Dragon (Godson-I) uses MIPS instruction set and supports Linux. Sure, M$ Windows won't run on it but is this really a problem? For Linux based software, a recompilation is probably what's needed to run it on system based on this chip.
The geek in the West should understand the CPU well. MISP is used for the introductory CPU design class in most US engineering schools.
Russia has her attempt on making CPU E2K and I am sure there are other CPUs project within the USSR. Since the end of cold war, there is no more reason for Russia to develop its own CPUs for national security.
China, on the other hand, has more reason then just national security to develop its own CPU. It's trade balance. China government has policy on reduce trade inblance with any outside countries. Being fast developing countries, information technologies will be a key for the countries to stay competitive. Without their own CPUs, large deployment of information technologies means massive trade deficie to CPU producing country like America.
I do not see the reason behind the action taken by the GNU-Darwin project. If they are objected to Apple and want to do something to get Apple, dropping PCC/Cocoa support is the best way to go. Support GnuStep is the way to do it!
When I first saw the mention of GNU-Darwin's, I thought it was a GnuStep + Darwin. But when I found out it's no more than a BSD on PCC, it's kind of disappointing.
I have had used NeXT for 7 years until 97 and recently "switched" to OS X. Some people around me are switching from Windows but more are switching from Linux. If there is a good distribution based on GnuStep/Darwin, people could switch from Linux to it. I would switch from OS X to it for sure if it supports my Powerbook.
Dropping PCC/Cocoa support isn't the best way to go. You just eliminate the potential users base, thus your support base. People with OS X experience are more likely to look into GNU-Darwin then people with Linux experience.
I'd like to ask GNU-Darwin people to reconsider their action.
China has become a second rate culture in the 20th-21st century, because they only seem to be able to copy, rather than innovate, whether it is movies or high tech.
But remember, China is a DEVELOPING country, not a DEVELOPED country as American or the rest of the West. Wasn't America in the same stage as the China some 300 years ago: copying/pirating literture and technologies from British and the European. The government was even supporting that by not acknowledge the European copyright and patten. It's only until US has developed strong enough intellecturally that it's more harm than benefitial to ignore the intellectural properties. The same pattern has been emerged in all developing countries.
Yes, it is pitty that the once mighty world power and culture of Chinese has sank as low as it is today. However, there have been a lot of attempts in the past one hundred years trying to wake it up. It has half century of continusous internal conflict and a 40 years isolation from.
However, speaking of high tech, China is likely to have a lead in biotech because much less social controversies involving researches such as stem cell. Wired recently have a good article The First Cloning Superpower.
The few movie directors and actors who do become good migrate to the West anyways. China has tons of great ancient myths that would rival a Lord of the Rings triolgy if they'd put their minds to it.
It's called following the money and fame. It's interesting that you mention this in the context of LOTR. The movies are directed by a New Zeland directors, New Zealand team but who's funding the movie? American studio! We can't denied that Hollywood is the world dominating power of movies and are drawing all the worlds movie talent to it. Why shouldn't the directors/stars not moving to Hollywood from China/Hongkong?
If your friend actually checked it while he's in China, he could go down to the DVD stands where he bought it and ask for a exchange. I have done this a couple times.
The topics states it well. China's market is actually capitalism at its best. With 95% piracy rate on movies/CDs and without a congress in their pocket, major studios for the US like Disney or WB really have to work hard to gain a market in China.
The street price for pirated DVD is about $1 and Disney is actually selling legimate copies of the same movie for $2 in department and book stores in China.
I lived in Shanghai. The DVD stand right in front of Starbucks I went to was trying to sell me LoTR 1,2,3 and "4!" Also, he has Harry Potter 1,2,3,4 and "5!" Seriously, no joking.
Do not blame the journalist. Having a eye catching headline attracts attention and makes people curious about the content. The bad part is people on slashdot often rush to post their opinion based on the headline, not the content.
If you read the posting so far, it's either about "Hello Kitty" or "3G," both are words on the headline. Few are talking about the content.
As hard as it is to be believed by the slashdoters, Geeks and Nerds are only a small fraction of the total population. We geeks and nerds could come up thousands of good ideas to utilize the bandwidth of 3G wireless and some of us may even go on and build a successful business based on it. A very small fraction of the user base in this area can make a successful start up.
However, while looking at the success of 3G, especially the data services aspect, from telecom's perspectives, it is important to come up with killer apps that's attractive to their large user base, most of which are non technical people. What drives an ordinary person to use the 3G data service.
While Hello Kitty wall paper and ringtones may not excite us, it has the general appearel to interest ordinary people to use the data services on their phone.
Before we judge a idea on its technical metric, think about the context. This is not "what's coolest" application for 3G but "what's popular" applications of 3G.
This may be true, but you have to understand that they have a FAR superior infrastructure and are years ahead of most of the US and Canada, but remember tha once the rest of the world catches up that figure will change drastically - remember these are mobile data users and its a lot more common down there to do mobile data comm...
It is not difficult to catch up the infrastructure if a large market can be established. However, establish a environment to make mobile data is necessarity is difficult. I worked in Japan for a couple weeks this year and it's not difficult to understand why mobile data on phone is big in Japan.
Long daily commute and talking on phone is prohibited on train.
No privacy in the office. Japanese office is very open and everyone is in plain sight of each other. Makes it difficult to do any personal stuffs in office PCs .
Phone charge vs message charge. A call is about 20 Yen per minutes while a message costs 2 yen a message.
To be fair, only recently could Taiwan call itself a democracy.
The democracy in Taiwan is a joke. The political platform in Taiwan look like a bad Jerry Springer show with meaningless and sensational catching pharse spiting out from smart ass politicians in the TV talk show.
Check out the story Red Flag Linux beats out Windows in Beijing. The cost isn't the main concern of the Chinese government. Giving the money to the foreigner companies is. There are other case of government awarded contract to higher bidding local firm than dominating foreigner players.
The government in Beijing has been using its IT budget to protect the domenstic software companies and give them a chance to grow.
And your $5 dollars workers have to spend all just barely make it through the days and our 10 cents workers have plenty to live on and save to send money home.
Living in a global enconemy, the money isn't absolute. I lived in Taiwan, US, China and Japan. A friend in China who's making less a month than my lunch money for two weeks in Japan has just bought an apartment so large that most of my co-workers in Japan can only dream of.
I don't know much about manufacturing hardware, but I know that in the processor realm they cannot make anything cheaper than we can.
Processor prices are limited by yield (aka. how many good processors come out of the factory) which is entirely limited by technology. Their fabrication technology is not better than ours right now. If anything, it is far far behind. There is no way that they can produce chips cheaper than we can.
By *OUR*, I assume you mean Americans. OK. So, what's making "American" chip? Intel's P4 are produced all over the world and I think they just agree to build a fab in China. Nvidia totally outsource its chip production to TSMC and UMC, both of which are Taiwanese companies based in Taiwan and both are building fabs in China.
The chips are produced "cheap" because the same reason mouses are produced "cheap" in the article. Leverage the cheaper labor and loose enviromental codes in countries other than US.
I accept that the reason people work in these conditions is because this is better than the option (starving). But do you approve of child labour or unsafe working conditions? Don't you think we should be trying to find ways to improve social as well as economic conditions?
What do you think these kids would do if they don't work in a factories? Watchinbg Mickey Mouse on TV all afternoon? Going to school? Having fun on the playground?
The truth is that they were more likely to work under the sun in a family farms that produce crop they can hardly sell for any money. Not I approve exploiting child labor but, if it does improve the child's life, it's NOT exploitation, is it?
Americans are sentimental ONLY to what they see on TV. Watching a kid of 10 having to work in a factory making your Nike shoes hurts. You scream "GET THOSE KIDS OUT OF THERE." So, let's say you got your wish, the kids are sent home, starving to death. But at least you don't see it on TV and you feel so much better. Someone told that "Hey, but the poor kids died in starvation after sent home." Well, too bad but it's the harsh reality living in a poor farming country, rigth?
Now all are justified. The child labor stories are not run on TV, you bitching about why your Nike shoes costs twice as much, the kids could have survive making the shoes die of starvation. But, hey, at least this is a world that make sense to you.
Here is a story (in Chinese) about how Chinese companies are hiring Taiwanese high level executives with big salary, exploit them, and dump them.
The matter of fact is China has everything going for it. The econemy is bad everywhere else in the world and China is just start developing. The jobs and works too cheap for anyone of us around the world to take are flowing to China. With the influx of capitals and talents and fast growing domenstic market, Chinese companies are building up very fast.
In China, Disney's DVD is sold in department stores and music stores for merely US$3, slightly higher than the pirated version of $1.5 dollars.
I think Disney fully regonizes it can't play the Chinese government as it has been with US government. It goes down to play head-to-head with the pirating industry.
Microsoft already own 95%+ of the Chinese market on desktop. Microsoft has traditionally used "give them copies, make them depend on it, and bully them into paying" approach of marketing in most of Asian countries. This has worked well in the past in poor small Asian countries who depends on the US domestic market for their exports.
However, Microsoft may just not make the case in China.
First, China isn't some small Asian countries. It's domestic market will grow to a fairly large size so it could defense the bully action from Microsoft as well as Washington.
Second, Linux and other free OS have become viable alternative to Windows in recent years. By the time, China has developed into a viable market for Microsoft to "harvest," there will be choice.
Third, Chinese government is so focusing on not letting money goes out of its boarder. It's taking preventive action in ensuring the choice exists for them.
A couple weeks after Ballmer's $750 millions check is cut to Chinese government, the government announce its Yanfang Linux project which is posted to replace Windows in governmental computing environment.
With a couple more years to bring Linux environment to maturity, China is on the right track to defeat Microsoft in its plot to dominate Chinese's computing environment.
Do not treat too highly of the Taiwan issue in China's agenda. Unification of Taiwan is just a matter of time for China after China has obsord all the money from Taiwan. There is little choice for Taiwan but unify with the motherland.
China is leveraging its "potentially" large domenstic market which every business in the world is dreaming of "Only if everyone of the 1.2 billion people spending $1 on my product."
America has used its vast domestic market to gain depolmatic advantage. Using domestic policy and law to interfer with the international trading agreement.
Here and here are pictures of the CPU. It claims the performance has reached MIPS R5K which was introduced back to 1997 and was the core of SGI's O2. The highest clock speed is 266 MHz. It's basically a low power CPU targetd at both embedded and general purpose market in China.
MIPS is chosen because its widely available and I think most of the CPU designers are introduced to CPU design by David Patterson's "Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach." They also have to pay license fee to MIPS for the instruction set.
"i somehow doubt that microsoft will miss their patronage much"
And that's good reason for Steve Ballmer gave China a check of $750 millions to develop Linux. <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/25932.html">see here</a>
I think Google really appreciate China's blocking of the site. Before China's blocking of Google, Google is only known with in the geek and nerd circle. When China blocked Google, it became famous to general public over night. My dad was asking what Google is after he read it on the news and the news was everywhere.
I think the fame comes with blocked by China government will do a lot of good to Google's pending IPO.
Yes, Americans can protest against the governments. However, what effect does those protects do to the governments? Maybe they mean something in the 70s so you would have police in campus shooting gas gun at students. However, the protects mean a little these days. I was in the states right before Gulf war and there were protests against the war in all univestities. Does that affect the government's decision? Not a bit. The protests in Beijing in 1989 had shaken the political stabiliity of the government in power. I really wonder how American government would respose to a protest of that magnitude? Especially in today's focus on domestic secutirty.
China is stealing the talent the same way America have been stealing talent from all over the world: With Money. 90% of the Chinese students who studied in the states stay in the states working for some American companies with H1-B visa.
The econemy of the states going down and the tech sectors unemployees American are blaming H1-B holders taking their jobs. In the mean time, China is becoming the new promising land of getting rich quick, a lot of them return home and bring along with them the know-how and technologies.
Slashdot Mirror
What software are you referring to?
Dragon (Godson-I) uses MIPS instruction set and supports Linux. Sure, M$ Windows won't run on it but is this really a problem? For Linux based software, a recompilation is probably what's needed to run it on system based on this chip.
The geek in the West should understand the CPU well. MISP is used for the introductory CPU design class in most US engineering schools.
Russia has her attempt on making CPU E2K and I am sure there are other CPUs project within the USSR. Since the end of cold war, there is no more reason for Russia to develop its own CPUs for national security.
China, on the other hand, has more reason then just national security to develop its own CPU. It's trade balance. China government has policy on reduce trade inblance with any outside countries. Being fast developing countries, information technologies will be a key for the countries to stay competitive. Without their own CPUs, large deployment of information technologies means massive trade deficie to CPU producing country like America.
I do not see the reason behind the action taken by the GNU-Darwin project. If they are objected to Apple and want to do something to get Apple, dropping PCC/Cocoa support is the best way to go. Support GnuStep is the way to do it!
When I first saw the mention of GNU-Darwin's, I thought it was a GnuStep + Darwin. But when I found out it's no more than a BSD on PCC, it's kind of disappointing.
I have had used NeXT for 7 years until 97 and recently "switched" to OS X. Some people around me are switching from Windows but more are switching from Linux. If there is a good distribution based on GnuStep/Darwin, people could switch from Linux to it. I would switch from OS X to it for sure if it supports my Powerbook.
Dropping PCC/Cocoa support isn't the best way to go. You just eliminate the potential users base, thus your support base. People with OS X experience are more likely to look into GNU-Darwin then people with Linux experience.
I'd like to ask GNU-Darwin people to reconsider their action.
But remember, China is a DEVELOPING country, not a DEVELOPED country as American or the rest of the West. Wasn't America in the same stage as the China some 300 years ago: copying/pirating literture and technologies from British and the European. The government was even supporting that by not acknowledge the European copyright and patten. It's only until US has developed strong enough intellecturally that it's more harm than benefitial to ignore the intellectural properties. The same pattern has been emerged in all developing countries.
Yes, it is pitty that the once mighty world power and culture of Chinese has sank as low as it is today. However, there have been a lot of attempts in the past one hundred years trying to wake it up. It has half century of continusous internal conflict and a 40 years isolation from.
However, speaking of high tech, China is likely to have a lead in biotech because much less social controversies involving researches such as stem cell. Wired recently have a good article The First Cloning Superpower.
It's called following the money and fame. It's interesting that you mention this in the context of LOTR. The movies are directed by a New Zeland directors, New Zealand team but who's funding the movie? American studio! We can't denied that Hollywood is the world dominating power of movies and are drawing all the worlds movie talent to it. Why shouldn't the directors/stars not moving to Hollywood from China/Hongkong?
If your friend actually checked it while he's in China, he could go down to the DVD stands where he bought it and ask for a exchange. I have done this a couple times.
The topics states it well. China's market is actually capitalism at its best. With 95% piracy rate on movies/CDs and without a congress in their pocket, major studios for the US like Disney or WB really have to work hard to gain a market in China.
The street price for pirated DVD is about $1 and Disney is actually selling legimate copies of the same movie for $2 in department and book stores in China.
I lived in Shanghai. The DVD stand right in front of Starbucks I went to was trying to sell me LoTR 1,2,3 and "4!" Also, he has Harry Potter 1,2,3,4 and "5!" Seriously, no joking.
Do not blame the journalist. Having a eye catching headline attracts attention and makes people curious about the content. The bad part is people on slashdot often rush to post their opinion based on the headline, not the content.
If you read the posting so far, it's either about "Hello Kitty" or "3G," both are words on the headline. Few are talking about the content.
As hard as it is to be believed by the slashdoters, Geeks and Nerds are only a small fraction of the total population. We geeks and nerds could come up thousands of good ideas to utilize the bandwidth of 3G wireless and some of us may even go on and build a successful business based on it. A very small fraction of the user base in this area can make a successful start up.
However, while looking at the success of 3G, especially the data services aspect, from telecom's perspectives, it is important to come up with killer apps that's attractive to their large user base, most of which are non technical people. What drives an ordinary person to use the 3G data service.
While Hello Kitty wall paper and ringtones may not excite us, it has the general appearel to interest ordinary people to use the data services on their phone.
Before we judge a idea on its technical metric, think about the context. This is not "what's coolest" application for 3G but "what's popular" applications of 3G.
It is not difficult to catch up the infrastructure if a large market can be established. However, establish a environment to make mobile data is necessarity is difficult. I worked in Japan for a couple weeks this year and it's not difficult to understand why mobile data on phone is big in Japan.
The democracy in Taiwan is a joke. The political platform in Taiwan look like a bad Jerry Springer show with meaningless and sensational catching pharse spiting out from smart ass politicians in the TV talk show.
The government in Beijing has been using its IT budget to protect the domenstic software companies and give them a chance to grow.
Try uControl to remap the key.
And your $5 dollars workers have to spend all just barely make it through the days and our 10 cents workers have plenty to live on and save to send money home.
Living in a global enconemy, the money isn't absolute. I lived in Taiwan, US, China and Japan. A friend in China who's making less a month than my lunch money for two weeks in Japan has just bought an apartment so large that most of my co-workers in Japan can only dream of.
By *OUR*, I assume you mean Americans. OK. So, what's making "American" chip? Intel's P4 are produced all over the world and I think they just agree to build a fab in China. Nvidia totally outsource its chip production to TSMC and UMC, both of which are Taiwanese companies based in Taiwan and both are building fabs in China.
The chips are produced "cheap" because the same reason mouses are produced "cheap" in the article. Leverage the cheaper labor and loose enviromental codes in countries other than US.
What do you think these kids would do if they don't work in a factories? Watchinbg Mickey Mouse on TV all afternoon? Going to school? Having fun on the playground?
The truth is that they were more likely to work under the sun in a family farms that produce crop they can hardly sell for any money. Not I approve exploiting child labor but, if it does improve the child's life, it's NOT exploitation, is it?
Americans are sentimental ONLY to what they see on TV. Watching a kid of 10 having to work in a factory making your Nike shoes hurts. You scream "GET THOSE KIDS OUT OF THERE." So, let's say you got your wish, the kids are sent home, starving to death. But at least you don't see it on TV and you feel so much better. Someone told that "Hey, but the poor kids died in starvation after sent home." Well, too bad but it's the harsh reality living in a poor farming country, rigth?
Now all are justified. The child labor stories are not run on TV, you bitching about why your Nike shoes costs twice as much, the kids could have survive making the shoes die of starvation. But, hey, at least this is a world that make sense to you.
Here is a story (in Chinese) about how Chinese companies are hiring Taiwanese high level executives with big salary, exploit them, and dump them.
The matter of fact is China has everything going for it. The econemy is bad everywhere else in the world and China is just start developing. The jobs and works too cheap for anyone of us around the world to take are flowing to China. With the influx of capitals and talents and fast growing domenstic market, Chinese companies are building up very fast.
In China, Disney's DVD is sold in department stores and music stores for merely US$3, slightly higher than the pirated version of $1.5 dollars.
I think Disney fully regonizes it can't play the Chinese government as it has been with US government. It goes down to play head-to-head with the pirating industry.
Microsoft already own 95%+ of the Chinese market on desktop. Microsoft has traditionally used "give them copies, make them depend on it, and bully them into paying" approach of marketing in most of Asian countries. This has worked well in the past in poor small Asian countries who depends on the US domestic market for their exports.
However, Microsoft may just not make the case in China.
First, China isn't some small Asian countries. It's domestic market will grow to a fairly large size so it could defense the bully action from Microsoft as well as Washington.
Second, Linux and other free OS have become viable alternative to Windows in recent years. By the time, China has developed into a viable market for Microsoft to "harvest," there will be choice.
Third, Chinese government is so focusing on not letting money goes out of its boarder. It's taking preventive action in ensuring the choice exists for them.
A couple weeks after Ballmer's $750 millions check is cut to Chinese government, the government announce its Yanfang Linux project which is posted to replace Windows in governmental computing environment.
With a couple more years to bring Linux environment to maturity, China is on the right track to defeat Microsoft in its plot to dominate Chinese's computing environment.
Do not treat too highly of the Taiwan issue in China's agenda. Unification of Taiwan is just a matter of time for China after China has obsord all the money from Taiwan. There is little choice for Taiwan but unify with the motherland.
China is leveraging its "potentially" large domenstic market which every business in the world is dreaming of "Only if everyone of the 1.2 billion people spending $1 on my product."
The government is prompting free/open source on one hand while taking money from Microsoft on the other. See Register's Ballmer to China: 'Steal all the software you want, so long as it's ours'. How much of the $750 millions Microsoft gave to China will be spent on Linux development?
America has used its vast domestic market to gain depolmatic advantage. Using domestic policy and law to interfer with the international trading agreement.
China is just using the same tatic.
Here and here are pictures of the CPU. It claims the performance has reached MIPS R5K which was introduced back to 1997 and was the core of SGI's O2. The highest clock speed is 266 MHz. It's basically a low power CPU targetd at both embedded and general purpose market in China.
MIPS is chosen because its widely available and I think most of the CPU designers are introduced to CPU design by David Patterson's "Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach." They also have to pay license fee to MIPS for the instruction set.
"i somehow doubt that microsoft will miss their patronage much"
2 .html">see here</a>
And that's good reason for Steve Ballmer gave China a check of $750 millions to develop Linux. <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/2593
I think Google really appreciate China's blocking of the site. Before China's blocking of Google, Google is only known with in the geek and nerd circle. When China blocked Google, it became famous to general public over night. My dad was asking what Google is after he read it on the news and the news was everywhere.
I think the fame comes with blocked by China government will do a lot of good to Google's pending IPO.
Yes, Americans can protest against the governments. However, what effect does those protects do to the governments? Maybe they mean something in the 70s so you would have police in campus shooting gas gun at students. However, the protects mean a little these days. I was in the states right before Gulf war and there were protests against the war in all univestities. Does that affect the government's decision? Not a bit. The protests in Beijing in 1989 had shaken the political stabiliity of the government in power. I really wonder how American government would respose to a protest of that magnitude? Especially in today's focus on domestic secutirty.
China is stealing the talent the same way America have been stealing talent from all over the world: With Money. 90% of the Chinese students who studied in the states stay in the states working for some American companies with H1-B visa.
The econemy of the states going down and the tech sectors unemployees American are blaming H1-B holders taking their jobs. In the mean time, China is becoming the new promising land of getting rich quick, a lot of them return home and bring along with them the know-how and technologies.