When you're only and always hearing about the negatives of one thing (fossil fuels) and only and always hearing about the positives of another (green energy), you're probably being bamboozled.
Then the solution is clear: start making things out of bamboo.
Might not we be better off turning these technological advances which enable a steady stream of ever-faster computers and mobile devices into a net energy savings, by striving to use as many or fewer (but not more) CPU cycles on the newer, faster, CPUs capable of more calculations per watt, rather than instead bloating our software so that the old devices become slow and obsolete and the new devices feel just as fast as the old ones used to?
Haven't we already started going this path already? A 15W intel CPU from 2017 can do more per second than an old 90W CPU from a decade ago.
I get what you're saying, that the old CPU design with today's fabs could probably make a CPU that requires even less than 15W. One good side-effect would be that people would need to upgrade their computer less often, but at some point lowering the power requirements of the CPU becomes pointless because it becomes a small percentage of the total power required by the system.
Besides, people are upgrading their computer less often already: - In the 1980's your computer was obsolete after only a few years. Or maybe you didn't pick one of the "winning team" and ended up with something nobody else used (ex: Atari ST). - After that, picking the PC as the standard, your computer became obsolete because it lacked modern ports. Or your GPU was no longer compatible with your new motherboard. Your CPU socket changed. The RAM type changed, the socket too. But for the most part, you could bring a few components over to your "new computer". - But in the last decade or so, we've had slower CPU power increases and something bought in 2012 is maybe a dozen or so percent slower than one bought in 2017. A lot of people are using older hardware.
Apart from the Core 2 Duo that's showing its age in my 2010 Mac mini, I don't feel the need to upgrade. I upgraded the RAM to 16GB, removed the optical drive, installed a small SSD and moved the HDD to the optical drive bay with an adapter.
SSDs are another thing that require less power than their older counterparts, I've read they only need about 30% as much power as HDDs.
The last part that requires a lot of energy are the displays and AFAIK we haven't made great advances in panel power requirements for the last few decades.
I do agree that software bloat is the enemy of energy conservation because it's a never-ending loop, but we're already starting to see the limits of what Intel and AMD can do, maybe we're fast approaching the day were we won't have any choice but to start optimizing again. Maybe not next year, but in the next few decades, who knows?
And there's reality, where there's deadlines and a lack of funds but the project must still be delivered. Functionality wins over security almost every time.
We will NEVER, EVER have 100% of all developers understand security at the level required to make 100% secure programs.
What we need is OS and languages that have security built-in, the same way programmers don't know assembly and UEFI and yet can still code and make programs.
Aren't SQL injection attacks usually queued commands? Isn't the ability to queue multiple SQL commands in one string a flaw in itself? Ex: what possible harm would it do to require a "drop table" command to be called on its own,etc ?
Facebook knows what you look like Facebook knows your location Facebook knows who your friends are Facebook knows your interests Facebook knows if you're in a relationship or not
He sees you when you're sleeping He knows when you're awake He knows if you've been bad or good
There is but one inescapable conclusion: Mark Zuckerberg is Santa Claus.
cloud computing is guaranteed to replace personal computing over the next three years
As the AC above said, this is idiocy.
Cringely points out most startups are already usings AWS -- and so are all 17 US intelligence agencies ("taking 350,000 PCs out of places like the CIA.")
If you are replacing 350K PCs by cloud services then you were not doing "personal computing" to begin with.
Slashdot Mirror
Then the solution is clear: start making things out of bamboo.
Haven't we already started going this path already? A 15W intel CPU from 2017 can do more per second than an old 90W CPU from a decade ago.
I get what you're saying, that the old CPU design with today's fabs could probably make a CPU that requires even less than 15W. One good side-effect would be that people would need to upgrade their computer less often, but at some point lowering the power requirements of the CPU becomes pointless because it becomes a small percentage of the total power required by the system.
Besides, people are upgrading their computer less often already:
- In the 1980's your computer was obsolete after only a few years. Or maybe you didn't pick one of the "winning team" and ended up with something nobody else used (ex: Atari ST).
- After that, picking the PC as the standard, your computer became obsolete because it lacked modern ports. Or your GPU was no longer compatible with your new motherboard. Your CPU socket changed. The RAM type changed, the socket too. But for the most part, you could bring a few components over to your "new computer".
- But in the last decade or so, we've had slower CPU power increases and something bought in 2012 is maybe a dozen or so percent slower than one bought in 2017. A lot of people are using older hardware.
Apart from the Core 2 Duo that's showing its age in my 2010 Mac mini, I don't feel the need to upgrade. I upgraded the RAM to 16GB, removed the optical drive, installed a small SSD and moved the HDD to the optical drive bay with an adapter.
SSDs are another thing that require less power than their older counterparts, I've read they only need about 30% as much power as HDDs.
The last part that requires a lot of energy are the displays and AFAIK we haven't made great advances in panel power requirements for the last few decades.
I do agree that software bloat is the enemy of energy conservation because it's a never-ending loop, but we're already starting to see the limits of what Intel and AMD can do, maybe we're fast approaching the day were we won't have any choice but to start optimizing again. Maybe not next year, but in the next few decades, who knows?
And there's reality, where there's deadlines and a lack of funds but the project must still be delivered. Functionality wins over security almost every time.
Either you can't accept the fact that I do not know SQL very well, or you don't understand the core of my question.
That's what I'm saying. Why does SQL allows to "break out of a string" in the first place?
We will NEVER, EVER have 100% of all developers understand security at the level required to make 100% secure programs.
What we need is OS and languages that have security built-in, the same way programmers don't know assembly and UEFI and yet can still code and make programs.
Aren't SQL injection attacks usually queued commands? Isn't the ability to queue multiple SQL commands in one string a flaw in itself? Ex: what possible harm would it do to require a "drop table" command to be called on its own,etc ?
If your OS is not open-source, forget release/review processes. If the NSA tells you to add this black box of code, you fucking do it.
Facebook knows a lot about you even if you never visited their website, because people all around you use it.
Security by obscurity, government backdoors, etc. Those are not bugs.
Take a moment, if you will, to compare the two:
Facebook knows what you look like
Facebook knows your location
Facebook knows who your friends are
Facebook knows your interests
Facebook knows if you're in a relationship or not
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
There is but one inescapable conclusion: Mark Zuckerberg is Santa Claus .
Yeah! FreeBSD for the win!
Apple only patches the last few versions of macOS and the latest versions of macOS require new hardware.
You can only rely on Apple for security patches for a few years, after that you're considered a non-paying customer.
What we need up here is a way to convert cold into energy.
Did you know that plastic dinosaurs were made from real dinosaurs?
We just wait a few years and then we drill for oil!
Yeah! Dogecoin to the moon! Much value! Very future!
For some people, Bitcoin is a safety net against unstable governments.
In the USA, the government is not even in control of its own currency.
Not around here, they're not! I'm Canadian and around here we value commodities in maple syrup dollars.
There you go.
My favorite scene is the fast-forward building of Virgil.
The worst scene is when he opens a panel and we see a protoboard with wires... I know they were in a hurry but there's 24-hours PCB shops in the USA.
So by your logic there cannot be actual liberal posts anymore, meaning the left does not have a valid voice anymore.
You donâ(TM)t need to tell us youâ(TM)re using Safari. Somehow, we know. ;)
As the AC above said, this is idiocy.
If you are replacing 350K PCs by cloud services then you were not doing "personal computing" to begin with.