On Computers Tips

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 07-05-09

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:36:59 PDT

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 07-05-09. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

10 Open Source Twitter Clients - And Counting...

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:06:43 PDT

19 Desktop Apps for Twitter Compared posted by Earl

Earl's Cyber Steals and Deals

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 06:29:54 PDT

AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz CPU $170 at Newegg
Click Here Newegg has the AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor for $190 - $20 coupon code EMCLTPL82 [Exp 7/6] = $170 with free shipping. Covered by a 3-year warranty

OCZ 4GB (2x2GB) PC2-8500 Desktop RAM Kit for $35 after rebate + free shipping newegg.com offers the OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB PC2-8500 DDR2-1066 240-Pin Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit with two 2GB DIMMs, model no. OCZ2F10664GK, for $34.99 via the directions below. With free shipping, that's the lowest total price we could find by $32, although it was $11 less in February (since expired). Deal ends July 10. To get this deal:
Click here and add it to your cart for $49.99
Apply coupon code "MEM7156" to cut it to $44.99
This $10 mail-in rebate cuts it further to $34.99

GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4650 1GB PCIe Video Card for $50 after rebate + free shipping
newegg.com offers the GIGABYTE Radeon HD 4650 1GB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 2.0 Video Card, model no. GV-R465OC-1GI, for $59.99. Rhis $10 mail-in rebate cuts it to $49.99. With free shipping, that's the lowest total price we could find by $17. This RoHS-compliant card features DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 2.1 support, 650MHz core clock speed, one HDMI output, and one dual-link DVI output. Rebate ends July 31.

iRobot Roomba 535 Robotic Vacuum for $170 + free shipping
Buy.com offers the iRobot Roomba 535 Robotic Vacuum for $169.99 with free shipping. It's the lowest total price we could find by $64, although it was $15 less during a Woot in May. The Roomba 535-01 features a charger, one virtual wall lighthouse, replacement filter, and more.

Irobot Roomba with Virtual 4210 Walls - Remanufactured (Mfr# ROOMBAVWRM) » only $116.99 (Was: $149.00) at Buy.com

2-Pack Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB 32MB Drive $200 at Dell Click Here Still available. Dell has the 2-Pack Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive for $270 - $70 off coupon code 47DGX1L4SS?JS2 [Exp 7/8, 1000] = $200 with free shipping

New: Hanns-G 25" Widescreen LCD Display with HDMI for $200 + free shipping
Ending today, newegg.com offers the Hanns-G 24.6" Widescreen LCD Monitor, model no. HH-251HPB, for $199.99. With free shipping, that's $20 under our mention from four days ago and the lowest total price we've seen. It features built-in speakers, a 1920x1080 native resolution, 2ms response time, 800:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m² brightness, and HDMI and VGA inputs.
Posted 8 hr 2 min ago More 24-Inch LCD Or Larger Newegg Coupons

New: Samsung 23" Widescreen 1080p LCD Display for $162 + free shipping
Dell Small Business offers the Samsung 23" 1080p Widescreen LCD Monitor, model no. 2333SW, for $279.99. Add it to your cart and the price drops to $179.99. Coupon code "22X6DLMFK6K92G" slices it to $161.99. With free shipping, it's $17 under our mention from two days ago and the lowest total price we could find. Sales tax is added where applicable. It features a 1920x1080 (1080p) native resolution, 5ms response time, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m² brightness, and DVI and VGA inputs. Coupon ends July 8.

Links from the Gregg Zone

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:09:57 PDT

1) Two links here to start, the first one I believe I used a while back, but I am not sure a video on air cars. I wanted to catch up and see if anything new was going on. This is a very interesting concept the information in the second half about the guy in Australia really caught me about no friction, that means no oil, anyway check it out here, http://www.brasschecktv.com The company site for MDI is here http://www.mdi.lu these guy’s have got it going on, wonder if we will be able to get them in the U.S. in this century.
2) I was, and still am very interested in the proposed space elevator, well looks like the may have some serious competition. What has been the biggest problem with the elevator are materials that are still a few years away. These guys may be able to pull it off in the next ten years, using existing materials. Very interesting check out the article here http://blogs.zdnet.com
3) This is one I believe Earl got me started with a while back, one of those things that point out how the web is changing the world. I have always liked books; have quite a few floating around, but nothing like what is available here. Information on over 25 million and counting, with free online full text for well over a million, nice. http://openlibrary.org/
4) This is one of those head shakers, you know the ones, you hear what they said, but have no reference to comprehend how it could be possible. I read the article title and was immediately thinking Yeah Right, or as Michael Angelo used to say “Please, permit me to doubt.” They are talking about using invisibility cloak research (a link here a few weeks ago) to make buildings invisible to earth quakes. If they can pull this off I will definitely be impressed http://www.newscientist.com
5) Okay most of you have probably already seen this, but for those that might have missed it, I thought I would use it here, some suggestions to create your own personal bucket list, for geeks that is. http://www.dailycupoftech.com

Windows 7 to RTM on July 13, 2009?

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:49:14 PDT

According to GeekSmack, Microsoft will announce that Windows 7 has hit the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) milestone on July 13. Unsurprisingly, the July 13 date coincides with the kickoff of the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference,

Microsoft Bing Dings Google, Searches Twitter Tweets

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:15:16 PDT

Microsoft adds real-time search capabilities to its Bing search engine as it seeks to knock Google from its search perch. Now users can use Bing to find the latest Twitter tweets from celebrities and other persons of note, including high-tech journalists. The move comes as startups CrowdEye, Collecta and others are propagating the Web with real-time search

Some Vista users say they're getting the Ultimate shaft | Beyond Binary - CNET News

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:50:19 PDT

"Microsoft promised that by purchasing the pricey Ultimate edition of Vista users would get all kinds of extras.

However, for many, those extras turned out to be little more than a few screensavers and a poker game, prompting some significant grousing."

In my looking around the web I found Costco is taking orders for Windows 7 for Windows® 7 Professional Upgrade for $97.99 and Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade $47.99.
You have until July 11 to Pre-Order your copy of Windows 7.

I like Windows 7 much better than Vista. I have HAD Vista Ultimate.

AlaskaJoe

FireFox 3.5 available Tuesday with massive speed gain.

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:26:30 PDT

Firefox 3.5 has plenty of new features that make it worth the upgrade, but the real reason we love it so much is the massive speed gain.

Pirate Bay Bought Out Suddenly Respects Copyrights

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:11:19 PDT

Swedish software firm buys The Pirate Bay for £4.7m
Global Gaming Factory X buys file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, promising that copyright holders will get paid

Thoughts on Windows 7 SKUs

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:51:20 PDT

It is rare that I link directly to Microsoft and even more rare that I link to a product page, but I thought it was fitting in writing this piece about Windows 7. Beyond that I have some really nice things to say about what MS did this time around.

Let me start with my take on the many Windows 7 SKUs. There are really only three that non-enterprise, US upgrading customers will ever need to think about. They are called Windows 7 Home Premium; Windows 7 Professional; and Windows 7 Ultimate. Each boxed copy includes both 32 and 64 bit DVDs, unlike Vista which only included both 32 and 64 bit with Ultimate.

One of the best sites out there that describes what features each of these SKUs includes is this page at Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows. What you will notice is, that unlike Vista, each SKU is more comprehensive. Higher tier SKUs of these three include all of the features of the lower tiered SKUs. In Vista, for example, Business (Professional) included a fax utility, Home Premium included the Media Center, and only Ultimate included both. In Windows 7 both Home Premium and Professional (Business), includes both fax and Windows Media Center.

The biggest feature that Windows 7 Professional offers over Home Premium is XP Mode. While Professional includes some other nice features, to me XP Mode is the dealmaker. Ultimate offers very little extra for the vast majority of non-enterprise users over Professional, but if you just have to have Bitlocker, Ultimate is the SKU you want.

It is important that users have this information now because the pre-order deal where you can get Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade for $49.99 and Windows 7 Professional Upgrade for $99.99 will end July 11 in the US, or "until supplies last". My personal opinion about the "until supplies last" is that they will last until July 11; but I may be wrong.

I've ordered 2 copies of Windows 7 Professional for our Windows XP desktops, where we will need to have the option of XP Mode, and 1 copy of Home Premium for my laptop where I don't need that function. Had this pre-order special not occured, I would only be upgrading my laptop which currently runs Vista. By selling me $250 worth of upgrades as opposed to $120 worth, I see this as a win for me and a win for Microsoft (even when including their cost to produce three packages as opposed to one). I have no doubt that MS's net profit from me and others like me will be greater than it would have been without this offer.

Of course all our needs vary, so look at the comparison charts, and if you know you want Windows 7 go for it (you can still test drive it by downloading the release candidate now). This special pre-order upgrade pricing is a great opportunity if either Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional will meet your needs. For the vast majority of us, I believe that one of these two SKUs will do what we need and want it to do.

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 06-28-09

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:01:37 PDT

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 06-28-09. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Earl's Cyber Steals and Deals

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 02:07:32 PDT

Dell G2410 24" Full HD LED Widescreen LCD $188 at Dell Business
Click Here Dell Business has the Dell G2410 24" Full HD LED-Backlit Widescreen Flat Panel LCD Monitor for $209 - 10% coupon code TJJSS8$J2MNJ0P [Exp 7/1] = $188 with free shipping. · 1920 x 1080, Ambient Light Sensor, PowerNap, and Dynamic Dimming· Ultra efficient power supply unit, 1000:1 Contrast Ratio, 3-Year Warranty
http://bensbargains.net/deal/105360/

New: Dell E2209W 22" Widescreen LCD Display for $143 + free shipping
Dell Small Business offers its Dell E2209W 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor for $159. Apply coupon code "TJJSS8$J2MNJ0P" to drop it to $143.10. With free shipping, resolution of 1680x1050, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m² brightness, and both DVI-D with HDCP and VGA

New: ASUS 24" 1080p Widescreen LCD Display with HDMI for $180 + free shipping
newegg.com offers the ASUS 23.6" 1080p Widescreen LCD Monitor, model no. VH242H, for $179.99 with free shipping. ZipZoomfly.com resolution of 1920x1080 (1080p), integrated speakers, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m² brightness, 5ms response time, one HDMI input, and both DVI and VGA inputs.

New: Hitachi 500GB Serial ATA 3Gbps Internal Hard Drive for $45 after rebate + free shipping
newegg.com offers the OEM Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Serial ATA Internal Hard Drive, model no. HDP725050GLA360, for $54.99 with free shipping. This $10 mail-in rebate cuts it to $44.99 ($0.09/GB)., factory-sealed unit. It features a 16MB cache and runs at 7200 rpm. Rebate expires June 30.

Nextar X3i-03 Portable GPS w/ Text-to-Speech SAVE $70.00 FREE BUDGET SHIPPING Buy.com price: $69.99 List price: $139.99

Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive - OEM $89.99 Your Price: $79.99 With Promo Code
EMCLTNS34

Two Seagate 1.5TB SATA 3Gbps Internal Hard Drives for $200 + free shipping Dell Home offers two Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Internal Hard Drives, model no. ST31500341AS, for $269.99 with free shipping. Apply coupon code "QSRDBGRSGP7MFG" to chop them to $199.99 ($0.07/GB). 7200 rpm and feature a 32MB cache

Refurbished Linksys Wireless-N USB Network Adapter for $20 + free shipping eCOST.com via eBay DailyDeal offers the refurbished Linksys Wireless-N USB Network Adapter, model no. WUSB300N, for $19.99. With free shipping

Home Style Outdoor Cordless Rechargeable Bug Zapper for $20 + free shipping Buy.com offers the Home Style Outdoor Living Cordless Rechargeable Bug Zapper, model no. 72043, for $19.99 with free shipping. generates 2,200 volts of electricity and features a rechargeable battery and AC adapter

Links from the Gregg Zone

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:54:40 PDT

1) Okay here we go again; to start off the week I had something catch my eye about airplanes. Seems there is an outfit in Switzerland getting ready to fly a solar powered plane around the world, using not a single ounce of fuel. When one considers the Wright Brothers first sustained flight was in 1903, then just 21 year’s later the first circumnavigation of the planet, another twenty years we had jets. Considering the Sunseeker 2 just made news flying over the Alps on April 20th this year, link here http://www.treehugger.com and now another project is already planning a circumnavigation, looks like speedy progress to me. http://hosted.ap.org
2) This is something coming on the market that invokes a lot of innovation, and for me produced a lot of weird thoughts in my mind. Not sure what to think about it, on some levels sounds like a great idea, but then I think about the military applications, second generations, pets, well just not sure. I will let you decide we are talking about robotic furniture with a taste for flesh it eats pests like insects, mice, and not sure what else, then digests the critters and uses them as bio-fuel to power themselves, http://blogs.zdnet.com
3) Here is one that surprised me a little, and also caused me some deeper contemplation of what intelligence is, at least when related to numbers and basic math. It would appear some animals have a basic awareness of numbers, and some math. They just do not have language to discuss what it means limiting their ability to use it in a meaningful way. http://www.newscientist.com
4) It has been awhile since I used anything relating to UFO’s, I got caught up in the crop circle thing again last week, and I see them as related in some way. When I ran across this site I thought I would use it as it seems pretty good for keeping up with what is current. http://www.hyper.net
5) For my geek link of the week, something I hope will prove to be wrong, I think this was sent to me by Troll, but it has been in the folder for a couple of weeks, so I am not sure, if so thanks. Some things just seem to follow patterns I don’t like and this may be one. The article predicts the internet will be free for less than five years. Somehow sounds par for the course, but I hope they are wrong, http://blogs.zdnet.com

Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with him - CNN.com

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:23:54 PDT

Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with him

* Story Highlights
* Michael Jackson's death sees Twitter, TMZ, news sites struggle to cope with traffic
* AOL's instant messenger service, Jackson fan sites also hit
* CNN reports fivefold increase in users, traffic
* Web fuels false rumors alongside news of Jackson's death"

Who would have though one person could bring the internet down?

AlaskaJoe

40th Anniversary of the Independent Software Industry

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:16:32 PDT

I declare June 23, 2009 as the fortieth anniversary of the independent software industry. It was on this day in 1969 that IBM, then the computer industry's most powerful force and under antitrust fire, unbundled software and services from its mostly mainframe computer business model. The rest is history, but under-appreciated and worthy of celebration.

In June 1969, I was a few months into my first programming job and assigned to combine a handful of labor accounting programs written in COBOL (Common Business-Oriented Programming Language) for my employer, a subsidiary of a calculator company called Wang Laboratories. Wang would later become a big player in the 1980s, but at the time desktop computers were still being invented by some colleagues a few offices away. All the news of the computer industry was delivered monthly in Datamation magazine. A bit of a contrast from today's Information Technology industry rate of change.

My computer was an IBM 360-65, the top of the line mainframe ancestor of today's IBM Z-series mainframes. It had tapes, and disks, and telecommunications, and printers. The 360-65 had about 1/400th of the computing power of today's iPhone 3G, but it got the job done for the big applications then. It also had IBM's mainframe operating system and a dozen IBM software products such as the COBOL compiler. Cost over $10 million. When you bought or rented the machine, it came bundled with IBM services including IBM's systems engineers to care and feed the IBM software (and typically, the customer's software).

In 1969, there were few choices in software development. The largest companies had IBM programmers turn business processes into application programs, with the goal of IBM reselling these to recoup some of the investment. There were a few small custom programming shops, but most software was developed in-house. Very slowly and at great cost. Business programmers were uncommon, there were no tools for application modeling or even code maintenance (think punch cards), systems analysis was not systematized, and computer time was very expensive.

IBM's decision to unbundle software and services, under the real threat of an antitrust breakup of the company, created the inflection point that inexorably led to today's panoply of computer options. I commend the linked article by an IBM insider on how that decision was made. The import of IBM's decision was simple but had widespread effect: customers no longer had to buy IBM software or services to use on their IBM hardware. Within a year, John Cullinane was working in our data center on Culprit, the first product of Cullinet Corp, which went on to create one of the great mainframe databases, IDMS. Charles Wang created a company, Computer Associates, around a magnetic tape library utility. The industry flourished in the 1970s with software that ran on standard IBM mainframe hardware and operating software. Application, development software tools, and system software competition for IBM products became an industry itself. Gene Amdahl went the other way, creating plug-compatible mainframe hardware that ran IBM operating software and all the other third-party and user application software.

The IBM unbundling decision led to the common understanding of the model consisting of proprietary hardware architecture surrounded by a ecosystem of companies that provided add-on system software, applications, and services. In the 1970s, that model served to jump-start the minicomputer industry with the rapid growth of Digital Equipment, Data General, and Wang Laboratories, followed by Prime and Sun Microsystems, to name just a few.

In the early 1980s, IBM repeated the model by selecting a tiny microprocessor compiler company, Microsoft, to deliver a basic operating system for IBM's highly proprietary Personal Computer, which used Intel's microprocessor. Today, of course, Microsoft and Intel have joined IBM on the list of Dow Jones Industrials. And IBM isn't even in the PC business any more.

I could go on in more detail and reminiscences, but I've made my point: IBM created the robust global computer industry of today by unleashing the forces of competition with its 1969 unbundling decision. What IBM thought at the time was a defensive decision to protect its core mainframe profits actually created a much larger business that allowed IBM to grow larger and more profitable than it would have been as a 1960s-style monopolist.

So, Happy Birthday, independent software and services industry. I've enjoyed the ride.

Wills on assignment social networking

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:46:39 PDT

Got my first tweet back from Marie @ fox's Good Day LA with in a few mins of sending it to her about a item on the show kinda cool to get a response in real time while the show is on the air have had trouble with sending /and finding how to send a message to a person I'm following updating what im doing seemd stright forward so i am going to spend more time on social networking ie my space, facebook, twitter. if you have any questions, comments, hints/clues, or suggestions you can contact me by email at wills@oncomputers.info or twitter me at http://twitter.com/ke6sop p.s. let me know if you have any ideas for other things i can check out

Courtesy of Microsoft: Pick up an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3G S with a 35% discount from AT&T

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:47:00 PDT

Bing, a search engine no one uses, is trying to lure users by offering cash incentives. One of those incentives is a 35% discount at the AT&T (NYSE: T) Online Store, which means you can get a new iPhone 3G S for as low as $130!
If you are waiting for the new iphone 3gs here is a deal for you!

AlaskaJoe

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 06-21-09

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:04:56 PDT

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 06-21-09. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:35:29 PDT

1) For my first offering something that covers several of my favorite subjects; green cars, fuel solutions, and a conspiracy. I first ran into this a while back, may have even used it here, a car in Japan that runs on water, ready for production. I have actually seen several of these on the internet, usually involving Browns Gas. The first link is for a Reuters video about the car, the conspiracy revolves around the sudden closing of the business, there have been several of these with mysterious endings like the inventor suddenly dying. When I went to YouTube for the video I found two that had been removed before I found this one. http://www.reuters.com Second link to a short story about the possible conspiracy, I found several other stories hypnotizing on the conspiracy, but I am having trouble finding them again, Google is your friend. http://www.greenoptimistic.com
2) This link was sent to me by Joe last week, and may either prove or disprove the conspiracy referred to previously. A car to hit the market soon with the equivalent of 360 mpg. If the plant closes due to a mysterious explosion, fire, death of the inventor or whatever, we just may be on to something. This really sounds like a promising concept although they do not go into a great deal of detail about the fuel system, there may be a need for more Googling. http://www.tgdaily.com
3) Now for some thing a little closer to center zone. I’m talking about time travel it is becoming more and more a subject of interest in the world of physics, there is actually quite a bit of research going on. The posted video link even mentions one of the theories I adhere to, I first heard it mentioned by Terrance McKenna in a discussion about Time Wave Zero, when ask “If time travel is possible, where are all of the time travelers?” He gave the answer I like; "You cannot go back in time before the invention of the first time machine". Terrance went on to say “It will be obvious when the first time machine is invented, because they will instantly be everywhere, because of people going back to visit the day of its inception.” Many theorize that will be in December 2012, and cause the end of the universe as we know it. http://www.youtube.com Dr. Ron Mallet makes a great Google search, even in Wikipedia.
4) This is one of those things that make me kind of wish I was much younger, because it indicates the potential of technology for the next 50-100 years. These people are quite serious, because they are actually spending money today, it makes you believe they are serious. They are building a space hotel, among several other projects. When we get private money into leaving the planet, it will happen; government was great for doing the research and development, proving the concept. But, private industry making big bucks, that is what will bring it to the common people. That is unless we change our priorities, or invent time machines, and then we can just go to the future and bring back all the blueprints. This is a good site to start a Google surfing trip. http://www.spaceislandgroup.com
5) For the Geek Link of the week I have to thank Troll for pointing out once again just how at risk I am, when it comes to using my computer. A very informative article about the most dangerous things to search for on the internet. For someone who likes to search as much as I do this is a must read, that does not mean I will recognize a problem, at least I will be more aware that I may be in a bad neighborhood, and look over my shoulder a little more often. http://blogs.zdnet.com

Earl's Cyber Steals and Deals

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:39:12 PDT

WESTERN DIGITAL Caviar® Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA II 7200 RPM 32MB Buffer Hard Drive Bulk $72 Rebate is in ad Expires June 20

TRENDnet TEW-432BRP Wireless G Broadband Router with lots of setup options at Buy/com $15 at BUY com.
Trednet wifi router Gets good reviews at Amazon: \

Logitech Digital Precision PC Gaming Headset $13 at Buy.com
Click Here Buy.com has the refurbished Logitech Digital Precision PC Gaming Headset for $13 + $0 shipping = $13 shipped

Winegard Outdoor HDTV Antenna for $32 + free shipping
Buy.com again offers the Winegard HD-1080 Outdoor HDTV Antenna for $31.99. With free shipping, that's the lowest total price we could find by $9. This bow-tie antenna receives UHF, VHF, and local HDTV broadcasts.

New: Dell 22" 1080p Widescreen LCD Display for $139 + free shipping Dell Home offers the Dell S2209W 21.5" 1080p Widescreen LCD Monitor, model no. N764H, for $199 with free shipping. Apply coupon code "C3Q7GBDZZR5GMH" to drop it to $139. 1920x1080 (1080p) native resolution, 5ms response time, 1,000:DVI-D (with HDCP) and VGA inputs. Coupon expires June 25.

New: Dell S2309W 23" 1080p Widescreen LCD Display for $159 + free shipping Dell Home offers the Dell S2309W 23" 1080p Widescreen LCD Monitor, model no. F906G, for $239 with free shipping. Apply coupon code "337B?PT55MDH0X" to drop it to $159. 1920x1080 (1080p), 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 5 ms response time, DVI-D (with HDCP) and VGA inputs. Coupon expires June 25.

AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.0GHz 65W Dual-Core Processor $87 at Newegg Click Here Newegg has the AMD Athlon II X2 250 Regor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM3 65W Dual-Core Processor for $87 with free shipping. sports a 2x1MB L2 cache, 65W thermal power, virtualization technology and 64-bit support. Heatsink and Fan included.

2-Pack Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB 32MB Drive $200 at Dell Click Here Dell Home has the 2-Pack Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive for $270 - $70 off coupon code QSRDBGRSGP7MFG [Exp 6/30, 1000] = $200 with free shipping. Features a rotational speed of 7200RPM and 32MB Cache. Here's Seagate's site pimping this drive. [

Hitachi 0A38016 1TB SATA Hard Drive $67 at Newegg
Click Here Newegg has the Hitachi 0A38016 1TB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive for $75 - 10% off with coupon code EMCHDD10A = $67 with free shipping. Features up to 43% idle power savings compared with previous generation products

Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 500GB SATA Drive $45 at Newegg
Click Here Newegg has the Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 0A35415 500GB SATA 7200 RPM 16MB Buffer Hard Drive Bulk for $50 - $5 coupon code EMCHDD10A [Exp 6/24] = $45 with free shipping. a choice of parallel ATA or serial ATA interface.

BlackBerry Storm 9530 Cell Phone $49.99 with Contract
Touch screen display that depresses slightly so you can feel the motion and it clicks when released. Supports single-touch, multi-touch and gestures. Cut and paste included.
Better Camera with higher resolution 3.2MP including video/auto focus/flash. BlackBerry still gets the nod for enterprise email integration with more flexibility and a proven track record.

Is Sun's SPARC architecture on life support?

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:39:39 PDT

Sun's long-hyped Rock chip is apparently dead. Well, that's one less project for Oracle to cancel when the merger goes through. With Sun's high-end future SPARC platform DOA, the future of SPARC machines gets riskier for enterprise IT strategists. With Solaris available on X64 commodity servers, there's no longer a huge case for SPARC.

Worth pondering: with the entire stack from base server hardware to Layer 7 applications, Oracle has the opportunity to create the one-stop shop for IT that has not existed since IBM got out of the application software business 40 years ago this month. What will Oracle do with that opportunity?

More Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon Details

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:05:05 PDT

Vendors and sellers have recently spilled the beans in regards to individual plans. Although Windows 7 doesn't officially hit the market until October 22, the program--set to kick off on June 26-- is to stimulate potential customers into purchasing a new PC before the Windows 7 launch ...Earl

New Bing Search Engine Raising Fears at Google

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:54:52 PDT

Sergey Brin Google co-founder is, according to sources inside the tech behemoth, leading the team of search-engine specialists in an effort to determine how Bing's crucial search algorithm differs from Google's. MICROSOFT'S 'DECISION ENGINE' DECIDEDLY RACY WITH VIDEOS ...Earl

OnComputers Radio show Podcast 06-14-09

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:40:12 PDT

This is the On Computers Radio show podcast for 06-14-09. You can listen live every Sunday from 10AM to 1PM Pacific that's 1PM to 4PM Eastern. Join us for the live show and chat. If you prefer, you can download the same MP3 file here via ftp.

Links from the Gregg Zone

joe@oncomputers.info (Joe Polinsky) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:06:37 PDT

1) Going to start the week off with this http://i.gizmodo.com an article sent to me a while back. Reminded me of the “Back to the Future” movie when he stuffed the banana peels into the car engine. I very much like the idea of using trash directly to power a car. Soon we may have our own private energy converter to run something, the car, refrigerator, or maybe just a few lights.
2) This is one of those things I kept wondering how long it would be before they became popular again. Meaning the Zeppelin a tourist company in San Fransisco is doing the revival. While it sounds a little pricey in the article, I would think popularity would bring down the price if they caught on. I like the idea, I would rather see them over the Grand Canyon than helicopters, and Vegas much quieter. I say bring them back http://news.cnet.com
3) This article in New Scientist was pretty interesting, the title “Seven things that don’t make sense about gravity” pretty much says it all. That bit about the more we learn the less we know keeps dogging the research physicists. But, it is okay I enjoy watching the show, I just wish I spoke the language a little better. http://www.newscientist.com
4) There was quite a bit of talk about radio on the last few shows, so when I ran across this it seemed to be a fit here. I personally had not heard of low power FM, but with the current changes in the air waves, there may be some more opportunities for local community oriented radio. http://www.prometheusradio.org/
5) For my geek orirented link of the week I thought the dissection of a worm might be interesting, that would be the conflicker worm. Interesting article here on the origin, inner workings, and general information. http://www.newscientist.com