Now that I searched for it, it seems I used dd. But anyway, here it is:

#!/bin/sh
hdparm -i $1
smartctl -a $1
date
time dd if=$1 of=/dev/null bs=1M
date
smartctl -a $1
time dd if=/dev/zero of=$1 bs=1M
date
smartctl -a $1
time dd if=$1 of=/dev/null bs=1M
smartctl -a $1

I run the script followed by "| tee result.txt". In case you want to change to dd_rescue, bear in mind that it outputs a lot of data (progress) which should not be redirected.

I actually do read-write-read tests (dd_rescue because it can keep going after an error), with smartctl in between each and judge by myself what changed. I did it so often that I bothered to make a bash script to do everything and run overnight (I think it takes 3 hours for each step on my 2TB drives).
The idea for the 1st read is to update the "pending" list (if it needed), followed by writing to rectify it. A final read to see everything is ok (no pending increase).
Although I has several HDDs, I only had 1 pending on a new HDD, and that was on a 2TB 4KB/sector WD green drive when I played with the 63-sectors compatibility jumper. I still have that after 1 year.

After all the dual-booting to play games (and mostly remaining in Windows after playing), last year (10th nov 2011 actually) I managed to play my first hours on a virtual machine. And I'm talking Deus Ex HR at 1920x1080.
I managed to use my i5-2500 (non-K) to virtualize (VT-d) my Radeon 5850 and a USB controller, thus having native GPU and input (audio took half a year of trial and error, and now my Hercules Fortission IV is working flawless). I've scored all my 80 hours of Skyrim, around 40 of DXHR and already 35 hours of Dishonored. Also a log of iRacing (which just released a 64-bit binary).
The downsides:
- obviously Windows is still present
- extra step to start VM (but I've got SSD....so not that bad)
- extra HW (IGP and GPU, 2 sound cards, 2 NICs)
- !!! hard to make it work

I'm looking now to upgrade to 7950 and 2 additional monitors for eyefinity.

I know I'm a little off-topic, but I just wanted to say I found a workaround.

Me too.
Slackware, Redhat 6.? to 9.0, debian, ubuntu 8.?? + .... , Now debian+xubuntu (as in many systems with one of them).
Also I have experimented with LFS+gentoo (the 1st versions...including cross-compiling fo my Pentium with MMX laptop).

You want a standard for controlling, so that everyone can control their aid, but that also opens the door to those that want to control OTHERS aid, without their permission. Sometimes the standards have holes in design, other times the implementation can have bugs. Either way, it's a risk no medical company will take. They prefer a closed protocol, that can not go through external scrutiny (security by obscurity).
Another such example (in my line of work) is usage of ethernet in cars. While ethernet by itself would be ok, they also want internet in cars, which means there will be at least 1 device with both connections (internet and in-car ethernet) which will be vulnerable to external attacks (think about someone locking your brakes at 100mph, after disabling ABS+ESP). I even think they will try controller updating over internet which will be even worse.

Actually the problem is real. And I'm not talking about MS, but BIOS (should I say firmware) vendors. I played with my Thinkpad Edge E120, and I found a problem: after installing Windows 8 (consumer preview...as I remember), I could no longer change the boot order from the setup screen. One-time boot choice does work, but I could not change the order for permanent usage.
Also, as soon as I changed the order from linux, Win8 refused to load (even after returning the order to the original one).
My thinkpad has no mention of disabling secure-boot. I don't even know if returning to BIOS-style booting would allow me to change the order.

I've got nothing against secure-boot, but easy methods of self-signing need to be provided. The secure-boot should be "binaries that I trust", not "binaries that MS trusts". The latter is fine for most end-users, but those who do know what they do....should not be locked by vendors.

So I would say boicott vendors to support secure-boot better.

PS: no I don't know the API details. I did see articles stating bad reference implementation of UEFI. And I mean really bad (as in inability to follow the specification 100% to boot something).
PPS: while this post may seem to be defending MS, I can guarantee that I want to dispose of it in my daily use. I even went so far as to virtualize a Win7 enviroment specifically for gaming (with AMD 5850 that is...... thank you Xen comunity + Intel VT-d).

I second this line. x120e, x130e etc....although the x130e also goes as Edge E120 (europe/non-US maybe??? couldn't find a pattern). I bough the Edge E120 i3 version (the AMD version is E125....but apart from MB they're the same) after many years of a 14" T61. Linux is my main use, although I still have the shipped 7 Pro as backup. I'm a computer obsessed biker (motorcycle, not bicycle), and I wanted a nice small laptop for carrying along the minimal packing. Thinkpad was a great choice because of another feature: conditional battery charging....will never charge the battery if below 96% (percentage can be changed/customized easily). Even if you plug it in while it's powered off. I don't know about the "cheaper" lines from Lenovo, but this is one of the reasons I remained a fan (saw it in T61 first). It's great when you use it mainly on AC.

Too bad they changed the chasis of the x120e...I liked the hinges of that one.

Please expand your knowledge to non-exact science....call info are recorded/sampled exactly because they are human-created. DNA and fingerprints are sampled with a small error, so searches are done with ranges. Add the error on 2 axis...and the search itself is more than you can comprehend. Trust me, there are scientists working on optimizing these.

Oh...forgot to say...all those monitorings are not really personal. For example cable modem: they cannot say which member of the family watched which shows. With ID chips...that is just one small step away.

I'm sorry, but no everyone has a facebook account.
Today, if you want to be "anonymous" (not the anti-piracy group), you still can, provided you have some knowledge at aviodance.

But my problem is (apart from watching a lot of movies up to 2-3 years ago) that a powerful person can do evil by shutting up those who oppose (like knowing always where they are and taking actions constantly against them). How was it in Enemy of the State ? "Who will be monitoring those who are monitoring?" (or something like that)

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/04/28/1549251/microsoft-backs-away-from-cispa-support-citing-privacy

So I don't get how Mozilla is the 1st tech company to drop it? Modern journalism is terrible.

From my understanding, copyright is about distributing (uploading), not getting and using. So under current laws, if you torrent a copyrighted file, you cannot control the upload. So you start your file (which should not be infringing), but you let it overnight. Now in the morning, you see that you have uploaded 3x the data. So that 3x means you DID distribute it. Even if you did not intended to do it.
I saw in Vuze (ex Azureus) that you cannot set an "ignore" rule with share ratio under 1:1. Other clients may use same tactics.

So they have humor! I really cannot see this statement in any other way, since many indie developers say that they got more income through piracy.

The number itself is not so important as to it beign small. And acutally I work in a multi-national company which does use encryption, but supported by IT department. So I have "access" to "click-to-encrypt" feature, which even most non-technical personel knows how to use it. It's just that at development level, nobody uses it. Maybe HR and financial do use it often.

This and the fact that maybe 10% of your mail recipients actually would know how to use it.

I have not tried Ubuntu 11.10, but 11.04 (which is supposed to ship with Unity) is unworkable with a touchscreen.
I have tried it with Asus T101MT, and after the (small) hassle (which should work in 11.10) of making it recognise the touchscreen, usability was worse than old gnome. This is because the left application bar (or whatever else it's used for) relies on mouse hover, especially if you have little screen space (10" screen??) or many apps/bookmarks (whatever they are).
Because of this, I only tried once 11.10, but I don't remember the result (so I suppose it was not an improvement).

Another problem is lack of a good virtual keyboard (this is to all distributions, not just unity-based). Although I have not tried it in over 3 months, I never liked the onscreen keyboards I could find. I'm afraid in this area MS rules (I'm talking about PC-based OS, and I have no idea about iOS). I have used the provided Win7 ever since that trial. Although buying a 7" Android tablet really dropped the usage rate of the T101MT.