Computer Whatnow?

Hi everyone it’s H here again, I am sorry I haven’t posted in so long, but I should be able to get back to normal posting now.  In this post I am going to tell you guys about what is inside of your computer, as in its internal components, as well as what said internal components actually do.  Here is some terms you may hear from computer people when they are talking about your computer.

-CPU- Your CPU, or Central Processing Unit is probably the single most important component of your computer other than its hard drive, your CPU is sort of like your PC’s brain, and it is what does the thinking of your computer.  It’s speed is measured in hertz, my understanding is that a processor that runs at one hert is capable of doing one calculation per second, of course now days processors run at many hundreds of thousands of hertz, and many CPUs have multiple “cores” each of which can do its own individual “thread” or set of data to be calculated (sort of like a persons “train of thought”). Certain CPUs even have a technology called “hyper threading” which allows a single core to act as several cores; in layman’s terms it is the equivalent of being able of focus on two or more things at the same time.

-Hard Drive- Your hard drive is what contains all of your saved data, as well as your “OS” or operating system.  Your hard drive consist of several metal disks which are much like those you put into a CD drive, the discs in your hard drive store a lot more data than a normal CD though, and each side of each disk can have data on it, hard drives today can have hundreds of billions of binary digits stored on them.  In other words, lots and lots of data.

The exception to the previous explanation is SSDs or solid state drives which store data in the same way as flash drives do: with absolutely no moving parts whatsoever, they also have a faster read/write speed (how fast data is transferred from you computer to the drive), they also are less prone to damage due to bumps and falls. SSDs are however a relatively new technology so few computers have them as of early 2011. They are also more prone to “dying” due to prolonged use.

-RAM- Your RAM chips are what holds all of what your computer is processing at the time (much like a persons “short term memory”), RAM stands for Random Access Memory, because RAM chips use solid state memory, it is a lot faster for the computer to just store data that it is using on the RAM chips rather than the hard drive, this is why more RAM means a faster PC, because more RAM means your computer can hold more in its short term memory. This post is an example of that, as I sit at my computer typing this the computer’s RAM is holding all of what I am typing in its RAM, if it used its hard drive for this there would be a noticeable delay between me making an edit, and it appearing on screen. Because the computer would have to save my key-presses in it's hard drive, then go back into its hard drive, find the keystrokes and display them on the screen.

-Graphics Card- A computer’s graphics card is the part of the computer that lets it display things on the screen, for simple typing, or internet browsing the graphics card does little, what it is very important for is photo, video editing, watching-high-res videos, and gaming, newer games have hi-resolution graphics, and many have advanced physics which are handled by the graphics card.  Your graphics card actually has its own mini-CPU (known as a GPU or Graphics Processing Unit), which while it is less powerful than your “main” CPU it is important, as it is totally dedicated to nothing but graphics; high-end graphics cards can sometimes have processors as fast, or faster than some low-end CPUs, your graphics card also has its own RAM (which in the context of graphics cards is referred to as “dedicated graphics memory”). An exception to that rule is “integrated graphics” common in non-gaming PCs, integrated graphics cards, rather than having their own memory use your computers RAM for graphics, on systems not designed for gaming this has little effect on performance, however on gaming PCs this can be detrimental to your frame rate (speed).

Those are the major components of your computer, there are many other components though, but they are much less important, however one that deserves a final mention here is your “power supply” which takes power from the wall plug, and runs it through a transformer in order to give your PC the amount of power it needs.                                               

Well, that’s all for now, in the comments below please give me your feedback, as well as any knowledge about computer hardware that you have picked up!  No matter how much you know, there is still much to learn. 

-H-

Minecraft

H here once again!  In this post I would like to tell you about a really cool indie game called Minecraft.  The home site of Minecraft can be found at www.minecraft.net.

In Minecraft the game world is procedurally generated every time you play, and that game world is made up of (1 meter by 1 meter) cubes of various materials, i.e. dirt, glass, stone, metal, which you can collect, later you can place the cubes to create structures within a block world.   You can use the “classic creative” version so see if you like it for free.  There is a version that contains a lot more content for $20.  The goal of the game is to survive, of course you can just bury yourself in some dirt for the whole game, but that would not be very interesting, instead you could build anything: a castle, a pyramid, an underwater dome, or an underground cave complex, just about anything you can imagine; at least until nightfall when all sorts of nasty creatures come out to get a taste of your yummy brain.  Also while you’re building during the day you will encounter creatures like cows, chickens and pigs. Nightfall and sunrises are really nice to watch.

If you search Minecraft on youtube you will likely find all manner of videos exhibiting the many and varied Minecraft creations, that is what makes Minecraft special, even though the graphics may seem “bad” they actually have a sort of charm to them, and you can build literally anything.

Check it out!  I have created a variety of creations from castle, to hobbit holes, to underwater domes.  Send me a post if you check out and let me know what you think.

                   -H- 

Home From the Holidays

Hi everyone, its H! Sorry I haven’t posted in a while.   Over Christmas my family and I went to South Carolina to visit my Mom’s side of the family.  My grandparents put on an amazing Christmas display of lights and décor and my Aunt displayed a live Christmas tree that was two stories tall. We ate and ate; we do a lot of that as a family over Christmas.  There was so much good food that you can’t say no.  We all had a great holiday and I think this was my favorite Christmas so far.  We do a lot of laughing.

My main Christmas gift this year was a Nook Color book reader, I really like it and plan to write and tell you more about it later.  In case you want to look it up, they are found at Barnes and Noble and are so much more than a book reader. 

While there I took some spectacular pictures of the ocean and some nice trees. 

Enjoy the pics!

More posts to come soon!

                                        -H-

Space+Time=space-time?

Its H again!  In this post I have something a bit different to talk about: space-time as it is described in Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Basically space time is a 4D representation of space and time (where time is the fourth dimension).  You can visualize it by thinking of a large sheet of rubber with spheres placed on it (representing plants and stars), the indentations created in the rubber by the “spheres” represent a two-dimensional version of gravity.  The planets orbiting the sun are like marbles pushed horizontally around a giant funnel; however the planets avoid being pulled into the center of the funnel (the “sun”) because of the law of the conservation of momentum.

The law of the conservation of momentum is difficult to explain, but it is the principle that allows bicycles to stay up.  Basically it describes the tendency of objects “orbiting” other objects (weather it is a planet orbiting a star, or a yoyo on a string) to resist any force applied from any angle other than the one which the object is traveling.

This has profound implications such as time travel, faster than light travel, and wormholes, I will likely cover such topics in future posts. More importantly, perhaps this could explain how Santa, with a gaggle of reindeer pulling a clearly un-aerodynamic sleigh can make his jaunt around the world in just a single night.

Reply in the comments, I would love to hear what you think of space-time and what knowledge about physics you have because I have a great interest in the topic. Feedback is also appreciated!

May your space-physics brains have a very merry x-mas.

How to Speed up Your PC

Greetings everyone!  It’s H again!  Today I wanted tell you all about a few tricks I have picked up for speeding and cleaning up your PC (these tricks may not work for Macs).  I wanted to post about this because all of these are things I run regularly on my PC and I find that they speed it up a lot.   

Disk Cleanup: The purpose of disk cleanup is to delete junk files that are created in the normal operation of your computer, it may free up gigabytes of memory, which gives you more space on your hard drive.  If you have Windows XP, open the start menu, then go to all programs>accessories>system tools>disk cleanup.  After pressing disk cleanup you will be prompted with a checklist of folders to delete, select the ones that you wish to delete.  Note: all of the folders on the list should NOT have anything important in them unless you deliberately put it there.  If you want to run it on Windows Vista then the process is almost the same, but the folders have slightly different names.

Disk Defragmentation: What disk defrag does, is takes files on your hard disk and moves them “closer together” freeing up disk space.  On XP to run a Disk Defrag, go to start menu> programs>accessories>system tools>Select Disk Defragmenter.   To run disk defragmenter on Vista the process is almost the same, but the folders have slightly different names.  Note: if your computer has an SSD (solid state hard drive, or a hard drive that does not have a spinning disk) DO NOT RUN defrag as it could cause permanent damage.

Check Disk: About once a month, I suggest running a Check Disk.  The purpose is to check for hard drive errors and if found, fix them.  On XP, go to my computer>local disk, right click on the local disk (most computers hard disk should be called “local disk c”) then go to properties>tools>error checking, you will be prompted to schedule a disk check on next restart click yes.

When you restart your computer your hard drive will be checked for errors and if any are found they will be fixed.  NOTE: this WILL take SEVERAL HOURS so do not run it if you are in a hurry, I believe you will be happy with doing this, as it will speed up your computer a lot.

Well, that is all for now, enjoy your now-speedy PC, I might post more tips at a later date.  Let me know if this is helpful or if you have questions.  Also, I would like very much if you would share your own PC-speeding-up tips.  Please send a comment. 

If any of you have PC horror or funny stories, please share, as we can all use a good laugh.  Have you ever found the answer to just be “Did you press the on button?”

Happy Holidays.

-H-

My fall into Oblivion

Hello it’s H once again.  This time I wanted to post to you about a really great Role Playing Game called Oblivion.  Oblivion is a first person RPG where you, well um here is where I would tell you what the main objective is, in Oblivion you can basically do whatever you want; there are four guilds each with its own quest line: the mages guild, the fighters guild, the thieves guild, and the dark brotherhood.  The guild names are fairly explanatory, except the dark brotherhood, which is an assassin’s guild.  There is also the arena where you can bet on roman style gladiator matches, or fight in them yourself.  Of course, Oblivion has a “main quest” which is non obligatory series of quests.

Spread throughout the expansive game-world you will find many “dungeons” aka ruins/caves which are not attached to any particular quest, although many have stories for those willing to tread off the beaten path. There are also many “miscellaneous” quests which are not affiliated with any particular faction.

Overall the combat, magic, and stealth are very good with multiple perks for each skill, and options for almost every play-style.  The combat system has bows, axes, war hammers, daggers, shields, and swords of every description; each weapon’s mechanics are well designed and well thought out. 

The magic system has a massive variety of spells and effects, for instance rather than just casting a fireball at an enemy it is possible to actually give them a weakness to fire (with poisons applied to weapons, enchanted weapons, and spells) then cast the fireball increasing the total damage; or you could cast a “frenzy” spell on a group of enemies, making them attack each other. 

The stealth system is very good as well; many situations that would normally require an up-front confrontation can be simplified with long-range stealth-attacks or avoided entirely with enough skill.

All told Oblivion is probably one of the best RPG’s ever.  Period.

By the time I started playing it, it was already considered an old game, but I quickly fell in love with it and still enjoy playing it to this day.  If you don’t have it, then check it out, and if you do, then I’d like to know about your Oblivion experiences.

-H-

Hiking Trip or Lesson in Navigation

H here again! I just returned from a trip I took to go hiking at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. After driving around for some time we finally  figured out where the road to the hiking trail is, a tip for anyone who wishes to hike here: go to the visitors center first because the staff there know how to get to the various trails that you can hike on.

When we finally got there, we found the trail very pleasant and not too steep, although if you wish to venture off the trail then be careful of the many leaves on the ground which make it difficult to find solid footing. Along the way up the trail we found several interesting rock formations, one a large boulder with a small hole/cave in it.  It caught my attention especially; I could imagine soldiers in the Civil War hiding there; you never know there was a major battle in that area after all.

We also found an area right off the trail, which I would tentatively define as having fortification; it had rocks which were stacked up into a low wall.  Nearby was a crumbling brick wall; close by was another brick wall which was still intact.  

After that little diversion, went further off the trail and walked through the woods to a large bolder where I stood, and took some pictures of the town across the river.  It was an awesome view, multi colored leaves littered the ground and snowflakes drifted lazily through the air.

When we were done with taking pictures and we had finished drinking in the view; the sun was going down so we slid and climbed down a nearby gully almost all the way to the parking lot (note: doing so is dangerous and I do not recommend doing it yourself unless you like danger). View the pictures which I will be posting on the blog to see the pictures of this view and some of the rock formations as well as the scenery we passed while driving to the trail. 

Look for a picture of my dog Sam, he loves being outside doing anything.  In case you’re wondering, he is a seven years old, field breed Springer Spaniel.  I got him when we lived out west in CO.  

-H-