ZinZam

Replacement Motherboard on the way

February 14, 2010

So a couple of weeks ago I got sick of the "bugs" in my DFI motherboard and returned it to the retailer under warranty. The replacement is finally in the post so I will be able to install it next weekend after it arrives on Monday or Tuesday.

There is no sign of even an ETA on my laptop, so I am still waiting on news from Lenovo on that one, but I doubt I will be able to get it before my Birthday.

With these new toys, I will be able to continue testing the new version of zinzam.com and hopefully move faster in being able to get something fresh online.

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Ordered a new laptop

February 09, 2010

I ordered a new laptop, so it should get here in a few weeks, hopefully before my birthday. Happy Birthday me.

Anyway here are the specs...

• Thinkpad T410
  
• Intel Core i5 540M 2.53 GHz
  
• 320 GB 7200 RPM HDD
  
• 8 x DVD Burner
  
• NVidia Quadro NVS 3100m 256 MiB
  
• 4 GiB DDR3 1066 MHz (two DIMM)
  
• 1440 x 900 pixel WXGA+ LED backlit display
  
• Legendary thinkpad keyboard
  
• Thinklight
  
• Ultranav trackpad/trackpoint, multi-touch
  
• Finger print reader
  
• 2.0 Mega pixel web cam
  
• Qualcomm Gobi 2000 WWAN PCIe card, HSDPA, EDGE, GPRS, GSM, Ev-Do, 1xRT aGPS, GPS
  
• Bluetooth
  
• Intel Centrino 6200 802.11a/g/n WLAN
  
• 5 in 1 card reader
  
• 4 USB (one powered)
  
• Intel QM57 chipset
  
• eSATA
  
• Displayport
  
• 56 kbps modem
  
• 802.2ab gigabit ethernet
  
• IEEE1394 firewire 400
  
• 6 cell battery
  
• 2.27 kg
  
• VoIP optimised with mute button and array microphone
  

This will replace my current Z61t, same size, same weight class, a lot more powerful. I need to think of a name following along in the Yu-Gi-Oh theme, I had reserved mokuba, but assigned that to my desktop.

The only things missing from my z61t are IRDA (now use bluetooth), mic and headphone port are combined (I have logitech USB headset, G330), and S-Video (did anyone ever use it?).

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A little Synergy

October 04, 2009

Playing with a programme called Synergy, it's generally OK until you need to use UAC on the computer without the keyboard/mouse attached. It also supports simple clipboard sharing which is pretty darn cool.

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Life with 64 bit

September 25, 2009

Being back in Maryborough means two things. Firstly back to the grind of work, but secondly I am now using my core i7 machine running RC of Windows 7 64.

While I realise that Windows 7 has reached RTM, it hasn't been released as GA yet. I am looking at getting Windows 7 professional as OEM at the end of october, and at the same time upgrading my core i7 box with an antec P180 mATX mini-tower case, and an A(md)TI HD5850 video card. I am also considering getting a Creative X-FI Titanium FATAL1TY sound card just for the awesomeness.

Being able to use the computer after it sitting in a box for 6 months is completely awesome. I am able to do things that I simply could not do on my two and a half year old laptop. Blender and Vegas movie studio run smoothy, Full HD video from my handycam is handled effortlessly, and dual display mode is a lot snappier.

Unfortunately while 64 bit allows the computer to support all 6 GiB of installed RAM, current versions of Blender and Vegas movie studio are only 32 bit which I am sure will change, it just means I can multi-task them effectively.

I am currently playing with Blender 3D to create 3D flyover titles for videos. I am picking up the basics pretty quickly which is awesome, but I don't think I'll be able to animate complex objects anytime soon. It is a fair bit different to using 3D CAD packages, but I am far more confident in working in 3D thanks to using CAD at work, so learning Blender has been a whole lot easier this time around despite it's unintuitive UI.

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My Computer

July 04, 2009

A little while back I bought and assembled the components for my high performance HTPC.

My Desktop


Inside my HTPC


Building my HTPC

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Anyone else experiencing popup ads on facebook?

June 21, 2009

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Office 2007 SP2 Supports Open Document Format Natively

May 17, 2009

Microsoft Update installed Office 2007 SP2 the other day. Upon using Excel for the first time since I was surprised to find that I could save in Open Document Format (ODF), this is true also for Word (see screenshot below) and PowerPoint. I was not expecting this support until Office 2010, so great work on Microsoft's behalf to implement ODF support earlier than promised.



Unfortunately ODF is not set to the default file format. I urge all Microsoft Office users to stop using (Microsoft) Office Open XML (OOXML, .docx, .xlsx, .pptx) format immediately and to start using ODF formats (.odt, .ods, .odp).

To change the default file format go Office Orb -> Word Options -> Save -> Save files in this format -> OpenDocument Text (*.odt). Then click OK to save this preference. Repeat for Excel and PowerPoint.

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Building a High Performance HTPC

April 13, 2009

HTPCs are a tricky type of computer to design. because the computer will sit in your living room it has to look good. It's not as though it isn't possible to design a good looking HTPC, look at the PS3, it is a high performance computer that looks good.

The first component to select is the chassis when looks matter. Because I want to move my computer about, I want a small chassis, so I have gone with a low profile one. There were two up for consideration, first I wanted the Antec MicroFusion Remote 350 which looks great. However after consultation with the antec website, wanting a high performance computer, a 350 W power supply may not have been enough for the build after a year, and if I added a BD drive, and an extra HDD, memory after time.

In the end I settled with a Lian Li PC-C37B Muse Black which looks very nice. I then threw in an Antec TP-550 as 550 W is more than enough, and with high-quality components and efficiency should keep very cool at the typical current draw for this computer. Because the computer will be used for video rendering, it could be at 100% for several hours in a row, so it must be able to stay cool inside the small chassis. The Lian Li with it's all aluminium construction should have better cooling characteristics than the all steel Antec previously considered.

From there the rest of the computer falls into place like Lego.

Core i7 920, value based core i7 processor gives biggest bang for buck, and with 8 threads concurrent execution (quad core hyperthreaded) will fly for video rendering.

6GB of RAM at only $178 makse sense. Better to have too much than too little, this helps with future-proofing, afterall we want this PC to last 5 years.

Core i7 CPUs have a new socket, 1366, like the 775 socket it is a pinless ball-grid-array which are easy to put together. There are not many socket 1366 motherboards availiable and are all high-end. I have gone with a DFI LanParty JR-X58-T3EH6 Motherboard which is the microATX version of the DFI LanParty DK-X58-T3EH6 Motherboard. As the case only takes microATX, the JR version of the board it is. Everything is the same, X58 chipset, just a one less PCIEx16, one less PCI, two less SATA ports, and no IEEE1394a.

Becuase the case is low profile, it requires a low profile video card. The ASUS EAH4550 is designed for HTPCs with a HDMI connector as standard. This is a value based ATi Radeon HD 4550 chip, but with a h.264 decoding accelerator present, is more than plenty and will allow for basic gaming, and excellent Aero performance. The card can be run in software Crossfire, supported by the motherboard, so can add a second card later if I want.

Western Digital 1 TB HDD, Pioneer 20x DVD-RW, and Logitech VX Revolution mouse are all standard fixtures. I may upgrade to blu-ray later, but for now I am just sticking with DVD as I have the PS3, and none of my relatives would be able to play a mastered BD disc. I already have a keyboard, monitor(s), TV, and speaker system(s), so no need to worry about these aspects.

Why no Digital Tuner card? I have a pinnacle digital tuner USB stick. While pinnacle, and the software that comes with it sucks, I will be running the beta version of Windows 7 64-bit which supports this device using Microsoft drivers which are about as robust as they get (as opposed to the pinnacle drivers which are below par). The pinnacle stick was bought for playing Wii on my laptop, which sucked due to input lag in the analogue part of the software.

Total price, $1840 AUD, delivered, self assembly.

I will be using beta version of Windows 7 Ultimate, I have Vegas Movie Studio Platnium Pro 9.0 which I have yet to install on anything, and will not be using this computer for office/e-mail (I have a laptop for this).

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Box Social Milestone Reached

March 22, 2009

Today we have reached a milestone. Zinzam.com has been updated with the latest Box Social SVN which brings it up to date with many many bug fixes, and a number of performance and scalability issues fixed that I identified with my project to import my site http://agreendaysite.com/ into zinzam.com.

There are still some areas which need improvement. We will be updating to Ubuntu 9.04 when it comes out in April which will give us Mono 2.0 support which we will be able to run as native 64bit.

I will also be updating my linux desktop to Ubuntu 9.04 which will give me Monodevelop 1.9.3 from the Monodevelop 2.0 beta line which has many issues fixed with it over the 1.0 version I am currently using.

Importing A Green Day Site will allow Box Social to be tested more vigorously than before in a scaled up environment taking thousands of hits per day. This will also fix many issues with the site which are broken and bring them into line with the working features of Box Social.

As always, let me know of any issues with the update and anything you would like to see changed.

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The Ubuntu-Mono Development Platform

December 23, 2008

Since installing Intrepid on my laptop I have been investigating whether I can seriously start using Ubuntu and MonoDevelop as a .net development platform for Box Social. The answer to that is now a resounding yes.

I can checkout SVN using rapidSVN.
I can open the solution using MonoDevelop.
I can compile the solution.
And one thing I couldn't do on Windows Vista, I can install apache, mysql, and mod-mono without the services crippling the performance of my laptop.

Now my Ubuntu desktop is setup as a development platform for Box Social, and it is excellent, and allows me to test my code without having to publish it to a second computer running Windows Server 2003.

The other nice thing about Ubuntu is it literally shuts down in 10 seconds, as opposed to windows which takes a minute. Much better for having to pack up quickly if you were in an airport, or on a bus or train.

And with that I have also fixed the write blog post account sub-module so I can post to my blog again.

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