Stan's List

Ted Landau describes why “smart” flash drives give Mac users trouble. The drive includes special features in the form of software that only work with Windoze. These are contained in a separate partition and the .exe file is locked, thus preventing re-formating of that partition of approximately 60 MB. Read what not to do.

It is the reader’s comments that provide the solution. Mount the flash drive and open the 60.4 MB U3 System. Trash the LaunchU3.exe file and hold down the option key while emptying the trash. The entire flash drive can now be reformatted. The ’smart” flash drive comes in 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 GB sizes. Shop smart.

The Register reports on a 1TB optical drive by Call/Recall in partnership with Nichia. The drive and disc will be Blu-ray compatible. Nichia’s blue-violet laser diodes (Blu-ray), are used in the new technology. A 200 plus layer medium is the ticket. To read the data a rhodamine-type dye is used, giving off light when excited by a laser beam through the 200 layers. A single fluid-filled lens varying the amount of fluid changes the focal length to read various layers.

Call/Recall, what a name. Does it remind you of cold calling or retuning every call before you end the day?

With solid state drive (SSD) memory prices down 40%, TechSpot reports that Intel, a chip leader, is now getting into SSD development. This will only drive prices down further. Intel will soon introduce 80GB to 160GB SSD drives. SSD drives are, at least, as fast as standard hard drive, with the added advantage of no moving parts. More …

Intel has been awarded a patent for cosmic ray detectors in chips. IBM, in the 1990’s proved that cosmic rays can cause what are called soft errors, as in changing a 0 to a 1, most likely in RAM As components shrink further, the chance of soft error increases. Intel’s patent states “This problem is projected to become a major limiter of computer reliability in the next decade”. Intel’s solution is to include a cosmic ray detector that will trigger error checking circuits, reloading data including the whole message, if necessary. More …

Reuters reports that Toshiba will quit the HD DVD business after Wal-Mart Stores said they would no longer carry HD DVD media or players. Blu-Ray is often compared to the Betamax VHS war which was won by VHS (longer recording times), but no one doubted that Betamax was the higher quality format. Initially, Blu-Ray is capable of storing 50 GB, compared to HD DVD’s 30 GB.

Have you either googled your friends, fellow employees, your loved ones or yourself? Googling either, particularly yourselves, is growing. The New York Times has some interesting demographic data. Is their concern about how the information might be used? Those that are warned about the use of information are most reluctant to share it. The greater use of Google is to find companies. I use Google at work to find successors for lenders. I can do this by name, address and sometimes, telephone numbers. More …

The 1394 Trade Association has announced a new specification to increase the speed of FireWire to 3.2 gigabits per second.

The new electrical specification, known as S3200, based the IEEE 1394b standard, preserving all the advantages of FireWire while offering an unprecedented boost in performance.

The new specification uses the same cables and connectors used by FireWire 800, due to the the 1394 arbitration, data, and service protocols were not modified for S3200.

Photojournalist Natalie Behring visited Guiyu, China and documented the world’s biggest digital dump where, for $2 per day, the locals sort, disassemble, and pulverize hundreds of tons of e-waste. The payoff is huge. More …

The detritus also leaches chemicals and metals into local water supplies.

Digitimes reports that $499 and below will appear in the second half of the year. Already Toshiba is offering the second generation, but lower end HD-A2 at $399. Amazon.com has it listed for $348. Prices are coming down.

More …

The name brand higher end XA2 are still above $600, but internal drives are difficult to find. Most come as a player. Media is $20 for a single -R and $23 for RW.

Patrick McFarland,goes into great detail on CD/DVD media over at the Ad Terras Per Aspera site.

From the article: Unlike pressed CDs/DVDs, burnt CDs/DVDs can eventually fade, due to five things that affect the quality of CD media: sealing method, reflective layer, organic dye makeup, where it was manufactured, and your storage practices (please keep all media out of direct sunlight, in a nice cool dry dark place, in acid-free plastic containers; this will triple the lifetime of any media). More …