Another Day With My PC

A federal court in Germany has recently ruled that law enforcers cannot secretly go through the hard drives of the persons they’re investigating.

The decision came in the midst of government efforts to nip terrorism at the bud by checking the computer files of suspects over the Internet.  The Federal Prosecutor’s Office frowned upon the ruling, saying that the procedure or investigation over the Internet is no different from the eavesdropping methods conducted over telephone lines.

I wonder what type of computers the police use when they are conducting stealth searches on hard drives. I bet they’re no different than the ones we use at home or at the office. Hackers even claim that they could ransack business and government Web sites using the laggard PC units at the public libraries.

I’m sure that many wouldn’t want their PCs to be secretly searched by the authorities. But if you’re going to ask me, I think the police should be given a reasonable elbow room in conducting stealth searches. I wouldn’t mind them searching my desktop as long as they won’t erase any file therein. And since they’re good at public service, maybe they could do us a favor by defragmenting our disks or checking and fixing our registries while they’re rummaging through our units

Are you familiar with the term “case mod?” In case you don’t know, it means “case modification. I thought that nobody’s really into it. As they say, “it’s what inside that counts.” 

“Case modders” admit that putting disco lights inside their computer won’t even add a single megahertz to the speed of their PC. In fact it may even compromise the performance of the unit if the power demanded by the accessories exceeds the limit or capacity of the power supply. It’s not a performance-enhancing undertaking, but it’s definitely an eye-pleaser.  It’s already a given that case modification is a matter of preference and not of necessity. If your system’s specs are already impressive, then I see no reason why you should refrain from training your wallet on dazzling cooling fans or fancy motherboard lights. 

However, I think that spending big on PC make up and lipstick is unreasonable if your processor is already begging for retirement or if your system lacks the necessary tools or applications for optimization. What good is an aesthetically-pleasing PC when it takes minutes for just a single application to run. 

It’s finally out. As expected, many embraced the new Microsoft OS as if it’s a necessity or a cure-all for their computing dilemmas.

I must admit that I’m one of those who rushed to the computer store to get a copy of Windows Vista. My friends told me that the installation process was surprisingly fast and uncomplicated. I wasn’t surprised at their observation, though. I thought that the guys who developed it had all the time (five years) to simplify it.

Many are harboring the misconception that the potential problems of the OS lie in its installation. They missed the truth by a mile. The real problem lies after the installation. If you’re system doesn’t have enough memory or if your hard drive is not that big or fast enough, then you’re in for a very frustrating experience.

Make sure that you’ve checked the minimum requirements indicated in the package. Don’t be too complacent though if your PC happens to meet the minimum standards of the new OS.

No amount of hard disk space or RAM could save you from a laggard performance if your registry is clogged or if the files in your primary storage device are scattered or placed in a very disorderly manner. Optimize your system before and after installation to ensure that Vista would be a very pleasant experience for you.

The world is getting smaller, and so are the things that virtually make it go around. No, I’m not talking about the value of our money. Money doesn’t make the world go round, but I’m certain that you won’t be able to go around the world without your mobile phone, laptop, or pocket PC.

It seems that every electronic gadget gets a centimeter smaller every year, and that goes double for the PC. A few decades ago, you would need a large room just to be able to set up a computer in your own home. Today, you won’t need the services of a carpenter to make room for your PC. Your tailor could do that now for you.

While notebooks have already made waves around the world, pocket PCs are also trying to establish themselves as viable alternatives to the desktop. Not everybody’s too crazy about them though. Well, at least not yet.

I haven’t tried using one to surf the net. However, I’ve heard that it can easily browse through Web sites like a typical notebook. I’m not that ready or excited to go that tiny yet. I’m already happy with my 14.1-inch laptop. Even though it needs occasional maintenance and optimization, it still meets my everyday demands.

Just when it seems that Intel has already made the ultimate processor in Core 2 Duo, it raised the bar yet again when it recently unveiled its new line of microprocessors.

Intel will be using the 45nm manufacturing process for the dual and quad-core chips dubbed as “Penryn”. This new innovation will allow the leading chip-maker to reduce processor size while continuously pushing clock speeds up.

This news can be either good or bad. Of course this is positive news in general for the IT industry. The faster the processor, the more productive the user is. However, software developers will be designing their products in such a way that it will demand more from the new processors since the latter have something extra to give.

I don’t know if I’ll be changing my still reliable Pentium D desktop anytime soon. Even though programmers are now designing their products in such a way that it will only run smoothly when using at least a core duo processor, I still believe that many applications won’t be needing that amount of computing power. As long as you have at least 512 GB of RAM and constantly optimize your unit, you’ll feel that your Pentium IV or III is running on steroids.