GarrettW.net » Lists http://garrettw.net A college student from Texas who is a self-proclaimed net addict. Not necessarily a good thing. Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:17:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc en hourly 1 Best Anti-virus Software http://garrettw.net/2010/04/best-anti-virus-software/ http://garrettw.net/2010/04/best-anti-virus-software/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:04:58 +0000 Garrett W. http://garrettw.net/?p=212 While I have certainly heard lots of people complain about Norton, somehow it remains the leader in detection and removal of viruses, worms, and other malware. Strangely enough, this distinction does not extend to Norton 360, which is not as effective as Norton Internet Security — and I have no data on their standalone antivirus. So now that I’ve made that clear, here are my rankings based on a little Google research.

Best Overall:


Best for removal (cleaning up an infected system):

  1. Norton Internet Security ($)
  2. PC Tools Internet Security ($) / Spyware Doctor with Antivirus ($)
  3. BitDefender Internet Security ($)
  4. AdAware (best at removing scareware only) (free)

Best for blocking (protecting a clean, uninfected system):

  1. Panda Cloud Antivirus (free)
  2. PC Tools Internet Security ($) / Spyware Doctor with Antivirus ($)
  3. Norton Internet Security ($)
  4. Prevx 3.0 ($)
  5. McAfee Internet Security ($)

Other decent titles:

Not recommended:

Anything not mentioned here is mediocre.

NOTE: NOD32 by ESET has the most advanced heuristics engine on the market. However, the best definition-based scanners still outrank it in terms of detection rate. The main benefit to such advanced heuristics is protecting from zero-day exploits, but in practice, not many people are on the receiving end of such attacks.

]]> http://garrettw.net/2010/04/best-anti-virus-software/feed/ 2 Comparison of URI-Shrinking Services http://garrettw.net/2008/12/comparison-of-uri-shrinking-services/ http://garrettw.net/2008/12/comparison-of-uri-shrinking-services/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 09:02:16 +0000 Garrett W. http://garrettw.net/?p=39 Behold!
I have scoured the web and found 47 different websites (edit: uh-oh, just found 85 more!!) that offer to turn a long URI into something that’s easier to copy and paste and view and click and share (etc.).

I guess the most important thing about this post is the actual data, so take your pick of format:
NOTE: Research is incomplete (but feel free to give me feedback).

And now, some information.

  • Most widely available features:
    1. Bookmarklet (33=70%)
    2. Custom URI (24=51%)
    3. Stats (24=51%)
  • Most scarce features:
    1. Batch Processing (6=13%)
    2. Path Forwarding (6=13%)
    3. Editable (8=17%)
    4. Ubiquity Command (8=17%)
  • The overall rankings and the Design ratings are completely and solely my opinion (but hopefully you knew that).
  • Sites that require registration to be used were not included.

*More info to come … someday.

]]> http://garrettw.net/2008/12/comparison-of-uri-shrinking-services/feed/ 0 The Best TIMs (Thermal Interface Materials aka compound or paste) http://garrettw.net/2008/06/the-best-tims-thermal-interface-materials-aka-compound-or-paste/ http://garrettw.net/2008/06/the-best-tims-thermal-interface-materials-aka-compound-or-paste/#comments Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:41:16 +0000 Garrett W. http://garrettw.net/2008/06/26/the-best-tims-thermal-interface-materials-aka-compoundpaste/
  • TIM Consultants T-C Grease 0098 [aluminum oxide]
  • Tuniq TX-2 [silicon oxide grease]
    This is what I use.
  • OCZ Freeze [aluminum oxide]
  • Arctic Cooling MX-2 [aluminum oxide]
  • Noctua NT-H1 [silicon oxide grease]
    I’ve seen this one recommended for those who have a phase-change cooling solution, as the Tuniq stuff apparently will not work with it.
  • Arctic Silver 5 [polysynthetic silver]
    The disadvantage of this one is the 200-hour curing period necessary before it will perform at its best (however, they say that even after the curing period, its performance isn’t any different). I used to use this one.


    • Notes:

    • For heatsinks with a copper base, it is advisable to avoid using silicon-oxide-based pastes for best results.
    • I myself have done no testing, and these results are primarily for my own record, having read many reviews on different products. I saved the results of my (incomplete) research into a spreadsheet, and I have 3 different versions available for you to download: OpenOffice “.ods” (recommended – 20KB), Excel “.xls” (71KB), and CSV (6KB).
      FYI: The lines highlighted in gray mean that my research is not complete for those particular brands.
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