Domain: tweak3d.net
Stories and comments across the archive that link to tweak3d.net.
Comments · 30
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How to setup a Beowulf cluster
Very informative, kinda technical: http://www.tweak3d.net/articles/howtolanparty/
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Forget Javascript for a moment
I'd be much happier with Chrome if they fixed the little things, like rendering checkboxes properly (especially when it breaks Gmail, of all things) or getting Flash to stop freezing after a few seconds of video after fast-forwarding (which breaks sites like Youtube)
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Article \.'ed
Related link here.
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Re:Why concentrate on "throttling"?
You should be able to work around it by adding something to your iptables. I found this page: http://www.tweak3d.net/forums/tech/possible-fix-comcast-torrent-blocking-28264 which has a simple fix. I haven't tested it myself. It looks like it should work. Their solution is to drop ALL RST packets to your bit torrent port. If the RST was legit, the connection will time out eventually anyway.
Your solution is technically better, but much harder to do. I think it would require patching and compiling a kernel. -
But at least.....
... They didn't catch them stealing porn and filming their customers in the shower.
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Re:Meaningless
No, the stick is something else. This is definately a white gear.
http://mattread.com/archives/2004/01/ps2-disc-read -error-fix/
That is just the first google result I found. Scroll down a few pages.
here's another
http://www.tweak3d.net/articles/ps2repair/4.shtml
If all this doesn't work, you can always buy a new laser assembly. They are about $40-55 depending on where you go. -
It's already been tried with dialupU.S. Robotics used to sell an "Internet Gaming Modem" that claimed to improve response times by optimizing the route between the player and the server. For playing MMO's, which tend to be hosted on server clusters instead of individual computers, the performance seemed to get worse.
http://www.usr.com/support/overview-template.asp?
p rod=s-gamehttp://www.tweak3d.net/reviews/3com/gamingmodem/
Their Performance Pro modem also claims to have a gaming mode:
http://www.usr.com/products/home/home-product.asp
? sku=USR5610B -
Re:I'll join the "me too" crowd
I think the only thing anyone has ever said against tray loading designs is they can break, which a top load isn't going to do unless you go about ripping the top off or the spring dies. Also, the top loading giving you access to the lens area and some of the mechanics. While this may not seem good because it allows in dust, it is better for cleaning around the area with the canned air and the like. It should be noted that there have been problems with the PS2 and skipping because of dust/dirt.
While tray loading is good for stackability, the X-Box really didn't have a design that was good for sitting stuff on top of it. I do have my PS2 stacked, on top of the surround receiver, below the real DVD player and cable box. I really need to find a nice rack to hold all the stuff so it looks nicer next to all speakers and TV. -
heh
I bet it smoked while it was running. tweak 3d has some (outdated) stuff on overclocking the P4.
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Re:Denial
The difference is that you knew Sony's track record when you purchased the PSP. They have done the same thing with the PlayStation (think laser sled) and the PlayStation 2 (think DRE and hard drive issues). That's why I decided not to get a PSP until about two years in the production run. If the PSP is still being produced at this time, then most of the major bugs should be worked out and the other, remaining bugs, should have robust workarounds.
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Re:This is nice
The Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer (V1.0) has been around since early 2002 dumb fuck.
the MX 700 came out half a year later.
http://www.tweak3d.net/reviews/microsoft/explorerw ireless/
tard
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I'm sure it will be sealed with non-water coolant.
Considering the consequences of a little algea or whatever in tubes so small, I'm sure they'll provide the coolant(likely non-water) and perhaps even an on board Closed coolant system.
Considering the size of 3rd party coolants shown on site's like Tweak3d.net I wouldn't be suprised at all if the setups didn't look like some of ThermalTakes larger models.
If most of the tubing is kept in the in-die, and the motor is solid state (not sure what size we're talking about) then I'd envision something that would leak about as mutch as an air cooled system. hehe. -
Some useful articles/sites
From TechTV, Overclockers and Tweak3D may provide you with some information.
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Proof
proof that nvidia is trying to take over the world be afraid! More details Here
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Re:Why Linux sucks>This is because MS only gives you the basic OS with some goodies, whereas Mandrake/RedHat/SuSE t al. offer you an OS _and_ applications. In most cases you don't need to download/buy anything else than a Linux distro. It already has everything you need.
This is true, but I would rather have small, fast, solid base system that can be easily added to. Something like Gentoo with an installer.
>That'S what RPMs are for. Despite Win32 installation program, RPM keeps track of dependencies. Windows can't do that out of the box
RPM's have problems too. I think Linux would gain by moving away from package systems and moving to using an installer. There are plenty of Linux apps out there that do come with installers like Netscape, OOo, SO, Kylix, Loki. All of these installed beautify on my system. I don't know how well any of those installers would work for other applications, but maybe some sort of functional universal installer would go a long way. IMHO, this is one of the two largest problems facing Linux. The other major problem is that the RH limbo beta 2 C++ binaries will not run on the beta 3 system. I do realize there has been major changes to GCC recently, but I think this sets a new record for lack of backwards compatibility. These two things are playing the biggest part in holding Linux back from the desktop space. I had many of my windows apps replaced, but many of the apps I used are broken after I updated to QT3 and GCC 3. This is an important issue as major Linux releases usually come more frequent than windows and it hinders commercial support.
I think if Linux does hit desktop space there will have to be LSB support for an
/apps directory or similar. LSB does not really address desktop needs to the extent that it should, I have 20 or so text editors and word processors, most of them in separate locations, /apps/textedit would be nice.>kDevelop, Kylix, only to name the two most professional ones. For Windows there MSVC++, which is actually a neat DevIDE, but it costs quite much and has issues of its own.
I have used Kylix a few times but mostly for little stuff. It is probably the closest thing Linux has to VS.NET, too bad more people don't use it. Delphi has never really gotten the credit it deserves, and Borland only recently added C++ support, maybe it will pick up in popularity soon.
>Linux can be a pain in the ass. Setting up a system is, for a (technical skilled) newbie much more difficult than setting up a Win32 box. Trying to make Linux do something can be quite some (research) work, and during that time you may say 'Oh what a crap system, nothing works.', but once you figured out how to do it right, Linux will rarely fail at its new job.
I think the initial install is something Linux has improved on, I actually like Mandrake's DrakeX more than Windows' installer.
>WinXP, on the other hand, is the best piece of code that left MS for a few years. It's stable, clearly multimedia-orientated, has a neat UI-design and runs everything you want. But it can be as much as pain in the butt as Linux, when your apps start crashing because you uninstalled a small shareware tool which removed a crucial DLL. Let a newbie figure that out...
:oI find when I am in Windows I miss many of the command Line functions of Linux, and when I am in Linux I miss many of the multimedia apps and GUI of Windows. I liked 2K more than XP, and don't get crashes because I am picky about the code I run on my system. I have had 2 crashes on my XP system; the first was when I killed some services the system needed to boot, the second was when I was using tweakXP with WindowBlinds. My stratagy for keeping windows stable is to run as little code as possible when it boots. It leaves a much smaller footprint in memory and is much less likely to crash. I also usually gut windows pretty thoroughly and make extensive changes to the default install before building on it. A few of the changes I make to my system can be found here and here.
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Re:Why Linux sucks>This is because MS only gives you the basic OS with some goodies, whereas Mandrake/RedHat/SuSE t al. offer you an OS _and_ applications. In most cases you don't need to download/buy anything else than a Linux distro. It already has everything you need.
This is true, but I would rather have small, fast, solid base system that can be easily added to. Something like Gentoo with an installer.
>That'S what RPMs are for. Despite Win32 installation program, RPM keeps track of dependencies. Windows can't do that out of the box
RPM's have problems too. I think Linux would gain by moving away from package systems and moving to using an installer. There are plenty of Linux apps out there that do come with installers like Netscape, OOo, SO, Kylix, Loki. All of these installed beautify on my system. I don't know how well any of those installers would work for other applications, but maybe some sort of functional universal installer would go a long way. IMHO, this is one of the two largest problems facing Linux. The other major problem is that the RH limbo beta 2 C++ binaries will not run on the beta 3 system. I do realize there has been major changes to GCC recently, but I think this sets a new record for lack of backwards compatibility. These two things are playing the biggest part in holding Linux back from the desktop space. I had many of my windows apps replaced, but many of the apps I used are broken after I updated to QT3 and GCC 3. This is an important issue as major Linux releases usually come more frequent than windows and it hinders commercial support.
I think if Linux does hit desktop space there will have to be LSB support for an
/apps directory or similar. LSB does not really address desktop needs to the extent that it should, I have 20 or so text editors and word processors, most of them in separate locations, /apps/textedit would be nice.>kDevelop, Kylix, only to name the two most professional ones. For Windows there MSVC++, which is actually a neat DevIDE, but it costs quite much and has issues of its own.
I have used Kylix a few times but mostly for little stuff. It is probably the closest thing Linux has to VS.NET, too bad more people don't use it. Delphi has never really gotten the credit it deserves, and Borland only recently added C++ support, maybe it will pick up in popularity soon.
>Linux can be a pain in the ass. Setting up a system is, for a (technical skilled) newbie much more difficult than setting up a Win32 box. Trying to make Linux do something can be quite some (research) work, and during that time you may say 'Oh what a crap system, nothing works.', but once you figured out how to do it right, Linux will rarely fail at its new job.
I think the initial install is something Linux has improved on, I actually like Mandrake's DrakeX more than Windows' installer.
>WinXP, on the other hand, is the best piece of code that left MS for a few years. It's stable, clearly multimedia-orientated, has a neat UI-design and runs everything you want. But it can be as much as pain in the butt as Linux, when your apps start crashing because you uninstalled a small shareware tool which removed a crucial DLL. Let a newbie figure that out...
:oI find when I am in Windows I miss many of the command Line functions of Linux, and when I am in Linux I miss many of the multimedia apps and GUI of Windows. I liked 2K more than XP, and don't get crashes because I am picky about the code I run on my system. I have had 2 crashes on my XP system; the first was when I killed some services the system needed to boot, the second was when I was using tweakXP with WindowBlinds. My stratagy for keeping windows stable is to run as little code as possible when it boots. It leaves a much smaller footprint in memory and is much less likely to crash. I also usually gut windows pretty thoroughly and make extensive changes to the default install before building on it. A few of the changes I make to my system can be found here and here.
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Re:What are you thinking?
I'm sorry but I've actually done this (the guide is months old) and it works fine
And how did you verify that it "works fine"? Did you test BLER (Block Error Rate), BERL (Burst Error Length), (BEGL) Burst Errors Greater than Limit, Cyclic Redundancy Check for subcode Q-channel, etc. using something like an AudioDev CATS SA-3 or SA-300? Did you use an electron microscope to examine the quality and uniformity of the pits?
You see, there is more to assessing the quality of the recording of digital data onto an optical media than simply counting "coasters."
And the error rates are similar burning at 40x.
So you measured the BLER, BERL, BEGL, etc.? Or did you not know that CD-ROM drives do error correction?
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Re:mmmm
The previous version of ATI's MAXX video card used dual chips in a SLI (Scan Line Interleave) configuration. One chip would draw even numbered rows of pixels, while the other would draw the odd numbered lines.
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Re:bugs (nope)I really wish people would think/look at source/search bugzilla before saying stuff like this.
Yes I really wish people would look at the source too... if anyone took a look at the source of the example URL for the bug you mention, they might realize that the list item tag was opened and then closed, before the content.
You can't blame the browser for incompetent web design. IE has always been more forgiving in regard to poorly formed html, but that's not necessarily a good thing -- it's just a thumbs up to writing sloppy html.
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Nice links...it appears as if the new chipset gives the P4 a performance boost in most apps over the previous 400MHz FSB chips
Been spending too much time by the memepool, have we?
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Karma whoring off
from Voodoo Extreme:
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 CPU
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Re:HandEra!!!
For those who want an easier to use setup for Graffiti, try ScreenWrite, it's a hack (so you'll need hackmaster)
ScreenWrite has some nice features, "local echo" of your graffiti, so you can see it... making the whole screen a writing area, Caps/lowercase detected by size of your characters, etc... I'd highly recommend it.
or, if you just want a whole different HW recognition engine, try Jot.
As for new palm pilots, I'm still loving my Palm III with 2MB. For simple PIM apps it's great, and overclocking it makes my favorite breakout-style games run awesome. -
Another link to silencing solutions
http://www.tweak3d.net/articles/quietcase/ I used the info there to hook a 3-way switch to my CPU fan (On, not-so-On and Off). The web site also has some great tips on tweaking a Ford Taurus.
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www.Tweak3d.net
Tweak3d" is a nice site with a wide range of fairly comprehensive and clear guides on tweaking both hardware and software. They have an article which addresses your question: How to Make a PC Quieter.
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www.Tweak3d.net
Tweak3d" is a nice site with a wide range of fairly comprehensive and clear guides on tweaking both hardware and software. They have an article which addresses your question: How to Make a PC Quieter.
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More previews...
There's a list of previews here Tom's is one of the many out there...
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Re:People need to realise that holographic...
storage does not merely mean layered storage, as in the scotch tape and multi layer DVD examples.
In holographic storage a photosensitive medium is exposed to the interference pattern that is generated when an object laser beam, with the data encoded in it, is intersected by a second, coherent laser beam. The photosensitive medium will then replicate these interference fringes as a change in optical absorption. Data is retrieved from the medium by exposing it to light from one laser beam.
In the scotch tape laser burning and multi layer DVD examples, the laser merely burns holes on a 2D surface in many stacked surfaces. To read back you just focus the diode lasers' objective lens on whichever surface you want to read. This is considered inferior to the data densities possible with holography.
For a better explanation of how it works go here.
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Let's look at how all of this happened...A lot of people (especially shareholders and Voodoo_ owners) are discussing the sale, but there are a number of causes for this, not just one or two. Here's how history worked for, and ultimately against, 3Dfx. Apologies if I don't get the timeline exactly right:
- In the beginning... 3D graphics chips were *really* expensive, running to the thousands of dollars and only working on certain hardware.
- Then simple 3D graphics chips like S3's ViRGE (shudder) came along. They were slow and had a horrible framerate (the ViRGE is commonly referred to as the world's only 3D decelerator), but actually made the pictures look a bit more smooth. This trend continued for a while, until...
- 3Dfx released the Voodoo, ushering in really nice second-generation hardware acceleration. With high-res, high-color-depth and smooth framerates, they became the overnight champ. They scared the daylights out of companies like Number 9, S3, ATI and all the other 3D chipmakers. The only card these companies had was that the Voodoo was a secondary graphics card; it didn't do 2D. The other problem was that the Voodoo really only worked with Glide; most other graphics chips could work with OpenGL.
- 3Dfx tried to fix this problem with the Voodoo Rush, which was essentailly a 2D chip hot-glued to a Voodoo. The Rush failed miserably (First slip: Don't cobble together a half-assed product. Gamers and reviewers always know the difference.), because 3Dfx did not take into proper account the interaction and integration needed to make the 2D and 3D work together. 3Dfx then released the Voodoo2 (essentially a sped-up Voodoo), to much critical acclaim. Still, Glide was the only graphics system that it really worked with, and 3Dfx was convinced that Glide would eventually replace OpenGL. (Second slip: Hubris has brough down more empires than one can imagine. Always know that you are mortal.)
- Around this time nVidia was starting to show signs of becoming a good chipmaker. While early chips like the NV1 were absolutely laughable when compared to the mighty 3Dfx chips, nVidia was busy trying to prove that they were fast learners (the Riva 128 was considered a great chip for gamers on a tight budget).
Also around this time, most other 3D chipmakers (like Number 9, PowerVR and S3) were frantically trying to stay in business. A couple of them made it, but most either quit the 3D market or fizzled. 3Dfx was riding high, and went public amidst the dot-com market inflation. Things were looking good. - The release of the TNT was the first real threat to 3Dfx's business; it was fast, ran OpenGL & Direct3D (at the time a horrible choice for anyone, but there nonetheless) and also did 2D. At first 3Dfx tried to convince itself (and us) that the future would be powered by Voodoo/Glide, but when reviews of TNT chips essentially matched the Voodoo2, 3Dfx knew it was in for a fight to the death.
- 3Dfx had to do something; people were buying TNT cards, and that spelled trouble. 3Dfx ultimately decided that their best (only?) option was to do it all: the chip and the board. They bought STB (right after I bought my PC which had an STB graphics card and a TNT chip -- doh!) and stopped selling Voodoo technology to third parties, most of whom immediately jumped into bed with nVidia (remember how pissed off Creative was?). The Voodoo3 would come from only one source: 3Dfx. (Third slip: Don't alienate the very people who provide most of your revenue, i.e. boardmakers)
- As the Voodoo3 and TNT/TNT-Ultra waged war, gamers were slowly coming to realize that nVidia's chip was just as fast (or faster), on par with price, and didn't require the proprietary Glide. PC makers also realized this and started shifting towards nVidia graphics boards. And since they came from a variety of boardmakers, the PC makers could pick and choose their vendor while still using the nVidia core. Meanwhile, 3Dfx watched their sales plummet as they realized that shipping the Voodoo3 without support for 32-bit color was turning many gamers away. (Fourth slip: Of course we didn't need 32-bit color support then; most games turned into slideshows at that depth. But the first rule of business is to make the customer happy.
- nVidia also got gamers horny by releasing a new chip approximately every six months; 3Dfx was releasing at a rate of one new chip about every year to year-and-a-half. 3Dfx had failed to realize that hardcore gamers demand speed, and that gamers will do just about anything within their power to get that little extra boost of speed from their machines. (If you don't believe me, visit Tweak3D and see for yourself.) 3Dfx was also having serious financial problems; between the collapse of the dot-com-saturated market bubble and disappointing sales, 3Dfx must have realized that going solo was a terrible mistake.
Meanwhile, nVidia continues to dominate the market; they will provide the precious GPU for Microsoft's upcoming XBox, and the GeForce 2 Ultra GTS Pro Whizbang 7 Foomlegricken Supersize (or whatever the hell they call the latest chip) consistently garners rave reviews among journalists and gamers alike. Even the lack of open-source drivers hasn't stopped people (even open-source advocates like myself) from going with them. In short, 3Dfx got beat by a company with a real third-generation graphics chip, but not without help from itself.
I am sorry to see them go; they were nVidia's biggest rival, and I am always a fan of good competition. My only hope is that nVidia open-sources their own drivers, and perhaps learns from 3Dfx's mistakes. No, I hope we all learn from 3Dfx's mistakes.
Robert Dumas (robertdumas@hotmail.com) -
The best game you've never heard of...I have played hundreds of games since my first online experience in 1995; and yet I am consistently drawn back to a small game I first downloaded in beta testing, entitled Subspace.
Subspace was one of the first massive mutliplayer online games. Based on a top-down asteriods view model; you battle it out against hundreds of other players in other space ships.
The graphics leave much to be desired, but the gameplay is fantastic. Like Othello, the game is easy to learn but has incredible depths and strategies of gameplay to master. Games like capture the flag, soccer, king of the hill, trench wars, and 4 on 4 leagues are all different zones available to play.
Originally the game was released and supported by Virgin interactive entertainment. Although soon after the game was released, VIE was bought out and Subspace was abandoned. But thanks to the efforts of players and former VIE programmers the game development continues. Players help program extensions to the game and provide servers that are free for everyone to play.
I encourage you to visit some of these links for more information on this incredible game:
#4 on tweak3d's most addictive top ten
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Heres the proper link