My Top MJ Songs

Here is the list of my very favorite songs:

- They don't care about us

- Beat it

- Billie Jean

- Man in the Mirror

- Dirty Diana

+ Black or White, Thriller and others

Refined subwoofer songs

Let me be very clear. There are many "songs" you can play on your audio system and get tremendous bass but much less are actual songs you can listed to:

Here is a short list I have so far which are sure to make your woofer need more space and air :P

- Lil Wayne: A Milli

- Burial: Archangel (8-Bit Boy Remix)

- The Qemist: Stompbox (Spor Remix)

- La Roux: In for the kill (Skream's let's get ravey mix)

- Chase & Status: Eastern Jam

- Noisia: Stigma

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Unbelievable

This is huge. Some say calling it "revolutionary" is too much. Many say calling it "evolution" is too little. Yes it may very well be somewhere in between but it's importance is huge.

I am talking about Wolfram|Alpha. It is a web application entirely different. It may be a combination between Wikipedia and Google. But actually is much more than that.

For example you can search normal things like a city or a country and you get different pieces of information like population, capital, etc.
Or you can search different people, actors, former presidents etc and get some information about each of them.

But in the same "search box" you could even write something like "Bucharest to Amsterdam" and it would return the result in km as a straight line between two points, number of flight hours, difference in number of population and different in altitude.

Even more, in the same box you can write X^2 sin(x). It assumes you mean multiplication. It give you a 3D plot, roots, integrals, derivative or series representation.

Or, you can write one or more companies and make a comparison between them using stock information.

The possibilities are almost endless. Sure it still has flaws. When you search for... 'mp3' for example it doesn't know. Actually the music section is not yet completed. In contrast with the movie section.

You can also write different dates see what happened then. Or a keynote. God knows where this stops.

It's the first application I installed a toolbar for. I've put it even on iGoogle AND as a vista gadget (again a first). I'm truly impressed. I've heard a lot about it but it was not until I personally experimented with it when I got blown off.

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ps. can even search for "the fastest animal"

A little something about UAC

A simple scenario which shows why Vista's UAC is sometimes ineffective.

This happened on a laptop with Windows Vista Home Basic. No sp.

I was updating Windows and since there were quite a few things to download and install I started doing something else in the meantime. Accidentaly I believe I pressed the space button which ( I figured later on it activated the button to stop the updating ) presented me with a UAC question. Since then I had no idea what happened I wanted more info. But could not get anything except for a "{->long string here<-}". So, what was I supposed to answer since I did not understand the question?! Fortunately for me there were only two options I could consider. Either an update wanted permission, which was fine with me, either the update would stop which I didn't want but wasn't critical. Therefore I allowed. It stopped the update process and I had to resume everything afterwards.

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LE. I checked on my SP2 version and get the same long string.

Benchmarking Windows 7 with anti-virus software

How the testing was done: After each software was installed, one reboot, let them make their scans, reboot, waited again, another reboot and then started everything. All of them were installed with default settings therefore the number can be higher or lower depending on different tweaks.

Since most of the tests were about the same I pointed out only two of them which differentiate clearly what is means to have one of them on your computer.

So here we go:

1.1 Boot-up time1: 0 min 42 sec 17;
Boot-up time2: 0 min 39 sec 23;
Boot-up time3: 0 min 36 sec 70;
Boot-up average:

1.2 Resources and processes in idle mode: 35 processes 466mb ram ~22%



With Eset Nod32 version 4 (29.9 mb)

2.1 Boot-up time1: 0 min 46 sec 50;
Boot-up time2: 0 min 43 sec 73;
Boot-up time3: 0 min 44 sec 13;

2.2 Resources and processes after boot: 37 processes 521mb ram ~ 25%



With Kaspersky Antivirus 8.0 technical preview for Win 7 (53.2mb)


3.1 Boot-up time1: 0 min 48 sec 18 ;
Boot-up time2: 0 min 45 sec 75;
Boot-up time3: 0 min 44 sec 23;

3.2 Resources and processes in idle mode: 41 processes 575mb ram ~28%


With AVG Anti-Virus 8.5 for Win 7(71.1 mb):

4.1 Boot-up time1: 1 min 11 sec 33;
Boot-up time2: 1 min 01 sec 96;
Boot-up time3: 0 min 54 sec 90;

4.2 Resources and processes after boot: 42 processes 604mb ~ 29%


To sum up:






I must admit that the result for AVG are a bit strange and I will try to have a retesting.

From another point of view the first thing that can be noticed is how superfetch really works. For the rest... I leave it up to you.

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Strange thing in Vista

Well this is something I really cannot explain. It just happened.

So, I was working on my PC and a small programs wants to update. I let it and the system reboots. It logs on back to Windows and...surprise: Every icon was gone, the sidebar was back on with the calendar, notes and clock and the start menu was 'clean'. If I didn't knew better I would have said it looked like a fresh OS install. And I'm like..'W00t?'.

I accesed the desktop through explorer and all my files, icons etc where there. But not on the desktop :)) So restart the computer. Everything went back to normal.

It works but....damn.
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My Logitech G15 keyboard has a small screen. Every now and then I use this screen to grab some information. Mostly, I use the build in application which tells me about the amount of RAM occupied and the same for CPU. (both cores independently). I remember that Everest Ultimate has also a much better plug-in that displays much more information. However, it costs quite a lot for me right now so I just stick to what I have.

Now what really intrigues me is something I have found a couple of time before, mostly by accident. The scenario: Using my computer intensevly, CPU at 100%, RAM anywhere between 70% and 80%. Sometimes, when I exit all applications rapidly, Vista takes "only" 17%. However, there is a small timeframe in which the OS is barely responsive. Afterwards it all goes fine. And also the amount of ram goes back up at 30-35%.

My question would be if those 17% actually mean the amount of memory that Vista consumes all by itself of not. Mind you, I have 4 and not 2GB installed. My first thought will be that, yes, it takes 17% and the rest till, 35-40 is occupied by SuperFetch. But come to think about it, SuperFetch is good when opening different apps more quickly not for moving aroung your OS. So yes, I am confused. And probably this post is the same.

I have a lot going on in my mind right now, so please excuse my 'crowdiness"

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Office 2003 and Office 2007 on the same computer

Although it might sound strange, some people need both versions of Microsoft's Office suite because of the many changes in some programs. Also, it seems there are still some compatibility issue. For example a document made in Office 2007, saved as .doc and opened with office 2003 might have some small differences which for some are annoying. Even more, if two or more ar working on the same project and don't have same version it gets quite frustrating.

This is the way to have them installed on the same machine. However I have tested it for Word, Excel and PowerPoint ONLY. The other might also work and... for sure, two versions of Outlook will definetly NOT work so watch out!

In my case, the computer already had Office 2007 installed. I've added 2003 edition in the same partition but in a different folder (C:/Program Files/Microsoft Office03). Choose custom installation so that I could choose only those three above.

After the succesful installation I had a .docx document-> right clicked -> open with and had Microsoft Word two time but with different icons. Opened it with 2003. No problems. Afterwards I selected 2007 edition and a setup window appeared and after a while it was gone. However, Word 2003 was not in the open with options and I could not use it to open it anymore.

Therefore the proper way is, after installing it (I did a repair so it's the same thing), don't open anything, hit 'windows key' + 'r' or select "Start" and "Run" and type

* reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\word\Options /v NoReReg /t REG_DWORD /d 1

* reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\word\Options /v NoReReg /t REG_DWORD /d 1

I entered only the second one, 12.0 that stands for Office 2007 because that was the one which cauzed trouble but in other cases might very well be the other way around.

Fact is, after this it worked without issues. My thanks go to David Overton.

V
[ Versiunea in limba romana pe RGSTUFF.ro ]
And again another warning: DO NOT INSTALL Outlook 2007 and 2003 on the same machine.

Small bugs

Well well it seems I have found two small glitches with Windows 7.
1) I powered on my notebook on it's battery. Used it for a while. Afterward left it in idle mode for a couple of minutes. Naturally, it's screen brightness lowered. Without doing anything else, I plugged it in. However, the brightness remained the same. Even after moving the mouse, or typing something it did not return.
Since then I repeated this scenario a couple of times. For the most of the times, the behavior was normal.

2) Nevermind. It was my fault. And I am way to laisy to make all the mods necessary now so that the post would 'talk' about only one problem. I'm sure more will follow (not to pour gas or anythings, it's just there is no such things as perfect software; especially an OS).
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There is hope

I was happy to hear that there is still hope for people out there.
Here is the latest chart for smartphones sold in the first quarter in US.
1. Blackberry Curve 83xx
2. iPhone 3G
3. Blackberry Storm
4. Blackberry Pearl
5. G1

Seriously now. Any real business man, be it young or old, would tell you that BlackBerrys are much much better than iPhones. Period.

iPhone's are better for something else. Not sure right now, but I came to this conclusion.
I can by a cheap phone with a whooping battery and together with my iPod Touch I have everything I want. Basically an iPhone but without having to pay an enormous monthly subscription. For calls (because, you now, that's what a phone is for) I can use that classic one with enough battery for a week and for other stuff like music, videos, wi-fi, games my iPod Touch. What I might miss? 3G connection which I don't need and the camera the iPhone has which is...crappy to say the least. So basically nothing.
Bottom line I get myself the same benefits with extended battery life and cheaper investements both initially and periodically.
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Balanced

Now, as I said before my notebook configuration was not balanced. So I replaced the internal HDD which was a Samsung spinning 120GB at 5400rpms. I replaced it with a Seagate spinning 250GB at 7200rpms.
The good part is that I cannot feel vibrations as I would have expected from a faster hdd. Even the noise when stressing it out seems the same. A little more pleasant I might add.

Now, the REALLY good part is that I can now play flawlessly an 1080p HD movie using VLC. Without any additional codecs or software/players. This is exactly what I wanted.
Also, if I remember correctly, I can say that I gained 10MB/s transfer rate.

And, Windows 7 agrees with me.



And now I have a balanced system.
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GPU for better desktop performances?

Yes, yes and yes. Although I found out that many people find it very difficult to believe that if your system has a GPU you Vista OS or Win7 for that matter will work better.
And the reason for this is because the interface, the Aero-interface is Direct-x driven. Voila!

Uneven

What I always disliked about a computer configuration was an unbalanced one.
I always hated seeing a great CPU, huge amount of ram and a crippled CPU (for example).

The main reason I hate it is simple. You computer is as fast as the weakest component/device.
And I know that my notebook was not correctly balanced and Windows 7, which I installed it as my only OS on it tell me the exact same thing. While CPU, RAM and GPU get scores ranging from 5.3 to 5.9 my primary hdd gets a lousy 4.3.
I planned changing it anyway so no surprises for me.

Waiting for the right time and the opportunity to upgrade.

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Browser

I had 15 minutes to spare so I though...hey...why not do a little browser test.
Since I landed on a javascript website just for this I took Firefox and Chrome for a spin.
For my big surprise... while both browsers had about the same cpu utilization, at memory consumpation...firefox is about twice as big as chrome. It's true that I have a number of extentions on Firefox but still. Impresive.

Part of a bigger plan

The first step in building a better computer was made. Yesterday night I was holding in my hands a dual channel kit 2* 2GB Corsair XMS 2 running at 1066 MHz with 2.1V bumped in them.

These two pairs will be used in my future configuration alongside with another one later on.

Currently my PC configurations has a pair of these and a pair of the older ones, Geil 2*1 GB running at 800MHz. So, for now I have 6GB of RAM running at 800 in dual channel. Later I will have only 4 at 1066 and even later 8GB at 1066.





In these time of crisis there was no way I could go with i7 and DDR3. Perhaps next year.

BOINC

Here is the thing...I've drawn to the conclusion that my PC stays sometimes powered up doing nothing. So I thought...why not put those two cores to some action?
Then I wondered...but what should I put them to do? Yes, I could use them for converting some movies into mp4s for my iPod but I have already seen all of the movies I have so no need for that.
Then, I remembered that some years ago, there was a project were you downloaded a program and it was using your computer's power to make calculations.

And here is were BOINC steps in. To put it simply, BOINC is a manager that keeps track, provides settings etc for projects of those type.
For example, project number 1: Rosetta@home
-it determines the 3-dimensional shapes of proteins in research that may ultimately lead to finding cures for some major human diseases.
Project number 2: World Community Grid
-improve the results of protein X-ray crystallography, which helps researches not only annotate unknown parts of the human pretome, but importantly improves their understanding of cancer initiation, progression and treatment
-it identifies promising drug leads to combat the related dengue, hepatitis C, West Nile and Yellow fever viruses.
- to find new materials for the next generation of solar cells and later, energy storage devices
etc

Most of them, if not all are non-profit organizations.

In short, there are certain projects that require tremendous calculations and powerful computers. And instead of one super-computers there is a world-wide network of computers connected.
And I am donating a part of my PC's time for these projects.

The good news is that I am in control of everything. I decide which projects I want to help with, what is the amount of time and resources I am willing to donate etc.
I have opted for a few already. And I don't like playing with grey zones if you know what I mean so when I'm not using it(the computer) it(Boinc) runs at 100%, when I am using it, it shuts down. Simple as that.
Another good news is that the program is flexible and for example, right now it's working on two project and my CPU stays at 100% for hours, but, if I open my computer, of firefox or something somehow light, Boinc adjust and give enough power for what I want. Therefore my system is responsive all the way. I can even let it run projects while surfing the internet.

The bad news is that since I left the stock AMD cooler...my pc makes a lot of noise.

Time for some numbers now: Core #1 stays around 56-58 degrees and core #2 at 51-53 while Boinc is running. Also my old processor is capable of making 2140 milion float operations per second and 3900 milions integer operations per second.
I will probably bump the frequency from 2.2 GHz to 2.4GHz next time I reboot thus being absolutely sure that my sistem is stable.

So, I can always use this program as a stress program for overclocking as well :))

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Continuous Improvements

2007 was the year I gained too much weight and neglected myself.

2008 I realized that things could not go on like that and it was time for a change. Later on, improvements in my shape, health and spirit were starting to appear.

Now, in 2009, I am determined to continue what I have started and become what I can be. I have everything I need. It’s all ready. All I want is understanding and time.

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Just filling up my time

It is just one of those days...when you know you have to do something (like study) but you really don't feel like it. So you do something else. One of the things I did was get inside of my mini-pc to see what's there.
I had a couple of reasons for doing that. One was curiosity. The second, I wanted to know what type of ram I had (cpu-z doesn't make a difference between normal modules and so-dimms).

Therefore I took of the "clothing".


Hence I could not see anything...I digged a little more.






Voila. Unfortunately, I had standard DDR memory. (long story why I wanted something else). The good news is that I did a little cable management (if you can call it that way) and now the vents have more "breathing space".

That's about it brotha.
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About eyeglasses

I currently have 3 pairs. One of them is for sun, therefore they are called sun-glasses and I use them while driving when the sun is too bright.(go figure :P )

The other two are normal eye-glasses. Different lens and different supports.
Here is the thing, pair no. 1 is used in home, at tv, computer etc. Pair no. 2 is used whenever I leave the house. And I noticed that it really matters what type of lens they have.

For example, at first, i used pair no. 2 in house too. And at the end of the day, my eyes sore and were red. Mostly because of the time I spent in front of different screens. After a couple of weeks I switched to the normal...regime. And after that I had no problem what-so-ever. The reason is that pair no. 1 has its' lens treated with anti-reflex (or something like that). And I could really tell and...see the difference. I thought that the person selling the glasses was just trying to earn some more money (because these lenses are more expensive that normal ones) but it seems I was wrong and I'm happy. My eyes are better protected with pair no. 1.

In conclusion, it is important to get the right lens for your eyeglasses (or is it "eye-glasses"?)
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End of 2008

2008 was a good year overall. More blog post that I've imagined. Big audio improvements in my car I did not expect, one year of college passed and another one in progress, enought party's, new friends etc. More good than bad, which is...good, right?
There were downsides but most have been taken care of.
I don't have anything special to write in my last post from this year. I hope I will have at least the same amount of time available to write here. I also hope to rearrange some of my priorities and act accordingly. Also, I want to learn more. Much more (and I'm not referring to 'skul' only).
It is highly possible that a break in writing will soon follow since the exam period is dangerously approaching.

Hoping for a better year! Progress is a must!
2009 here I come >:)
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