Because of the way the Skype network works (its a p2p mesh system), depending on whether the client elects to be a leaf, a node or a super node will depend on the amount of network activity you see.
The protocol was *really* not designed for mobile devices, and we are starting to see how badly it can treat the battery. There isn't much room to expand it to use push notifications either.
odd, when we were working with cell we went straight to matrix vision and they LOANED us the hardware for about a year.. Nothing sleazy at all. IBM Also loaned us a server, as did Sony (a beautiful rack-mount job which will never see the light of day).
Bottom Line - the PPC part of the Cell is rubbish, terrible IO and generally 'weak' by todays standards, the SPEs are great, but not enough memory on them (256k) for the algorithms + tables we needed to process the data.
In the end optimizing for intel & SSE3 and making the algorithms multi-core capable was less pain:performance ratio than working on the Cell which would have required all the additional work of managing DMA to/from the meagre memory on the SPE.
Actually, roger melle was nothing to do with clarkson...
It was a piss take of a look north presenter called Mike Neville who by all accounts was a beer swilling, chain smoking, lecherous old coot, not unlike roger melle!
Let's just be thankful that they aren't being designed by Microsoft. If they were, you could only talk to other Microsoft phone owners, and every number you called would get blocked after three calls or three days unless you paid extra to get it unlocked...
In my experience of microsoft based phones you'll be lucky if you can speak to anyone, let alone people with other MS phones...
Several companies have already developed or are in the process of developing CCR5 inhibitors which bind to the site and stop things such as HIV from entering the cell to begin with.
While this is not a cure, it bodes well for long term suppression of HIV given its hard to mutate against. (unlike things like NNRTIs and Protease Inhibitors).
Theres not a whole lot of support chips out there for PowerPC CPUs, less/none for the G5 so Apple basically have to design and fab their own support chipsets.
One benefit to apple of the switch is they get to use Intels or ATIs or nVidias or SIS or VIA's support chips for whatever x86 arch they choose, which means they can effectively cut costs by scrapping a whole division
Same goes for the logic board design, they can just use a reference design from intel (or whoever) and just tweak where necessary. Again a huge cost cut for Apple.
I dont know how much, if any, of this will play out in reality, but my wallet is ready to get reamed buying what will probably turn out to be nothing more than a stylish PC.
You know I'm really sick of people saying Apple is a hardware company.
What are Logic, Final Cut, Motion, Shake, etc?
software.
And not cheap software at that.. logic 7 alone is in the region of £700, Final Cut is around £800, not to mention the miscellaneous charges here and there: iWork, OS Upgrades, Quicktime, ARD and more.
The main benefit of Apple 'switching' to the intel platform will be one to Apple. No longer do they have to do complicated main board design, nor even develop their own support chipsets.
The only thing they'll have to do now, is wrap someone elses logic board design up in a pretty box and ship it to their lovely brushed aluminium and glass retail stores.
Yes, I am a Mac owner/developer, but even I can see their hardware is more a support platform for their software, which is probably why they've been on a company buying craze. (see eMagic etc).
Last game company I worked at used MS C Compiler and http://www.codeplay.com/ VectorC{PC} which is a very nice compiler indeed, and comes in a PS2 flavour, which is what you want if you're making cross platform games!
I'd have thought its so more code fits in the L1/L2 cache at once, so that the slow old 133Mhz bus can have a break.
Also the G5s health branch prediction can have a field day on it. gcc is quite adept at making fast, but unfeasably large code when compiling for speed.
Maybe thats because you dont work for the company, ANYONE with developer tools installed can load up Quartz Debug and select 'Enable Quartz 2D Extreme' from the Tools menu
There has been discussion that you are just a troll sucking down mod points, I tend to believe them since you have no clue about this technology.
For the uninitiated, its a lot like offloading graphics rendering (and not just compositing) to the GPU, rather like NeXT used to do in some of their more expensive systems.
A not-so anonymous Anonymous Coward would like to put this query before you: "I'm not a fan of Windows, and never have been, but I am a fan of the x86 architecture. I'd really like to start a flame war on Slashdot. I really like Mac OS X and I am a mac fanboi I'd love to get a heated debate over x86 vs PPC architecture. Darwin, Mac OS X's unix-ish core, has been used as a incendiary device on slashdot before as has Microsoft's upcoming Longhorn OS as it seems to be disliked by everyone but Microsoft. If Apple released Mac OS X to compete with Longhorn, would you switch?" or start a flamewar?
Slashdot Mirror
Because of the way the Skype network works (its a p2p mesh system), depending on whether the client elects to be a leaf, a node or a super node will depend on the amount of network activity you see.
The protocol was *really* not designed for mobile devices, and we are starting to see how badly it can treat the battery. There isn't much room to expand it to use push notifications either.
odd, when we were working with cell we went straight to matrix vision and they LOANED us the hardware for about a year.. Nothing sleazy at all. IBM Also loaned us a server, as did Sony (a beautiful rack-mount job which will never see the light of day).
http://www.matrix-vision.com/products/cell.php?lang=en
Bottom Line - the PPC part of the Cell is rubbish, terrible IO and generally 'weak' by todays standards, the SPEs are great, but not enough memory on them (256k) for the algorithms + tables we needed to process the data.
In the end optimizing for intel & SSE3 and making the algorithms multi-core capable was less pain:performance ratio than working on the Cell which would have required all the additional work of managing DMA to/from the meagre memory on the SPE.
Its more likely that carbs are a hell of a lot cheaper than a nice juicy steak, rather than the 'power' of the sugar lobby.
Actually, roger melle was nothing to do with clarkson...
It was a piss take of a look north presenter called Mike Neville who by all accounts was a beer swilling, chain smoking, lecherous old coot, not unlike roger melle!
They were called Schindlers Lifts
In my experience of microsoft based phones you'll be lucky if you can speak to anyone, let alone people with other MS phones...
A million mac users look up and say 'huh, wasn't that like 2 years ago'?
Several companies have already developed or are in the process of developing CCR5 inhibitors which bind to the site and stop things such as HIV from entering the cell to begin with.
While this is not a cure, it bodes well for long term suppression of HIV given its hard to mutate against. (unlike things like NNRTIs and Protease Inhibitors).
All placebos have side effects if you read the patient information leaflet so you know what to expect.
Actually, judging by the size and scope of the OS X.4.n updates I'd say they were comparing two beta OSes.
Simple: necessity
Theres not a whole lot of support chips out there for PowerPC CPUs, less/none for the G5 so Apple basically have to design and fab their own support chipsets.
One benefit to apple of the switch is they get to use Intels or ATIs or nVidias or SIS or VIA's support chips for whatever x86 arch they choose, which means they can effectively cut costs by scrapping a whole division
Same goes for the logic board design, they can just use a reference design from intel (or whoever) and just tweak where necessary. Again a huge cost cut for Apple.
I dont know how much, if any, of this will play out in reality, but my wallet is ready to get reamed buying what will probably turn out to be nothing more than a stylish PC.
I MISS MY POWERPC ALREADY GODDAMMIT!!
You know I'm really sick of people saying Apple is a hardware company.
What are Logic, Final Cut, Motion, Shake, etc?
software.
And not cheap software at that.. logic 7 alone is in the region of £700, Final Cut is around £800, not to mention the miscellaneous charges here and there: iWork, OS Upgrades, Quicktime, ARD and more.
The main benefit of Apple 'switching' to the intel platform will be one to Apple. No longer do they have to do complicated main board design, nor even develop their own support chipsets.
The only thing they'll have to do now, is wrap someone elses logic board design up in a pretty box and ship it to their lovely brushed aluminium and glass retail stores.
Yes, I am a Mac owner/developer, but even I can see their hardware is more a support platform for their software, which is probably why they've been on a company buying craze. (see eMagic etc).
Throw that wireless mouse out of the window and replace it with a nice corded one.
I think my mouses TCO was higher than the TCO required to run my computer!
What I'd like to know is whos hair they use as this baseline, or is all human hair the same thickness?
If I had mod points I'd give them all to you. Sarcasm is wasted here.
Actually I just wrote my own MP3 player.
Last game company I worked at used MS C Compiler and http://www.codeplay.com/ VectorC{PC} which is a very nice compiler indeed, and comes in a PS2 flavour, which is what you want if you're making cross platform games!
I'd have thought its so more code fits in the L1/L2 cache at once, so that the slow old 133Mhz bus can have a break.
Also the G5s health branch prediction can have a field day on it. gcc is quite adept at making fast, but unfeasably large code when compiling for speed.
You're a bit wrong there, Phase 1 clinical trials often only involve that many people, sometimes less.
Phase 3 or OpenAccess trials are the type you're thinking about.
For more information on HIV drugs, both released and in trial try this: http://www.aidsmeds.com/List.htm
Then why dont you just load up Quartz Debug, its in developer tools under performance apps.
Right there in the Tools menu you'll see a nice big menu option that says 'Enable Quartz 2D Extreme'.
At least try to read up somewhat on what you are talking about before you suck down mod points.
Maybe thats because you dont work for the company, ANYONE with developer tools installed can load up Quartz Debug and select 'Enable Quartz 2D Extreme' from the Tools menu
There has been discussion that you are just a troll sucking down mod points, I tend to believe them since you have no clue about this technology.
For the uninitiated, its a lot like offloading graphics rendering (and not just compositing) to the GPU, rather like NeXT used to do in some of their more expensive systems.
Well at least some of the characters will have some depth now..../
Maybe if this story is duped enough times then there'll be enough of them to condense and initiate a fusion reaction!
And this my friends is why I love slashdot...
A not-so anonymous Anonymous Coward would like to put this query before you: "I'm not a fan of Windows, and never have been, but I am a fan of the x86 architecture. I'd really like to start a flame war on Slashdot. I really like Mac OS X and I am a mac fanboi I'd love to get a heated debate over x86 vs PPC architecture. Darwin, Mac OS X's unix-ish core, has been used as a incendiary device on slashdot before as has Microsoft's upcoming Longhorn OS as it seems to be disliked by everyone but Microsoft. If Apple released Mac OS X to compete with Longhorn, would you switch?" or start a flamewar?