Actually, the more I think about it, you're right. I was thinking of objects updating their state as they go, and there's no need to do that. You just need two states - the current frame, and the next frame. Objects deciding how their state will change in the next frame is parallelizable, as long as their current state is read-only. Then at the end of that state you'll need to synchronize all the threads updating state and then move the system onto the next state (which again can be done in parallel).
The problem I haven't really figured out how to solve would be objects coming into conflict in their next state. (Two objects deciding to move into the same place - they don't collide until the next state is finalized.)
Of course, none of this answers to core question: is the Cell worth the yield and cost problems?
You mean the parts that people generally offload to another processor are easily parallelized? The Cell doesn't do the graphics rendering in the PS3, it doesn't do the pixel-shaders, it doesn't do anything like that. Remember the Slashdot story ages ago about how the PS3 had abysmally low read speeds from graphics memory? The Cell won't be used for anything graphics-related beyond feeding data to the GPU.
Of course, having a separate GPU from the CPU isn't exactly new.
Trying to spread game logic among multiple cores is just asking for a whole heap of pain with locking issues and trying to guess which parts can be done in parallel and which can't. I'm sure it's possible, but the question is if it buys you anything worthwhile over a system with fewer cores.
...that trying to run 8 cores at once might be what's causing the power drain.
The real question is, of course, are any games going to actually make use of the eight cores? Video games aren't really known for being very parallel-friendly - you might make an excuse for five threads (logic, graphics, sound, controller I/O, and disk I/O), but generally they're fairly serial processes. While updating the game logic, you don't want to draw a frame using half-updated information.
Ultimately, you have to wonder if Sony's decision to go with the Cell and use Blu-Ray was really that intelligent - most of the cost and production problems can be traced to them, and they provide very little real benefit to the end-user.
It's kinda funny - if you simply deny all the samples which use bad grammar and spelling, you'll get all but one right. And the one you get wrong is some guy you supposedly haven't seen for three years. All I can say is that if he can't bother putting in the effort to spell "you" and "are" out completely, he doesn't get on the friend list.
This isn't just about "old media" like newspapers and TV, though. It's about "new media:"
The newly-established unit would use "new media" channels to push its message and "set the record straight", Pentagon press secretary Eric Ruff said.
...
The unit would reportedly monitor media such as weblogs and would also employ "surrogates", or top politicians or lobbyists who could be interviewed on TV and radio shows.
That sounds dangerously close to astroturfing. It's unclear from the article what, exactly, this new group hopes to accomplish, but I hope they're not planning on astroturfing. Having a press office is fine - but I'm fairly sure the Pentagon already has one. (After all, there's a Pentagon press secretary quoted above, which would seem to suggest a press office.) This sounds like something different, and dangerously close to astroturfing.
The idea of the Pentagon employing "surrogates" sounds - well, creepy. And maybe just a tad Orwellian.
I'm all for the Pentagon publishing their views and opinions. They should. However, it should always be clear where the information is coming from, and the article makes it sound like it won't be. Employing "surrogates" is fine - as long as it's always made clear where their message comes from.
Of course, the article is incredibly vague about what, exactly, this new group will be doing. So there may be nothing to worry about, but it's worth being concerned until it becomes clear how, exactly, they intend to "correct the record."
It's not just the Pentagon's fault. Congress and the President have ultimate control over the budget that the Pentagon receives, and can earmark money for certain projects and refuse to fund others.
While someone at the Pentagon probably came up with the suggestion, Congress and the President can't be left off the hook either. They control the purse strings and have a fair amount of influence over how the Pentagon spends its money.
And, because I can't resist a jab at Cheney:
"It's my belief that they're very sensitive of the fact that we've got an election scheduled and they can get on the websites like anybody else," Mr Cheney told Fox News.
"There isn't anything that's on the internet that's not accessible to them. They're on it all the time. They're very sophisticated users of it."
Right. Because posting comments to websites and writing a blog is so incredibly difficult and sophisticated.
As it turned out, the disc worked perfectly in my car CD player, which can also play MP3s burned on CDR, and ripped perfectly via CD-Ex. (Although I disabled AutoRun via TweakUI prior to inserting the disc - I'm not stupid.)
So whatever copy protection scheme they used on that disc doesn't appear to have worked that well.
It also means you can't buy any music by "Weird Al" Yankovic. His label, Volcano, is a subsidiary of Sony BMG. I'm sad to say I didn't realize this until after I got "Straight Outta Lynwood" home and noticed that, below the sticker that read "this CD does not conform to CD Audio specifications and may not play in all CD players" there was a Sony BMG logo.
So if you want to boycott Sony, you also have to boycott "Weird Al," something Slashdot may not enjoy doing.
If you had actually read the article, you'd see that publishers could have acheivments/entitlements - but there are none planned. At all.
The title of the article is "No 'Achievements' System for PS3 Games" - that's straight from the article. As a subtitle, it has "But some games will sort of have it. Kind of."
There's no centralized online service, so there's no way to tie your achievements into a central service to prove you've actually achieved things. This will be just like the final rankings that various games grant people in the PS2: totally meaningless.
When you complete Okami, you get ranked in several fields. Devil May Cry has a ranking system too. So does Metal Gear Solid. They don't mean anything and there's no way to prove you've actually received a rank online. You can't link to a profile page listing your achievements.
So, yes, companies can build their own online achievement system, but I'd be amazed if any game actually does. It looks like, just like last generation, if you want to play online games, go for the XBox 360.
If I started distributing my own version of "Debian Linux", which was really a rebranded copy of Redhat with spyware installed, don't you think the Debian people would want me to stop using that name?
And that has what, exactly, to do with shipping a slightly modified version of Firefox?
The appropriate analogy would be if you shipped a version of Debian that had a few of the configuration files renamed but otherwise was identical.
The browser Debian had been calling Firefox used the exact same source as the official Firefox - it just had security patches back-ported to versions Mozilla was no longer supporting, along with a few patches to use Debian's directory layout and to use Debian's existing system libraries versus statically linking copies of them.
Apparently securing older versions of Firefox is enough to require Debian to stop using the name Firefox. Whatever.
Plus Okami ends with some pretty serious hints that there's room for a sequel. The final narration includes something like "you want to hear the rest of the tale? Some other time."
There's definitely room for an Okami 2, although explaining what it would likely be involves plot spoilers.
According to the Microsoft USB FAQ, it is possible to create a USB device which Windows will Autorun. Since Microsoft doesn't include anchors within the document to allow me to link directly to the question, it is:
Q: What must I do to trigger Autorun on my USB storage device?
The Autorun capabilities are restricted to CD-ROM drives and fixed disk drives. If you need to make a USB storage device perform Autorun, the device must not be marked as a removable media device and the device must contain an Autorun.inf file and a startup application.
So, yes, it is possible to make a USB storage device trigger Autorun and run a trojan. I don't know if it's possible in this case, but it is theoretically possible to do with a USB device.
Sorta like how making drugs illegal has removed all drug-related crimes from the US?
When guns are made illegal, crooks get them the same way they get anything else that's illegal: illegally.
The best you can hope to do is replace the violent weapon with a different one. If there were no guns, then people would be murdering each other with knives and swords. (And axes, and hammers, etc.)
By the way, a quick Google search indicates that the US does not have the highest crime rate in the world. The Wikipedia gives that honor to either the Vatican City or Dominica depending on statistic source. Unfortunately I can't find any really good source deliniating crime rates, and the statistics suffer from non-uniform reporting and differing definitions of what is and isn't a crime.
It helps that the US was kind enough not to answer the UN survey of crime rates. Take that as you will.
It's still not clear how solid a case it is, but it's solid enough to say it's the most probable. Not "beyond a reasonable doubt" probable, but more probable than Hans not having murdered his wife.
Has your wife been missing for over a month? You indicate she is alive and well, therefore I'm guessing not, greatly decreasing the probability that she is dead in the first place. To approximately 0, I'd guess.
Are you and your wife going through a two-year long divorce process? Again, I'm guessing not.
#1 explains why murder is even in the equation. Nina Reiser has been missing for over a month with no trace. This greatly raises the chances that she's dead. It also raises the possibility that she's been murdered.
The main point is probably #2 - Nina Reiser has been separated from Hans Reiser for two years. There's very little reason her blood should be in his car and house considering she doesn't live with him and hasn't for two years.
There's more evidence than just blood mentioned in the linked article, by the way.
We don't know if he did it - yet - but we know more than enough to say that it's most probable that he did. It is, of course, possible he didn't, and we all hope that Nina will be found alive somewhere, but the most probable outcome is that Hans Reiser has, in fact, murdered Nina.
Actually, that's a very interesting question. Which draws more hatred: the DOD, the DOJ, or the FBI?
I think "EFF Sues the FBI Over Surveillance" would have worked just as well to stir up comments, while having the added advantage of being accurate.
In fact, with the space saved by using the actual facts, you could change the headline to "EFF Sues the FBI Over Net Surveillance" which is both accurate and guaranteed to generate comments.
But I still wonder - which would generate the most flames, the DOD, the DOJ, or the FBI? They all are pretty well hated...
The FBI is part of the Department of Justice, not the Department of Defense. The linked article gets this right. As far as I can tell, there's no connection with the DOD to this story at all, other than both being executive branch departments.
The summary even refers to the DOJ (a "Justice Department Inspector General") - Zonk apparently read the article, so why the incorrect headline?
Except that's blatantly false. Rumble costs what, a good $5-$10 in a controller? Maybe? Probably far less, the DualShock controller is $25.
Blu-ray is pushing the cost of the console up a good $300. If they wanted to cut costs by removing something the consumer doesn't want, they could have cut Blu-ray. They didn't. They cut the rumble feature.
Try saying with a straight face that the rumble feature was removed to benefit the customer. I don't buy it. It was removed to spite Immersion, and that's the only reason it was removed. If they really wanted to keep costs down, they would have cut Blu-ray. Saying the rumble feature was cut for cost reasons is ludicrious.
While I expect you're right, without seeing the actual setup, it's possible the consoles will work fine in entertainment centers and the like. I was hoping one of the articles would have a picture of the setup being refered to. If it were a whole bunch of PS3s right on top of each other (apparently there were 200 total, who knows how close), then it very well could have just been a poor setup.
I expect you're going to be right anyway, but I'm more than willing to give Sony the benefit of the doubt and accept that they're too incompetent to properly set up a booth at a trade show.
Seriously, given that we know Sony intends to nickle-and-dime us for their online service, requiring downloaded content for their games, the fact that games are "only" $60 really doesn't matter to me.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, the more I think about it, you're right. I was thinking of objects updating their state as they go, and there's no need to do that. You just need two states - the current frame, and the next frame. Objects deciding how their state will change in the next frame is parallelizable, as long as their current state is read-only. Then at the end of that state you'll need to synchronize all the threads updating state and then move the system onto the next state (which again can be done in parallel).
The problem I haven't really figured out how to solve would be objects coming into conflict in their next state. (Two objects deciding to move into the same place - they don't collide until the next state is finalized.)
Of course, none of this answers to core question: is the Cell worth the yield and cost problems?
You mean the parts that people generally offload to another processor are easily parallelized? The Cell doesn't do the graphics rendering in the PS3, it doesn't do the pixel-shaders, it doesn't do anything like that. Remember the Slashdot story ages ago about how the PS3 had abysmally low read speeds from graphics memory? The Cell won't be used for anything graphics-related beyond feeding data to the GPU.
Of course, having a separate GPU from the CPU isn't exactly new.
Trying to spread game logic among multiple cores is just asking for a whole heap of pain with locking issues and trying to guess which parts can be done in parallel and which can't. I'm sure it's possible, but the question is if it buys you anything worthwhile over a system with fewer cores.
...that trying to run 8 cores at once might be what's causing the power drain.
The real question is, of course, are any games going to actually make use of the eight cores? Video games aren't really known for being very parallel-friendly - you might make an excuse for five threads (logic, graphics, sound, controller I/O, and disk I/O), but generally they're fairly serial processes. While updating the game logic, you don't want to draw a frame using half-updated information.
Ultimately, you have to wonder if Sony's decision to go with the Cell and use Blu-Ray was really that intelligent - most of the cost and production problems can be traced to them, and they provide very little real benefit to the end-user.
It's kinda funny - if you simply deny all the samples which use bad grammar and spelling, you'll get all but one right. And the one you get wrong is some guy you supposedly haven't seen for three years. All I can say is that if he can't bother putting in the effort to spell "you" and "are" out completely, he doesn't get on the friend list.
This isn't just about "old media" like newspapers and TV, though. It's about "new media:"
That sounds dangerously close to astroturfing. It's unclear from the article what, exactly, this new group hopes to accomplish, but I hope they're not planning on astroturfing. Having a press office is fine - but I'm fairly sure the Pentagon already has one. (After all, there's a Pentagon press secretary quoted above, which would seem to suggest a press office.) This sounds like something different, and dangerously close to astroturfing.
The idea of the Pentagon employing "surrogates" sounds - well, creepy. And maybe just a tad Orwellian.
I'm all for the Pentagon publishing their views and opinions. They should. However, it should always be clear where the information is coming from, and the article makes it sound like it won't be. Employing "surrogates" is fine - as long as it's always made clear where their message comes from.
Of course, the article is incredibly vague about what, exactly, this new group will be doing. So there may be nothing to worry about, but it's worth being concerned until it becomes clear how, exactly, they intend to "correct the record."
It's not just the Pentagon's fault. Congress and the President have ultimate control over the budget that the Pentagon receives, and can earmark money for certain projects and refuse to fund others.
While someone at the Pentagon probably came up with the suggestion, Congress and the President can't be left off the hook either. They control the purse strings and have a fair amount of influence over how the Pentagon spends its money.
And, because I can't resist a jab at Cheney:
Right. Because posting comments to websites and writing a blog is so incredibly difficult and sophisticated.
I wonder what power he got?
(This is in the games section, after all, so I hope everyone knows who Kirby is.)
I took it more as a challenge.
As it turned out, the disc worked perfectly in my car CD player, which can also play MP3s burned on CDR, and ripped perfectly via CD-Ex. (Although I disabled AutoRun via TweakUI prior to inserting the disc - I'm not stupid.)
So whatever copy protection scheme they used on that disc doesn't appear to have worked that well.
It also means you can't buy any music by "Weird Al" Yankovic. His label, Volcano, is a subsidiary of Sony BMG. I'm sad to say I didn't realize this until after I got "Straight Outta Lynwood" home and noticed that, below the sticker that read "this CD does not conform to CD Audio specifications and may not play in all CD players" there was a Sony BMG logo.
So if you want to boycott Sony, you also have to boycott "Weird Al," something Slashdot may not enjoy doing.
If you had actually read the article, you'd see that publishers could have acheivments/entitlements - but there are none planned. At all.
The title of the article is "No 'Achievements' System for PS3 Games" - that's straight from the article. As a subtitle, it has "But some games will sort of have it. Kind of."
There's no centralized online service, so there's no way to tie your achievements into a central service to prove you've actually achieved things. This will be just like the final rankings that various games grant people in the PS2: totally meaningless.
When you complete Okami, you get ranked in several fields. Devil May Cry has a ranking system too. So does Metal Gear Solid. They don't mean anything and there's no way to prove you've actually received a rank online. You can't link to a profile page listing your achievements.
So, yes, companies can build their own online achievement system, but I'd be amazed if any game actually does. It looks like, just like last generation, if you want to play online games, go for the XBox 360.
And that has what, exactly, to do with shipping a slightly modified version of Firefox?
The appropriate analogy would be if you shipped a version of Debian that had a few of the configuration files renamed but otherwise was identical.
The browser Debian had been calling Firefox used the exact same source as the official Firefox - it just had security patches back-ported to versions Mozilla was no longer supporting, along with a few patches to use Debian's directory layout and to use Debian's existing system libraries versus statically linking copies of them.
Apparently securing older versions of Firefox is enough to require Debian to stop using the name Firefox. Whatever.
Worse, though, some will opt out.
Which leaves web designers having to support both IE6 and IE7. And there's still no easy official way to run both on the same machine.
(I'm aware of the unofficial ways, but it's still annoying.)
Plus Okami ends with some pretty serious hints that there's room for a sequel. The final narration includes something like "you want to hear the rest of the tale? Some other time."
There's definitely room for an Okami 2, although explaining what it would likely be involves plot spoilers.
According to the Microsoft USB FAQ, it is possible to create a USB device which Windows will Autorun. Since Microsoft doesn't include anchors within the document to allow me to link directly to the question, it is:
So, yes, it is possible to make a USB storage device trigger Autorun and run a trojan. I don't know if it's possible in this case, but it is theoretically possible to do with a USB device.
Sorta like how making drugs illegal has removed all drug-related crimes from the US?
When guns are made illegal, crooks get them the same way they get anything else that's illegal: illegally.
The best you can hope to do is replace the violent weapon with a different one. If there were no guns, then people would be murdering each other with knives and swords. (And axes, and hammers, etc.)
By the way, a quick Google search indicates that the US does not have the highest crime rate in the world. The Wikipedia gives that honor to either the Vatican City or Dominica depending on statistic source. Unfortunately I can't find any really good source deliniating crime rates, and the statistics suffer from non-uniform reporting and differing definitions of what is and isn't a crime.
It helps that the US was kind enough not to answer the UN survey of crime rates. Take that as you will.
Here, just read the Wikipedia article on Hans Reiser and check the sources listed there. They give a fairly good run-down of the case against Hans Reiser. Another good source is Arstechnica's synoposis.
It's still not clear how solid a case it is, but it's solid enough to say it's the most probable. Not "beyond a reasonable doubt" probable, but more probable than Hans not having murdered his wife.
Sure.
#1 explains why murder is even in the equation. Nina Reiser has been missing for over a month with no trace. This greatly raises the chances that she's dead. It also raises the possibility that she's been murdered.
The main point is probably #2 - Nina Reiser has been separated from Hans Reiser for two years. There's very little reason her blood should be in his car and house considering she doesn't live with him and hasn't for two years.
There's more evidence than just blood mentioned in the linked article, by the way.
And now that he's been arrested, the police have described some of their evidence against him. They found her blood in his house and in his car.
We don't know if he did it - yet - but we know more than enough to say that it's most probable that he did. It is, of course, possible he didn't, and we all hope that Nina will be found alive somewhere, but the most probable outcome is that Hans Reiser has, in fact, murdered Nina.
Plus, the warning iTunes shows when you delete files reads:
So, yes, it does indeed explicitly warn you that removing songs from the library removes them from the iPod.
Actually, that's a very interesting question. Which draws more hatred: the DOD, the DOJ, or the FBI?
I think "EFF Sues the FBI Over Surveillance" would have worked just as well to stir up comments, while having the added advantage of being accurate.
In fact, with the space saved by using the actual facts, you could change the headline to "EFF Sues the FBI Over Net Surveillance" which is both accurate and guaranteed to generate comments.
But I still wonder - which would generate the most flames, the DOD, the DOJ, or the FBI? They all are pretty well hated...
The FBI is part of the Department of Justice, not the Department of Defense. The linked article gets this right. As far as I can tell, there's no connection with the DOD to this story at all, other than both being executive branch departments.
The summary even refers to the DOJ (a "Justice Department Inspector General") - Zonk apparently read the article, so why the incorrect headline?
Except that's blatantly false. Rumble costs what, a good $5-$10 in a controller? Maybe? Probably far less, the DualShock controller is $25.
Blu-ray is pushing the cost of the console up a good $300. If they wanted to cut costs by removing something the consumer doesn't want, they could have cut Blu-ray. They didn't. They cut the rumble feature.
Try saying with a straight face that the rumble feature was removed to benefit the customer. I don't buy it. It was removed to spite Immersion, and that's the only reason it was removed. If they really wanted to keep costs down, they would have cut Blu-ray. Saying the rumble feature was cut for cost reasons is ludicrious.
While I expect you're right, without seeing the actual setup, it's possible the consoles will work fine in entertainment centers and the like. I was hoping one of the articles would have a picture of the setup being refered to. If it were a whole bunch of PS3s right on top of each other (apparently there were 200 total, who knows how close), then it very well could have just been a poor setup.
I expect you're going to be right anyway, but I'm more than willing to give Sony the benefit of the doubt and accept that they're too incompetent to properly set up a booth at a trade show.
Let's see... my old rep... didn't vote. I wonder why?
However, I've crossed district lines recently, and my new rep voted against it.
I'm noticing that this was a pretty damned partison vote, though. Of the 232 yays, I count 18 Democrats. Of the 191 nays, only 9 Republicans.
Go partison politics. Yay. /waves tiny US flag joylessly
...and then an additional $40 for the content? I'm underwhelmed.
Seriously, given that we know Sony intends to nickle-and-dime us for their online service, requiring downloaded content for their games, the fact that games are "only" $60 really doesn't matter to me.