Jul 05 2009
3 Processors, 512MB of RAM, custom graphics chip and multichannel surround sound all gone to waste yesterday as AntiSceptic decided not to show up.
What is really bad is I thought we were starting to catch up to Narcogen and that 7,765 score… but not playing sure doesn’t help the cause…
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Jun 28 2009
3 Processors, 512MB of RAM, custom graphics chip and multichannel surround sound all gone to waste yesterday as AntiSceptic decided not to show up.
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Nov 10 2008
I was reading up on Windows Vista the other day (Ira’s laptop had it installed when we bought it last year), and I was surprised to find out that even with Service Pack 1 installed, 32-bit flavours of Windows Vista can only address up to 4Gb of memory. SP1 means that the amount of system memory is now correctly reported, but the amount of available RAM is unchanged. Because of the 4Gb limit including your graphics card’s memory and the other addresses used on your motherboard, you are not likely to be able to use much more than 3.25-3.5Gb, no matter what RAM you physically install, unless you move up to 64-bit flavours!
Jul 16 2008
Sorry, feel free to think of a better post title and leave it in the comments section 🙂
So why has a photographer placed a huge sheep (is a sheep that is male only referred to as a ram, or can it still be labelled as a sheep?) in some poor soul’s home? Simple, he didn’t… Nick Boing The Ram actually lives in David Palmer’s house. He was found as a lamb in the Cardiff area, and decided not to leave. Before any animal rights activists get ready to start protesting, the family have tried on multiple occasions to re-home Nick to a more traditional setting, but he doesn’t want to re-assimilate. Check out the BBC report for more details.
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Apr 25 2008
In case you have not already come across this recently, the BBC have an article on the fact that information stored in your computer’s RAM is not lost the moment you turn your PC off. Given that some passwords, and even contents of some documents that are otherwise encrypted (on the hard drive) are stored in RAM, this has security implications for many companies, and even some private individuals. Check out the link for more details, but basically a team has created some software that can be used whilst booting from a CD or thumbdrive, which can automatically search for, then extract, passwords and other sensitive information.
I did notice one error in the piece though – “… or while it is in sleeping or hibernation mode,” said Professor Felten. In these modes the laptop is not running, but information is still stored in RAM to allow it to “wake up” quickly.” Now unless I’ve misunderstood hibernation mode entirely, you will not find information permanently stored there. For me at least, the whole point of hibernation is that you can completely remove the power source for your PC, and still have it wake up very quickly when you do turn it on once more. If the information was actually left in RAM, then your PC would boot up correctly after you had removed and then later reattached the power lead. Anyway, still an interesting read IMO.
Mar 27 2008
OK, so far today we have had two power cuts. The first woke me up, as the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) sounds an internal alarm when the electricity is cut. However, when I’m not around, or deeper in a sleep, the PC is automatically shutdown to prevent data loss or damage to sensitive electrical equipment that could result from the supply being simply cut off.
However, what I would prefer is for the computer to hibernate. This means the PC is shut down to the point that it does not require any further electricity, but all the contents of the RAM is stored on the hard drive. Theoretically, this should mean that when the power is restored, I can turn on the PC, and have the same programs, webpages etc. all opened up as they were prior to the power cut. Anyway, there is no -h switch for the command line shutdown command, so I had to do a little searching. If I enter %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Hibernate into the program to be run after sixty seconds of no power, in the UPS configuration utility, the theory is that no data will be lost, and all should be fine. There are problems with some programs not being compatible with hibernation mode, but I’ll deal with those as they arise.
If you need more info, or specific guidance, leave me a message…
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Aug 02 2007
When my iPaq had to be hard reset last week, I took the opportunity to try out some alternative applications that I’d previously downloaded, but not got around to testing just yet. One of these was PocketNav. Unlike the two previous pieces of software I mentioned, this has nothing to do with travel, WiFI or GPS; instead it is a task switcher/ender replacement system. One of the problems with my 2210 is there is not much memory left for day to day usage, after the bare minimum has been installed to the internal storage section. (Unlike more recent Windows Mobile 5 powered PDAs, one block of RAM is dynamically split between storage and system.) I install as much as possible to the SD card, however some utilities are required before the OS can access external memory cards, and others are simply too slow to be stored anywhere other than the faster internal memory. Newer models have non-volatile memory specifically for program storage, which has the added benefit of the PDA not losing all its configuration if the battery should completely die.
Anyway I digress, apologies; one problem with closing programs on a PDA is that although they dissappear from the screen, they still reside in the memory. The reason for this approach is that when you next need to use the program, it is already present in memory, and therefore is almost instantaneously presented to the user. As is often the case with my digital accessories, I prefer to retain a little more control (if something works, it only proves you haven’t tweaked it enough 😉 ) over how they operate. PocketNav provides a way to permanently close applications that you do not want to stay resident; you then have more memory instantly available for the other programs you do want to keep or start running. PocketNav places a shortcut icon next to the clock in the top right corner, from which you can access a list of the programs/windows currently in memory. This also provides a simple task switcher. If my hardware buttons were not already re-assigned to directional duties (my d-pad no longer works) I could simply use the iTask app that Hewlett Packard install as standard to switch apps, however, previous to installing PcoketNav I had to return to the desired program’s shortcut to bring it to the foreground again.
One thing I noticed is that the shortcut icon disappeared when some programs covered it, however selecting the Windows Mobile 2002 style of shortcut icon bypassed this issue.
Anyway, I’ll report back on how things went after Amsterdam, when I will get a chance to test this program ‘in the field’ in more real life like conditions.
Once more this post is not sponsored, nor are there any affiliate links, I just hope someone finds the information useful.
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Jul 17 2007
In a similar vein to the previous post for Alex’s bro, this post is being written as a friend needs some help, and I am too appalled at the thought of typing it all into a messenger window, only to need it again in the future. I hope some other random person will one day find this post through a search engine, and find the contents useful. For anyone else, please indulge me a moment, normal random postings will resume shortly 😉
Firstly, some basic terminology / concepts to get a grip of, before proceeding.
PPC – For the purposes of this post, PPC can be safely assumed to refer to a Windows Mobile powered Pocket PC, such as an iPAQ.
RAR or ZIP files – These can be safely opened on your PC. See later for details.
EXE files – These are normally installation programs that will use ActiveSync to install a program for you automatically, the next time you plug your PPC into it’s cradle or USB lead. However, occasionally, you will find an EXE file that produces an error on your PC, when you try to run it. It may state something like ‘Not A Valid Win32 Application’. If this is the case, don’t despair, it is simply a program meant to run directly on your PPC, not your PC
CAB file – do NOT ever open or extract these files on your PC. In that path heart ache does lay. Follow instructions below.
Sync – for the purposes of this post, any mention of sync refers to you plugging your PPC into your PC. Whether it be via a cradle, USB lead, bluetooth or WiFi (if you have an old version of ActiveSync, before such usefulness was disabled), the end result is the same – the little circle in your system tray, that belongs to ActiveSync, should eventually go green, and stop rotating.
Anyway, back to the main reason for this post – how to install programs…
Open ONLY RAR or ZIP files on your PC :
Extract them somewhere temporarily (don’t delete until you know for certain program is working, not just as a demo, if you have ‘purchased’ a full version)
IF, and ONLY IF the extracted files is a CAB, then copy it via to your PPC (see below)
Always check the included documentation, but you can normally leave any other files on your PC – TXT NFO DOC files etc
How to copy CAB files?
Either eject your SD memory card, and put it in card reader in your PC, then copy the CAB file as you would any other type
OR plug your PPC into it’s cradle or USB lead, make sure ActiveSync says Synced or Connected. Right Click green circle icon in your PC’s system tray, and select ‘explore’ OR open the ActiveSync main window, select the File Menu, then ‘explore’
In either case navigate to My Windows Mobile-based Device (or words similar), then Storage Card, then copy the required file(s) as you would to any other directory or drive, such as a memory stick.
What now? Now open your favourite file explorer program on your PPC, navigate to the SD card, and THEN you can open the CAB file. It will install the program semi-automatically for you. When given a choice between the internal memory or your SD card, there are two factors to consider before deciding which location is best. In almost all cases, a large program should only be installed on the SD card. If the program is small, but is not needed often, or not likely to require fast transfers to operate normally, again install it to the SD card. If the program is something that will automatically load each time your PPC is started up, or is very small AND needs fast transfers or access times, ONLY then install to SD cards. Other may argue with this approach, but over time, you will find a few programs that give you no option as to where they will be installed – leave your PPC’s internal memory for those times. Also, the internal memory is dynamically split between storage space and operating memory. As a rough analogy, imagine you could use some of your PC’s 2Gb of RAM as a storage area (yes a RAM Drive before any geeks giggle and point). Now imagine you filled that 2Gb with crap you didn’t need very often. There would be little space left for anything interesting, such as large buffers or game playing resources.
If you happen to have found a PPC EXE file within your extracted RAR or ZIP file, copy them in the same manner as I mentioned above, except you will need to create a directory for the EXE file somewhere on your PPC first. You can dump it anywhere, but it makes it easier to spring clean / trouble shoot an issue if each application has its own distinct directory.
If the file you have is a normal PC EXE file, then when you run it, the program will actually copy and run the CAB file it contains for you automatically, the next time you sync your PPC.
May 16 2007
OK, lets explain a few basics first. (Apologies to family and friends in Britain, you will have heard these analogies a few times before).
When it comes to computer memory, MANY people get very confused over exactly what it is, and how things work. (To the point that my father in law mentioned a CPU rated in Gigabytes last night!)
If you hear someone mention memory, the first thing you need to ascertain is whether they mean RAM or storage (normally a hard drive).
If they quote a figure of less than 4 Gb (Gigabytes) it is most probably RAM they are talking about. This is a bit like the memory in your head, except when you stop working for the day, you normally remember everything the next day. A PC, when completely shut down, will lost all the contents of its RAM. This is one reason why you should save your work quite frequently – if you have a power cut, any changes you made since last saving it will be lost.
If someone talks about memory, and specifies it’s size as something around 200Gb (all the way up to Tb (Terabyte-1024 Gb)), they are most likely talking about a hard drive. This is a bit like a pad of paper you carry around with you all day. When you go to sleep, even if you forgot what you did yesterday, if you check what was written down, you can refresh your own memory, and be at the same state as yesterday. (Hang overs non withstanding).
Now, if your PC is acting slowly, one of the reasons may be that it needs more memory (of the human brain kind). If you think about a computer having a strict limit as to how much information it can hold in its RAM at any one time, then you’ll realise that it can spend a lot of time simply writing things down on its pad of paper (hard drive) to make more room in its memory (RAM) for new information
Apr 24 2007
When describing technical issues, I’m often called upon to supply the specifications of my IT equipment.
This post has been put together so I can easily refer people to the pertinent information…
System Specifications – PC
Intel D945 PVS Motherboard with 10/01/07 BIOS
Intel P4 660 3.6 GHz CPU
2 Gb RAM (2 X 1Gb 667MHz DDR2)
Asus 7900GT – PCIe x16 256Mb Grfx card – on Forceware 97.73
BenQ FP91V 19″ , Subini S-6811T 8″ & Sony KDL 40W2000 40″
NoName 550 Watt Twin Fan PSU
APC ES 525 Uninterruptable Power Supply – battery knackered
other UPS must update details here
Innovision EIO AP1680 PCI ATA133 RAID Controller (ITE IT8211 based)
Seagate Barracuda ST3320620AS 320Gb 7200rpm 16Mb Cache SATAII
Seagate Barracuda ST3160023A 160Gb 7200 rpm 8Mb Cache PATA-100
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus8 40 Gb PATA-133
Buffalo External 80Gb PATA/USB
WD External 250Gb PATA/USB
2 x Lite-On SHW-16H5S DVD-RR
EIO USB2 & Firewire PCI card
NetGear router – UPDATE
SafeCom IC+ 56K Ext. Modem (SEMT-5600)
TDK Bluetooth v1.2 Adapter (TRBLU03)
Logitech USB Cordless Trackman Trackball
Genius Keyboard – KKB-2050HS
XFX Executioner Dual Impact USB Gamepad (PSX-like force feedback controller)
Logitech Formula Force GP Force Feedback Steering Wheel & Pedals
Sony Ericssion K700i (used as a Bluetooth Remote Control/Phone for UK SIM card)
PC Line PC-100 TV Card – TV tuner/RCA/S-Video/InfraRed input (Based on Phillips 7134 chipset)
Genius VideoCAM Look WebCam
Canon DC080W (3Mp Digital Camera)
Microsoft Fingerprint Reader (Model 1033)
HP 1513 MFD
Various USB Thumbdrives
Redundant Spares
SafeCom SWAMR-54108 ADSL Modem/Router/AP – Now with Mother-in-law
D-Link 604T ADSL Modem/Router/AP – Now with Mum
Origo ASU-8000 USB ADSL modem
D-Link DWL-G122 USB2 Wi-Fi 802.11g Dongle
D-Link DGE-528T 1GBps PCI LAN Card
SafeCom USB 11Mbps WLAN Dongle – Now with brother
Nisis DV Cam 2 (Rev.1) – Photo, Video & Webcam
Software & Services Used :
Win XP Pro SP2 – All updates applied
No-Ip (Dynamic IP pointing)
TightVNC/WinVNC
ShoutCast
WebCamXP
System Specifications – PDA/PPC
iPaq 2210
240×320 Display
Intel PXA255 CPU
64Mb RAM
OS – Windows 2003 Mobile Edition (WinCE 4.20)
1Gb SD Card
11Mbps CF Wireless Card
GPS – 16 Sat
Bluetooth
Broken D-Pad – 4 hardware buttons re-assigned to navigational duties
System Specifications – SmartPhone
Orange SPV C550 (HTC Hurricane rebadged by Orange UK)
OS – Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphones (2nd Edition)
GSM & GPRS, triband 900/1800/1900 MHz
2.2 inch screen 240×320 pixels TFT transflective LCD, 64k colours
Camera 1.3 Mp
TI OMAP 750 Processor
64Mb ROM, 32Mb RAM
2 Gb Mini-SD Card
GPS – 16 Satellite
TomTom Mobile5, Battery Monitor, CellTrack, TCPMP, SmartVNC, GPRS Traffic Monitor, Smurf, Doom, GNUBoy, PicoDrive, NES Emulator, Worms World Party
