Current SSD Champs + Outlook

The current SSD leaders are touching up against the upper limits of the current SATA 3 (6GB/sec) standard.  This translates into read/write speeds of 600 MB/sec.

Note that typical hard-drives are fast enough for the vast majority of computer users.  For faster hard-drive access, some users upgrade to 7200 rpm hard-drives (versus the standard 5400 rpm drives).  However, some users will like the faster boot-up times (15-30 seconds) of SSDs.  In addition to faster boot times, users with large computer files will also find the SSDs helpful.

SATA 3 allows interface speeds of up to 6GB/sec.  SATA-Express promises speeds of 8GB/sec and 12 GB/sec although SATA-Express isn't quite there yet for the general public.  So -- for now, storage enthusiasts will have to make do with the current leaders in mainstream SSDs:








Read more here:
http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/pc-mac/pc-components/storage/disk-drives-hdd-ssd/ocz-vector-256gb-1130546/review

Here is the SATA website -- which shows a pseudo-roadmap
http://www.sata-io.org/technology/sataexpress.asp

Some good info on PC setups and SSDs
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/280390-32-sata-satae

Big Brother is Watching: Be Good!

Technology is everywhere -- and helps us in many ways.  Here's a story that reminds us of "Big Brother"...

There is no good way to find out that your significant other is cheating on you, but one woman in Russia discovered her boyfriend's infidelity in a pretty surprising manner. Marina Voinova was looking up an address on Russia's version of Google Maps, Yandex Maps. She wanted to get a closer glimpse of a building using the street view feature. So she zoomed in, and there was her boyfriendSasha with his arms around another woman.

Read more here:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/woman-dumps-boyfriend-finding-him-another-woman-online-200641774.html

GMail Cleanup

Here's a great article on cleaning up your

In particular, the last few steps will help you delete UNREAD emails that are old and HOPEFULLY unimportant!

Search for:
in:inbox is:unread
Then, click on "All" and then delete...

***

Click here for the whole article:
http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-out-Your-Gmail-Inbox

1. Type "in:inbox before:2009/08/01" (use whatever date you have chosen) in the search box, and click "Search". The format of the date is important. It must be in the form YYYY/MM/DD, with all 4 digits of the year listed first, then the month with two digits, and finally the date with two digits.
2. 
   
   
   
3. 9
   Select all of these messages by clicking "All" then "Select all conversations that match this search", just like you did above.
   
   
   
4. 10
   Take a deep breath, and click "Delete".
   
   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

More SSD Information (Feb 2013)

As SSDs (Solid State Drives) become more mainstream, we thought we would put some information together.  We prefer looking at the Read/Write speeds (such as 500 MB/sec).  Some people like to use the IOPS (Input/output Operations Per Second) measure; this benchmark is particularly useful for input/output actions required by servers.


Samsung PM810 (older generation)

• SATA 3GB/Sec; Read 245 MB/Sec; Write 210 MB/sec 
• Launch September 2010
• About 2-3x faster than a 5400 RPM Hard-drive
• http://www.ssdreview.com/review/compare/samsung-pm810-128gb-axm0601q/
• Boot time around 30 seconds

Samsung 840 / Crucial m4

• Newer is SATA 3; 6GB/Sec; Read 500 MB/sec; Write 250 MB/sec
• Twice as fast as the Samsung PM810 SSD and about 4x+ faster than hard-drives.
• Boot times around 15 seconds

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Faster Read / Write Specs

Some makers have edged specs up closer to read/write numbers on the order of 500 / 300 or even 500 / 500.   Although not generally-available to the public, some makers are even pushing the boundaries to 1000 / 500 and more.  Read more here:

http://www.gizmag.com/smart-optimus-fast-ssd-enterprise-storage/19445/

Most people get 120-256GB SSDs.  This should be enough space for most people -- although not enough for your entire digital picture / video collection!  More space costs more $$...  

Valentine's Day +1 Surprise = Asteroid

NASA says that an asteroid half the size of a football field will pass by the earth very closely -- the day after Valentine's Day.  The asteroid is not expected to hit the earth, but will pass closer to our planet than the moon -- and some satellites!

The asteroid 2012 DA14 will fly by Earth on Feb. 15 and zip within 17,200 miles of the planet during the cosmic close encounter. The asteroid will approach much closer to Earth than the moon, and well inside the paths of navigation and communications satellites.

"This is a record-setting close approach," Don Yeomans, the head of NASA's asteroid-tracking program, said in a statement. "Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we've never seen an object this big get so close to Earth."

Asteroid 2012 DA14 was discovered last year by an amateur team of stargazers at the La Sagra Sky Survey observatory in Spain. Yeomans  stressed that, while the asteroid's approach bring it closer than the geosynchronous satellites  orbiting 22,245 miles above Earth, 2012 DA14 poses no threat of a deadly collision with the planet.

Read more here:
http://www.weather.com/news/science/asteroid-close-to-earth-20130204