Why You and Everybody Else Wants Laser Eye Surgery [Comics]

Why You and Everybody Else Wants Laser Eye Surgery [Comics]: "

I never knew why Brian Lam wanted lasik so badly. He just called it 'Godzilla protection.' [b3ta via The Daily What]

"

Professor destroys laptop with liquid nitrogen

Professor destroys laptop with liquid nitrogen: "

Physics professor Kieran Mullen of OU apparently has a hard-and-fast rule against laptops in class. To drive the point home, he staged a public execution of one by freezing it in liquid nitrogen and smashing it against the floor, where its broken remains were left as a warning to others. Of course the whole thing is staged and the laptop in question was old and worthless, but hey, any excuse to freeze stuff with LN₂...

[via Engadget]

Read more | Permalink | Comments |



Read more articles in Education |








Digg this!"

The only guide to current-generation CPU features you’ll ever need

Uno siempre necesita una guia de como ver si los procesadores que uno quiere, estan en el mercado o al menos saber si los existentes cumplen con lo que uno espera!!!!


The only guide to current-generation CPU features you’ll ever need: "

Do you like PC hardware? Do you like graphs? Well, tell the secretary to hold all your calls, because you’ve just booked yourself an afternoon of CPU feature inspection. Okay, it doesn’t sound that exciting, but if you’re at all interested in processors or PC hardware, you probably owe it to yourself to check out the real-world consequences of multiple cores, hyperthreading, and other things that most people would write off as technical gibberish.

Careful, now: iXBT Labs‘ series has been going on for some time and there is a lot of content. You can pick and choose, of course, if you’re not curious about AMD processors or the current generation of Cores.

Part 1: AMD Phenom II, the amount of cores.

Part 2: AMD Phenom II, memory subsystem.

Part 3: Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost, Hyper-Threading.

Part 4: Intel Core i7, pure Hyper-Threading.

Part 5: Intel Core i7, number of cores.

Part 6: Intel Core i7, clock rates.

Part 7: Intel Core i7, memory subsystem.

They’ve obviously put a lot of work into it (I admire the work ethic of hardcore component sites) and the series appears to be continuing, so bookmark and check back next time you’re feeling nerdy.

[via PC Perspective]

"

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Preview

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Preview: "

One of the big games on hand during Nintendo's big media event yesterday in San Francisco was the eagerly awaited sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2. Fortunately for you, X-Play’s Abbie Heppe managed to secure some hands-on time with the galactic platformer, and she sent back a number of joy-inducing details. Why, here's one now:

"What is most impressive is how the new items are incorporated into puzzles that challenge my perception of 2D vs 3D platforming. The game tightly nestles in between the two in a very satisfying manner. I am still delighted as I write this."

Check out Abbie's full preview right here. You can also see the game in action thanks to this newly released gameplay trailer.

"

How-To: Support Everyone’s OS with VirtualBox

How-To: Support Everyone’s OS with VirtualBox: "

Using a Mac is a treat for many, and after years of living on Window machines, I appreciate the little things OS X provides. There’s no point preaching to the choir here about how OS X is better…most of us already feel that way. But what I’ve realized while working in IT, is that I have to be adaptable since not everybody can run OS X. Perhaps they are scared of the change or have an application that doesn’t have an Mac counterpart. Whatever the reason, not everyone will jump on the bandwagon. This is especially true in a more corporate environment.

So as an IT support technician, I have to be flexible. As much as I hate spending hours removing spyware from users machines using tools like AdAware, HijackThis & Malwarebytes; this is my trade and I need to be proficient in every aspect of it. This is why I need to live in both the Apple and Microsoft world at once. There are many options out there such as VMWare Fusion or Parallels, but Oracle’s VirtualBox offering is different in that it’s free.

Free is always good, especially if you only need to access Windows once in a while. VirtualBox can run all flavors of Windows, Linux, Solaris, OS/2 & BSD. If you need to support some random piece of software that only runs in Windows 3.1, VirtualBox will do it.

For my example below, I will run through installing Windows 7 in VirtualBox.

1. Download VirtualBox from Oracle’s site.
   
   


2. Run throughout the Install.
   
   


3. Launch VirtualBox for the first time and it will ask if you want to register. It is not required.
   
   


4. Once the Virtual Machine list comes up, we need to make a new VM.
   
   


5. This will start the New Virtual Machine wizard. Enter your machine’s name and select the OS you will be installing.
   
   


6. Set the amount of RAM you want to be available to your VM. I chose 1GB since this will be Windows 7 and I have 4GB to spare.
   
   


7. We also have to create a new Virtual Hard Disk for the install to run off of.
   
   


8. Choose whether it’ll be a dynamic or static disk. Dynamic is the default since it saves space until it’s needed.
   
   


9. Choose your size, save location and your new virtual disk is done.
   
   


10. Now we can launch our VM and start our OS install.
    
    


11. The First Run Wizard will start and we need to insert our Windows 7 media so it can be installed.
    
    


12. The Windows 7 setup process begins. To switch your mouse out of the VM and back to OS X, hit Control + Command.
    
    


13. The Virtual Hard Disk we created earlier is available for Windows to install to.
    
    


14. Go grab a bite to eat or a few drinks while you let Windows install. When it’s done, all should be well.
    
    


15. Now we need to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions. Click on Devices in the VirtualBox menu bar and select Install Guest Additions…
    
    


16. The install will finish and then let the VM reboot at the end. You no longer need to type Control + Command to switch mouse controls. You can also resize the VM window and the desktop resolution will adapt.
    
    

Having VM’s available to you in the support environment is a godsend. I still use Snow Leopard on my iMac, but I have the ability to launch a VM with whatever OS the troubled co-worker is using. People seem to think you must know everything about Microsoft Office since you’re IT. I am constantly reminding people, this is not the case. But I can launch Outlook on my end and walk them through the process.

If there is a Windows app that your job requires you to run then it’s time to use Seamless Mode. This allows you to have a Windows Start Bar on the bottom of your screen and Window applications will float on top of OS X.

We also have used VMware Fusion in the past. But so far, VirtualBox does everything Fusion does in our environment. If you haven’t dabbled in VMs before, give VirtualBox a try.

"