Don't think for a second that *many* people in the EU resent the US precisely for their hard-nosed, un-diplomatic diplomicy.
That *will* show through. Do you think that Munich chose SuSe because RedHat couldn't offer a similar solution? No. They chose SuSe because they were a German company. The US DOD doesn't buy Airbus for the same reason.
The fact that this is a US company will have a large impact on the verdict.
"I was under the impression Dish had better technology and lower prices than DirectTV!?"
Sort of. Dish has cheaper low-end packages (e.g. Dish has a $29.99 package with 60 channels and locals) but after you get to the mid-range packages DirecTV gets more competitive (about $2 more expensive usually).
Dish originally had the capacity to deliver more channels, but thanks to the launch of the 4S and 7S satellites DirecTV now has the lead. This may change with the launch of Dish's next satellite.
Microsoft Windows: A thirty-two bit extension and graphical shell to a sixteen-bit patch to an eight-bit operating system originally coded for a four-bit microprocessor which was written by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition
Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Longhorn: A thirty-two bit and sixty-four bit native operating system written to be portable (remember, Windows XP also runs on Itanum; Windows NT ran on PowerPC and Alpha), originally based on a microkernel concept (now, things like the GDI are in the kernel, but it's still smaller than the Linux macrokernel - whether that's good or bad is up to you).
Someone asks, "how can I make my > work better"? Someone replys "get a >". Unless the situation is extreme ("how can I make linux run better on my 286?"), the original poster doesn't *want* information on other products. If they had, they would have asked "what notebook should I get?".
Macs may be great little UNIX boxes. I personally have a $300 Armada M300 off of eBay. It is 3.2lbs and very small, PIII 600, 384MB SDRAM, ATI GPU (slow 3D, but fine for 2D), 13GB HDD. It runs about 2 1/2 hours (under Windows). Linux is considerably shorter, perhaps because SpeedStep (that throttles down your CPU voltage and clock) isn't working.
Some people said to turn off graphical effects. This may help, but, in reality, they probably don't make a whole lot of difference.
Here are some tips: - Get your CPU's clock throttling enabled. I believe that "longrun" can do this. Particularly on AMD CPUs (also on Pentium-M) you can choose 4 different clocks. AMD CPUs can also dynamically adjust their clock based on CPU load (they call it "PowerNow!"). - Decrease your screen brightness. This is a biggie. The backlight sucks a lot of power. - Disconnect any optical drives (you probably don't have them connected very often anyway) - Set your HDD spin-down options - Suspend your computer when you aren't using it - Charge your computer whenever you can (the less you drain Li-Ion batteries, the longer they last - there is no "memory effect", so *don't* drain them fully) - Get a new battery or replace the cells in your battery. Many batteries use 18650 cells which can be purchased on eBay for around ~$30 for 8.
On a side note, Verizon Wireless is rolling out CDMA2000 1X-EVDO throughout the US. Currently, Washington DC and San Diego are online. Service is $80 a month for unlimited. It runs 1-2mbps. Where there is no 1X-EVDO service, it drops back to 1X-RTT (~60kbps).
NVIDIA makes GPUs, not CPUs. A CPU supports a standard, in the case of AMD or Intel, usally x86 or x86-64. This standard is supported by many companies and is completely open. There is no benefit to hide specifications because there is nothing to hide. Moreover, with things like SSE, it benefits Intel to get the broadest appliction support, and they don't have to OSS their drivers to do it.
The sam does not hold true in the GPU world. NVIDIA cards and ATI cards use completely different interfaces. There is no common interface. Thankfully, we have the driver to abstract the hardware to a known graphics language. DirectX provides another layer of abstraction. Releasing the drivers would release the secrets of the GPU-Driver interface, which plays a *big* role in the performance of the part.
"The GNU GPL is about 15 years old now. That's precisely the kind of software abuse it's made for. If ATI released its drivers under the GPL, nVidia would have to do the same to copy any code from the ATI drivers."
It's not about code. It's about information. Drivers are a huge part of any 3D implementation - as we have seen with the XGI Volari, good hardware can be brought down with bad drivers. And, as we have seen with NVIDIA, slower hardware can be improved with better drivers (they have implemented "dynamic compliation" code in their drivers that works like a JIT compiler, changing the generic pixel and vertex shader instructions to more optimized NVIDIA specific ones).
NVIDIA doesn't want to give away their secrets. If ATI could look at the source code of their drivers, it would be easier for ATI to engineer better drivers - and possibly even better hardware.
Moreover, NVIDIA can't OSS their drivers. They contain 3rd party code which they have licensed.
Look at the part which shows the graphics driver DLL name.
Also note that the GeForce4 MX is the most popular card, followed closely by the FX5200. This is probably because many OEMs use NVIDIA's low-end cards in their mid-range systems. Most gamers probably are smart enough to avoid onboard graphics.
The 17" PowerBook G4 *starts* at $2999. That's including a 80GB notebook (4200rpm) drive, slower processor (don't tell me that a 1.33GHz G4 is as fast as a 3GHz P4), and less memory than the Acer system which is 1/2 as much.
Don't think of this Acer system as a notebook. It's competition (at least on the apple side of the fence) is the iMac. A cheap, fast, compact computer. It's smaller than a desktop (even an SFF desktop), pretty easy to take to LAN parties or move around the house (heck, most desktops are far heavier), pretty fast, and cheap.
"I hate to be be a bitch and point it out, but it works fine in Norway. And I believe that Sweden, Denmark and other socialistic democarcys are doing rather fine as well."
They are "doing fine" because of huge mineral resources that can be cheaply used and sold by the government. When those run out, taxes will have to compensate. Suddenly, your taxes go up to 65%.
Still working?
"It might not be obvious, but this actually saves society money."
"It might not be obvious, but this actually saves society money. Say, for example, if people aren't left to starve (actual, working social security), they won't have to steal or resort to crime in order to survive. And thus, less police is needed. Money saved."
No argument there. In the US, we wonder why we have such a high crime rate. Primarily, it has to do with our mandatory minimums on drug crimes, but the fact that the minimum wage isn't really enough to live on doesn't help out at all.
"So for a practical (and working) socialistic system, Norway and it's democracy is a good example."
Perhaps. But I wouldn't want to live in a country which takes 45% of my paycheck and spends it for "my benefit". Not that what we have in the US is any better.
The Danger Hiptop (T-Mobile Sidekick) has a particularly good way of doing updates. Updates are downloaded over-the air (using the GPRS connection) in the background. Because the device is always-on, a 2 megabyte update can be recieved over an otherwise slow GPRS connection without disrupting the user. When the update is finished downloading, the user is prompted and can choose to apply the upgrade or wait until later. If they choose to install, the update is verified (signed hash) and installed, and the device reboots. All data is left intact.
"I have a 1.6Ghz G5 , and a 2.4Ghz Pentium 4 system. Both with Nvidia graphics cards, the only thing that seems faster (interface wise) on the Windows XP box is scrolling."
If your visual effects are slow on a P4 2.4Ghz, you probably have older drivers without hardware alpha acceleration. Under XP, with the proper drivers, alpha effects can be hardware accelerated.
If you have an NVIDIA card, just get the latest ForceWare drivers. They support every NVIDIA card.
Not the latest Flash. Flash is now compatible with Microsoft Active Accessibility, which means that screen readers can read and activate buttons and other objects in Flash applications. Tab navigation also now works.
Try it. Start up Microsoft Narrator (Windows Key + U on Windows 2000/XP) and head to macromedia.com.
We're switching from Comcast to Qwest DSL. You can get 1.5 down / 867 up in my area for $28 a month in my area. Qwest will try to sell you MSN, but here's a secret: ask the CSR for "Qwest.net" internet service. The basic package (just connectivity and DNS) is $7 a month. Renting a modem is $3 a month. There are no restrictions on running a server, and the faster upstream is nice (Comcast is capped at 256K up).
Recently, Qwest has done a much better job. Their customer service is decent. They let you do a self install. The modem has a NAT box built in. They even have cheap, no-monthly fee long distance. Oh, and fast DSL now too.
"They laid down the law and said there would be only ONE 64-bit version of Windows XP"
Not quite. Their statement was more akin to "We will only support one x86 64-bit extention technology". AMD64 beat Intel to the punch, and since AMD64 was already established, Intel had no choice but to keep compatibility.
"versions would for example melt if you removed the cooling"
And, why, exactly, would you remove the heatsink from a CPU while it is running?
Moreover, this was not a flaw in the Athlon. The Athlon, since Athlon XP, has contained a thermal diode to enable safe thermal shutdown. The motherboard that Tom's Hardware used did not have the thermal protection circuitry.
Losing a CPU to "thermal death" was a rare occurance. Most CPUs that experienced "thermal death" had improperly installed thermal solutions (e.g. the clip was not installed properly). A fan failure or failure to use thermal compound (e.g. a pad or grease) would likely not cause damage to the CPU, even without thermal protection. Only a lack of die to heatsink contact (e.g. with an improperly installed shim or a poorly installed heatsink that detached during movement) would likely cause the Athlon to experience "thermal death" ass shown in the Tom's Hardware video.
"whereas Intels even back then would simply slow down"
The Tom's Hardware Guide video was a fake. The CPU temperature never exceeded 30C (look at the thermal probe). Thermal throttle-down on the P4 occurs when the CPU hits 85C. And, yes, the system will crash or simply become completely unusable if the heatsink is removed.
"without cutting too many corners as they have done in the past"
Right. Intel has never cut corners, particularly not with major logic bugs in the Pentium, PII, PIII, P4, and Itanium.
Look, CPUs are not flawless. But the CPU thermal issue you speak of really is not a huge issue. With a properly installed heatsink (like the heatsinks on a computer you would buy from HP or eMachines), it never was an issue. And today every new motherboard has thermal protection.
Tom's Hardware did a disservice to the community and to AMD by taking a relatively minor issue that affected a small number of people and blowing it out of proportion to a huge flaw.
If you read Tom's Hardware for as long as I have, you begin to notice a pattern: Tom is an egotistic nut. He posted one editorial stating that the performance war between Intel and AMD was bad for consumers (hmmm... my $90 Athlon XP 2600+ would seem to refute that, as would sub $200 P4 3.0GHz CPUs). He also says that people buying AMD64 systems are giving AMD a "no intrest loan" because of the lack of availibility of AMD64 operating systems and applications. Apparently, no one told Tom that the Athlon 64 3000+ is *cheaper* than its similarly performing P4 counterpart (in IA-32 applications). And, apparently, no one told Tom that Intel has adopted the same instruction set for its Pentium 4 based 64-bit systems.
I have lost respect for Tom and his publication. Between his hate-filled articles filled with vague statements and mistruths, his constant bashing of AMD (he compared the Athlon XP 3400+, a $450 CPU, to the P4 Extreme Edition, a $900 CPU, and decreed the P4EE the victor because it was marginally faster in 3/4 of the tests), and his suing of other tech websites, Tom has struck out. I only hope that [H]ardOCP doesn't suffer the same fate.
"Smoking marijuana is illegal in some jurisduictions, but it is not wrong."
Depends on whether you do it and then go operate heavy machinery - like a car. People don't think it's OK to drink and drive, but somehow smoking a joint and driving is OK?
Oh, and the money you paid for that joint probably went to support some pretty bad things. Not necessarily terrorism (as the government would like you to believe), but you'd be surprised what goes on in the "supply chain". It's not exactly hippies and rainbows.
" and plug them it without restarting (unless you are running Windows (cheap shot, as I beleive MS is working on fixing that))."
Very cheap shot, as Windows 2000 supported hotwswap PCI *far* before Linux. Try this: Hibernate (suspend to disk) a Windows 2000, 2003, or XP system, add a PCI card, remove a PCI card, and turn it back on.
In 1995, cellphone adoption in Europe was still nowhere near what it is in the US today. GSM was just starting to really get going (it only reached one million subscribers worldwide in late 1993). In 1996, Sprint launched CDMA in the US.
So, cute, but not quite correct. But you get points for bashing the US.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh. Please.
Don't think for a second that *many* people in the EU resent the US precisely for their hard-nosed, un-diplomatic diplomicy.
That *will* show through. Do you think that Munich chose SuSe because RedHat couldn't offer a similar solution? No. They chose SuSe because they were a German company. The US DOD doesn't buy Airbus for the same reason.
The fact that this is a US company will have a large impact on the verdict.
"I was under the impression Dish had better technology and lower prices than DirectTV!?"
Sort of. Dish has cheaper low-end packages (e.g. Dish has a $29.99 package with 60 channels and locals) but after you get to the mid-range packages DirecTV gets more competitive (about $2 more expensive usually).
Dish originally had the capacity to deliver more channels, but thanks to the launch of the 4S and 7S satellites DirecTV now has the lead. This may change with the launch of Dish's next satellite.
Except that Longhorn is based on the Windows 2000 kernel, which is and always has been a true 32-bit operating system.
Oh, and Longhorn will be available in both 64-bit and 32-bit versions.
I agree with you about the RAM waste part, though. Mostly, however, that has to do with the beta applications leaking memory like crazy.
Microsoft Windows: A thirty-two bit extension and graphical shell to a sixteen-bit patch to an eight-bit operating system originally coded for a four-bit microprocessor which was written by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition
Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Longhorn: A thirty-two bit and sixty-four bit native operating system written to be portable (remember, Windows XP also runs on Itanum; Windows NT ran on PowerPC and Alpha), originally based on a microkernel concept (now, things like the GDI are in the kernel, but it's still smaller than the Linux macrokernel - whether that's good or bad is up to you).
Just a bit of clarification.
I always hate this.
Someone asks, "how can I make my > work better"? Someone replys "get a >". Unless the situation is extreme ("how can I make linux run better on my 286?"), the original poster doesn't *want* information on other products. If they had, they would have asked "what notebook should I get?".
Macs may be great little UNIX boxes. I personally have a $300 Armada M300 off of eBay. It is 3.2lbs and very small, PIII 600, 384MB SDRAM, ATI GPU (slow 3D, but fine for 2D), 13GB HDD. It runs about 2 1/2 hours (under Windows). Linux is considerably shorter, perhaps because SpeedStep (that throttles down your CPU voltage and clock) isn't working.
Some people said to turn off graphical effects. This may help, but, in reality, they probably don't make a whole lot of difference.
Here are some tips:
- Get your CPU's clock throttling enabled. I believe that "longrun" can do this. Particularly on AMD CPUs (also on Pentium-M) you can choose 4 different clocks. AMD CPUs can also dynamically adjust their clock based on CPU load (they call it "PowerNow!").
- Decrease your screen brightness. This is a biggie. The backlight sucks a lot of power.
- Disconnect any optical drives (you probably don't have them connected very often anyway)
- Set your HDD spin-down options
- Suspend your computer when you aren't using it
- Charge your computer whenever you can (the less you drain Li-Ion batteries, the longer they last - there is no "memory effect", so *don't* drain them fully)
- Get a new battery or replace the cells in your battery. Many batteries use 18650 cells which can be purchased on eBay for around ~$30 for 8.
On a side note, Verizon Wireless is rolling out CDMA2000 1X-EVDO throughout the US. Currently, Washington DC and San Diego are online. Service is $80 a month for unlimited. It runs 1-2mbps. Where there is no 1X-EVDO service, it drops back to 1X-RTT (~60kbps).
This has been known for years! Microsoft even had an option in the IE5 installer to keep IE4 around!
"What makes NV different?"
NVIDIA makes GPUs, not CPUs. A CPU supports a standard, in the case of AMD or Intel, usally x86 or x86-64. This standard is supported by many companies and is completely open. There is no benefit to hide specifications because there is nothing to hide. Moreover, with things like SSE, it benefits Intel to get the broadest appliction support, and they don't have to OSS their drivers to do it.
The sam does not hold true in the GPU world. NVIDIA cards and ATI cards use completely different interfaces. There is no common interface. Thankfully, we have the driver to abstract the hardware to a known graphics language. DirectX provides another layer of abstraction. Releasing the drivers would release the secrets of the GPU-Driver interface, which plays a *big* role in the performance of the part.
"The GNU GPL is about 15 years old now. That's precisely the kind of software abuse it's made for. If ATI released its drivers under the GPL, nVidia would have to do the same to copy any code from the ATI drivers."
It's not about code. It's about information. Drivers are a huge part of any 3D implementation - as we have seen with the XGI Volari, good hardware can be brought down with bad drivers. And, as we have seen with NVIDIA, slower hardware can be improved with better drivers (they have implemented "dynamic compliation" code in their drivers that works like a JIT compiler, changing the generic pixel and vertex shader instructions to more optimized NVIDIA specific ones).
NVIDIA doesn't want to give away their secrets. If ATI could look at the source code of their drivers, it would be easier for ATI to engineer better drivers - and possibly even better hardware.
Moreover, NVIDIA can't OSS their drivers. They contain 3rd party code which they have licensed.
NVIDIA.
Look at the part which shows the graphics driver DLL name.
Also note that the GeForce4 MX is the most popular card, followed closely by the FX5200. This is probably because many OEMs use NVIDIA's low-end cards in their mid-range systems. Most gamers probably are smart enough to avoid onboard graphics.
No, it's called "chep design".
The 17" PowerBook G4 *starts* at $2999. That's including a 80GB notebook (4200rpm) drive, slower processor (don't tell me that a 1.33GHz G4 is as fast as a 3GHz P4), and less memory than the Acer system which is 1/2 as much.
Don't think of this Acer system as a notebook. It's competition (at least on the apple side of the fence) is the iMac. A cheap, fast, compact computer. It's smaller than a desktop (even an SFF desktop), pretty easy to take to LAN parties or move around the house (heck, most desktops are far heavier), pretty fast, and cheap.
In case the moderators didn't notice, that was a *joke*.
"I hate to be be a bitch and point it out, but it works fine in Norway. And I believe that Sweden, Denmark and other socialistic democarcys are doing rather fine as well."
They are "doing fine" because of huge mineral resources that can be cheaply used and sold by the government. When those run out, taxes will have to compensate. Suddenly, your taxes go up to 65%.
Still working?
"It might not be obvious, but this actually saves society money."
"It might not be obvious, but this actually saves society money. Say, for example, if people aren't left to starve (actual, working social security), they won't have to steal or resort to crime in order to survive. And thus, less police is needed. Money saved."
No argument there. In the US, we wonder why we have such a high crime rate. Primarily, it has to do with our mandatory minimums on drug crimes, but the fact that the minimum wage isn't really enough to live on doesn't help out at all.
"So for a practical (and working) socialistic system, Norway and it's democracy is a good example."
Perhaps. But I wouldn't want to live in a country which takes 45% of my paycheck and spends it for "my benefit". Not that what we have in the US is any better.
The Danger Hiptop (T-Mobile Sidekick) has a particularly good way of doing updates. Updates are downloaded over-the air (using the GPRS connection) in the background. Because the device is always-on, a 2 megabyte update can be recieved over an otherwise slow GPRS connection without disrupting the user. When the update is finished downloading, the user is prompted and can choose to apply the upgrade or wait until later. If they choose to install, the update is verified (signed hash) and installed, and the device reboots. All data is left intact.
"I have a 1.6Ghz G5 , and a 2.4Ghz Pentium 4 system. Both with Nvidia graphics cards, the only thing that seems faster (interface wise) on the Windows XP box is scrolling."
If your visual effects are slow on a P4 2.4Ghz, you probably have older drivers without hardware alpha acceleration. Under XP, with the proper drivers, alpha effects can be hardware accelerated.
If you have an NVIDIA card, just get the latest ForceWare drivers. They support every NVIDIA card.
"You can do amazing things with it"
Oddly enough, that's one of XP's slogans.
Not the latest Flash. Flash is now compatible with Microsoft Active Accessibility, which means that screen readers can read and activate buttons and other objects in Flash applications. Tab navigation also now works.
Try it. Start up Microsoft Narrator (Windows Key + U on Windows 2000/XP) and head to macromedia.com.
We're switching from Comcast to Qwest DSL. You can get 1.5 down / 867 up in my area for $28 a month in my area. Qwest will try to sell you MSN, but here's a secret: ask the CSR for "Qwest.net" internet service. The basic package (just connectivity and DNS) is $7 a month. Renting a modem is $3 a month. There are no restrictions on running a server, and the faster upstream is nice (Comcast is capped at 256K up).
Recently, Qwest has done a much better job. Their customer service is decent. They let you do a self install. The modem has a NAT box built in. They even have cheap, no-monthly fee long distance. Oh, and fast DSL now too.
"They laid down the law and said there would be only ONE 64-bit version of Windows XP"
Not quite. Their statement was more akin to "We will only support one x86 64-bit extention technology". AMD64 beat Intel to the punch, and since AMD64 was already established, Intel had no choice but to keep compatibility.
"and provide a convenient equivalent to Unix's "su"."
You mean like right clicking and choosing "run as"?
"versions would for example melt if you removed the cooling"
And, why, exactly, would you remove the heatsink from a CPU while it is running?
Moreover, this was not a flaw in the Athlon. The Athlon, since Athlon XP, has contained a thermal diode to enable safe thermal shutdown. The motherboard that Tom's Hardware used did not have the thermal protection circuitry.
Losing a CPU to "thermal death" was a rare occurance. Most CPUs that experienced "thermal death" had improperly installed thermal solutions (e.g. the clip was not installed properly). A fan failure or failure to use thermal compound (e.g. a pad or grease) would likely not cause damage to the CPU, even without thermal protection. Only a lack of die to heatsink contact (e.g. with an improperly installed shim or a poorly installed heatsink that detached during movement) would likely cause the Athlon to experience "thermal death" ass shown in the Tom's Hardware video.
"whereas Intels even back then would simply slow down"
The Tom's Hardware Guide video was a fake. The CPU temperature never exceeded 30C (look at the thermal probe). Thermal throttle-down on the P4 occurs when the CPU hits 85C. And, yes, the system will crash or simply become completely unusable if the heatsink is removed.
"without cutting too many corners as they have done in the past"
Right. Intel has never cut corners, particularly not with major logic bugs in the Pentium, PII, PIII, P4, and Itanium.
Look, CPUs are not flawless. But the CPU thermal issue you speak of really is not a huge issue. With a properly installed heatsink (like the heatsinks on a computer you would buy from HP or eMachines), it never was an issue. And today every new motherboard has thermal protection.
Tom's Hardware did a disservice to the community and to AMD by taking a relatively minor issue that affected a small number of people and blowing it out of proportion to a huge flaw.
If you read Tom's Hardware for as long as I have, you begin to notice a pattern: Tom is an egotistic nut. He posted one editorial stating that the performance war between Intel and AMD was bad for consumers (hmmm... my $90 Athlon XP 2600+ would seem to refute that, as would sub $200 P4 3.0GHz CPUs). He also says that people buying AMD64 systems are giving AMD a "no intrest loan" because of the lack of availibility of AMD64 operating systems and applications. Apparently, no one told Tom that the Athlon 64 3000+ is *cheaper* than its similarly performing P4 counterpart (in IA-32 applications). And, apparently, no one told Tom that Intel has adopted the same instruction set for its Pentium 4 based 64-bit systems.
I have lost respect for Tom and his publication. Between his hate-filled articles filled with vague statements and mistruths, his constant bashing of AMD (he compared the Athlon XP 3400+, a $450 CPU, to the P4 Extreme Edition, a $900 CPU, and decreed the P4EE the victor because it was marginally faster in 3/4 of the tests), and his suing of other tech websites, Tom has struck out. I only hope that [H]ardOCP doesn't suffer the same fate.
"Smoking marijuana is illegal in some jurisduictions, but it is not wrong."
Depends on whether you do it and then go operate heavy machinery - like a car. People don't think it's OK to drink and drive, but somehow smoking a joint and driving is OK?
Oh, and the money you paid for that joint probably went to support some pretty bad things. Not necessarily terrorism (as the government would like you to believe), but you'd be surprised what goes on in the "supply chain". It's not exactly hippies and rainbows.
" and plug them it without restarting (unless you are running Windows (cheap shot, as I beleive MS is working on fixing that))."
Very cheap shot, as Windows 2000 supported hotwswap PCI *far* before Linux. Try this: Hibernate (suspend to disk) a Windows 2000, 2003, or XP system, add a PCI card, remove a PCI card, and turn it back on.
SYSTEM should always have write permissions to everything. Otherwise, bad things happen.
In 1995, cellphone adoption in Europe was still nowhere near what it is in the US today. GSM was just starting to really get going (it only reached one million subscribers worldwide in late 1993). In 1996, Sprint launched CDMA in the US.
So, cute, but not quite correct. But you get points for bashing the US.