31 May 09 A Billion-Year-Old Piece of Information

If you are given a task to save some valuable information for one billion years from now, what will you do? Where will you store it? Will you put the information in bits and store it on some memory card, optical drive, hard drive, flash card, or will you rely on atoms and write it down on reams and reams of paper? Let me guess, your instinctive response will be to save the valuable information in bits, as you believe the information stored in digital format lasts forever, right? Wrong! This time again the conventional wisdom has let you down. Then how will we save it? In written words? The answer again is no.

The two ways that we have now are not good enough to store information for one billion years. Let me give you some reality check: information stored on today’s memory cards is only good enough for 10-30 years. The information on such devices will not see the light of the first day of thirty-first year, but if the information is stored in atoms, in written words on papers then it lasts for around 1000 years. The proof of it is the book written 900 years ago by William the Conqueror of England, so, for 1000 years atoms will do but what about one billion years? And what about information stored in bits? Why they are so fugacious?

The life expectancy of information stored in bits is inversely proportional to the density of information stored. The denser the information is packed the sooner it will fade away. The information industry is aware of this, but strangely enough, every year the new gadgets and devices are coming up that require denser and denser storage of information to function. Hence, the newer your device is, the quicker you will lose the information from it.

Do not get dishearten, not everything is that bleak. Scientists from the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and the University of California in Berkeley have devised a way to keep the information stored for at least one billion years, and they use iron-based nanoparticle enclosed in a carbon nanotube to achieve this remarkable feat. This nanoparticle, which is of the size of the one-fifty-thousandth of a human hair, will store information at high density: one terabyte per square inch. For now, we have found a way to store information for a billion year, who knows what comes next!

Tags: Atoms, Berkeley, Conventional Wisdom, Density, Flash Card, Hard Drive, Information Industry, Instinctive Response, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Life Expectancy, Memory Card, Memory Cards, Nanoparticle, New Gadgets, One Billion Years, Optical Drive, Reality Check, Reams Of Paper, Two Ways, University Berkeley, William The Conqueror

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21 May 09 Is A Netbook Right For You?

Not everybody has the same high demands for computer usage. In fact most need a home comp just to check email, chat online, and perhaps do a little banking and shopping. If that’s all you’re doing at home a desktop or fully outfitted laptop seems a little pricey for the privilege. But there is another option that’s been growing in popularity for some time now. And that is the Netbook.

A Netbook is basically a smaller laptop, outfitted with less hard drive, processor power, RAM, and a smaller screen, just to outfit you with the basics necessary to use the internet. As that’s essentially all a Netbook is for, but they are remarkably useful in that sense and purpose. You don’t really need a load of extra features for your computer if all you’re going to do is use the internet, otherwise you’re paying too much for extras you don’t need that are only designed to jack up the price.

The other great thing about some Netbooks is that many of them have built in internet connections, meaning they go through a wireless network, like a cell phone on the 3G network, so that you can connect from anywhere. Given a Netbook’s fantastically long battery life, you’ve got a machine that can connect from anywhere for long periods of time, making them extremely versatile and useful for conducting basic business on the go.

But then there’s the major problem with a Netbook. They’re really only useful for conducting basic computer tasks, like your internet needs. Anything to do with multimedia, games, or business that requires the use of different applications such as Microsoft Office Works becomes really difficult when applied to a Netbook. The smaller screen makes using anything like Word a huge pain, as you’ll need to scroll around your typing a ridiculous amount. And the smaller processor and storage space just doesn’t allow for running any program that requires a lot of real time memory.

So I would say Netbooks are all well and good for accessing the internet, but not really anything else. Which is exactly what you should think about before purchasing one. Sure a Netbook will end up being half the price of a much better full size laptop, but with that price difference drops off more than half the tasks that the laptop would be able to excel at, that you’ll find your Netbook can’t handle.

Tags: 3g Network, Basic Computer, Battery Life, Cell Phone, Computer Tasks, Computer Usage, Hard Drive, Internet Connections, Laptop, Long Periods Of Time, Microsoft Office, Multimedia Games, Need A Home, Netbooks, Popularity, Power Ram, Privilege, Processor Power, Storage Space, Time Memory

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07 May 09 Properly Disposing Of Your Computer Components

In this current age of electronics, the new computer you buy is bound to be obsolete in pretty much no time at all, meaning if you want to keep up to date with the newest technology, you’d have to buy a new PC every few years. The problem therein being the massive amount of electronics and technology that you will be scrapping. In most cases computer and electronics parts contain heavy metals and other chemicals that are notoriously bad for the environment, which means throwing these away outright, is a very bad thing. Which is why you should try and recycle your old computer parts as much as possible, and there are more than a few ways in which you can accomplish this.

In most cases, like if you own a Dell or Gateway computer, the manufacturer will accept your old PC to be recycled when you upgrade to a new one through the company. Although before you recycle that old computer you’ll obviously want to make sure that you wipe your hard drive, so that you can ensure you don’t suffer any problems arising from the personal data you stored on your PC.

Another common way to responsibly depose of those old computers, is to donate them to a charity organization. These can be easily found all over the United States, take Earth 911 or My Green Electronics for example. They will make use of your old PC and give it a good home, which keeps that PC from sitting in a landfill leaking harmful chemicals into our environment.

Otherwise I would suggest storing your computer, after all it’s never bad to have a backup, in case that shiny new PC falters or get’s infested with a few Trojans. You can also contact the Poison Control center in your area and ask what the regulations regarding computer disposal are where you live. In most cases you will be able to give the PC to them for proper disposal, as Poison Control is designed to handle the disposal of any hazardous waste, even computers.

Tags: 911, Cases Computer, Charity Organization, Computer Components, Computer Disposal, Computer Parts, Dell Computer, Gateway Computer, Green, Green Electronics, Hard Drive, Harmful Chemicals, Hazardous Waste, Heavy Metals, Landfill, New Computer, Newest Technology, Old Computer, Old Computers, Personal Data, Poison Control Center, Trojans

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31 May 09 A Billion-Year-Old Piece of Information

21 May 09 Is A Netbook Right For You?

07 May 09 Properly Disposing Of Your Computer Components

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