version of Windows
Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
I recently purchased an OEM version of Windows XP at my favorite computer store, Micro Center. Buying the OEM version saved me quite a bit of money, but there are some downsides. The linked article discusses them, including what I consider to be the primary issue—that OEM software is tied to one motherboard. (Note that the article is over a year old, but the points are still valid.)
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
Breakdown of the Money Paid For a Music CD
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
This article is several years old, but it has a breakdown of where the money paid for a $15.99 music CD goes (at the very end of the article). The actual manufacturing cost is less than a dollar.
Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/…
(via Slashdot)
