5/20    Linux question.  my laptop has a Nvidia 8400M GS chipset.  For a
        while I was excited about the fact that Nvidia actually has
        Linux driver for such.  But after I used it for about 2-3
        weeks, I realize that this Nvidia driver is the reason why my
        Ubuntu is keep crashing.  I would like to swtich to a
        open-source driver, idealy, capable of leveraging some degree
	...

12/4    A question to you old crufy alumni: So lately we've suggested
        VMs, and been asked why it's necessary. We've suggested top-of-the-line
        hardware and been told we don't need that much power. So I'd like to
        ask -- what exactly do you think the CSUA is supposed to _be_?
        \_ Noone said VMs weren't needed.  They suggested you use the
        \_ No one said VMs weren't needed.  They suggested you use the
	...

12/3    Are any of you CSUA alums working at Intel?  Is it possible that we
        might be able to hit Intel up for donated/partially donated (reduced
        price) Core i7 Xeons when they come out?  Who would be a good person
        to contact about something like that?  We're of course willing to put
        out for them - perhaps we'll tattoo an Intel logo on toulouse if that's
        what they want :-p  -- steven
	...

3/28    A kind reminder that CSUA stands for Computer Science Undergrad
        Association. It is not the Political Science [aka I hate Democrats
        and I hate Republicans] Undergrad Association.
        In other news AMD is releasing a new laptop chip! EXCITING!!!
    http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/29/amds-laptop-ready-m690-chipset-unveiled
        \_ that's chipset.  and CS students like to talk politics.
	...

11/7    Yay, Dell unveils OptiPlex 740 with Athlon 64 X2, although it's
        rated at the same speed as Pentium D dual core (but still naturally
        lower than Core 2 Duo)
	...

9/7     FYI, the Athlon 64 X2 4600+ 65W (energy-efficient) retail CPU is now
        available on http://mwave.com for $250 (zipzoomfly has been advertising $295+
        for several weeks, newegg doesn't have it)
        \_ Nooo!  It's all about the E6600!  /me rubs his E6600 all over his
           pale, naked body.
           \_ Well the E6600 is somewhat faster than the 4600+.  A fairer
	...

8/24    Any recommendation for an SATA/eSATA PCI card for Linux?
        \_ Isn't there a hardware compatibility list for the major distros?
           \_ Yes there is a chip hardware compatibility list for linux, but
              I need an actual card. I think I'll get the Addonics ADSA3R5-E
              which has the Silicon Image 3124 chipset.. Any experience with it?
	...

8/7     Microcenter in Santa Clara has E6600 processors, OEM for $379.  I just
        got one.  If they still have some, you can request a "one day hold".
        -dgies
        \_ I'm still wondering what use everyone has for a CPU like this that
           a CPU at half the cost won't do.  I understand this is the bang for
           the buck price point.  What's all that bang for anyway?
	...

7/25    I want to buy a quiet PC. It doesn't have to be completely silent,
        just quieter than the one I have now (something I could put in a
        bedroom and still fall asleep). Can someone recommend a prebuilt
        but configurable computer (Dell etc) that isn't loud? I've seen some
        websites like http://silentpcreview.com but those seem very focused on
        building your own system, which I don't have time to deal with right
	...

7/26    Re the AMD price cuts Monday, http://newegg.com shows the Athlon X2 4600+
        Socket AM2 Windsor as $330 and out of stock, but http://mwave.com has it
        in stock for $240.  Also, the energy-efficient variants are only
        supposed to have a 10% mark-up, but no word on availability.
        Don't get screwed.
        \_ How much MORE efficient?
	...

7/1     So my new MacBook Pro is hot hot hot! And I mean, it is so hot that
        it is unbearable to put on my laptop, even when it is idling.
        In addition the battery lasts only 2 hours at max, when only
        5% of the CPU is used. In contrast, my 1.5GHz Pentium M is
        pretty cool, and lasts 2.5 hours with a smaller battery. My G4
        is also really really cool and lasts almost 4 hours. What the
	...

6/16    http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/cpu/intel-conroe-2-13-ghz.html
        "Here you can see the quintessence of Conroe's triumphal hymn. While
        the efficiency of Athlon 64 FX is higher by 58% versus Pentium eXtreme
        Edition 965, Conroe's efficiency is higher by 23% versus Athlon 64 FX!
        It seemed impossible to create something more efficient than the AMD K8
        core, but Intel engineers managed to do it." (June 15, 2006)
	...

5/6     http://goo.gl/KiIMT (shortened link from http://HP.com)
        seems like I get these every 6 months or so from HP.  Do all drives
         have these kind of issues and I only see the ones from HP because
         they are diligent about reporting/fixing these issues?  Or do they
         suck?   (It's not actually their drives so...)  Also, do I really
         need to bring down my production infrastructure and fix all this
	...

1/4     I want to test how my servers behave during a disk failure and
        a RAID reconstruction so I want to simulate a hardware failure.
        How can I do this in Linux without having to physically pull
        a drive? These disks are behind a RAID card and run Linux. -ausman
        \_ According to the Linux RAID wiki, you might be able to use mdadm
           to do this with something like the following:
	...

9/13    Thanks to Jordan, our disk server is no longer virtualized. Our long
        nightmare of poor IO performance should hopefully be over. Prepare for
        another long nightmare of poor hardware reliability!
        ...
        Just kidding! (I hope)
        In any case, this means that cooler was taken out back and shot, and
	...

2/18    Why does the system seem so sluggish lately?
        \_ Slow NFS is basically always the answer. --toulouse
        \_ Any truth to the rumor that soda will be decommissioned this summer?
           \_ Absolutely none. Soda might go down temporarily while disks are
              reorganized and stuff so soda doesn't suffer from such shitty
              performance nearly as much, but no, we've gotta maintain NFS and
	...

1/22    looking to buy a new development laptop
        needs ssdrive, >6 hr possible batt life, and runs linux reasonably
        Anyone have a recommendation? Thx.
        \_ thinkpad t23 w ssdrive and battery inplace of drive bay
        \_ Ever wondered what RICHARD STALLMAN uses for a laptop?  Well,
           wonder no more!
	...

10/27   I just read an article that Facebook had moved their database
        to all SSD to speed throughput, but now I can't find it. Has
        anyone else seen this? Any experience with doing this? -ausman
        \_ I hope you're not running mission critical data:
           http://ask.slashdot.org/story/09/10/27/1559248/Reliability-of-PC-Flash-SSDs?from=rss
        \_ Do you have any idea how much storage space is used by Facebook,
	...

8/20    When I use rsync to backup, it's pretty cool except in cases where
        I rename a directory name from the source. Rsync will just do
        a plain copy. Is there a program that'll detect renaming of
        directories (by checking for children files), or at least
        move them to a dated directory?
        \_ Not related but beware of using rsync as a backup tool.
	...

7/28    Does it make sense to defragment disks on VMWare? My 80GB disk
        on VMWare isn't really using 80GB, it just uses what it needs.
        Will defragment do anything to it?
        \_ If you want to speed up disk operation in your VM, it's best to
           defragment the disks in your VM, then defragment the disk on your
           host machine where the VM files are.
	...

7/24    Firefox 3.5.1 on MacOS is a piece of crap. It crashes ALL THE TIME.
        It has crashed 3 or 4 times on me in the last hour, and not on
        the same pages either. The new Yahoo! home page also sucks ass.
        \_ os x keeps trashing my raid disk: '11 hours to rebuild. have fun
           with the kernel IO subsystem running like shit until then".
           Worthless piece of shit.
	...