How to make Ubuntu extremely fast

[NoOp]

Anyone else seen this:
http://tuxtraining.com/2008/09/28/how-to-make-ubuntu-extremely-fast/

Comments?

I uninstalled network-manager and found no faster boot that I could
detect. Then again, my system is already set for a fixed IP and my
/etc/hosts is also properly set.

So I figured I'd check by setting the system to autologin. The following
is from grub to Ubuntu startup sound (I figured that gdm desktop issues
might skew the results) - Hardy 8.04.1 (fresh install) Intel 1.7Ghz
w/512MB, single NIC, fixed IP (192.168.x.x):

Boot with NM installed:
52 seconds

Boot without NM installed:
52 seconds