Russia is a democracy in the sence that it's ruler is chosen by majority of voters
Perhaps. This has never actually been tested. In my book, a country proves it's a democracy the first time it votes someone OUT of office, not the first time it confirms the sitting president with an affirmative vote.
I think the fundamental issue is that the word "conservative" has no actual definition in a political sense. Anyone who wants to can call themselves conservative. It's just the name of their club.
Const correctness is important, but is only one of many pitfalls/advantages to C++. Overuse of static (non-thread-safe) variables, overuse of nested templates without typedefs, and crazy operator overloading often have worse effects to C++ productivity, IMHO.
Of course, I've been programming in pure Java for a couple years now, so my near-decade of C++ experience is actually getting a little rusty.
I've never dived in my life, so I'm no expert, but isn't there an obvious solution to delivering the gas at the same pressure as the ambient water: let the ambient water compress it? You could make the centrifuge module with a spring-loaded bottom that moved in as the pressure increased, delivering gas at the same pressure as the water. Or provide a module after the centrifuge that did it using the ambient water pressure instead of a pump.
The XBox 360, according to several articles with their tech lead, uses a derivative of the XBox's operating system, which was loosely based on Windows 2000. So the OS fork was 5-6 years ago. I don't see a moving the desktop Longhorn release, which is delayed enough already without such a change, to PowerPC as something that would be easy.
Certainly not as easy for Microsoft as moving to Intel would be for Apple.
Really, Apple's in a pretty good position to make this move. A significant portion of their revenue is currently in the music business, so risk is lower than it's been in a decade. And the reward... well, it's pretty obvious how cool a dual-core Pentium M PowerBook would be. Can they pull off a transition like this? Apple can if anyone could. (And did, once.)
The main point is demonstration, not just "show". There is a common misconception in the industry that PowerPC G4 chips are better than x86 chips in embedded and small form factor designs. The Pentium M disproves that rather dramatically, and Intel wanted to showcase it. I'd say, based on the attention they're getting in Slashdot and elsewhere, they did a good job.
This isn't about a machine you'll buy and give to your grandmother (although mine uses an iMac, not a mini,) it's about Intel saying "we can do anything you can do better." It's also not about the OS... Intel's not an OS manufacturer.
This isn't flamebait, but I'd just like to say that while the article may over-state the point, it has a point.
For every really innovative open source project out there (and there are many,) there are ten "let's create an open source version of proprietary product X." Those efforts appear, to me, to take money away from the innovators, which would logically slow future innovation. While software patents help somewhat, they've got their own serious issues. Fundamentally, any open source project started with the purpose of duplicating existing functionality elsewhere would, to me, seem like it would slow innovation.
As to the "we'll all become consultants" mentality, I think that's another core problem with the linux-esque business model. Companies like Apple take a source base, and try and make it so intuitive and easy to use, that consultants are only needed rarely for the really "interesting" things. On the other hand, the linux companies' entire business strategy appears to be to take the most obtuse, opaque, and difficult to use system in existence today, give it away for free, and charge for support when people have issues. I don't believe the latter strategy is the type of tech world I want to live in.
There's obviously room in industry for both sides of the fence, but the article does make an interesting point on the distribution of capital towards supporting past and future innovation.
Casuality makes little sense here anyway--that's like presuming writing equations on a chalkboard kills XX sperm.
No, it's like THEORIZING (Not presuming. Nothing in science should ever be presumed) that writing equations on a chalkboard kills XX sperm. Chalk dust... chemical additives... it's not completely impossible. Chalk should be a fairly easy factor to compensate for in the statistical analysis, though, so shouldn't be hard to confirm or discredit.
I'm not saying it's a good theory... I'm just saying that in science, there's always a cause somewhere, it makes sense to look for the cause, and theorizing and experimenting are the only way of uncovering the cause.
(Sorry if I seem over-sensitive to issues concerning the scientific method, but it seems like it's been under heavy attack in the biological sciences lately.)
"There are passengers and there are drivers. Drivers not wanted."
As someone who went to CMU, I'm of course rooting for the home team, but it is fun to read about the other guys. For the on-road stuff, they had those trucks zipping driver-less, pretty fast, through Schenley Park back in the 90's, so it'll be interesting to see if they can keep on the trail this time for the off-road challenge.
The pipe between VRAM and RAM is still much smaller than the pipe between VRAM and GPU. Systems like the (disabled by default) "Quartz 2D Extreme" engine on MacOS X 10.4 send the (relatively small) drawing commands directly to the GPU instead of drawing to RAM in the first place. Even if current Macs implemented PCI Express, which they unfortunately don't, it is a huge net win to draw directly on the card to VRAM. And that probably means an extra frame buffer on the card, and thus more VRAM for better performance.
This is also the route that Longhorn, Java 1.6, and other hardware accelerated drawing and compositing GUI engines are going next year. While PCI Express certainly helps, even the fastest proposed PCI Express cards' link to RAM, at 4GBps, is about 7x slower than the VRAM-GPU path in a modern video card.
The single best thing students could learn to make them more competitive in the workplace is something other than Windows. They'll get Windows at home, at their first job, and probably soon on their cellphones. Any UNIX knowledge, on the other hand, is golden. First of all, the mere fact that they've learned something other than Windows at some point gives them a perspective way beyond their peers and an ability to "think outside the box", to use a cliche. Secondly, it gives them an increased ability to acclimate to any new system, whether it's MacOS, linux, or even a future version of "Windows 2015 XXXXP SuperPro". Even if Microsoft holds on to their monopoly forever and ever, which I don't see as hugely likely, their OS a decade or two from now isn't going to look anything like XP, and a student's ability to adapt will make them more competitive.
From what I understand, virtually every point in the parent post is incorrect. 1. The primary 3D API promoted by Microsoft for the original XBox is, in fact, a version of DirectX 8. 2. Nvidia reportedly did not even bid on the next XBox contract because they got burned so badly by the first one due to the XBox's low demand. Microsoft had to go begging to ATI. 3. The most recent release of VirtualPC on the Macintosh reportedly had video card drivers for DirectX 8 calls that could do hardware emulation for games, before the feature was pulled for time-to-market concerns... and since Microsoft owns DirectX, there wouldn't be any legal concerns.
By the way, according to c|net, the demo'ed XBox content was all running on Macintosh G5's. Although the release version will be clocked faster (although probably a simpler, non-out-of-order CPU core,) it's reasonable to speculate on what the XBox will be able to emulate by speculating on what VirtualPC on the Mac might be capable of with hardware DirectX 8.
In particular, here's the case to which I think he's referring. Disney^H^H^H^H^H^HThe US Government won every round, including the Supreme Court. The materials in question, in some cases ones that had already entered the public domain, are now under copyright.
Yes, because historically, things named "Beta" have fared so well in the marketplace.
Quartz Composer on MacOS 10.4
on
GPU Gems 2
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
One of the most interesting aspects of GPU programming that I've been playing with recently is Quartz Composer released as part of MacOS X 10.4's dev tools (included on the install DVD.)
It's a visual programming environment that lets you hook together "patches" that create, control, and present audio and video. You can include GL-slang kernels as well. Also, since MacOS X 10.4's Core Image will recompile GL shader language into Altivec code if the GPU isn't up to the task, it adds a lot of flexibility as to when you're okay using the shader language. You can synchronize audio effects with real-time video effects, and hook up iSights, still images, MIDI sound, audio input, mix them all together on the CPU and GPU, and present some stunning effects. I'm certainly going to be checking this book out to see if it helps with this sort of endeavor.
I don't want to Slashdot anyone's site, since most people working on it are just publishing their creations on personal blogs, but a few google searches can turn up some really fantastic visual effects people have created in the couple weeks it's been out.
1. The only way the "subscription" model for the music stores is going to take off is if it's combined with an existing subscription model that takes no effort for people to add to. The only two things most people subscribe to on a regular basis is cable television and phones. It's very credible to think that if Comcast offered $5/mo for you to download any songs you wanted onto your ComcastRio, a lot of people would do it. Probably similar with cell phones.
Therefore, I see Napster and friends quickly being bought out by Comcast, Cingular, etc., and becoming a music service provider. Whether they even converge the cellphone and the MP3 player is beside the point... it would help them cut down on costs, but I don't think is fundamental to the model-- they could just have the CinglarRio or whatever.
2. What is Gates smoking? From the article:
"You can make parallels with computers: Apple was very strong in this field before, with its Macintosh and its graphics user interface--like the iPod today--and then lost its position," Gates said.
Yes... it's a pity the Macintosh fell from its previous 92% market share to where it is today. Oh, wait a minute, that's not what happened at all.
Are the blaster pistols also not made of light, and that's why you can see one coming when it's shot AT you?
The fatest way to ship a job overseas...
on
Johnny Can So Program
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
If you would REALLY like to accelerate the shift of jobs overseas, make sure you get some good foreigners trained in US universities with a whole lot of internship contacts in American companies, then refuse to give them a work visa.
They'll go back to their home country, where developers probably get paid half as much, and use their contacts to start a code farming business, taking away American jobs.
The best way to keep jobs in America is to have the best and brightest from around the world COME to America and build their industries HERE. Sending them home, in the long run, sends the jobs with them.
This was done by several people on the alfa-digest mailing list (for, as you may guess, aficionados of Alfa Romeo vehicles,) who are generally rather fanatical about driving.
The consensus reached, if there was one, is that the basic engine is most efficient accelerating at wide-open throttle, and most efficient cruising at the lowest RPM that doesn't "lug" the engine. Of course, brakes are 100% inefficient on a non-regenerative car, so the less you use them, the higher the MPG. Also, modern cars have all kinds of equipment between the gas pedal and the engine, so that may affect it.
So the most efficient highway driving practice for the tested cars was basically to put your foot to the floor, shift at low RPMs, reach cruise speed as quickly as possible, then cruise at the lowest practical RPM. In city driving, modify this so-as to minimize the amount you'll eventually have to brake. (Full accel, full brake, full accel, full brake is obviously not going to be optimal.)
The biggest issue with the "foot to the floor" acceleration was the tendency to reach very high RPMs, which are definitely inefficient in most gasoline engines.
(By the way, all this would change on a diesel engine. They have a much flatter power curve over RPMs.)
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps. This has never actually been tested. In my book, a country proves it's a democracy the first time it votes someone OUT of office, not the first time it confirms the sitting president with an affirmative vote.
I think the fundamental issue is that the word "conservative" has no actual definition in a political sense. Anyone who wants to can call themselves conservative. It's just the name of their club.
Const correctness is important, but is only one of many pitfalls/advantages to C++. Overuse of static (non-thread-safe) variables, overuse of nested templates without typedefs, and crazy operator overloading often have worse effects to C++ productivity, IMHO.
Of course, I've been programming in pure Java for a couple years now, so my near-decade of C++ experience is actually getting a little rusty.
I've never dived in my life, so I'm no expert, but isn't there an obvious solution to delivering the gas at the same pressure as the ambient water: let the ambient water compress it? You could make the centrifuge module with a spring-loaded bottom that moved in as the pressure increased, delivering gas at the same pressure as the water. Or provide a module after the centrifuge that did it using the ambient water pressure instead of a pump.
The XBox 360, according to several articles with their tech lead, uses a derivative of the XBox's operating system, which was loosely based on Windows 2000. So the OS fork was 5-6 years ago. I don't see a moving the desktop Longhorn release, which is delayed enough already without such a change, to PowerPC as something that would be easy.
Certainly not as easy for Microsoft as moving to Intel would be for Apple.
Really, Apple's in a pretty good position to make this move. A significant portion of their revenue is currently in the music business, so risk is lower than it's been in a decade. And the reward... well, it's pretty obvious how cool a dual-core Pentium M PowerBook would be. Can they pull off a transition like this? Apple can if anyone could. (And did, once.)
That's great to hear... he probably should have done it BEFORE recommending it at the end of his first piece.
Must... resist... can't... help... myself...
That's the same combination on my luggage!
The main point is demonstration, not just "show". There is a common misconception in the industry that PowerPC G4 chips are better than x86 chips in embedded and small form factor designs. The Pentium M disproves that rather dramatically, and Intel wanted to showcase it. I'd say, based on the attention they're getting in Slashdot and elsewhere, they did a good job.
This isn't about a machine you'll buy and give to your grandmother (although mine uses an iMac, not a mini,) it's about Intel saying "we can do anything you can do better." It's also not about the OS... Intel's not an OS manufacturer.
This isn't flamebait, but I'd just like to say that while the article may over-state the point, it has a point.
For every really innovative open source project out there (and there are many,) there are ten "let's create an open source version of proprietary product X." Those efforts appear, to me, to take money away from the innovators, which would logically slow future innovation. While software patents help somewhat, they've got their own serious issues. Fundamentally, any open source project started with the purpose of duplicating existing functionality elsewhere would, to me, seem like it would slow innovation.
As to the "we'll all become consultants" mentality, I think that's another core problem with the linux-esque business model. Companies like Apple take a source base, and try and make it so intuitive and easy to use, that consultants are only needed rarely for the really "interesting" things. On the other hand, the linux companies' entire business strategy appears to be to take the most obtuse, opaque, and difficult to use system in existence today, give it away for free, and charge for support when people have issues. I don't believe the latter strategy is the type of tech world I want to live in.
There's obviously room in industry for both sides of the fence, but the article does make an interesting point on the distribution of capital towards supporting past and future innovation.
No, it's like THEORIZING (Not presuming. Nothing in science should ever be presumed) that writing equations on a chalkboard kills XX sperm. Chalk dust... chemical additives... it's not completely impossible. Chalk should be a fairly easy factor to compensate for in the statistical analysis, though, so shouldn't be hard to confirm or discredit.
I'm not saying it's a good theory... I'm just saying that in science, there's always a cause somewhere, it makes sense to look for the cause, and theorizing and experimenting are the only way of uncovering the cause.
(Sorry if I seem over-sensitive to issues concerning the scientific method, but it seems like it's been under heavy attack in the biological sciences lately.)
Maybe they'll do a live comeback special...
"Is this episode going on the air live?"
"No, [...] Very few cartoons are broadcast live. It's a terrible strain on the animator's wrist."
"There are passengers and there are drivers. Drivers not wanted."
As someone who went to CMU, I'm of course rooting for the home team, but it is fun to read about the other guys. For the on-road stuff, they had those trucks zipping driver-less, pretty fast, through Schenley Park back in the 90's, so it'll be interesting to see if they can keep on the trail this time for the off-road challenge.
The pipe between VRAM and RAM is still much smaller than the pipe between VRAM and GPU. Systems like the (disabled by default) "Quartz 2D Extreme" engine on MacOS X 10.4 send the (relatively small) drawing commands directly to the GPU instead of drawing to RAM in the first place. Even if current Macs implemented PCI Express, which they unfortunately don't, it is a huge net win to draw directly on the card to VRAM. And that probably means an extra frame buffer on the card, and thus more VRAM for better performance.
This is also the route that Longhorn, Java 1.6, and other hardware accelerated drawing and compositing GUI engines are going next year. While PCI Express certainly helps, even the fastest proposed PCI Express cards' link to RAM, at 4GBps, is about 7x slower than the VRAM-GPU path in a modern video card.
I agree. However, it started out as Eldred v Reno, so it's an equal-opportunity sell-out by our government to Disney.
The single best thing students could learn to make them more competitive in the workplace is something other than Windows. They'll get Windows at home, at their first job, and probably soon on their cellphones. Any UNIX knowledge, on the other hand, is golden. First of all, the mere fact that they've learned something other than Windows at some point gives them a perspective way beyond their peers and an ability to "think outside the box", to use a cliche. Secondly, it gives them an increased ability to acclimate to any new system, whether it's MacOS, linux, or even a future version of "Windows 2015 XXXXP SuperPro". Even if Microsoft holds on to their monopoly forever and ever, which I don't see as hugely likely, their OS a decade or two from now isn't going to look anything like XP, and a student's ability to adapt will make them more competitive.
From what I understand, virtually every point in the parent post is incorrect. 1. The primary 3D API promoted by Microsoft for the original XBox is, in fact, a version of DirectX 8. 2. Nvidia reportedly did not even bid on the next XBox contract because they got burned so badly by the first one due to the XBox's low demand. Microsoft had to go begging to ATI. 3. The most recent release of VirtualPC on the Macintosh reportedly had video card drivers for DirectX 8 calls that could do hardware emulation for games, before the feature was pulled for time-to-market concerns... and since Microsoft owns DirectX, there wouldn't be any legal concerns.
By the way, according to c|net, the demo'ed XBox content was all running on Macintosh G5's. Although the release version will be clocked faster (although probably a simpler, non-out-of-order CPU core,) it's reasonable to speculate on what the XBox will be able to emulate by speculating on what VirtualPC on the Mac might be capable of with hardware DirectX 8.
In particular, here's the case to which I think he's referring. Disney^H^H^H^H^H^HThe US Government won every round, including the Supreme Court. The materials in question, in some cases ones that had already entered the public domain, are now under copyright.
http://eldred.cc/eldredvashcroft.html
And the obligatory Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldred_v._Ashcroft
Yes, because historically, things named "Beta" have fared so well in the marketplace.
One of the most interesting aspects of GPU programming that I've been playing with recently is Quartz Composer released as part of MacOS X 10.4's dev tools (included on the install DVD.)
I maging/Conceptual/QuartzComposer/qc_intro/chapter_ 1_section_1.html I maging/Conceptual/CoreImaging/ci_plugins/chapter_4 _section_3.html
It's a visual programming environment that lets you hook together "patches" that create, control, and present audio and video. You can include GL-slang kernels as well. Also, since MacOS X 10.4's Core Image will recompile GL shader language into Altivec code if the GPU isn't up to the task, it adds a lot of flexibility as to when you're okay using the shader language. You can synchronize audio effects with real-time video effects, and hook up iSights, still images, MIDI sound, audio input, mix them all together on the CPU and GPU, and present some stunning effects. I'm certainly going to be checking this book out to see if it helps with this sort of endeavor.
I don't want to Slashdot anyone's site, since most people working on it are just publishing their creations on personal blogs, but a few google searches can turn up some really fantastic visual effects people have created in the couple weeks it's been out.
Here is Apple's intro to the subject:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Graphics
and, specifically,
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Graphics
1. The only way the "subscription" model for the music stores is going to take off is if it's combined with an existing subscription model that takes no effort for people to add to. The only two things most people subscribe to on a regular basis is cable television and phones. It's very credible to think that if Comcast offered $5/mo for you to download any songs you wanted onto your ComcastRio, a lot of people would do it. Probably similar with cell phones.
Therefore, I see Napster and friends quickly being bought out by Comcast, Cingular, etc., and becoming a music service provider. Whether they even converge the cellphone and the MP3 player is beside the point... it would help them cut down on costs, but I don't think is fundamental to the model-- they could just have the CinglarRio or whatever.
2. What is Gates smoking? From the article:
"You can make parallels with computers: Apple was very strong in this field before, with its Macintosh and its graphics user interface--like the iPod today--and then lost its position," Gates said.
Yes... it's a pity the Macintosh fell from its previous 92% market share to where it is today. Oh, wait a minute, that's not what happened at all.
Are the blaster pistols also not made of light, and that's why you can see one coming when it's shot AT you?
If you would REALLY like to accelerate the shift of jobs overseas, make sure you get some good foreigners trained in US universities with a whole lot of internship contacts in American companies, then refuse to give them a work visa.
They'll go back to their home country, where developers probably get paid half as much, and use their contacts to start a code farming business, taking away American jobs.
The best way to keep jobs in America is to have the best and brightest from around the world COME to America and build their industries HERE. Sending them home, in the long run, sends the jobs with them.
More like...
"Would you speak to my group? We have a product we call 'Foomaster,' and we used a development approach you advocate to develop it."
"Only if you change the name of your product to Stallman-is-great:Foomaster."
"uhhh... no thanks. (maniac.)"
This was done by several people on the alfa-digest mailing list (for, as you may guess, aficionados of Alfa Romeo vehicles,) who are generally rather fanatical about driving.
The consensus reached, if there was one, is that the basic engine is most efficient accelerating at wide-open throttle, and most efficient cruising at the lowest RPM that doesn't "lug" the engine. Of course, brakes are 100% inefficient on a non-regenerative car, so the less you use them, the higher the MPG. Also, modern cars have all kinds of equipment between the gas pedal and the engine, so that may affect it.
So the most efficient highway driving practice for the tested cars was basically to put your foot to the floor, shift at low RPMs, reach cruise speed as quickly as possible, then cruise at the lowest practical RPM. In city driving, modify this so-as to minimize the amount you'll eventually have to brake. (Full accel, full brake, full accel, full brake is obviously not going to be optimal.)
The biggest issue with the "foot to the floor" acceleration was the tendency to reach very high RPMs, which are definitely inefficient in most gasoline engines.
(By the way, all this would change on a diesel engine. They have a much flatter power curve over RPMs.)