Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Credit Cards without Foreign Transaction Fee

Schwab, Chase Sapphire Banking (75,000), CitiGold (200,000)
No ATM fee Schwab vs FidelityFidelity Cash Management Account ATM/Debit Card (1% FTF), Charles Schwab Debit Card

Credit/Debit/ATM Cards and Foreign Exchange
International and Foreign Conversion Fees: Credit Card Company Comparisons

Best Credit Cards for International Travel: Transaction Fee Survey Results
Citibank and Chase drop foreign exchange fees on some cards

What are the best debit cards for ATM withdrawals overseas? Charles Schwab, E-Trade
debit cards with no foreign transaction fee, no atm fees, no monthly fee  Charles Schwab, Capital One 360 in USA

* Capital One, including Venture Rewards
* American Express Platinum and Centurion
* Citi ThankYou Premier and Citi ThankYou Prestige
* Chase British Airways Card, Chase Priority Club Rewards Signature, and Chase Hyatt Card
* State Farm Bank Debit ATM
* Schwab bank Debit
* HSBC Premier Debit, Premier World Cards

Friday, January 21, 2011

Consumer Ultra-Low Voltage vs Nvidia ION2 platform + Intel Atom

Compison of low power CPUs
Intel GMA Graphics Media Accelerator
List of Intel chipsets
Nvidia Next Generation ION with Optimus

Atom System 27.1W
Intel Atom Processor with Intel NM10 Express Chipset (Pine Trail)
+Intel Atom D525 (Pineview) 13W
.GMA 3150, DirectX 9.0c, OpenGL 1.5, Benchmark
+Intel NM10 Express Chipset (Tiger Point) (CG82NM10 PCH Platform Controller Hub) 2.1W
+Nvidia Ion2 GeForce 9400M G GPU, 512 DDR2 DDR3, DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 3.2, 16 Core GT218 12W Benchmark

CULV System 24.5W
Intel Duo Core Low Power CPUs
Intel Core Duo Mobile Processor with Mobile Intel GS45 Express Chipset 24.5W
+SU9600 SU9400 SU9300 SU7300 (Arrandale) 10W
+GS45 Express Chipset (Cantiga) (Intel 82GS45 Graphics and Memory Controller Hub) Overview with 4500MHD 12W
.GMA X4500MHD, DirectX 10, OpenGL 2.1, Benchmark
+Intel 82801IUX-SFF I/O Controller 2.5W

Zotac ZBOXHD-ND22-U SU2300 + ION
Quick test:GeForce 9400M against GMA 4500MHD about 2X

AMD Fusion comparison
C-50 HD6250 Benchmark 9W
E-350 HD6310 Benchmark 18W

Comparison of AMD E-350, D525, SU2300 with ION2...
Atom/ION靠邊站 AMD E350 APU深度評測

New Second Generation Core 21.4W
Intel CPU with Integrated Graphics Arrandale 18W, Sandy Bridge 17W
Intel Core i7 Mobile Processor with Mobile Intel QS57 Express Chipset 21.4W
+Platform Control Hub
+QS57 Ibes Peak BD82QS57 PCH 3.4W
+QS67 Cougar Point BD82QS67 PCH
.Intel HD Graphics HD Graphics 2000, 3000, DirectX 10.1, OpenGL 3.0, Benchmark

3DMark 06
HD Graphics 3000 (20.4W/5053) > HD Graphics 2000 (20.4W/3162) > AMD C-50/6310 (18W/2136) > ION2 (27.1W/2042) > AMD E-350/6250 (9W/1740) > Intel HD Graphics (21.4W/1508) > GMA X4500MHD (24.5W/740) > GMA 3150 (15.1W/152)

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Stainless steel

SAE steel grades
Stainless Steel
Austenitic - non-magnetic
300 series, type 304 18/8 Chromium/Nickel (ISO 3506 A2), slightly magnetic
300 series, type 316 18/10 (ISO 3506 A4) (Marine grade stainless) corrosion resistant
300 series, type 316L low carbon
Ferritic - magnetic
400 series, type 430 (less corrosion resistance)
Martensitic - magnetic, carbon, hardness
400 series, type 410 (less chromium, high-strength iron), 420 (Cutlery Grade, rustless steel), 440 (higher grade of cutlery steel, Cutlery Knife steel, more carbon, hardened)

Surgical stainless steel 316, 410, 420

How to choose Stainless steel flatware and cookware?
Types of Stainless Steel
Frequently Asked Questions about Stainless Steel

Shun knives SG2 vs VG10 powered Damascus steel 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Effects of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the United States

El Nino Impacts on California Central Coast Rain
Nov-Dec, 6.04 -> 6.43 (106%) max 9.18, 6 wetter 5 middle 2 dryer
Jan-Mar, 11.49 -> 16.12 (140%) max 23.88, 7 wetter 2 middle 1 dryer

La Nina Regional Statistics Maps West Coast, Southwest, a little bit below average

ENSO Impact on United States, Winter Precipitation and Temperature

Getting to Know El Niño: Five Things to Understand

El Nino Will Big Probably Won't Kill Drought
Strong 1982-1983 (rain in California)
Strongest 1997-1998

Atmospheric River Information Page
What are atmospheric rivers?