Lomcevak

I wrote a while back about the Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive, which purports to combine the advantages of a solid state drive with the low cost of a conventional drive. It works very well!

I decided to take the next step to see if I could wring a little bit more performance out of the thing. Since last fall’s build as a single-drive system, the desktop had become storage-rich. Besides the recently added Momentus XT there’s the original 750 GB Western Digital and a Seagate 1 TB, the latter used, well, for not much of anything. Relocating the data from the Momentus XT should allow Seagate’s algorithm to place OS and application files on the XT’s flash for lightning-fast reads.

There was only several hundred GB of data to move but it took a few days of here-and-there time to get the job done safely and completely. The system is used for real work. There were backup routines to change (and test!), path dependencies to chase down, stuff like that. But eventually it was done – with the bonus of some much-needed cleanup and organization.

So, what was the result? Windows 7 Professional boot times – BIOS to desktop – are on the order of 25 seconds. Ambitious application loads, full Photoshop for example, are down to just a few seconds. The system is powered down within 15 seconds of clicking Shutdown. I’m thinking these may even improve over time.

A few weeks back I read of Seagate‘s Momentus XT hybrid hard drive. What’s a hybrid? It combines a conventional hard drive with a small SSD in one standard-size, standard interface package. The idea is that the conventional hard drive provides useful capacity while the SSD provides a significant performance boost. To the Operating System, the drive simply appears as any other drive. There’s no special OS support or drivers needed either; for instance, no need for TRIM support. Seagate has developed a special algorithm – they call it “Adaptive Memory Technology” – which purports to analyze use patterns and optimize the use of the SSD portion of the drive. What you use most often is stored in flash for best performance. The end result is supposed to be a drive that delivers much of the performance of an SSD at a cost that won’t break the bank.

The Seagate Web site might not be the best place to find objective comparisons, but check out the video (scroll down to the headline Compare solid state hybrid drives to SSD and HDD.) to see some impressive performance.

When I built my last desktop I (briefly) considered a pure SSD for the boot drive but decided against it. The cost was crazy high and the capacity was crazy low. When I read of the Momentus XT it didn’t take much to convince me to give one a try.

I decided on the ST95005620AS as a replacement boot drive. This is the 500 GB unit and, other than the built-in 4 GB SLC NAND SSD, it has some fairly conventional specifications – not at all unlike the Western Digital WD7501AALS it replaced. These drives are new, so it was a couple of weeks to wait for stock. I’m fortunate in that Newegg has a local distribution facility; once a drive was available it arrived the next day.

My desktop case (a Cooler Master HAF 932 #RC-932-KKN1-GP) doesn’t provide mounts for 2.5-inch drives so I picked up some adapter rails, too. These rails will hold two 2.5-inch drives but there are a couple of quirks. They use some odd-sized screws (supplied) and the holes were too small for my no-tool drive mounts. I mounted the hybrid in one of the front-accessible bays with the supplied screws. I may eventually drill and tap the rails for standard screws and relocate it to the drive cage for a cleaner cable layout.

I have a few applications for cloning boot drives. I don’t like any of them so I decided to try Seagate’s DiscWizard tool (made by Acronis), free for the download. Installation was quick and painless. But the clone process failed every time! Shame on me for believing you could do a low-level task like that from inside Windows. Fortunately DiscWizard provides a tool to build bootable utility media. I used it to configure a USB drive, booted from it and in short order I had my clone. In my case the target drive was smaller than the multiply partitioned source drive, but the DiscWizard handled it perfectly.

Now, cloning a boot drive is faster and worlds more convenient than doing an IPL from scratch, but it’s not without problems. Sometimes, if you use run application software that requires activation, it may notice that the hardware’s changed and void your activation. I had several of those but all were resolved in short order. It’s just something to be aware of. Check your application load and have your necessary licensing information at the ready if you need to contact your vendors.

Okay, so how’s the Momentus XT work? Very well! What’s more, it seems to be getting even better over time. It’s weird.

Boot time is about half what it was with the old drive. It’s dead quiet, too, where the Western Digital is one noisy unit when it seeks, at least in my cavernous case. For the applications I use all the time, first-use loads are near instantaneous. Under Windows 7, the drive part of the Experience Index remained unchanged from my earlier drive but that didn’t surprise me because the specifications are virtually identical. The real difference is first-use of applications and data. There the performance boost is definitely not something you need to try to notice; it’s that obvious.

The jury’s still out on long-term reliability. I only buy Seagate and Western Digital drives, and I’ve had more Seagate failures over the years. To be fair, warranty service from both vendors is always as quick and easy as you can expect.

This isn’t a pure SSD, but Seagate appears to deliver on its promise with the Momentus XT: much of the bang of an SSD with significantly less cost, reasonable capacity and transparent Operating System support. Performance increases are right where you notice it most, on the stuff you use most often. The Momentus XT is positioned as a laptop drive but with these specs it works equally well for desktop applications.

Go and get yourself one of these, you won’t be disappointed.

The other day I set aside some time to clean up my Dyna. For way too long – like since our stormy tour in the Poconos last August – it’s been the dirty bike in the garage. Not very fitting for a 105th anniversary numbered Wide Glide! Cleanup was long overdue.

Harley Care Starter Kit

As I collected my detailing materials I came across some Harley-Davidson branded cleaners. These are starter pack samples that the motor company hands out with new bikes. I’ve got a bunch of these, never opened, on the shelf.

The Harley Care Starter Set (94671-99A) consists of four products: Sunwash Concentrate, Bug Remover, Wheel & Tire Cleaner and Harley Gloss. All are labeled Biodegradable. What better time to check ‘em out?

Product Bottles

I mixed a batch of wash solution from the Sunwash Concentrate. The label states it’s formulated for use in direct sunlight, on all surfaces. It seemed perfect for this day’s weather – direct sunlight in the mid 60s. The product made some nice foamy water. But it wasn’t cutting the Dyna’s crud so I doubled up on the concentrate. That helped. I wash with plenty of water, keeping surfaces wet until I’m ready to break out the dryer but it didn’t matter. The result of the Sunwash Concentrate was tons of water spots. No harm, no foul, I’ve never used any wash solution that didn’t leave spots. The road crud was gone, though.

Next I broke out the Harley Gloss. They call it a UV Protective Detailer. It conveniently applies from a spray bottle, also safe for all surfaces. I also grabbed the bottle of Bug Remover. The box says that acid from insect bodies can damage surface finishes if not removed quickly. I’m not so sure I agree with that. I mean, maybe the damage can be measured somehow, but it’s never been visible to *my* eye. I got started. Know what I found? Neither product was anywhere near as effective as what I usually use following a wash! In fact, they kind of sucked. The Bug Remover just plain didn’t remove the crusty, hardened bugs. And the Harley Gloss was tricky to use according to the label: apply via rag or spray, wipe dry before it dries on the surface. It just plain didn’t work. I tried for maybe ten minutes before abandoning it for my preferred product.

By now you’re probably wondering what miracle product I use for a nice post-wash finish. Are you ready? Here it is. Lemon Pledge.

Lemon Pledge

There are no substitutes. It’s got to be this brand. And lemon, no other flavor will do. There must be something in that particular formula that has all the necessary attributes. It works on all surfaces, on all kinds of crud. (You still need to wash off the abrasive road dirt – with plenty of water – or risk scratching, but there’s no way around that step.) There are only two places I don’t recommend Lemon Pledge, for obvious reasons: the seat and tires. But paint, chrome, rubber and plastic, anywhere else is fair game.

The pre-soaked wipes will work, but I much prefer the spray. Use two clean cotton rags: one to apply and one to polish. As the polish rag gets laden and polishing becomes difficult, rotate it to become the application rag. Discard the original application rag and bring in a new polish rag. Don’t skimp on the rags! Use lots of ‘em.

Shake the Lemon Pledge can well, often. Spray generously on the application rag. Wipe gently. It dissolves bugs and loosens tar, but stubborn areas might require multiple applications. Don’t be afraid to use plenty of spray. Hard surfaces (unlike your furniture) will not acquire a buildup! But resist rubbing too hard, let the product do the work. If you think you need more just spay the rag again and continue. Finally, with the clean, soft, dry rag, buff.

And those water spots? Erased, leaving a nice, crud-resistant finish that makes your next cleanup easier.

2008 Dyna Wide Glide

Fix for Runaway Toyotas

Actually, the solution’s been built into my Harley-Davidsons (and all other street motorcycles) for a little bit less than forever. Well, since they legislated standardized controls, in any case.

What is it? It’s a real, honest-to-goodness stop switch.

Unlike Toyota‘s Prius, this switch is located right where it belongs, just a short reach for your right thumb, the switch produces immediate, predictable, certain results.

The engine stops.

You don’t need to hunt for the button. You don’t need to hold it for 30 seconds. Because when you need to stop the engine you need to stop the engine, and every millisecond counts.

There you have it!

Where’s my prize? Edmunds? Obama? Who’s got it?

Locked in the Rack

Screen Detail

I found these pictures in my phone when I was getting ready for a firmware update. I meant to write about ‘em earlier but I guess I never got around to it.

This hung scanner was stuck in the rack (kind of looks like it’s stuck in a little toilet) and none of the buttons produced any response. I remember getting some funny looks as I knelt to grab the images.

I still like the system because it saves me time, even if I’m only in the store for a few items. I’ve been audited a few times. The audits, at least in my limited experiences, are more of a wave-of-the-hand than anything.

Other stuff about my encounters with Scan-It are here and here.

This morning brought a little bit of snow. Last night it was said that it was supposed to be a huge honkin’ storm but it turned out to be not much snow at all, just a dusting. Pam went outside to get the newspaper, as she usually does on Saturday morning, but came back inside empty-handed. “There’s no fuckin’ paper,” she muttered disgustedly, partially to me and partially to the Universe.

A little while later I was checking the weather maps to see what had happened to our storm and collecting the morning email. Here was something from the paper:

Good Morning from the Home News Tribune!

We’re experiencing possible delays throughout our delivery area today, December 19, 2009 due to the current weather conditions. We apologize for the inconvenience; however you can access our e-edition immediately by visiting [...]

A couple of years back the paper took the decision to outsource delivery to some faceless fulfillment company. And years earlier than that they stopped the practice of using neighborhood kids on the street. Each change has brought a corresponding drop in service levels.

Anyway, those kids earned their tips. (I wrote about newspapers and delivery gratuities last year, too.) Weather? It just didn’t matter; the newspaper was delivered and that was that. I think our parents called it “responsibility”.

Our e-edition is an exact replica of the printed version that will be delivered to you later today.

And it is, I guess, but the navigation is clunky and you can’t fold it up on the dining room table while you enjoy breakfast and coffee. Also implied is that they intend an eventual delivery, but they’re already four or five hours late.

If you like the Home News Tribune e-edition, you may subscribe by visiting [...]

Extra, or a substitute for pulp delivery? Not sure, as I write.

It happens that I just paid the bill for our subscription. Delivery performance has incremented downward and the paper itself has shrunk – actually become considerably narrower – over the past year. Yet rates had risen again. We already know they’ve outsourced delivery. Apparently they’ve also outsourced billing because my check went to a PO box in Louisville, KY. It used to go to an address down the shore.

Newspapers all over are wringing their hands over their reduced market share. The Internet is kicking their collective asses! Is it any wonder? Maybe they deserve it.

About a month and a half ago my main personal computer, an (ancient) HP zd8000 laptop, began dropping keystrokes. I traced the problem back to the battery. No longer taking a charge, the interrupts generated as the charging circuitry tried, failed and tried again were interfering with the keyboard interrupt. My typing is bad enough; I pulled the offending battery, scanned the ‘net and ordered a new battery from overstock.com based on – what else? – price.

That was September 3rd, and the replacement battery arrived some days later. Unfortunately it was the wrong one! The order showed the correct number as did the packing list, but the thing that sat on my desk clearly showed a different number. The plastic bag it came in was already open (uh oh, could mean trouble) so I took the opportunity to stick it into the laptop, thinking perhaps it was a substitute. Nope, the computer refused it.

I used the online chat on Overstock’s Web site and explained the situation. The rep thought it best to escalate to a tech person so she told me to expect their call, which came some hours later. I hadn’t expected his call so quick. The tech generated the RMA and return shipping label and said he’d overnight another replacement.

Meanwhile I did a little checking. HP has an excellent online parts lookup tool, and I used it to check the two part numbers in question. They were markedly different. I looked them both up on the Overstock site and found the descriptions to be remarkably similar. Maybe this was the problem?

As it turned out, the next few weeks proved frustrating – for both me and Overstock – as we shipped the same incorrect battery back an forth across the country three times. In the end they said that they didn’t have the correct item. They’d process my refund and I was free to keep the incorrect battery. I sent it back anyway; there’s no sense in recycling a perfectly good battery I couldn’t use.

But that’s not the end of the story. Last Friday evening I took a call from Thomas at Overstock. He explained that my case had made it up to the executive level and that they had spent some time analyzing what went wrong. There were a few things, including a mis-SKUed warehouse bin (aha!) and lapses in communication. The analysis had resulted in some process improvements and Thomas called to tell me about them. We talked for a while about things like quality and customer service. Full disclosure: Thomas offered – and I accepted – compensation for my frustration and understanding: a correct battery and some store credit. He left his email and direct phone number.

(The correct battery arrived this afternoon, shipped overnight from Overstock’s supplier. The number fits several applications; the plastic cover trim isn’t right for my particular laptop, but I have spares from previous replacements so it’s no big deal. Overstock, if you’re reading this, don’t panic – I’m good, and I appreciate all you’ve done. You might want to follow-up with the warehouse, though.)

In my experience, the larger a company becomes the less likely is becomes that a minor customer problem actually results in action. Sure, refunds and credits are common enough, but not the continuous improvement part. To do that, and more importantly, to take the additional step of reaching out to the customer after the transaction is complete is exceptional. More should follow Overstock’s example. I’ll use them again.

I’ve done some traveling this summer and the netbook I wrote about some time back has proved to be a worthy companion. The portability and battery life have more than offset the lower performance and cramped screen real estate. And the HP Mini 1000 has proven to be as reliable as a brick!

When I configured the box I chose the SSD over traditional hard drive. HDs tend not to last very long when transported via Milwaukee Vibrators. Sure, SSDs are considerably more expensive and offer less capacity, but I was looking for reliability and it’s certainly delivered that. Read speeds are fantastic, making for fast boot times even on the slow Atom processor. But small writes – the kind that Windows is famous for doing constantly – really suck.

I wanted to mention FlashFire, an SSD accelerator. According to their site, it’s “especially useful for the system using low-end SSDs.” It works. I haven’t bothered to upgrade the slow stock SSD mainly because FlashFire makes it tolerable.

Before you ask, yes, additional buffering can leave you with an increased risk of data loss if a crash occurs before the flush is complete. But the dirty little secret is that the higher-performance SSDs already use on-board DRAM buffers to boost performance, so is it really all that much different? I guess it depends on your needs. For me, the tradeoff – performance for a little more risk – is worth it.

If you’re grumbling and second-guessing your SSD decision, go give FlashFire a try.

I’ll be doing some traveling this year. Usually I lug my laptop, a several-year-old desktop replacement that serves as my workaday box. With the battery and power brick it’s only, oh, around 15 pounds. That’s fine for moving around the house or even to drive to a client site, but it’s a bit much for more than that. Netbooks are growing in popularity, becoming more functional while getting better with battery life. The solid-state storage modules are durable, too – I could even carry it on the motorcycle!

I checked out a few of ‘em before settling on the Hewlett-Packard Mini 1000. The clincher was the keyboard which at some 92% normal size is actually quite usable. So here’s the configuration: Atom processor N270 (1.6 GHz); 1 GB DDR2 RAM; 32 GB SSD; Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950; 10.1 inch SD LED BrightView Infinity display (1024×576) with built-in microphone and webcam; Wireless G / Bluetooth; 6-cell lithium-polymer battery; mini-sleeve for carrying/storage.

I ordered directly from HP and delivery was fast, as usual. The shipping box was well-packed. It took but a couple of minutes to unpack, install the battery, plug in the charger and begin setup. The first thing I noticed was that SSDs are damned slow. Could it have been a mistake to choose a low-capacity SSD over a traditional hard drive? (I’ll come back to that later.) But getting Widows XP setup, activated and updated took hours. Thankfully it required no attention while it went about its business. I left it to its own, came back later and it was done.

Over the next few days my disappointment with performance continued. It looked nice, it was light enough, the keyboard was great, battery life was excellent at around 6 hours, but what good is all that if you can’t get useful work out of the thing?

As it turns out there are many things you can do to speed things up. Memory always helps Windows. The first order of business was to swap a 2 GB stick into the single slot, which took literally 30 seconds. I attacked the Registry, making the myriad tweaks I customarily make. The filesystem adjustments, like disabling 8.3 filenames, proved particularly useful, as did things like moving the kernel into RAM.

I found a process, StacSV.exe, that was consuming CPU and doing lots of I/O. I learned that the purpose of this was to monitor the audio jack to detect if you plug in or remove headphones. This is controlled by the Audio Service so I stopped it, setting it to Manual start. There are three associated registry keys, which do not exist, that were constantly being hit (and not found), so stopping the service quieted that noise down nicely. Here are those three keys:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\STacSV\DependOnService
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\STacSV\DependOnGroup
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\STacSV\DependOnTag

I updated the BIOS from F.10 to F.11 F.

There wasn’t much shovel-ware preinstalled on the box, but it still needed cleanup. (When will they learn?) Anyway, removing Roxio Back On Track was very straightforward. Thanks, but I’ve already got backup strategies in place.

The next was not as easy. MigoMobile Desktop 4 was apparently missing its MSI file and wouldn’t uninstall. However, they ship an installable copy of the software buried in the Program Files directory tree and it was easy to extract the missing MSI file on another machine, copy it back and perform the uninstall without resorting to mucking about with the installer database. I did still need to manually empty out the Program Files folder, delete the Start menu stuff and so on.

Oh, and then there was Microsoft’s dumbed-down productivity stuff. Is that still called Works? Didn’t matter, I removed it, too, without paying much attention.

And now, with an idle process count around 30 (about half what it shipped with!) performance is quite acceptable indeed.

One thing still troubles me, though, to this day. There’s this process called HPQToaster.exe and there’s just no quality information about it anywhere. According to my probes it is active. Because references to it are all over the Registry it looks like a bear to remove. I’ve tried killing the process and preventing it from starting and neither action seems to have any noticeable effect. But WTF is HPQToaster.exe? Does anyone have a definitive answer?

Shifting gears a little, there are a few things to keep in mind regarding SSDs. This might seem obvious, but there’s no need to defragment an SSD. In fact, it even hurts! The flash memory in an SSD has a finite lifetime, and the controller manages wear by spreading use across the array. So even though files may appear (or not) to be contiguous to the OS, there’s really no connection to exactly where in the memory array a file’s parts are stored at any given time. (I’m not sure how this contiguous or not stuff will come into play when resizing a swap file or building a new hiberfil.sys.) There are some security implications, too, as you can’t really erase a file securely by overwriting – the ‘overwrites’ will be done by the controller to different memory locations to manage wear. If you’re concerned about file security – deleted or otherwise – I suppose you must look to encrypting the filesystem in its entirety. Performance-wise, reads are very fast, large writes are pokey by modern hard-drive standards, and the kind of I/O done by application installs and things like Windows Update are abysmally slow. I recommend taking all of that kind of work off automatic and do them manually, when you can manage the time. Seriously, it’s that slow. An Office install and subsequent updates took, for example, a few hours to complete. Thankfully, you can usually start these things and walk away, come back when it’s done. One notable exception is Google’s Chrome browser, whose automatic updates you really can’t conveniently control.

I ran across an excellent article that will teach you an awful lot about the nature of SSDs, their performance and problems, and so on. Get your geek in gear, you’ll need it. About 16,000 words.

For a little more about the performance aspects of netbooks in general, when compared to more capable notebooks, give this post a quick read.

It took about four years for the seat pan of my Aeron to fail. The threads that make up the mesh of the upholstery of the thing must be engineered for strength that’s just so because once one failed, the rest quickly followed.

Seat Pan Failure

Hunting down the dealer I bought it from wasn’t easy. In the four years they’ve  been sold and re-formed and even changed location. But I found ‘em and got the process of warranty service started.

And today, fully five weeks after my initial contact, my Aeron’s got a brandy-new seat pan and all’s well with the world. If my ass could smile, it would. My back would join in.

Kudos to HermanMiller for standing behind their products with a twelve-year warranty. Not only did they make good with my worn-out seat pan, they (well, their authorized dealer) also send a person out to my home office to repair it and cart away the packaging material. My cost? Not a nickel.

Which leads me to a question. As great as the Aeron is, the successor is supposed to be even better. The Embody is pricey: around $1,500 to start. I haven’t had the opportunity to try one. Have you? What do you think of it?

So I’ve used the Scan-It system several times since my initial encounter. By-and-large it is a time saver. I haven’t been audited… yet. But the system is not without its share of problems either.

• Crashing the POS Terminal I was most of the way through the usual ‘finish and pay’ cycle, at the point where one waits for credit card authorization. “Please wait – system processing…” The next thing I should have heard was the audio prompt for my signature. I looked away to set the handbasket aside and parked my motorcycle helmet upside-down next to the scanner/scale plate. It may have touched the plate as it rolled around. At that very instant the screen threw up an error dialogue complaining of an inputoverlaperror – yeah, one word – with a cryptic error code and a single OK button. I summoned the attendant who had never seen that error before. She scanned her ID card and dismissed the dialogue. The POS screen threw at least three error dialogues in rapid succession before clearing to display what appeared to be a ‘ready for the next customer’ display. Hmm, would I mind not having a receipt? Yes, I would mind, actually. So she scanned her ID again and accessed a supervisory function to retrieve my order. It appeared to not have been paid for. While we talked about what to do next – pay again or walk away, the screen suddenly cleared to text mode. It reported it had suffered some kind of fatal error and announced it was shutting down. And it did. The slack-jawed attendant summoned someone from upstairs, a kid in a collar and tie. I described the events that had passed; he had never hear of an ‘inputoverlaperror’ either. So he got on his knees, opened a panel beneath the conveyor (on the customer aisle side), fumbled out a wired keyboard and reached in again to restart… a PC. Running Windows. Win2K. I couldn’t resist making jokes about an unsupported OS as we waited for the boot, him sitting crosslegged in the aisle at my feet, keyboard in his lap. He was unable to retrieve my order. With no receipt and no order to refer to, there was really no choice but to let me take my bag of stuff and leave. (My credit card vendor later confirmed the charge went through, so there were no free groceries that day.) Not sure whether this was the POS or the Scan-It system or the combination of the two. But I’ve used the self-service checkouts countless times over the years and never saw one go tits-up quite like that.
• Free Bread There was a new kind of rye bread on the shelf that day. We picked up a loaf and I scanned it. “Beep!” I glanced at the tiny screen and it looked like it said the price was $0.00. I pulled out my glasses. Yup, there it was, right there at the top of the item list, $0.00. We finished collecting more stuff (which posted their prices correctly) and checked out. Later we inspected the paper receipt which was missing the bread altogether. I think I’ll be buying more of that bread!
• Bad Printing The deli counter apparently had problems with one of its printers, it was printing labels that the scanner ignored. When I moved from meat to cheese a different printer was used, so the cheese scanned fine. At the checkout, that scanner wouldn’t see the bad labels either, so I called to some nearby suits who apparently had nothing better to do. One of them summoned an attendant who scanned their ID and keyed the labels in directly, using a screen that regular customers don’t see. He told the suits – all three had come over to share in the fun – that the last 20 or so deli orders had been that way. No wonder I didn’t see him around: he was busy with someone else’s override.

I’m not complaining. Even with the problems I’d say I’m still pretty far ahead, time-wise (plus one loaf of rye bread). But I’d be interested in seeing the ‘shrinkage’ numbers before and after installing the system.

I hate grocery shopping. I’ll try just about anything to minimize the time I waste in grocery stores. So I was delighted when I recently encountered Stop & Shop‘s new Easy Shop system. (ed. 13-Mar-2009: The system is called Scan It!, not Easy Shop, in our area.)

All you need to do is swipe your customer card at a kiosk, pick up a hand scanner (ergonomically designed, high contrast color screen, made by Motorola), collect a few empty bags (paper or plastic or, for you greenies, use your own reusable bags) and go hit the aisles. Scan your items as you shop and load your bags the way you want them loaded. Along the way, the scanner periodically spams you with relevant special deals that might interest you. And when you’re finished, the scanner quickly uploads its list to the register. A quick credit card transaction and you’re out the door!

Naturally I was interested in what others had to say about the new system, and I wasn’t surprised to find that many (most?) don’t like it. After all, out here on the Web we love to complain! (Google “Stop & Shop” and “Easy Shop” and see for yourself.) One of the big complaints seems to be that it would put cashiers out of work. Do you really presume to think that by assuming a tiny bit of inconvenience you can preserve someone’s position? Besides, I love to talk to anyone and everyone and I have not met a single cashier yet that actually likes their job. Other users don’t care for the random audits, feeling like they’ve been singled out. I don’t know what triggers an audit and I’ve only used the system once (no audit), but I don’t know how else they could detect shrinkage or ensure customer honesty.

There is an RFID-based system being developed – I think it’s being tested in Germany – whereby you simply load up your cart and push it out the door. No hand scanning is necessary and your entire order is tallied en masse as you exit, billed automatically to your credit card. It sounds intriguing but I think we’re safe for a while.

Oh and before you ask, yes, I have tried Peapod. The service is well worth the fee, but the product selection is… suboptimal.

There were two main reasons to build this computer. Damian’s laptop, a hand-me-down almost 8 years old, had been showing signs of impending failure for some time. No surprise, he runs it 24×7 and the heat has physically damaged the finish on his desktop. And Pam, who plays Sims2 on her relatively recent desktop-replacement laptop, had been grumbling for a little more oomph. A plan was laid and by Christmas each would have their upgrades.

The Core i7 CPUs were just hitting the shelves and I briefly considered going that route. The on-board memory controller, new for Intel, meant new motherboard designs and chipsets. With reliability (not to mention my wallet – the i7s are kinda pricey today) in mind I chose the Core 2 Quad Q9550 instead. Well-supported, I’ve heard of folks pushing the 2.83 GHz part to 4 GHz and beyond. Cooling is always an issue but I didn’t want the hassle of liquid systems so an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro was added to the list.

The Gigabyte GA-EP45T-DS3R motherboard has been getting excellent reviews for its tweakability and DDR3 memory support so it was added to the list. Everyone knows that memory is king. I started with two sticks (4 GB) of Corsair 1333 Mhz DDR3. It’s an easy no-loss jump from there to 8 GB. And if swapped for 4 GB parts, this board will hold 16 GB so there would be some headroom left for the future.

The next choice was the GPU. Wow, things had come a long way since I last paid attention! After an evening of digesting reviews a choice was made: the GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 from EVGA. The 896 GB NVIDIA-based unit turns in solid performance for the price and also has some potential for tweaking later.

Key to user satisfaction is a good monitor choice and one in particular has always stood out: the HP w2408h. 24 inches of HDMI, 5 ms, high-contrast saturated colors with a native 1920×1200 resolution. Sometimes you’ve got to just swallow hard and go for it, and this was one of those times. Pam would be delighted with this monitor, and that’s what I was aiming for.

The rest of the component choices were rather pedestrian. A DVD-RW drive for loading stuff, a Western Digital SATA drive for holding stuff, a Microsoft wireless laser mouse for pointing at stuff, and a WLAN card to avoid a new cable run. A nice-looking, well-built Antec P182 case would hold all this nicely with plenty of room for expansion. Oh, yeah, and an OEM 64-bit Vista Home Premium. Y’know, buying a copy of Windows always leaves my stomach a bit unsettled and this was no exception – not to mention that this would be the first Vista box in the house. Well, at least it shipped with SP1…

A bit of back-of-the-envelope power analysis called a power supply of 650-700 watts, so a BFG Tech ES-800 was added to the list. (This PSU would end up failed in less than a month, hmmm, more on that in a future entry.)

The final order was placed with Newegg and soon the components were coming in. Between these and other Christmas shipments our UPS driver was becoming a daily visitor! 

Physically, the build went quite uneventfully, easily even, thanks to component standardization and that well-designed Antec case. Oh, there were the usual share of driver issues, a BIOS change or two, a few ‘trial’ Windows installs, stuff like that, but nothing that couldn’t be handled. Vista reported a base score of 5.9 for every subsystem, the highest available as this is written.

Pam named her new rig Thor. Then the machine-shuffling got started in earnest.

Overall I’m pleased with the result, but there have been a number of… interesting… things that I’ll talk about in subsequent entries. Like that failed power supply, for one. Stay tuned.

Some days ago we stopped at the supermarket for a couple of things. Standing in the checkout line we saw something new – Chocolate Skittles.

Chocolate Skittles

Now, I actually like Skittles. Especially the sour ones that are encrusted with that crystalline stuff that stimulate your taste buds not unlike a full stack of Marshalls cranked up to 11 does to your ears. My kid, like 99% of all kids, loves that stuff, too. (An equal proportion of adults hate that taste stimulation, incidentally, which I believe is by design.)

But these chocolate things? Ugh! Gave ‘em to my kid. He gave ‘em back. My wife refused to try ‘em after watching our reaction. ”Tastes like ass.” To say that the flavors in the package – S’mores, Vanilla (huh? vanilla in a ‘chocolate mix’?), Chocolate Caramel, Chocolate Pudding, Brownie Batter – seriously miss the mark is a gross understatement.

Products don’t just spring into being without consideration. Somewhere in Mars there was a meeting, the result being a decision taken to bring these abominations to market. Probably a bowl or two of ‘em right there on the conference table, alongside the coffee cups and water bottles. I wonder if any of the suits actually tasted ‘em. Somehow I doubt it.

Some years back I knew a girl that worked for Mars. She said that samples from their (rather extensive) product line were freely available in all their offices. I’ll bet the bowls of these never, ever need to be refilled.

Natalie Dylan (a pseudonym, of course) hopes to make a cool million auctioning her virginity. And why not? Some are outraged at the prospect, but why shouldn’t she? I’m actually surprised that it took this long for something like this to hit the news, given our capitalist society. Natalie seems to be a smart girl: “Not only does she have a degree in Women’s Studies, she is looking to raise money to continue her education and get her master’s degree in Psychology so she can practice Family Psychology” from the promotional flyer posted at the Bunny Ranch. She just wants some cash. CBS reported a few days ago that the bidding is up to $250K.

So, um, I wonder if there’s a peripheral deal for the video rights?