Very cool idea, nice future project

This seems like something for me, easy to switch off but effective to wake me up.

It does not look like it would be hard to do it the DIY way...maybe later...

//Z

Dishwashing you keyboard!

I saw this through digg I think, someone did an experiment with putting you dirty keyboard in the dishwasher. That reminded me of some pictures I took when I did that with a keyboard..

This is one of my keyboards after a couple of years of use, openened up...

I took out the guts and put it all in the dishwasher minus the electronics and the plastic shields.

It came out perfect, every key was usable. It did fail in the end though although I doubt the dishwashing had a lot to do with it, as you can see from the first picture..

//Z

Learning Python: Books I am reading

Learning python is possible from the web I think, easier imho is buying a book about it and that is not exactly what I did. I got Learning Python, second edition by David Asher and Mark Lutz. I can highly recommend this book, I am about halfway through now and I still understand what I am reading. It is written in a nice writingstyle which appeals to me. Also I got, just for fun, Python & XML by Christopher Jones and Fred Drake.

Expect whole reviews of these books when I finish reading and digesting them. For now I can say both books are interesting and appear well written.

//Z

Installing a secondary domain controller in a win2k3 domain.

I have started a series of posts about my journey installing a secondary domain controller into a existing windows 2003 Active Directory Domain.

I keep this stuff on my other blog "The Striped Giraffe". This post documents all the problems I ran into and solutions I found for those problems, maybe it is interesting for anyone?

It will be an ongoing series which will only finish when the DC is functioning satisfactory.

//Z

Nintendo Wii controller

I have my eye on a Nintendo Wii for some time now. I never wanted to buy it at lauchtime but want to wait for it to come with a pack with a game or other gear. It allready comes with wii sports offcourse and the tennis game is the coolest ever on a console but i want more for my buck. There will be pricecuts and other swag later in this year i guess so for the moment I can wait. Also my girl is not very interested, she is normally an enourmous fan of everything Nintendo but the new controller is a little strange for her, she just has to try one!

I want to buy a controller loose anyway to experiment with it by hooking it up to my pc and seeing if you can control my os with it. I have seen some implimentations but they did not seem to be so fast or so user friendly, I will see. And whenever I buy a Wii I can just use the controller with it too,

Interesting Wii links:
Wii dismantle @ Spark Fun
Homebrew Wii

//Z

Electronics tutorials galore@Spark Fun !

Spark Fun Electronics, a company that sells electronics. I have been coming to their website for years allready, and it seems like it must be a fun company to work, the way the tutorials they have on their site are written screams that the one writing them was having fun and wants to communicate what they have learned over the years. Definitly worth a read, make sure you have a couple of hours to spend because you get drawn into the pit here.

At the moment I am reading the Beginning Embedded Electronics Tutorials, and loving it. Some more gear to buy, another hobby, ah well fun is fun!

//Z

Programming in Python: Bluetooth

How to control bluetooth through python, a little advanced for me at the moment but I came by this while surfing so I will post it here so I can find it again. Stéphane Graber made a bluetooth headset manager in python, interesting code when i start to work with bluetooth.

And while on the subject, some more interesting links when working with bluetooth:

LightBlue: a cross-platform Python Bluetooth API
Bluetooth tutorial at Spark Fun Electronics

//Z
 

Choosing the right hardware III, Chipsets

Previous entries: I & II

Since I have already decided where to buy, the list of motherboards I can choose from is constrained to the motherboards the shop offers. Still plenty of choice as you can see here, this is the list of possibilities within my budget (and a little more for good measure). For every possible board I have linked the specification page at the manufacturer:

ASRock	AM2NF3-VSTA	nForce3 250, SATA RAID, 8CH	€ 50.00	ATX
ASRock	ALiveSATA2-GLAN	K8T890 CF, SATA2 RAID	€ 57.50	ATX
ASRock	ALiveXFire-eSATA2	ATI Xpress 1600, SATA2 RAID	€ 62.00	ATX
ASRock	ALiveNF5-eSATA2+	nForce 520, SATA2 RAID	€ 67.00	ATX
ASRock	ALIVENF6G-VSTA	GeForce 6100, SATA2 RAID	€ 55.00	mATX
ASRock	ALIVENF6G-DVI	NF6100-430, SATA2 RAID	€ 61.00	mATX
Asus	M2V-TVM VIA	K8M890, SATA RAID, VGA, 6CH	€ 58.00	mATX
Asus	M2V	K8T890, SATA2, SATA RAID, GLAN, 6CH	€ 62.50	ATX
Asus	M2N	nForce 430 MCP, SATA2 RAID, GLAN	€ 63.50	ATX
Asus	M2A-VM	HDMI 690G, SATA2 RAID, VGA, DVI	€ 64.50	mATX
Asus	M2N4-SLI	nForce 4 SLI, SATA, GLAN, 8CH	€ 66.50	ATX
Asus	M2N 1394	nForce 430 MCP, SATA2, Firewire	€ 69.00	ATX
Asus	M2NBP-VM	CSM Quadro NVS 210S, SATA2	€ 71.50	mATX
Asus	M2N-E SLI	nForce 500 SLI MCP, SATA2 RAID	€ 76.00	ATX
Asus	M2A-MVP	480X CrossFire, SATA2 RAID	€ 76.00	ATX
Asus	M2NPV-VM	GeForce 6150, SATA2 RAID, VGA	€ 77.00	mATX
Asus	M2N DH	nForce 430 MCP, SATA2 RAID, GLAN	€ 77.00	ATX
Asus	M2N-VM DH	GeForce 6100, SATA2 RAID, VGA	€ 83.00	mATX
Asus	M2R32-MVP	CrossFire Xpress 3200, SATA2	€ 90.00	ATX
Asus	M2N-Plus SLI Vista Ed	nForce 500 SLI MCP	€ 95.50	ATX
Asus	M2N-SLI Deluxe	nForce 570 SLI, SATA2	€ 101.50	ATX
Foxconn	K8M890M2MA-RS2H	K8M890 VGA	€ 49.00	mATX
MSI	K9MM-V	K8M800, SATA RAID, 6CH	€ 43.50	mATX
MSI	K9VGM-V VIA	K8M890, SATA, LAN	€ 51.00	mATX
MSI	K9N6SGM-V	GeForce 6100, SATA2 RAID	€ 53.00	mATX
MSI	K9AGM2-L	690V, SATA2 RAID, 8CH	€ 55.00	mATX
MSI	K9N4 ULTRA-F	nForce 500 Ultra, SATA2 RAID	€ 58.50	ATX
MSI	K9AG NEO-F	690V, SATA2 RAID, GLAN, 8CH	€ 61.00	ATX
MSI	K9N NEO-F	nForce 550, SATA2, GLAN	€ 67.00	ATX
MSI	K9AGM2-FIH	690G, SATA2 RAID, 8CH	€ 68.50	mATX
MSI	K9N SLI-2F	nForce 570, SATA2, GLAN	€ 76.00	ATX
MSI	K9NBPM2-FID	Quadro NVS210S, SATA2 RAID	€ 78.00	mATX
MSI	K9N Platinum	nForce 570 MCP, SATA2, GLAN	€ 95.50	ATX
MSI	K9N SLI Platinum	nForce 570 SLI MCP, GLAN	€ 102.00	ATX
MSI	K9N Diamond	nForce 590 SLI MCP, GLAN	€ 103.00	ATX
MSI	K9A Platinum	CrossFire Xpress 3200, SATA2	€ 116.50	ATX

This list has to be brought down to only a couple of possibilities. There are a couple of requirements of a motherboard I have:

• Chipset has to be chosen
• SATA (Raid is not necessary but is nice to have)
• LAN (100Mbit will do fine but 1000Mbit would be a plus)
• Audio (everything will do, 6 channels or 8 is of no matter)
• Video (I want to attach multiple screens so multiple RAMDACS would be nice if not possible I will also need a new video card since I only own AGP cards)
• SLI/Crossfire support is not needed
• USB (the more ports the merrier)
• Legacy ports (serial, parallel would be pluses, ps/2 is a nice to have)
• Firewire would be nice to have
• mATX would be preferable to ATX
• The CPU support has to include the chosen CPU
• Bundle (SATA cables are needed, other things would be a plus)

What chipset to choose from is the next question, this will give me a good indication of the possibilities with the board. I did the research into the different chipsets on offer for a AM2 board. The choice seems to be between a Nvidia, an AMD/ATI or a VIA chipset for the AM2 platform. The requirements will have to be met, preferably with a lot of pluses and for the lowest price off course!

VIA

The choice at VIA is between the K8M890 or the KT8T890 which according to VIA differs only in the K8T offering 4 PCI Express x1 lanes and no integrated graphics where the K8M has an integrated VIA Chrome9™ HC IGP (with HDTV output Duo View + HDTV output support) and only 1 PCI Express x1 lane. Most of the boards only offer 2 DIMM slots and that would also not be the smart choice with the future in mind. I might want to just add memory later.

Nvidia:

Nvidia has a lot more to offer and choose from. The nForce3, nForce4, nForce 500 and the nForce 600 chipsets are all available for the AM2 platform. Nforce3 is an older platform which also explicitly not supports Vista (not that I will ever run Vista but it says something about the chipset) so this chipset will not be considered. The Nforce 600 chipset which atm is only made in the 680a variant is a fantastic chipset just too expensive to fit in the budget.

This leaves the different options within the nForce 430(B) and the 500 series (500 Ultra, 520, 550, 570 Ultra MCP) as options. Both seem valid as options, they fall in the budget and offer plenty of options on board. Both chipsets are single chip designs, there is no separate north or south bridge.

Ati & AMD:

Since Ati was bought by AMD the AMD website is the place to be for these chipsets. AMD also has multiple chipsets for their own AM2 platform. The 480X CrossFire and 580X CrossFire as well as the 690V/G as north bridge, all combined with the SB600 from ATI as south bridge.

The AMD 480X CrossFire™ or AMD 580X CrossFire™ Chipsets looks to be great candidates, crossfire is an extra in my opinion. This makes it possible to add multiple Ati video cards so you can easily output to multiple monitors.

The AMD 690V/G is a very modern chipset, he G variant offers integrated graphics dual with dual display support which would be great to have. I have found out that this does not allow you to output to two CRT monitors, only to one CRT and one LCD since it offers only RGB/TV and a DVI-D port which is not convertible to a RGB port.

Next post I will look into making the choice of chipset and the consequences this has for the above list, remember I can choose only one.

//Z

Choosing the right hardware II, Processors

Previous entries: I

The first choice which will dictate the rest of the hardware is the choice of processor. Will it be an Intel or AMD chip? One of my wants is a dual core processor since I do a lot of multitasking this is the one thing most useful to me. If you don't play games you don't have to get a very expensive processor so the bottom of the market is the place to be. If you look around when you arrive there the dual core processors available under € 100 there are some candidates:

Name	specs	socket	speed	cache, bus	price
Intel® Core 2 Duo	E2140	S775	2x1.6GHz	1MB, 800MHz	€74
Intel® Core 2 Duo	E2160	S775	2x1.8GHz	1MB, 800MHz	€83
Intel® Pentium	D 805	S775	2x2.66GHz	1MB, 533MHz	€89
Intel® Core 2 Duo	E4300	S775	2x1.86GHz	2MB, 800MHz	€95

Name	socket	speed	cache	bus		T/B	price
AMD® Athlon 64 X2 3800+	AM2	2x2.0GHz	12KB	400MHz	89W	Boxed	€70
AMD® Athlon 64 X2 4400+ EE	AM2	2x2.3GHz	512KB	400MHz	65W	Tray	€79
AMD® Athlon 64 X2 4000+	AM2	2x2.0GHz	1Mb	400MHz	89W	Boxed	€84
AMD® Athlon 64 X2 4000+	AM2	2x2.1GHz	1MB	400MHz	65W	Boxed	€84
AMD® Athlon 64 X2 4200+	AM2	2x2.0GHz	1MB	400MHz	65W	Tray	€85
AMD® Athlon 64 X2 44 00+	AM2	2x2.3GHz	512Kb	400MHz	65W	Boxed	€85
AMD® Athlon 64 X2 44 00+	AM2	2x2.3GHz	512Kb	400MHz	65W	Boxed	€85

Keep in mind these prices are just indications and from a certain date, they are the lowest prices in my country per item, all from different shops so they would probably end up 10% higher anyway. I have always been an AMB fan and since from the reviews I have read the conclusion seems to be that it does not really matter that much for my use. The choice between Intel and AMD is easy to make then. If you are going to play a lot of games you might follow a different path here. I do see a lot more reviews and reports on the high end part of hardware so getting information on how to choose the best gamer hardware (and pay for it!) is easy.

The plan is to order it all from one supplier since this saves me paying postage multiple times and with a budget of about € 250 this can come in at 10%! So how to choose a supplier. This was easy actually since I have some experience with 4Launch, great company, good service and nice prices. So I want to order it all from them.

From their list the conclusion is that it will be an AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor, not the lowest stepping (3600+) but one above that, an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+. This leaves me with the choice of TDP, socket and whether i want a tray or boxed version. At AMD's desktop compare site you can easily compare features. The socket is easy, since I will need a new motherboard anyway (my old one is a Socket A). I will go for a AM2 socket since that will give me the possibility to upgrade my processor the longest (since this is the newest socket in AMD's product gamma). Since I don't yet own a heat sink for this platform and I hear good things about the AMD boxed coolers the best choice would be a boxed version. 4Launch does not carry the 35W TDP, the choice is between the 65W or 89W TDP. Well, the lower the TDP the lower the energy bill therefore the 65W it will be since the price difference is only € 8. This all still leaves me with 2 possibilities, the difference being the stepping of the processor (F2 or F3). 4Launch does not carry the F3 setting (yet) so the F2 it will be. And I can say for €77 is quite a good price.

So all things considered the choice for processor is made, an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 2.0GHz HT 1MB AM2 65W Boxed for €77 it will be.

In the next installment of this series I will take on the motherboard.

//Z

Update: The next installment is up!

Choosing the right hardware I, Requirements

My birthday is coming up and since everybody is asking me what I would like to receive as a present I decided I will finally get myself the new pc I want for some time now.
At the moment I am not really satisfied with the system I run, it is getting underpowered and the biggest problem with it is the lack of memory. Software coming out now and future software will want a lot more then the 384 Megabytes in SDRAM available to it in my current Athlon 1500+. Lately I have not really followed the new stuff coming out of the pc market so I will have to do some research into the technology available. Since I am doing the research anyway I thought it would be interesting to document this process and give an insight into the way I choose my new hardware. It might even be interesting for other people who have to make a similar decision.

The first thing to do, as always when buying technology, is to make a list of requirements you have. This includes a list of tasks you want to use the hardware for. This is actually where the outcome of this project will be decided since according to the specs you come up with here you will choose your hardware. Most people use their pc's for a set of different tasks, this list will differ per person off course! My list would include activities most people use their pc for like browsing the Internet, writing documents, programming, downloading content, watching the odd movie, working with large databases, serving content to a select group over the Internet, etc. Since I am not into gaming at all, and if I do play the odd game sometimes I don't mind a lower detail level or a little stuttering in a game, I am pretty patient. To do everything (and more) which I want to do I will not need a very powerful machine so looking in the lower end of the spectrum will be the focus of this journey.
Requirements:

• browsing the Internet
• writing documents
• programming
• downloading content
• watching movies
• working with large databases
• server tasks
• etc.

Let's talk budget, as I said above this is based on my estimate of the income from my birthday. My girlfriend (she is SOOO cool) has already said she would participate:) I would guesstimate I will need about € 250 to buy what I need so that will be what I will aim for. Of course the lower the better but I will not trade requirements for price. If your budget is a little more flexible, consider the amount of money you want to spend, and the components you already have which you can reuse in the new pc. I already have multiple monitors, hard disks, dvd-burners, etc so I will not take this into account in my budget. I have nothing else to buy anything other then a processor, a motherboard and some memory. If the budget allows it would be cool to have a big hard drive since this is one of the things you will never have enough of.

I can see this will be a long post, for readability I will divide it over multiple posts which all will take a step in the decision process. This was number post number one of this series, await new posts as soon as I clean up my notes on the process, which is ongoing at this time.

//Z

Update: The next installment is up!