Pioneer - 400 GB optical discs

Memory size is always been of our interest friends.I have posted many news on HDD or other data storage devices which provides huge memory sizes.This one must be included in that list.Pioneer has claimed that they will represent a optical disc with a storage capacity of 400GB!

Pioneer has developed a 16-layer read-only optical disc which can store 400GB of data.The per-layer capacity is 25GB, the same as that of a Blu-ray Disc, and the multilayer technology will also be applicable to multilayer recordable discs.

Pioneer said,

"Multi-layered discs have been difficult to develop because 'crosstalk' from adjacent layers and transmission loss mean that getting a stable signal from the disc is often nearly impossible."

So it means if this thing got OK signal, then it will be used for data storage in corporates which needs such devices for daily data backup.Thus this will replace the slow tape drives which are in heavy usage now a days.Lets hope this happens,so we can have better and fast solution for data backup/storage.

Pioneer will present the details of this research at the International Symposium on Optical Memory and Optical Data Storage 2008 in Hawaii on 13 July.

source: vnunet

Samsung 1 TB HD, Only $199!

Large HD is now a must have thing. Not even corporates and industries, but home users are also using large HDs. See mine,I have 250GB WD 16MB Buffer SATA2 in just 74$!. PC usage is increasing day by day. Now everyone wants big space, Jet speed and less price. And that's what we are getting here.

Samsung has announced a low-cost 1 Terabyte HD, that will be available to consumers in June, at an affordable price of $199. Specs with 5400RPM rotational speeds, and offering the highest capacity per disk for one terabyte hard drives, at 334GB per platter, will keep the size limited and boosted up performace. Also Samsung says the drive uses up to 50 per cent less power than other one TB drives and has technology to keep it quiet through operation.

Media hunger is increasing with HD movies, Gaming and pictures. Also if big thing in less money is available, people will be attracted to it. Let's hope this will give best performance as samsung said.

Western Digital launches world's fastest SATA disk

The 300GB VelociRaptor from Western Digital. Said to be 35% faster than previous WD Raptors, the 10,000 RPM drive features a 3Gbps SATA interface, 16MB cache, and impressive 1.4 million hour MTBF thanks in part to the IcePack Mounting Frame. The IcePack heat sink not only keeps the drive spinning extra cool, it also bumps the 2.5-inch HDD to a required 3.5-inch drive bay. Available exclusively on Alienware's ALX gaming desktop this month and then up for grabs for everybody with $300 to burn starting mid-May.

Western Digital Product Page

500,000 GB MP3 Player!

Can you even imagine an MP3 player with a 500,000 GB capacity? It’s pretty much beyond belief. The most generous player today can only hold around 40,000 songs – they’d hardly make a dent on this.

The thing is, it could easily happen. Scientists at the University of Glasgow have created a nanotechnology breakthrough that could increase storage capacity by 150,000 times. It could mean 500,000 GB on a single chip and inch square.

The Glasgow scientists worked to create the molecule-sized switch that’s at the heart of it all.

More @ digitalTrends

Phase change memory (PCM) is coming...

Numonyx, the memory joint venture between STMicroelectronics and Intel, is already shipping samples of phase change memory (PCM) chips to customers and will start shipping PCM chips commercially later this year, CEO Brian Harrison said at a press conference Monday.

We expect to bring it to market this year and generate some revenue. It is one to two years before it becomes widely commercially available.

Hearing a CEO talk about existing samples and near-term commercial shipments, however, is a big deal for PCM. The technology has been stuck in the proverbial "a few years away" phase for a long time.

It could be cheaper than flash within a couple of years

analyst Richard Doherty in said in 2001, predicting the technology might hit the market in 2003.

Why will the world want PCM? Performance, says Numonyx CTO Ed Doller. PCM chips can survive tens of millions of read-write cycles, he said, or far more than flash. Reading data to PCM chips takes 70 to 100 nanoseconds, or as fast as NOR flash. Data can be written to the chips at a rate of 1 megabyte a second, or equivalent of NAND flash. There is also no erase cycle, making it similar to DRAM. You will have the best attributes of three different types of memory--plus, PCM will potentially use far less power.

news.com

DDR3 Goes Beyond The 2GHz Barrier

Currently, memory speeds are going higher and higher with each day, and while it isn't such a big thing to see DDR2 memory rated somewhere around 1000MHz, most DDR3 modules produced so far were rated as "DDR3-1333", and sometimes "DDR3-1625" or "DDR3-1800"(of course, nothing stopped various producers coming up with their own speed ratings, less common). I said "so far" because, one of these days, Team Group released a new product that broke the 2GHz barrier!

Team Group's memory modules rated DDR3-2133 are a part of their older Team Xtreem series, and they are currently providing the highest bandwidth available in memory modules that can be found on the market. Apart from the 2133-rated ones, Team Group also offers DDR3-1700 and DDR3-1600 modules.
All these DDR3 memories available under the Team Xtreem flag use custom heat spreaders to keep them cooler, increase reliability, and overclocking possibilities, as well as to make them more attractive to our eyes. For now, probably not many of us would consider buying 2GHz DDR3 memory, because the performance of this kind of memory doesn't fully justify its price yet, but it's good to know where we stand and where we're headed...

Panasonic - Class 6 SDHC 32GB memory cards

Think you already have enough memory on your camera’s memory card? Think again! With memory cards getting larger in size and faster in speed, even if yours was bought not very long before, it will likely go out of date as this SDHC card giant gets released.

Panasonic’s latest Class 6 SDHC card will allow? a maximum transfer rate of 20MB/s. This 32GB monster has enough storage capacity to store up to four hours of 1920 x 1080i compressed AVCHD video!

With such great features, the price is quite hefty too: $699, which is about 356 pounds!

coolest-gadgets

Best Multi protocol chat client - Miranda/Pidgin/Trillian ?

I will talk according to features,looks and memory requirements.Why use multi protocol clients? simple, i was using spark for jabber, MSN live for msn, yahoo messenger for yahoo and gogle talk for gmail at my company.These all eats all my memory and hangs my PC. I have much work to do.Instead i have to wait for my PC be stable sometimes.Spark is the worst because it eats 100 to 150 MB memory.Instead i choose to go for some simple solution which provides me basic needs.

Miranda IM
It is the best among three of them as per features.It is an open source project and having plugin based environment.You can download different kind of plugins as per your needs.Very light and runs at very low memory.It eats maximum 10 to 15 MB memory.

May plugins are available for it.Some other kind of protocols are also supported.
Saves all history log in one file in your application data folder.So its a very good thing.

some good (must have)features : broadcast (*),file send/receive,group chat(conference),tabbed interface,history in one log file,history view configurable,meta contacts(merge contacts of diff. protocols in one *),alarms(*),self update(*),birthday reminders(*),encrypted messages(*),themes and skins(*),icons-smilies configurable and many more...

(* means must install plugin for that feature)
HomePage : www.miranda-im.org
OS: windows
supports: AIM,MSN,Yahoo,Jabber (gtalk),IRC,ICQ and many more.
dislikes: -UI is not so good, but its ok because it gives full features.
-Too complex option configurations.
-In current stable version you cant create more accounts of same protocol.You have to copy the .dll for that rename it something other you like.
Our rating: 5 star (Excellent in features, low memory and fully configurable plugin based architecture).
Stable version: 0.7.3

Pidgin
It is second best as per me. Its also open source gtk based architecture.Personally i like this most because of its simple and easy UI and options.Before its known as Gaim but because of some legal issues it is renamed as pidgin.it is GTK+ based and runs on windows as well as Linux.

HomePage:www.pidgin.im
plugins: not too much. you can have perl,tcl based plugins also.
OS: windows,linux
supports:aim,msn,yahoo,jabber,xmpp,irc,icq,qq,gadu-gadu and much more...
you can add more than one account of same protocol.

dislikes: -less plugins, less options.
-Broadcast not supported.They say this cause spamming and misuse ( i cant understand this, why misuse? )
-If you enable history saving for messaging,it will genereate separate file for each message session.It means every time you chat with same person, it will save log in new file. so at the end of the day, you have some 1000 files in your logs folder if you chat often.This is the worst thing because it makes big number of little fragmented files.May be this will be solved in the next version as this bug is showed in the bug-tracker for pidgin.Becasue of this problem i am using miranda im at present.
Our rating:4.5 star (quite good,low memory,simple UI,easy to configure.)
Stable version: 2.3.1

Trillian
Its good but its not free. You have to pay $25 for it.Or you can crack it but i will not do it because i have free wares available.It takes very less memory and good UI support. Very good history support.

plugins:very much configurable.
OS: windows
Supports: aim,msn,yahoo in basic,Pro version suuports jabber also.(But who cares, we have miranda and pidgin, use them )
dislikes: -in jabber, no group chat(conference) support.
-its a pay ware.
our rating:4 star(simple and rich UI, low memory, easy options)


So as per me, if you are not using logging( of messaging history) or you don't care about big number of little chat log files + you don't need broadcast then you must use Pidgin. Otherwise use Miranda im. Its also very good. but don't use trillian instead of these two open source things. :)

Be open, live open.But remember, Being open source doesn't stop piracy. :)

Memtest86+ v2.00

Based on the well-known original memtest86 written by Chris Brady, memtest86+ is a port by some members of the x86-secret team. Its goal is to provide an up-to-date and completely reliable version of this software tool aimed at memory failures detection. Memtest86+ is, like the original, released under the terms of the Gnu Public License (GPL). No restrictions for use, private or commercial exist other than the ones mentioned in the Gnu Public License (GPL). Texts about the original version was taken from the original website and written by Chris Brady.

Changelog:
o Major Architectures changes
o Modulo test now use random pattern for better accuracy
o Added Advanced DMI Errors Reporting Mode
o Added support for bus ratio changes on Intel Core CPU
o Added support for non-integer bus ratio on latest Intel CPU
o Added SPD Data Display for all Intel Chipsets (more to come)
o Added serial support as a linux boot parameter (Thanks to Michal S.)
o Added preliminary support for VIA CN Isaiah CPU
o Added preliminary support for Intel Nehalem
o Added support for VIA C7/C7-D/C7-M/Eden on Esther Core
o Added support for AMD K10 (Phenom) CPU w/ timings detection
o Added support for Intel Pentium E w/ 1 MB L2 Cache
o Added support for Intel Core 2 45nm (Penryn)
o Added support for FSB1333/FSB1600 Intel CPU
o Added support for Intel 5400A/5400B w/ timings detection
o Added support for Intel Q35/P35/G33/Q33 w/ timings detection
o Added support for Intel X38/X48 w/ timings detection
o Added preliminary support for Intel 5000P/V/Z
o Removed on-fly memory timings change (unstable)
o Numerous bugfixes

memtest.org

Apple - iPhone is 16GB, iPod touch 32GB !

Apple today announced new iPhone and iPod models with larger memory capacities to solve the ever growing craze for more portable storage. This move doubles the amount of memory that was previously available on the top iPhone and iPod models.

Both new models (the 16GB iPhone and the 32GB iPod Touch) will sell for US$499.

Apple will continue to sell the 8GB iPhone and the 16GB iPod touch for US$399 each. Apple will also continue the junior 8GB iPod touch at US$299.

Some analysts are worried that a potential U.S. recession could affect sales of luxury items such as these portable devices. Apple stock is down more than 33 per cent this year.

Reuters.com

AMD Radeon HD 3870 X2 Review

AMD's R680 is a huge graphics card with huge potential. Does the HD 3870 X2 mark a return to competition for the Green Team?

Two is always better than one, right? Nevermind the performance decrease that occurred when SLI technology was enabled in its infancy. Forget about how much data is lost in high-performance, high-heat RAID-0 arrays. Don’t even bat an eye when huge computer cases are released touting two built-in power supplies. While doubling up has been the source of a fair amount of trouble in the hardware industry, it seems to most often provide a performance increase when all is said and done. But what happens when it doesn’t? What happens when a company spends thousands if not millions in R&D reworking and refining a product that ends up flopping when it hits the market? You can rest assured that it has happened in the past, and even though the companies responsible managed to persevere and today are doing quite well for themselves, one needs only to look to AMD and their infamous Quad FX platform to realize just how big of a risk doubling up can be.

It’s not that AMD’s Quad FX platform was inherently bad, or that their competition’s multitasking was a lot better, but that the way the technology was implemented led to other problems that a vast majority of buyers must have considered a pretty big deterrent. In a world where die shrinks and increased efficiency initiatives would have you thinking that perhaps the emphasis has finally switched from ‘bigger and better’ to ‘less is more’- a delusion if you really take a look at what’s going on – it is always curious when a company decides it necessary to release something totally against the trend. And yet, we have seen these products – many of them – released in the past year alone. That’s why more than a few heads were turned when “R680” showed up on AMD roadmaps and details began to emerge in the second half of 2007.

R680, otherwise known as Radeon HD 3870 X2, is AMD’s third attempt at a dual-GPU graphics card. ATI’s Rage Fury MAXX launched way back in December of 1999 to a generally mixed field of reviews. Many reviewers applauded the exceptional DVD playback and high-resolution 32-bit gaming abilities of the card while criticizing its astronomical price tag (at launch). Perhaps unlike today, however, ATI’s MAXX was not a direct port of a pretty well-designed and respectable existing GPU. Basing a new product on halfway decent technology rather than a poorly executed amalgam of antiquated parts is probably a pretty good idea. The Radeon X1950 Pro dual was another dual-GPU graphics card, but it saw very limited exposure in the press and presumably limited success in the presence of genuinely high-end cards at the time like the GeForce 7900GTX and Radeon X1950XTX (not to mention the fact that it only fit in the very biggest cases). The Radeon HD 3870 X2 on the bench today is a very early sample of the card and the drivers even more so. That’s not to say the numbers you’re about to see aren’t accurate, it’s just we wish we could have tested it closer to launch with proper software support.

System Configuration Used:

* Test SetupCase: Vigor Force
* Power Supply: Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850
* Motherboard: Foxconn N68S7AA
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700
* Hard Drive: Western Digital WD2500KS 7,200RPM
* Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 640, GeForce 8800GTX (stock, reference design clocks), Diamond Viper Radeon HD2900XT 1GB, 2x NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB, AMD Radeon HD3870X2
* Sound: Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
* Memory: 2048MB (2x1024MB) G.Skill PC2 6400
* Optical Drive: Lite-ON SHW160P6S05
* Cooling: ASUS Silent Square Pro

Software Configuration
* Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
* Video Driver: NVIDIA ForceWare Version 169.01, AMD Vista Sample 8.45 RC4

Software Used:

* 3DMark2006
* FEAR (DX9)
* Call Of Juarez (DX10)
* Team Fortress 2 (DX9)
* Company Of Heroes (DX9, DX10)
* Oblivion (DX9)
* BIOSHOCK (DX9, DX10)
* Crysis

AMD Radeon HD 3870 X2 Specifications:

* Core Clock: 825MHz
* Memory Clock:1800MHz
* Memory Type: GDDR3
* Memory interface: 256Bit (x2)
* Memory capacity: 1024MB
* Manufacture Process: 55nm
* Transistor Count: ~1333 Million
* Math Processing Rate: 994 GFLOPS
* Shaders: 640
* Standard Shader Model: 4.1 (Vista Only)
* Standard DirectX Version: 10.1 (Vista Only)
* 128-Bit HDR Lighting
* 8192x8192 HR Textures
* Interface: PCIe 2.0

Full @ FPSLabs

Thumb Drive - self-destruct in 10 seconds

Thumb drives are a convenient and cool way to carry around your data, and with drive sizes in the gigabytes, you can store a ton of photos, files, music, and video in a very tiny space. Unfortunately, due to their small sizes, they are targets for information thieves.

Think about it - all that personal data - your resume, email, password-files, and pictures of your girlfriend can be picked up and copied and returned before you even noticed it was missing. You want to have this data handy, but handy for you and not for that scumbag down the hall with the sticky fingers.

Like you, the US Military wanted portable but secure storage, and the guys at IronKey stepped up. They've developed the perfect solution that's one-part thumb-drive, and two parts Mission: Impossible. Their thumb drives hold up to 4 Gigabytes of data, but includes a hardware encryption chip that scrambles the data so as to be completely unreadable without a password.

Passwords can be hacked, but not the IronKey. It's built to withstand attacks both virtual and physical. 10 incorrect password attempts, and the encryption chip self-destructs, making the contents of the flash drive totally unreadable. The contents of the drive are filled with epoxy, so if a hacker tries to physically access the chips, he'd more likely damage them instead. Even if he did get access to the memory chips, they'd be worthless without the encryption chip. Electron-shielded, even a scanning electron microscope can't get inside.

Applications built right onto the IronKey help keep your personal data safe. For example, the password manager keeps your passwords safe. How? Your passwords are securely stored in a hidden hardware-encrypted area inside the device (and not in the drive's file system), being first locally encrypted with 256-bit AES, using randomly generated keys encrypted with a SHA-256 hash of your device password. All of this data is then doubly encrypted with 128-bit AES hardware encryption. Hack that.

A secure copy of Firefox included with your IronKey encrypts your browsing session through a VPN tunnel to IronKey's Secure Sessions Service. It works by tunneling your entire web browsing communications through the Tor-based Secure Sessions proxy on your IronKey. The Secure Sessions tunnel connects over an encrypted connection to their network routing servers, which in turn route your traffic between a number of servers, and then eventually out to your destination website. This approach protects your identity and your confidentiality, encrypting and anonymizing your Web surfing on almost any network or VPN (virtual private network).

These drives have already seen duty in Afghanistan, keeping US Military secrets safe from unsavory people. They're certainly good enough even for your most sensitive data.

All this goodness is demoed here. Go check it out!
* Fast 30MBPS Read, 20MBPS Write
* Drive contents encrypted with AES CBC-Mode Encryption
* Onboard IronKey Password-manager keeps all your internet passwords safe
* Secure version of Firefox included that encrypts all your web-surfing traffic
* Encased in a potted metal case, not plastic, making it one of the strongest USB keys around
* Exceeds MIL-STD-810F military waterproofing standards
* The encryption chip self-destructs if an invasive attack is detected
* If your Ironkey is lost, you can restore from a secure backup to a new Ironkey in minutes
* Dual channel SLC NAND Flash for high-quality and read/write speeds
* Windows XP and Windows Vista only, but Mac and Linux drivers are in development

AMD Launches 'Black Edition' Athlon 64 X2 5000+

To complement the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition, AMD has silently launched its Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition. All technical aspects of the processor are identical to its non-Black Edition counterpart; the only new feature is an unlocked multiplier – allowing overclockers to increase the frequency of the processor without the need to adjust the HyperTransport clock. In other words, the chipmaker is hoping the processor’s overclocking performance will make it a worthy new product. According sources familiar with the new CPUs launch schedule, retail availability of the processors should come later this month, but as of right now no major supplier is selling the new processor. AMD guidance sets the MSRP of the Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Black Edition at $136 in quantities of 1,000.

DailyTech

Shrink XP’s Start up and Shut Down Times

When trying these suggestions wisely use System Restore (or a suitable alternative)!

Reduce your boot time:

• Check the BootOptimizeFunction registry key: If the Enable string value is not set to Y, change it. (This is enabled by default.) Exit regedit and reboot. A boot up defragment will now take place. This will optimize the position of the boot files for a faster boot. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction.
• Purge Prefetch? I’ve found that after purging C:\windows\prefetch my system takes longer to boot. Admittedly, it is a delay of only few seconds and things normalise after the use of the computer over a few days. An exception is to clear out obsolete .pf files referring to programs that have been uninstalled. For more details, please see the March 2005 APC.
• Check the BIOS: Look for quick Power On Self Test (POST), and Boot Delay enabled. (On pressing the power button you will have to quickly press one of a number of keys. Esc, F1, F2, F10 and Delete are commonly used. It varies according to the BIOS manufacturer.) If you never use a floppy drive, turn off the option for seeking a boot up floppy.
• Completely defrag your boot/system drive: Unfortunately, the defragger provided in XP is a limited version of Executive Software’s Diskeeper. Opinions differ as to the best defragger for XP. Popular choices are Diskeeper, O&O Defrag and PerfectDisk. Worth investigating is a good, full-featured defragger available from: http://www.whitneyfamily.org/Hacks/?item=Defrag. This is a complete defragger. Multiple instances can be run simultaneously (if you have multiple disks). It features individual file defragging, with wildcards and recursion and will defrag NTFS, FAT and FAT32 file systems on any media (HD, Zip/Jaz, floppy, etc). Depending on the size of the hard drive, its free space and the number of files involved, this can take several hours. Planned for a future release is the defragmentation of NTFS metadata files.
• Remove the garbage and optimise the registry: Be very wary of know-all, do-all, and promise-all registry cleaners. Your choice should have an undo function. Norton One Button Check Up/Norton WinDoctor have their devotees. The freeware EasyCleaner available at http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm is more aggressive than these Symantec products, but when used carefully is beneficial.
• Use a Registry Optimiser: Download the excellent freeware program Erunt V. 1.1h from http://www.aumha.org/freeware/freeware.htm. This includes a tool for backing the XP registry and one (NTregOpt) for optimising it. NTregOpt optimises by compacting the registry hives to the minimum size possible.
• Malware problems: In addition to full AV scans, regularly use at least two recognised spyware/adware removal programs to check your system for nasties. The free Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta 1 is commonly regarded as an excellent product.

Read Full Article...

PowerArchiver 2007 10.20 Final

PowerArchiver is an award-winning archive utility for the Windows family of products that provides support for most compressed and encoded files, as well as access to many powerful features and tools though an easy to use interface that seamlessly integrates with Windows Explorer. PowerArchiver natively supports ZIP, 7-ZIP, CAB, LHA (LZH), TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, BH, RAR, ARJ, ARC, ACE, ZOO, GZ, BZIP2, XXE, MIME, UUE and yENC file formats. An internal viewer displays TXT, RTF, and more than 18 image formats. PowerArchiver creates and works with unlimited size ZIP archives with enhanced ZIP format speed and compression; a Password Manager stores your frequently used passwords; encrypts your archives using 5 different methods including 256-bit AES; backs up your work with PowerArchiver's Auto-Backup tool and FTP support; creates powerful CAB and ZIP self extracting (SFX) archives using a Wizard; a Batch ZIP tool compresses hundreds of files all at once; and a Multi-Extract tool can extract hundreds of archives instantly.

PowerArchiver 2007 Feature List:

* Complete built-in support for 7-ZIP, ZIP, CAB, LHA (LZH), TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, BH, RAR, ARJ, ARC, ACE, ZOO, GZ, and BZIP2 file formats
* Support for reading and extracting disc image formats: ISO, BIN, IMG and NRG
* Built-in support for XXE, UUE, and yENC encoded files and full MIME (Base 64) support
* Creating ZIP, 7-Zip, CAB and PAE encrypted self-extracting archives using a Wizard interface
* Support for unlimited size ZIP archives, with improved performance when working with 100,000+ files
* Support for Deflate64, providing improved compression results (both size and speed)
* Complete support for PKZIP 4.0 and PKZIP 4.5 disk spanning
* Compression Profiles to store frequently used compression settings
*Fullsupport for ZIP AES encryption, 128-bit/192-bit/256-bit supports KZip5.1 (full), Secure Zip 8.0 and WinZip 9.0 AE-1 & AE-2)andproprietary PAE format using 5 different methods: Blowfish(128-bit),DES (64-bit), Triple DES (128-bit), AES 128-bit, and AES256-bit
* Support for AES encrypted 7-Zip archives and multivolume 7-Zip archives
* Support for transparently updating 7-Zip archives and more...

What's New:

Final release of PowerArchiver 2007 version 10.2 has been announced. This release incorporates numerous changes, most important ones being completely new Modern user interface that performs more like Office 2007 interface and extended TAR support, which now supports GNU Tar specifications. It also features the Tiny toolbar option, as well as the ability to hide the toolbar completely for those who want to maximize their screen space. Number of issues have been fixed as well and performance was increased in certain situations.

PowerArchiver Home Page

How to install 145 operating systems on one PC

So you think you're pretty hot because you figured out how to load Windows XP and Ubuntu on your PC, huh? Or maybe you've even gone so far as creating a triple boot machine with XP, Vista, and a Linux distribution. Well, one JustLinux forum member has you beat. And by beat, we mean he finished a marathon in the amount of time it took you to cross the street.

JustLinux member saikee has posted details of his system that boots 145 operating systems. That includes 3 versions of DOS, 5 versions of Windows, and 137 flavors of Linux. He created 152 partitions on 4 hard drives to get his system up and running. And he probably has the longest GRUB menu you've ever seen. We're guessing the slowest part of the boot process on this system is the amount of time it takes to find the operating system you want to use.

There are obviously very few practical reasons anyone would want to load 145 operating systems onto a PC, but we have to say, we're pretty impressed anyway. It's kind of like climbing Mount Everest because it's there. If you had licenses for 8 MS operating systems, the ability to download as many Linux distributions as you'd like and way too much free time on your hands, wouldn't you do the same thing? No?

Via:JustLinux

Toshiba Leads Industry in Bringing Discrete Track Recording Technology to Prototype of 120GB Hard Disk Drive

Toshiba Corporation today announced a prototype hard disk drive (HDD) that uses Discrete Track Recording (DTR) technology to boost capacity to a record-breaking 120 gigabytes (GB) on a single 1.8-inch platter. The drive is the first in the world to apply DTR, a breakthrough technology that boost the areal density of a perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) by a full 50 percent. Toshiba plans to start mass production of HDDs integrating DTR technology in 2009.

The new prototype HDD is a 1.8-inch PMR HDD. Toshiba's latest 1.8-inch HDD in the market offers a single platter capacity of 80GB; application of DTR technology boosts platter capacity to 120GB, and takes the recording density to 516 megabits per square millimeter (333gigabits per square inch). A servo pattern for tracking control is also formed on the disk.

DTR technology increases recording density by forming a "groove" between the tracks on the PMR medium. The groove reduces signal interference between adjacent data tracks, allowing the pitch of the tracks to be shortened. The improved signal quality also contributes to raising the recording density by 50 percent.

The DTR "groove" forming process is most easily applied to small form factor HDDs, such as 1.8 inch and 2.5 inch drives. It will take these drives to a new level of enhanced capacity.

Full Story @ NewsWire

Western Digital RaptorX WD1500AHFD 150GB Clear Top SATA Hard Drive Review

The Western Digital Raptor hard drive achieves its remarkable performance thanks to the high rotation speed of its platters. At 10,000 RPM the WD Raptor is definitely one of the fastest spinning Serial ATA desktop HDD on the market, on par with enterprise level SCSI counterparts. While 7200 RPM drives are improving in performance by increasing platter density and putting larger caches on the HDD, Western Digital uses a "brute force" type method in increasing performance.

The only drawback to Western Digital's Raptor family is the premium price it commands, and a relatively small storage capacity. Conventional 7200 RPM desktop HDDs come in capacities up to 1TB (1000GB), and 500GB models can be had for around $100US. Western Digital's 74GB Raptor goes for around $130 USD, so you see what we mean.

Western Digital alleviate the storage bottleneck with the 150GB WD1500AFHD RaptorX, a serial ATA hard drive with a clear window into its inner workings. Western Digital offers two variants of its high performance 150GB HDD, the Raptor WD1500ADFD and the RaptorX WD1500AHFD. The difference between the two is that Raptor 'ADFD' has a solid steel top while the RaptorX 'AHFD' has a crystal clear plastic see through top - so you can see the hard drive platters spinning and the read arm moving rapidly back and forth. The Western Digital RaptorX is the only hard drive on the planet that lets you look into the heart of the drive.

The 150GB Western Digital RaptorX WD1500AHFD SATA hard drive retails for about $206 CDN ($196 USD, £96 GBP), and comes with HDD management software and WD Secure Connect SATA DATA cable.

PcStats

Apple to announce HDD-less iPods...

Apple will tomorrow unveil revamped iPods - the first without a hard drive - and iPod Nanos at an event to be held tomorrow, if the leaks and rumours of the last few weeks prove accurate. Observers are expecting Apple to take the wraps off a new iPod with a design derived not from past versions of the player but from the iPhone. It appears to be the long-awaited widescreen video-centric iPod, with a big display, touchscreen control, Wi-Fi connectivity and Flash storage in place of a hard drive - as predicted in February this year.

Quite what that will do the player's storage capacity remains unclear at this stage. Certainly, even 32GB of Flash will cost rather more than a 30GB hard drive, for all Apple's billion-dollar deals with Flash suppliers.

RegHardware

Kingston 266X 4GB Compact Flash Card

Kingston are one of the worlds largest manufacturers of memory and flash memory with a huge annual turnover of $2.2 billion. it's the turn of the trusty Compact Flash Card (CF). Those of you with DSLR's will know having a fast CF card in your camera is an essential if you want to take a lot of photo's fast. Let's see how it gets on pitted against one of the best on the market - the Sandisk Extreme II CF Card.

Kingston have opted to go with a blister-style package on the 266X CF Card. This is good as it protects the card and also shows off what you are getting.Limited information is available on the back of the packaging but the basics are there. Kingston have chosen to keep it a little low-key but it looks nice and certainly the card itself is coloured to stand out.

There isn't a whole lot to the package in with the Kingston 266X CF card. You get:

* Kingston 266X Compact Flash Card
* Short Instruction Manual
* Plastic CF Card holder

And that's it. In all fairness you don't get a whole lot in other card packages although Sandisk do give you a bag with their Extreme II card.

Features/benefits

* Capacities1 — 2GB, 4GB, 8GB
* Dimensions — 1.43" x 1.68" x 0.13" (36.4 mm x 42.8 mm x 3.3 mm) – CF Type I
* Speed Rating 2 — 45MB/sec read, 40MB/sec write
* Recovery Utility — data recovery software download from MediaRECOVER. Windows/Mac compatible
* Operating Temperature — 32° F to 140° F (0° C to 60° C)
* Storage Temperature — -4° F to 185° F (-20° C to 85° C)
* Standardized — complies with CompactFlash Association specification standards
* Easy — plug-and-play
* Economical — autosleep mode preserves system battery life
* Guaranteed — lifetime warranty †

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