The only reason for this post is to hold some images I’m using elsewhere. If you find it useful for some reason I would be real surprised.

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Specification number, or S-spec number, is a five character code that uniquely identifies such CPU characteristics as core frequency, bus frequency, the size of level 2 cache, thermal design power, and so on. Specification numbers always start from letter ‘S’ and are usually printed on the top of the CPU. Intel Pentium, Pentium MMX and Celeron processors in plastic PPGA package have specification numbers printed on the bottom of the CPU. To find out processor characteristics from the specification number please use “Search by S-Spec” form on this page. We also recommend to use Intel processor finder tool.

Some examples of specification numbers: SL92C, SL7PW, SL3XX

NOTE: Intel engineering and qualification samples are marked with specification numbers that start from ‘Q’ - these are so called QDF numbers, and they are used to identify qualification and engineering samples.

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Processor model numbers are used to distinguish between microprocessors with different sets of features and different characteristics, such as speed, level 1 and level 2 cache, etc. The model numbers can be used to identify only basic features and most important characteristics, and may not be used to identify all features/parameters of the CPU. For example, model numbers never identify CPU ID, core stepping, core voltage, maximum CPU temperature and a few other parameters. If you need to find out all details on specific processor please use sSpec numbers for Intel processors or order product numbers for AMD microprocessors.

For more information on Intel model numbers please see Intel processor (model) numbers.

For more information on AMD model number please see Athlon XP, Athlon 64, Sempron and Turion model number and Opteron model numbers.

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This post is just to show the images and some additional information for a few items I have decided to part with. If you have any questions please refer to the listing that led you here. Sorry but I will not be answering questions from here.

Intel Core Solo Processor:

Micron 1GB DDR 2 PC25300 SO-DIMM from iMac 17″ (Late 2006 CD)

The other side of the RAM:

Micron 512MB DDR2 200 pin SO-DIMM

Motorola WiFi PC Card

HP LightScribe DVD+R

another item

Baystack 24 Port 10/100 Switch

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Tabbed browsing is usefull enough on it’s own, but there are a few simple tricks that make it even more so. I find that the most useful trick for me is to open the previous page in a new tab. This is done by simply holding down the “Command” key while clicking the back button (or selecting back from the contextual menu).

This also works with the forward button. Any link you click on can be opened in a new tab by holding down command when you click the link. If you want to view an image in a new tab follow the same pattern with the “View Image” or “View Background Image” commands accessed via a right click or a “Control” click.

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Inline linking (also known as hotlinking, leeching, piggy-backing, direct linking, offsite image grabs and bandwidth theft) is the use of a linked object, often an image, from one site into a web page belonging to a second site. The second site is said to have an inline link to the site where the object is located.

Inline Linking and the HTTP Protocol

The technology behind the World Wide Web, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), does not make any distinction of types of links-all links are functionally equal. Resources may be located on any server at any location.

When a web site, such as Malagent’s Sandbox, is visited, the browser first downloads the textual content in the form of an HTML document. The downloaded HTML document may call for other HTML and/or stylesheet files to be processed. These files may contain <img> tags which supply the URLs which allow images to display on the page. The HTML code generally does not specify a server, meaning that the web browser should use the same server as the parent code (<img src=”picture.jpg” />). It also permits absolute URLs that refer to images hosted on other servers (<img src=”http://www.example.com/picture.jpg” />).

When a browser downloads an HTML page containing such an image, the browser will contact the remote server to request the image content.

Common uses of linked content

The ability to display content from one site within another is part of the original design of the Web’s hypertext medium. Commonly accepted uses include:

• Web architects may deliberately segregate the images of a site on one server or a group of servers. Hosting images on separate servers allows the site to divide the bandwidth requirements between servers. As an example, the high-volume site Slashdot stores its “front page” at slashdot.org; individual stories on servers such as games.slashdot.org or it.slashdot.org; and serves images for each host from images.slashdot.org
• Many web pages include banner ads. Banner ads are images hosted by a company that acts as middleman between the advertisers and the web sites on which the ads appear. The <img> tag may specify a URL to a CGI script on the ad server, including a string uniquely identifying the site producing the traffic, and possibly other information about the person viewing the ad, previously collected and associated with a cookie. The CGI script determines which image to send in response to the request.
• Statistics applications or hit counters show how many times a page has been loaded. Several companies provide hit counters that are maintained off site and displayed with an inline link. Several of my sites such as Malagent’s Domain, Malagent’s Forum, Malagent’s Sandbox, and others use this type of statistics service provided by SiteMeter.

Controversial uses of inline linking

The blurring of boundaries between sites can lead to other problems when the site violates users’ expectations. Other times, inline linking can be done for malicious purposes.

• Content sites where the object is stored and from which it is retrieved may not like the new placement.
• Inline linking to an image stored on another site increases the bandwidth use of that site even though the site is not being viewed as intended. The complaint may be the loss of ad revenue or changing the perceived meaning through an unapproved context.
• Cross-site scripting and Phishing attacks may include inline links to a legitimate site to gain the confidence of a victim.
• Pay-per-content services may attempt to restrict access to their content through complex scripting and inline linking techniques.

Prevention on the client side

Most web browsers will blindly follow the URL for inline links, even though it is a frequent security complaint.[1] Embedded images may be used as a web bug to track users or to relay information to a third party. Many ad filtering browser tools will restrict this behavior to varying degrees.

Prevention on the server side

Some servers are programmed to use the HTTP referer to detect hot-linking and return a condemnatory message, commonly in the same format, in place of the expected image or media clip. Most servers can be configured to partially protect hosted media from inline linking, usually by not serving the media or by serving a different file.[2][3][4]

For Microsoft’s Internet Information Services web server software, third party tools may be installed to combat inline linking and hotlinking.

Nearly all of these measures will transmit an alternate content. Most types of electronic media can be redirected this way, including video files, music (including mp3) files, and animations (such as Flash).

See also:

• Deep linking
• Off Page Optimization

Notes:

1. Thomas C Greene (2007-02-20). “Vista Security Oversold“
2. Ross Shannon (2007-02-26). “Bandwidth Theft“
3. “How I Stopped a Bandwidth Thief“
4. Thomas Scott (2004-07-13). “Smarter Image Hotlinking Prevention“

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Mean time between failures (MTBF) is the mean (average) time between failures of a system, and is often attributed to the “useful life” of the device i.e. not including ‘infant mortality’ or ‘end of life’ if the device is not repairable. Calculations of MTBF assume that a system is “renewed”, i.e. fixed, after each failure, and then returned to service immediately after failure. The average time between failing and being returned to service is termed mean down time (MDT) or mean time to repair (MTTR).

It's just a matter of time.

Mathematically, the MTBF is the sum of the MTTF (mean time to failure) and MTTR (mean time to repair). The MTTF is simply the reciprocal of the failure rate,

The MTTF is often denoted by the symbol , or

Since failure rate and MTTF are simply reciprocals, both notations are found in documentation, depending on which notation is most convenient or appropriate for the application.

The MTTF can be defined in terms of the expected value of the failure density function f(t)

with

The MTTR can be similarly derived from the repair rate.

A common misconception about the MTBF is that it specifies the time (on average) when the probability of failure equals the probability of not having a failure. This is only true for certain symmetric distributions. In many cases, such as the (non-symmetric) exponential distribution, this is not the case. In particular, for an exponential failure distribution, the probability that an item will fail after an MTBF is approximately 0.63. For typical distributions with some variance, MTBF only represents a top-level aggregate statistic, and thus is not suitable for predicting specific time to failure, the uncertainty arising from the variability in the time-to-failure distribution.

On commercial product descriptions, the “MTTF lifetime” is the amount of time the product should last, assuming that it is used properly.

Variations of MTBF

There are many variations of MTBF, such as mean time between system aborts (MTBSA) or mean time between critical failures (MTBCF) or mean time between unit replacement (MTBUR). Such nomenclature is used when it is desirable to differentiate among types of failures, such as critical and non-critical failures. For example, in an automobile, the failure of the FM radio does not prevent the primary operation of vehicle. Mean time to failure (MTTF) is sometimes used instead of MTBF in cases where a system is replaced after a failure, since MTBF denotes time between failures in a system which is repaired.

Problems with MTBF

As of 1995, the use of MTBF in the aeronautical industry (and others) has been called into question due to the inaccuracy of its application to real systems and the nature of the culture which it engenders. Many component MTBFs are given in databases, and often these values are very inaccurate.

This has led to the negative exponential distribution being used much more than it should have been. Some estimates say that only 40% of components have failure rates described by this. It has also been corrupted into the notion of an “acceptable” level of failures, which removes the desire to get to the root cause of a problem and take measures to delete it. The British Royal Air Force is looking at other methods to describe reliability, such as maintenance-free operating period (MFOP). Similarly, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is perusing time to failure research using scenario and condition based methods derived from the field of prognostics.

See also

* Failure rate

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.)

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Having a bad drive day

Originally uploaded by Malagent

As a technician, system administrator and all around super geek, I have told others over and over again to back up their data. Sometimes my own advice is a bit hard to follow, ya know how it is - you get busy looking through Flickr, debating politics or whatever and the next thing you know. ZAP, just like that, all your really important irreplaceable data that you just happen to need right now is gone.

This normally would not be an issue for me, but this drive is not usually on my Mac protected by the Leopard’s Time Machine. This drive comes from a Windows 2003 Server from my little data center. At least the Mac is letting me copy the data whereas Windows just freaks out and goes into a BSOD spewing tantrum.

So there they sit, billions and billions of useless ones and zeros doing nothing but making me mad.

So I’m off to wait on 280GB of data to copy (I wonder how long I’m gonna waste burning 64 DVDs?) so I can rip this damn drive out and smash it to pieces with a hammer. Then I will kick myself a few times for failing to practice what I preach. Oh, and don’t forget to back up your data, you never know when you are going to learn the meanings of MTBF, MDT, and MTTR.

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Those Orange iMac CDs

Originally uploaded by malagent

Nearly a decade ago I got my first iMac. Although it has been retired and passed along, the orange CDs still remain in my collection of Mac Stuff. Being a Mac Addict, Geek, Pack Rat, and a general Mac Lover I find it hard to part with anything Apple.
I have a feeling I’m not the only one.

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Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" is the fifth major release of Mac OS X, Apple’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Tiger was released to the public on April 29, 2005 as the successor to Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther", which was released 18 months earlier, and was superseded by Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard" on October 26, 2007, after 30 months, making Mac OS X v10.4 the longest running version of the Mac OS X operating system. Some of the new features include a fast searching system called Spotlight, a new version of the Safari web browser, Dashboard, a new ‘Unified’ theme, and improved support for 64-bit addressing on Power Mac G5s. Mac OS X x10.4 "Tiger" was included with all new Macintosh computers, and was also available as an upgrade for existing Mac OS X users, or users of supported pre-Mac OS X systems.

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger DVD

Originally uploaded by malagent

The server edition, Mac OS X Server 10.4, was also available for some Macintosh product lines. Tiger is also the first version of any released Apple operating system to work on Apple-Intel architecture machines (Apple machines using x86 processors.) The Apple TV, as released in March 2007, ships with a customized version of Mac OS X v10.4 branded "Apple TV OS" that replaces the usual graphical user interface with an updated version of Front Row. Six weeks after its official release, Apple had delivered 2 million copies of Tiger, representing 16?% of all Mac OS X users. Apple claimed that Tiger was the most successful Apple OS release in the company’s history. At the World Wide Developers Conference on June 11, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that out of the 22 million OS X users, more than 67?% were using Tiger.
Image © 2008 Malagent’s Sandbox
Text: Portions from Wikipedia released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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