May 24, 2004                                                                                                                                   

A NERDS DREAM COME TRUE

Finally, there is hope on the horizon for eliminating disk based storage.  The last time this was discussed many people responded with information about previous failed attempts or successful ones that were extremely expensive or too large.  Elimination of moving mechanical parts in a computer is important for dependability and portability as well as size reduction.  Hard drives are so fragile; they are holding back our industry from making great strides forward.  Personally, we have been working on a specific product that would be instantly successful if we could eliminate the fragile mechanics of the hard drive.  Well it appears that our dreams might come true in the next 5 to 10 years.

Researchers at The University of Southern California have been able to store 3 bits of data in a memory cell that normally only held one bit.  Funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, the researchers are using a molecular memory device capable of storing 40 gigabits per square centimeter.  (Remember, a gigabit is only 1/8^th of a gigabyte)  This technology has the potential to store 10 times that amount.  

Each memory cell consists of a field-effect transistor made from a 10-nanometer-diameter indium oxide wire. Current applied to a gate electrode produces an electric field around the nanowire, which lowers the nanowire's electrical resistance, allowing current to flow through the nanowire. A nanometer is one millionth of a millimeter, or the span of 10 hydrogen atoms.

”The multilevel molecular memory could be used practically in 5 to 10 years” said Chongwu Zhou, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Southern California.  "Substantial development work is needed to push the performance even further and to develop a fabrication process amenable for mass production," he said.

The researchers' prototype transistor would provide a data density of 40 gigabits per square centimeter, said Zhou. "If we scale down the nanowire length by a factor of 10 to 200 nanometers, the density can approach 400 gigabits per square centimeter," he said

I will be drumming my fingers on the table for the next 5 to 10 years. 

NEW SYSTEM BUILD PROCEDURES

In the wake of all the virus problems and spyware we have seen in the last several months, we have decided to offer a preinstalled solution.  Recently we have seen a virus capable of infecting a computer immediately upon connection to the internet.  We are pointing our fingers at Qwest and MSN but the problem is wide spread. 

The reason that this virus is capable of infection without user error is generally caused by lack of updates and virus protection right out of the box.  When the user attempts to connect to the internet the virus is waiting to strike the vulnerable system. 

Since we are wholesalers, most of our customers know that the first thing to do with a new computer is install virus protection and scan for updates.  Because the system is already vulnerable it is possible for it to get this virus before these updates can be completed. 

We will now offer 2 levels of standard builds.  The first is the same we have always been doing.  Install the O/S, drivers, test and burn in.  This option will remain at the standard $28 fee.  The second is to install all updates and service packs and virus protection.  This will increase the build fee to $56 but it is well worth it.  We want to offer turnkey systems and that’s what this is; guaranteed out of the box secure and ready to go.  The virus software alone is worth the extra money.   If your systems are going to end users who don’t understand the need for updates and virus software or how to use them, this is your solution. 

S&K