I’m sure we’ve all heard the expression “that truck’s got nuts.” For those that haven’t, that simply means that the truck in question is very powerful. Most vehicles \”with nuts\” usually have more than one of everything: eight cylinders, dual exhaust systems, the list goes on and on. That same expression can be applied...

I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but nothing makes me higher than getting behind the keyboard of a super fast system. I’m not just talking about a system that can load Windows up in under 30 seconds, I’m taking about a computer that seems to have a program open before you even think of opening it. That’s what I call speed! Before I continue, I...

Recently, AMD CEO Jerry Sanders was quoted as saying “You have no idea how tired I am of seeing the Blue Man Group.” Actually, I have a very good idea of how sick you are. The Blue Man Group is about as bad as a cult leader. They bring people into an exclusive group that worships an evil power. On top of it all, they also steal your money. All...

Most of the people that work on IT websites also have the distinction of working in the real world IT department. Even I have such the honor to work in such a field. Although still an undergraduate student, I have the honor of serving a Wisconsin State University as a soon-to-be server administrator for the servers overlooking the computer labs. Although that...

Imagine this situation if you will: You own/rent a home/apartment. For one reason or another, all the walls are finished off with wallboard of some sort, all the wires you ever thought you’d need are inside of the walls and are poking out through jacks. Power Outlet’s, Cable TV outlets, and Phone outlets are all wired into the wall. Five or so years ago,...

With the recent advent of faster processors, bus speeds, video cards, and memory, it seems like the Hard Drive is being left behind.  For over a year, the ATA/33 IDE Protocol as well as a 5400RPM spindle speed has been the standard for Hard Drives.  This combination has preformed very well over the past year or so, but as with all other parts of the...

With dial up Internet service, you can access the Internet from every computer in the house, as long as every computer has a modem. After a while of dialing up, you might feel that you’ve outgrown standard dial-up Internet service.Its slow speeds are too cramping for the daily work you do on the Internet, so...

Ethernet ChoiceThe first thing you want to do when attempting to build your own home network, is choose what you want to use for cabling.  For ease of use, and easy expansion, I suggest using 10/t or 100/TX.  10/T and 100/TX both use Cat5 Cabling.  If you look at it, it looks like a phone wire, but has twice as many wires both on the plug and in...

The 56K modem has been around for about two years now. Unlike processor power, dial-up speeds have not doubled in the past 18 months; they have reached somewhat of a ceiling due to line noise and analog-to-digital conversion. By a large majority, Broadband internet connections, such a xDSL and CATV access are becoming more and more main stream, and are even...

With the advent of cheaper and cheaper PCs, and the speed at which new technology comes into the computer world, most homes have more than one PC. Some homes deal with a PC for the kids, a PC for the parents, as well as a Laptop or two from the office on the weekends. With more than one PC in the home, file sharing become a very difficult thing to accomplish....

The Memorex 4224 CD-RW is your typical CD-RW, with a read speed of 24x, Write speed of 4X, and a re-write speed of 2x.  What really set this CD-RW off from the others to me was the cost.  At Best Buy, I picked this thing up for $160 US, which, as most of you know, is cheap for a CD-RW in this day and...

The History…of this article. Last night, as usual, I found myself talking to the most important person in my life. As it happened, and I personally don’t know/remember how it happened, we started talking about CPUs. I think it started as talking about big business, and then I mentioned Intel, and their current strategy of telling any motherboard...

I’m no sellout. I don’t like their business tactics. I don’t like their CEO. But please, leave the defenseless software alone. Could you build it? Could 99.99% of the world build it? The answer is no, and that is why there is a select few who manufacture Operating Systems and browsers. You have...

Once again, Microsoft has released bug fixes and a service pack to it’s latest operating system.  This time, they released it to the public, and not just to OEMs and companies that build the computers for them, like they did with Windows 95 OSR 2.x. Rants & Raves Windows 98 SE installed just like the Windows...

If you’re a hardware enthusiast like me, or you just don’t have the money to go out and buy a new $2000 PC, this is the article you should hold as your "bible." 286 Class or Older If you’ve got a 286 or older computer in need of fixing up, don’t bother.   The processor is to old to...