Sour. Patch. Kids.

Quote from Hyperactive :

I think this looks better: link

But personally I'd prefer something less noticable, like this: link

Just like with cars. Just good basic shape without extragavant colors: link. A bit like with bikes: link

You know, yin and yang, things gotta be in balance yo

Touche.

*runs faster*

mwahahaha

Well, I'm an engineer too - and I hear where you're coming from

Can anyone here verify whether or not 17.5% is actually the correct answer?

Wiki states that FV = PV * (1+rt)

Since we are given that FV = 35t + 200, we can divide both values by 200 to get 200 * (1 + .175t). So we end up with FV = 200 * (1 + .175t) which means r (interest) = 17.5%? I'm completely pulling that out of the air. 17.5% is a LOT of interest.

EDIT: Apparently, that was the correct answer. If anyone wants to help, she's got one other one, but to be honest, I almost want to say that the problem is worded incorrectly/is missing information:

At auction on 3 month T-bills were sold at a discount of 6.490%. What was the simple annual yield? (Round your answer to the nearest 0.001%.)

Last edited by Stang70Fastback, Thu 13 Mar 2008, 02:14.

So does that mean that the interest rate is .175 (17.5%)? It can't possibly be THAT straightforward.

A friend of mine is trying to figure out the answer to this problem, and for the life of me I couldn't help her. It seems fairly straightforward, but I've never encountered a question of this form and I'm not quite certain what it's asking. She called me a MATH GENIUS, and I don't want to lose the title. If anyone could help me, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Given that FV = 35t + 200, for what interest rate is this the equation of future value (in dollars) as a function of time t (in years)?

What the heck does it want?

I've only heard good things about NOD32. Considering it myself as a replacement to Norton.

Quote from sam93 :

I think I didn't word it right with the online bit, I will add RAID if I have enough from the budget we have (Not a real budget, just if it is real that would be how much I would have to spend) I may add it but I am going to say I will design a website but if I have enough money left I will add RAID. How does RAID work because I heard you can get a RAID stack thingy, is that what the hard drives sit in?

From various posts of mine:

Quote from Stang70Fastback :

RAID - Redundand Array of Independent Disks.
JBOD - Just a Bunch of Disks

What you have right now, I'm assuming, is a JBOD setup, which just means you have a bunch of hard drives all plugged into the mobo, and acting independently. Your operating system is installed on one drive, and the rest show up as D, E, F, etc... in My Computer, onto which you place files.

When you set up a RAID array, you are linking the drives together (not physically, just through the software.) There are different types of RAID (0, 1, 0+1, 5, etc...) which specify different setups. Depending on what you want, you pick a different one. Some people setup a RAID whereas all the drives show up as one MASSIVE drive to the computer, which is sometimes useful, but can be dangerous, because if one drive fails, ALL data is lost as it is spread across all the drives. Or you can setup half the drives as one big drive, and the other half as another big drive, that way if one drive fails, you only lost half your data.

One of the benefits, though, to setting up a RAID is the ability to incorporate redundancy into the system. You can setup half the drives to show up as one large drive, and the other half to "mirror" that data in real time, so that if any one drive fails, you still have your data, and can still use your computer. However, that cuts the usable space in half. There are lots of in-betweens as well. I'd suggest you read up on it a bit, just so that you know more about it as an option before you go ahead and put together a new computer.

It's simply a matter of whether you want performance, redundancy, or a combination of the two. Here's a good resource. A little ways down is a chart that briefly explains each form of RAID. Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

Quote from Stang70Fastback :

RAID is a way to setting up your drives in different configurations.

Here's the Wiki article explaining it, but here's the basics:

RAID 0: Takes multiple hard drives and "links" them together to create one big drive. So, say you have three 320Gb drives. If you don't use RAID, then in Windows, you will see Drive C (which will be where Windows is installed), Drive D and Drive E. If you apply RAID 0, they will show up as one giant Drive C with 960 Gb. It's convenient (for some people) but it's also good because it affords faster read/write times, since the computer is reading the data from all three drives at the same time, meaning it can access data three times as fast. However, you're three times more likely to have a drive failure - which will mean you lose all your data (on ALL drives since it's spread across them.)

RAID 1: For this you need an even number of drives, and all it does is mirror the data from one drive onto another. This means that you always have two copies of each drive (or each set of drives, if you have RAID 0) so that if one fails, not only do you not lose any data, but you can keep using your computer normally. All you have to do is replace the dead drive and it will "rebuild" the setup to how it was previously. Main issue with this setup is that you only get to use half the storage you have free, since half is devoted to a second copy. Great if you're a data-loss freak though!

There are other RAID configurations you can read about in the article, but those are the two basic ones. RAID 0+1 for example, takes, say three hard drives - and makes them look like one big drive - and then mirrors those to three more drives acting as one big drive (so, RAID 1 applied to a RAID 0 setup.)

And one more from another thread:

Quote from neilmichaelcasey :

Is Raid a Bios thing or in the way the Hard drives are connected?

There is no physical difference in a RAID setup, so yes it is a "BIOS thing." Your hard drives will be connected to the SATA ports on your mobo as usual. All it does is "program" the drives so that they show up as one big drive. What it does is that when reading and writing to the drives, it goes ACROSS both of them. Imagine writing data to your hard drive like spreading butter on bread. If your drives are not RAID, you can spread butter on two slices of bread one at a time. RAID is the equivalent of lining both slices of bread up next to each other and spreading the butter across both at the same time. Benefit for you is you get the capacity of both drives, but without the hassle of having a C: drive and a D: drive and trying to decide how to split your files (if you're a neat freak like me, that can be annoying.) Benefit of your computer is that it uses both drives at the same time, meaning it can get twice the bandwidth out of them.

Quote from neilmichaelcasey :

Does the increased Raid Performance have an impact on game loading times?

Yeah, but don't count on it being something terribly noticeable. You might get a few seconds out of it, but really, that's not one of the main reasons you should do it.

-----

To add RAID for your server, it would be as simple as buying one more drive and configuring it as a backup (RAID 1.)

Quote from amp88 :

Got most of the components in over the last couple of days but still waiting on the CPU and RAM. I've fitted most of the components in and I've got to say this case is really easy to work in. A couple of points: I hadn't thought about needing a floppy to configure the RAID for the OS and the graphics card really is huge - it obscures 4 of the SATA ports, but I should be able to use L shaped cables to get round that - they should be here tomorrow. Something I hadn't really picked up on before but that's really quite cool is the way the hard drives are mounted. Rather than screwing them directly in and having them touching metal there are little rubber bushings/standoffs that go between the cage and the drive - good idea. According to overclockers.co.uk the CPU should be here "by the end of the month" so now I'm just sitting twiddling my thumbs waiting.

I hadn't read your specs yet when I read this post and I was like, "Hmmmm... rubber standoffs for the hard drives... sounds like a P180!" That's a great case to work with. Just be careful and keep it away from your feet. I used to repeatedly knock the door open with my shoe as I got up from my desk, but was too lazy to move it. One day I ran out of my room for something and my foot caught the door and snapped the bottom hinge.

And I had the same issue as you did when configuring MY RAID. I had to go to the local computer store and buy a floppy drive just for that purpose because I didn't have one and neither did anyone else in my dorm. Annoying.

Well, I didn't mean to necessarily use the onboard sound. Although that would work just as well. On some cards the case jacks actually connect to that, so it's still good quality sound. Either way though, do that - and then you'll have enough room for the extra jack and you've got yourself a 7.1 system! Dunno how well it would work seeing as the speakers would be different - but it's worth a shot?

It will, but you just won't have a slot for a mic. If you want to sacrifice that then go for it! Maybe, you could just hook the mic up to the case's mic-in jack to free up the jack you need on the actual card?

Quote from sgt.flippy :

How do you know what car it is?

Looks like a citroën C3 with big wheels.

It's an Audi TT isn't it? I think it's actually fairly obvious given the fender flares and wheels and shape and... everything.

Then again - I could be completely wrong.

Actually the new TT is a very GOOD car.

Last edited by Stang70Fastback, Wed 12 Mar 2008, 14:43.

Quote from Jakg :

I got my X-Fi for £35. If you'll find me a Xonar for that price, or sell me yours i'll be fine :P

Lol - sorry - I didn't mean to come across as an ass - I was just trying to point out that you simply needed something with more jacks. If you're interested - there are cheaper X-Fi cards that have more than 4 jacks. This one's $65.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ ... aspx?Item=N82E16829102017

Quote from Jakg :

I'm sure that it supports 7.1 - tbh I doubt a card that retails at £50 ($100) wouldn't run a 71 setup.

Go to Google!

It's not that that's the problem - it's the fact that you physically don't have enough jacks for a microphone AND a 7.1 setup...

...you need something like this!

Quote from Dooonster :

no probs mate!

this is by far my fav out of them all tho

Nice. That's my style. I like dark themes like that. My Windows theme is black too, though you can't see it in the photo.

Damn, that one doesn't have enough jacks for a 7.1 system then.

Besides, you can tear them apart anyway... I did EXACTLY what you're doing with your speakers with my z5300 system in our dorm room. I just picked up the extensions at a nearby superstore, though.

Quote from Jakg :

Second thing - Now i've gone for a 5.1 system I have my old 2.1 speakers "spare" - i've checked and they don't really sell on eBay (about £3 profit - YAY!) so I might as well keep them, but what for? I was thinking that I could use it on my desk and have it hooked up to my PC as a second output so I could use both sets of speakers at once, but this seemed like a pretty stupid idea. Seems a bit of a waste of a fairly good-sounding set of speakers though, especially with a subwoofer...

I don't know what kind of sound card you have, but maybe you could use them as side speakers and create a 7.1 sound system? I don't know what kind of jacks your 2.1 sounds system has, but that's one possibility...

Quote from three_jump :

well, at least they know what they are talking about...

True, but they must feel really silly saying it...

I think the United States should be the LAST country to accuse anyone of this...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/ ... ghts.report.ap/index.html

Quote from Ball Bearing Turbo :

Fixed.

:gnasher:

http://incompetech.com/gallimaufry/care_less.html

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

AHHHH!!! Sorry!

Quote from titanLS :

Yes, the more OEM equipment you use the better off you will be.

What vehicle are you thinking about? Usually the HID bulbs are only for the low beams, as they take a second or two to warm up and highbeams need to come on immediately.

As far as finding OEM projectors, most of the time it takes a lot of work (cutting, trimming, etc.) to get it to fit in which ever headlight housing you choose for the car in question, but once it does the output will be of OEM quality.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors ... 63QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

^^put those in your stock headlight housing and you're all set.

Everything you ever wanted to know about HID:

http://www.team-integra.net/se ... Article.asp?ArticleID=973

Those are nice... for $500, lol. But I guess you're going to pay to have it done right. I was looking at an 04 Outback. What I meant about the high and low beams is that I think the reason that I cannot find an OEM style solution for that car is that there simply isn't enough space in the headlight assembly to have a separate high-beam bulb, as you mentioned would be necessary. So I don't know if you could even do it with that car at all? The older outback - which is the car I have now - has wider headlights (first picture), so there's room for both an HID bulb, and a high-beam bulb.

Last edited by Stang70Fastback, Tue 11 Mar 2008, 20:06.

So, in other words, an OEM-style solution like this would be MUCH more advisable?



For the car I eventually want to get, though, I don't think there is any other option for me than my original plan up top. I get the feeling the reason I can't find projectors like these ebay ones for it is because the headlight assembly just doesn't leave enough room for both high and low beams separately:

Last edited by Stang70Fastback, Tue 11 Mar 2008, 19:40.

Quote from danowat :

Don't even think they have MOT's in the US, judging by some of the wrecks I have seen on pimp my ride........

I'm fairly certain that as long as your headlights WORK, you'll pass inspection in the US. They could care less about that kind of stuff, lol. To give you an idea of how thorough the inspections are in New Jersey, the building is much like a car wash. You step out, they drive it up a bit and check all the lights (just to make sure they work) then they pull it up a bit farther and check the emissions on a machine for about a minute, then the go a bit farther onto a machine that shakes the hell out of the car... and then that's it. It's essentially a drive through, and the whole process takes no more than 5 minutes.

I am not planning on doing this immediately, but I can't help but wonder how well these upgrades work. This system apparently replaces your stock setup with no modifications at all - unlike most HID upgrades. Has anyone done this to their car, and if so, does it make a huge difference? Do you have trouble with overheating or under-volting? Would you recommend this? Or is it kind of pointless?

http://www.plasmagarage.com/index.html

My new desktop backgound... with a bit of grayscaling and bloom effect-ing