Day: March 21, 2007

Warning: those of y’all dropping in for another of my rants about society, politicians *spit*, Mass Media Podpeople, et al, just shuffle on down the page; there’ll be some of that somewhere there. This is a compgeeky post.

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It’s so obvious. I’ve been thinking about this sort of thing for several years, but just never got A Round To It. *sigh*

Little things can make a whale of a difference when having to work on computers. Besides just having a wealth of knowledge (and knowing where to get more :-)) and a minimal talent for working one’s way through puzzles, the right tools (hardware and software) are critical to doing things well and quickly (and easily).

So, what’s the tool I’ve meant to get for some time but just (for no good reason at all) hadn’t before? This:

There’s more to it than that–a power supply and a couple more cables to allow it to work with SATA drives–but being able to just slap that lil puppy onto a bare drive (OK, pulled from a problem computer) and plug the thing into any USB 2.0 port and just whale away at it with diag tools is a BIG plus, as opposed to slapping it physically into a test system or attempting to work on the drive while it’s in the dead/troubled computer.

Bang on easy. And it’s so cheap, I have no excuse for not buying the thing a long time ago.

Right now, I’m using it to wipe a drive of ALL data (35 passes of semi-randon 0s and 1s over each and every part of the drive) for reuse in another system. Connected to THIS computer, while I continue to just go about my normal affairs. *heh* Didn’t even have to fire up a “bench” comp just for the gig.

So, while I’m kicking myself for not picking one of these lil tools up before, I’m glad I finally did. MUCh better (for me) even than having a portable USB-enabled case to plop drives into. This I can just place a drive on (the inside of an opened) ESD case, plug it in and take off.

I found mine here (and no, I’m not an “affiliate” nor do I get any kinda rake off; it’s just where I bought mine). Neat lil toy tool.

Taking a break from a more than usually productive day, I stumbled across this:

Have a Messy Desk? Congrats, You’re More Productive

Of course, it’s not quite that simple, or else I’d have a gross yearly product greater than most FIRST world countries… *heh* The “study” semi-cited isn’t a well-controlled study but a competition to discover the messiest desk (and why was I not informed? I’d have won hands down!) in order to use the competition to promote a book, “A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder,” by Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman.

Still, the most productive people I know (excepting myself, of course) have perennially cluttered desks, so despite the “study’s” genesis and design as a promo tool for a book, I think I’ll latch onto it as an excuse for my mess.

Feel free to do the same.

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Noted at The Trouble With Angels Wednesday OTA and Trackposted to The Virtuous Republic, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Perri Nelson’s Website, The Random Yak, Big Dog’s Weblog, Maggie’s Notebook, basil’s blog, Shadowscope, Stuck On Stupid, The Amboy Times, The Bullwinkle Blog, Conservative Cat, Pursuing Holiness, Conservative Thoughts, Rightlinx, Faultline USA, stikNstein… has no mercy, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Overtaken by Events, The Pink Flamingo, Renaissance Blogger, and Dumb Ox Daily News, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Yeh, yeh, a linkfest. You know what to do. See more below the post.

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From last month (Feb 5, 2007), this interview at Frontpage Magazing (h.t. Joanne Dow): The Study of Political Islam

The Center for the Study of Political Islam is a group of scholars who are devoted to the scientific study of the foundational texts of Islam—Koran, Sira (life of Mohammed) and Hadith (traditions of Mohammed). There are two areas to study in Islam, its doctrine and history, or as CSPI sees it—the theory and its results. We study the history to see the practical or experimental results of the doctrine.

It’s a long and relatively info-dense (for net magazine copy) article, but well worth reading.

From The Random Yak: A Modest Proposal…and an OTP (No, no h.t. to Jonathan Swift :-))

Congressmen must henceforth send their children to public school in the districts their constituents live in.

One of several Good Ideas proposed by TRY. May I add, “Mexicans” who proclaim they are proud to be “Mexicans” should be sent home to be real Mexicans, instead of phony ones living here and enjoying the advantages of Americans while playing at being “Mexicans”.

While I’m touching that base, let me direct your attention to NumbersUSA and IllegalAliens.US. Get some facts to counter politicians’ lies and then get off your duffs and harass your congresscritters, folks!

Michael J. Totten writes (h.t. Joanne Dow)about the one unalloyed success from the Iraq War: Iraqi Kurdistan:

Sunni Arabs were once the oppressors of Kurds. Now they are reduced to the same low status as migrant Mexican workers in the United States.

Well, Michael, there is a significant difference between Mexican migrant workers in the U.S. and Sunni Arab workers in Iraqi Kurdistan: the Kurds require the Sunnis who want to enter Kurdish controlled areas to at least be cleared by internal security (as Michael does note earlier), unlike the current U.S. government policy of surrender to invading hordes…

That’s all for now. happy clicking!

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