I have an mpeg movie recorded at 352x240. I have a 19" monitor set at 1600x1200. I'd like to watch the movie at a resolution closer to the original recording so that I don't get massive artifacts from stretching the mpeg display.
I run wine and an ugly dos program that likes 320x200. If I don't resize the screen, the dos apps is about 1" across and unusable.
Grandma comes over and I'd like to let her browse the internet for a while by herself. Much easier to drop down to 640x480 temporarily than trying to resize all the icons just for her. (Yes, Grandma is smart enough to use a GUI, if she can see it.)
Exactly. I consult, and one of my clients expressed dismay over the fact that the proprietary software package they use for business stopped working when they changed the name of the business. The firm supplying the software (basically a customer database) wanted $500.00 to renew the license. I've suggested to my client that he could make a good use of his money by funding an open source version of this type of integrated database/html client that he could use. Even a new project using mysql with a custom frontend could be doable.
Given his poor experience with the proprietary alternatives, this is something he must consider seriously. He has no personal interest in Open Source per se, but the usefulness of this method of doing business becomes a viable option.
Please, if this gentleman is looking to build his own boxes, what use would he have for a closed-source software solution to his hardware problems? Even as terminals, some of his systems will need replacements in the near future, which leaves him out the cost of the Micro$oft license plus he then gets to pay for the hardware to repair.
Let's not forget that a thin client solution also locks his users into 1 OS and one set of apps. It's quite possible that some of his users might even want to run linux on their boxes.
Which brings up an interesting point. Why not build a Linux terminal server for the cost of a nice new server $2-4k, depending, with NO license concerns, no license fees and software that you control?:) The MS solution just doesn't seem to offer any advantages over the Linux one. The nice part about this is that any user hopelessly welded to Microsoftian apps will have the opportunity to continue using his station in a standalone mode.
As someone else here already said, whatever you do, look into the upgrade of RAM first as a solution to your speed problems.
The Itaniums we use in the titan linux cluster for NCSA are about 3.5 times faster using 64 bit code than the Pentium III's we use in the platinum cluster. This is despite a 200 MHZ advantage for the PIII's (1000MHZ vs 800MHZ for the Itaniums).
This is for the benchmark used in the
Top500.org tests, so its conclusions are valid only in the supercomputing realm.
I wouldn't get one for my desktop. Now, AMD's hammer is another story...:)
Because they have versions of linux running in native mode for both the Hammer and Itanium, I would like to see a comparison of speed between the two. I know that the compilers for Hammer will be weak, and I know that the silicon is only A0, but hey, I expect great things from AMD.:)
The instructions are 64 bits. The instructions go to a staging area on the chip that handles 1 stream at a time (probably intrepreting and rearranging to execute multiple instructions at once).
The hardware is not currently designed to look at one half of the instruction as 1 instruction for virtual CPU0 and the other for virtual CPU1.
The Transmeta chip might be able to be programmed as such, but current Intel and AMD aren't designed for operations like that.
An analogy would be: Let's use the two wheels on each half of my car as a seperate vehicle, like a motorcyle, to go 2 places at once. Current vehicles aren't designed to do that.
(Although one could be built to do that.)
Unlike people, the OS can REPLACE a part without being crippled. You seem to imply that removing a component from a Windows Distribution would keep any replacements from being made by a third party. This is exactly what my Toyota dealer says about "after-market" car parts, but then, he's a little bit biased, considering the profit margin to be made on "genuine Toyota"(tm) parts. Fortunately for my car, the company is unable to dictate that I use only their parts. Unfortunately for Windows users, Micorsoft can dictate such behavior.
But the business model for them is based on being able to redistribute it. Losing that right (or more importantly, keeping it) is what this is all about.
GPL is great for a business that USES GPL software, but it becomes a minefield for those who depend on the ability to redistribute (sell) software
Both Linux with 2.4 kernels and Windows NTFS support large files (files greater than 4 gig) on 32bit CPU's. Yes, there is a need for apps to be upgraded to support this, but RedHat Linux 7.2 supports this out of the box.
It's possible that updates to the Itanium (McKinley and so on) may prove to be more useful than the Itanium itself. Anyone remember when the 60MHZ Pentium was released? It was hot, expensive, huge and completely new, just like the Itanium. It wasn't really worth the purchase price, in comparison to what was available in 486 at the time. You have to start somewhere...
64bit CPU's will provide a much better range of addressing, both for RAM and filesystems. They will also be faster than their 32bit cousins. How do I know? Well, we have 2 large-scale linux clusters here at NCSA. The IA32 cluster has 512 dual PIII nodes at 1.0 GHZ. The IA64 cluster has 160 dual Itaniums at 800MHZ. The Itanium cluster is about 10% faster for its top500 run. Check out entries 34 & 41. Yes, the Itanium cluster has more RAM per node than the IA32 and it was running RedHat 7.1 versus RedHat 6.2 for its older sibling, but you're still looking at a factor of 3 in CPU to CPU comparisions.
To sum up, Itanium doesn't quite suck:) Let's hope the AMD 64bit CPU's are even better!
Please do not ignore the fact that Windows products post 95 included Explorer. This act alone accounts for the increase in market share of IE. Once MS could state affirmatively that they now had 50%, they could then include "buggy code" that only their browser would accept. With their ability to get users on IE by default, "buggy code", asp, and other microsoft innovations which made Netscape look bad, made IE appear to be better.
Netscape never had the opportunity to stop Microsoft from playing "embrace and extend", as there was no way for them to stop MS bundling IE with every copy of Windows. No matter how good Netscape was, once MS began to force Windows users to have a copy of IE, it was all over.
It's not whining to sue MS over illegal actions, and it just might help Opera survive. It's important to note the IE is a great way to spread your virus, trojan horse or worm programs. We need to have competition in the browser market, and a lawsuit is the only thing that MS pays attention to.
Actually, your reference is a little old. There are at least 3 clusters in the top 50!
We have 2 of em!:)
I like the fact that one of our clusters is composed dual pentium PIII at 1.0GHZ- nothing you couldn't buy yourself. Ours are in a 1u form factor so that we can fit 30+ in a rack, but otherwise the basic node isn't that far out.
We do use some fancy networking equipment to pump up the message passing speed, and those NIC's aren't cheap, but what we have in production is inexpensive and effective for a whole new level group of potential users- those whom CRAY and SGI ignore.
We already have two here. Check out:
http://access.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Releases/011018.Titan. html
Top500 org (http://www.top500.org) has the latest rankings out and Platinum is ranked #41 in the world with a 594 rating and Titan is at #34 with a 677 rating. These are not slow systems, but they do require a knowledgeable support staff. Both systems are IBM "out-of-the-box" clusters, running RedHat Linux versions.
I'm just glad to see linux advertised in the mainstream media. Name recognition helps.
More information is available at the main website:
http://ncsa.uiuc.edu
The US Army Corps of Engineering,
Engineering Research and Development Center,
Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
(USACERL) used linux in several of its projects during the time I worked there (1996-1998). Linux was used for some workstations, some small networks and the Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS) software system.
Not a major development, but enough general and specific use to be noticed. I don't know the current status of linux use at the labs today.
No inaminate object is ever "evil." Only the willfull misuse of an item by a human being might be construed as evil.
I can use any filesharing network as a "offline storage and archiving device." I own the cd, I format-shift the information in good faith and within fair use, and because I'm a paranoid person, I don't assume that my place of residence is safe enough to store the archives, so I store my information on a redundant, offsite network.
The primary purpose of any object is an assumption; for instance, no one in 1903 ever imagined a "primary use" of the auto in 1963 would be as mobile hotel room...
Perhaps the restrictions of the GPL and the MS EULA aren't of the same level? Perhaps it's acceptable to note the differences between two things rather than just noting their similarities?
GPL: Do whatever you like with this software so long as you don't release it to the world
MS: Do nothing with this software not specified in this license, and that only until we decide otherwise
Yes, these are both licenses. Yes, they restrict the rights of the users. No, they aren't the same, neither in degree or kind.
Oliover North, LtCol, retired, made the remark during an interview on T.V. that the fourth plane may have been headed to the National Emergency Command Center in Ft. Deitrick (sp?).
If the president chooses to remain on the ground instead of on kneecap (national emergency airborne command post the 747) it's possible that he might relocate here. There would definitely be a crisis team stationed there.
Wouldn't it be quicker to stop once n is greater than or equal to the square root of the number to be factored?
You already have the "j", which will cover all numbers above the square root.
This is similar to brute force prime finding...
Also, why recurse? At this number of digits, the number of recursions is gonna give your system a headache. Just do a linear scan from 2 to square root of n equals x
The via chipset problems on Epox MB's seemed to be
solved by the bios upgrade alone. The fixes I mentioned also fix the problem for for Windows 98se, but I install them because they make Windows a little bit smarter.
Linux hasn't required any fixes for these issues on my systems, after I upgraded the bios. Works out of the box, until I try to install the latest Rawhide distro... In fact, I usually boot into Linux to do any troubleshooting.
I'd have to say that Via chipset problems are highly over-mentioned, especially if the fix is a simple bios flash...
However, some people do not want to flash their bios, and in that case, I recommend that they consider using motherboards with the Via kt133 chipset. (Epox 8kta is onesuch)
The fix is simple. Grab the latest the via drivers set, 4in132 and install it. There may also be a bios update that fixes this problem as well.
The problem was: copy 100 megs in 1 or more files at a time from one ide drive to another drive. system locks hard, requireing a reset at least, and sometimes a power cycle. You know that its fixed when it doesn't do this again.
Small tip: grab and install the via busmaster drivers 3011 as well, selecting the miniport option. This lets windows "see" the correct info about your harddrives (i.e. IBM DTLA 305020 is reported as such and not "drive type 47") without any performance hits.
These files are available at: http://www.viahardware.com
That's not true. GPL allows any user to freely use the software in any way they want, except one; they can't distribute it without certain conditions.
Microsoft is more than interested in using GPL'd software, or they wouldn't be so public about its "infectious" characteristics. It's not that they can't use it, their problem with it is that they can't legally use it and distribute the results without distributing their work as well.
To repeat: GPL is not a limit on use, it's a limit on redistribution. The Feds should be sponsoring more software development under GPL, as the benefits of such investments go directly to the tax payers, and not directly to the special interests of the corporate world.
What's really sad is that the US government doesn't enforce any of its purchasing rules concerning single source vendors when it comes to purchasing PC's.
Every day at work I bring my 20 gig IBM ATA100 drive in, put it in the rack and reboot. At night, I shut off my machine and go home. My data goes with me, and I never have a problem. HD racks work and work well.
As for durability, you probably shouldn't use any electronic device as a softball, so I'm not too impressed if Iomega wants to sell an indestructible HD for twice the price.
The advantage of the rack is that you can painlessly upgrade, or reuse older, smaller drives. You can buy extra inserts and use the rack interface as a backup port.
For moving data around fixed/semi-fixed locations, nothing beats the hdrack in price & performance. I don't think the Iomega stuff is gonna provide ATA100 speeds...
Not to mention the Mig 25, Mig 31, etc. of the Soviets.
Mach 2.5 is achieveable if the designer wants it; high speed doesn't even require a complete focus on just straight line velocity either.
Take heart. The problem of government interference is now in the open. What you need to do now is look for public libraries that are NOT funded with federal dollars. As a second method, look for libraries that use Linux for their workstations.
I don't think that this will get very far, as there doesn't seem to be an enforcement agency for this. Hard to use "technical means" if they don't exist, and the censorware that actually blocks all porn works only by killing your network connection. Image the Federal Bureau of Networking trying to suggest the appropriate "technical means" by which your library can be in compliance...
Uh, you have that just backwards. They can use any methods they like against foreign nationals, but must strictly apply rigorous standards when investigating US citizens. What this means in practice is that they collect everything, and officially ignore that which pertains to US citizens.
Unofficially, who knows... which is what makes this investigation important.
I don't own any 500 horsepower cars, but I do care what speed the top end processors run at, and for a very good reason. The highest speeds available today determine which lower speed processors are still supported and sold.
I prefer to run the low end of the AMD chips, which is now near the 650-700 point. This cheap alternative would not be available at prices below $100 per chip if the high end didn't drive the market.
Do I really NEED a 650 Duron to run my day to day stuff? No, but at $65, I can afford one that will still serve my needs for years to come.
While your needs may be met your current systems, please do not infer from a single point of data that everyone's needs fit the same pattern.
As for x86 "losing the battle" why did Apple feel the need to offer TWO CPU's for the price of one in their high-end models? Are Mac users that influenced by a simple MHZ number? Perhaps "real benchmarks" are not equivalent to "real world" performance, as any cs undergrad will tell you.
What I do know is this: for my computer business, I can offer my clients the luxury of purchasing a system now with a 650 processor, and the guarantee of being able to swap in a 1200 processor if their future needs demand it. Apple isn't at that point, and the PC world is only due to the high-end CPU wars.
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I run wine and an ugly dos program that likes 320x200. If I don't resize the screen, the dos apps is about 1" across and unusable.
Grandma comes over and I'd like to let her browse the internet for a while by herself. Much easier to drop down to 640x480 temporarily than trying to resize all the icons just for her. (Yes, Grandma is smart enough to use a GUI, if she can see it.)
Given his poor experience with the proprietary alternatives, this is something he must consider seriously. He has no personal interest in Open Source per se, but the usefulness of this method of doing business becomes a viable option.
Let's not forget that a thin client solution also locks his users into 1 OS and one set of apps. It's quite possible that some of his users might even want to run linux on their boxes.
Which brings up an interesting point. Why not build a Linux terminal server for the cost of a nice new server $2-4k, depending, with NO license concerns, no license fees and software that you control? :) The MS solution just doesn't seem to offer any advantages over the Linux one. The nice part about this is that any user hopelessly welded to Microsoftian apps will have the opportunity to continue using his station in a standalone mode.
As someone else here already said, whatever you do, look into the upgrade of RAM first as a solution to your speed problems.
I wouldn't get one for my desktop. Now, AMD's hammer is another story... :)
Because they have versions of linux running in native mode for both the Hammer and Itanium, I would like to see a comparison of speed between the two. I know that the compilers for Hammer will be weak, and I know that the silicon is only A0, but hey, I expect great things from AMD. :)
The instructions are 64 bits. The instructions go to a staging area on the chip that handles 1 stream at a time (probably intrepreting and rearranging to execute multiple instructions at once).
The hardware is not currently designed to look at one half of the instruction as 1 instruction for virtual CPU0 and the other for virtual CPU1.
The Transmeta chip might be able to be programmed as such, but current Intel and AMD aren't designed for operations like that.
An analogy would be: Let's use the two wheels on each half of my car as a seperate vehicle, like a motorcyle, to go 2 places at once. Current vehicles aren't designed to do that. (Although one could be built to do that.)
Unlike people, the OS can REPLACE a part without being crippled. You seem to imply that removing a component from a Windows Distribution would keep any replacements from being made by a third party. This is exactly what my Toyota dealer says about "after-market" car parts, but then, he's a little bit biased, considering the profit margin to be made on "genuine Toyota"(tm) parts. Fortunately for my car, the company is unable to dictate that I use only their parts.
Unfortunately for Windows users, Micorsoft can dictate such behavior.
GPL is great for a business that USES GPL software, but it becomes a minefield for those who depend on the ability to redistribute (sell) software
It's possible that updates to the Itanium (McKinley and so on) may prove to be more useful than the Itanium itself. Anyone remember when the 60MHZ Pentium was released? It was hot, expensive, huge and completely new, just like the Itanium. It wasn't really worth the purchase price, in comparison to what was available in 486 at the time. You have to start somewhere...
64bit CPU's will provide a much better range of addressing, both for RAM and filesystems. They will also be faster than their 32bit cousins. How do I know? Well, we have 2 large-scale linux clusters here at NCSA. The IA32 cluster has 512 dual PIII nodes at 1.0 GHZ. The IA64 cluster has 160 dual Itaniums at 800MHZ. The Itanium cluster is about 10% faster for its top500 run. Check out entries 34 & 41. Yes, the Itanium cluster has more RAM per node than the IA32 and it was running RedHat 7.1 versus RedHat 6.2 for its older sibling, but you're still looking at a factor of 3 in CPU to CPU comparisions.
To sum up, Itanium doesn't quite suck :) Let's hope the AMD 64bit CPU's are even better!
Netscape never had the opportunity to stop Microsoft from playing "embrace and extend", as there was no way for them to stop MS bundling IE with every copy of Windows. No matter how good Netscape was, once MS began to force Windows users to have a copy of IE, it was all over.
It's not whining to sue MS over illegal actions, and it just might help Opera survive. It's important to note the IE is a great way to spread your virus, trojan horse or worm programs. We need to have competition in the browser market, and a lawsuit is the only thing that MS pays attention to.
I like the fact that one of our clusters is composed dual pentium PIII at 1.0GHZ- nothing you couldn't buy yourself. Ours are in a 1u form factor so that we can fit 30+ in a rack, but otherwise the basic node isn't that far out.
We do use some fancy networking equipment to pump up the message passing speed, and those NIC's aren't cheap, but what we have in production is inexpensive and effective for a whole new level group of potential users- those whom CRAY and SGI ignore.
http://access.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Releases/011018.Titan
Top500 org (http://www.top500.org) has the latest rankings out and Platinum is ranked #41 in the world with a 594 rating and Titan is at #34 with a 677 rating. These are not slow systems, but they do require a knowledgeable support staff. Both systems are IBM "out-of-the-box" clusters, running RedHat Linux versions.
I'm just glad to see linux advertised in the mainstream media. Name recognition helps.
More information is available at the main website: http://ncsa.uiuc.edu
The US Army Corps of Engineering,
Engineering Research and Development Center,
Construction Engineering Research Laboratory
(USACERL) used linux in several of its projects during the time I worked there (1996-1998). Linux was used for some workstations, some small networks and the Geographic Resources Analysis Support System (GRASS) software system.
Not a major development, but enough general and specific use to be noticed. I don't know the current status of linux use at the labs today.
I can use any filesharing network as a "offline storage and archiving device." I own the cd, I format-shift the information in good faith and within fair use, and because I'm a paranoid person, I don't assume that my place of residence is safe enough to store the archives, so I store my information on a redundant, offsite network.
The primary purpose of any object is an assumption; for instance, no one in 1903 ever imagined a "primary use" of the auto in 1963 would be as mobile hotel room...
GPL: Do whatever you like with this software so long as you don't release it to the world
MS: Do nothing with this software not specified in this license, and that only until we decide otherwise
Yes, these are both licenses. Yes, they restrict the rights of the users. No, they aren't the same, neither in degree or kind.
If the president chooses to remain on the ground instead of on kneecap (national emergency airborne command post the 747) it's possible that he might relocate here. There would definitely be a crisis team stationed there.
all US flights. This was reported after news of a third plane crash at the Pentagon.
According to Dan Rather:
"The top half of the one of third world trade centers has collapsed..."
You already have the "j", which will cover all numbers above the square root.
This is similar to brute force prime finding...
Also, why recurse? At this number of digits, the number of recursions is gonna give your system a headache. Just do a linear scan from 2 to square root of n equals x
The via chipset problems on Epox MB's seemed to be solved by the bios upgrade alone. The fixes I mentioned also fix the problem for for Windows 98se, but I install them because they make Windows a little bit smarter.
Linux hasn't required any fixes for these issues on my systems, after I upgraded the bios. Works out of the box, until I try to install the latest Rawhide distro... In fact, I usually boot into Linux to do any troubleshooting.
I'd have to say that Via chipset problems are highly over-mentioned, especially if the fix is a simple bios flash... However, some people do not want to flash their bios, and in that case, I recommend that they consider using motherboards with the Via kt133 chipset. (Epox 8kta is onesuch)
The problem was: copy 100 megs in 1 or more files at a time from one ide drive to another drive. system locks hard, requireing a reset at least, and sometimes a power cycle. You know that its fixed when it doesn't do this again.
Small tip: grab and install the via busmaster drivers 3011 as well, selecting the miniport option. This lets windows "see" the correct info about your harddrives (i.e. IBM DTLA 305020 is reported as such and not "drive type 47") without any performance hits.
These files are available at: http://www.viahardware.com
Microsoft is more than interested in using GPL'd software, or they wouldn't be so public about its "infectious" characteristics. It's not that they can't use it, their problem with it is that they can't legally use it and distribute the results without distributing their work as well.
To repeat: GPL is not a limit on use, it's a limit on redistribution. The Feds should be sponsoring more software development under GPL, as the benefits of such investments go directly to the tax payers, and not directly to the special interests of the corporate world.
What's really sad is that the US government doesn't enforce any of its purchasing rules concerning single source vendors when it comes to purchasing PC's.
As for durability, you probably shouldn't use any electronic device as a softball, so I'm not too impressed if Iomega wants to sell an indestructible HD for twice the price.
The advantage of the rack is that you can painlessly upgrade, or reuse older, smaller drives. You can buy extra inserts and use the rack interface as a backup port.
For moving data around fixed/semi-fixed locations, nothing beats the hdrack in price & performance. I don't think the Iomega stuff is gonna provide ATA100 speeds...
Not to mention the Mig 25, Mig 31, etc. of the Soviets.
Mach 2.5 is achieveable if the designer wants it; high speed doesn't even require a complete focus on just straight line velocity either.
Take heart. The problem of government interference is now in the open. What you need to do now is look for public libraries that are NOT funded with federal dollars. As a second method, look for libraries that use Linux for their workstations.
I don't think that this will get very far, as there doesn't seem to be an enforcement agency for this. Hard to use "technical means" if they don't exist, and the censorware that actually blocks all porn works only by killing your network connection. Image the Federal Bureau of Networking trying to suggest the appropriate "technical means" by which your library can be in compliance...
Unofficially, who knows... which is what makes this investigation important.
I prefer to run the low end of the AMD chips, which is now near the 650-700 point. This cheap alternative would not be available at prices below $100 per chip if the high end didn't drive the market.
Do I really NEED a 650 Duron to run my day to day stuff? No, but at $65, I can afford one that will still serve my needs for years to come. While your needs may be met your current systems, please do not infer from a single point of data that everyone's needs fit the same pattern.As for x86 "losing the battle" why did Apple feel the need to offer TWO CPU's for the price of one in their high-end models? Are Mac users that influenced by a simple MHZ number? Perhaps "real benchmarks" are not equivalent to "real world" performance, as any cs undergrad will tell you.
What I do know is this: for my computer business, I can offer my clients the luxury of purchasing a system now with a 650 processor, and the guarantee of being able to swap in a 1200 processor if their future needs demand it. Apple isn't at that point, and the PC world is only due to the high-end CPU wars.