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Gaining RAM For Free, Through Software

Posted by timothy on from the but-ram-doubler-is-old-news dept.

wakaramon writes with a piece from IEEE Spectrum about an experimental approach to squeezing more usable storage out of a device's existing RAM; the researchers were using a Linux-based PDA as their testbed, and claim that their software "effectively gives an embedded system more than twice the memory it had originally — essentially for free." "Although the price of RAM has plummeted fast, the need for memory has expanded faster still. But if you could use data-compression software to control the way embedded systems store information in RAM, and do it in a way that didn't sap performance appreciably, the payoff would be enormous."

8 of 68 comments (clear)

  1. You mean like RAMDoubler by JoeCommodore · · Score: 4, Funny

    The 80s and 90s called - they want their technology back.

    --
    "Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
    1. Re:You mean like RAMDoubler by Thelasko · · Score: 5, Funny

      The 80s and 90s called - they want their scam back.

      There, fixed it for ya!

      --
      One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    2. Re:You mean like RAMDoubler by bograt · · Score: 5, Funny
      Tech Support: "How much RAM do you have in the computer?"
      Customer: "32 megs."
      Tech Support: "Are you using any RAM doubling software?"
      Customer: "Yes."
      Tech Support: "So you have 16 megs of actual, physical RAM?"
      Customer: "No. I have 8 megs. I installed [a RAM expanding product], and that gave me 16. I liked it so much I went out and got [another RAM expanding product]. So now I have 32."

      source

    3. Re:You mean like RAMDoubler by Alsee · · Score: 4, Funny

      The 80s and 90s called - they want their technology back.

      The 80s and 90s called again - they want their joke back.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  2. Fools, download more! by Spatial · · Score: 2, Funny

    Just download more RAM if you need it!

    1. Re:Fools, download more! by MyLongNickName · · Score: 2, Funny

      I've GOT to show this to our CEO. I will get promoted for sure!

      --
      See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
  3. I remember that... by famebait · · Score: 2, Funny

    You just use a hole punch on your page file, and you can write to it from the other side!

    --
    sudo ergo sum
  4. Re:Software patents by Bones3D_mac · · Score: 2, Funny

    I haven't managed to find the patent application yet, but I wonder if Connectix's RAM Doubler product would be considered prior art.

    If not, this probably is...

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    8==8 Bones 8==8