Hyper-Threading?

I just installed my new 300gb Seagate Serial ATA hard drive on my Dell Dimension 8400 computer. I had to change some settings in my BIOS in order for my system to recognize the new drive. However, while playing around with some settings, I discovered that my "Hyper-Threading" is turned off, which is no real surprise because that is the default setting. So I had 2 questions:
1. What is Hyper-Threading?
2. Why is the default BIOS setting off?

I remember always seeing the Intel w/ Hyper-Threading in the description of Dell Desktops. So I did a google search and found it that its suppose to increase performance using that technology.
"Hyper-threading enables multi-threaded software applications to execute two software threads in parallel, thereby improving system responsiveness. Intel Pentium 4 Processors enabled with HT Technology deliver performance and multitasking gains that result in increased productivity and efficiency."

So if this is a good thing, then why is it defaulted off on my computer? Well supposedly according to a forum, it doesnt work well with some software. So Dell didnt want more customer service calls.

So anyways, I turned it on noticed that when I loaded my photoshop elements or premiere elements that the loading start screen now says multiprocessor instead of single CPU. Hopefully I'll see an increase in performance.

So in summary, turn on your HyperThreading!

Jet Li's last movie!? - "Fearless"

Noooooo! If I had to pick a person that is my idol, it would be Jet Li. You would know why after watching one of his Hong Kong movies. Dont watch any of his US movies because they are horrible. Anyways, Jet Li is coming out with a new movie called "Fearless".

Dell Super 600m Notebook Deal

I just got a REALLY good deal from Dell. I heard from a Dell Rep that they getting rid of their non-widescreen laptops. All of the Dell laptop you see now are widescreen (rectangular vs square) and silver. The only laptop that Dell was stilling selling but wasnt widescreen was the 600m. The 600m is a very solid laptop. Its surprisingly only 5.3lbs which is pretty light. My 700m is 5lbs because of my extended battery. So I got the laptop below for $506 TOTAL including tax and shipping. Did I mention the 1GB RAM and dvd burner?! The cheapest laptop on Dell.com is the B120 which is $449 PLUS tax. This deal is currently expired and lasted only about a day.

Dell 600m
# Celeron M Processor 360(1.40 GHz/400MHz FSB) 14.1-in XGA 32MB Video
# 1GB DDR SDRAM 2 Dimms
# 40GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
# Integrated Modem and NIC Internal 56K Modem and Integrated Network Card
# Combo/DVD+RW Drives FREE 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW)
# Wireless Networking Cards Dell 1370 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g, 54Mbps)
# Primary Battery 6-Cell Lithium Ion Battery (53Whr)

Closing Stores...

Wow. Lots of major stores are closing. Good guys recently closed. ToysRUS is closing. The cashier lady told me the closest one will be in Santa Rosa. I just heard Radio Shack is closing. And Mervyns be closing some stores too.

Geez, Target and BestBuy must be killing off all the competition.

But really... when was the last time you bought something at Radio Shack or Good Guys? I think the last thing I bought at Radio shack was batteries.

SBC Yahoo! DSL $12.99

Price drop! SBC Yahoo! DSL Express regular prices are now $12.99/month for new ONLINE subscribers at 384Kbps-1.5Mbps/128Kbps with 12 month term. Free activation. Pro $17.99

Whoa! Now there really is no excuse to get off dial up and go to dsl.

Mac vs. Windows

I bought an imac G5 last year mainly to do videos. But I just sold it last week. I gave Mac a chance, but it just didnt cut it for me. Dont get me wrong though. The machine itself is nice. Putting an entire desktop into an LCD screen is pretty amazing. So when it comes to hardware, I think Mac wins. They must spend lots of R&D. But when it comes to software and operating system, windows wins. So now Im set up to do videos on my PC after getting a firewire card. Im going to post more videos of caden, but now I need to find a good video hosting site. Still researching that. Ill let you know.

Gmail contact groups

Gmail finally has group contacts. Now I dont have to copy and paste email addresses anymore. Hallelujah. Took them long enough.

It's Official!

Adobe completes aquisition of Macromedia. See Press Release.

Im now an Adobian :)

Spy Sweeper

I just bought Webroot Spy Sweeper 4.5 for free after rebate (FAR) last week. It's an anti-spyware removal and protection software. I purchased it because it has excellent reviews, won many awards, and cleaned out over 90% of spyware (and did I mention that it was FAR?). Compared to like 60% with other programs like adaware and spybot. A lot of times I have to use multiple programs to remove spyware. Anyways, my take on it the internet these days is that its not safe anymore, unless you are SUPER careful. I've been SUPER careful and Spy Sweeper still found some spyware on my computer. And trust my I've cleaned out many machines already to prove it. I know its not me to suggest buying something that's not free, but Im going to do it anyways. Buy this program, you wont regret it.

Black Friday Ads

Click here for a listing of black friday deals.
Click here for actual ad scans.

Happy Shopping!