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1/26/07
The Big Picture - Exciting era !
The
stiff nervous era of Plain View and confusing controls is hatching!!.
Hardware and software innovators are producing very exciting products.
Good news for end users, easier visual candy (sweet) interfaces and
control panels are out there for you to contect, collaborate and enjoy.
Both Windows and Linux enthusiasts have a lot to play with. Simpler
more powerful good looking, highly focused and more secure. I try to
balance my (Windows - Linux) toying. I think of both like my two legs
that I need to walk properly. Focusing on one over the other makes me
limp !!
Some Ref. Keywords: Vista, Aero, Beryl, MoinMoin, eBox, Live Dist.,
Ubuntu, GoblinX, SuperGamer-1, Symphony OS, Wolvix, Sugar crm, MS
Windows home server, Vis Studio, 2007 Offiice, Open Office, Live,
Google.
2/28/06
Playing it from both ends.
Phishermen
on internet high seas have their nets waiting for you. If you
are still using a canoe or a surfboard you might want to
consider migrating to a barge or a submarine. Lack of knowledge is
expensive. Only the rich can afford it !
3/3/05
Update, update
& update ...
Virus,
spyware and other protection is as good as its updated. Also operating
systems, browsers and most software is vulnerable if not updated.
Internet is the reason. Connecting to the internet with older software
is like throwing a wounded seal in a sea of sharks !
3/12/04
To
be or not to be ...
Cary
showed me a price sheet of a competitor store a few years ago and asked
how are we going to compete with them when their mark up hardly covers
shipping costs. I told Cary we compete with our superior services and
quality products. We are in business to generate income by providing
solutions. If we do not profit we will not be in business. That is
exactly what happened to all those companies. I told Cary we do not
react to wrong practices by doing the same. We do not pretend to be in
business to show banks or lenders good looking paperwork so we can
borrow more. Customers always asked why is it that our product is a bit
more than our competition ? Our reply is Simply because its better.
Customers will find out if they needed our help to make the product
work or if warranty needs honored. We are able to maintain our 24-48
hour job turn around policy. The quality of our systems is better than
any major name brand on the market. We do not build the cheapest
systems. We build the best. There are tons of large companies that
compete to sell quantity. We sell quality. We will always be able to
help you when everybody else can’t.
12/18/01
Intel
and AMD cpu's smaller and hotter ...
I
do not understand the logic behind Intel and AMD's very tiny cpu cores.
They run very hot and the size makes it hard for most un-experienced
users to mount a heatsink-fan properly. This reminds me of the old days
of jumpered motherboards. We used to expect at least one phone call for
every motherboard sold if we did not set jumpers. I've seen people chip
AMD's cpu edges while trying to force the clip. I will not recommend
products that require a lot of tech. support. Vendors, please
understand that markups in the hardware market do not allow for tech.
support. Your success will ultimately depend on producing idiot proof
products. Board manufacturers: Please use quality caps and components
or we will not carry your products. Abit, shape up, your disappointing
quality is getting our rma dept. sick. Asus: your are not consistent,
your have quality problems that you need resolved. Gigabyte, thanks for
your consistent good quality. Microsoft: Thank you for educating
us on the fact that you don't collect personal info when people
activate your products.
10/13/01
An
Open Letter to Microsoft
Dear
Big Brother,
You are
wealthy, Healthy, smart and strong. This is all reflected in your new
Windows XP OS. You have the right to protect your intellectual
property. You have the right to ask users to pay you to be able to use
your intellectual property. You do not have the right though to
infringe and cross the fine line of peoples privacy. People are
threatened by the fact that they have to activate windows by contacting
you. People might not want to disclose any personal info to you.
9/15/01
God
Bless America
The
recent tragic incidents set me in a deep depression. I was totally
disfunctional for a few days. The only time I felt so devastated was 34
years ago. I was 9 then, my dad had just got done building a nice home
for us in Rammallah (west bank of Jordan then, Palestinian authority /
Israel now), he worked for almost 7 years to save the money to build
it. Israel occupied the west bank in 1967 and we lost everything. I
can't forget the dump truck that hauled me and my family across river
Jordan to the East Bank. It was very hot, the steel bed of the truck
burned my feet. we were tossed like garbage across the river. My dad
moved us all over the Arab world to provide us with a decent living. We
had to put up with prejudice, discrimination and hate. It was not
enough that we had no country or home, as if all we went through was
not more than a human soul can bear, but on top of that Arabic
countries treated us like sh.... They blamed us for losing our country.
We had to keep running. Fortunately my dad was educated and his talents
were in demand. He afforded to haul us all over. I remember in 1969 I
changed three schools in three different countries !! We ran away from
terror, defeat, humiliation, fear, persecution and death. We knew that
humanity could not be so bad and there must be a better place to go to.
My family settled here in America in 1978, we found truth, honesty,
kindness, caring and love. America became the home we always dreamt of
having. We ran away from mean spirits, cruel souls and human monsters.
My dad and America taught us that ultimate security comes from the
inside. It comes from the deep believe in God and humanity. They taught
us that we can not put out fire with gasoline. They also taught us that
the only way to overcome destructive feelings and attitudes is with
positiveness, patience, persistence and perseverence. They taught us to
be fair, just, compassionate, and loving.
We are on
top of the world because we are more truthful to ourselves and can
listen better than anybody else. We are reselient, perseverant and
maliable. The blow that does not kill us will definitely make us
stronger. We are optimists, life loving and genuine.
God bless
us all. We shall emerge stronger.
9/14/01
God
Bless America ..
Rubble
is still all over. Had to quit watching TV, my soul is getting
injured.
GOD BLESS
AMERICA
9/12/01
Damn
..
Holy
Molly, this is simply a nightmare, let me wake up. Don't think this is
true. Can't be real, must be another hollywood made action movie.
3/30/01
Spring
thoughts ..
Click on
this link to hear my favourite song Abdulkader. Why do we need technology ? To make our lives
simpler or more complicated ? To make us happier or frustrated ? Where
are all the high tech. market energizers heading to ? Do they really
know what the average Joe wants ? Is all the high tech. clutter getting
us more confused or comfortable ? How can we keep up ? If you would
like to know my views, e-mail me at info@southgatecomputer.com
3/17/01
Intel,
AMD or Cyrix ?
If you
are a serious power user, definitely Intel PIII OR PIV. If you are a
kid and need something to keep you off the streets, AMD's T-Bird's
"issues" will keep you busy for a long time ! If you are a casual user
and don't demand too much from a P.C, Intel's Celeron, Via's CyrixIII
or AMD's K6-2 will do.
3/17/01
Via's
Cyrix III kick ass CPU's
No wonder
Intel is laying off thousands, Via kicked Intel's behind when the 820
chipset was recalled for the (mth) problem. Via kept capitalizing on
the Giant's screw-ups. I don't see cpu reviewrs say anything about the
Via-Cyrix III. could be that there is no money to be made. With all the
things I dislike about AMD's T-Chickens, I think I can co-exist with a
Cyrix III much better and overclock the heck out of it without telling
anybody about my new found gold mine !!
12/22/00
Pentium
4 what ?
No
platform takes full advantage of the P4 yet. Some Linux flavors
promised to have something by the time its commercially released. I
don't know of anything from Microsoft yet. With present operating
systems, once past 300 or 400mhz, cpu speed is not the only determining
factor for a high performance system. It is the amount of ram, speed
and size of hard drive, display adapter etc. I have seen systems almost
double in performance by just adding ram and using a faster hard drive.
I worked on quite a few Compaqs and Hewllett Packards with Quantum big
foots (nicknamed dog foot by our tech guys), changed the super slow dog
foot hard drive and doubled the system's performance. Some large name
brand P.C manufacturers produce masses of home P.C's that are nothing
more than boat anchors.
11/26/00
MPEG4
and DivX !
MPEG-4:
High Video Quality at Low Data Rates
MPEG-4
comes with a few important improvements compared to the older and
established video compression technologies like MPEG-1 and MPEG-2
Check
this site http://go.to/flaskmpeg, I bookmarked it.
11/16/00
Holiday
season wish list !
Some
products that qualify for a holiday wish list: VIDEO: Voodoo5 5500,
Matrox G450, Elsa Gladiac Geforce 2 GTS DDR, Gloria has NVIDIA's Quadro
chipset ($800), Asus 7700 Geforce 2 GTS, ATI Radeon all in wonder.
SOUND: Sound blaster live Platinum, Live X gamer, Live MP3. HARD DRIVE:
Ibm deskstar 20,30,45,60,75GB (7200rpm, 2MB cache, Uata100). SYSTEMS:
Dual 1000mhz with 1024MB ram, 90 GB Hard drives, All in wonder Radeon,
Plextor 12x10x32, 12X DVD rom, Sound Blaster Live Platinum, 3Com
network card, 250MB Zip drive, Altec Lansing home theater 5 pc. Windows
2000 Pro. $3899
11/15/00
Can
the Punch Card election system retire ?
The
imperfections of the current vote counting systems could be resolved by
using a special secure network and touch screen tablets at voting
booths. The touch screen or stylus tablets can have accessibilty
options that would make it easier for the visualy impaired to exercise
their right to vote for the candidate of choice. Advantages of system:
1) Instant results. 2) Less or no errors. 3) Ease of use. 4) Less
booths 5) Faster to complete. Disadvantages: 1) High initial cost if
Tablet PC's are not to be used in public libraries. 2) Technical
volunteers are needed for setup. 3) Security of network.
11/15/00
Windows
2000 is simply great !
Never
before have I used a product from Microsoft so rock solid. Being used
to Windows 95 and 98's slight imperfections and Nt4.0's workstation
never ending service packs. I highly recommend and promote Windows 2000
Pro for users demanding a very stable desktop envirnoment. If you are a
serious gamer you might want to make sure your favourite game works
with 2000 before making the move, or multi boot.
10/05/00
Microsoft
playing the Linux game !?
Microsoft
just bought $135 million worth of Corel stock. Smart investment move
(Corel was at a record low), the investment has already doubled!.
Microsoft investment strategists proved again that their game of gain
has no boundaries. I won't be surprised if we see the Corel .net
solution (Corel - Linux OS, office and graphics suites) become part of
the broad Microsoft's .net solution ! Imagine Microsoft containing
Linux ! Well it has not been 9 days since I wrote my previous note, and
here, Boom ! Microsoft did it.
9/24/00
Have
you started playing with Linux ?
Windows
Me is nicer than 98, more network, multimedia and internet friendly.
More user friendly, faster internet etc...
The
subject line is about Linux. I like to play with Linux, not to support
it though. Microsoft’s products are easier to support. Cost of total
ownership long-term is less than Linux.
9/12/00
Markets
adopt more Disposable PC standards !
The new
Flex standard is smaller than Micro ATX, with less expansion slots or
none. Advantages: makes a Fast tiny workstation that gives you more
space on your desktop. Disadvantages: No upgrade-ability, if it can not
run your favorite software, buy another one! Our market is totally
different. Our PC's offer the articulate user a lot of choices. It is
clearer now than ever that the general PC market is going in an
opposite direction to ours. They are producing cheaper, less durable,
less upgrade-able and highly disposable PC's. I see a lot of them in
our service department with failed power supplies. The 75watt power
supply just could not take the load. When I asked why don't they send
it back to manufacturer, customers usually reply by not being able to
wait 4-6 weeks to get it back. Our market is the educated customer.
Those who know better and thus demand better products and value for
their money.
6/14/00
August
2000 Our First 1.5G P.C.
Hamza
1.5G is our fastest P.C. based on Kryotech's Technology. It's a 1500mhz
system with an UATA100 IBM 75GB single ide drive, 256MB of PC133 SDRAM,
64MB 4X Agp video, 16X DVD and 12X Rewriter, 120MB floppy (LS120) etc..
Retail price expected to be around $4000. Customers are welcomed to
drool and play with our first 1.5G
6/4/00
Is
it time to quit the Microsoft witch hunt ?
What will
the Microsoft prosecutors think if somebody explained to them that
their case is now obsolete? what if conditions that brought the about
the case changed ? Is it time to quit the witch hunt. The point has
been made, markets have moved on. End of story. Any further work by
Gov. is counterproductive and hinders innovation.
6/1/00
Intel's
maturity or menopause ?
There are
6 different flavors of the Intel 600 cpu that I have (tasted),
(600A-512, 600B -512, 600E-256 fcpga and secc, 600EB fcpga and secc).
As you go faster choice narrows down, choice on coppermines is secc2 or
fcpga. AMD's Athlons are all slot A, they are 50mhz apart, no 533, 667
or 733. When going past 500mhz who cares for the penies! Still Intel
has the max FSB advantage, and overclockers' choice. It is very hard
for marketers and P.C designers to keep up with Intel's MOODS. The 820
chipset recall (MTH problem) has given Via the advantage. Is Intel
going through growing pains ? Did they lose it after AMD took the speed throne from them? Is it
product maturity? or menopause.!!
4/6/00
Microsoft's
leading position effected ?
It seems
that the ruling in Microsoft's case effected the whole industry
negatively more than Microsoft itself ! The ripple effect caused by the
case against the desktop software industry leader is taking its toll on
smaller and more vulnerable companies. Microsoft won the small
network market after integrating networking in windows 3.11, 95, 98 NT
and 2000, did the same to the browser market after it started giving
away explorer. In the process, networking and browser companies shrunk
to almost non existence. (they did not move on and change to deal with
new variables, they held on to their same policies, they wanted to
charge a lot of money for a product that Microsoft gave away for Free
!) I think Microsoft excelled because it did more, worked harder and
gave customers a better deal. Microsoft's competition (Sun, Netscape,
Red hat, Corel and a lot more ...) are learning from the software
giant. They are adopting the same policies they hated and resented !!!
(clear acceptance of Microsoft's vision) Netscape has already moved on
to AOL's and is giving away its browser, Sun Microsystems just started
giving away a very powerful office suite that can read any Microsoft
office document and has the power to take over the desktop. If that
takes off, and Sun follows up on selling a faster, cheaper and more
stable than Microsoft's (Solaris 8.0), and if they advertise and
educate end users and industry leaders effectively, make hardware
compatibility list larger, work much closer with major X86
manufacturers and suppliers, basically learn from Microsoft's marketing
strategies. Then changes will happen, provided Microsoft does not come
up with better, cheaper and more compatible products itself ! Which as
we all know is not the case. The end user is benefiting from all this,
Microsoft is doing a good job, I am sure it will even do better, Sun
started to address the general market which was not happening before
(late better than never). Apple is coming out of its cocoon, and BeOs
5.0 is FREE. Linux is still a little unfriendly to most end users. Be
is very friendly but with not much games or software other than the OS
itself. It would be nice if Microsoft and BeOs did a joint venture, I
think they both have what the other needs or lacks. More software that
works with Be and a faster easier Os than Microsoft's. Microsoft will
remain the leader, as long as the majority of pc users use its
products. It might want to explicitly warn its competition or make them
sign some paperwork that explains clearly the dangers of Microsoft's
new product on competitions industry. That might take care of future
antitrust lawsuits !!! I have played with most Operating Systems on the
market, I still use Microsoft's when I want to get something
done. I am very impressed with Sun's Solaris 8.0, I think it has
a real chance to compete. I do not like to see innovative companies
fold up because Microsoft took a shot at them. I do not like
Microsoft's ruthlessness with competition. The opportunity that allowed
Microsoft to flourish should be the same for everybody (this is what
the fed. government ensures). As an end user I do not want to jump out
of Microsoft's frying pan and end up in some other company's fire.
2/20/00
Breaking
the 1GHz barrier
By this
weekend technical customers and PC enthusiasts will be welcomed to
drool and play with our first computer breaking the 1GHz barrier, it's
running stable at 901mhz, exhibits signs of fatigue at 1000mhz. (It
runs on an AMD Athlon processor).
2/20/00
Take
a closer look at Via Appolo's Pro 133a and Intel's 820 chipsets (for
Intel based Motherboards)
Check the
features out, Via's link http://www.viatech.com/products/prod133a.htm
You might want to check Via's new
processor : JOSHUA
Intel's
820 link http://developer.intel.com/design/chipsets/820/index.htm
Intel's
840 link http://developer.intel.com/design/chipsets/840/?iid=PCG+devleftnav&
AMD's
Athlon chipsets (For AMD based Motherboards)
Check
the AMD 750 chipset at http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/athlon/chipset.html
And
AMD's Athlons features at http://www.amd.com/products/cpg/athlon/overview.html
Via's
Apollo KX133(4X Agp support) http://www.viatech.com/products/prodkx133.htm
2/20/00
Microsoft's
Windows 2000
Microsoft's
proved again their future awarness with Win2000. Obviously they listen
carefully to end user's, developers' and markets. I still run Win95b on
my main work station, I use Win98 on my faster machines, But again,
Microsoft moved the market for us (Hardware Vendors). After playing
with Win2000, I tend to consider making the move. I don't play a lot of
games, and I need all the new security and connectivity features, and
the speed too. It is very user friendly and help files are really
helpfull. The more I look into it the more features I find. I was
planning to allocate more time to Linux, Windows 2000 took that for
now. We bundled Win 2000 with one of our new builds, (#5 on systems
sheet). A good thing to know for those who are thinking about trying
it, you can customize installation, you can make it upgrade or co-exist with your current Windows, it has a boot menu
with start-up choices, i.e you can start with 95/98 or 2000.
Barebones:
Saves Time and Money. Just plug and Go !
Serious
high end integrators still think barebones limited their choices of
board, video, sound, modem, and lan. But with the increase of
commercial inexpensive deals on the market, the popularity of the
barebone as a solution to a specific need became evident. It is ideal
as an inexpensive workhorse. with choices of Intel or AMD achitectures.
A standard barebone comes with a Micro Atx or a mini AT enclosure,
Motherboard with built-in 8MB shared video, 32 bit full duplex digital
audio, 56K V.90 modem and 10/100 lan, a 44X or 50X Cdrom or DVD, a 3.5"
floppy and keyboard mouse speakers. All this under $200. It is not
designed for high end gaming or power usage. It makes a very good
Windows worksation for home or business use. Price Tags on systems
built with barebones are eye catchers !
12/29/99
Big
part of our business at Southgate Computers is to keep up with the
latest in the PC hardware industry.
Computers
are assuming new roles, they are becoming ultimate communication
devices, new broadband applications are becoming big money
savers. For example telephony: dialpad.com has already launched
free national long distance calling, Idt will soon launch a new service
where international calling becomes free over the internet, you can
register and start making free long distance calls in seconds, you need
a full duplex sound card, microphone, speakers and internet service to
do that. Tom e-mailed me a list of telephony providers (thanks Tom),
check it out at http://www.iptelephony.org/GIP/providers/
Entetainment,
Games, DVD, Music playing, composing and recording, are just a few of
the many things people do with computers.
In this
page I will try to keep you informed of mainly hardware issues,
pricing, best deals for the money, most popular deals etc... and I will
post recommendations and users' comments. It seems that big phone
companies are not too happy with Free Internet long distance providers,
they are stepping in fast with huge capacity servers and charging for
the service.
What
to look for in a new motherboard:
1) Higher
FSB: Some boards go up to 150 to 200mhz on front side bus . Newer
generations of processors support higher clocks, VIA's pro 133 chipset
works very well with Intel's coppermine cpu's. The quality is
impressive. Look into incremental values allowed as well.
2) UATA
66 controller: most boards don't have an uata66 hard drive controller,
all newer hard drives are going with the new faster standard. If the
new board doesn't have it, the price is $50 for a separate pci UATA66
card.
3) Bios
updates on manufacturer's web site. Some manufacturer's post new bios
updates more frequently than others.
Read
instructions carefully before your flash your bios. You won't be able
to start your system if board flashed wrong.
4) Amount
of LII cache on AMD SS7 motherboards. The more the better.
5) If you
are more into fine tech. details, look into #s of layers, sizes and
types of capacitors used coatings, tracers etc..
6)
Warranty, some manufacturers like J-Bond give 3 years warranty.
11/20/99
Major
motherboard manufactures fail to list AMD's Athlon boards on their
sites !!
Isn't that
strange? Asus, Microstar and Gigabyte do not mention or list anything
on their Athlon boards. All I found was info on boards made with
Intel's products. Tough competition's irregular practices seem obvious
on Taiwanese manufacturers' web sites! Hey Taiwanese sick practices do
not work long term, only innovation, good work and honesty does.
11/3/99
Intels
faces Problems with 733mhz let alone 800
SAN
FRANCISCO, Dec. 19 (Reuters) Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:
INTC), the No. 1
computer chip maker, said it will announce on Monday that it is
shipping its fastest Pentium III processors yet, running at clock
speeds of 750 and 800 megahertz, and taking the speed crown away from
arch-rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD). Gwennap said he
believed that Intel was having a hard time making the 733 megahertz
versions of the Pentium III. "I hear they are having a hard time making
733s," he said. "But if you are Intel, you can always peel a few chips
from the top of the line and claim you are shipping something, but that
wouldn't make any OEM (original equipment manufacturer) too happy...It
wouldn't be too much of a surprise, given this horse race that is going
on between AMD and Intel."
10/20/99
Free
P.C. and pay for Internet OR Free Internet Service and pay for P.C.
The
formula is giving customers an almost obsolete computer and have them
lock themselves in a 3 year internat access contract at $20 - $25 a
month (total of $700-$900), this smart marketing strategy secures
business for an industry highly threatened by broadband.
The
smarter choice is the open chioce, no contracts no ties.
You can
beat the above deal by buying a used computer for $100-$200 and get
Free internet access from one of the following providers:
Freei.NetFounded
in December 1998, Freei.Net is privately funded and is the seventh
largest Internet service provider in the nation with more than
1,250,000 subscribers. In addition to free Internet access with no time
limits, Freei.Net provides subscribers with e-mail, news, chat, instant
messaging, 20 Mb of online disk storage, and e-commerce options.
Freei.Net's anti-spam policy protects subscribers from receiving
unsolicited promotional email. To access Freei.Net, go to
www.freei.net. I tried FreeI.net when my paid provider was down, the
connectivity was impressive.
NetZero
Inc. (Nasdaq: NZRO) and AltaVista, a unit of Internet venture firm CMGI
Inc. (Nasdaq: CMGI)
IDT Corp.
Declares Communications Revolution; With ZeroDinero.com Free Internet,
Free Phone, Free Fax !
If you
don't like the free service because lines are always busy, use a local
provider, Internet Ramp (TIR.com), visitus.net or Gatecom.com are good
examples.
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