Elliott C. Back: Internet & Technology

I love the Intel X25-M SSD, but recently I’ve been having problems with applications stuttering, freezing, locking up, and not responding to input. Mouse cursors will hang, application don’t respond–essentially nothing works. I tried updating to the latest drivers, etc, but no luck. For informational purposes, here’s my system info:

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
System Model D975XBX_
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 11 GenuineIntel ~2430 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Intel Corp. BX97510J.86A.1487.2007.0902.1724, 9/2/2007
Total Physical Memory 4,096.00 MB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
I/O Port 0×000003C0-0×000003DF NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 512
Model INTEL SSDSA2MH080G1GC

I think I’ve found two things that helped:

1. Not running Mozy Backup
2. Turning off virtual memory page files on non-SSD drives
3. Move Google Chrome’s profile to a hard disk

If anyone has other tips on getting rid of SSD stutters, let me know.

There’s a new website Credit.com that I saw linked from BoingBoing. You give them your address and social security number, and they give you back some general indicators of how good your credit is. Very easy to use, and the results, I believe are quite accurate.

For example, I was dinged for not having an auto loan or a mortgage–OK, so having less debt is bad? The explanation they give you is interesting:

You don’t appear to have a healthy mix of accounts on your credit report.

You could be doing better in this category if you had a more diverse list of accounts. And, if you have finance company accounts on your credit report that could be hurting you as well. Finance companies are generally considered to be higher risk lenders who target higher risk customers. As such, consumers who have finance company accounts on their credit reports could suffer lower scores.

If you ever have a mortgage that shows up on your credit report then you will do better in this category. The reason is that studies show that consumers who have mortgages are more stable than consumers who do not. And, credit scores will reward you because of that stability.

They had some interesting statistics too, such as how long you’ve been “in the system” in terms of credit age:

7 years of credit history
Youngest account is 7 months
Oldest account is 85 months
Average age is 44 months

Neat stuff. Again, as it’s totally free, I really recommend checking out Credit.com. Leave some comments on this post and let me know what you think. Many credit reporting online companies are scams looking to steal your information and resell it–this one doesn’t seem to be.

I tried out the new overhyped Starbucks Via Instant Coffee they introduced yesterday and today. The marketing material is over the top. It’s just fine-ground dehydrated coffee. When you rehydrate it, it’s lost most of the essential oils that make for good coffee.

Now you can enjoy our bold and roasty-sweet Italian Roast in an instant. Just tear open a pack of Starbucks VIA™ Ready Brew and add water. Let the coffee brew 10 seconds, stir, savor and enjoy. It’s not instant coffee the way you know it. This is genuine, dark-roasted Starbucks® coffee. 100% arabica and ethically sourced. Isn’t it wonderful? There’s now an instant coffee that you can start a whole new tradition with.

I noticed a couple problems with the coffee:

• It tasted good with milk and about 5 oz of water. With 7-8 oz, it was extremely watery. Maybe hotter water would help?
• The grounds formed a suspension in the water, the didn’t seem to dissolve very well. I stirred thoroughly.

The NY Daily News says it doesn’t taste very good, and bnet calls it a tough sell. At $0.99 per coffee, the price isn’t right for the casual drinker (their grande drip coffee is $1.70). I would recommend sticking to heartier fare–like the latte!