laptop
So my much-anticipated Asus W3J laptop arrived a few days ago. To recap, my requirements for a laptop were: * Core Duo * 5 pounds maximum weight * Dedicated video hardware * Removable optical drive Laptops have outsold desktops since 2003, depending on whose data you believe. And today's laptops are definitely
laptop
I was desperately trying to avoid the expense of buying a new laptop, but my work-provided Thinkpad T43 just isn't cutting it for me. The problem with Thinkpads, even the very nice new T60 models, is deeper than the hardware and the classic black box design. Thinkpads are
technology trends
A little over a year ago, I documented what was on my keychain. Here's what I have today: If you're troubled by what appears to be profanity on the Leatherman Squirt, I'll refer you to my previous post-- it's a Pulp Fiction
server
One of the key differences between the original dot-com bubble and the Web 2.0 bubble we're entering now is that our servers are a lot cheaper and a lot more powerful. Moore's Law in action isn't exactly news, but the new web is
laptop
I've determined power usage on my desktop and on my server, but I hadn't gotten around to testing the power usage of my laptop. As battery life is always a concern with a laptop, I was particularly curious to see which parts of the laptop draw
hardware
Loyd Case recently noted [http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1918934,00.asp] that the standard 3-prong computer power connector is.. not so standard any more: I have yet to see any of these mutant rounded power connectors yet, but I'm surprised that Dell-- a company that
hardware
I've talked about all the essential environmental things a programmer should have: a good chair [https://blog.codinghorror.com/investing-in-a-quality-programming-chair/], at least two monitors [https://blog.codinghorror.com/does-more-than-one-monitor-improve-productivity/], and a great keyboard [https://blog.codinghorror.com/the-keyboard-cult/]. One thing I haven't talked about, though, is
hardware
Software engineers aren't the only ones planting secret easter eggs in their products [http://www.eeggs.com/tree/153.html]. Here's a fun article on thehidden art etched into microchips [http://news.com.com/What+art+is+hiding+on+your+microchip/2100-1006_3-5893374.html] . There are
security
We were discussing nasty software hacks today at lunch. The worst hacks are always in software, but those software hacks have an insidious tendency to seep into the hardware, too. I was reminded of Intel's infamous CPUID hack [http://linux.omnipotent.net/article.php?article_id=11457]: >
programming languages
In the spirit of iPod modem hacking, Michael Steil documents how hackers compromised the Xbox security system. Mostly thanks to 512 bytes of rather buggy security code embedded in the Xbox boot ROM: The Xbox is an IBM PC, i.e. it has an x86 CPU. When the machine is
hardware
When it comes to performance, there's always a bottleneck. The question is, which bottleneck? That's why one of the more interesting back of the envelope calculations is to ask, "what if it was infinitely fast?" One way to make something infinitely fast is to
hardware
In Screwdrivers versus Couture, Ed Stroglio nailed the real difference between PC enthusiasts and Mac enthusiasts: One might think case modders or overclockers [or developers] in general might be more prone to the Mac outlook, but that's not really so. What such people are proud of is not