Solid State Hard Drives - They've Finally Done It!

Tired of hearing your hard drive spin inside your computer?  Even the quiet ones aren't completely silent.  Also, that spinning uses extra power that could be saved: if you invested in a SSD (Solid State Drive).  By now, everyone probably owns a USB Jump Drive of some kind, but now you can replace your internal hard drive with the same kind of technology.  It's a storage device that does not require spinning disks within itself.  Also, you may remember when a 1 GB hard drive existed and was the same size as hard drives today (just much lighter).  Now we have 32+ GB thumb drives that are a FRACTION of the size.  In the picture above is a 120 GB SSD for only $230 at NewEgg.  That may seem like a lot, but regular hard drives that size were once that price too.  (It will come down in time)

Right now, they have all the various sizes of conventional spinning hard drives even up to 2 TB.  However, I would never spend $8,200 for one.  That is the current price tag at NewEgg right now.  But it's a great advancement in technology. 

The pros are that magnets do not affect SSD, the use 1/2 to 1/3 power, make absolutely NO noise, runs cooler, faster start up and data accessing times, no defragmentation required (my favorite!), and no moving parts means virtually no mechanical failures!  I look forward to seeing the sizes in hard drives grow exponentially in the near future. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a petabyte (1 PB) within the next decade (that's 1,000 GB)! 

Sources:
120 GB at NewEgg.com
2 TB at NewEgg.com

Sometimes Alcohol IS the Answer...

I'll just leave this here... 

Buy this T-shirt here. 

Namechk

Have you ever been curious exactly how many sites with which you've registered?  Or maybe you've forgotten which ones over the years.  I stumbled upon a website that has all of the most popular sites' logos on one page, and it instantly shows you which ones have your username used and which ones do not.  It's kind of interesting to see, because I had forgotten registering with a few of them.  It can also let you know if your username is taken for them.  It's worth a 30-second look at least.

http://namechk.com/

Charge ANY Cell Phone Wirelessly! PowerMat - Good Idea Gone Bad?

Charge ANY cell phone and other wireless devices without the hassle of wires!  Simply set your phone on this magic mat and have your cell phone charge so effortlessly!  Right?  Wrong...  I was so excited of this product and almost bought it - until I read the details and reviews.  You'll see that it's not quite this simple and that there are many compatibility issues.  Most of the reviews say that the device is not yet ready for prime-time, so before you spend a good $80 on one, at LEAST read my blog and follow up with the reviews that support it.

The PowerMat requires that you insert a "tip" into the power port of your device.  It's basically the part of a normal-wire charger that goes into your phone, but without the wire.  The tip makes contact with the mat, and it charges from there, not just it's flat-back against the pad like it makes you think upon first glance.  Many reviews also say that it doesn't hold as good of a charge as a wire-charge.  Also, they say they work with many phones, but the tips are still extremely limited.  In the end, this IS wireless but kind of not and is deceptive in advertising. 

So what about an alternative brand, like the Duracell myGrid?  Well, lo and behold...the reviews are almost identical!  The myGrid boasts of the Power Sleeve, which works with certain phones like the iPhone.  This sleeve basically has a tip inside that goes into the power port as well.  A review was loyal enough to inform us that the magnetic sleeve must be removed before placed into your pocket full of credit cards and keys.  The customer service center avoided his question and pushed it off to an email address that never replied to him.  It's a great idea...in the making.  I will wait a while before I consider buying this product for real.  You're welcome.

Sources: PowerMat - Amazon Sale and Reviews

              Duracell my Grid - Amazon Sale and Reviews

Unforgivable Singing Acts of Treason

What other topic is less than interesting than the error made by Christina Aguilera last night at the Superbowl?  We've probably all heard (or at least heard OF) someone making an idiot of themselves by misquoting the Star Spangled Banner...but at the Superbowl?  And by someone of Aguilera's status with 5 Grammys?  Obviously a treat to see.  Someone on YouTube said had she "actually sung the song and not sang so many wooo oooo ooo's she might have actually done a good job, at least remembered the words."

Sure, we should be understanding of the situation with being in front of so many people and singing such an infamously difficult song...  But for some reason, this is an error that has always hushed the crowd and made you feel that terrible sinking feeling in your stomach.  Is it because it's our National Anthem and all Americans should know it?  Is it because we all think to ourselves, "Why did she even try if she wasn't going to get it right in front of hundreds of millions of people?"  Or is it because, somehow, deep inside it feels like a disgrace to our country even though it's just singing a song?

In any case, you shouldn't be afraid to feel ashamed to feel however you feel.  It would appear that forgetting the words or messing up on them is just one of those unforgivable taboos. 

Funny Friday #2

It's time for Funny Friday again...  Hope some of these appeal to most of you!  Have a good weekend, you guys!  

More of My Spray Paint Art

A lot of people seemed to like my art that I introduced to you guys in my last post the other day, so I figured I would show you some still-pictures of some of my work that I've done at local town festivals.

Everyone asks what the fire is for. It's to dry it faster so I can sell it on the spot.