I was fortunate enough to be one of the first people to jump on the flash drive bandwagon. I bought (well, my mother bought) my first flash drive, a massive 128MB for over $120. That is a joke now days of course — you can obtain giant flash drives cheaply, and people routinely hand out “small” 4GB drives for free. And, as long as you plug them in once every twenty or so years they’ll retain their data!

Here I will detail the analysis of the flash drives I currently own, from my oldest, original 128 MB PNY flash to the newest free OCZ drive I have received.

In the order they were acquired, here is make / capacity (note that my original drive is the largest physically, even compared to the 16GB drive):

- 128MB PNY Attache (bought around mid 2004 or early 2005. It came with a Windows 98/ME drivers disc that I carry in my backpack to this day)

- 128 MB UNI ROTC – Special drive received from the department when I was in high school

- 2GB SanDisk Cruzer Micro – My first flash drive in many years. 2GB seems like a lot when you are used to 128MB!

- 16GB Kingston Data Traveler – Received from Distek, my employer, as Christmas gift in 2008.

- 4GB OCZ Diesel – Received as a free addon by NewEgg for buying two video cards.

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I will test using CrystalDiskMark 2.2 using a USB 2.0 port doing sequential reads and writes:

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The conclusions are quite interesting. In comparison to similar technology, the OCZ diesel is indeed slow. There are many drives that function much faster then the ones listed here, though these are some of the more common drives.

It is interesting to me that write speeds increased dramatically, but now seem to wax and wane depending on what you buy. I also find it interesting that there was no clear winner here. The Kingston drive would be the obvious choice with good read speeds and the best write speeds, as well as superior capacity. However, the Sandisk drive has superior read speeds by a fair amount, and at 2GB will hold most anything I would want to carry around. I suppose these will be my primary drives depending on what I am trying to do.

As for the free OCZ Diesel… well, I think it is time to test ReadyBoost with all 4GB of it

As we grow up we repeatedly learn that hearing is through sound, and sound alone. Evelyn enlightens us that this is not the case. Deep down I feel that most people know this is true — listening becomes a poetic, creative journey that moves us in a way almost impossible to achieve otherwise. And yet few people take the time to really analyze this emotion and be moved by it.

Listening is much more then sound. It is feeling. The feelings of vibration, the tone of the music and how it relates to you; the feeling of the composer, their mood, attitude, skill, and professionalism. As you embark an a personally unique adventure, the time passes and you realize, deep down, that you are different not just because of what you heard, but also from what you have experienced from the piece.

Please, do yourself a favor. Watch this talk, and listen to what Evelyn has to say. When it is over and she begins to play, close your eyes. Put your head back, and relax in your chair. Then enjoy the ride of her majestic skills. Let her music envelop you. Let it overwhelm you. Don’t just listen to it — experience it. And when she is done, ask yourself, how did that change me? What did I learn? Who am I now?

I plan to go through the many lectures I have bookmarked, and many of the best books and articles I have read. Much of the information is technology or entrepreneurship related, which makes sense if you know me. However, I think it is important to expose myself to the incredible expertise present in other fields. By learning more about art, music, politics, biology, physics, and anything else, I can develop an understanding that transgresses the fields themselves, and I will be a more well rounded individual.

I boldly support the idea that the more you learn, not just about one topic but about all things in life, the more unique your views will be and the better and more creative your solutions to problems will be. It is to your advantage to learn all you can about everything you can.

Note that many of these talks come from TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), an organization devoted to “ideas worth spreading”. You can find their web site at:

http://www.ted.com/

And it has also been posted on the right under “Links”