rayzoredge

Yes, what an immature subject title. No, I won't take it back. Anyway, so we know that the wonders of SATA include a theoretical 1.5Gbps to 3.0Gbps data transfer rate capability. Silly me went out and bought an eSATA-capable enclosure for my new hard drive to be utilized with my new laptop, which has an eSATA port. Silly me connected the cables to my old eSATA-capable external hard drive to pull files off of it to be placed onto the computer so that I could copy them off afterwards (since the laptop only has one eSATA port). I dragged and dropped about 200GB of files onto the desktop, then waited in silent glee over the prospective ease and speed of backing up to my new hard drive. I was sorely disappointed. At first, the transfer rate started at about 10MB/s. Thinking that maybe it took a second to realize the full, awesome power of SATA, I let Windows 7 continue with its copy job. 30 minutes of constant checkups later, the transfer rate gradually climbed over time and now we're up to 20MB/s, but it just dropped now to 19.7MB/s. Needless to say, I was kind of upset about this. So I tugged on Google's pants and it seems that other people are having the same expectations but not so much the same on the results. After some thinking, I realized that there has to be a bottleneck somewhere. Duh. So I made sure Windows 7 had proper drivers. Check. I looked up the data read/write speeds of the hard drive. Apparently there are two speeds: transfer rate from media to/from buffer and transfer rate from media to/from host... which are both way above what I'm getting for a transfer rate. So what gives? Why am I amongst the many on the Internet complaining about 10-20MBps speeds on a SATA connection? Is there something I'm missing? Edit: I read on another forum that explains why I'm seeing slow speeds, but at the same time, it still doesn't add up. I wasn't aware that the overhead was THAT bad (-84MBps) and I was also unaware how bad my hard drives seem to be in the sense that the "best" drives top out at ~120 MBps. But even with this arguments explaining why we don't reach the magic number of 384MBps, why the heck am I experiencing speeds that are less than half of what this guy states for his external hard drive? Is Samsung that bad with SATA hard drives? Is my enclosure with no driver upgrade path to blame?

Gaming system that won't crash? You're out of luck, bud. Your best choices would be Windows 7 (Home Premium or better) or Windows XP Professional SP2. Vista is still a resource hog in my eyes, and OSX or Linux in any flavor aren't exactly gaming platforms in the respect that developers don't aim to please the other 10% of computer users. As far as crashing goes, it's a Microsoft product. Windows 7 might be your best bet though if you want to keep up with the times and use that graphics card to its full potential with Dx10.

@Ash-Bash: The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 is still a considerable graphics card, especially when running two of them in SLI. I'm sure that with all of the awesome graphics cards out now, you can grab these for pennies compared to what you are paying for current graphics cards. Some of us do have something called a budget, ya know. Ash-Bash does have a point, though, Sky. If you haven't bought this yet, consider throwing in a few extra bucks for something better and more future-proof, or wait a bit longer.

That "boring" 6GB is good enough for most applications, if not all. Even "l33t haxx0r'ing" won't need that much RAM, unless you plan on processing Photoshop pictures, rendering CAD models in photo-realistic fashion, having a million Firefox tabs open, AND have multiple instances of RAM-heavy games open and working ALL at the same time. I highly doubt that what you do actually and continually stresses any system to the point where the folks at Tom's Hardware can balk and go, "Why?" If it is gaming that you seek, then I can find an article explaining the nil difference between 4GB and 8GB machines, which makes 16GB of RAM highly irrelevant to anyone's desires (unless you ARE trying to run a super computer). I would agree with TrueFusion's argument for RAM with better timing, because it only makes sense to have less faster memory than more slower memory that you won't be utilizing to its full potential. But then again, we "do not know half of the things" you're doing with this machine, if I recall. Speaking of things that you do, the Razer may be a bit too much unless you appreciate sniping people from over 2KM in an FPS, in which then I would wholeheartedly agree with your choice in such a high-DPI-capable mouse. Otherwise, I would ditch it to save some cash and go for more utility. But then again, with the build that you have, I don't think that money is an object. (Ah, the joys of being single.) If you do spend as much time on the computer as you seem to, I would recommend the Logitech Wave keyboard just to keep yourself from hating life when you finally realize that arthritis sinking in... although I do love the back-lit concept of a gaming keyboard. Also, I would check your choice in hard drives because the very hard drive you picked out is the one I was going to snag myself until I saw that there were freezing and data loss problems with it. They figured out that streaming data from it was the cause of the freezing and released a firmware update for it, but you might want to take a closer look to see if any other problems came up or if the firmware really did fix it.

I tried Cube Runner, Tap Tap 2, and Topple. All of them are pretty simple and plenty entertaining. I second TheDisturbedOne's recommendations. Of course, I've been looking up even more apps to entertain myself as well as make this iPod Touch as useful as it can be, so I did some more research. I haven't gotten a chance yet to try them, but I'll let you guys know if they're good or not. Note that all of these apps are free or are so awesome that it's worth forking the money over. (Mostly free though... I'm a cheapskate.) - More that I've tried: USA Today - Basically a news cast. Useful if you want to keep on top of national news. Jelly Car - A very, very entertaining game with physics and full utilization of the iPod's accelerometer. You can tilt, swipe, zoom, and do whatever you need to do to get a car to its goal... complete with physics. Apple Remote - Now with Genius, apparently. I couldn't get this to work though. Seems like a nifty idea that really is more of a novelty than anything else. Then again, isn't the iPod Touch more of a novelty? (I'm aiming to change that for myself.) Tap Tap Revenge 2 - Not very awesome if you are cheap like me and never buy good songs to play with. There aren't a lot of popular songs available for free, but it's still entertaining, nonetheless. Think of Guitar Hero on the iPod Touch and you get TTR2. Newton's Cradle - Novelty. You can tilt and "swing" the balls wherever you want, and touch to hold a ball or balls in place to achieve your very own cradle tapping away at your desk. - More that I have yet to try out: Aardvark Mobile - Sounds like a Yahoo! Answers app, but questions are answered by your friends on Facebook and on Aardvark instead of random strangers. Last.FM - An alternative to Pandora. Streams music. Setinel 2: Earth's Defense - A pay tower/desktop defense game. Trailer looks pretty good for what it is. Ragdoll Blaster - Pay game. It's much like the Flash games online where you blast something out of a cannon and see how far you can get. Ragdoll physics are involved, I imagine. USAA - For those of you who have USAA accounts (military or military families), this is probably very useful for financial utility. Too bad it only works with the latest firmware, which is $4.95 to update. (Sickening to know how Apple nickels-and-dimes you for everything you have... but in small portions so that you don't mind until you get the total.) MyPaint2 - Paid paint app. Probably entertaining with being able to "finger-paint" with your iPod Touch. iNinja Lite - Throw throwing stars like a ninja at targets. C'mon, it's a ninja game! Doom Resurrection - If I would pay for any app on the iPod Touch, this would be it. This really opened up my eyes to what the iPhone / iPod Touch is really capable of. Watch the trailer and you'll know what I mean. Tap of War - Stupid simple game that will still take away some of your time. Tap as fast as you can to win your tug of war with a computer opponent or with someone else. It's probably pretty fun, but I'm on the fence with this one. Good Food - Sounds like a good deal when you don't know where you want to eat in an unfamiliar place or want to try something new without getting gypped. Reviews are from peers. Wired Product Reviews - Useful to make sure that the neat gadget you're about to get doesn't suck. Amazon Mobile - If you love Amazon, you'll love this app. Apparently it's so good that you won't miss being able to do it on your PC. eBay - Again, if you love eBay, you'll love this app. Useful for watching bids, placing bids, and realizing that your impulsive bid to win the auction was way too much. Instapaper - Sounds very promising. It doesn't need an Internet connection to run, but it does need Internet to download blogs, articles, stories, and other literature for you to read later. This is on my must-try list. White Pages - Self-explanatory. Yellow Pages - Self-explanatory. Wikipanion - Wikipedia on your iPhone / iPod Touch. A must-grab. Twitterfon - Tweet from your iPhone / iPod Touch. I still don't get Tweeting unless you have something useful to share... which is why I use Twitter more as a tool (with its many useful bots) instead of tweeting myself. Fring - The Trillian of the iPhone / iPod Touch. It supports a multitude of instant-messaging and communication protocols, including AIM, Skype, Twitter, MSN Messenger, ICQ, SIP, Google Talk, and Yahoo. A must-grab. Facebook - If you like Facebook, you'll love this app. I am now more of a FB guy so MySpace isn't much of a choice for me. Go figure that they block FaceBook at my work but not MySpace. MySpace - Same as FaceBook, but for MySpace. LinkedIn - Same as the above, but for LinkedIn. Honestly, who actually does social networking on LinkedIn? It seems like once you put up all of your information on LinkedIn, you don't touch it. Or maybe that's just me and a hundred other people I know. WiFinder - App to help you find hotspots and poor, unsuspecting victims that leave their WiFi networks unsecured. Mwahaha. A2Z Pro - Sounds like a conversion app. I'm sure it's a must-grab. myLite - Flashlight app with color options. But I already use my cell phone for that. Units Free Converter - Another conversion app. Probably as versatile as A2Z Pro. Chess - Free chess app. Not very impressive graphically, but simple is good, right? WebMD Mobile - For all you hypchondriacs out there. - Keep the app recommendations coming!

I just recently got myself an iPod Touch and was wondering what apps were available that are actually useful and maybe worth paying for.So far, I've added the following:PS Mobile - Not as cool as I thought it was, but still pretty neat. It allows for you to throw your existing photos on your iPod Touch / iPhone through filters, save your work, and upload them online to download them onto any computer. You need an account to upload pictures, I'm sure.Dictionary - Much cooler than I thought it was. You don't need an online connection to look up words, but you do need one if you want to look up similar words and to view the Word of the Day.Google - Easy access to Google tools. You can access your Gmail, Calendar, Latitude, Docs, Talk, Tasks, Reader, News, Book Reader, Notebook, Photos, orkut, Translate, Maps, YouTube, and Earth from this one app. Selecting anything will launch the Safari app or run the appropriate app within the suite. Obviously, you need Internet access.Google Earth - Probably redundant, but if you want this and not everything else included in Google, it works.iHandy Level - Very nice and great application of the accelerometer. Seems like it's pretty accurate too.PAC-MAN Lite - Not as cool as it seems. You can play ONE level of Pac-Man using swipes on a virtual D-pad, swipes anywhere on the screen, or use the accelerometer to play. After you beat the one level, it will ask you to take a look at other games or quit.Pandora - I haven't tried this out just yet, but it should be as awesome as its web counterpart.Skype - Haven't tried this yet either as I'm waiting for a microphone adapter to come in from eBay, but this was one of the reasons why I wanted to get an iPod Touch 2G. It's sad that you can use the iPod Touch 2G as a better phone than the iPhone will ever be...textPlus - Haven't used it yet, but the idea seems great. You can text people using your iPod Touch / iPhone via WiFi, and I'm guessing that incoming texts will go to your web account, viewable by the app. And it's all free!The Weather Channel - I know there's already a weather app on the iPod Touch by default, but TWC brings it up a notch by noting hourly, 36 hour, and 10 day forecasts, not to mention check severe weather updates, explore a weather map, and watch local weather-related video.XKCD - One of my favorite comics. It's not as good as I thought it was though, as it requires a WiFi connection to access xkcd.com. I'll probably end up just syncing my xkcd image collection and just browsing my "photos" on the iPod itself.-All of these applications were free, which is what I'm aiming for, but if there is truly an amazing app that doesn't break the bank, I truly welcome the suggestion. I'm looking for utility, entertainment, and even stupid apps that are free (like the shotgun app). Might as well have fun with it, right?

So I finally bit the bullet and after having sold two of my laptops and tolerating my slow, crappy work laptop, I survived long enough to buy myself a new one.After hours of research, pouring over reviews, potential issues, and whatnot, I finally decided on snagging myself an Asus G50VT-X5. The $949 MSRP laptop cost me $650 on eBay AFTER Bing cash back.I came down to choosing this particular laptop not because of how it looks or how fast the CPU was, but the fact that it had an NVIDIA 9800M GS in it. (That's actually how I choose my laptops, since it's one of the components that everyone seeks to upgrade, only to fall fruitless after realizing that you can't. Or not without difficulty, if the possibility arises.)It was a refurbished model, but I didn't care. I received it in its original box, original wrapping, and I still have the cheap-o screen protector on it. More on this on a bit.First off, the laptop looked GOOD. As in pictures didn't do it justice, because after looking online at the geeky design that Asus slapped on this laptop shell, I was already on the market for a laptop skin, but I'm glad I waited. The laptop looks sharp... almost too sharp. The shell is pristine and way too shiny, giving anyone with OCD a headache with having to polish away constant fingerprints and smudges from the gloss exterior. The screen is the same way... which is why I'm keeping the tacky-looking screen protector on with the tape that it came with, just as it is. Asus did a great job with blending of colors, as it isn't fugly and it isn't too "extreme" with its design... except for the Republic of Gamers logo. (Now THAT screams geek.) It even lights up on the sides and the logo, which isn't functional in any way unless you WANT to draw attention to yourself. There's also an OLED display on the upper left portion of the laptop that, by default, displays the logo and Republic of Gamers title, but you can change this through an Asus utility to display e-mail notifications, CPU and RAM usage, etc. Nothing earth-shattering with it, though.The keyboard is kind of mushy-feeling but responsive. The touch pad is actually pretty good, although strokes with your palm sometimes causes your cursor to end up where you don't want it to be. The shiny touch pad buttons also attract fingerprints and are as "mushy-feeling" as the keyboard. I kind of miss the ability to turn off the touch pad via a button like I was able to with my HP Pavilion zd8000, but it won't be missed.It comes with a multitude of ports, although I still have to rely on a USB hub to accommodate my strange obsession of sticking as many peripherals into a system as possible. The eSATA port is a welcome addition as I can finally harness the speed boost over USB 2.0, and it comes with an antenna port (to extend WiFi?), FireWire, and I believe 4 USB 2.0 ports. No Bluetooth though... which isn't a killer, but it does kill off my few gadgets that utilize BT.The machine came with Vista Home Premium (x64) installed and an average amount of bloatware. It was the longest time I've experienced Vista... which wasn't long, considering I wiped out the machine and installed Windows 7 Ultimate (x64) on it shortly after I realized that I didn't like Vista's reputation of hogging resources and less-than-desired performance. Windows 7 Ultimate doesn't fare too much better with performance compared to XP or Vista in many aspects, but it feels nicer, and I feel like I combined XP's performance with Vista's eye candy, which is a win-win for me. Couple that with an Intel 2.13GHz dual core processor and 4GB of DDR2 and I have a machine that runs pretty darn well enough to keep me happy, in comparison to the Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz single core and 2GB of DDR2. I may put Ubuntu 9.04 x64 on it, but I don't have much of a reason to go to Ubuntu quite yet other than to play around with Linux. If this wasn't a gaming machine and I didn't do much with Windows-exclusive programs, Ubuntu would be a no-brainer for me, but I have yet to see Linux run the games I want to play without too much trouble.Performance of the machine was a large leap from my old HP. Instead of taking nearly half a minute, Mozilla Firefox 3.5 opens up in 3-4 seconds. 720p HD video runs flawlessly on this machine... more to come when I try out my first 1080p HD movie. Games boot up faster with a significantly-less drag time, and coming from an older system, the difference is huge to me. I like knowing that I can actually run games at medium to maximum graphical settings without so much as a hiccup, although I'm frankly surprised that games like World of Conflict still struggles on this computer (4+ FPS when the nuke hits the benchmark test in comparison to the 60+ FPS when the bombers make their entrance). Call of Duty 4 plays at maximum settings without a hitch, and Crysis is rather playable even at high settings (although you would have to tone it down a bit for fluid gameplay). Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars works very well too at the highest settings. One thing that just seems weird to me is the fact that the LCD supports up to 1680x1050, but most games only offer a strange resolution cap of 1366x768. It's an off number to me, but I'm used to resolutions like 1440x900 on the HP.This laptop also comes with an instant-on technology called Express Gate, which boots up a meager operating system environment to access Internet, IM, word processing, and other basic essential functions. I turned this on once by accident, but I'm so used to pushing the power button on and walking away that I don't yet use this feature. I do find utility in this technology since you are able to view pictures, share files, chat, check e-mail, browse the Internet, and listen to music, so if you want to put on some music or share your latest adventure with your camera instantly, you can. What I wonder, though, is if they'll ever make an instant-on operating system that silently boots up your main OS so you can have the option of switching to your main OS if you want to. That would be nice... that way, you have instant access to your photos, music, and Internet while you wait for your computer to finish booting up. Wouldn't that be something?The speakers on this machine are rather disappointing, in my opinion, and although I'm one to settle for poorer quality items, I also know when to appreciate good sound. I'm surprised that no one mentioned the sound quality of this puppy, as it is tinny and sharp at higher volumes, but maybe no one cares since it's probably going to get aftermarket 5.1 or headphone treatment like most laptops.Speaking of this bad puppy, the entire package weighs in at 8.8 lbs with the adapter. It's actually an upgrade for me, since I'm used to hauling the 11 lbs of the HP Pavilion zd8000 during my travels, and it gave me quite the eye-opener to lighter options. (11 lbs isn't really heavy until you carry it for over a couple of hours.)For power-consuming freaks like me, the system draws about 55+ W at idle... but I'm sure it spikes with gaming.This machine, expectantly, runs hot, as I can feel the same sort of heat that I feel with my HP Pavilion zd8000 out of the side vents, but I'm amazed that the machine itself doesn't feel hot. The zd8000 had a problem with the palm rest becoming uncomfortably hot, but so far, I haven't had any personal complaints. I have yet to sit this on my lap for true mobile usage though, and considering that there is a huge vented port on the bottom to further reduce heat, I might have to report back later as to how hot your lap will get if you do decide to get this.Recommendation? I suggest that if you are in the market for a laptop that can act as a mobile desktop replacement, but feel restricted with your budget, this is the way to go. At $650 for a laptop that's light and small enough to move from place to place and play most games of today's caliber, I feel that it is money most definitely well-spent. Casual laptop users should look elsewhere, as you can probably get a beefier machine for the same amount of money (or save money by purchasing a mainstream laptop)... but the Asus G50VT-X5 warrants a serious look to mobile gamers and power users.Update 11/25/2009:The keyboard drives me nuts as it isn't as responsive as I normally thought it was. With the way I type, I frequently end up with occasional typos because it's like the input never makes it with one or two keystrokes. I don't know if my typing style is light and I'm not pressing the keys hard enough or what, but I'm definitely looking to getting a wireless keyboard to go with this.Re-installing "in-house" Asus utilities can be kind of a pain because apparently you have to install them in a certain order to get everything to work correctly. Earlier, I whined about not being able to turn off the trackpad... but it's because the "button" doesn't work thanks to me not knowing which order to install all the Asus utilities to get it to work. I also couldn't get Direct Console to work for a while (which controls the lights and the OLED display), but after looking up some things, I uninstalled utilities and installed them in the appropriate order to get them to work.Battery life is great for watching a movie, but gaming really kills it. I played Fallout 3 for about an hour with full settings without AA or AF and the battery was drained to 20%.There is a warm spot to the right of the track pad where your right wrist would rest, but it's not hot to the touch and you would only notice it if you were to look for it.The laptop is not hot on the lap since most of the heat vents to the sides. However, during gaming, you could keep a coffee mug warm with the heat that comes out of the left vent... no joke.The location of the USB 2.0 ports and headphone jack on the right side interferes with mouse usage if you are a righty... I frequently bump into my earbud cord and the huge USB receiver for my wireless mouse, which would easily be rectified by just using the mouse over the right palm rest (since I play games this way) or not being cheap and buying a wireless mouse with a nano-receiver. Or moving the receiver to the back USB port, of course. The glossy finish is too easy to scratch up. I'm a bit rougher with my laptops than most, so it is to be expected when you throw a laptop into a full backpack and take it out repeatedly, but I would heavily suggest that people looking to retain that nice glossy finish to get a laptop skin, clear or otherwise, just to protect its looks. InvisiShield products would be awesome, but they don't make skins for laptops... I checked. Despite the carping, I still love the crap out of this machine. Just trying to give more of an educated review for those looking to purchase a budget-friendly gaming laptop.

It's probably not the best idea, but is there a way to prioritize your media player process to the highest so that full CPU usage and GPU usage is directed at displaying your HD movie? Shut down any other processes and reap as much CPU power and RAM as you can so that you can focus your computer on just playing the movie.The ATI Radeon HD 3450 is toted on AMD's website (go figure) as being HD-capable, but it just reminds me of how laptops had that stupid "Vista Ready" sticker on them.You can't upgrade the GPU in a laptop UNLESS you have a similar part in the same form factor... NVIDIA has their MXM form factor working for them, but even that is limited. The only upgrade I've ever done was an NVIDIA GPU and it was basically from a Dell Latitude to a Dell Inspiron, and although it did work, I was doubtful. It's a pain but it's possible... but not likely.I ran into this same issue with my HP Pavilion zd8000... the ATI Mobility Radeon X600 did not like most 720p HD movies. Playing a 1080p HD Matroska version of The Dark Knight was so bad that I actually just got rid of the movie... it was unwatchable.

It's one of the mysteries of the world as to why companies hire idiots over competent people. Then again, you might have shorted yourself somehow. From a corporate perspective, the human resources rep is the lucky guy/gal to flip through applications. I'm not sure how Best Buy does their stuff, but whether it's a physical or electronic application, there are a few things that reps highlight, since they are literally flipping through hundreds of applications at a time. Do you have school? A high school diploma or GED doesn't really mean anything. College degrees and college experience counts towards being selected for an interview, even if you're an idiot. (Trust me... our IT guy has a computer science degree and we have people here that can school him on a lot of things. I don't really toot my own horn, but in this case, I feel that I am more competent with computers than he shows himself to be.) Retail experience, in your case, works for you too, again even if you are an idiot. If you are applying for Geek Squad, I would think that an A+ certification (even though it means nothing in the real world) could possibly give you kudos, and maybe some off-the-wall things that you can show off wouldn't hurt. It's good to have a good knowledge base, but in the case of Best Buy, being able to make a sale overrides competence in the information technology department... which explains why "selling" a credit card to a customer was probably the breaker for your interview process. Craigslist is HORRENDOUS for replies. I did that venture for a solid month and got maybe half a dozen replies out of easily a hundred e-mails sent. People are horrible with correspondence, although there's no excuse since they're LOOKING to hire people. But then again, would you want to work with someone that never communicates promptly? How would that work if you had a critical question prior to finishing a project on time and that person never responded, then blames you for not finishing the project? Don't give up and keep looking. I know that Wally World is hiring in my area, so I'm aiming for minimum wage to be a cashier or SOMETHING in retail again. Be persistent. Follow up with phone calls, interviews, and applications. That way you're not chasing ghosts and focused on actual opportunities. Obviously you have something somebody wants because you earned an interview. Keep it up and you'll earn that job in no time.

Buying straight from Apple is just bad practice if you want to save money. I looked at the link from the last post and a refurbished iPod Touch 8GB (2G) runs $180. I just bought an iPod Touch 16GB (2G) yesterday for $166 on eBay. You can also get an iPod Touch 8GB (2G) for as low as $115. The trick to shopping around is to find incentives, rebates, and using Froogle to see where the cheapest prices are. eBay usually has the best deals, but make sure that you research the absolute lowest price before you bid or use Buy-It-Now; otherwise, you risk overbidding "at the heat of the moment." Really, this applies to anything you buy online. Also, keep in mind: do you really need it new or can you get it used and save a bunch of cash in doing so?

If you're rushing towards AT&T for the iPhone, stop.AT&T iPhone customers are actually looking to make the switch to another provider because AT&T was not ready for the sudden influx of iPhone users and is in a jam trying to work on improving its network to support the existing 3G technologies as well as investing in 4G ventures... and right now, things aren't that great.Depending on your area of coverage, you may or may not get great coverage for AT&T. The iPhone KILLED network usage, so data is constantly bogged down. Call quality with the iPhone is also terrible in parts of the nation... I witnessed the president of our company have to recall the same client four times because his iPhone and the AT&T network was constantly dropping his calls, even with good signal.Obviously, some people have luck. You may or may not.Verizon is kind of a give-and-take. I was planning on going with Verizon, and I still will be, even after learning that the phones don't utilize a SIM card equivalent. The coverage is a bit better than most, and Verizon covers rural areas better than other carriers. There's a reason why it's doing so well, but I don't think most people realize the SIM deal until after they sign on, and even with the higher costs with plans, I suppose that it's worth paying for coverage in the spots that you would need it as opposed to being stuck with another carrier that struggles at best to maintain call quality or even be able to initiate a call.Choose a carrier that fits your needs. Some people love to flock to carriers because of their fancy phones, but the iPhone is living proof that... well, it's better as a PDA do-it-all than it is a phone, ironically. Check your coverage, do some peer reviews IN YOUR AREA, and if you can, borrow a phone to check coverage in the places you frequent. Make the phone and the carrier work for you, not the other way around.

Are you applying to places that are actually LOOKING to hire people?I've responded to Craigslist listings and hit up as many places as I could, and I have yet to receive ONE call or response for an interview. I am currently a full-time engineer with 3 years of experience there, plus 6 years of military service (3 active), plus a few years in retail and experience with POS, plus clerical and administrative experience, PLUS computer skills... and no one has given me as much as the time of day.But don't give up. Things might just be circumstantial. You will have to follow up with companies to see if they actually reviewed your resume and application and weed out those that aren't interested in hiring you. It's slightly discouraging, but there will be that one gem that will make it all worth the effort. Applying isn't the only step. It helps to present yourself and make yourself stand out from the rest of the pack in order to score that position.

So one of the problems that I face is slow system performance, thanks to the fact that my fiancee can't let go of AOL AND likes to use Firefox in conjunction. This already eats up close to a whole gigabyte of RAM out of the 2GB that I have in the machine. I looked at CPU usage through Windows Task Manager (which I know isn't the best out there, but it gives me a ballpark figure), and one of the processes eating up 30-50% of CPU usage is wmpnetwk.exe. Now, Googling this and looking at common sense, the Windows Media Network Sharing service is probably indexing media files in the background, but taking up 50% or more CPU usage IN THE BACKGROUND is pretty unacceptable. Some research shows that WMP might be trying to index a corrupt AVI file (leading to a never-ending cycle of retries), but I don't want to have to keep turning sharing on and off to keep system performance bearable. I currently use that machine as the sharing plateau for movies to stream to my Xbox 360 for the kids, and I was wondering this: Is there "smart" sharing or is there a way to tell WMP to stop sharing if it doesn't detect my 360 currently being on the network (i.e. the 360 is turned off)? If not, is TVersity resource-friendly? Any other free alternatives anyone would like to suggest?

I found a culprit, and it's not AO-Hell, apparently. Using Process Monitor from M$, for some reason wmpnetwk.exe (the media sharing service) is "creating over a file" a second on the external hard drive. I turned the hard drive off after killing wmpnetwk.exe and safely removing it, and it was good to go. However, turning it back on, wmpnetwk.exe doesn't make an appearance immediately, which makes me wonder what actually triggers this behavior. Anyone have a clue? My only guess is that WMP is trying to add items to its library, which makes sense in the fact that for some reason, WMP doesn't retain library information and you have to actually add files to the library (and not rely on the monitoring service) to replenish what you lose. However, this doesn't make enough sense to warrant a constant "create and close file" operation every 0.9 seconds. Going to look into this a little more over time... I'll let you know what happens. In the meantime, can anyone make heads or tails of this? It never did this to me before, and I DID have AOL and World of Warcraft installed on this computer for a period of time before this crap started happening. I would like to have this solved instead of having to teach my fiancee to remember to kill wmpnetwk.exe EVERY time BEFORE turning off the hard drive (if it is indeed the culprit). Edit (Addendum): WMP takes over this madness when it's open. Also, screenshot of Process Monitor. Note the times of each entry. It constantly does this indefinitely... I'm still racking up entries as I type.

I actually looked into this purely to see what compression codec offers the best compression and the best quality. (Now that's two words you didn't think you'd see in the same sentence.)I believe it's in the way that xvid and DivX calculate how to compress video data. One of them does a contiguous "blob" method in order to remove slightly-redundant data and the other... well, I can't remember. I do remember concluding that xvid is the better of the two by a slight margin, but then again, I was aiming to compress 700ishX300ish video and retain quality to stream to an Xbox 360. YMMV.

Still happens... I've actually had Indexing Service turned off and funny enough, both USB external drives were Optimized for Removal instead of for performance. I got the BSOD again recently and caught something that looked like ntfs.sys, which my Google-fu says that it's hardware-related. (Well, duh.) Still puzzled over this... what else could be using the hard drive to cause this? (I've never run into this problem before... my finger wants to point at AOL, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt (despite my gut feeling). If it IS AOL, then what would AOL be doing accessing external hard drives?

USB 3.0? Old news. For cameras? New news.I'm not exactly thrilled over this, just because I think that USB 2.0 is rather adequate for file transfer purposes. I don't stream video via a camera... I'm actually used to pulling it off of the camera first before actually working with or previewing it.It would be nice though for USB 3.0 to start making its debut and becoming as ubiquitous as USB 2.0. The nice thing about it already is that it shares the same form factor (for the most part), so USB 2.0 devices can still plug into USB 3.0 ports.

Save yourself the trouble and re-install everything.Yeah... you read that right. I would research how to save game save files for each and every game, and back up everything that you feel needs to be backed up before proceeding. There are some games that work regardless of registry entries, but I'm sure there will be some that will throw a hissy fit, especially moving onto a new operating system.As far as game serial keys go, I don't know what to tell you but shrug my shoulders. I'm sure that EA as well as every other evil company attempting DRM tactics will have to answer to banned serial keys due to multiple installations [on the same machine], so maybe there will be an answer from the company level. I'm not sure if companies check hash codes to verify that the software key being checked against the database checks for the software being installed on the same machine (much like OEM versions of Windows)... but I guess you'll find out, won't you? Good luck. Hopefully this doesn't eat up too much of your time... two to four hours, tops.

More information on SecureCore Tiano. Insane. Now what am I going to do with myself when I hit that power button to boot up? I'll have no time to get up, grab a drink or some food, mosey around for a bit, then sit back down to be welcomed by the infamous Windows hourglass on my cursor as it boots up startup programs!

Old news, but still a fun game.I suggest that if you have the power behind your PC to try this game out. There's nothing that matches the satisfaction of pinning an opponent to the ceiling with a 25mm Penetrator. Check your system requirements. If you like first-person shooters and don't mind being stuck in a dark, office environment for your deathmatches, give F.E.A.R. a shot. (No pun intended.)

Sounds like some people are pitching their fanboyism at OP. Windows XP still works, no doubt about that. I think that most people will be happy to stick with XP for a long while even after Windows 7 comes out, and it fits with your requirements with using Adobe programs, playing games, and your Windows-only programs. Windows XP and Windows 7 are rather comparable with performance for the most part, but if you look at network performance differences, Windows 7 wins by a long shot. Depending on how computer-savvy you are, Windows 7 can be a good winner with ease of use, as it's geared to be more user-friendly, not to mention with a little flair and eye candy. In this case, it would be perfectly viable to stay with Windows XP or upgrade to Windows 7, although I would recommend Windows 7 just because it IS upgraded and that XP will be losing support on Microsoft's end as they push 7 out to everyone. April 8, 2014 is the deadline when all XP support ends. Right now, all XP has is hotfixes to kind of keep things current on the security side. Going with Leopard or Snow Leopard is going to have its hurdles, and anyone can tell you that right off the back without being a fanboy of M$ or not. I haven't use OSX to any real degree, so I can't give you an accurate account as to whether you should go with OSX or not. There are programs that will offer the opportunity to run Windows programs on OSX like CrossOver Mac, but you might want to look to see if your programs are supported first before you make that leap. Macs are touted to be vastly superior in multimedia design, but I don't see how considering that the Adobe line for Windows (Premiere for movies, After Effects for adding special effects to movies, Photoshop, Fireworks for the web, Lightroom for RAW editing and showcasing/organizing, Soundbooth for audio, Illustrator for vector images, etc.) is pretty damn good to begin with, not to mention Sony Vegas, Maya (which I believe Pixar uses), and other programs that are used by the industry. Mac does have Final Cut Pro and iMovie, of which FCP I've heard to be very good, and Adobe does have Mac support. OSX is also apparently really good performance-wise, and you do get the added bonus of not being as much of a target for malware (although make no mistake... you're not invulnerable as most Macheads will make it seem). If anyone can actually tell OP what he has on the software side for OSX, that would be awesome. So far, I'm only reading crap that won't exactly help OP out (since no one really elaborated on what OSX actually offers for software), hence the fanboyism I'm seeing. I also saw Linux in the mix somewhere between the Windows and OSX battlefield. Linux may be another alternative, but as far as multimedia goes, I'm not exactly sure what it offers for you in the power-use department. Ubuntu Studio would fit you greatly for what it offers, I would think. The only program I know personally would be GIMP (which is basically a clone of Adobe Photoshop) and since it's almost identical, there's not as much of a learning curve there, but with everything else, you would have to learn each and every program you use on Ubuntu. However, keep in mind that your time learning these alternatives can pay off, considering the fact that these programs are FREE. Keep that in mind. Just because you're a graphics/multimedia guy doesn't mean that you won't be cool not toting a Macbook Pro. Everyone judges the famous white laptop as a symbol of trendiness and can-do-no-wrong, but remember what you'll have to work with when it comes to working with the software available and the restrictions to choosing Windows over OSX and vice versa. Here's an expensive plus, though: Since Macs have Intel chips in them and you can dual-boot using Boot Camp or what-have you, you could snag a MacBook and dual-boot with ease and have both operating systems. Expensive and cost-prohibitive, yes. But if you could save up, it could be another option to look at. Heck, you could even triple-boot and save some money using FREE alternatives in Ubuntu Studio, play games and use your existing Adobe software with XP/7, and maybe use Final Cut Pro or whatever with OSX.

I read an article recently basically explaining that with Google's growth, government fingers are prying into its operations to make sure that it doesn't end up dominating the market for everything it touches.For example, people are worried about Google dominating the search engine market, considering the possibly-scary fact that it owns 64% of the market. That might not sound so bad, but when you see that the next contender is Yahoo at 19.3%, followed by Microsoft at 9.3% and by Ask and AOL with even pidlier numbers, I can see how people can be concerned.I understand the concern, but at the same time, if it's only to impede what good Google can do, why stop it? Throw some government regulation into it and call it good, if we're all really that scared of it dominating.As for other companies, I'm all up for them thriving, but they have to come up with something that actually trumps what Google has to offer. That's competition and innovation. If you're going to come up with some crappy software or technology and it doesn't sell, how much better would it be just to bark up Uncle Sam's leg and ask for help? Surely, Google can't be the ONLY innovator around here...Forgive me if I sound like a fanboy, but it's hard to dispute (IMHO) that there's a better or equivalent alternative to GMail (although I hear that Yahoo is close nowadays), Google Docs (although Microsoft Office online as a cloud concept would be pretty cool since most of us are very used to the Office environment), etc. I still like Mozilla Firefox over Chrome, although I haven't given Chrome another shot since beta. (Chrome might be a decent alternative now... it chalks up as much attraction as Opera to me.) Microsoft Office will always be on my desktop because it works and I've used it forever, but with how things are going with the gay ribbon bar, I might be looking elsewhere to upgrade. Never had an interest in Picasa since I'm an Adobe guy when it comes to photos.Innovation drives competition. Build it and they will come. If you're going to offer a crappy product, don't expect people to flock to you. If you have an outstanding product, throw some focus onto marketing it. Make it so that people have at least heard of it. Don't whine and whimper to Uncle Sam because you suck at what you do. It's as bad as the automotive companies asking for bailouts because they screwed up and now need federal help to keep from going under. As much as I would like to say that we shouldn't have bailed them out and let the free market reign, I understand that with huge companies like those going down goes jobs for thousands if not millions of people, which would suck.Funny how we have to impede on Google as a potential tech giant bully... but it will be a snuggly, cuddly, embracing bully that gives us lunch money and lollipops instead of what Microsoft was with its choke hold on the operating system market and bundling their software (i.e. IE ) with it.

@Rob86: The only reason why I would even think about maybe using the DVORAK variant of typing is when I need to type with just one hand while multi-tasking or if I'm just too lazy or want to be able to type with my left hand and mouse with my right.Typing with eyes closed? Once your index fingers find the home row with the raised bars on F and J, I think that most people can manage. It's the number of mistakes that will go uncorrected while typing blindly that is the real question...

The seemingly-easiest way to figure out if your Windows is genuine or not is to use Windows Genuine Advantage, but even legitimate licensed owners are running into problems, especially when transferring their OEM copies of Windows onto another machine. Really, I don't think there's a way to know until you use WGA, and even then, you have to question the legitimacy of the report that WGA gives you. Maybe the seller made a pirated copy of Windows to put onto that PC, or maybe he/she transferred a legitimate OEM copy to that machine but it reports as illegitimate, etc.

My question is: why? How do I fix it?I am running Microsoft Windows XP Professional with SP2. I've never had this issue when I used this laptop, but since I gave it to my fiancee, it has been having this issue. The ONLY difference between my usual setup and hers is that she uses AOL (v9.1), and as much as I love blaming AOL for everything (since it is such a horrible piece of software), I can't just point fingers and call it a day. Uninstalling AOL is not an option because the woman is a creature of habit and would kill me. So I would like to figure out the nature of the problem and solve it.Google is not my friend with this issue since XP issues and blue screens of death aren't exactly an uncommon issue, and swimming through the thousands of threads, articles, Yahoo! Answers, and whatnot, the only possibility of fixing it sounds like an enclosure firmware update... which I've never had to do, not to mention that just recently I found out that there isn't any firmware to update with. (I'm using both a Western Digital and Samsung hard drive in separate Galaxy Metal Gear Box enclosures, connected via USB 2.0.) Since I can't update the firmware on my enclosures, I'm stuck. I COULD try updating to SP3, but this issue never presented itself until now... funny enough, with the introduction of AOL and World of Warcraft into the mix (two programs I never had before). Basic troubleshooting points to these two programs, but at the same time, I'm wondering if it may be something else and if there's an actual fix for it.The blue screen of death only occurs when I turn the external hard drive off, regardless of what I'm doing on the computer. To further complicate things, it happens on a random basis: sometimes it might BSOD, sometimes its fine. I cannot utilize the Safely Remove Hardware feature because it always tells me that "the device cannot be stopped right now." I don't have any services that I know of that may be doing anything silently with existing drives (like Diskeeper, which I used to have on this computer). Not sure where to look, either... can anyone enlighten me as to what I could do, or if they could point me to a fix? Thanks.