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Celeron 2GHz Cache Detection?
EAJoe asks: "I have small problem with one Celeron 2GHz machine. Linux kernel 2.4.18-24.7 doesn't seem to switch L2 cache on! This CPU apparently _has_ 128K of L2. There is nothing about L2 in the logs, and /proc/cpuinfo shows an L1D size of 8K instead. Of course I have enabled L2 in BIOS settings (the motherboard is an ASUS P4S533-E, by the way). The CPU overclocks easily up to 3.5 GHz, running stable at 3 - it seems that cache is really switched off. At 3 GHz g++ compilation times are similar to Athlon XP 1800+ machine. I don't have windows on this computer to check this out, but Intel DOS utility shows a Celeron 2000 w/128k L2, also there is '128K' written on the CPU's die. Any suggestions?"
It is official; HP confirms: Algerbraic is dying
One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered Algerbraic community when HP confirmed that Algerbraic calculator usage has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all professionals. Coming on the heels of a recent hpcalc.org survey which plainly states that algerbraic notation has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. Algerbraic is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the recent HPcalc.org speed trials.
You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict alberbraic's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Algerbraic faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for algerbraic because it is dying. Things are looking very bad for algerbraic. As many of us are already aware, it continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.
TI's algerbraic calculator development team is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core engineers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time algerbraic's developers Casio and Sharp only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: Algerbraic is dying.
Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
RPN supporter Jean-Yves Avenard states that there are 70000 propfessional users of calculators. How many users of algerbraic are there? Let's see. The number of RPN versus algerbraic posts on comp.sys.hp48 is roughly in ratio of 500 to 1. Therefore there are about 70000/500 = 14 algerbraic users. Sharp DAL (Direct Algerbraic logic) posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of plain algerbraic posts. Therefore there are about 7 users of DAL. A recent article put DAL at about 50 percent of the algerbraic market. This is consistent with the number of DAL Usenet posts.
Due to the troubles of mismatched brackers, excessive keystrokes and so on, algerbraic went out of favor with TI and was taken over by Casio who sell another troubled calculator. Now Casio is also dead, its corpse turned over to cheap chinese calculator manufactures.
All major surveys show that alg has steadily declined in market share. Algerbraic is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Algerbraic is to survive at all it will be among vintage calcululator collectors. Algerbraic continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Algerbraic is dead.
Fact: Algerbraic is dying
I already know algerbraic. Why should I bother learning a new system?
Because RPN has many advantages. It's quicker, requires less keystrokes and you no longer have to match brackets
But RPN is a pain in the neck!
No. Most RPN users agree that RPN is easier then algerbraic. For instance:
2* (4 + 7) =
is:
4 Enter 7 + 2 *
What's going on here? you are using a stack. Typing 4 then enter puts 4 on the stack. typing 7 + adds 7 to the stack. 2 * multiplies the result by 2. Not only is it easy, but you have saved 2 keystrokes already. now, let's take the square root of the answer:
ALG: sqr ans = 3 keystrokes
RPN: sqr 1 keystroke
Easy!
So, RPN is faster? Why?
Well, 2 reasons. Firstly it takes less keystrokes. Secondly, you no longer have to match brackets. This saves a lot of time
Why would I bother? RPN is as dead as *BSD
No, There Is A New Hope (TM)! HP is reviving their calculator line! Check out comp.sys.hp48 for details or check out this Press Release
hang on, if I make a typo I lose my work!
No. You have an 'undo' key
But I can't see my working!
yes you can. The HP4x series of calculators show full symbolic working
You Have Overclocked
You Lose
Have A Nice Day
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?