Tech Share moves forward thanks to large donation
Earlier this year we shared how the students at Ebenezer Educational Center have been able to spend some time with the Eee PCs you helped us procure and ship half way around the globe. Although they've been using them on an occasional basis, daily access was not possible because the school lacked reliable electricity and a room secure enough for them to feel comfortable leaving the computers unattended.
After my last update one of The Tech Report's regular readers contacted me about what could be done to help these kids get more hands-on time with the netbooks. The school administrators confirmed that upgrading their electrical service and installing secure windows and a door on one room would allow them to establish a dedicated lab in which the students could have regular time with the computers. These upgrades would cost around $1000. The guy who had contacted me indicated without hesitation that he would donate the money to make the upgrades possible.
So with the funds wired to the school in Uganda, the improvements are under way, and I hope to hear soon that the computers are getting used daily. The donor insisted that his identity be kept anonymous, but I can promise you that anyone who hangs around in our forums would instantly recognize his nick.
Thanks again to all who have helped, especially to this latest philanthropist. We'll let you know when we get another update from the school.
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Last by FireGryphon at 5:01 AM on 10/30/09
Intel and a couple of its system-building partners are going out of their way to make this week's launch extra special. CyberPower and iBuypower are giving away a handful of well-outfitted PCs based on the new Core i7-870 CPUs.
The best news is that one of these systems is reserved for a TR reader.
As soon as we have the exact specs and timeline, we'll be posting on our front page how you can enter for a chance to win. Check back regularly, because we won't have much time between announcing the contest and awarding the goods.
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Last by khands at 11:10 AM on 11/06/09
A relative recently created OddNod.com, which showcases unique social media profiles. My favorite is a Facebook group called "The Bertrand Russell group for people who aren't a member of any group." Once you join, you're automatically expelled.
So is this web 3.0, or beyond? Have we gone a bit too far if even our social media profile pages have an aggregator now? It's nothing more than bizarre infosnacking-style entertainment — a celebration of the odd, sensational and often perverse personalities of web addicts. Of course, it has its own social element by allowing the "Odds" to be viewed, shared, voted up or down and ranked accordingly. Narcissism rewarded.
While we're wasting time, I was embarrassed to find myself scrolling through the pictures submitted to PeopleofWalMart.com. Good for a few chuckles, that site certainly doesn't feed our better natures. I had to stop after a couple pages for fear that I'd come across a close relative or neighbor. Somewhat funny? Sure. But that's partially because it allows me to feel superior to others. And just ask my wife, it's nothing short of phenomenal that there are this many people who have worse fashion sense than me.
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Last by pikaporeon at 4:04 PM on 09/09/09
Since we're an enthusiast site, little explanation of overclocking is needed here. We tend to focus on the intricacies of hardware and how it performs, so overclocking competitions and regional LAN parties don't always get top billing.
We have covered overclocking events by Gigabyte and Asus in the past, and we made annual pilgrimages to Quakecon when it was more relevant to the broader enthusiast community. The crazy liquid-nitrogen and Monster Energy-fueled hocus-pocus tactics common at these events amuse me. I'll never be a competitor, but I do enjoy watching.
The latest overclocking event in the works is MSI's Master Overclocking Arena (MOA). I'm helping get the word out about the competition since MSI and OCZ are involved, and both of them have been sponsors of The Tech Report—OCZ for many years and MSI more recently. There aren't a lot of details yet, but they should already be liquefying the nitrogen, lawyering the liability releases, and stockpiling motherboards and CPUs, because the first round is supposed to begin in a couple weeks. There's over $6000 in prizes, plus an expenses-paid trip for the top teams to Beijing for the final round.
Hey, you can win $300 just for coming up with a decent slogan for the event; we should have at least a dozen entries for that from TR gerbils, don't you think?
MSI's global MOA website has a little info, and we're cooking up a feature here at TR to keep folks posted as well. More on that later, so stay tuned.
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Last by moshpit at 2:04 PM on 06/18/09
We received some refreshingly positive news last week from our Tech Share project on the other side of the globe. Anyone who has followed our efforts knows this has been slow going. Some difficulties that we anticipated have persistently dogged our efforts, and a couple unexpected roadblocks popped up, as well. It felt like we were taking a step back for almost every pace forward.
We did a lot of prep for obstacles like shipping snags, damages incurred during transit or setup, security of the computers in the school, teachers with no computer experience, costs running higher than quoted, and the like. For the most part, our advance preparations helped us bypass these issues.
However, the popularity (and scarcity) of the Eee PC when we were sourcing them a year ago set us back a couple months, which was the longest unexpected delay. Then over-zealous customs officials applying Ugandan tariff schedules in, well, "creative" and "dynamic" ways sat on the computers a few months while we disputed negotiated wasted time, before paying the ransom. The latest snag involved difficulties with ensuring that the lab was truly secure and supplied with power.
Additionally, there is the to-be-expected disparity between how we would attack these problems were they to confront us in our environs and how the over-worked administrators of a grossly under-resourced school in a poverty-stricken urban setting within a developing country address them. We're learning to exhibit patience but not passivity, to communicate urgency and provide measured assistance with appropriate expectations.
Feeling like we've hacked through a thicket of obstacles and just emerged into a bright clearing, I'm thrilled to say that the students of Ebenezer Educational Center in Kampala, Uganda have finally been able to spend some time with their brand new Asus Eee PCs. There are still loose ends to be resolved before the lab is established as a fixture at the school, with Internet access, but we'll keep on this in pursuit of those goals. For now, just check out the looks on these kids' faces.
Over a year ago, we asked for donations to help us make this concept a reality. We received over $7,700 from you, our readers, and several hundred dollars of donations and discounts on hardware from sponsors. With the largest hurdles behind us, we still have about $1,700, which we hope to direct toward getting the school Internet access for at least six months. There are other needs we're considering as well, such as a printer/copier and some basics like consistent access to reliable power and better furniture and fixtures for the school. As soon as we've fully attained our original goals, we'll see what funds are left and evaluate what their greatest needs are to see whether we can extend this project or possibly help in other ways. We'll keep you posted.
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Last by Inkling at 4:00 PM on 05/16/09
I just couldn't resist. I suppose I wasn't being honest when I said "I don't have the desire to troubleshoot it."
After initially failing to get a response from my 13-year-old PC, I planned to just disassemble it and give away or dispose of the parts. But when I found a barely-connected wire on the switch, I thought, "what if that's all it was?"
"What if I could've suffered with that system for another year or two if only I had found and re-connected that one wire?" Hmmm...
So I put the power supply back together, re-connected all the power cords, the 16GB Fujitsu hard drive, and the speaker so I could listen for that beep at power on.
I was not disappointed. The PSU fan spun up, the speaker reported a friendly single beep, the monitor displayed the American Megatrends boot screen, components were recognized one at a time, and then...
"DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER"
Oh well. At least I know that I could recover this system if I really wanted to, right?
So that really is it. The dismantling had to recommence. It is now done. All that is left of this first PC of mine is a pile of parts. As I mentioned in my last post, there's nothing to swoon over here. But a couple of you requested that I go ahead and post pics, so here goes.
The first shot is the front of the box. You just can't beat a golf ball power button or a case badge with three shooting stars that says "Computer" in Gigi font. Don't pretend you're not impressed. I'll start taking bids for this case straightaway, starting at $100.
Shots of the Pentium 133 and the Hungtech PSU (which surely makes Doug Dodson facepalm for not trademarking that brand name first) are pictured in my previous post.
Ahhh... the M Technology R533. She's a beauty, ain't she? Ahhemm... well, it still boots. How can you argue with that?
What if your port cluster isn't a cluster at all? What if it's just one AT (5-pin DIN) port, and the rest of the ports are on the case waiting to be connected to unlabeled headers, connectors and slots on the motherboard? Ugh, that could turn out to be a cluster after all.
Are those really just 4MB sticks? Seems like I had more than 8MB of RAM, but I honestly don't remember now. The retention mechanism that held these puppies in their slots (near the top center of the previous motherboard photo) was quite nifty... release the levers and the little guys lean over and almost ask to be lifted out just as smoothly as can be. Much more elegant than how today's DIMMS feel like they're going to crack the motherboard's PCB when they're inserted.
I don't think the Union Trident TD9680P would have fared too well in even one of our low-end graphics cards roundups.
I haven't kept up with the Creative hating that persists among many PC enthusiasts... is the Sound Blaster 16 CT2940 worthy of scorn or did it pre-date their evil ways?
The Zoltrix dial-up modem... 33.6 or 56k, I honestly don't remember. Gotta love the mic in, mic out and speaker ports to make your PC a speaker phone. If only I had looked at those and been hit with the same epiphany that struck Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis.
No, it's not an IBM Model M, but it does have those oh-so-satisfying buckling springs beneath each key. And isn't that mouse design just nostalgic? Not quite ergonomic, but certainly classic—two buttons, one ball, and a cord.
Alright, this post is already long, so I'll just end it with a moment of silence for the PC that was.
Edit: As bhtooefr speculated in the comments, that is not a buckling-spring keyboard. Upon further study, they're probably Alps switches, which have a great tactile feel and that nice clicky sound, but not quite the real deal.
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Last by Inkling at 6:15 PM on 03/25/09
My home office is a pit. It has been for some time. I have a valid justification for its piggy state, but why waste your time?
It's a 2nd-floor bedroom with a window overlooking the side yard, the neighbor's house, and a decent view of the street in front of our house. So when it's kept tidy and organized it's really a nice place to work.
One of the categories of junk scattered around this workspace is old computer hardware. Now remember: I don't test or review hardware for The Tech Report. So any extra stuff I have is either old personal stuff, or very old review samples... goodies that have zero chance of being needed in the Damage Labs for any follow-up re-testing or assimilation into a test rig.
In an attempt to improve my immediate surroundings I'm cleaning out and throwing away as much as possible. I came across a PC carcass that was the first computer my wife and I got after we were married. It was built by an acquaintance and modified a couple times by me in its short and uninspiring existence as our primary system.
It has a Socket 7 Pentium 133 on an M Technology R533 motherboard. I had barely a clue about anything in it when we specced it. Then when I began to learn more about PC technology I focused on building a new system myself rather than this old beast. So I'm having fun now perusing the components and disassembling it.
Before this tear-down, I tried to fire it up, but got nothing at all when hitting the power switch. The symptoms it exhibited the last time we used it were spontaneous power downs and failure to re-start. No POST, no beep codes, nothing. I guess it could just be the switch, but I don't have the desire to troubleshoot it.
Out of curiosity, I pulled the PSU, and was surprised at how light it is -- 817 grams (about 1.75 lbs.) according to my wife's kitchen scale. And after removing the cover, it's amazing it weighs even that... must be the copper in the wires and the metal case that accounts for at least 700 of those grams.
Hey, you can't beat a name like Hungtech though. Anything they might have lacked in performance or longevity was made up for by their marketing acumen. Believe it or not, it looks like you can still buy one of these beauties.
Well, my collection of old tech isn't nearly as enthralling as Geoff's, but if anyone's interested, I could post more about it as I sort and toss. Maybe I'll even list some of these components in the Smoky Back Room as giveaways if anyone wants to stock their archive of ancient hardware just to save this stuff from the rubbish bin... though I'll be surprised if I get any takers.
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Last by bdwilcox at 5:33 PM on 03/11/09
