May 31, 2008 / 0 Comments
I recently stumbled upon a site which helps you categorize and sort credit card offers more efficiently. CreditCardClub.com provides credit card reviews to the public for free. Want to see all of the lowest interest rate cards? No problem. No annual fee cards? They have them. All of the information you need about almost any credit card is available at your finger tips at CreditCardClub.com.
I know it sounds strange but I like sites like this; after all, we’re a nation who needs information and they need it now. Who wants to spend hours surfing through the ‘net looking for credit cards meeting your criteria? Not me.
May 31, 2008 / 0 Comments
Lifelock is a company that protects you against theft. Experian is accusing LifeLock of fraud and false advertising.
Experian is a company in business to sell and distribute people’s personal information. Experian is simply upset because LifeLock is protecting their credit by offering them a one-million dollar guarantee to cover any persons incidental costs associated with identity thefts. Remember that Experian reported over three billion dollars in profits.
This lawsuit has been brought on by Experian because they are upset. LifeLock can be keeping persons data from being shared with Experian. LifeLock doesn’t simply give you an alert, they search the web, they search chat rooms and more for persons attempting to disclose your personal information. For just ten(10) bucks a month this seems like a good idea. They’ll even hire you a lawyer if you have issues with identity theft. LifeLock is simply a very affordable insurance policy for your identity. In a world of technology and instant content delivery who would want to be without identity theft protection? I know I wouldn’t.
May 23, 2008 / 0 Comments
I’ve always been greatly interested in data storage and file systems. I started performing some research online about older data storage systems and found some pretty amazing stuff. It’s hard to believe how far we have come in 50 years. What will it be like in another 50 years? Is SSD (Solid-State Drives) the future? Crystal storage? What do you think?
Timeline (1956-1991)
1956: First Hard Disk – The 24-inch IBM 350-1 (proceeded by 650 model) had about 50 platters and priced about $10,000 per gigabyte.
Shown Below
An IBM 350-1 5MB Drive, Two full 350 units, An IBM 650 Drive
1962: IBM Develops a storage system based on six-packs of 14-inch disks. Each pack of disks holds approximately 2MB data. This marks the commercial availability of hard disks.
Shown Below
An IBM 1311 Disk Storage Drive (center)
1970-1975: The Burroughs On-Line Disk File System – Burroughs releases a file system which stores over 48 million characters (approximately 48MByte) and uses large platters which have the rotational mass of approximately 38lbs. These enormous disks had to have electric brakes and spun at around 3600RPM. These disks were revolutionary at the time. (PDF)
Shown Below
Platters from a Burroughs On-Line Disk File System
1979: IBM introduces the first thin film recording heads. These heads offered higher performance at reduced costs. This allowed IBM to store the most data in the least amount of space. Thin film recording heads allowed for out higher-capacity and higher-performance disk drives of today.
Shown Below
Thin film recording heads
1983: Rodine issues a 10MB 3.25 inch hard disk. This is still the form factor of today.
1988: PrarieTek releases the first 2.5 20MB hard disk. This is the form factor of today’s notebook hard disks.
1991: Integrated Peripherals shows its first 1.8 inch hard disk. Drives like these were meant for small devices like iPod’s … more than 11 years later.
May 22, 2008 / 0 Comments
Hey everyone, I just wanted to tell you about a free GEO-IP lookup site. Check out WhoHostsIt.com. They offer free GEO-IP lookups using MaxMind and Google Maps API technology. Check out the site and do a few lookups. It’s very, very fast.
May 21, 2008 / 1 Comment
While the items listed below might not win you over with the ladies (at least the non-nerdy type), they’ll spark your geekgasm for sure. I’m not saying that I would actually wear these items in public but they at least give me a good chuckle. Would any of the viewers actually wear this stuff?
- The ThinkGeek 8-bit Tie
Nice tie, it accents the emo hair and tattoos. This tie is a perfect addition to your wardrobe.
- The "Utilikilt"
What in the world is this? Oh I need something to store my geek gear in… I’ll pick up this SKIRT. That’ll show everyone how cool I am ;-)
- The "Geek" Work Shirt
Well.. at least you can wear a shirt that accurately describes you or your way of life.
- The Cat5/6 Bracelet
Okay, Okay I guess this is fashionable and might be a good way to recycle all those short lengths of Ethernet cable in the closet…
- Multi-Color IDE Belt
Now here’s a new one to me. I guess this might go well with the Cat5/6 bracelet above.
- Circuit Board Cigar Box
There’s absolutely no way to look cooler while puffin on your big stogie than pulling your $5.00 Wal-Mart-purchased cigar from a box made of circuit boards. Priceless.
- Cat 5-Tested Wedding Rings
What next? /facepalm
- Freaking Clownshoes – MP3 shoes
I don’t even know what to say. I am in complete dismay that a company would actually spend more than 5 minutes thinking about the idea of including speakers and volume controls on SHOES. No one wants to hear what you are playing on your iPod. Wow this is just sad…sad.
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- Scarves for Tech Addicts
Ok. WTF is this? Apparently these Scarves are for geeks who want to game in public places. Of course this has to make you wonder what they’re really using them for…. I’ve never seen anything like this.
