Very few people change their referer line though, and in this case, I don't think the Slashdot crowd as a whole bothers with it. I know I haven't, even though I know it can be done. For the most part, I haven't seen the need to do that. I could be wrong on all this though.
There is nothing that new about a microprocessor that has been hacked since the 70's. Other computer systems have evolved and changed chip designs, but not in the PeeCee land.
I'd take issue with that claim. Often, other computer systems had revolutions, meaning that they've made fundemental shifts in architecture, see VAX-> Extended VAX (Alpha), Apple did M68k->PPC->x86, PA-RISC (and several other RISCs)->Itanic, among others.
Intel can't or won't perform such radical shifts, so they do need to evolve, and have. x86 isn't really CISC anymore, and hasn't been since the Pentium days, and AMD's Athlon64 even has shades of VLIW as a mid-layer engine.
The difference being that the Transmeta chips didn't really perform all that well, and in comparison, a top-end Pentium M is often within spitting distance of the performance of the top single core desktop CPUs.
I'm certain there will remain a specialization, a standard chip being the desktop, presumably Pentium V, a slightly different core and tighter binning for Xeon (no change here), and possibly a different binning for laptops, with a different chipset, making a Pentium V-M / Centrino.
A supersonic craft will always have a significantly higher fuel consumption than a subsonic craft of otherwise similar specs. Are you willing to pay twice as much? Concorde flights went into $10,000, and this was transatlantic. If this J-liner works to cut expenses in half, would you pay $5,000 to save a few hours?
The problem likely isn't about technology, just plain and simple economics and physics.
What? Two 1 kilowatt supplies? That'll save lots of power.. great idea!
Actually, more like maybe fail-over, one doesn't turn on full until the other shows signs of dying.
Lots of servers have redundant power supplies, though they aren't stupid like this.
I don't think redundant power supplies really has a place in anything but servers though. Desktop PCs shouldn't be on unless they are actually being used, it's silly to waste electricity like that. Even for "heating" in the cold months, the cost per unit of heat from electricity is generally a couple times higher or so than other means of heating.
I think this "Bluecasting" is probably quite a bit cheaper though.
It's unfortunate that this "wavecasting" doesn't have a good Tivo-like service or device available for it. There are some time-shift wavecasting devices, but last I heard, they aren't very good.
and will cost a lot to buy - certainly for a fair while (high quality displays have always been expensive).
So? The cost of HD capable displays is dropping at a dramatic rate, and the available sizes have been increasing too. Now one can get a flat-panel ~30" 720p display for about what it cost to get a 30" 480i screen five years ago, a little less than $1000. That's quite a leap, IMO. LCD panels of many kinds and sizes have been dropping in price too, two years ago a 17" LCD monitor was $500, a better one can be had for $250. I remember a time when it was over $1000.
When DVDs first came out, the cost of players was about $1000, look where they are now, eight years later. The first HD-DVD player has already been announced at $1000. I would expect that HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray players to cost $500 the year after that, and $250 the following year and on down to where DVD players are now.
I think the people that won't buy it because of restrictions should refrain from simply downloading, copying or watching such otherwise protected media.
For one, anyone that simply downloads infringing copyrighted material doesn't have a leg to stand on if they complain about companies infringing on the GPL. I would call it hypocrisy if a person advocates protecting the GPL yet infringes on copyright themselves, because the same copyright laws that protect the GPL also protect the media cartels.
It would reduce the claim to blame that the AA's have that piracy reduces profits, if no one is pirating.
I'm not touching MS Office in part because I can't pay for it and I'm not going to do this copyright infringement thing.
I think it would be hypocritical of myself (and others) if I / they complain about GPL infringement when the complainers themselves don't care that they themselves are committing acts of infringement themselves.
A doorway with hanging vinyl slats would work far better.
But hanging vinyl slats are ugly and this is cool. It is easy to make a conjecture that this new thing has a lot more gaps, but without seeing the implementation, cannot be sure. Possibly less hygenic as the slats are touching everyone and everything that walks through, not to mention that I've never seen them clean or cleaned.
1) I've seen a few bad subtitles, but nothing nearly as bad as I've seen on some fansubs. Unless maybe you've been buying bootlegs, then that doesn't count, funding criminals and all, when fansubbers commit the deed for free. Check the Berne Convention if you don't believe me, fansubbing and bootlegging really is against the law in most countries because of this treaty.
2) Start looking around for some collections. You can get full 24-26 episode seasons for $30-40, and these are licenced collections, not bootlegs.
3) Netflix.
One huge problem with this route is that with fansubs, the people that make the work, the animators and producers in Japan and elsewhere, make no money from fansubs, basically it leeches the work of others.
1) I've seen a few bad subtitles, but nothing nearly as bad as I've seen on fansubs.
2) Start looking around for some collections. You can get full 24-26 episode seasons for $30-40.
3) Netflix.
One huge problem with this route is that with fansubs, the people that make the work, the animators and producers in Japan and elsewhere, make no money from fansubs, basically it leeches the work of others.
The way I see it, it is WAY too late to make a completely new standard, with DVI being so entrenched. At least HDMI was based on DVI, so cheap adapters can be bought.
The sad thing about this one though is that a video chip maker (ATI) and a couple panel makers (Philips & Samsung) are involved, so I hope they don't try to push out the DVI and HDMI standards arbitrarily, otherwise, I'll just buy competing products.
HDCP isn't in the DVI standard though. Some makers are putting it in because the video section of the HDMI standard simply builds on DVI, using the same signalling and such, and electrically, only adding new color spaces, HDCP and other, more minor changes.
HDMI does add audio lines, though its full potential isn't tapped. It also adds full-system A/V box control, so devices can work together if you so choose, like your third party DVR can change the channel of the satellite box to record a show, or any remote can potentially control any device in the system without having to learn or program special codes. That said, I don't know how well this is supported by any HDMI device, last I heard, it was spotty.
Well, I guess only the Powermacs really offer a choice, but with current PCs, there aren't a lot of laptops that offer choices (there are some). With pre-assembled desktops, I'm not sure you can just pick a model and have a choice of graphics cards.
Personally, graphics cards did matter for a while, but I have never spent more than about $200 to get one, and the choice was affected by whether it supported certain 3D apps, but not games.
The Radeon 9500/9600 cards that I have do everything that I want except mirror the overlay pane, which was what I wanted for HTPC. I'm currently using an old Matrox G400, which DOES mirror the overlay pane.
I agree. Most of the 3D benchmarks push the idea that the only buying considerations for buying are FPS and dollars. It would be nice if they considered the other stuff like you mentioned.
I personally would like to see a database like what storagereview.com does, and be able to cull out rediculous crap like graphics cards that take two slots. I'd also like to know what sound pitches the on-board fans use and how loud they are.
It seems like the people that buy the high end stuff buy without regard to practicality. It was bad enough that high end cards used two slot spaces but didn't need it for circuitry. Then there are rediculous modders that eliminated almost all useful PCI slots so they can use a CPU cooler on a GPU.
But a 2% performance improvement may make the difference between a component or system being labelled as "disappointing" and "out in front" by a lot of dumbed-down magazines and online articles.
That's one reason I don't frequent "hardware review" sites anymore. Another reason is that they don't show the origin, to show that 1% doesn't make a noticible of difference.
That and the fact that only 25% of the average page they send is actual content, the remaining 75% is split between ads and an excessive menu system.
Then there is the clueless conjecture "and this is where the GLU bus shows its advantage over the TAP bus".
Comparing computer and automotive technology with aerospace technology makes for an irrelevant and likely ignorant argument.
For one, aerospace electronics are often upgraded and retrofitted as the need arises, no need to replace the entire craft, especially as each shuttle is hardly a third into its designed number of launches.
As it is, I think the only thing that is still 20 years old on the shuttle is the structure and inner skin. The engines, electronics, hatches, sensors have all been upgraded in the time since their original launch.
Low income families normally get ahold of a second-hand computer for far less that $400, more on the order of $20-50.
I agree. Heck, that's what I do. I've bought a couple servers and several desktop computers for about that price, though the monitor was extra. Spare monitors can be had for $20 ea.
One problem is that "linux" is pretty fragmented, knowing the ins and outs of several distributions isn't necessarily an easy task.
I think Linux is great for large organizations that can employ several admins that can weather the occasional loss of an individual administrator and leave plenty of time to train new admins to the way the servers are maintained.
Smaller organizations would be screwed if one of their admins quit and outside support couldn't come in and keep things up.
One thing that helps is to make sure the admins aren't document-averse. Keeping logs of what is done and also specific information on how something is set up relative a default installation are important so someone else can get up to speed to the particulars of the system needing help.
I rarely touch my server, but I make sure I document all setting changes on my server, including packages to add, remove, changes made to config files and I keep a list of all the useful commands I used to operate the server. It helps _me_ to see what specific command I used two months ago without having to decipher the history log.
whose styles deliberately showcase electronic techniques and are unafraid to admit it.
I don't have a problem with it, so long as readers in general don't demand it of all comics, and that the tech is used as a means to an end, rather than the end itself.
Slashdot Mirror
Very few people change their referer line though, and in this case, I don't think the Slashdot crowd as a whole bothers with it. I know I haven't, even though I know it can be done. For the most part, I haven't seen the need to do that. I could be wrong on all this though.
There is nothing that new about a microprocessor that has been hacked since the 70's. Other computer systems have evolved and changed chip designs, but not in the PeeCee land.
I'd take issue with that claim. Often, other computer systems had revolutions, meaning that they've made fundemental shifts in architecture, see VAX-> Extended VAX (Alpha), Apple did M68k->PPC->x86, PA-RISC (and several other RISCs)->Itanic, among others.
Intel can't or won't perform such radical shifts, so they do need to evolve, and have. x86 isn't really CISC anymore, and hasn't been since the Pentium days, and AMD's Athlon64 even has shades of VLIW as a mid-layer engine.
The difference being that the Transmeta chips didn't really perform all that well, and in comparison, a top-end Pentium M is often within spitting distance of the performance of the top single core desktop CPUs.
I don't think it really changes things.
I'm certain there will remain a specialization, a standard chip being the desktop, presumably Pentium V, a slightly different core and tighter binning for Xeon (no change here), and possibly a different binning for laptops, with a different chipset, making a Pentium V-M / Centrino.
A supersonic craft will always have a significantly higher fuel consumption than a subsonic craft of otherwise similar specs. Are you willing to pay twice as much? Concorde flights went into $10,000, and this was transatlantic. If this J-liner works to cut expenses in half, would you pay $5,000 to save a few hours?
The problem likely isn't about technology, just plain and simple economics and physics.
Still, I would think it isn't good enough as the system should have redundant power supplies.
What? Two 1 kilowatt supplies? That'll save lots of power.. great idea!
Actually, more like maybe fail-over, one doesn't turn on full until the other shows signs of dying.
Lots of servers have redundant power supplies, though they aren't stupid like this.
I don't think redundant power supplies really has a place in anything but servers though. Desktop PCs shouldn't be on unless they are actually being used, it's silly to waste electricity like that. Even for "heating" in the cold months, the cost per unit of heat from electricity is generally a couple times higher or so than other means of heating.
I think this "Bluecasting" is probably quite a bit cheaper though.
It's unfortunate that this "wavecasting" doesn't have a good Tivo-like service or device available for it. There are some time-shift wavecasting devices, but last I heard, they aren't very good.
and will cost a lot to buy - certainly for a fair while (high quality displays have always been expensive).
So? The cost of HD capable displays is dropping at a dramatic rate, and the available sizes have been increasing too. Now one can get a flat-panel ~30" 720p display for about what it cost to get a 30" 480i screen five years ago, a little less than $1000. That's quite a leap, IMO. LCD panels of many kinds and sizes have been dropping in price too, two years ago a 17" LCD monitor was $500, a better one can be had for $250. I remember a time when it was over $1000.
When DVDs first came out, the cost of players was about $1000, look where they are now, eight years later. The first HD-DVD player has already been announced at $1000. I would expect that HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray players to cost $500 the year after that, and $250 the following year and on down to where DVD players are now.
I think the people that won't buy it because of restrictions should refrain from simply downloading, copying or watching such otherwise protected media.
For one, anyone that simply downloads infringing copyrighted material doesn't have a leg to stand on if they complain about companies infringing on the GPL. I would call it hypocrisy if a person advocates protecting the GPL yet infringes on copyright themselves, because the same copyright laws that protect the GPL also protect the media cartels.
It would reduce the claim to blame that the AA's have that piracy reduces profits, if no one is pirating.
I would think that this should have been moderated "funny" not "informative".
In all seriousness, I think it's a good time to set up a denial of referrals from Slashdot. Hopefully it would slow them down a bit.
I'm not touching MS Office in part because I can't pay for it and I'm not going to do this copyright infringement thing.
I think it would be hypocritical of myself (and others) if I / they complain about GPL infringement when the complainers themselves don't care that they themselves are committing acts of infringement themselves.
A doorway with hanging vinyl slats would work far better.
But hanging vinyl slats are ugly and this is cool. It is easy to make a conjecture that this new thing has a lot more gaps, but without seeing the implementation, cannot be sure. Possibly less hygenic as the slats are touching everyone and everything that walks through, not to mention that I've never seen them clean or cleaned.
No thanks.
Oops, I made some mistakes in the previous post.
1) I've seen a few bad subtitles, but nothing nearly as bad as I've seen on some fansubs. Unless maybe you've been buying bootlegs, then that doesn't count, funding criminals and all, when fansubbers commit the deed for free. Check the Berne Convention if you don't believe me, fansubbing and bootlegging really is against the law in most countries because of this treaty.
2) Start looking around for some collections. You can get full 24-26 episode seasons for $30-40, and these are licenced collections, not bootlegs.
3) Netflix.
One huge problem with this route is that with fansubs, the people that make the work, the animators and producers in Japan and elsewhere, make no money from fansubs, basically it leeches the work of others.
1) I've seen a few bad subtitles, but nothing nearly as bad as I've seen on fansubs.
2) Start looking around for some collections. You can get full 24-26 episode seasons for $30-40.
3) Netflix.
One huge problem with this route is that with fansubs, the people that make the work, the animators and producers in Japan and elsewhere, make no money from fansubs, basically it leeches the work of others.
The way I see it, it is WAY too late to make a completely new standard, with DVI being so entrenched. At least HDMI was based on DVI, so cheap adapters can be bought.
The sad thing about this one though is that a video chip maker (ATI) and a couple panel makers (Philips & Samsung) are involved, so I hope they don't try to push out the DVI and HDMI standards arbitrarily, otherwise, I'll just buy competing products.
HDCP isn't in the DVI standard though. Some makers are putting it in because the video section of the HDMI standard simply builds on DVI, using the same signalling and such, and electrically, only adding new color spaces, HDCP and other, more minor changes.
HDMI does add audio lines, though its full potential isn't tapped. It also adds full-system A/V box control, so devices can work together if you so choose, like your third party DVR can change the channel of the satellite box to record a show, or any remote can potentially control any device in the system without having to learn or program special codes. That said, I don't know how well this is supported by any HDMI device, last I heard, it was spotty.
Well, I guess only the Powermacs really offer a choice, but with current PCs, there aren't a lot of laptops that offer choices (there are some). With pre-assembled desktops, I'm not sure you can just pick a model and have a choice of graphics cards.
Personally, graphics cards did matter for a while, but I have never spent more than about $200 to get one, and the choice was affected by whether it supported certain 3D apps, but not games.
The Radeon 9500/9600 cards that I have do everything that I want except mirror the overlay pane, which was what I wanted for HTPC. I'm currently using an old Matrox G400, which DOES mirror the overlay pane.
I agree. Most of the 3D benchmarks push the idea that the only buying considerations for buying are FPS and dollars. It would be nice if they considered the other stuff like you mentioned.
I personally would like to see a database like what storagereview.com does, and be able to cull out rediculous crap like graphics cards that take two slots. I'd also like to know what sound pitches the on-board fans use and how loud they are.
It seems like the people that buy the high end stuff buy without regard to practicality. It was bad enough that high end cards used two slot spaces but didn't need it for circuitry. Then there are rediculous modders that eliminated almost all useful PCI slots so they can use a CPU cooler on a GPU.
But a 2% performance improvement may make the difference between a component or system being labelled as "disappointing" and "out in front" by a lot of dumbed-down magazines and online articles.
That's one reason I don't frequent "hardware review" sites anymore. Another reason is that they don't show the origin, to show that 1% doesn't make a noticible of difference.
That and the fact that only 25% of the average page they send is actual content, the remaining 75% is split between ads and an excessive menu system.
Then there is the clueless conjecture "and this is where the GLU bus shows its advantage over the TAP bus".
Comparing computer and automotive technology with aerospace technology makes for an irrelevant and likely ignorant argument.
For one, aerospace electronics are often upgraded and retrofitted as the need arises, no need to replace the entire craft, especially as each shuttle is hardly a third into its designed number of launches.
As it is, I think the only thing that is still 20 years old on the shuttle is the structure and inner skin. The engines, electronics, hatches, sensors have all been upgraded in the time since their original launch.
Low income families normally get ahold of a second-hand computer for far less that $400, more on the order of $20-50.
I agree. Heck, that's what I do. I've bought a couple servers and several desktop computers for about that price, though the monitor was extra. Spare monitors can be had for $20 ea.
I understand the arguments.
One problem is that "linux" is pretty fragmented, knowing the ins and outs of several distributions isn't necessarily an easy task.
I think Linux is great for large organizations that can employ several admins that can weather the occasional loss of an individual administrator and leave plenty of time to train new admins to the way the servers are maintained.
Smaller organizations would be screwed if one of their admins quit and outside support couldn't come in and keep things up.
One thing that helps is to make sure the admins aren't document-averse. Keeping logs of what is done and also specific information on how something is set up relative a default installation are important so someone else can get up to speed to the particulars of the system needing help.
I rarely touch my server, but I make sure I document all setting changes on my server, including packages to add, remove, changes made to config files and I keep a list of all the useful commands I used to operate the server. It helps _me_ to see what specific command I used two months ago without having to decipher the history log.
whose styles deliberately showcase electronic techniques and are unafraid to admit it.
I don't have a problem with it, so long as readers in general don't demand it of all comics, and that the tech is used as a means to an end, rather than the end itself.