Author Archives: ward

flashing a soekris 4801 – or how yet another proprietary BIOS sucks

Posted on June 9, 2007 by ward

I got a Soekris 4801-60 for use as a firewall/gateway at one of my (very) remote setups. These things are reliable, very low power, and they have no moving parts if you boot off compact flash. They are Geode-based, so … Continue reading →

Posted in coreboot, Free Software/Open Source | 3 Comments

40% efficient solar cells

Posted on June 2, 2007 by ward

Scientists at a subsidiary of Boeing have published research on solar cells for electricity generation that are more than 40% effective. These are solar cells for use in concentrators, perhaps like the one in Seville, Spain, though that one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment | Leave a comment

power supply efficiency

Posted on May 25, 2007 by ward

This article is a very good read about power supply efficiency and what Google is trying to do to improve the quality of the average PC power supply. More power to them! I’ve long wondered why we don’t have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Everything else | Leave a comment

I am…

Posted on May 21, 2007 by ward

Anders F Björklund‘s “I am…” mashup is hilarious:

Posted in Free Software/Open Source | Leave a comment

analyzing power usage

Posted on May 17, 2007 by ward

Intel has released powerTOP, a tool to help analyze which applications are using (too much) power. Particularly helpful if you have a laptop and want to extend battery life. Very nice.

Posted in Free Software/Open Source | Leave a comment

norway’s pension fund

Posted on May 5, 2007 by ward

The New York Times has an interesting article about how Norway is divesting some of its huge pension fund based on ethical considerations – in this particular case, Wal-mart’s turning a blind eye to child-labor at its suppliers, and its … Continue reading →

Posted in Finance/SRI | Leave a comment

Nikon Coolpix S10 vs. 995

Posted on May 5, 2007 by ward

20,000 pictures and roughly 5.5 years after I got my first digital camera, a Nikon Coolpix 995, I’m ready to finally retire it in favor of a Coolpix S10. Both cameras are of course from Nikon’s famous ‘swivel’ range – … Continue reading →

Posted in Photography | Leave a comment

clarification of the OLPC and Microsoft situation

Posted on May 3, 2007 by ward

Ars technica published a story that exposes the reports by Reuters and AP earlier in the week about OLPC ‘supporting’ Microsoft Windows as, well, a load of nonsense. Says Walter Bender of OLPC: “We are a free and open-source shop. … Continue reading →

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Dell machines pre-loaded with Ubuntu 7.04

Posted on May 1, 2007 by ward

So it’s official, Dell is going to start shipping machines with Ubuntu Feisty preloaded by the end of May. This is great news. Check out the vlog by Mark Shuttleworth (in Ogg Theora format!) for more background information. The most … Continue reading →

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the Economist on DRM

Posted on May 1, 2007 by ward

In an editorial on Economist.com, the case against DRM is made. Here’s a nice quote: Belatedly, music executives have come to realise that DRM simply doesn’t work. It is supposed to stop unauthorised copying, but no copy-protection system has yet … Continue reading →

Posted in DRM | Leave a comment