Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Since when did we become Somalia?

Woke up 4 am to Skype with a client 12 timezone hours away. He had sent me new materials and given me additional tasks for an ongoing project. But even before that, I badly needed to update my online portfolio, which I was thinking, wouldn't take that long.

I had a full day scheduled.

But not today countered Meralco. Today, you will grind your teeth in agony. Bang your head against the wall.  For today, no storms, no earthquakes, no reasons, just a normal regular day, will be a no electricity day.

click the image to enlarge

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Intel and its Throttling Technology
by smilesnhighfives


The concept of Throttling ain't new. It used to be referred to as "Overclocking" but the latter was usually done manually.

Back then, whoever can overclock his processor could boast about his/her tech muscles since very few know about it.
And it isn't really done by standards back then for a purpose.

Overclocking is a process where you manually raise the limit on the processor, thus, making it perform faster. Basically, you let the electricity flow thru it faster, thus, raising its temperature faster (and most probably hotter than how it's supposed to).

Tech people back then warned people that if they wanna try overclocking, they should be very cautious since it's gonna reduce the effective lifespan of their processors.

Right now, Intel, along with other manufacturers boast of their "Throttling technology" where their processors would react to what processes you make your processor do like as if squeezing more on the throttle on a motorcycle if you needed the extra speed.

This has revolutionized things since what used to be bottlenecks on computer processing now became smoother, especially on the newer intel models.

Problem is, Throttling = automated Overclocking.
If you're the type of person who constantly runs apps which require a lotta processing power, (i.e. Online games, or most games in general, except those that are light enough) then chances are, your computer is constantly throttling.

This has happened to me while I was handling large volumes of work. I was constantly running some heavy applications necessary for my work and it was one of those times when I had to go on 48-hour shifts just to cope up with the deadlines.

My processor overheated and I thought I won't be able to revive my laptop. Luckily, I was able to do some minor adjustments that allowed me to run it for a while longer. Sadly, it only lasted for around 2 more weeks. (At least, I've finished majority of my work with that time.)

When it burned out for the second and final time, the company I was working for sent me a spare laptop, with slightly lower specs than what I was using.

Things were going smoothly for a while until I had only 4 hours of work pieces left. It went KABOOM.

2 laptops in a row, same symptoms, same work pattern, same kinda fireworks. (Don't worry, there weren't actual flames. XD)

However, I'm not sure about the new i series. I was using Core 2 Duo and Dual Core respectively but nonetheless, they were both "Throttling" Processors.

If you're using one of the new Intel processors, majority of the BIOS that supports them would have the option to disable THROTTLING. (And this was how I made a temporary fix on my first laptop. Too bad it was already damaged before I learned of this. ~_~ I would've saved that laptop before it got to that point.) I suggest that if you don't really need this technology, you should disable it. It can be re-enabled any time you want anyway.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Dear Smart

Know that when your broadband signal dies for a day, followed by a day of signal that barely crawls, some people, like me, do not only lose facebook time, but actually lose money. The internet is my second office with my online side-business/es. It is not enough that you apologize on your facebook page.

I now understand why when I look for online jobs and the requirement is "high-speed internet", broadband is not accepted. Your reputation precedes you. You can not be relied upon. This is the simple truth. So enough of your glossy TV ads and work on your product instead.

I am not even going to ask you pay the penalty of my lost business but how about a refund? That would be a start. But "Sorry?" Ganun na lang? Soli nyo load ko. That is only fair.


Definitely pissed, 
a Smart Broadband customer.