Our benchmarks showed that the Athlon XP 3000+ at standard clock speed (13 x 166 MHz = 2166 MHz) can't hold a candle to the P4 3.06 MHz together with the latest applications.
Once the Athlon with the Barton core is overclocked to 2500 MHz (15 x 166 MHz), it can hold its own or even beat the P4. Another factor weighing down the Athlon is the fact that more software is optimized for the P4's HyperThreading capabilities. In its testing information, AMD recommends running old DirectX 7 games. Some have been around for two years or more and are really over the hill. Anyone for a benchmark under MS DOS 3.1?
Sorry about that - I am accessing acs.org through a.edu connection. I did not realize that non-.edu connections needed a subscription (I checked that link on several computers before submitting it).
And the electronics industry's attitude toward the labels is summed up by an Apple slogan: Rip. Mix. Burn. Which, a music executive once told me, translates into "Fuck you, record labels."
Funny, I don't agree that the "electronic industry's" attitude can be summed up by Apple's slogan. Apple is one of the few that dares to encourage people to Rip/Mix/Burn.
Music Industry Lobbyist Rosen to Leave By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:47 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hilary Rosen, the U.S. recording industry's head lobbyist who waged a high-profile battle against Napster and music piracy, is resigning at the end of the year.
Rosen cited personal reasons for leaving the Recording Industry Association of America, where she has served as chief executive since 1998.
``During my tenure here, the recording industry has undergone dramatic challenges and it is well positioned for future success. I have been extremely proud to be a part of this industry transition,'' Rosen said. ``But I have young children and I want to devote more of my time to them.''
She said the RIAA board will conduct a formal search for a replacement.
David Munns, chairman and chief executive of EMI Recorded Music North America, called Rosen ``a tremendous advocate'' who has been ``extremely influential in both transforming the music industry in the digital age and in fighting piracy.''
The recording industry has been struggling with declining sales, which Rosen has blamed on illegal downloading over Napster and successors like Kazaa. Album sales declined for the second straight year in 2002, down 10.7 percent from the previous year.
Within the past few weeks, top executives at Sony Music and Vivendi Universal's MCA Records also said they were leaving.
Rosen's departure comes as the organization sought to soften its image among Internet consumers, many of whom viewed the RIAA -- and Rosen personally -- with antipathy over incessant pressure for crackdowns on sharing digital music over the Internet.
On Tuesday, Rosen's group won a closely watched lawsuit seeking Internet providers' cooperation in tracking down individual computer users who illegally download music. Verizon Communications Inc. had resisted, citing privacy concerns.
The RIAA recently set aside a simmering dispute with leading technology companies by agreeing to oppose any government efforts to build locking controls into future generations of entertainment devices.
Technology companies have complained that such controls, which would hamper consumers' efforts to share movies and music, are too expensive and complex.
The recording industry also has been promoting its own, for-fee online music services, but consumers have largely rejected them because of usage restrictions and limited selections.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., a leading advocate of consumer rights to copyright works, said it was too early to tell whether Rosen's departure would fundamentally change the industry's stance toward the Internet.
``I do not think that she has been a spiritual champion of the industry embracing the Internet as a distribution medium,'' Boucher said. ``I think the industry clearly needs to do that. It's the only way that the industry has to compete with peer-to-peer'' file-sharing services like Kazaa.
Others praised her tenure and said she would be missed.
``Hilary has been a valiant, brave leader for the U.S. music industry,'' said Jack Valenti, president and chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America. ``I confess that I am an ardent admirer of her skills, her tenacity and her integrity. She'll be a hard act to follow.''
Even her adversaries had praise.
``While we don't always see eye to eye, I think that she's extremely good at her job,'' said Joe Kraus of Digitalconsumer.org, which promotes greater ``fair use'' rights to songs and movies. ``Hilary's had a big influence in the way that members of Congress view the issue.''
But ultimately, he said, the recording industry is broader than any one person, so her resignation may not profoundly change attitudes.
Rosen was an independent consultant before joining the RIAA in 1987. She also is a founding board member of Rock the Vote, an organization aimed to get younger people more politically involved.
The first product to emerge from the Low-Power Computing Research Center is the low-power 405LP chip, which enables system software to control and reduce active power by dynamically scaling processor performance to the level required to support the application. Wherever possible, the 405LP offloads processor demands by use of hardware accelerators and aggressively shuts off portions of the device when not in use. Standby power is also reduced. The 405LP includes a mode in which power is reduced virtually to zero while still providing "instant-on" response to an external stimulus, such as a pen stylus on a touch screen.
IBM says that the 405LP has good power management features (see link). I tend to agree with them, but also with the parent who says that this won't be the cheap solution for everyone.
The Guildhall Interview - 17 January 2003 00:01 - John [JCal] Callaham
The Dallas area is already a huge hotbed for game developers of all types and now Dallas-based Southern Methodist University is planning to make it a hotbed for learning about game development with The Guildhall, their upcoming curriculum program. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with David Najjab, the director of digital games at SMU, to find out more about their plans for The Guildhall.
HomeLAN - How did the idea for creating an actual game development curriculum at SMU start?
David Najjab - It's funny, because I was actually working on gaming development curriculum at another university, and it wasn't going very well. I would meet with gaming leaders in the industry, and they would come up with the coolest ideas on how to structure a program. However, when I would take their ideas to the university curriculum committee, they just wouldn't "get" how unique gaming is as a discipline. This university wanted to pull together a degree plan for gaming by using their existing curriculum - the biggest changes made would merely be the names of the classes! And this is happening all over the country! If a gaming degree comes out of a computer science program or an art school, pretty much only the names of the courses have been changed.
People in the gaming community wanted a radically different type of program that would really address the needs of the gaming industry. When I heard about people at the Hart eCenter thinking outside the box about bringing the real world of business and technology together with academia, I thought it seemed like a perfect fit for a program like this one. The phenomenal way things are coming together tells me I was right.
HomeLAN - With a number of game developers literally self-taught through the creation of their own games and mods, what will the Guildhall bring that will help future game designers?
David Najjab - One thing that we hear consistently and often from professional game developers is that while they get flooded with resumes, hardly any of the applicants could actually be useful and productive at a gaming studio - they just don't have the skills or the experience. It's true that most gaming professionals have been self taught but that's only because until now that was the only option they had. Remember, every discipline at some time was self taught. In fact, Levelord pointed out for me recently that many years ago people thought it was crazy when his father created a film school at UCLA. That just wasn't the way things had been done in the past, but why not? We are so glad the Guildhall is breaking new ground in the gaming industry, teaching aspiring, creative talent how to be the best at what they want to do.
HomeLAN - Will there be any sort of prerequisites for admission into the Guildhall?
David Najjab - There are general prerequisites for all applicants and specific ones created for each track of study, art, levels, and software development. You can find that information on our website at http://www.guildhall.smu.edu/Admissions/pre-requis ites.htm. Not mentioned there, is that Tim Willits, lead designer from id Software, is developing an assessment test for students applying to the level design track, and we're also exploring other ways to effectively assess the skill levels of applicants to the other tracks.
HomeLAN - Can you give us an idea about the course curriculum for the 18-month course?
David Najjab - Sure. First of all, at Tom Hall and John Romero's suggestion, we have a shorter, more intensive program than some might expect. That's because the game developers we are working with feel strongly that the program should reflect the true nature of the gaming industry, which is very intense to say the least. For that reason we have made sure the Guildhall at SMU will provide an intense experience - our students should definitely expect to work long hours!
Classes will be taught in a team teaching environment - full-time faculty will provide continuity while the adjunct faculty coming to us from top gaming studios in our area will provide special areas of focus to complement the regular coursework. Our six-term program will incorporate individual assignments and team projects, and game projects will progress from simple to more complex throughout the program. Some highlights of the subjects we'll cover in each track are posted online at http://www.guildhall.smu.edu/programs.htm.
HomeLAN - The Guildhall will have an all-star lineup of Dallas-based game developers as instructors. What will they bring to the table?
David Najjab - The same thing they brought to the entertainment world - their creative genius! That we have these people working with us is still something I can't believe! Just today we were going over the names of the gaming industry luminaries who are helping develop our curriculum, and it is incredible - it's already like a who's who of the game development world, and there are still more coming on board! I hate to try to list them all for fear of leaving someone out, but some of our "star" supporters include Levelord, John Romero, Tom Hall, Graeme Divine, Randy Pitchford of Gearbox, Jeff Wilkinson from Gametutorial.com, and more.
These industry experts supporting the Guildhall are what make our program so great! Just think about this - who better to design levels curriculum than Levelord himself? And students at other schools may read about video gaming history, but at the Guildhall our students will hear about how things happened from the people who actually made the history. What's more, our students will not simply talk about their favorite games with fellow students; as part of their coursework, they will actually discuss details of those games with the people who are making them - what a difference!
HomeLAN - Besides working in the classroom, what other things will the Guildhall do to instruct their students?
David Najjab - Aside from classroom assignments and projects, which will run throughout the entire program, our students will have weekly or biweekly LAN parties. Students will take big-name games, challenge each other, and then explore what made it work the way it did. Also, we hear a lot from the experts working with us that a truly professional game developer will never lose sight of the simple fact that games have to be fun to be successful, so of course our students will also spend time discussing what made the games FUN!
HomeLAN - Will there be any support from game publishers, software tools developers or perhaps hardware manufacturers for the curriculum?
David Najjab - We have already been working closely with Wordware Publishing on several projects, and Joe Kreiner at Logitech has also been very helpful as we've been putting pen to paper. Our goal is to pull in more of these types of industry supporters as we move forward.
HomeLAN - After students go through the Guildhall courses and get their certificate will there be any help from the school to get these students jobs in the game development industry?
David Najjab - This is one of the big advantages of having a program supported by such important people in the gaming industry. Our students will not only attend courses designed by these people and work with them in class, but they will also get the benefit of their connections after they leave the Guildhall. Of course we can't make any guarantees, but we will definitely work through our contacts in the industry to help our students get interviews at top gaming studios. And being in Dallas gives us a great playing field to start with - we've got Monkeystone Games, id Software, Gearbox, Terminal Reality, Ritual Entertainment, and more.
HomeLAN - What plans do have for expanding the game development curriculum in the future?
David Najjab - We have discussed many ideas about how the Guildhall might grow and expand over the years, even into undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as research. However, right now we are really more focused on the near future and getting this first class of students off to a great start! We are currently undergoing the accreditation approval process and expect classes to begin in July of this year.
HomeLAN - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about the Guildhall at SMU?
David Najjab - I think it's important for people to understand that a program like this just couldn't happen without a forward-thinking institution like SMU. The university created the Hart eCenter to be an innovator of special programs like the Guildhall that integrate many disciplines into effective ways to fill needs in our society. The Hart eCenter's director, Dr. Peter Raad, immediately saw a great opportunity to do this with our program. Through the Guildhall at SMU, we are pioneering a new, and clearly the most effective, way to teach digital games development. We are doing something radically different by tapping into the creativity and experience of gaming professionals. The result is that we're not only going to help meet the exacting needs of this industry but we're also going to help satisfy the high expectations of increasingly more sophisticated gamers.
NYT1 (20-Year Extension of Existing Copyrights Is Upheld)
NYT2 (A Corporate Victory, but One That Raises Public Consciousness)
Text of NYTimes article
on
Reflections
·
· Score: 1
Bouncing Signals Push the Limits of Bandwidth By IAN AUSTEN
T is a phenomenon well known to people who drive through urban high-rise canyons. Just as you stop at a traffic light, the car radio loses its signal. Once the light turns green, the car only has to creep forward a few feet to restore the radio reception.
Those dead spots, which can also cut off cellphone calls and mobile computer communications, are often caused when signals bounce wildly off the surrounding buildings. This scattering creates pockets in which two reflections of the same signal collide and cancel each other out.
Avoiding the undesirable effects of multipath, as this scattering effect is formally known, has long been a preoccupation of people who design wireless communications systems. Now, however, a system developed by Bell Labs actually embraces radio reflections not only to improve reception but also to boost the speed of wireless networks. Prototypes of the system, called Blast, can send data over third-generation, or 3G, cellphone networks at rates about eight times those of 3G.
"Normally multipath is the source of confusion, it's the enemy," said Robert W. Lucky, who recently retired as vice president for applied research at Telcordia Technologies and is familiar with the Bell Labs work. "Here you put the confusion back together Humpty Dumpty style. It's like getting something for nothing."
Gerard J. Foschini, a 40-year veteran of Bell Labs, came up with the theory behind Blast about a decade ago while working on a long-term project to find the limits of a wide variety of technologies. As part of that project, he reviewed the work of Claude Shannon, the Bell Labs mathematician who published a paper in 1948 that established the field of modern information theory. Dr. Shannon's work still provides the basis for much information theory, including the notion of system capacity limits.
"He found the ultimate limits," Dr. Foschini said. "But he was basically dealing with one transmitter and one receiver. It was obvious to us that we could deal with many transmitting antennas and many receiving antennas for the same transmission."
So Dr. Foschini began developing mathematical models to see whether sending data through arrays of antennas would expand network capacities.
Antenna arrays have long been used in radar systems. But Dr. Foschini said that radar arrays are used to focus radio beams, whereas he wanted to scatter them. He hoped to discover whether wireless capacity could be boosted by dividing up data in space as well as time. Rather than point-to-point communications, his plan was to create volume-to-volume exchanges.
He had found through mathematical research that the concept would not work if the transmitter had only a single antenna. "If you send the same signal from one antenna many times all radiating in the same band, you come out statistically right where you started," Dr. Foschini said.
Instead, he developed a system that divided data into multiple streams that were then transmitted on the same frequency by several antennas. At the receiving end, the different streams of data were picked up by other antenna arrays.
Normally more than one transmission on a single radio frequency produces nothing but electronic noise. But Blast can make sense out of the noise because of the physical separation of the antennas sending the messages. Processing software reassembles the scattered data streams into their original form.
When Dr. Foschini tested the plan mathematically, the results were surprising. "We found the capacities were enormous - far, far in excess of what people were thinking of,'' he said. "If you put more and more antennas at the transmitting end, the capacity kept increasing. We were coming out with such ridiculously large capacities that at first, we didn't believe it."
Prototype systems proved that the experiments were correct. Each additional antenna added another element of space and because of that, additional capacity.
Just as surprising was the finding that the reflections that plague current wireless systems actually expanded the capacity of Dr. Foshini's system by effectively introducing more points in space. "Heavy scattering, which I always thought was a bad thing, is with this a good thing," he said. In fact, he anticipates that Blast-based wireless systems will work more effectively in Manhattan rather than "somewhere where it's flat as far as the eye can see."
Bell Labs has made prototype chips that would allow Blast to operate at speeds of 19.2 megabits per second over a 3G wireless network. Currently the highest speed those networks can offer is 2.5 megabits per second. Ran Yan, vice president for wireless research at Bell Labs, said that the prototype chips were intended for use in a cellphone or wireless hand-held computer.
Dr. Foschini declined to estimate the ultimate transmission speeds that could be achieved with Blast. One restraint on speed is the intense data processing it requires. With current technology, higher speeds would demand chips that are too large and too power-hungry for hand-held devices.
Dr. Yan said that the first systems offered by Lucent Technologies, the lab's parent company, would probably use just four transmitting antennas. Because wireless data systems operate with high frequencies and the transmitting antennas must be separated by only half a wavelength, he said, it will not be hard to squeeze more antennas into even the most compact mobile phones or palmtop organizers.
Because of economic problems, the wireless industry has been slow to adopt even 3G networks in the United States. So Blast is unlikely to become available soon. But unlike 3G, Blast does not require the construction of new networks. It only needs relatively inexpensive equipment, like new base stations, to be installed on current systems.
"It's a minimal upgrade," Dr. Yan said. "But it will allow service providers to get 300 to 400 percent increases in data rates in first deployments, and much higher quality."
While Lucent is already making network base stations for wireless service providers that can be converted to use Blast, Dr. Lucky anticipates that those companies will wait for the military to pioneer use of the system. He said there were concerns that the complexity of Blast might create unforeseen problems when used by large numbers of people on congested networks.
Assuming that problems do not develop there, however, Dr. Lucky said, the system could completely alter all systems that depend on radio waves. "I had this idea that spectrum was all used up,'' he said. "Now, with new technologies like Blast, maybe spectrum is infinite."
Ferroelectric density: 1.5Tb/in^2
8 bits to a byte -> 187.5GB/in^2
Hitachi's (formerly IBM's) 180GXP line packs 60GB to a platter. According to their data sheet, that is 45.5Gb/in^2. Convert to GB, and we have ~5.69GB/in^2.
When common HD technology reaches Ferroelectric technology, we'll have about 6TB in a top-of-the-line IDE drive.
Poster:
If it didn't register itself as Netscape 5 or something with a modicum of site compatibility site scripts would redirect it to the retard text only version of a site.
Me:
If everyone coded according to the standards instead of using browser-specific hacks, its user-agent string wouldn't matter (except for logging, etc.).
Slashdot Mirror
However, many analysts believe a successfully Google IPO could rejuvenated Internet-company investments.
A little excited about the 'ly' and 'd'?
Our benchmarks showed that the Athlon XP 3000+ at standard clock speed (13 x 166 MHz = 2166 MHz) can't hold a candle to the P4 3.06 MHz together with the latest applications.
Once the Athlon with the Barton core is overclocked to 2500 MHz (15 x 166 MHz), it can hold its own or even beat the P4. Another factor weighing down the Athlon is the fact that more software is optimized for the P4's HyperThreading capabilities. In its testing information, AMD recommends running old DirectX 7 games. Some have been around for two years or more and are really over the hill. Anyone for a benchmark under MS DOS 3.1?
Hollywood.com's story
Bizjournal.com's story
Uemedia.com's story
Anyway, it IS going to (still) be called Lucasfilm Ltd.
Sorry about that - I am accessing acs.org through a .edu connection. I did not realize that non-.edu connections needed a subscription (I checked that link on several computers before submitting it).
The publication itself:
Here.
And the electronics industry's attitude toward the labels is summed up by an Apple slogan: Rip. Mix. Burn. Which, a music executive once told me, translates into "Fuck you, record labels."
Funny, I don't agree that the "electronic industry's" attitude can be summed up by Apple's slogan. Apple is one of the few that dares to encourage people to Rip/Mix/Burn.
(Thinking Sony, etc.)
CS Monitor (thumbs-up)
Nature (ho-hum)
Computer User (thumbs-way-up)
Here is the book's official site.
This is the photos page, with photos like.. umm... this.
Music Industry Lobbyist Rosen to Leave
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 7:47 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- Hilary Rosen, the U.S. recording industry's head lobbyist who waged a high-profile battle against Napster and music piracy, is resigning at the end of the year.
Rosen cited personal reasons for leaving the Recording Industry Association of America, where she has served as chief executive since 1998.
``During my tenure here, the recording industry has undergone dramatic challenges and it is well positioned for future success. I have been extremely proud to be a part of this industry transition,'' Rosen said. ``But I have young children and I want to devote more of my time to them.''
She said the RIAA board will conduct a formal search for a replacement.
David Munns, chairman and chief executive of EMI Recorded Music North America, called Rosen ``a tremendous advocate'' who has been ``extremely influential in both transforming the music industry in the digital age and in fighting piracy.''
The recording industry has been struggling with declining sales, which Rosen has blamed on illegal downloading over Napster and successors like Kazaa. Album sales declined for the second straight year in 2002, down 10.7 percent from the previous year.
Within the past few weeks, top executives at Sony Music and Vivendi Universal's MCA Records also said they were leaving.
Rosen's departure comes as the organization sought to soften its image among Internet consumers, many of whom viewed the RIAA -- and Rosen personally -- with antipathy over incessant pressure for crackdowns on sharing digital music over the Internet.
On Tuesday, Rosen's group won a closely watched lawsuit seeking Internet providers' cooperation in tracking down individual computer users who illegally download music. Verizon Communications Inc. had resisted, citing privacy concerns.
The RIAA recently set aside a simmering dispute with leading technology companies by agreeing to oppose any government efforts to build locking controls into future generations of entertainment devices.
Technology companies have complained that such controls, which would hamper consumers' efforts to share movies and music, are too expensive and complex.
The recording industry also has been promoting its own, for-fee online music services, but consumers have largely rejected them because of usage restrictions and limited selections.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., a leading advocate of consumer rights to copyright works, said it was too early to tell whether Rosen's departure would fundamentally change the industry's stance toward the Internet.
``I do not think that she has been a spiritual champion of the industry embracing the Internet as a distribution medium,'' Boucher said. ``I think the industry clearly needs to do that. It's the only way that the industry has to compete with peer-to-peer'' file-sharing services like Kazaa.
Others praised her tenure and said she would be missed.
``Hilary has been a valiant, brave leader for the U.S. music industry,'' said Jack Valenti, president and chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America. ``I confess that I am an ardent admirer of her skills, her tenacity and her integrity. She'll be a hard act to follow.''
Even her adversaries had praise.
``While we don't always see eye to eye, I think that she's extremely good at her job,'' said Joe Kraus of Digitalconsumer.org, which promotes greater ``fair use'' rights to songs and movies. ``Hilary's had a big influence in the way that members of Congress view the issue.''
But ultimately, he said, the recording industry is broader than any one person, so her resignation may not profoundly change attitudes.
Rosen was an independent consultant before joining the RIAA in 1987. She also is a founding board member of Rock the Vote, an organization aimed to get younger people more politically involved.
From http://www.ibm.com/ibm/environment/annual2002/prod uct.shtml:
The first product to emerge from the Low-Power Computing Research Center is the low-power 405LP chip, which enables system software to control and reduce active power by dynamically scaling processor performance to the level required to support the application. Wherever possible, the 405LP offloads processor demands by use of hardware accelerators and aggressively shuts off portions of the device when not in use. Standby power is also reduced. The 405LP includes a mode in which power is reduced virtually to zero while still providing "instant-on" response to an external stimulus, such as a pen stylus on a touch screen.
IBM says that the 405LP has good power management features (see link). I tend to agree with them, but also with the parent who says that this won't be the cheap solution for everyone.
The 405LP PR
Here is the official IBM press release.
The Guildhall Interview - 17 January 2003 00:01 - John [JCal] Callaham
s ites.htm. Not mentioned there, is that Tim Willits, lead designer from id Software, is developing an assessment test for students applying to the level design track, and we're also exploring other ways to effectively assess the skill levels of applicants to the other tracks.
The Dallas area is already a huge hotbed for game developers of all types and now Dallas-based Southern Methodist University is planning to make it a hotbed for learning about game development with The Guildhall, their upcoming curriculum program. HomeLAN got a chance to chat with David Najjab, the director of digital games at SMU, to find out more about their plans for The Guildhall.
HomeLAN - How did the idea for creating an actual game development curriculum at SMU start?
David Najjab - It's funny, because I was actually working on gaming development curriculum at another university, and it wasn't going very well. I would meet with gaming leaders in the industry, and they would come up with the coolest ideas on how to structure a program. However, when I would take their ideas to the university curriculum committee, they just wouldn't "get" how unique gaming is as a discipline. This university wanted to pull together a degree plan for gaming by using their existing curriculum - the biggest changes made would merely be the names of the classes! And this is happening all over the country! If a gaming degree comes out of a computer science program or an art school, pretty much only the names of the courses have been changed.
People in the gaming community wanted a radically different type of program that would really address the needs of the gaming industry. When I heard about people at the Hart eCenter thinking outside the box about bringing the real world of business and technology together with academia, I thought it seemed like a perfect fit for a program like this one. The phenomenal way things are coming together tells me I was right.
HomeLAN - With a number of game developers literally self-taught through the creation of their own games and mods, what will the Guildhall bring that will help future game designers?
David Najjab - One thing that we hear consistently and often from professional game developers is that while they get flooded with resumes, hardly any of the applicants could actually be useful and productive at a gaming studio - they just don't have the skills or the experience. It's true that most gaming professionals have been self taught but that's only because until now that was the only option they had. Remember, every discipline at some time was self taught. In fact, Levelord pointed out for me recently that many years ago people thought it was crazy when his father created a film school at UCLA. That just wasn't the way things had been done in the past, but why not? We are so glad the Guildhall is breaking new ground in the gaming industry, teaching aspiring, creative talent how to be the best at what they want to do.
HomeLAN - Will there be any sort of prerequisites for admission into the Guildhall?
David Najjab - There are general prerequisites for all applicants and specific ones created for each track of study, art, levels, and software development. You can find that information on our website at http://www.guildhall.smu.edu/Admissions/pre-requi
HomeLAN - Can you give us an idea about the course curriculum for the 18-month course?
David Najjab - Sure. First of all, at Tom Hall and John Romero's suggestion, we have a shorter, more intensive program than some might expect. That's because the game developers we are working with feel strongly that the program should reflect the true nature of the gaming industry, which is very intense to say the least. For that reason we have made sure the Guildhall at SMU will provide an intense experience - our students should definitely expect to work long hours!
Classes will be taught in a team teaching environment - full-time faculty will provide continuity while the adjunct faculty coming to us from top gaming studios in our area will provide special areas of focus to complement the regular coursework. Our six-term program will incorporate individual assignments and team projects, and game projects will progress from simple to more complex throughout the program. Some highlights of the subjects we'll cover in each track are posted online at http://www.guildhall.smu.edu/programs.htm.
HomeLAN - The Guildhall will have an all-star lineup of Dallas-based game developers as instructors. What will they bring to the table?
David Najjab - The same thing they brought to the entertainment world - their creative genius! That we have these people working with us is still something I can't believe! Just today we were going over the names of the gaming industry luminaries who are helping develop our curriculum, and it is incredible - it's already like a who's who of the game development world, and there are still more coming on board! I hate to try to list them all for fear of leaving someone out, but some of our "star" supporters include Levelord, John Romero, Tom Hall, Graeme Divine, Randy Pitchford of Gearbox, Jeff Wilkinson from Gametutorial.com, and more.
These industry experts supporting the Guildhall are what make our program so great! Just think about this - who better to design levels curriculum than Levelord himself? And students at other schools may read about video gaming history, but at the Guildhall our students will hear about how things happened from the people who actually made the history. What's more, our students will not simply talk about their favorite games with fellow students; as part of their coursework, they will actually discuss details of those games with the people who are making them - what a difference!
HomeLAN - Besides working in the classroom, what other things will the Guildhall do to instruct their students?
David Najjab - Aside from classroom assignments and projects, which will run throughout the entire program, our students will have weekly or biweekly LAN parties. Students will take big-name games, challenge each other, and then explore what made it work the way it did. Also, we hear a lot from the experts working with us that a truly professional game developer will never lose sight of the simple fact that games have to be fun to be successful, so of course our students will also spend time discussing what made the games FUN!
HomeLAN - Will there be any support from game publishers, software tools developers or perhaps hardware manufacturers for the curriculum?
David Najjab - We have already been working closely with Wordware Publishing on several projects, and Joe Kreiner at Logitech has also been very helpful as we've been putting pen to paper. Our goal is to pull in more of these types of industry supporters as we move forward.
HomeLAN - After students go through the Guildhall courses and get their certificate will there be any help from the school to get these students jobs in the game development industry?
David Najjab - This is one of the big advantages of having a program supported by such important people in the gaming industry. Our students will not only attend courses designed by these people and work with them in class, but they will also get the benefit of their connections after they leave the Guildhall. Of course we can't make any guarantees, but we will definitely work through our contacts in the industry to help our students get interviews at top gaming studios. And being in Dallas gives us a great playing field to start with - we've got Monkeystone Games, id Software, Gearbox, Terminal Reality, Ritual Entertainment, and more.
HomeLAN - What plans do have for expanding the game development curriculum in the future?
David Najjab - We have discussed many ideas about how the Guildhall might grow and expand over the years, even into undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as research. However, right now we are really more focused on the near future and getting this first class of students off to a great start! We are currently undergoing the accreditation approval process and expect classes to begin in July of this year.
HomeLAN - Finally, is there anything else you wish to say about the Guildhall at SMU?
David Najjab - I think it's important for people to understand that a program like this just couldn't happen without a forward-thinking institution like SMU. The university created the Hart eCenter to be an innovator of special programs like the Guildhall that integrate many disciplines into effective ways to fill needs in our society. The Hart eCenter's director, Dr. Peter Raad, immediately saw a great opportunity to do this with our program. Through the Guildhall at SMU, we are pioneering a new, and clearly the most effective, way to teach digital games development. We are doing something radically different by tapping into the creativity and experience of gaming professionals. The result is that we're not only going to help meet the exacting needs of this industry but we're also going to help satisfy the high expectations of increasingly more sophisticated gamers.
Computerworld
Cnet
Internetnews
Infoworld
And, of course, Microsoft Watch.
The Boston Globe gave it a "D".
Here's Salon's review: Looks like a "D" to me.
NYT1 (20-Year Extension of Existing Copyrights Is Upheld)
NYT2 (A Corporate Victory, but One That Raises Public Consciousness)
Bouncing Signals Push the Limits of Bandwidth
By IAN AUSTEN
T is a phenomenon well known to people who drive through urban high-rise canyons. Just as you stop at a traffic light, the car radio loses its signal. Once the light turns green, the car only has to creep forward a few feet to restore the radio reception.
Those dead spots, which can also cut off cellphone calls and mobile computer communications, are often caused when signals bounce wildly off the surrounding buildings. This scattering creates pockets in which two reflections of the same signal collide and cancel each other out.
Avoiding the undesirable effects of multipath, as this scattering effect is formally known, has long been a preoccupation of people who design wireless communications systems. Now, however, a system developed by Bell Labs actually embraces radio reflections not only to improve reception but also to boost the speed of wireless networks. Prototypes of the system, called Blast, can send data over third-generation, or 3G, cellphone networks at rates about eight times those of 3G.
"Normally multipath is the source of confusion, it's the enemy," said Robert W. Lucky, who recently retired as vice president for applied research at Telcordia Technologies and is familiar with the Bell Labs work. "Here you put the confusion back together Humpty Dumpty style. It's like getting something for nothing."
Gerard J. Foschini, a 40-year veteran of Bell Labs, came up with the theory behind Blast about a decade ago while working on a long-term project to find the limits of a wide variety of technologies. As part of that project, he reviewed the work of Claude Shannon, the Bell Labs mathematician who published a paper in 1948 that established the field of modern information theory. Dr. Shannon's work still provides the basis for much information theory, including the notion of system capacity limits.
"He found the ultimate limits," Dr. Foschini said. "But he was basically dealing with one transmitter and one receiver. It was obvious to us that we could deal with many transmitting antennas and many receiving antennas for the same transmission."
So Dr. Foschini began developing mathematical models to see whether sending data through arrays of antennas would expand network capacities.
Antenna arrays have long been used in radar systems. But Dr. Foschini said that radar arrays are used to focus radio beams, whereas he wanted to scatter them. He hoped to discover whether wireless capacity could be boosted by dividing up data in space as well as time. Rather than point-to-point communications, his plan was to create volume-to-volume exchanges.
He had found through mathematical research that the concept would not work if the transmitter had only a single antenna. "If you send the same signal from one antenna many times all radiating in the same band, you come out statistically right where you started," Dr. Foschini said.
Instead, he developed a system that divided data into multiple streams that were then transmitted on the same frequency by several antennas. At the receiving end, the different streams of data were picked up by other antenna arrays.
Normally more than one transmission on a single radio frequency produces nothing but electronic noise. But Blast can make sense out of the noise because of the physical separation of the antennas sending the messages. Processing software reassembles the scattered data streams into their original form.
When Dr. Foschini tested the plan mathematically, the results were surprising. "We found the capacities were enormous - far, far in excess of what people were thinking of,'' he said. "If you put more and more antennas at the transmitting end, the capacity kept increasing. We were coming out with such ridiculously large capacities that at first, we didn't believe it."
Prototype systems proved that the experiments were correct. Each additional antenna added another element of space and because of that, additional capacity.
Just as surprising was the finding that the reflections that plague current wireless systems actually expanded the capacity of Dr. Foshini's system by effectively introducing more points in space. "Heavy scattering, which I always thought was a bad thing, is with this a good thing," he said. In fact, he anticipates that Blast-based wireless systems will work more effectively in Manhattan rather than "somewhere where it's flat as far as the eye can see."
Bell Labs has made prototype chips that would allow Blast to operate at speeds of 19.2 megabits per second over a 3G wireless network. Currently the highest speed those networks can offer is 2.5 megabits per second. Ran Yan, vice president for wireless research at Bell Labs, said that the prototype chips were intended for use in a cellphone or wireless hand-held computer.
Dr. Foschini declined to estimate the ultimate transmission speeds that could be achieved with Blast. One restraint on speed is the intense data processing it requires. With current technology, higher speeds would demand chips that are too large and too power-hungry for hand-held devices.
Dr. Yan said that the first systems offered by Lucent Technologies, the lab's parent company, would probably use just four transmitting antennas. Because wireless data systems operate with high frequencies and the transmitting antennas must be separated by only half a wavelength, he said, it will not be hard to squeeze more antennas into even the most compact mobile phones or palmtop organizers.
Because of economic problems, the wireless industry has been slow to adopt even 3G networks in the United States. So Blast is unlikely to become available soon. But unlike 3G, Blast does not require the construction of new networks. It only needs relatively inexpensive equipment, like new base stations, to be installed on current systems.
"It's a minimal upgrade," Dr. Yan said. "But it will allow service providers to get 300 to 400 percent increases in data rates in first deployments, and much higher quality."
While Lucent is already making network base stations for wireless service providers that can be converted to use Blast, Dr. Lucky anticipates that those companies will wait for the military to pioneer use of the system. He said there were concerns that the complexity of Blast might create unforeseen problems when used by large numbers of people on congested networks.
Assuming that problems do not develop there, however, Dr. Lucky said, the system could completely alter all systems that depend on radio waves. "I had this idea that spectrum was all used up,'' he said. "Now, with new technologies like Blast, maybe spectrum is infinite."
Quote from article:
Our traffic for the day totaled over 590,000 requests (hits), with over 250,000 of those being requests for pages.
Since when does a "hit" not count as a "page request"? When I go to http://slashdot.org/, that is both a hit and a page request (for index.pl).
Just wondering.
Calling a doctor to an emergency is worth $1.50, calling little Jimmy to check up with him when he's out on a Friday night usually isn't.
Little Jimmy,
Thanks for the suggestion, but I still think it's a good idea to check up on you.
Mom
Ferroelectric density: 1.5Tb/in^2
8 bits to a byte -> 187.5GB/in^2
Hitachi's (formerly IBM's) 180GXP line packs 60GB to a platter. According to their data sheet, that is 45.5Gb/in^2. Convert to GB, and we have ~5.69GB/in^2.
When common HD technology reaches Ferroelectric technology, we'll have about 6TB in a top-of-the-line IDE drive.
Check those last paragraphs. They are all the same.
Amazing what the moderators will fall for. If it is long enough and contains enough of the same tripe, it'll get +'d like crazy.
Look, copy and paste.
Again.
And again.
Poster: If it didn't register itself as Netscape 5 or something with a modicum of site compatibility site scripts would redirect it to the retard text only version of a site.
Me: If everyone coded according to the standards instead of using browser-specific hacks, its user-agent string wouldn't matter (except for logging, etc.).
This is what the AG is requesting access logs of, from 11/7/02 to 11/14/02.
However, incorrectly spelling "too" is not a problem.
I know it's consider incorrect around here to comment on spelling [...].
Someday it may be considered incorrect to comment on bad grammar too.
Until then, however...