My new computer

Hello folks!

It's been a bit more than 2 years since I have Serenity - an AMD Athlon machine. And it's time to grow further. So I've made my research, and I got planned a machine that will serve me for my modest needs for another 2-3 years.

As prices plummeted seriously lately, and since dollar is not what is used to be, I can get pretty decent machine for a buck. I don't play games, my main needs are VM running (even couple of machines at the same time), Photoshop/Gimp rendering (for pics like these). Here's my configuration of choice that I'm thinking to have:

CPU:  Intel  Q9300

Motherboard: I'd like to have an Abit IP35 Pro, but its availability seems limited in my locale. So I'd be happy for other suggestions.

Memory: Mushkin or Corsair, 4Gb, CL4

Graphics: any NVidia 256Mb PCIe will do.

HD: 7200rpm, 250Gb or any other that gives good price/size ratio.

DVD burner: we have LG's and NECs laying around here for ~$30, so its easy.

PSU: Zalman, Thermaltake or Antec. These are the decent ones we have in local market.

Case: something simple, but that can sustain my system

Please let me know what do you think about it, and I'd love an MB suggestion that plays nicely with Linux. My main intention is to run Xen or other VM, and run Linux and Window under it.

Another thing that some folks may not understand, is my attention to run it with Ubuntu. To tell you the truth, I'm still the Gentoo person, but it takes increasingly more and more time to just maintain my Gentoo-based Serenity, and its only updates. My rsync doesn't work, updates are slow and I got many errors while updating a lot, which requires an attention as it renders system unusable.

I understand that those may be very easy to fix, but as I've said - I don't have time to deal with it as I had before, so I'm going to try my luck with customized Ubuntu for a while. Besides, I like learning new things, with Gentoo I feel like I don't know what's up there. And I've always wanted to learn Ubuntu.

Gentoo star seems to have eclipsed lately, I think I might get to fixing it when I have time later on...

Cheers.

Most Hated Company

I just read a post by Mike Elgan, in which he argues that Asus is the most hated company in the computer business right now. And all this just because they made it first to market very cheap laptop with Linux on it (that being Asus eee701 PC).

So here's the breakdown of reasons why it is most hated (mmm, right ):

1. Apple, Dell and HP hate Asus.
That's because they've out a subnotebook earlier than an expected (and, in my opinion, while really possible, still highly speculative) Apple subnotebook, which supposedly will be announced on MacWorld in a week, and will probably cost much more than $400.

2. Microsoft hates Asus.
That's because there's no version of Microsoft Windows is installed in Asus laptop. It's a Xandros Linux (with some Asus' tweaks). And its light and great!

3. Intel is very happy with Asus
Because Asus used their chips in the laptop.

But somehow, I think that industry is just fine with Asus on all this. There are few reasons for that:

1. Asus (or, Asustek) is the manufacturer of many of the laptops in the world. So, vendors are still in good relations with Asus.
2. Cheap subnotebooks market is just emerging, so there's plenty room there still.
3. OLPC was actually earlier to get to that market. Wasn't it?
4. There are many Asus-made products that work on Dells and HPs, and operated with Microsoft.

I don't see any special reason to mad at vendor for selling 200000 machines.

Is OLPC team crossing the lines?

And if they would've, what would those lines be?

Hello dear reader. I've just been reading an article on News.com, which explains in some detail the exit of Intel from an OLPC alliance. It happened after some few years of disagreements and heat between the teams; and after they seemingly made up and OLPC started developing an Intel-based model (which I would love to see). What's going on then? Why road is not all that slick and easy for the project, which took the pledge to help all the poor kids in the world (sort of)?

It seems that while everyone agrees with the goal, many disagree on the way that goal is to be achieved. Here comes the question I asked at the beginning:

The OLPC project is made to help educating children, and they are doing so by letting children laptop computers. Choosing to use the technology to solve some of the hardest problems existing right now, is great act. But the world of technology is very well advanced in developing world. So, would it be fare to ask other technology vendors not to try and develop similar solutions? Especially ones they can profit from? Would it be fare to ask them not to compete? And to specifically target the problem on hand: had the OLPC from the beginning had using Intel's processors, would Intel start "Classmate PC" program? And would AMD then develop their own?

I believe, that a chip vendor other than a would-be chosen one for the project would try to stick his nose into the project, or try to invent some other way to compete. It's just the way that capitalism works. Searching for a new market is nothing new. And that's exactly what Intel did.

So, if OLPC team cannot demand that Intel would stop all their "competing with OLPC" programs, then by doing so they are crossing the line. I'm just starting to believe that there's too much emotion is getting into the issues here, and while by itself is a good thing, emotions in this case do not serve the purpose. More and more lately I feel that OLPC is slowly turning into completely commercial project, while at the beginning the idea was to draw attention and to show what can be done with technology.

Now, don't get me wrong. I really like an OLPC. I do think that a project like this should exist. I truly believe that the technology that was developed is the best one in the market today, and it beats the hell out of Intel's Classmate PC. But I'm beginning to see sorts of weird elitistic behavior in some of the issues with the team. It's the "we're the volunteering for the poor, how can you compete with us? shame on you!!!" attitude that I think is wrong.

Making the technology that advances the whole world and provides means to poor kids to get education is good. Trying to shame everyone else and press them to do what you want (and especially by insinuating they against poor kids) is not.

Just do what you know: the great technology. The great community. The great people. Education

Don't cross the lines. In capitalism world, it can backfire right back at you.

AMD quad-core "Barcelona" processors reviewed

AMD's native quad-core Barcelona processors are finally upon us, and The Tech Report has a comprehensive review pitting the new chips against their Core 2-based Xeon competitors. Performance and power consumption are quantified in a variety of tests, providing a first look at how upcoming Phenom desktop chips will line up against Intel's Core 2.

Finally we're getting somewhere. Although, it seems like AMD a little late for now...

-A

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Half the electricity in a PC is wasted according to Intel, Google

Roughly 50 percent of the power delivered from a wall socket to a PC never actually performs any work, according to Urs Hölzle, Google fellow and senior vice president of operations. Half the energy gets converted to heat or is dissipated in the AC-to-DC conversion. Around 30 percent of the power delivered to the average server is also lost.

That's why I like small efficient devices. Give me device which consumes 2W of energy total, and which is able to connect to network and do all sorts of cool stuff. Much more efficient than a full blown computer!

-A.

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