CPU value

AMD and Intel both took an axe to their prices last month, and we recently added Intel's $113 Core 2 Duo E4300 to our constellation of test results, so now seems like a particularly appropriate time to consider performance per dollar.

Join us as we look at the value proposition of 16 CPUs, from the Athlon 64 X2 3600+ all the way up to the Core 2 Extreme QX6800, across a wide range of games, applications, and even energy efficiency tests.

Some of what we found surprised us, and it may change the way you think about CPU value. [TechReport]

tip to missingRemote

Firefox Distrust extension

Via Windows Secrets
Firefox does give you some control over what's erased, using the Clear Private Data dialog box accessible via Tools, Options, Privacy, Settings. But what if you don't want to wipe out everything? What if you only want to wipe out specific activities?

You can't do that just using Firefox's native features. But you can do it with the Distrust extension for Firefox.

When surfing the Web, you enable Distrust by clicking its button at the bottom of the browser. When enabled, it notices all of your activity. When you click the icon again to disable Distrust, it then removes all the tracked activity, including your cached files, the list of downloaded files, cookies, and browsing history — without removing any other data that was tracked by the browser.

It effectively lets you use the browser, without letting other people know that you've removed private data. For all intents and purposes, the browser looks like you never used it. Pretty slick, eh?

You can learn more about Distrust at the Skattertech blog. For more information, and to download a copy, visit the official Distrust Web site.

Fees and circumstances

I've been online since 300baud and I've built every system since I leased Lotus123 at its list price of $495.

This post is not a big deal but an update report.

I recently moved four miles out of downtown and just 50 miles from Silicon Valley.

To my surprise, there was phone but no DSL, cable TV but no broadband, satellite is $400 for setup but the signal is junk on the far western coast. I noticed that my cell phone had three bars. Checking maps I found a mile-away cell tower just over the hill attached to a fruit warehouse at a junction near the highway. After $200 signup fees, I also had to improve the service by attaching a $100 truck driver's antenna wand to a six foot pole above a window to a dubious $300 wire length amplifier plus caulk a new hole in the wall.

The cost is $50/month. Speed is well under 600kbps always. The line drops at least 30 times per day. Fog, wind, moon, ions and owls seem to interfere to cause a bit crawl or a line drop. At busy times of day, the line will drop when any caravan of competing callers is driving through the tower's range. Hours of installing tweaks has been essential.

But EVDO, whether Verizon, Sprint or MaBell, has saved my butt. My remaining choice in these four mile boonies is a 56k telco service at $20 per month that will only deliver 26,000bps saying the old rural Telco wires have eroded their insulation!

For years we've all paid Universal Service Fees and related taxes that have accrued capital accounts of Billions for out-of-town and rural infrastructure improvements. I thought you should know these funds haven't reached a few miles.

Firewall change

If you're concerned about your level of outbound protection from a software firewall, free ZoneAlarm is a bad way to go.

ZoneAlarm Pro tests much better than free ZoneAlarm.

ZoneAlarm Pro test better than free ZoneAlarm? Well, I'll tell you. Check Point wants you to spend some money on its products. If you look in the "Program Control" configuration area, you'll find that the slider bar is limited to Medium protection. The High setting, which is specifically designed to protect your computer from "the abuse of trusted programs" (the precise thing that leak tests check for), is disabled. A note tells you that you have to upgrade to ZoneAlarm Pro to get that protection.

Scott Finnie has omitted ZoneAlarm from software firewall tests. "ZoneAlarm Pro offers excellent outbound software firewall protection, and the free version of ZoneAlarm — surprisingly — does not."

Keyboard macro

From lifehacker.org

If you are into productivity on your computer, you probably already use your keyboard and its shortcuts as much as possible. And if you’re on Windows, you’ve probably also check out the awesome potential of AutoHotKey, which can make your keyboard hum like nobody’s business.

But most people haven’t tapped into the true power of AHK, and explored all the ways it can turn the keyboard into a productivity machine.