Todays xkcd...

4k Sector drives...

Here are some articles on new HD's with 4K sector size:
Linux Not Fully Prepared for 4096-Byte Sector Hard Drives
Linux and 4K disk sectors
Western Digital’s Advanced Format: The 4K Sector Transition Begins

Changing desktop background in Windows 7 Home Basic...

I thought Windows 7 starter was the version where you couldn't change the desktop background. Turns out the usual way of changing the desktop background is not present in Windows 7 Home Basic as well. If you right click on the desktop in Windows 7 Home Basic the option to personalize the appearance of the desktop is not present. However, unlike Windows 7 Starter you can change the desktop background, its just harder to get to then Windows 7 Home Premium.

According to this article, the way to change the desktop background is to go to the start menu and type "Change desktop background".

VIrtualbox 3.1.2 and Guest Windows 7 64bit

Windows 7 64bit running as a guest in a virtualbox will not have audio enabled. The problem is the lack of drivers for the audio options, and thanks to this thread the solution is to download the driver and install it yourself. Works for me.

Windows SDK installation

I needed to install windows 7 SDK on my machine. The installation works by downloading various pieces and installing them. Somewhere along the line, the download stalled. Its been that way for hours. Cancelling the installation brings up the dialog above asking me to wait while the operation completes. But that's the problem, the operation is stuck and won’t complete. Plus the dialog remains on top of all windows and won’t go away. Bad design.