Re:Kids, don't learn English from reading this rev
on
Review: Impostor
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Hmmm.... Maybe it would be better if slashdot had a movie review policy that specified that movie reviews must be written in the most fluent language of the reviewer - like Perl or C++ instead of english.
His "small-tail" genes get thrown out of the gene pool even though they would be better for the species.
Hey, who are you to decide what is better or more efficient for any species? or even what their criteria is? That is the gene's job!
If the environment slowly changed (new predators) so that having a shorter tail would increase a peacock's ability to survive - then it will only be the short peacocks who will be around to breed. The ladies won't have any choice, and the population will end up with shorter tails.
And unfortunately it will be a LONG TIME before good non-buggy optimizing compilers will be available for such a complex architecture.
software pipelining and parallel instructions give you a real complex monster cpu. Languages like C and C++ make it extremely hard to optimize for a cpu like this since C and C++ were never designed for fine-grained parallelism and software pipelining. So it results is a lot of wasted clock cycles.
What I'd LOVE to see is a statically typed pure functional language that could be used to generate the code for IA64. Then it would be feasable to fully take advantage of the IA64's features!
In the meantime, people compiling IA64 C code with GCC will be extremely disappointed. People compiling IA64 C code with Intel's optimizing compiler will be happier but will only be mildly impressed.
I've worked with VLIW (256 bit instructions) software pipelined DSP's before and learned very quickly that the C and C++ language standards are fundamentally limited for these things. I also learned very quickly that writing assembly language directly for them is an easy way to gain a special invitation to a padded room!!! I shudder to think what the compiler writers have to go through!
There already is a standard for 96 KHz, 24 bit DVD audio. Problem is, hardly anybody uses it for distribution. And unfortunately I suspect that no one ever will - Any new audio distribution standard will focus on digital rights limitation crap above audio quality.
All the D/A converters in use now are 1 bit with many times oversampling. The filters used with them are very good too. What really matters at this point are their effective bits - even though a converter may be labelled as a 24 bit converter, it does not mean you will actually get 144 db dynamic range!
Take a look at my old sample alias viewer program for win32 here (beware of ugly gui colours though!)
The results are deceiving because the program doesn't display what really happens when you have a proper filter on the output.
When all is said and done, what really matters is how it sounds. I personally can tell the difference between 16 bits and 24 bits. I can not tell the difference between 48 khz and 96 khz. I suspect that anyone who says that they can tell the difference is actually hearing the artifacts due to a crappy resonant filter at 22 khz or whatever.
Also, beware of some gear that says it supports 96 khz - Some devices may receive or send it via AES/EBU or SPDIF, but are actually discarding incoming samples or interpolating outgoing samples. Seriously, some companies are scamming the customers with regard to 96 khz.
Well, 24 bit is a huge noticable improvement to 16 bit. I'm not an audiophile and my ears are somewhat shot from playing in loud bands, and even I can tell the difference between a CD mastered at 44.1/16 and the same CD mastered at 96/24. 96Khz is a clever ruse, what matters is the 24 bits vs. 16.
One of the first rules of a good UI is: don't surprise the user. Believe it or not, a lot of people don't want "exciting" or "radical" changes in their UI, because it would be confusing and create training issues.
But the original GUI that came out was "Exciting" and "Radical". So if people followed the rules you specified then we wouldn't even have any GUI.
I would love to see a new "Exciting Radical" change in user interfaces instead of just rehashes and tweaks of existing ones. That could possibly be the "Killer App" for linux, if everyone just stopped trying to copy existing technologies.
Ok, but that doesn't make sense in light of
this and this.
If all PC's have license to at least old Win95, then why would "Microsoft release a statement saying it would provide 150 packs of Windows 95 and 10 refurbished computers worth a total of about $33,370 ($65,000 Australian) as a "gesture of good will" to Australian charity organizations--the Rotary Club of Geelong and the Geelong YMCA.
All the computers that were donated had windows on them. But the license was not transferrable.
I sure hope that Ford (like many large companies) at the very least gives Ford employees dibs on any computers that are being replaced within the company to make up for each new round of Windows.
But that is illegal unless they wipe the windows off the hard disks and install Linux/NetBSD/etc on it instead. Or, they can pay microsoft their extortion/protection fee.
The windows licenses that the corporation bought are not transferrable. In the future you will not be able to buy older versions of windows at all. Yet, the newer versions of windows (XP) won't work nicely on these computers - otherwise why would they be getting replaced?
So in a roundabout way, microsoft makes linux the only option for people with older computers - especially if the computers are hand-me-downs.
A funny joke I read in an introductory Russian language book that is relevant to you:
A Russian is driving down the street in his Mercedes when he suddenly sees an old classmate of his siting on the curb, shabbily dressed, with his hand outstretched, begging.
He stops, gets out of the car, walks over to his friend and says, "Kolya, what's this? You were the smartest kid in school! In third grade you were doing square roots in your head without pencil and paper! You got first prize in all the math competitions! You were the valedictorian! You defended your doctoral thesis when you were twenty! What happened to you? How did you get so poor? What are you doing, panhandling on the street?"
"I just haven't made it in the New Russia," answers the beggar. "But enough about me. Tell me about yourelf. You practically flunked out! You could never learn the multiplication tables! They excused you from taking math because you were such a dunce! You didn't even get a diploma, they just gave you a certificate of attendance. Where did you get all this - the Mercedes, the Rolex watch, the Armani trenchcoat?"
"Kolya, it's really very simple," said the Russian. "I buy cigarettes for a dollar a pack. I sell them for three dollars a pack. And I live on the two percent I make."
I run both yellow dog linux (kernel 2.4.10 at the moment) with ext3fs and mac osx 10.1 on my dual g4.
Linux/KDE/Gnome definitely 'feels' more snappier the Mac OS X Aqua.
I've had linux freeze my box more than a few times. Probably related to VM, probably would be fixed when I go to the latest kernel with the better VM. OS-X 10.1 has never crashed on me.
Benchmarks of some computationally intensive altivec code for some reason show linux 10% faster. Strange, maybe the gcc compiler for OS-X has some optimizations disabled internally.
I personally like them both very much. Porting linux apps to OS-X can be a bitch especially if they want to create shared libs. Shared libs are completely different.
I also wish that OS-X could mount my ext3 partition.
Come up with a proof and tell people about it. Even if it only helps optimize the factoring of large numbers by 10%, no one will understand that it doesn't change the security of encryption much and Mossad, Saddam, the CIA, and the NSA will be after you. And you'll be dead just like the nice mathematician was in the movie Sneakers.
</conspiracy theory>
Slashdot Mirror
Hmmm.... Maybe it would be better if slashdot had a movie review policy that specified that movie reviews must be written in the most fluent language of the reviewer - like Perl or C++ instead of english.
--jeff
Hey, who are you to decide what is better or more efficient for any species? or even what their criteria is? That is the gene's job!
If the environment slowly changed (new predators) so that having a shorter tail would increase a peacock's ability to survive - then it will only be the short peacocks who will be around to breed. The ladies won't have any choice, and the population will end up with shorter tails.
--jeff
IANAGM (i am not a genetics major) - But - Couldn't a gene for suicide persist if it were manifested as a recessive trait?
--jeff
That's just it. GCC will not be capable of making any sort of optimized IA64 code for a long time.
jeff
And unfortunately it will be a LONG TIME before good non-buggy optimizing compilers will be available for such a complex architecture.
software pipelining and parallel instructions give you a real complex monster cpu. Languages like C and C++ make it extremely hard to optimize for a cpu like this since C and C++ were never designed for fine-grained parallelism and software pipelining. So it results is a lot of wasted clock cycles.
What I'd LOVE to see is a statically typed pure functional language that could be used to generate the code for IA64. Then it would be feasable to fully take advantage of the IA64's features!
In the meantime, people compiling IA64 C code with GCC will be extremely disappointed. People compiling IA64 C code with Intel's optimizing compiler will be happier but will only be mildly impressed.
I've worked with VLIW (256 bit instructions) software pipelined DSP's before and learned very quickly that the C and C++ language standards are fundamentally limited for these things. I also learned very quickly that writing assembly language directly for them is an easy way to gain a special invitation to a padded room!!! I shudder to think what the compiler writers have to go through!
--jeff
It is not just real memory that is addressed - the important advantage of a 64 bit cpu is the additional virtual memory it can address.
When you have more than 2000 processes or threads on a box then you will see the difference that 64 bits makes.
Jeff
There already is a standard for 96 KHz, 24 bit DVD audio. Problem is, hardly anybody uses it for distribution. And unfortunately I suspect that no one ever will - Any new audio distribution standard will focus on digital rights limitation crap above audio quality.
All the D/A converters in use now are 1 bit with many times oversampling. The filters used with them are very good too. What really matters at this point are their effective bits - even though a converter may be labelled as a 24 bit converter, it does not mean you will actually get 144 db dynamic range!
Take a look at my old sample alias viewer program for win32 here (beware of ugly gui colours though!)
The results are deceiving because the program doesn't display what really happens when you have a proper filter on the output.
When all is said and done, what really matters is how it sounds. I personally can tell the difference between 16 bits and 24 bits. I can not tell the difference between 48 khz and 96 khz. I suspect that anyone who says that they can tell the difference is actually hearing the artifacts due to a crappy resonant filter at 22 khz or whatever.
Also, beware of some gear that says it supports 96 khz - Some devices may receive or send it via AES/EBU or SPDIF, but are actually discarding incoming samples or interpolating outgoing samples. Seriously, some companies are scamming the customers with regard to 96 khz.
--jeff
Well, 24 bit is a huge noticable improvement to 16 bit. I'm not an audiophile and my ears are somewhat shot from playing in loud bands, and even I can tell the difference between a CD mastered at 44.1/16 and the same CD mastered at 96/24. 96Khz is a clever ruse, what matters is the 24 bits vs. 16.
So support of 96/24 will be important.
--jeff
I was referring to the message that I replied to (here). My 'Original GUI' note referred to XEROX, not linux.
Your article was very good.
--jeff
One of the first rules of a good UI is: don't surprise the user. Believe it or not, a lot of people don't want "exciting" or "radical" changes in their UI, because it would be confusing and create training issues.
But the original GUI that came out was "Exciting" and "Radical". So if people followed the rules you specified then we wouldn't even have any GUI.
I would love to see a new "Exciting Radical" change in user interfaces instead of just rehashes and tweaks of existing ones. That could possibly be the "Killer App" for linux, if everyone just stopped trying to copy existing technologies.
--jeff
But Ogg Vorbis is NOT licensed under the GPL!!!! Get your facts straight!
So I guess you should be supporting Ogg then, eh?
--jeff
Yes, the trick is that the combination of Youth, Skill, and Treachery will win!
Jeff
Will always prevail against youth and skill
Unfortunately, it is true.
--jeff
currently, an ISP can pull your service for any reason whatsoever
And you can change ISP's for any reason whatsoever. There's plenty to choose from, thanks to capitalism.
But here is the point! 110 to 14. What if in 5 years the trend follows and there is really only 1? Then you have no choice.
--jeff
But those societies will be seen as harbouring terrorists and will be quickly shut down.
--jeff
What if they put it in your left hand? Would it not satisfy the requirements then?
Armageddon could be delayed!
--jeff
Ok, but that doesn't make sense in light of this and this.
If all PC's have license to at least old Win95, then why would "Microsoft release a statement saying it would provide 150 packs of Windows 95 and 10 refurbished computers worth a total of about $33,370 ($65,000 Australian) as a "gesture of good will" to Australian charity organizations--the Rotary Club of Geelong and the Geelong YMCA.
All the computers that were donated had windows on them. But the license was not transferrable.
--jeffk
Or, they can pay microsoft their extortion/protection fee.
Or, they can install linux for free.
A hand-me-down computer from a corporation can not be given for free if it has windows on it. That is officially piracy.
--jeff
But that is illegal unless they wipe the windows off the hard disks and install Linux/NetBSD/etc on it instead. Or, they can pay microsoft their extortion/protection fee.
The windows licenses that the corporation bought are not transferrable. In the future you will not be able to buy older versions of windows at all. Yet, the newer versions of windows (XP) won't work nicely on these computers - otherwise why would they be getting replaced?
So in a roundabout way, microsoft makes linux the only option for people with older computers - especially if the computers are hand-me-downs.
--jeff
A funny joke I read in an introductory Russian language book that is relevant to you:
A Russian is driving down the street in his Mercedes when he suddenly sees an old classmate of his siting on the curb, shabbily dressed, with his hand outstretched, begging.
He stops, gets out of the car, walks over to his friend and says, "Kolya, what's this? You were the smartest kid in school! In third grade you were doing square roots in your head without pencil and paper! You got first prize in all the math competitions! You were the valedictorian! You defended your doctoral thesis when you were twenty! What happened to you? How did you get so poor? What are you doing, panhandling on the street?"
"I just haven't made it in the New Russia," answers the beggar. "But enough about me. Tell me about yourelf. You practically flunked out! You could never learn the multiplication tables! They excused you from taking math because you were such a dunce! You didn't even get a diploma, they just gave you a certificate of attendance. Where did you get all this - the Mercedes, the Rolex watch, the Armani trenchcoat?"
"Kolya, it's really very simple," said the Russian. "I buy cigarettes for a dollar a pack. I sell them for three dollars a pack. And I live on the two percent I make."
--jeff
I run both yellow dog linux (kernel 2.4.10 at the moment) with ext3fs and mac osx 10.1 on my dual g4.
Linux/KDE/Gnome definitely 'feels' more snappier the Mac OS X Aqua.
I've had linux freeze my box more than a few times. Probably related to VM, probably would be fixed when I go to the latest kernel with the better VM. OS-X 10.1 has never crashed on me.
Benchmarks of some computationally intensive altivec code for some reason show linux 10% faster. Strange, maybe the gcc compiler for OS-X has some optimizations disabled internally.
I personally like them both very much. Porting linux apps to OS-X can be a bitch especially if they want to create shared libs. Shared libs are completely different.
I also wish that OS-X could mount my ext3 partition.
--jeff
I Absolutely agree!
Absence of evidence
is NOT evidence of absence.
--jeff
Come up with a proof and tell people about it. Even if it only helps optimize the factoring of large numbers by 10%, no one will understand that it doesn't change the security of encryption much and Mossad, Saddam, the CIA, and the NSA will be after you. And you'll be dead just like the nice mathematician was in the movie Sneakers.
</conspiracy theory>
--jeff (off to watch more movies)
_I_ wouldn't grant a monopoly to a company known to repeatedly abuse its monopoly positions.
But the government just might. As the previous poster stated, anti-trust is officialy not an issue! Problem solved! They don't care.
--jeff