• Digital Archaeology: HP Pavilion m7570n

    The HP Pavilion M7570N is a somewhat interesting machine. It was designed to be a multimedia hub and it certainly provided a lot of multimedia related functionality. It includes a DVD-ROM drive as well as a separate CD/DVD writer, a card reader that accepts a variety of media card formats, a TV tuner card, analog video capture capabilities, and of course firewire in addition to USB ports.

    Powering all of this was a Pentium D processor and 2 GB of DDR2 RAM. The one big deficiency was the lack of a dedicated GPU. However, that really only mattered for gaming and not the media oriented tasks this computer was designed for. Hardware in this machine includes:

    • CPU: Pentium D 915 @ 2.8 GHz
    • Memory; 2 GB DDR2 @ 266 MHz (533 MHz)
    • Video: Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME (integrated)

    Plus all of the above mentioned goodies. Check out the output of HWiNFO or CPU-Z for more detailed hardware info.

    The Pentium D was an interesting processor and it was a sort of interesting time for Intel in general. The Pentium 4 was nearing the end of its life as the Netburst architecture ended up being a bust (or burst?) because it couldn’t scale as much as Intel originally thought. At one time, it was thought that the Netburst architecture could reach speeds of 10 GHz. That didn’t happen and still hasn’t for that matter. the Pentium 4 HT and Pentium D were sort of stop gap measures as the Core 2 was being developed. The Pentium 4 HT mitigated the missed branch predictions of the long pipeline of the Pentium 4 modestly my adding an extra thread whereas the Pentium D stuck two Pentium 4 cores together. Both also added 64-bit extensions depending on the specific model.

    The motherboard is built by Asus. The HP model number is the Leucite-GL8E while the Asus model number is the P5LP-LE. It features the Intel 945G (Lakeport-G) chipset which was one of the earliest to use Socket 775. It was featured in a number of HP models including the Pavilion A1512X Desktop, Pavilion A1530N Desktop, Pavilion A1542N Desktop, Pavilion A1550Y Desktop, Pavilion A1560N Desktop, Pavilion A1613W Desktop, Pavilion Media Center M7500Y, Pavilion Media Center M7570N (this machine), and Pavilion Media Center M7658N. There does seem to be a fairly significant upgrade path. According to one random website, supported CPUs include:

    • Core 2 Duo E6x00
    • Core 2 Duo E4x00
    • Pentium D 9×0 Dual Core
    • Pentium D 8xx Dual Core
    • Pentium 4 6×1 series
    • Celeron D 3xx series

    There is a significant spread on possible front side bus speeds depending on the CPU including 533 MHz, 800 MHz, and 1066 MHz. It features a dual channel memory architecture with support for four 240-pin DDR2 DIMMs including PC2 3200 (400 MHz), PC 4200 (533 MHz), and PC2 5300 (667 MHz) DDR2 DIMMs.

    I recently looked at a 3.2 GHz hyperthreaded model and compared to that, this dual core Pentium D feels much snappier despite being clocked slower. The extra core really helps at least with more modern operating systems. You probably wouldn’t notice it as much with Windows XP for example. If this motherboard can indeed support up to a Core 2 Duo E6700 then that would nearly double its speed.

    The sticker on the front says “designed for Windows XP” and “compatible with Windows Vista”. Currently, Windows 7 is installed. As a multimedia center it was pretty nice at the time it was released, however, it became outdated pretty quickly both in terms of features and support. The TV tuner card is analog and doesn’t do HD. Driver support in Windows 7 was an afterthought and those drivers are hard to find. The applications that came with this PC for using the TV tuner card do not work in 64-bit Windows 7. I was finally able to find drivers and the card, at least for video capture, and it seems to work with VirtualDub. I can see how this machine would still be useful if you had any analog video capture needs. However, I doubt that the capture card that is in it would work with Windows 10/11 and I’m skeptical about it working in Linux as well.

    I’ll probably keep this computer around. It’s always nice to have a way to handle legacy media. In theory, I should be able to use this machine to capture VHS, 8mm, and other analog video formats. There are of course analog video options for modern systems, but what fun is that?

    Like pretty much any machine I turn on, if it is capably, I have it crunching tasks for BOINC. Despite the older hardware and OS, it can still crunch tasks for at least MilkyWay@home, World Community Grid, Einstein@home, Universe@home, and Asteroids@home and probably others. You can check out how it is doing overall via FreeDC.


  • Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – HAEPHAE.DOC


    A summary for those that haven’t been keeping up with this series:

    I found a number of 5.25″ disks at a thrift store a number of years ago (we are talking late 1990s probably). I finally got around to acquiring a 5.25″ disk drive and extracting the contents a several years back. Since then, I have been occasionally posting the content here.

    Based on the contents, at least some of these disks were apparently once owned by someone named Connie who used to run the “Close Encounters” Special Interest Group (SIG) on Delphi in the mid 1980s.

    A description of this SIG was found in a document on one of the disks: “This SIG, known as ‘Close Encounters’, is a forum for the discussion of relationships that develop via computer services like the Source, CompuServe, and Delphi. Our primary emphasis is on the sexual aspects of those relationships.”

    This service was text based and was accessed via whatever terminal program you used on your computer to dial in to Delphi’s servers. Many of these disks have forum messages, e-mails and chat session logs. All of this is pre-internet stuff and I don’t know if there are any archives in existence today of what was on Delphi in the 1980s. In any case, much of this stuff would have been private at the time and probably wouldn’t be in such archives even if they existed.

    This post includes the contents of HAEPHAE.DOC. It contains a single e-mail that looks like it was forwarded. It is from January 19th, 1985. It’s definitely NSFW and is basically porn in text form. I don’t really know the story between the individual this was from or the one it was too but today I’m pretty sure it would be considered sexual harassment, lol.

    ===
    HAEPHAE.DOC
    ===

    From:   PRINCESS       19-JAN-1985 21:24  
    To:     CABUYS
    Subj:   hot fantasy 
    
    From:   HAEPHAESTUS    19-JAN-1985 11:07  
    To:     PRINCESS
    Subj:   hi
    
    hi - tho here as haeph, send mail to ah as i wil try to use
    haeph less.
    
    and i will love to talk to you.
    here is something to think about till then 
    thinking of you----
    
    hot morning at the beach -- off on an island - nobody else in
    this cove -- gentle waves -- we swim nude, playing in the 
    water, then lay down -- i rub lotion over your body -- from
    your legs up your thighs, across your pussy and belly - your
    breasts ass and back -- and then you massage me with the
    oil -- my cock growing hard in yr hands -- and as i lay back,
    you sit astride me -- rubbing my cock against your pussy - the
    lips opening slightly and your pussy straining to squeeze the
    head of my cock -- i sit up, pushing you back -- your legs
    lift into the air, your legs lifted near to yr shoulders, your
    ass and pussy look so shiny in the sun -- and i plunge my cock
    deep inside you quickly -- stroking five or six times as your 
    juices begin to flow more and more -- and then i withdraw --
    my fingers enter you -- your pussy filled with three fingers
    while my pinky of the same hand presses into yr ass -- my
    tongue swirling around yr nipples and my mouth sucking harder
    as your nipples grow -- as your hips begin to quiver and your
    pussy to squeeze my fingers, your body wanting to come and
    come soon -- your legs pressing by my head as i continue to
    nibble and eat yr nipples -- we look up and, a bit down the
    beach is another couple -- making love -- his mouth between
    her long tan legs as her blonde hair stretches into the 
    sand -- and you see his cock,long and hard, hanging and
    waiting to enter her -- as you watch them make love, i turn 
    you, your body kneeling and my cock rubbing between yr
    asscheeks, as i kneel behind you -- i reach around to pinch 
    and pull at yr nipples and position my cock at the entrance 
    of yr pussy -- my other hand reaching aroundto yr clit,
    throbbing and hard, as i tease your pussy with my cock -- now
    slowly fucking you- entering so slowly ---- as you look across
    the beach and you watch his cock fucking faster and faster
    into her open pussy- her legs apart -- and i fill yr pussy --
    your juices flowing and leaking around my cock as we fuck your
    ass slapping against my belly - my balls hitting yr thighs as
    i enter you --- you turn, moving and wrapping yr legs around
    me as we face each other, and i rise, your body impaled on
    my cock as i lift you, i hold yr ass lifting yurpussy up and
    down onto my cock as your pussy squeezes me -- and i walk
    slowly into the ocean, the waves pushing us and lifting you
    pressing you on and off my cock as i fuck you-- our bodies
    held by the water -- and the cold water at first shocks yr
    body but then you move yr hips faster on my cock as i suck yr
    nipples - pinching and pulling them and my fingers enter
    yr ass -- and you look back to shore and see him behind her
    beginning to fuck her ass as she holds her ass cheeks apart,
    and she looks at you -- and my come, hot and wet, begins to
    spurt from my cock, throbbing inside you -- as your pussy 
    takes my come and your body begins to shake and squeeze --
    your hips bucking and the waves pushing us -- and as we 
    finish coming i lay you down on the sand at the edge of the
    water fucking into you hard and fast as the last of my come
    shoots inside you.
    
            write soon??? come for me dear one.
    
            david
    

  • MegaCon 2012: Emerald Rose (12) – The Queen of Argyll


    Emerald Rose performs “The Queen of Argyll” at MegaCon 2012 in Orlando, Florida. This song was originally written and performed by a band called Silly Wizard but this was the first version I ever heard.

    Emerald Rose was a Celtic folk/rock band that played both original and traditional Celtic themed music as well as original sci-fi and fantasy inspired music. They were formed in 1995 and disbanded in 2018. As far as I know, you’ll have to search eBay or other places for used physical media as I don’t think it is still available new anywhere. You can find links to various places where you can stream their music on their website here: http://www.emeraldrose.com/

    This video was recorded by me at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on February 18th, 2012. This song appeared on their 2005 album, Archive of Ages to Come
    .
    You can also:

    Watch on Rumble.
    Watch on Odysee.
    Watch on Daily Motion.
    Watch on 3Speak.

    If you would like to give Odysee a try, use my invite link to earn some bonus LBC for both of us.

    For a more centralized service, click here to sign up for Rumble which seems to be one of the better utube alternatives.