Lately many people have approached me asking my opinion on recommendations for new laptops or for tips on upgrading their desktop.  With all the different specs related to computers and the corresponding marketing campaigns behind many of the biggest computer producers it is easy to confuse which specs really make a significant performance difference  and which are just aimed at moving more machines out of the warehouse.  This will be a short post because the answer is buy a Solid State Drive – in the form of the Intel X-25 II.  For example lets say you are looking at buying the new MacBook Pro 13 inch model, on the site they have listed two options.

Which option is best you say?  The answer is not neither.  For the best overall performance it would be wisest to get the cheaper 1099.00$ Macbook Pro and then use the 300$ to purchase the Intel X-25 160 gb solid state drive.  Six screws removes the outer case and 2 more screws remove the internal hard drive, in 10 minutes you can self install this component and you will never look back.

What about the Solid State Drives offered on the Mac Store already?  This is a good sign that these options are now appearing on the store but unfortunately the Apple store does not sell the Intel X25 and this model is still the industry leader by a large margin.  That is not all solid state drives are equal and for the money it is better to stick with Intel’s product.

The difference between and Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.4 GHz versus 2.66 is absolutely meaningless for 98% of computer users.  Both processors are extremely fast and with either one you will most likely rarely or possibly never be bottle necked by this component.  The rest of the specs on these machines look very similar except for Hard Drive Size.

With Intel’s new release of the i5 and i7 they have even furthered their developmental lead over AMD and produced an even better performing processor.  This kind of processing power is great for database enterprise style servers but for most consumers who again getting the faster processor looking for a faster feeling machine in a day to day productivity style setting you may be disappointed.

Traditional spinning hard drives are cheap and large.  Sadly even faster 10,000K (or even 15,000K SCSI) spinning drives cannot deliver data fast enough to keep up with today’s 4 and 8 gigabyte RAM machines with Intel Core 2 Duo processors.  The traditional spinning drive has been the slow poke for sometime and upgrading components around will result in only minor visible speed increases.

Changing to the Intel X25 Solid State Drive will result in a 30-40% feel in performance gain in everyday use.  The system boot time will drastically be reduced, cold starting programs will launch at a unbelievably faster rate.  In fact I predict that in less than two years the majority of all desktops and laptops will have their primary drive be a solid state.  If you are looking to upgrade a Desktop again it is best to go with the same Intel x25M drive and perhaps by a secondary large 2 TB drive for media storage.  The key is getting the OS and main program files loaded onto the Intel X25-M.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167024&cm_re=intel_x25-m-_-20-167-024-_-Product

At Millikin Elementary there is an Dukane Compact 3200 Series Intercom system.  This system has worked well for many years but recently started having trouble switching from Talk to Listen on the control panel.  After looking at the unit it appeared that only the button itself had failed and the the wires connecting this button to the main board needed to be punched down (punch down 110 tool).

A little closer

As you can see from the Photos this is not an entirely new unit,  in fact is quite old.  So old in fact that repairing this unit become a little tricky because finding parts for this unit is hard.

The unit’s failed green button has a serial number and some small text saying “made in France by Interswitch”.   Interswitch no longer exists and Dukane has stopped making, supporting, or even acknowledging the existence of this intercom unit about 12 years ago.  With new Intercom systems running in the multiple thousands of dollars it made since to simply fix the broken switch but to do so in such a way as not to limit the functionality of the machine.  At first I simply installed a generic switch as temp fix while I searched for the original part. At a nearby Radioshack I simply put in a dumb switch that worked somewhat- problem being it was not mounted correctly and I did not want to physically install a bracket since I felt I could eventually locate the correct part.  This replacement switch was also hard to use in terms of switching from talk to listen quickly.

After too much time spent searching online I finally found two leads, an ebay store selling old Dukane equipment that was broken and a part supplier in Oklahoma that used to sell the equipment 10 years ago.  The Ebay option turned out to be a bust since he wanted 1200$ for all the parts – all I really need is a button.  The part supplier in Oklahoma came through having two green buttons left in stock (no red) and that was it.  http://www.coxsystech.com/index_files/Page509.htm (Company Website).  Although their website does not list them having any parts for this unit anymore, after I was transferred to the warehouse manager it turns out he had two buttons and that was it (green).

Broken Button

New Button

I decided to buy both just in case the other button fails on this unit and 26$ later the machine back and working as new (yes 26$ for two buttons that probably cost 1$).  Thanks to the power of the internet it looks like this old unit will have a few more years service left before becoming completely obosolete.

Probably the best overall aspect of using WordPress is its seemingly never ending library of plugins.  In a school setting with primarily Mac’s one easy way to capture Video (with Audio) is to use the program Photobooth – easy to use – fun for students and staff.  To post and embed one of these videos into WordPress is simple using the plug-in WordTube or the Add Video button.  WordTube works with the latest version of WordPress as of the time of this writing (2.9.2) and easily accepts movies from Photobooth.  You can download version 2.2.2 directly from Here – or better yet add it through WordPress directly – see Podcast Below.

First off the advantage to using WordTube is that you can resize a movie, embed it directly in a wordpress post/page and use a built in player to start and stop.  If you use the built in Add movie button in wordpress you will save time but the movie will open in a different windows and will appear only as a link in your post.

Here is a Podcast on how to get WordTube, convert – upload – and embed a movie from photobooth nicely into A wordpress Page.

Here content created from a teachers Macbook in Photobooth uploaded to WordPress.  Here is a sample movie from Photobooth Embedded into WordPress using the WordTube Plugin.  (I also embedded my screen podcast using this plugin as well).

Recently, actually very recently as in last night and today I noticed that the DNS servers for my home service provider were down(ISP Mediacom).  Mediacom does a good job with internet service in this area but they have had a little trouble from time to time.   After a couple of quick network tests I determined that the problem is with my ISP’s DNS servers.  This is not the first time I have noticed that their DNS servers have been comprimised so I decided to look for an alternative solution.  For most users simply wait and your ISP will promptly fix this issues but for those of you who are a little more hyper like myself and want a fix that will work without calling tech support, read on.

First off for those reading this who are not familiar with the functions of a DNS server (Domain Name Servers) here it is in a nutshell.

Computers like numbers and not names, therefore when you tell your computer to visit www.yahoo.com a DNS server translates this name into a number (IP Address) which your computer likes.

Okay so maybe I overly simplified a bit but this at least gives the basic premise.

So if you can visit Yahoo by clicking on this  http://www.yahoo.com then your DNS servers are working perfectly.

If you cannot visit Yahoo by the using a domain name but can visit by using this link http://69.147.114.224 then you have a DNS issue.

Google now offers free dns servers that work regardless of you ISP (in most cases) and are fast and efficient.  Also they are easy to remember

Google Free DNS Servers

8.8.8.8

8.8.4.4

To fix a pesky home internet connection or for another useful tool to help troubleshoot overall Network (Specifically DNS server issues) it is nice to have these free servers available.

If you suspect that you may have trouble with DNS, simply edit your Network Configuration leaving DHCP intact but clicking the box to fill out manually DNS servers.

Here is how it may look on a windows machine:

Or better yet simply change your DNS settings on your home wireless router and all computer connecting to it will use the new DNS server.

Look for the WAN connection under your wireless routers setup utility.

If you are a network administrator and maintain your own DNS and DHCP services, having google’s DNS servers listed as a secondary or even thrid option in DHCP is also a good way to provide a little extra if something ever goes amiss.

Often I get emails in regards to file format issues.  A user downloads a FLV file and wants to import this into a Movie project and needs it in .mov or .mpg format.  Another frequent request is to convert a wps (Microsoft Works format)  or wpd (Word Perfect Document) and needs this to open in Mac Office 2004 or 2008.

For most conversions of this nature the online site www.zamzar.com works great.

With Zamzar you simply upload a file then choose which format you want it to convert it to.  Add you email address and click on Convert – wait a few minutes and you will be emailed with a link to the converted file.

Zamzar works well and comes with only a few restrictions.

Here is a feature list set,  for me the free version is more than adequate.  My only complaint with the service is annoying audio pop-up adds that come from time to time.