ForcaTech Blog

Thermal grease,  thermal gel,  thermal compound,  thermal paste,  heat paste,  heat sink paste, heat transfer compound or heat sink compound. These are all names used to describe the fluid substance used to increase thermal conductivity between two components.  Often used in electronics to improve thermal dissipation by compensating  for the irregular surfaces of two components(such as a processor and a heat sink).

Despite how flat the top of a processor or base of a heat sink look there are sure to be imperfections that will prevent the two surfaces from fully sitting against each other. The thermal compound acts as a filler to ensure that 100% of the CPU will be touching the heat sink.

Another purpose of the compound is to fill in all the tiny crevices on the heat sink and metal plate that covers the CPU. To improve conductivity some extreme overclockers will sand down–also called lapping–the metal plate that covers their CPU as well as the heat sink in order to create two completely flat surfaces. This will allow you to use less thermal compound and the less thermal compound you are able to use the better the heat transfer from your processor to your heat sink. There are plenty of guides on how to do this–Google is your friend. If you have done it correctly you should have a shiny bronze surface on your processor that you can use as a mirror. From my experience I have only noticed a 2-4c degree improvement in temps on CPUs I have lapped which in my opinion doesn’t make the hours of time spent worth it. Not to mention you will void your warranty if you do this.

There are many different kinds of thermal compound ranging from silicon based to metal based. For the most part, metal based compounds have much better conductivity.

Is it worth it to remove my heat sink, remove the silicon compound and apply artic silver 5–or some other type of metal based compound–in its place? My answer–it depends on the individual. I have noticed a significant improvement moving from silicon paste to artic silver 5 with multiple processors. Currently I am using a Phenom II X4 Quad-Core clocked at the stock operating speed–3.0Ghz. With the stock silicon compound my idle temps were hovering around 42c which I felt was a bit high considering my ambient room temperature was 21c. I removed the heat sink, cleaned it and the CPU plate with alcohol and a cotton swab and applied a small dot of Artic Silver 5 to the center of the CPU plate–for instructions on your specific CPU view a complete list of guides here.

After going through about 5 heat cycles–allowing your CPU to reach max operating temps then completely cool helps the compound to settle–I was pleased to find that my idle temps had dropped a full 10c. This was a much better result than I was expecting. Usually I see a 4c-6c improvement but in this case I am assuming that the factory just did a poor job of applying the silicon compound.

So is it worth it? Ultimately it is up to you however in my opinion the 10-20 minutes you spend reapplying thermal compound is worth it. Especially in this case where for $5 and 10 minutes I gained a 10c degree temperature drop which allows for longer processor life or greater overclocking ability.  With the silicon compound that came on my processor I was only able to overclock from 3.0Ghz to 3.6Ghz. With the artic silver 5 I was able to stably reach 3.9Ghz and had no issues after running stability tests for 10 hours.

So once again reapplying new compound is worth it in my eyes but that doesn’t mean I am encouraging you to do it! If you don’t know what you are doing you could really mess something up and I am not going to be responsible when you do. If you do decide to reapply compound go find a good guide on the internet since I have barely touched on what needs to happen to successfully reapply compound.

Today is the day. Windows 7 has been officially released. Did you go out and pick up a computer sporting the new operating system?

It was also a big day for Microsoft in AZ. The first retail Microsoft store was opened in Scottsdale today. As you can see from the photos the store looks pretty impressive and very futuristic but vaguely familiar at the same time. [gizmodo]

I have posted random grumblings and praise of Windows 7 over the past few months as I have used one of the release candidates but Gizmodo has compiled an impressive list of 27 different reviews. For all you could ever want to know about Windows 7:

CNET
“Windows 7 presents a stable platform that can compete comfortably with OS X, while reassuring the world that Microsoft can still turn out a strong, useful operating system.”

PCWorld
“…the final shipping version I test-drove appears to be the worthy successor to Windows XP that Vista never was.”

NYTimes
“[Microsoft's] three-year Windows Vista nightmare is over.”

IT Pro
“Windows 7…is competent and functional due to internal improvements and the user interface is attractive and good for productivity.”

bit-tech
“For want of a better way of describing it, Microsoft has essentially fixed Vista and the result is arguably Microsoft’s best operating system to date.”

Guardian
“Windows 7 is simply the best version of Windows you can get.”

Slate
“Indeed, the new Windows is not only the best operating system that Microsoft has ever produced. It is arguably the fastest, most intuitive, and most useful consumer desktop OS on the market today.”

Maximum PC
“…Windows 7 is unquestionably the best version of Windows that Microsoft has ever released, and is the true successor to Windows XP.”

Tech Radar
“No version of Windows is ever perfect, but Windows 7 really is the best release of Windows yet.”

PC Mag
“It’s far and away the best OS we’ve ever seen from Microsoft.”

Wall Street Journal
“I believe it is the best version of Windows Microsoft has produced.”

ElectricPig
“With Windows 7, Microsoft wants us to believe that it’s got its OS back on track and for the most part we feel they have.”

Engadget
“Where Vista felt like a sprawling mess, Windows 7 has patched up the holes and feels like a tight, unified mechanism.”

Telegraph
“Windows 7 is the operating system Vista should have been…”

Hexus
“This is the operating system that Windows Vista should have been.”

Digital Trends
“…Microsoft has returned for redemption with Windows 7, otherwise known as “what Vista should have been.”

AP
“Windows 7 [is] a slick, much improved operating system that should go a long way toward erasing the bad impression left by its previous effort, Vista.”

V3
“…Windows 7 is a worthy successor to Windows XP…”

Federal Computer Week
“There is nothing wrong with Windows 7 – and we’ve always thought Vista was a better operating system than its reputation suggested – so if a new system happens to come with it, then you’ll get a fine operating system.”

PC Pro UK
“We like Windows 7 a lot – so much so, that the disappointment that was Windows Vista has already become a distant memory…”

Technodorm
“If you have the money to spend, there is no reason why you shouldn’t upgrade.”

Laptop Mag
“If Vista left you somewhat disillusioned with Windows, we suggest you upgrade to Windows 7.”

Cult of Mac
“I need to go wash my eyes out with bleach.”

The Inquirer
“Windows 7 is as pretty as Apple stuff, just as easy to use, and does not treat you like a moron.”

Computer World
“…it’s finally time to upgrade.”

TechWorld
“Windows 7 feels like an anti-Vista…”

Gizmodo
“…if you’re coming from Windows XP, Windows 7 will totally feel like a revelation from the glossy future. If you’re coming from Vista, you’ll definitely go “Hey, this is much better!” the first time you touch Aero Peek. If you’re coming from a Mac, you’ll—hahahahaha. But seriously, even the Mactards will have to tone down their nasal David Spadian snide, at least a little bit.” [gizmodo]

I will say this; No operating system is going to be as minimalistic as Windows XP however hardware is constantly improving and there aren’t many computers out now that can run Vista or Windows 7. One of the big problems with Vista in my opinion was at that it was so resource intensive that the majority of hardware out at the time struggled to run it. That being said, even on my workstation computer that has no issues running Vista or Windows 7–and maxes out the in OS performance ratings that are useless for the most part–Vista is much more clunky than Windows 7.

It doesn’t end there. Windows 7 is much more user friendly and intuitive and the new taskbar is great once you get used to it.

At first sight the picture above looks like the control panel from a Sci-Fi space ship. It is actually a sketch of apples latest patent which is suppose to be a large multi-touch surface that can recognize all 10 of your fingers and palms as well as your cheek and nose when you smoosh your face against it.

In the patent filing they claim that this system would provide, “unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device.” Whether they plan on making a futuristic keyboard, mouse replacement or they are looking to put this technology on the Apple Tablet we are excited to see this come to the market. If Apple decided to put it on the Coca-Cola Freestyle Dispenser we would still be excited to see it.

Tired of that lousy Quad-Core PC with 8GB of RAM? You are in luck my friend. SGI now has a personal option for those of you in need of a super computer. As their tag line says they are “making supercomputing personal”.

The Octane 3 is now available starting at the low low price of $7999 (USD). If that isn’t enough machine for you the Octane III can handle up to 80 CPU Cores–EIGHTY!–1TB of RAM! and enough room for ten 2.5″ SATA 2 hard drives.

AMD’s next-gen DirectX 11 graphics cards will feature Eyefinity which will allow you to connect multiple monitors that can be used as a single display.

Multiple monitor workstations is nothing new but this technology actually simulates one large monitor across the displays. The above is an example of six 30″ dell monitors pieced together as one to play a video game. In the past you could have these 6 monitors hooked up to your computer with a few graphics cards but you would only be able to play your game on one of them.

AMD says that they are working with manufactures to create monitors that have very thin bezels(borders) so that there is not as big of a gap between displays. Unfortunately, we do not have an ETA for these in sight.

After 7 years of drafts and buggy hardware the IEEE alliance has finally settled on a standard. They hope to begin pushing out hardware with the official Wireless N logo on it in the second half of October. The previous standard was Wireless G rated at 54Mbps while the new Wireless N standard is rated at 300Mbps.

While very unlikely Microsoft is admitting that upgrading to Windows 7 could potentially take you 21 hours depending on various different factors including your computers hardware, how much data you have on your hard drive and how many programs you have installed.

The chart above is from the blog of Chris Hernandez–a Microsoft Software Engineer. He did a number of install tests on 3 different hardware builds.

A truly nice feature of Windows 7 is the ability to upgrade from your existing operating system without losing your data and installed programs.

From my experience this chart is a little conservative. I fell into a the Super User group with High End hardware. I had around 450Gb of data and over 50 programs installed (including CS4 Web Premium, games like Crysis/Call of Duty 4, VPN software, etc). Hardware included 4GB of DDR2-1066 RAM, high end AMD dual-core clocked at 3.6GHz and a GTX 280 gpu with 128MB 1GB of RAM.

I was coming from Vista Ultimate 64-bit going to Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit as well. From start to finish it took me just under 2 1/2  hours. After  a few weeks of testing I was surprised that 100% of my programs worked after the upgrade including all of my games, VPN software such as Hamachi and CS4.

While 2 1/2 hours is alot of time it is nice to not have to reinstall everything and lose all of your saved data. If you are one of those people who like to reinstall Windows every so often–like me–then it will take less than an hour to install Windows 7 and probably less than another hour to get all of your programs re-installed like they were before.

When we first mentioned the Sept 9th conference and the rumors circling it the new Nano is not one that we brought up. Why? Mostly, I have no idea but alot of it had to do with the fact that I mostly just don’t care. For those of you who do here is what was announced:

• Video camera (640×480)
• NO STILL CAMERA
• Integrated mic
• Integrated speaker
• FM Radio!!!!! That you can pause!! And iTunes tag!
• One-click YouTube uploads (through your computer)
• Voice Over like Shuffle
• Pedometer with Nike+ syncing online
• Voice Recorder
• 2.2-inch screen(whoo hoo .2in bigger than the last)

The 8GB Nano is available today for $150 and the 16GB is available for $180. So if you are looking to get a Nano I don’t know why you would go with the 8GB as opposed to the 16GB. Some pretty cool upgrades for the Nano but seriously, no still camera?

The 3rd generation iPod touches were announced as well. The iPod Touch now comes in 8GB, 32GB and 64GB for $199, $299 and $399. The bigger storage is nice but our hopes and dreams were shattered when we heard that there was no camera and no mic in the new iTouch. The 32GB and 64Gb flavors do have a “50% faster processor” just like the iPhone 3GS. The graphics processor has also been updated to be OpenGL ES 2.0 capable–hence their push on the gaming market.

So why didn’t we see a camera and mic in the 3rd gen? We can’t be sure but here are some possible reasons:

• Not enough room – Anyone who has held a 2nd gen iTouch and compared it to the iPhone they know there is a big size difference. One part of that is the iPhone having the phone hardware in it but the camera also plays a big role in that. Us being camera/mic-less could simply be due to the fact that there wasn’t enough room

• Feature flow- The small iPod Nano now has a camera so why not put it in the iTouch? The iPhone has a relatively impressive camera for being a cell phone. If I were to get a 3rd gen iTouch I would expect the same quality–quality that the video camera in the Nano doesn’t have. The Nano camera is very cheap and wouldn’t flow in the larger iTouch.

• Manufacturing issues- This one is less likely. Some people have said they believe that Apple was planning on releasing the iTouch but during manufacturing they ran into some problems and decided last minute to leave it out. I could buy this if the iTouch wasn’t available TODAY but it is! If they had run into manufacturing issues they more than likely wouldn’t have made their deadline–which they did.

• Pricing- Apple wants a $199 iPod touch. Which they have–even if it is because the 8GB iTouch being offered is really the 2nd gen. If they were to add a camera to it the price most likely would have to be more than $199 in order to keep Apple’s margin at a reasonable level.

• Market control- Apple has had its eyes on the Flip which is available for less than $150. Apple wants to compete with the Flip and it will be impossible for Apple to make the iPod Touch that price and still make a reasonable profit margin.

• Consuming the iPhone market- One reason I was so excited for the Touch to have a camera and mic was so that I could use it like an iPhone when I was in Wi-Fi areas. Which is probably a big reason why Apple didn’t add these features to the Touch. If they did they could potentially take some of the market away from the iPhone–like me. For me, I would still eventually get an iPhone but it may keep me from making the plunge for longer than I would have otherwise.

• Evolution of a giant- In almost every market that Apple has products in they are the number one player–all other companies are clamoring to compete. As of now no other company has released a product that can compete. If you have the best products on the market why do your best when “good enough” is keeping you ahead of the pack? They may just be keeping a few “secret weapons”–Apple Tablet?–in case another company releases something that may steal some of their market.

The new shuffles are pretty cool. The tiny MP3 player is now more tiny and comes in 2GB and 4GB models. The shuffle is now just big enough to have a clip on it that will attach it to your shirt, etc. One of my gripes with the shuffle in the past has been the lack of any kind of screen so you have no idea who the artist is or what song is playing. Now, the shuffle has a VoiceOver option that will–in a wonderfully robotic voice–at the press of a button say the artist and track name. For an extra $20 you can get a polished stainless steel version as well to go with the polyester pants you wear to the gym.

The iPod classic hasn’t died yet. The 160GB is now available for $250.

iTunes 9 is now available as well. New features include:

• Home Sharing — This allows you to share your songs, movies and TV shows with up to 5 other computers on your local network. You can copy the files to the other computers or stream them over the network.
• iTunes LPs — Basically bonus CDs for digital albums. If you buy an entire album on iTunes you will now get the LP complete with extra songs that only you get, lyrics, photo albums as well as some video content and generally some live concerts.
• iTunes Extra — aka iTunes LPs. With iTunes Extra you get the equivalent to the “Bonus Features” disc when you buy a DVD.
• New Storefront — The store is now more intuitive and feels more like a piece of software you download rather than a bloated web page feel that it has had in the past.
• Updated Interface — For the most part no real improvements here. I think Apple just felt the need to put their hand in the code and wave it around a bit. The artists list and albums list now have their own columns to the left of the music as well as the artwork column. The silver header on iTunes is now a lighter gradient that kind of looks strange at first glance.
• App Manager — iPhone/Touch fans are now in luck. iTunes 9 has a new feature which allows you to rearrange the way apps are displayed on your device and can be dragged and dropped as well as synced.
• Palm Pre Blocked — With those of you who have been keeping up with the gauntlet to the death between Apple and Palm, iTunes 9–once again–has blocked the Pre from syncing with iTunes. Palms WebOS 1.2 will fix that though. And then Apple will come out with another update that will block the Pre again. And so on and so on, forever, until the end of the world–then, Palm will come out with another update.

Steve Jobs made an appearance which was exciting but still not enough to bring life to this disappointing conference.

As for the Apple Tablet, no hope for us in sight. Apple isn’t giving us any information or even acknowledging the rumors but we know in our hearts that there is something brewing at the Apple HQ.

So lets wrap it up.

iPod nano – Now has a video camera and FM radio, no still camera.

iPod Touch — No camera in sight, bigger storage options, no Mic.

Apple Tablet — Still just a figment of our imagination.

iPod Shuffle — Now smaller, new colors, VoiceOver

Steve Jobs – Still alive, or Apple has developed a very realistic cyborg–which not likely but possible.

iTunes 9 — Updated interface, media sharing, App manger, 1 point for Apple in the Pre vs. iTunes battle royale.

These screenshots are a little more than terrifying. Thanks to a Best Buy employee we all get to see the propaganda being shoved down their throats by the technology giant.

The screenshot above lightly scratches the surface of the garbage. For anyone who has never used Linux before, you are being taught that: your Ipod ,MP3, or digital camera most likely will not work with Linux; printers, and scanners do not work, your software will not work either; IM, Email, and photo viewing are not supported, nor are video games, tech support, and video chat. It is blatantly false.

What I found funny about the above image was the “Free Downloads” section talking about how you can get free software with Windows… Hmm, is Windows free to download? No! Is Linux free to download? Yes, almost every distro! Is Microsoft Office free to download? Is OpenOffice free to download? I think you know the answer.

All of the previous screens have been quazi-understandable. Yes, most standard home users will have a harder time using cameras, iPods, MP3 players, printers, scanners, games, etc with some distributions of Linux(while many of these are changing rapidly). But this is the beginning of the ridiculous Fact/Myth trash that Microsoft is pulling. Linux updates and upgrades are easy? Myth? Absolutely not! Anyone who has ever used a distro of Linux that is aimed at the home user–such as any of the Ubuntu flavors–knows just how easy updates are. It is virtually the exact same process as updating Windows. You receive a notification that updates are ready and then just click that you want to download/install them. Piece of cake.

While it is true that you are not completely safe with Linux I can honestly say that of all of the virus issues I have had, 100% of them have been while using Windows, with and without virus protection.

While we are writing propaganda to push our new product lets put together another fact/myth scenario:

Is Windows is the most cost effective solution when you need to set up 300 workstations that only need access to a web browser?

Fact or myth? I’m not even going to help you out on this one. If you are stuck, leave now. Don’t come back.

On the bright side, anyone who is familiar with Linux probably hopefully won’t be turned astray. On the downside, just because you work at Best Buy does not mean you are tech savvy, these are the people who help those who walk in and are still debating if they really need to upgrade their old Windows 98 machine.

“It’s the future of gaming.” –  or at least that is what OnLive is hoping for. After seven years in “stealth development” they have now announced their new product. OnLive hopes to bring a new world of  streaming video games to TVs, entry level PCs, and MACs, through the internet.

Interested? OnLive is currently looking for beta testers to stay at home wearing the same raunchy clothes for days without sleeping give their streaming game service a try, and provide them with feedback about the experience. To be apply as a beta tester visit the OnLive site and fill out the form. If you are lucky and are chosen to sit at home and play OnLive while gorging on microwaveable meals and delivery pizza as a beta tester you will get to use their service for free, in exchange for your feedback.

The standard that we have been hearing about for the last 2 years may actually be on its way to the market later this year.

As of yesterday manufacturers can have their products tested and if they receive SuperSpeed USB certification from the USB Implementers Forum they will get the new logo slapped on.

I previously talked about USB 3.0 when I got word of the new Asus P6X58 motherboard that was utilizing USB 3.0 ports. In case you are totally clueless the current standard is USB 2.0 which is rated at 480Mbps while USB 3.0 is rated at 4.8Gbps.

Bluetooth headphones have never been big about looking cool. Not that we are ones to sacrifice cool technology for fashion, but some bluetooth headphones just are not wearable. The Jabra Halo headphone set has made a step in the right direction. These still aren’t going to be something I wear to the gym but they are slightly  ”cooler” than others we have seen.

Just how cool you ask?

You asked.

So you have downloaded a legit RC of Windows 7 from Microsoft–sorry free release candidates went offline last night–or you have purchased your copy from Microsoft directly but don’t want to enter the activation key yet? You can easily extend your trial period by entering a single command into the command prompt.

Open up your command prompt and type in “slmgr -rearm”. This will extend your trial period to 30 days. As soon as those 30 days run up you can do it again.

Microsoft is allowing you to do this 3 times for a total of 120 days. The same trick worked in Vista and it looks like M$ has decided to leave it in Windows 7.

What you are looking at is actually two different storage devices. The one on the left you will probably recognize as a MicroSD card. It is plugged in to the incredibly small Buffalo USB MicroSD card reader which is suppose to be available at the end of this month. This is perfect for laptops that only have an SD card slot.

This puppy is is going for ¥ 2,100.00 or a little over $21 USD. You can also buy them in an assortment of packages including one with a 16GB MicroSD card for $160 USD.

They will be available in white and black so be careful if you drop it in the grass, you may never find it again.

It seems Dell has continued its recent marketing strategy. Last night 3 new LCD monitors appeared on the Dell website unannounced. The Dell ST2310 23″ LCD, Dell E2210 21.5″ LCD and Dell E2010 20″ LCD are now available from the Dell website for the very reasonably priced $230, $169 and $139.

The ST2310 is impressive with its 23″ 16:9 anti-glare LCD capable of full HD resolutions up to 1920 x 1080 at 60Hz with a dynamic contrast ratio of 50000:1. The monitor has HDMI, DVI and VGA ports but for some reason only comes packaged with a standard VGA cable–come on Dell!

In a demo by Craig Mundie–Microsoft’s top research and strategy officer showed how computers in the future will have multiple touch screens as well as voice and gesture controls.

From Cnet UK:

“His demo included hologram-like videoconferencing, a virtual digital assistant, and multiple surface computers, along with voice-, touch- and gesture-recognition technology. The desk in the demo was a multitouch surface computer, and the office’s walls were also a display that could easily switch from being a virtual window or collection of digital photos to a corkboard of sticky notes or various workspaces. In one case, Mundie also used Project Natal-like depth cameras to put himself in the middle of an architectural demo, essentially putting himself inside a building that was not yet built.”

This has the potential to change everything. Productivity would sky rocket–as well as entertainment. Imagine when Google Real Estate comes out and you are able to do a virtual tour and walk through a house as if you were there.

The possibilities are endless when you think of what could be done with a workstation like this–especially if teamed up with The Emperor. For instance you could video conference with several people and all of you could be sitting in a virtual room where you could look around the room and see each other and see where the other was looking. With the Natal technology it could even sound like you were in the room with each other.

Unfortunately when if a computer comes out like this many people will probably have to choose between buying a house or buying this… We know what we would choose.

With USB 3.0 on the way I don’t know who would want to buy a 256GB USB thumb drive. On Kingston’s website it doesn’t specifically say that it is going to be USB 2.0 but I would assume since it is currently on their site that it is.

On the site it boasts the ability to store 10 Blu-ray discs, 54 DVDs or 365 CDs. With USB 2.0 it would almost not even be worth it. Yes right now there are external USB hard drives that are larger than that and there are many uses for them but with USB 3.0 right around the corner I think it would have been smart for Kingston to wait to release this then.

One way or another having 256 GB of storage on your key ring is still pretty awesome but if the rumors of the price being around $900 I think I may hold off.

From the Kingston website:

Features/Specifications:

• Capacity — 256 GB
• Speed — Data transfer rates of up to 20MB/sec. read and 10MB/sec. write
• Safeguarded — includes Password Traveler security software for Windows
• Convenient — does not require Administrator rights to access the Privacy Zone
• Dimensions — 2.78″ x 0.88″ x 0.65″ (70.68 mm x 22.37 mm x 16.45 mm)
• Operating Temperature — 32° to 140° F (0° to 60° C)
• Storage Temperature — -4° to 185° F (-20° to 85° C)
• Simple — just plug into a any 1.1 or 2.0 USB port
• Practical — durable, capless design
• Guaranteed — five-year warranty
• Enhanced — for Windows ReadyBoost™ on Vista-based systems
  

This time straight from the horses mouth, Windows 7 is now RTM and being installed on machines.

From Microsofts email to us:

USB 3.0 was announced around a year ago. We were told it would be late 2009 before we actually saw ‘SuperSpeed’ USB 3.0 on the market and it looks like that estimate was pretty accurate. The Asus P6X58 motherboard boasts 3 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports. What is the difference? USB 3.0 ports are blue.

Pretty earthshattering huh? Well there–fortunately–is much more to it than that. Current USB 2.0 is rated at speeds of as high as 480Mbps. Real world you will see speeds as high as about 320Mbps. USB 3.0 is rated at 4.8Gbps! We will have to see how much of that we are actually able to utilize. To put this in perspective right now the fastest consumer level hard drive is rated at 3.0Gbps but most you see in retail stores are still 1.5Gbps.

What does this mean to you? Currently to drag over a 27GB HD movie via USB 2.0 you are looking at 15-20 minutes at least. With USB 3.0 you are going to be able to do that in less than 70 seconds. Can’t beat that. This opens up a whole new world of opportunities. For instance Red Box could just give everyone a USB drive instead of a DVD. You go to the Red Box, make your selection, plug in your thumb drive and boom in 10 seconds you have the 4GB DVD on your thumb drive with a 24 hour self destruct.

Or instead of buying PCs with hard drives everyone will just have a portable hard drive that is on their key chain or is simply their smartphone. When you go to work you just dock your thumb drive or iPhone and boot up. You leave for the day and go home and dock again and you can pick up where you left off.

This would not only be convenient but safe. You wouldn’t have to worry about someone getting onto your computer when you weren’t around because you would have all of the data with you. If we see this manifest itself in the future I want my commission.

Starting at $629 the business class Vostro All In One computer may look overly classy for your cubicle but is just a front. When you turn this puppy around you will still find often rejected serial and com ports. In addition there are also 4+ USB ports, 2 PS/2 ports for keyboard and mouse and an optical drive that we can only hope is a CD/DVD burner.