ASAP Computer Repair

Did You Know?
The "root" in root beer is literal. The original recipes for root beer used the root of the sassafras plant to give the beverage its distinctive flavor.

Today in Tech History: May 30th, 1996.
AT&T Announces Video Phone Call System
AT&T held a meeting to announce a system that would allow personal computers to make and receive video phone calls over standard telephone lines. In years of efforts by AT&T and others to find success in the technology, the AT&T system made use of Intel's Pentium processors and compression software to allow both video and audio information to share a phone line rather than a high-capacity ISDN, T-1, or T-3 line.

Tech Term of the Day: x64
x64 is shorthand for 64-bit processor architecture. It is often contrasted with x86 architecture, which refers to 32-bit Intel processors, including the 386, 486, and 586 series. However, x64 refers to all 64-bit processors, regardless of the manufacturer. The "x86-64" label specifies a 64-bit x86 processor.

The primary difference between a 32-bit and 64-bit processor is how the CPU addresses memory. A 32-bit processor can reference 232 or 4,294,967,296 addressable values. A 64-bit processor can access 264 values. 264 is not double 232, but 4,294,967,296 times more. Therefore, a 64-bit processor can reference 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 values.

A 32-bit processor can only access about 4 GB of RAM. A 64-bit processor can access over 4 billion times more memory than a 32-bit processor, removing any practical memory limitations. x64 processors can run 64-bit applications, which are built and compiled for 64-bit hardware.

Did You Know?
There are only three live-action animals enshrined on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. All three are dogs—Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, and Strongheart—and all had their stars dedicated in February 1960.

Did You Know?
The notebooks of Marie Curie, the Nobel prize-winning physicist best known for her pioneering research with radioactive materials, are still so dangerously radioactive today that they are stored in lead-lined boxes.