When you buy a hard drive, you usually take note of the capacity and, depending if you’re a metric kind of person or a computer tech, you expect to find the number of bytes  in your hard drive to be as  you expect them.

The metric type of person would say that 320 Gigabytes is 320,000,000,000 bytes while the computer tech would say that 320 Gigabytes is 320 x 2^30 (around 343,597,383,700 bytes).   The confusion is further compounded by the way operating systems report the number of available bytes in your hard drive.  Note that most hard drive manufacturers nowadays use the metric “definition” of Gigabyte (i.e. 320 GB is 320,000,000,000 bytes).

Recently, however, around 2008, a standard known as IEEE 1541-2002, was reaffirmed and is hoped to remedy the situation by defining Gigabyte in terms of the metric system and Gibibyte (gigabinary byte) in terms of powers of 1024 (which is in turn also expressed as 2^10).  At last, we can now differentiate between the two old views of Gigabyte:  1 Gigabyte (1,000^3)  is NOT equal to 1 Gibibyte (2^30 or 1024^3 bytes)!

So far, Snow Leopard properly reports the size of the drive according to this standard.  I’m not sure about Windows 7.  Perhaps it would follow the standard as well.

This standard should be introduced in current and future computer books soon.

After installing Fedora 11 in a virtual machine, I opted for KDE 4 to see how it looks.  It was quite interesting and pleasing visually.  I was impressed and it made me use the Linux desktop for a long time in one session.  Obviously, there was a lot of work and thought put into the design and implementation of KDE 4.

KDE 4 is what a Linux desktop should look like if Linux should become a mainstream desktop operating system.  I do not mean to ignore Gnome.  However, I enjoy using KDE 4 more than Gnome.  Check out KDE 4 and see if it suits you.

There has been an announcement that Paramount is releasing a 5-disc Blu-ray set of all the Star Trek:The Next Generation movies this Fall.  This is our chance to see the movies in 1080p resolution and HD audio.  I am wondering now when are they releasing the Next Generation series on Blu-ray like they did with the original series.

Blu-ray players are still expensive and most people are probably waiting for a reasonably priced player.  Perhaps a $149.99 Blu-ray player with the latest Profile is the new sweet spot.  I wonder if the complex licensing scheme for Blu-ray is hindering the arrival of cheaper players.  With more cheap Blu-ray players around the corner, an additional number of people will be able to enjoy their favorite movies in High Definition.

Recall that I wrote about Wolfram Research offering a Home Edition version of Mathematica 7.  A lot of engineering and scientific applications use MATLAB too.  However, the only way to get the cheap edition of MATLAB is to be a student.  Otherwise, you’d have to pay about $2000 for the software license.  I believe that the Mathworks should consider offering a Home Edition of MATLAB too for those who want to tinker with some engineering and scientific computations in a non-commercial setting.

I have this routine for web surfing everyday.  I usually start with Slashdot.org and C|Net News reading the interesting news there.  I then head to ArsTechnica for some more tech news.  Gizmodo is a favorite of mine when I’m checking out the latest gadgetry.  Finally, I check Linux Today to see how my favorite operating system is doing on the planet.

Today’s news is something I also check, surfing the sites CNN.com, Wired, and USA Today.  Once in awhile, I check out The New York Times as well.

There are a number of other sites I check:  PC Magazine, ExtremeTech, Freshmeat.Net for the latest software, High-Def Digest for the latest in high definition gear and software, plus others.

Check out the sites I mentioned above.

Apple recently unveiled a new line of MacBook Pros, absorbing the 13″ laptop model of the previous incarnation.  This means that the 13″ MacBook Pro has FireWire, an SD Card slot, and an improved display.  The laptop battery is also not (normally) user-replaceable: it costs $129 to replace it, about the same cost as a removable battery of the previous MacBook.

There still is a MacBook.  It is the white non-aluminum laptop with upgraded graphics (Nvidia 9400M).

As usual, I feel like upgrading but I am waiting for Snow Leopard and the next refresh of the MacBook Pros, given that Nvidia recently released new integrated graphics chip sets.  Let’s see how I fare resisting the temptation.

At last, there’s a cheap version of Mathematica available now for personal use.  Mathematica Home Edition is only $295.  It’s a 32-bit version of Mathematica 7 available for Windows (2000/XP/Vista), Mac OS X, and Linux.

According to the Wolfram Research web site, this is a full featured Mathematica.  You can also use it for homeworks if you are a student, although it’s cheaper to get the Student Edition for that.  You may not use it in a professional/business setting.

With this reasonably priced Mathematica, many math and science hobbyists can now avail of the power of this software.  I’ve been meaning to get this software for sometime now but it has always been beyond my budget (about $2000+).  Now, it’s reasonably priced!

Every time I am on the computer, our cat jumps to sit on the keyboard.  This is especially true with the laptop.  I’m not sure why she does that.  I heard that cats love computers.

Meow.

At last, Apple announced the availability of a new Mac mini, now sporting an Nvidia graphics chipset like the one in the aluminum unibody MacBooks.

I rushed to an Apple Store nearby to try out the new machines.  They can handle 1080p video very well, especially when compared to my first-generation Intel Mac mini running at 1.66 GHz.

In the coming months, I may upgrade my Mac mini for this one.

Apple Inc. finally came out and said that they’re done with computer product updates for the year, quashing hopes of a new kind of Mac mini.  Perhaps next year then. 

Meanwhile, my 2006 Intel Mac mini is chugging along with a new 320GB hard drive.  The new hard drive has helped improve the performance of the computer a bit.  Also, it gives me more breathing room for other stuff like videos and music.

The backlit-keyboard of the new MacBook turned out to be useful in dark places.  I used my laptop while lying in bed and the lights off.  The AC adapter was not connected so I was running on the laptop battery.  I was able to browse, stream music from the Internet, and check email for 3 hours and 15 minutes.  That wasn’t bad except that it fell short of the 5 hours maximum Apple specified in the specs for the MacBook.

And so continues my adventure with the MacBook…….