Boundaries of Space

I have previously mentioned an external drive I have for my files. I use this disk as a mass storage for client files as well as my music (Don't Steal Music!).

This drive is only 160 GB, and once formatted it goes down to somewhere around 149 because of the space taken by allocation tables and all that good stuff that happens behind the scenes.

I am currently running out of space. And I have given thought of getting a bigger drive, but I believe that if I had just any external drive I'd not be making the most out of my storage, so I've decided to get a NAS. For those of you new to storage NAS or Network Attached Storage allows for disk space shared in a network environment. Unlike a regular external disk unit, several machines can have simultaneous access without bogging down the host machine. It is in fact it's own host machine and when you're working collaboratively this can be an advantage.

Now there are several places where you can get a prefab NAS or you can build your own. I have a spare motherboard with a cpu and memory so I'm taking this route.

If youdon't have the parts, following the previously linked guide can set you back anywhere from $200 to $500 USD, depending on how much storage you want (you can reach 1 TB easy with around $420 by looking around pricewatch.com . Just go over and check out their Hard Drive section and you'll see what I mean.

If you have storage needs and you have the little extra cash around, I recommend you go for it. I for one will tell you that if you build a wireless NAS you'll be set for the long haul.

Adventures in Filesystem Formatting

Just this past week my Windows XP install crashed, mainly due to my changing hardware and not reinstalling (hey I stretched it for 5 months!).

So fast forward to last thursday and guess what? Windows wouldn't start. So I figured I'd do a quick format and reinstall windows. Things didn't quite go as I planned but I'll leave thattravesty for another time.

I own an external 160GB hard drive which I connect to my computr via Firewire. Since I use that drive to move large files and my music library around I must stick to filesystem which can be mounted on machines running many flavours of OSes.

My pick, for the most part has been FAT32.

Before you start detailing superiority details of yoru favourite filesystem, please note that while most modern filesystems are superior to FAT, few have readily available drivers or kernel extensions for other OSes, so taking this into consideration and the fact that most OSes format to FAT it's a simple choice.

However you'd expect that the platform that spawned FAT would not cripple it's own offering and try and force you to a more closed alternative, and that's exactly what windows does.

Theoretically, FAT32 can support partitions up to 2 Terabytes in size, yet the format tool in windows only allows you to format up to 32 GB and if you need to go higher it almost forces you to go the NTFS way which can only be read but not written to in most other systems.

I found a command prompt tool that did the jo, however, and I'd like to share with you all that with a tool you can get here I was able to format my large drive to something many machines can use.

I really hate crippled software.

Point of Convergence

Sometime in 2006, say between march and June I'll be looking into buying a machine that will do everything I've ever wanted to do as far as my computing needs go in the same place.

• I expect it to have cutting edge industrial design and run the latest commercial apps as well as the latest in Open Source software.
• I also expect it to act as a media center and the main hub for all my media needs.
• I expect it to be also an integral part of my interpersonal communication needs.
• I expect to be more productive because for one I know that machine will not be the victim of viruses and spyware and I also expect to say goodbye to having to format said machine every 6 months like I need to with windows thanks to that machine.
• I expect the latest and the greatest standards on said machine and I expect that machine to last me a good 3 years before I can even consider looking into buying a new one.

And the only company that will be able to offer the best of all worlds, without tying me down and without ripping me off is Apple.

If you haven't heard, Apple is set to release machines based on Intel processors early 2006.
This is HUGE for Apple because:

1. Moving to Intel means that Apple can finally offer competitive prices on hardware.
2. No longer tied to the now stagnant PPC architecture, Apple can greatly improve system designs as they are not tied down to old platform constraints.
3. Intel might not currently be the fastest kid on the block, but this isn't a bad thing as portables such as powerbooks and iBooks will finally have decent speed bumps more frequently.
4. They actually have a fighting chance to increase market share against windows.

This is HUGE for us as consumers and computer users because:

1. Having a name brand machine that isn't plagued by viruses or spyware suddenly becomes more affordable.
2. Suddenly one can buy a computer that runs Windows, Linux and OS X natively on the same machine (in case a certain app isn't available, but who are we kidding, there's going to be a huge push to port more apps).
3. Suddenly one can buy a computer and use it with no hassle whatsoever from day one.
4. Open Source software becomes friendlier.
5. The computing world becomes less and less dominated by a single platform.

These points might seem weird and sound rather obvious, but there's no time I'd rather be than right now watching all this unfold and there are some seriously fun and interesting times coming to us soon.

My next machine is going to be an Apple iMac powered by an Intel processor. With a 20 inch screen.

Apple Attack!

So today Apple Computer unveiled a new revision of its popular iMac computer with integrated iSight plus other niceties which turn it into a full fledged media center pc out of the box. Worth mentioning also is the new video iPod, which might seem a little on the "too little, too late side". Seeing how Creative Labs has a portable media player with a wider screen as well as Palm with their offering one is left thinking. For one sure, its thinner than the previous generation iPod, but the screen itself is quite small, putting into doubt how much of a "video ipod" the device really is. Apple also released iTunes 6, which still hasn't solved a lot of bugs and nor more than before locks at random and makes super heavy usage of cpu and system resources. Did Apple rush into things this time? iMac aside, one can only speculate although I know many are waiting for a badly needed update to iTunes, and a posible solution for the iPod Nano's screen problems.

New Trend: Blog Spamming

You keep your blog. You add content to it so maybe friends or family might keep in touch or maybe you're like myself and want to expose the intricacies of tech to other people. You eagerly wait for comments on posts you have made and one day you find a couple extra posts in yours, you click on that "comments" link like a kid who just got up during xmas day to find: Spam.

Now this isn't your average spam. This is spam that is left there as a "comment" by somebody who probably isn't as sharp in the head as to send a massive email to a bunch of complete strangers. It looks bad on your site, and you delete it but it keeps coming. Now that blogs have become news outlets and the like. Doesn't it just piss you off that your blog is used for something other than what you intended? Its Spam allright because it was an unsolicited advertisement in the spot where you only welcome opinions and comments.

I'm somewhat realistic. I don't think spam is ever going to go away. There's too many variables and reasons why although companies like Microsoft will try and tell everybody its fighting it and then you see how ad-laced MSN messenger and most online microsoft products have become. And it isn't just Microsoft, the whole internet infrastructure lends itself to that kind of activity.

While I consider a somewhat illegitimate source of income for some on the internet, I think Spam simply does not belong in Blogs. Drop me a line and tell me whatyou think. Just keep the viagra ads to yourself.

The Little OS X that could.

It seems it was only a matter of time until people got their hands on one of the OS X Dev kits for x86 and got it running on non-apple branded hardware. Now I don´t know about you but there is a guide for those of you out there willing to give it a try. It does require getting the OS X for Intel dev DVD image from p2p, so as simple as that might sound it states the legal status of such an action.

Have fun with it and tell me how it went.

Terror in London

I am going to take a break from the technical stuff usually discussed here to express my condolences and solidarity to those people who were either hurt or killed and their families by the treacherous bombings that took place in London, UK today July 7th of 2005.

In what seems almost unfathomable, London's transit was halted for most of the day which probably adds to the surreal landscape of the aftermath of what is surely an act of cowardice by the perpetrators, whomever they may be.

It is a sad day indeed and my condolences go to those who were victimized, either directly or indirectly.

Stay Strong, London.