Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

New

A Teeny-Tiny Review of the Macally Qball USB Optical Trackball in a WinXP Environment

The title is almost longer than the article.

AMD Athlon XP 2600+: Part 2

We examine shocking evidence revealing the level of calculated bias injected into SysMark 2002 in what can only be characterized as a deliberate attempt to misrepresent the performance of the Intel Pentium 4 in comparisons with its AMD Athlon XP rivals.

AMD Athlon XP 2600+: The Resistance Strikes Back

We compare the latest, juiced-up AMD Thoroughbred 2600+ against the Empire's 2.53 GHz Pentium 4.

Review of Viewsonic VG191 LCD Panel

Dave Graham reviews his 19inch flat panel monitor.

Review of the 1.3GHz AMD Duron

See how our $600 Duron reference system fares against 1.3GHz Celeron and 1.8GHz Pentium 4 systems from HP.  Also, download an early look at our developing COSBI Quick Test and benchmark systems in the store for yourself.

Part 2: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ Review

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Part 1: AMD Athlon XP 2000+ Review

We examine the dramatically contrasting architectural approaches between Intel and AMD processors: Netburst versus Quantispeed.

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Be Ready

There are times in a person’s life when important decisions have to be made by faith alone.  These are the hardest decisions of all.  This is one of them.

I am, by nature, a private man.  I do not like attention.  I do not like serving up my personal matters for public consumption, and that is why I have only told a very few people over the decades what I am about to write.

I have not always been a Christian and I wasn’t a Christian at the time I was in graduate school many years ago.  I was a proud, smug agnostic, which is a crucial bit of context for the experience I am about to recount.  

One summer afternoon around two or three, I returned to my private dorm room after a couple of hours of weightlifting.  I was very tired, so I collapsed onto my bed and fell asleep. 

A few moments later I awoke and saw a figure standing at the foot of my bed.  The figure was dressed in a white robe and blinding, white light shone from his face, head and hands like the coronal fire that engulfs the sun. 

I am unsure why I reacted this way, but I was deeply terrified even though I did not sense menace from the figure.  I pulled the covers over my head, hoping that the figure would disappear, but when I peeled the covers from my face, the figure had not moved and was still staring down at me.  The figure then slowly motioned to his right and pointed upwards towards the ceiling where I could see many people, cranes and bulldozers constructing a tremendously huge stainless steel cross made of ten enormous, square plates lying flat on the ground.  Nine plates were in place, and the crew of men and machines were transporting the last plate to its destination on barren earth that had already been prepared at the rightmost position of the cross.

The figure then spoke in a man’s voice that was clear and strong, “Behold, it is almost complete.  Be ready.”  At that moment, I sensed great and overwhelming suffering and pain.  I saw war and many people dying.  I saw the earth on fire.  Armed men in black uniforms were committing evil everywhere, torturing, raping, pillaging and killing.

After several seconds, I could not look anymore at these horrors, so I closed my eyes tightly.  When I reopened them, the vision was gone and the figure had disappeared.

The next day, I returned to my room following my daily workout routine and rested on my bed.  My eyes drifted upwards towards the location where I saw the cross being constructed the day before.  The high ceiling in my dorm room was covered by ceramic tiles and I fixed my gaze on one of them as I pondered the events from the previous day.

“Was it real?  How could it have been real?” I asked myself over and over.

Suddenly, the tile that I was still staring at fell from the ceiling and crashed onto the floor, busting into several pieces.

I am not going to try to interpret the meaning of this “vision” because I still do not understand it myself.  I still question whether or not it was real, although I remember the event very, very clearly and there is no doubt about the tile crashing to the floor the next day.

I am a logical, rational, methodical man – I believe that it is safe to say that I am much more systematic and objective than most other people – and I have attempted to recount the experience as objectively as possible. 

I am retelling the story here because it has burdened and tormented me for years.  I am making this extremely sensitive event in my life public because I am now a Christian.  The parts of Christ's story that I have had the most trouble embracing with my heart are those that involve miracles because miracles clash with my normal orderly, rational thought process.  But as a Christian, I must have faith.

This incident did happen to me, and I later discovered that the figure I saw that day was remarkably similar to John’s vision of Jesus in Revelation.

It is through my faith in Christ that I reveal this vision to you today, even though I find it very uncomfortable to admit.  I am ashamed of my reaction that day.  I am embarrassed to retell such a seemingly illogical, impossible, unbelievable tale.

But to the best of my knowledge, these things did take place as I have described.  If so, then this vision does not belong to me, but to you.

Vote for Ron Paul and Save Our Country

Judging from the mainstream media, the people of the United States of America have gone insane.

Torture is routinely discussed as a campaign issue akin to health care and tax hikes.  Crazy?  Yes, but worse still the Democrats and Republicans are not debating whether or not we should torture, but what flavors of torture they prefer.

Back in the 20th Century, before our country lost her way, Americans believed that torture was a crime worse than murder.  Now people who claim to be Christians have jumped on the torture bandwagon.

Jesus weeps.

The notion of preemptive wars is, of course, also mad.  But not only has our country openly committed an act of preemptive war in Iraq originally justified by blatant lies, but Presidential candidates from both parties are considering another, more ambitious preemptive campaign against Iran based upon equally specious evidence.

Lunacy.

But perhaps it is not so much insanity that has brought our country low.  Perhaps it is cowardice.

A cooked up al Queda boogeyman has us burning our Bill of Rights.  Our federal government has become our powerful Big Brother who watches over and protects us from bullies.  Big Brother even kicks us around from time to time for no reason at all, just like the real thing from a sadistic, dysfunctional family.  But when the going gets tough we know Big Brother will kick the baddies even harder.  Or so we’d like to believe.

Where is the outrage when Big Brother announced that he’ll be forcing us all to carry National ID cards?  Why aren’t Americans up in arms after Big Brother’s Military Commissions Act of 2006 stripped them of the right to habeas corpus and exposes us all to the threat of torture by our own government while granting the President an effective dictatorship almost at his whim?  “Terrorists don’t deserve no stinkin’ Geneva Convention,” Big Brother’s rabid television pundits tell us, but the rub is that any American can be now declared a terrorist for almost any reason.

We are cowards for not fighting for our rights and for the rights of our precious children.

What about America’s open borders during her War on Terror?  Isn’t this obviously illogical?  Yet our ruling elite, through the Council on Foreign Relations, has even declared a 2012 timeline for implementing the eradication of borders between our country and Mexico and Canada while at the same time fomenting national panic in order to strip us of our rights so that they can protect us from foreign terrorists.

Are we really that stupid?

Yes, many Americans have grown stupid, crazy and cowardly, but that is not the real problem.  The mainstream media is distorting our perception of reality just long enough so that the remaining good people, the noble and brave patriots are frozen into a state of confusion and inaction while our country is brought to her knees and her people enslaved.

It is almost too late to act.  Almost.

Dr. Ron Paul is the one and only hope that our country has for a peaceful recapture of our nation and the restoration of our personal freedoms that are essential to the survival of the United States. 

Ron Paul can rescue our country from the brink of a total fascist overthrow of our constitutional republic.  Ron Paul can restore liberty.  Ron Paul can restore security.  Ron Paul can end the wars.  Ron Paul can stop the torture.  Ron Paul will halt the foreign takeover of key national infrastructure.  Ron Paul can save our nation from the economic collapse that has already begun.

Americans must support Ron Paul in his bid for President, or our nation will soon see its darkest days.  And, I fear, blood will run like rivers in our streets if we fail to carry Ron Paul on our shoulders to the White House. 

For revolution is in the air, and if I can smell it, so can the despots currently wrecking America.  And they will not shy from bloodshed.  Nay, they will instigate it through false flag operations so that they can control, confuse and undermine the opposition.  It is their time tested strategy.

God has favored the United States of America for most of her proud history, but we have turned our backs on Him.  God, forgive us for our vanity, for elevating the Word of Man over Your Truth, for seeking the worldly pleasures and distractions instead of your wisdom.

I know that people in our government have read these pages.  I know that patriots in our military have read these pages as well.  If you hear me now, I know that the spirit of Christ in still strong in many of you.  You know in your hearts the difference between right and wrong.  Choose right.  Do not torture.  Do not murder the innocent.  Do not follow unlawful, ungodly orders.  Expose the evil within our government.  Organize.  Fight for what is right.

I pray that our country will not slide into the darkness that is so very near.  I pray that we will peacefully take back our nation.  I pray that we elect Ron Paul as our next President.   God, grant us the courage, wisdom and perseverance to peacefully recapture our nation and restore its foundational principles of personal liberty. 

Guest Blurb: Seminar Claims Proof that 9-11 Was a Lie

[editor's note: One of my favorite websites is Geek.com and Rick C. Hodgin, aka RickGeek, is a big reason why. Rick, who as an Indiana Libertarian made a strong run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004, always provides intelligent, thoughtful commentary on developments inside the computing industry. We're delighted to present Rick's take on a development that could have a profound impact on us all.]

On September 11, 2001, this country fell under attack in an extremely overt manner. The government told us immediately that it was Osama Bin Laden and that Al Qaeda was to blame. They spent the next couple of years convincing us that it was really Saddam Hussein and his support of Al Qaeda which allowed it to all transpire. There was so much of an impact to our society that people really began to watch the mainstream media, look at what's happening and follow events which have transpired since that time.

But have we really? 

A man by the name of Alex Jones is having a symposium this weekend in Los Angeles. In his previews and snippets he has stated he will prove the following:

1) That towers 1 and 2 did not collapse due to fire, that rather they were demolished by targeted explosives.
2) That building 7 was brought down entirely by explosives and nothing else.
3) That no commercial airliner hit the Pentagon, but rather some type of small drone or very small aircraft. 
4) That we are currently under attack by a type of secret society which plans to remove the Republic for which our nation stands. 
5) That the United States, as we all grew up knowing it, is already gone.

His website, called Infowars, offers links to all kinds of video and audio clips which raise some serious questions. He commented yesterday that much of what he's been talking about for the past 12 years was actually picked up by the Associated Press, specifically a part which relates to the construction of the super-highway which, he claims, will divide this country in half.

There is so much information to go through to begin to put together the picture of what he's talking about that it is not really for the casual viewer. But he also promises that that fact is exactly what those in the secret society are counting on.

Read more at InfoWars.com, and listen to Alex Jones live today to see what he has to say at Genesis Communications Network, a streaming online radio station. His show operates between 11am and 2pm CST.

RICK'S OPINION

There are a host of videos which will get someone up to speed pretty quickly on what Alex Jones is talking about and what he intends to prove at his symposium. You can go to YouTube.com and search for "9-11 September" and find a tremendous amount.

However, I have found the following 6-parter extremely enlightening. It asks questions that, until I saw those videos, I had never seen anyone ask. It really made me stop and think. One video shows some explosion footage that was aired one time, and then never replayed again. Stuff like that raises many questions.

6-part video sequence (not by Alex Jones): One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and an Update.

The bottom line of those videos is this: Much of what is proposed by our government is physically impossible, in so much as physics laws exist at least. The questions raised by those videos, at least for me, are enough to warrant my beginning to ask questions and to begin doing more research on this possibility.

Could our government really be responsible for 9-11? It is unthinkable. I leave you with this: If you think about how "unpatriotic" it is to question our government's actions these days, then to any thinking person that one fact alone (the fact that they actually tell you it *IS* unpatriotic) should be enough to begin asking questions of their true motives.

1) This administration has seen a re-invasion of Iraq.
2) This administration has seen our civil liberties erased by "The PATRIOT Act"
3) This administration has seen our gas prices jump from US$1.30 to $3.00 in many areas, and people today are talking about $5.00 and higher should countries like North Korea or Iran have nuclear abilities sufficient enough to be real.
4) This administration has seen The PATRIOT Act go from its initial sunset timeframe to a permanent form.
5) This adminstration has proven they lie by saying they were not collecting individual's phone information.
6) This adminstration has seen our national debt go from $5.7 Trillion when Bill Clinton left office, to a staggering $8.4 Trillion, an increase of nearly 50% in six years.
7) This administration has put into place thumb-print scanners in public schools so the kids can get food.
8) This administration has done enough damage to our economy, our way of life, our civil liberties and the rest of the world that we have to start asking questions.

I would ask everyone who has ears to hear and eyes to see (and that covers most of us) to watch those videos, listen to Alex Jones' show and ask yourself questions. Don't rely on him, our main news media outlets, or anyone else for your conclusions. If there are questions that need answered in your mind, then ask them. Don't rely on me, them, or anyone else for those answers.

The symposium will happen today and tomorrow. You can read more about it at the links above.

--Rick C. Hodgin

Click Here for Old News...

COSBI OpenSourceMark Preview

Get a sneak peek at this COSBI OpenSourceMark beta, the most flexible, useful and verifiable benchmark available today.  OSMark is a comprehensive benchmarking suite that is easily user extensible and will be ported to Linux.  We'll be releasing the source code as soon as we finish the documentation and stomp out the remaining bugs.  Follow the link above to learn how to use OSMark and download the beta.

Bits & Bytes

A look at two Prescotts.

Bits & Bytes

Van looks at the oh-so-hot Prescott, the chilly-willy Banias, Linux, PocoMail and more.

Tracking Transmeta

In our first major article in nearly a year, we closely examine the merits of the struggling, brash little CPU designer and its chances to reverse its fortunes with an ambitious new design dubbed "Astro."

The Miracle at Dunkirk

Finding God in war, my late father penned this true story about twenty-five years ago.

DIY Mobile Standards Feedback

Readers tell us what they think about a Do-It-Yourself mobile standard.

Breaking Performance Bottlenecks of SMP Systems with Opteron

Spencer writes, "How are we going to wring out the maximum performance from AMD Opteron systems?  We don't want to simply match existing SMP performance (which can be awful) but develop both OS and application designs which take advantage of the lack of limitations the new AMD architecture provides." Read more on what Spencer has to say here.

COSBI For Dumber Dummies

Kathy returns to Sam's Club to retest the PCs. Also, available for download is a preview version of COSBI QuickTest.

COSBI For Dummies

Kathy tests the newest version of COSBI at the local Sam's Club. She shares her results and experience with the new benchmarking application.

How Intel Subverts Journalists

Van comments on Mike Magee's story and discusses a recent experience with an Intel email.

AMD Announces Opteron

In a teleconference today, AMD christened the Sledgehammer “Opteron.”  We also discuss the background of this new enterprise-class CPU and have pictures from WinHec of the Opteron in action.

Intel Demos Banias

Van reports from WinHEC 2002. Exclusive details and pictures from Intel's Banias demo at WinHEC.

AMD Launches First Thoroughbred

Van reports from WinHec. With the new 0.13-micron-based CPU introduction, the chipmaker revamps its mobile lineup. Barton is also discussed.

Letter to Arctic Silver: Benefits Of CPU Compound Combined with Carbon Nanotubes

Phil writes, "Spencer’s link on the thermal properties of carbon nanotubes got me thinking how it might be used in thermal paste for CPUs.  Here is my email to Nevin House with Arctic Silver along with his response."

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