Suck a golfball through a hose?

Well emailing a large file or movie to friends and family can be hard if not impassible, no I didn't mean impossible because I have a solution.

http://files2you.com/

This is a free service from the people who created the commercial product file catalyst.

Registered Max Filesize 200.00 MB - this is a little weak but not bad.

File types - All type allowed
Multiple uploads - 5 (not sure what this means)

Support for resuming downloads
Support for download-accelerators
100kb/s
Unlimited

You can use a service like file front and upload just about any size file as well as maintain a neat little web space if you do alot of this kind of thing. There are other faster and simpler solutions if you want to share passwords with friends or family you can just simply share free online storage space.

I recommend encrypting personal files that you might share using true crypt but your family will need to have true crypt and the password to decrypt the resulting file. This method you can encrypt a whole folder and move it as a file. You can do this with zipped archives as well. 7-Zip is a great free solution for this.

Smoke and Mirrors - 4870 vs 4850

Comparing the 4850 vs the 4870, which card is best for you.

If you look at the stream processors you see 800 for both cards. So you begin to ask yourself what am I paying 50% or more for?

Lets look at some NewEgg specs:

GIGABYTE GV-R485OC-1GH Radeon HD 4850 1GB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

• Chipset Manufacturer: ATI
• Core clock: 700MHz
• Stream Processors: 800 Stream Processing Units
• Memory Clock: 1920MHz
• DirectX: DirectX 10.1
• OpenGL: OpenGL 2.1
• HDMI: 1 via Adapter
• DVI: 2
• Model #: GV-R485OC-1GH

GIGABYTE GV-R487D5-1GD Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

• Chipset Manufacturer: ATI
• Core clock: 750MHz
• Stream Processors: 800 Stream Processing Units
• Memory Clock: 3600MHz
• DirectX: DirectX 10.1
• OpenGL: OpenGL 2.1
• HDMI: 1
• DisplayPort: 1
• Model #: GV-R487D5-1GD

The only real difference here is the memory clock. In actuality both are clocking at 900Mhz. The DDR3 is double data rate which translates to 1800Mhz and the DDR5 is quad data rate at 3600Mhz. The 4870 core clock is slightly higher as well. All of this translates into about a 25% performance boost at most.

Finally we have to consider the power consumption which translates into heat. Can your case handle the extra heat? Is the 12v rail on your power supply rated to match the power consumption of the card. I recommend 25amps on that rail minimum. If your using 2 separate rails you can add them together. The 4870 uses much more power to operate.

If you're looking for stability (MMO gaming for example) you're going to want to go with the 4850.
If you're looking to get a bit more performance then pay the extra money but in most cases you will never see the difference even at higher resolutions. If you wanted to get the best of both worlds you might be able to put together a 4850 x2 crossfire system for slightly more than a 4870 but you will see huge performance gains by comparison.

The Mythical and Elusive PhysX

Look, I'm not going to pretend this is a straight forward and easy process. I play around quite a bit with hardware and software and with something like PhysX you can't just check a box in the display panel and assume it is working or better yet is your PhysX setup providing any benefit?

http://www.slizone.com/object/sli_cuda_learn.html

Your going to need:
Cuda Driver
http://www.nvidia.com/object/cuda_get.html

PhysX Software
http://www.nvidia.com/object/physx_9.09.0203_whql.html

NVIDIA PhysX System Software WHQL Version: 9.09.0203 Release Date: February 10, 2009 Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) Language: U.S. English File Size: 39.2 MB

Installer update only from 9.09.0121 to resolve some installation issues on non-English operating systems. Supports NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory. Experience GPU PhysX acceleration in many games and demos, some of which are highlighted in PowerPack downloads on http://www.geforce.com/. Resolves PhysX SDK runtime issues with multi-GPU configurations in Hybrid environments. Improves performance of some PhysX enabled games on GeForce GTX 285 and GTX 295 products. Resolves occasional system crashes when PhysX is enabled on some systems when running on EA’s Mirrors Edge. Runtime upgrade ONLY for AGEIA PhysX processors users. (New installations should install older PhysX system software such as version 8.09.04 – prior to installing this update). Includes the latest PhysX runtimes used in the latest game titles. Supports NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on GeForce via CUDA 2.0 for SDK versions 2.7.3, 2.7.2, 2.7.5, 2.8.0 and 2.8.1 (requires graphics driver v177.81 or later). Includes all the latest PhysX SDK Runtimes. Supports control of your GPU PhysX configuration from the NVIDIA display driver control panel. GeForce 200-series, 9-series, and 8-series GPUs AGEIA PhysX Processors (All)

Then to prove this is working your going to need:
http://www.guru3d.com/news/nvidia-physx-quick-test/

PowerPack download
http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia_physx.htmlhttp://www.nvidia.com/content/graphicsplus/us/download.asp

I found Physx to be of little or no benefit. and in my weak hybrid SLI setup I found this did more harm than good with respect to performance in games that don't support Physx. I wouldn't make any purchase decisions based on this technology. Besides ATI will have their answer to this very soon as well. The ATI chipsets support 800 Stream Processing Units compared to 128 on a 9800 nvidia. This will likely yield spectacular results.

Feeling diabolical? But your the good guy? Your ISP won't think so.

http://www.measurementlab.net/measurement-lab-tools

MLAB is attempting to provide users with the tools to test their broadband connections by briefly communicating with a server elsewhere on the Internet.

I could have a lab like Dexter if it wasn't for the high cost of maintenance and power. Besides I don't have a basement.


Ping testing doesn't really tell you that much about your connection. You get your response time and whether your packets made it or not. The ISP world treats ICMP packets (PING) with very low priority. Also routers do more than route these days. High speed routers forward packets in hardware with very little processing required allowing them to handle more data faster.

Your packets are queued, buffered, and prioritized based on many factors. In many ways its like a first class ticket on a plane. The more you pay the better your treated. But imagine if the plane was loosing fuel and they needed to loose weight or they will crash. Imagine if they decided to throw third class passengers out the door.

The plane analogy doesn't describe the Internet very well. Its more like a highway with a HOV lane for the rich, When traffic is flowing good everyone is treated the same. When traffic is congested the HOV cars get through. The reason I like the plane analogy because in the HOV analogy all cars make it to the destination. In reality on the Internet your packets get tossed out to prevent the situation from getting worse for everyone.

Now you have the tools to see if your being treated like a customer or a criminal.

Network Diagnostic Tool
Test your connection speed and receive sophisticated diagnosis of problems limiting speed.
Glasnost
Test whether BitTorrent is being blocked or throttled.
Network Path and Application Diagnosis
Diagnose common problems that impact last-mile broadband networks.
DiffProbe (coming soon)
Determine whether an ISP is giving some traffic a lower priority than other traffic.
NANO (coming soon)
Determine whether an ISP is degrading the performance of a certain subset of users, applications, or destinations.


The PlanetLab Consortium joins Google and the Open Technology Institute in creating Measurement Lab (M-Lab), a distributed server platform for deploying Internet measurement tools. M-Lab is designed to empower the public with useful information about their broadband connections.

Don't let the ISPs run away with your re-concatenator/assembler high speed compression port adaptor.

What is in a number?

Free Voicemail and Web Based Fax

http://www.k7.net/

K7 offers users of the service a free phone in the 206 area code through which they can receive faxes and voicemails. Any faxes/voicemails received on the number are forwarded as email attachments or can be accessed via their website.

So, how can they afford to provide this service? Well, because of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, CLECs get paid by other providers for the termination (answering) of a phone call. Thus, every time you pickup the phone, your phone company gets a small amount of money from the carrier that originated a call. Normally, carriers are constantly making calls that terminate at other carriers and vice versa. But, K7 is a service that only receives calls and does not generate calls to other carriers, so all those termination fees, which would usually flow both ways end up flowing only into K7’s bank account and not out! This one way flow of money was distressing enough to most carriers that they protested strongly and got the law rewritten somewhat, but there is a grandfather clause for companies like K7 that were already in operation.

Anyways, sign up for an account (a very simple process that won't require you to divulge any personally identifiable information)

206-203-1661

Better way to surf

http://www.ixquick.com/

Ixquick Protects Your Privacy !
The only search engine that deletes your personal data. - I'm not sure this is true. I heard ASK.com is doing the same but I can't find a "seal of approval" telling me its true.

Your privacy is under attack ! - no doubt about it. Google is the worst offender and getting worse each day.

Every time you use a regular search engine, your search data is recorded.Your search terms, the time of your visit, the links you choose, your IP address and your User ID cookies all get stored in a database.The identity profiles that can be constructed from this cloud of information represent modern day gold for marketers.But government officials, hackers and even criminals also have an interest in getting their hands on your personal search data. And sooner or later they will... - this is really true, this info will be used in so many ways of which none you will like.

What could happen ?

Consider the following story:In August 2006, the online world was jarred by the AOL privacy scandal:AOL released three months' worth of aggregated search data from 650,000 of its users, publishing all the details in an online database. This database is still search able. It is an absolute.

Google may be or already took up a contract with the NSA to operate a data center on the google campus. This really isn't important except if you wish to protect your rights to privacy and truly have freedom. Freedom is about your God given right to express yourself in any way you want without hurting other people. Religion is a great example and in societies like China you do not have this kind of freedom to believe.

The problem here is that Google may even want to protect your information but when they say its a matter of National security and you are now locked out of your building, they won't need a reason why and will never have to answer for it in the future. Nobody will even know what was compromised.

I'm seeing things a bit more clear

I introduced DeadPixelBuddy some time ago for testing that flat screen monitor and looking for lighting defects as well as dead pixels. Onile monitor test seems to go a few step further allowing you not only to look for defect but to make adjustments to get the best quality picture.

I saw a few more benchmarking and testing sites when watching DL.TV

http://tft.vanity.dk/

Here is what they say about the different programs offered at their site:

The monitor test can be run directly in 3 different modes:- Ordinary HTML window (maximize with F11)- Full screen HTML (opens in 1280x1024 but can be resized to fit any resolution)- Executable fullscreen program for any resolution (no installation required) To download a zipped version of the excutable use this link

The input lag test can be used to test for input lag if you have 2 monitors connected. You will need a camera to record the counter. The procedure is as follows:
- Set your two monitors in clone mode- Run either the program or open the html document- Start the timer- Take a picture with your camera with both monitors i focus- If the input response is different on the two monitors, the number on each screen will be different

Another interesting product is a test DVD you can bring with you to the store before you throw down that suit case full of cash in exchange for that high tech wonder you will spend more time with than your wife. Since you don't have time to date that 60inch LCD before you buy it you might want to spend some quality time before you take it home. Look at it like picking up a puppy from the pound.

http://www.tvblink.com/i_dvd.html