Month: April 2009
“Tweeting Intern” Needed at Pizza Hut
I just read this article on CNET today that Pizza Hut in Dallas, Texas (company headquarters) is looking for a summer intern who uses Twitter. On the Pizza Hut homepage, you will find: “Apply to be the First Pizza Hut Twintern.”
The job description says:
The intern will act as a fully integrated member of the PR team and will focus on new and emerging social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and others. This is a full-time paid internship, and Pizza Hut will work with you and your school to support academic credit, if applicable.
How cool is that?!
They’re looking towards hiring those students specializing in marketing, journalism, communications, public relations, or any related course study. If the job description fits you (and you’re in Texas or planning to go there), better hurry in applying because deadline is May 3rd, 2009.
I’m not in any way in those fields, but it still would have been a cool opportunity to apply for if I was. Maybe other companies should try employing this kind of position, too. Hey, after all, social media is very much used everywhere now and this would surely help in their marketing.
Overclocking the PC
Overclocking (higher clock rate = more clock cycles per second) is a method for increasing performance of standard computer components, such as motherboard bus speed, CPU speed, or both, to their potential speeds beyond the manufacturer’s rated specifications. It is also called pushing or speed margining.
Efforts are usually focused on processors, video cards, motherboard chipsets, and Random Access Memory (RAM). The CPU multiplier and the motherboard’s front side bus (FSB) speed [or QPI (Quick Path Interconnect), also known as Baseclock (BCLK)] is manipulated until a maximum stable operating frequency is reached.
The performance gains that can be obtained through overclocking are substantial, but a lot of consideration must be done before taking the steps to overclocking a system. It is important to know the risks involved, the steps that must be done to obtain the results and a clear understanding that results will very greatly. The primary benefit of overclocking is additional computer performance without the increased cost. [About.com]
The biggest obstacle to overclocking the computer system is heat. A large amount of heat is already produced by today’s high-speed computer systems, and overclocking a computer system just compounds these problems. Because of this, high performance cooling solutions are needed, which includes CPU heatsinks and fans, heat spreaders on memory, fans on video cards and case fans. Large copper heatsinks (good conducting metals) and a great number of case fans (for proper airflow) are recommended.
Overclocking is a risky process and doing this will void your warranty and may lower the lifespan of the selected hardware, so do your research very well about the components and the steps involved to be sure of what you are doing.
Photo Credit: NightRPStar
OSI Reference Model
OSI is the Open System Interconnection reference model for communications. The OSI model is mainly used as a point of reference for discussing other protocol specifications such as TCP/IP and Net Ware.
The OSI reference model consists of seven layers that each defines a set of typical networking functions. The upper layers (application, presentation, and session; or Layers 7, 6, and 5) define functions focused on the application. The lower four layers (transport, network, data link, and physical; or Layers 4, 3, 2, and 1) define functions focused on end-to-end delivery of the data. Layer 2 is where switching is based, while Layer 3 is where routing is based.
Here are example protocols for each layer:
- (7) Application – Telnet, HTTP, FTP, WWW browsers, NFS, SMTP gateways (Eudora, CC:mail, SNMP
- (6) Presentation – JPEG, ASCII, EBCDIC, TIFF, GIF, PICT, encryption, MPEG, MIDI
- (5) Session – RPC, SQL, NFS, NetBIOS names, AppleTalk ASP, DECnet SCP
- (4) Transport – TCP, UDP, SPX
- (3) Network – IP, IPX, AppleTalk DDP
- (2) Data Link – IEEE 802.3/802.2, HDLC, Frame Relay, PPP, FDDI, ATM, IEEE 802.5/802.2
- (1) Physical – EIA/TIA-232, V.35, EIA/TIA-449, RJ-45, Ethernet, 802.3, 802.5, B8ZS
Bluetooth 3.0 via WiFi
Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) will officially announce Bluetooth 3.0 on April 21st. This is the new Bluetooth that will allow high-speed data transfers through the use of WiFi.
According to Michael Foley, director of the Bluetooth SIG, devices will “use the regular low-power Bluetooth radios to recognize each other and establish connections, and if they need to transfer a large file, they will be able to turn on their WiFi radios, then turn them off to save power after finishing the transfer.”
Users will hardly notice the switch of Bluetooth to WiFi, except for the sudden increase in data transfer speeds. No actual wireless network will be necessary for this. There will also be a new feature called Enhanced Power Control which will reduce the incidence of disconnects caused by movement such as placing a phone in a pocket or purse. This will be a plus for the headset and handset people.
On the technical side, according to Engadget, it is a Generic Alternate MAC/PHY (AMP) that will enable Bluetooth profiles to take advantage of 802.11 speeds. The 802.11 Protocol Adaption Layer (PAL) will enable the Generic AMP feature to be used with an 802.11 radio.
Photo Credit: Engadget
Unusual Pink Telephones
I found these four pink landline phones which to some may think it’s cool, while to others it would just be plain weird and crazy to have. Engadget mentioned two of these in their site.
First is the pink fur and rhinestone phone. Engadget didn’t have any details about it so I had to do a search for it. I found that it costs $39.99 at Distinctivetelephones.com. It looks kind of like something from Monsters inc. but still it is kind of cute in a princessy girly sort of way.
I found another pink furry phone from Cutie Pie Stuff. Aside from the base, the handset has fur on it also so I think using this would be a bit ticklish. This one is more expensive than the other one at a price of $65.00. Golly gosh.
Another phone linked in Engadget is the High Heels Phone costing $22.00 at gadget4all.com. It looks kind of cool for a decor at home, but using it would be kind of weird. Imagine putting a shoe in your ear and talking on it. Weird, eh?
Finally, here’s one that I actually do like and might even consider buying one myself. (Do I seem crazy? Oh well.) This one is a Pink Lips Phone also from gadget4all.com. It only costs $19.00. It also looks nice as a home decor if you’re the girly/fashionista type.
I love that these are all pink, but not all of them are that appealing to have. Yup, interesting though.
Update 08/18/2014: Links to merchants above may no longer exist. However, if you want to purchase any of the above phones, a quick Google search may help you.
Tech-Life in Pink 