DIYers IT Zone

Check out below charts for the top 10 supercomputer in the world.

The BlueGene/L – eServer Blue Gene Solution using IBM processor got the 1st place using 131072 pcs of processors and 32768 GB memory…..

This monster computer is owned by  Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)  which is a premier applied science laboratory that is part of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) within the Department of Energy (DOE). LLNL has been managed since its inception in 1952 by the University of California for the U.S. government.

Microsoft just released Internet Explorer Beta 7. I’ve been using it (Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2) recently and find that it is faster loading than Firefox, however there are a lot of quirks that it lacks; the integrated search box, tabs that can be shifted from one side to other, and other little things that I absolutely love from Firefox. I just downloaded IE7Beta3 this morning so let’s see what they’ve improved. Let’s see how well they’ve listened to us. The download is available at Microsoft’s website. Internet Explorer 7 Beta 3

Download

Problems with the Windows Genuine Advantage check?
Dont need the hasle?

Well Microsoft made the check as an add-on so heres how you disable it

Now goto Windows Update and get your updates

I came across a thread at E-traderland chinese forum talking about what’s the different between sdram and ddr. Therfore hereby i shared some info regarding this issue. ( as far as i know ^_^ )

Normally in the market ram/memory had been categorized into 3 types, which are SDRAM， DDRSDRAM and DDR2SDRAM.

1.) SDRAM ( Synchronous DRAM ) : Run at PC100 / PC133 Mhz with 168 pins

2.) DDR SDRAM ( Double Data Rate Synchronous DRAM ) : Run at DDR266 /PC2100， DDR333 /PC2700 DDR400/PC3200 as major speed. ( Due to DDR2 had been launch, normally in the market only DDR333 and DDR400 are available.)
Other than that we also have DDR433 / DDR466 / DDR500 / DDR500 / DDR600 which is high performance type。
*PC3200 = 3200Mhz = 3.2Gb/s bandwidth
*DDR400 = 200Mhz X 2 ( double data rate )

3.) DDR2 SDRAM ( 2nd generation of DDR SDRAM )
Run at DDR2 533/PC4200, DDR2 667/PC5400, DDR2 675/PC5400…….. DDR2 1066/ PC8500 with 240pins

For those who want to upgrade their ram/memory, u have to makesure what kind of memory that your motherboard supported

Some motherboard can support both ddr sdram and sdram but only can run 1 type only.

Ubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. It is developed by a large community and we invite you to participate too!
The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Philosophy: that software should be available free of charge, that software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and that people should have the freedom to customise and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.

These freedoms make Ubuntu fundamentally different from traditional proprietary software: not only are the tools you need available free of charge, you have the right to modify your software until it works the way you want it to.

Ubuntu is suitable for both desktop and server use. The current Ubuntu release supports PC (Intel x86), 64-bit PC (AMD64) and PowerPC (Apple iBook and Powerbook, G4 and G5) architectures.

Ubuntu includes more than 16,000 pieces of software, but the core desktop installation fits on a single CD. Ubuntu covers every standard desktop application from word processing and spreadsheet applications to web server software and programming tools. Read more about Ubuntu on the desktop and Ubuntu on the server.

Whats new in 6.0.6 TLS:

On the Desktop CD

• A new, very fast, graphical installer based on the Live CD
• Faster system startup and login
• Simplified menu organization
• Graphical shutdown process
• Easy access to power management settings with GNOME Power Manager
• Improved support for video playback
• Optional NetworkManager for convenient roaming between different
  • wireless and wired networks
• GNOME 2.14.1, OpenOffice.org 2.0.2, X.org 7.0

On the Server

• New kernels targeted at server platforms. The server kernels are
  • tuned differently than the desktop kernels (providing better performance for server applications).
• There are both low-end, and “big iron” server kernels. The low-end
  • server kernel is generic, and should work on the same equipment that the desktop kernel runs on. The highend server kernel is geared towards systems with greater than 8 CPUs (ES7000 / Summit / BIGSMP).
• Turn-key LAMP installation for this common deployment scenario
• Improved support for clusters and SANs
• Numerous thin client enhancements, including faster client startup,
  • graphical boot process, reduced memory requirements, and sound device support

For those of you who don’t know, Asus has been making high-end PC products for years. The company recently announced a flurry of new laptops including a UMPC, a tablet PC, and even a Lamborghini-branded model. We looked at the W2Jb ($2,200 street), a high-end desktop replacement. With TV-recording capabilities and a vibrant 17-inch widescreen, this notebook is designed to appeal to the hardcore media enthusiast.

Type: Gaming, Media, Small Business

Operating System: MS Windows XP Media Center

Processor Name: Intel Core Duo T2600

Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz

RAM: 2048 MB

Hard Drive Capacity: 120 GB

Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon X1600

Primary Optical Drive: DVD+R DL

Wireless: 802.11a/g

Screen Size: 17 inches

Screen Size Type: widescreen

System Weight: 7.9 lbs

Read the Asus W2Jb full review here.

When choosing a web hosting service, there are few things we need to concern about, especially for those who are not familiar with hosting service, just like me… haha….

1. What kind of server OS ( operating system ) / environment u want ?

U can choose either window plan or linux plan. Both environment are totally difference.

Windows Hosting is ideal for those who prefer the functionality of ASP.NET 2.0 and Access database. Operating under the Windows OS such as 2003 / 2000.
While Linux Hosting is ideal for those who prefer the functionality of PHP and MySQL database. Operating under linux OS such as Fedora, CentOS, Debian and much more.

For OS, normally linux hosting will be cheaper than window hosting due to the OS licensing fee.

2. What kind of hosting u prefer?

U need to choose a package type such as shared hosting, reseller hosting, dedicated hosting, Colocation hosting or VPS hosting. More details regarding these can refer to my post in What is hosting ?

3. Hosting company

Now we come to hosting company, here we separate to local hosting company & oversea hosting company. Local hosting means that the hosting provided is based locally while the later is based oversea. Normally local hosting will host their servers in local datacentre such as KL Netmyne Brickfields Datacenter, Myloca datacentre in Cyberjaya or Kuching Jaring Kuching Datacenter and etc.

For oversea hosting company, they will host their servers in respective country such as Data 393 datacentre in Denver/Colorado USA, The planet datacentre in Dallas/Texas USA and etc.

For local datacentre, there are pros & cons.

Pros:

- no time zone, easy to look for their support in phone call or direct contact especially encounter with complicated technical stuffs.
- easy to make payment such as local GIRO, direct deposit.

- u have their address, easy to talk/find them. Less worry that they will just closed & run away with your money.

- Easy to communicate because same language.

- For target browsers in local, speed will be faster because u didnt use International Bandwith.

Cons:

- More expensive caused by hardwares and international bandwidth ( Major ISP count in USD ).

- Poor technical & response from Telekom datacentres . For those streamyx users u will know how good is the streamyx broadband service they provided …

4. What do u need to concern after choosing a hosting company

- After u choosed the suitable company, u need to check also their server uptimes, customer services.

- Make sure the company is not a reseller because lots of reseller do not have technical background…

5. Features

Lastly we need to compare what kinds of features the hosting plan provides. Such as control panel, database/domain/email/bandwidth restiction, supports, backup and etc.

Hopefully this article can give those who looking for hosting plan a clear view or guidance.

PS: Do not get cheated by those cheap cheap shared hosting which got plenty of problems….

PhotoBucket, which drives 2% of the total United States traffic, is reported to be leading the photo-sharing craze, according to a reported published by Hitwise.

The reported points out that PhotoBucket commands 44% of the photo-sharing market, followed by Yahoo! Photos, CNET’s Webshots, and Yahoo!’s Flickr. Although PhotoBucket is a new player on the market, it has appealed to many MySpace users. Interestingly enough, the friendly user interface of PhotoBucket outweighs the use of AJAX (More information on AJAX here) on their website.

Why is Flickr bringing up the rear compared to other services? Flickr has had amazing success in the blogosphere; Many people have their photostream from Flickr on their weblog or website. As I said, PhotoBucket is very popular with MySpace users – Which is often referred to as “Feeding the MySpace Beast”. Many companies don’t like to feed the MySpace beast, but with over 70 million members, MySpace has given rise to many companies, such as Slide.com, which allows users to paste a Flash-based slideshow of their photos on their MySpace page or blog. It looks like it all comes down to MySpace, again.

We know that window embbed with shortcut key, such as alt+F4 to close task. Or desktop shortcut icon to open program.

Other than that, we can also customize shortcut key to open a program we often use.

1. Right click the program –> click properties

2. In the shortcut key tab, hold shift or ctrl key & assign no ( range 1~9 ) any keys you  want.

3. After assign, click apply and ok. Next time u just press ctrl+alt+number and u can open the program u want. ( more faster than clicking shortcut icon… )
PS: My window xp is chinese version… but the format should be the same