World: r3wp

I suppose you could use launchd, but I just start it manually every 
time I reboot.

chris, I had issues with repeat key events in some apps... from win 
to linux... in maya, it just goes wild when you use the space bar 
to open the menues.... and starts switching the panes instead like 
a mad man (usually, if you just tap the space key it switches the 
current view to full view)

(and in maya, holding the space will reveal a contextual menu)

If Vista has the capability to use flash drives for faster virtual 
memory, will new systems come with an internal/built in flash drive 
so one doesn't need a tick-like creature hanging out the back of 
one's PC to improve performance?

lamprey?

I've got a little 2gb sd card that I have slotted into my laptop. 
 When I access it, the whole system slows down.

btw, a friend told me that most flash memory has a finite amount 
of erase cycles, which is not very high... this is not an issue for 
using photos, as we usually erase them seldomly, but for things like 
using them for RAM... it could burn them out.  I don't know if usb 
sticks and sd like cards use the same sillicon inside though.

I've been thinking about getting a CF card to IDE adaptor and buy 
a 2 or 4 GB CF card, put it in my laptop and find a small Linux distro 
that doesn't use swap.

Does anybody know how I can find out if a network card is removable 
(like PCMCIA, USB (does this exist?))?

you mean - by some system query?

yes

hmm, dunno ... you can get list of devices somehow, but if there 
are any parameters, I don't know. Generally, you can check with free 
products as Everest, they pretty much disclose all possible hw info 
and categorise it. Cool app. If Everest or othere such sw does not 
disclose such info, then I am not sure it si possible.

but maybe some Win32API guru will tell us more.

flash memory has a finite amount of erase cycles

 ... from memory [no pun intended] it used to be about 200,000 cycles, 
 raised to 2,000,000 or so cycles in current generation flash technology. 
 Note that flash drives try to distribute writes evenly across the 
 media and mark areas as unreadable once they approach/exceed certain 
 thresholds. Nothing wrong with using flash as a swap device as long 
 as it's doing several swaps an hour not several a second! ;)

2007 has been tough on my hardware -- first my iBook hard disk croaks, 
now my PC (following a brief power outage) decides it no longer wants 
to switch on.  It lights up for a second, then powers down again. 
 I don't know where to start (power brick, motherboard?)...

power supply

most likely thing to fail in any pc barring the hard drive

I've seen the symptoms you describe quite a few times.  All solved 
by replacing the power supply.

I've had problems with power supplies in PCs, so that's a good guess. 
Make sure you have PSU, that can pull make watts.

Did the power outage damage your power supply.

was it a spike ?

pull many watts

Watt ?

Effect is measured in Watt. (My english isn't the best this late 
at night.) :)

sorry, joke

lol, got it. :)

So, Chris, you have a hard drive failure followed by a power supply 
failure.  It's common.

Don't take it as though the universe is against you ...

but if it keeps happening .. you might want to see how clean your 
power is .. and invest in surge protectors

The universe *is* against me.  Don't try to suggest otherwise...

I wasn't around when the outage happened.  It was plugged into a 
surge protector.  However, the power supply is around 6 years old 
and the fan quit late last year.

Any potential employers will note your paranoia on this public web 
forum ...

Gee....

Good thing I'm 'Christopher' professionally...

Oops...

:)

: )

The universe *is* against me.  Don't try to suggest otherwise...
 - I believe  

And

I'm on the hit list too...

Perhaps I can offer an alternative to that universe question?  I 
personally know the guy who made it.  : ) C'mon guys, I couldn't 
resist. 

OK, back to hardware.

And I know the guy who made the guy who made the universe

Wow, you're all set then.

Oh, that's not a guy! "Behind every important man is a woman."

Ah, maybe that's why the universe is against them. : )

:-)

Ok, pulled out the brick and cables.  It appears to be 250W ATX/ATX12V 
with a 20-pin connector, 5 peripheral (Molex?) connectors and 2 floppy 
connectors.

When looking for a replacement, can I ignore the ATX and just go 
for ATX12V?  Or one with a 20+4pin connector?  I'm thinking 400-500W.

(I hate shopping around for this kind of stuff)

If you purchase a ATX 2 power supply with 24 pin power connector, 
ask them to give you a free adaptor to turn it into 20 pins.  The 
ATX 2 power supplies normally have cables for SATA hard drives

Is that ATX1V 2.0?

ATX12V 2.0