Here’s an interesting way to donate your spare CPU cycles to a good cause. This project has been around for a few years now, but I just started participating.
Running the software reminds me of my college days. There was a time when everyone I knew was running the SETI@Home screensaver (most likely on an AMD K6 or Celeron 300A!)
Clients are available for all major operating systems.
“Scare the hell out of your secretary. Get her a computer.”
Very un-PC (no, the other PC) 1960s 1970s ad by San Antonio-based Computer Terminal Corporation. Spotted at the Goodwill Computer Museum in Austin, TX.
Best viewed large.
About a month ago, I complained about Time Warner’s anemic upstream bandwidth cap on home cable modem service. (512k! Oh, the humanity!)
Well, a phone call to Time Warner and $10 a month later, my cap has been increased to 2 Mb. They call this their “Turbo” plan. (Turbo == fast, right?)
The asymmetry of my speedtest result below is still laughable, but the improvement in upstream AND downstream performance is very noticeable. Now my uploads to Flickr don’t completely saturate the connection and more than one person can actually use the network without hosing everyone else.
I still suspect that my upstream bandwidth puts a cap on the actual download performance I can achieve. I haven’t been able to find a rule of thumb to calculate how much upstream bandwidth is required to support a 20+ Mb/s download.
Surely there is a relationship between data coming down the pipe and the acknowledgements (or other handshaking packets) that are sent back?
We made it! Driving a moving truck almost 2000 miles across America was no picnic (it gets HOT in Arizona) but ~4 days of travel were relatively uneventful (only one flat tire!). Pretty much everything made it intact, including a few hundred pounds of lab benches and equipment. (Note to self, next time get twice as many moving pads as seems necessary!)
My wife and I have been getting acquainted with our new city. One of the interesting/unique things about Austin is the local trailer food scene. One example, shown below, is odd duck, where you can purchase local, sustainable, gourmet wood fired food out of a trailer in South Austin. Yum.
The biggest downside to Austin I have found so far (aside from the lack of In-n-Out and Trader Joe’s) has been the pitiful upstream bandwidth that Time Warner provides with their Roadrunner internet service. Check out these Speedtest results:
Holy asymmetric internet access, Batman!
Compare those results with this test I ran before I packed up my computer in San Francisco:
Over 4 megabits! If only I knew how lucky I was on Comcast when I could upload entire Flickr albums and HD videos in minutes!
Time Warner – 512K? Really?
Ok, that’s enough for now – time to unpack the power supplies and oscilloscope.
PS. I almost forgot. There are a few pictures of the move on Flickr.
I apologize for the slow updates as of late, but I have some big news that I would like to share with you:
MightyOhm is moving to Austin, Texas!
While the move should be pretty much transparent to anyone reading the blog, there will be a lot going on behind the scenes in the next few weeks. Most significantly, orders placed after July 9th will not be shipped before August 1st. The move will continue to take time away from the blog as I figure out how to move an electronics lab across three states. Don’t expect too many posts in the next few weeks!
I am sad to be leaving San Francisco (and the many friends I have made in this wonderful city), but I’m eager to explore a new city, meet new friends, and make Austin my home. Once I get settled, I would really like to meet some other electronics geeks in the area. If anyone who reads the blog lives in or near Austin, please send me an e-mail or comment below to say hello!
That reminds me: Does anyone know where to find surplus electronic parts in Austin? If you do, please post a comment here or add it to the wiki. As soon as I unpack, I’ll be looking for local substitutes for Silicon Valley’s HSC and Weird Stuff.
That’s all for now. Time to pack up my soldering iron and oscilloscope!