machine

The Large Hadron Collider, the machine tipped to revolutionize our understanding of physics, could be out of action for the rest of the year. Scientists had planned to use the machine to create a near light-speed collision between particles so they ... could answer fundamental questions like "what makes up black holes?" and "why is gravity so weak compared with other forces?" However, after an earlier delay with a power failure, the project is on hold thanks to a suspected melted electrical connection between two of the giant magnets which steer the protons (a type of particle ... (view more)

People who want Mac technology without paying Apple prices finally have the machine of their dreams, at least until the lawyers have their way. A company named Psystar is offering a machine named OpenMac for just $399 which, to all intents and ... purposes, could run just like a real Apple Macintosh computer. The legality is questionable at best and the Psystar site disappeared a few hours after news of the offer broke, with many speculating that lawyers had become involved -- though the site later returned. (Source: news.com ) While Microsoft Windows can run on any PC, Apple's Leopard only works ... (view more)

Britain's Chancellor -- or, finance secretary -- recently unveiled one of the largest and most powerful computers in Europe. HECToR (High-End Computing Terascale Resource) can handle 63 trillion calculations per second, the equivalent of 12,000 ... standard desktop computers. Its power is equal to every person on earth simultaneously carrying out 10,000 calculations in a second. The $220 million machine is based in Edinburgh, Scotland and takes up 60 wardrobe-sized cabinets. It will be used for projects such as predicting climate change effects, projecting how quickly disease epidemics will ... (view more)

It has been drummed into the minds of PC users for years that anti-virus software is an absolute must! That's why most new computers today come with a limited time subscription for free anti-virus protection. However, Microsoft co-president Jim ... Allchin boldly declared in a recent press conference that he's completely comfortable running Vista minus a program that shields his little boy's computer from viruses. "My son, seven years old, runs Windows Vista, and, honestly, he doesn't have an antivirus system on his machine," Allchin said. "His machine is locked down with parental controls, he ... (view more)

All right, I am officially "ticked" (I can think of a better word for it, but my editor has a clean mouth). ;-) Not long ago I wrote about my experience in acquring a laptop for purchase. Sure, they're portable and that's very neat-o, but when it ... comes to getting the best bang for your buck, desktop systems are where it's at. So, if you don't mind, I'll now vent about my recent, frustrated experiences in finding a good desktop system. First off: if you've read much of my material in the past, you know that I like the games. Not so much that I'd turn down an evening out with friends for a ... (view more)

Portable Virtual Privacy Machine Carry your entire Internet communication system on a tiny USB drive. Contains a complete virtual Linux machine with privacy-enabled Open Source Internet applications. Carry your Internet applications, email, ... bookmarks, history, web cookies, download files in your pocket. Perfect for travelers -- nothing to be scanned, started, poked, or prodded at the airport. Get English keyboard support no matter what computer you use. No installation needed - just plug the drive into any Windows or Linux computer, and click on the Virtual Privacy Machine icon and you're ... (view more)

How many times have you fixed problems on your computer? By fixing a problem, I don't mean dropping your machine off at the local fix-it emporium, where you will pay big bucks for someone to make decisions for you concerning what your machine really ... needs. I've heard too many stories from acquaintances where they shelled out hundreds of dollars, only to get back a machine that still doesn't run in an acceptable manner. As much as you may resist the idea, computing is still a tinkerer's hobby, where your best chances of a satisfactory relationship with your magic box is to take responsibility ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jules E. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a low-speed USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection on my computer. Can you tell me if there is a way to convert this to a high-speed USB adapter, and is it possible to do so without replacing ... the existing unit? I have an external USB DVD drive and would like to burn at 8x and 16x speed, but my current hardware configuration prevents me from doing this. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. " My response: It is not possible to "convert" a low-speed USB hub to a high-speed USB hub, per se. Also, most USB ... (view more)

Portable Virtual Privacy Machine Carry your entire Internet communication system on a tiny USB drive. Contains a complete virtual Linux machine with privacy-enabled Open Source Internet applications. Carry your Internet applications, email, ... bookmarks, history, web cookies, download files in your pocket. Perfect for travellers - nothing to be scanned, started, poked, or prodded at the airport. Get English keyboard support no matter what computer you use. No installation needed - just plug the drive into any Windows or Linux computer, and click on the Virtual Privacy Machine icon and you're ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Suzie B. writes: " Dear Dennis, I've been keeping up with the buzz in your newsletter about Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). Although I haven't downloaded your SP2 Fail-Safe Install Guide , I would like to make a comment on my ... nightmare-ish experience with Service Pack 2. When I heard about the extensive features and benefits of Service Pack 2, I thought it sounded great -- and so decided to install it onto my machine. And that's when my nightmare began. The first time I tried to install Service Pack 2, it took a few hours to complete the install. When it was all said ... (view more)