A Disturbing Trend

I have found a disturbing trend in my traffic data. My traffic numbers are kind of low, but I haven't posted in a while, so that's understandable. I have found that 53% of my total traffic is Internet Explorer 6. The standard version that comes with XP and is extremely insecure. Well, I have to give them props for being able to deal with the ridiculously slow speed. If you are on Windows, then I highly recommend you upgrade to Windows 7. I'm not paid to say that. I am speaking from personal experience. I have tried XP, Vista, and 7; Windows 7 is by far the best OS for any computer built/bought in the last 6 years. The second reason this is a disturbing trend is that IE 6 means that you haven't updated your browser ever since you got the machine. I should note to the less technically inclined that IE 6 is not the only option out there.  There are other great browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari. Personally, I use Mozilla Firefox because it is the fastest to load pages in my experience on my computer. I also really like the interface and customizability. However, everone's needs are different, so try and use them all to figure out which one is best for you.

New Upgrades

I just bought a GTX 480 and a Velociraptor. I also bought a new Corsair 750TX because the 480 eats tons of juice. I won't be installing them until tomorrow. I know that SSDs are better than Velociraptors, but I wanted a good amount of storage for the price. I'll do some benchmarks tomorrow.

Overclocking Again

I did a little overclocking today on my Core i7 920. I've got it stable and safe at 3.999Ghz with hyperthreading on. This runs great on the Corsair H50 cooler. However, I have realized recently that I put a massive amount of thermal compound on my processor. I'm probably going to buy a Corsair 800d and re-do the thermal compound when I move cases. I'll probably upload pictures of cable management, and I'll show you the fat new GPU. I have a blue CFL right now, and I'll buy another to put into the case. I'm not into tons of lights, but a few are nice. When I re-do the thermal compound, I'll check the temperatures. If they're good, then I'll push it up to 4.2Ghz or so. Anyway, I just thought I would post a new update.

VP8 and Open Web Standards

I am on the internet, so this is important to me. I now have a VP8 encoder, which I might or might not be using in the future. I've started encoding the old Left 4 Dead 2 video in VP8, and despite my Core i7 920, it is taking a while. I've been using Miro video converter, which is a nice app. It has a clean and easy to use interface. I am willing to put up with slow encodes because I support open web standards. This means that I support open-source and free codecs that don't require a license to use. I've always been big on open-source software, and I really like the idea of having open, easy to use, and universal web standards. This means that users should all be able to take advantage of open standards. I have to admit that I love Google for stepping in and doing what others should have done. As much as I like Ogg Theora, the quality to file-size ratio has always been a little bad. Also, there has been poor support for Ogg Theora with HTML5. Open standards also will give web browsers more competition because people don't have to pay huge sums of money to release a browser. I use Firefox, so this is especially important to me. Anyway, I might upload a test video of VP8 if I can. I'd like to test quality, and I look forward to using it in the future.

Razer Mamba Review

I'm writing this review while using my Razer Mamba. I bought the mouse as a replacement for my Logitech MX518 gaming mouse. I have a MX Revolution that I stopped using because of poor performance in video games. If I move the mouse forward quickly, it would occasionally move backward on the screen instead. This is the downfall of many wireless mice in the gaming world. The MX518 didn't have this problem, but it had plenty of problems of its own. There are sensitivity adjustment buttons on both mice, but the ones on the MX518 are right next to the scroll-wheel. The sensitivity buttons on the Mamba are on the far left of the left click. This means that they are out of the way while gaming, unlike the MX518 where I would have to stop because I hit them while gaming. The Mamba doesn't seem to have any sensitivity problems, and it doesn't reverse directions while gaming. I haven't had it long enough to give a good verdict on battery life, but so far it has been good. The MX Revolution had one problem that was really annoying. I couldn't use it while it charged. There was no charging cable; you had to dock it. However, the Mamba has a plug in the front that fits nicely and doesn't bulge. While you have to option to use the dock, you can turn it into a wired mouse to game while you charge. This is a very nice feature. This really pushed it over the top for me. It looks really nice next to my Razer Tarantula keyboard too. The scroll-wheel glows, which is nice, but for some reason the Razer logo doesn't. I found this odd because my keyboard's Razer logo does glow. Anyway, I think they probably had a technical reason for the logo not glowing. I highly recommend this mouse. I haven't posted in a while, but I'm going to start up again. Sorry about that, and sorry about the slightly blurry shot. I did my best. Hope you like the new theme. :)