linux 4kb partition alignment hard drive articles:

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-4kb-sector-disks/index.html
http://lwn.net/Articles/377895/
http://www.osnews.com/thread?409410
http://lkml.org/lkml/2010/3/11/230
http://www.rodsbooks.com/gdisk/whygdisk.html
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2888/2