Slashdot Mirror


User: msgmonkey

msgmonkey's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
386
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 386

  1. Ah yes on Microsoft Windows 3.0 Is 20 Years Today · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The version of Windows that made you wish your 286 was a 386 and 640KB of ram certainly was n't more than you would ever need. Fond memories of wondering where 150K of memory had disappeared to only to realise that lovely desktop background image you set sucked 15% of your free memory. I also remember if you typed fast enough MS Write could n't keep up and you would fill the input buffer, let alone running MS Word. I can n't say I'ill miss those days.

  2. But once the genie is out the bottle on Facebook Calls All-Hands Meeting On Privacy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One thing I find disturbing is that even when/if Facebook backs down, it has already given away your information. For example when they decided to put what you're a "fan" of in your public profile that any web-crawler can see. Even if they backed down, I'm sure that information is now stored in a number of databases outside of Facebook and you don't have to be completely paranoid to think maybe Facebook has a hand in this.

  3. Application specific servers on ARM-Based Servers Coming In 2011 · · Score: 1

    Whilst ARM processors do have excellent MIPS/Watt the processors do have lower clock rates, smaller cache, slower/narrower buses so I do n't see these being very useful for general purpose multi user servers. However if your application is mainly I/O bound and you can do most of it via DMA they would be great. I can imagine for google they make alot of sense, however for something that runs on PHP like facebook less so.

  4. Re:Integrated graphics in the CPU? on Next Gen Intel CPUs Move To Yet Another Socket · · Score: 1

    Self modifying code on x86 whilst supported, is there just for backward compatibility and has been very slow since the pentium pro and although it is messy it is handled at the x86 to micro-op conversion stage. It may make the decoder twice as large but as my original point stated (and still stands) the die area used is nothing compared to the space used by caches on modern CPUs so decreasing its complexity for a few extra K of cache would give you no net gain.

    There is no difference in concept between a modern RISC and a classical RISC processor in terms of instructions being fixed size and hence tend to use more space compared to x86 code generated by compilers. What you can and can not do to memory varies on RISC processors too for example ARM processors do not support snooping so in order to a DMA you have to make sure that your caches are flushed to memory whilst many MIPS implementations support it.

    Infact whilst the ARM instruction set is nice and clean devices vary so much most applications support V4 as the lowest common dominator. Floating point also a complete mess, VFP, VFPv2, VFPv3, NEON etc. So it is no different in real terms compared to x86 where you have to support MMX, SSE, etc.

    Yes the decoder needed to handle x86 does n't allow you to make small CPUs that perform well but that was n't my point or your point that I replied to.

  5. Re:Integrated graphics in the CPU? on Next Gen Intel CPUs Move To Yet Another Socket · · Score: 3, Informative

    Your point would have been valid 10 years ago but the die area used for the CISC instruction decoder on a modern x86 processor is negligible. Infact the x86 instruction set is more compact than a pure RISC cpu so you can fit more instructions into the instruction cache (ARM processors have a THUMB mode with more compact 16bit instructions because of this).

  6. The war is over. on "No Scan, No Fly" At Heathrow and Manchester · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Since we're constantly being told the terrorists are "jealous of our freedoms", I think they can now say job done.

  7. Link for hinted version on Programming With Proportional Fonts? · · Score: 2, Informative

    I thought I would have a look at this font but it looks terrible on windows with cleartype on at 11points, however I managed to find a hinted version at:

    http://pgl.yoyo.org/bits/tech/inconsolata-cleartype-raph-leviens-inconsolota-font-hinted-for-windows/51:2008-09-25/

  8. I2S clock jitter does NOT affect audio performance on THX Caught With Pants Down Over Lexicon Blu-ray Player · · Score: 4, Informative

    As someone who has actually interfaced I2S sigma-delta DAC's to DSP's I can tell you are either confused or have your facts wrong.

    The clocking setup is typically a master clock running at 256X, 384X or 512X audio frequency running into the DAC, it is the stabilty of this clock that determines the accuracy of the analogue output.

    The I2S bus has three lines, CLK (data clock) which runs at 32X frequency (for 16bit audio), DATA (the actual bits) and LR which indicated if the data is on the left or right side. Jitter on the data line has no bearing on the quality of the output as long the data is present on the clock transition as it is latched and presented synchronously to the analogue section of the DAC.

    Although I2S was not designed for cable comunications you could easily get away with using it for short distances since even at 24bits and 96Khz the clock rate is only 4.608MHz with a cycle time of 217ns. Assuming a latch window of 25% of cycle time of gives us 51ns, any device producing that much jitter would have to be pretty badly designed.

    So to cut a long story short, yes for I2S using ethernet cable is more.

  9. F1 Turbo Era on The Last GM Big-Block V-8 Rolls Off the Line · · Score: 1

    During the 80's Turbo era BMW supplied a 4 cyl 1.4 litre producing 1,300 BHP in qualifying trim. Infact modern modern F1 cars have less (engine) power due to the FIA neutering the cars.

  10. I don't see why Apple would... on Adobe's iPhone Hail Mary · · Score: 1

    techinically have a problem with this. As far as I understand the reason apple does n't allow virtual machines is because it allows a "back door" allowing you to potentially bypass the App store by loading new programs into the VM and there is no possibility of that with this as there is no VM. The only other issue is that these were not directly developed with the Apple SDK in ObjectiveC.

    As a move by Adobe I think is actually a very, very good idea and would be even better if they created options for Symbian and Android (instead of embedding in web pages) then you actually have a pretty nice alternative to Java for multimedia type smartphone apps. Sure you're not going to get bleeding performance if you want to do anything CPU intensive but even for someone like myself who would never consider Flash as a development platform it does look attractive. So if anything maybe this is what Apple could object to as it would make apps developed with Flash less exclusive to the iPhone plus there are no native controls so there could also be "Look and Feel" issues.

  11. 10 trillion mirrors? on UK Royal Society Claims Geo-Engineering Feasible · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I make that 10,000 launches which over 30 years is nearly a launch a day. I was under the impression that rocket launches have a negative environmental impact not including the impact of actually building so many.

  12. Re:Self domesticated on Cats "Exploit" Humans By Purring · · Score: 1

    > Don't forget that cats self-domesticated

    Thing is, cats *aren't* domesticated. They only pretend to be when it suits their purposes.

    If you want to see what domesticated looks like, look at dogs, or horses. Domesticated dogs and horses take their instructions from human masters. Cats, as a rule, don't.

    I would n't count horses as domesticated since the "breaking-in" is pretty cruel imho. I've had a cat that lived for 15 years so I know what a cat is like. I've been to places where there are both normal and "wild" cats that even as kittens will not go near humans. I agree a cat won't hang around you if it does n't want to and if you want loyalty get a dog.

    As for which is smarter, it has never really bothered me you're either a cat person or a dog person.

  13. Self domesticated on Cats "Exploit" Humans By Purring · · Score: 4, Informative

    Don't forget that cats self-domesticated so the the evolution of this kind of behaviour would have been baised from the begining.

  14. You're right of course on Memristor Minds, the Future of Artificial Intelligence · · Score: 1

    but on the other hand a neuron works with electrochemical signaling and the design seems to be quite good :)

  15. And how exactly do you exactly plan on Memristor Minds, the Future of Artificial Intelligence · · Score: 1, Insightful

    to implement a proper neural network on a von neumann type architecture, it's like trying to fit a square into a circle. So the developments have been in making special processors that work closer to real neurons but still digital. Memristors allow them to get closer to the real thing. Like the article states they did n't even have the tools to test these because of their analogue nature so we're at the begining here.

    The purpose here is n't to get faster hardware, a computer can add two numbers together orders of magnitude faster than a person, but try and get a computer to tell if a picture I give it is male or female or if there is even a person at all in the picture. It does n't matter how fast your hardware is your bubble sort is always going to suck vs a quick sort.

  16. Thanks what I meant. on Memristor Minds, the Future of Artificial Intelligence · · Score: 0

    I was n't talking about replacing transistors with memeistsors, I'm talking about a completely different paradigm. Making neural networks using digital electronics does n't work well at all in the same way that trying to do simple operation like adding two numbers using neural networks is very difficult. The memristors we have now are just the begining, they have n't been developed nearly enough, give it 30 years and we should have something much more advanced.

    What we have on our desktops today are just glorified calculators. In the future we could have digital analogue hybrid cpus, we're reaching the limits of digital cpus but we have n't even started exploring proper neural network type processors (except for ones based on digital circuits).

  17. I'm always taken back by this on Memristor Minds, the Future of Artificial Intelligence · · Score: 2, Interesting

    That we've developed a whole industry based on an incomplete model, I wonder how things would have developed if the memristor had existed 30 years ago. Exciting times as a lot of things will be re-examined.

  18. No way with regards to Invasion on The Internet Helps Iran Silence Activists · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If there has been on country that has benefited from the US "adventures" in Afganistan and Iraq it has been Iran, the US can't do anything to Iran at the moment it is too stretched out both financially and militeraly hence Obama recently changed tack from the previous threating stance. The Iranian leadership know this and that is why the continue with their nuclear program.

    I also don't think there is any chance of another coup, there could be a counter-revolution but if this happens it will be because of the youth. Would the US like a counter-revolution, of course they would and the ayatollah is using this argument however the people are n't stupid and we should give them that much credit.

  19. The alternative is no technology on The Internet Helps Iran Silence Activists · · Score: 2, Insightful

    you see the regime would love there to be no communications but they have to since young Iranians demand it. From what I can tell Iranians put up with the controls on public appearence/behavior because atleast in private they have outlets such as the Internet to express themselves, now with this under control too if I was an Iranian I would feel even more frustrated that it is creeping into their private lives. Maybe the youth have been placated with Internet and mobile phones but I'm hoping that whatever the outcome people will realise that the small luxuries that they are allowed to have can and will be used against them which in the longer term can only cause more angst and dissent.

  20. Not quite right about the Islam connection on Man Attacked In Ohio For Providing Iran Proxies · · Score: 5, Insightful

    For a start Irans shia form of islam means that it will never be seen as a force representing the majority of the muslim world and whilst to an outsider iranians may seem extremely religious they are n't, just look at the youth who are leading this thing.

    Islam as the reason for the way things are in Iran is a red herring, the people at the top are basically filthy rich and use the argument of "Gods will" against anyone who they sea as a threat to them, hence the use of the word "devine" by the ayatolla to describe the result.

  21. Limited tme? on UK Government Announces Broadband Tax · · Score: 1, Redundant

    I'm sure goverments spend alot of time thinking of new ways to tax people, hell they'd tax breathing air and having sex if they could. I've never seen a tax that is rescinded, tax revenue to goverments is like heroin to a junkie.

  22. Re:Can't wait to on Intel Eyes Smartphone Chip Market · · Score: 1

    No phone uses the CPU when you talk, it is all handled by the baseband DSP.

  23. Re:Can't wait to on Intel Eyes Smartphone Chip Market · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well as far as I remember they got XScale when thet aquired DEC so it probably was n't a division that was taken very seriously. Whilst they did make some improvements other manufacturers started producing ARM based chips that were as good as if not better so they got rid of it. I suspect the problem for Intel was that they did n't own the ARM architecture so for them it was better to sell off what they had since they would always be competing with other ARM licensees.

  24. Re:Can't wait to on Intel Eyes Smartphone Chip Market · · Score: 1

    Yes I agree Intel won't beable to to compete with the ARM because as you rightly point out the ARM is just too well designed an architecture.

    If you read between the lines though I expect that the GPU and video decoding/encoding will be competitive if not better due fabrication process and if you notice it says "50X less power consumption at idle" so what I suspect is that as long as you're not doing anything that pushes the CPU you will get OK power consumption overall, but I guess we will have to wait and see if Intel can pull it off.

  25. Re:Can't wait to on Intel Eyes Smartphone Chip Market · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yes that was my point, but another point is that 1080p playback does n't really mean anything as a CPU metric either because I seriously doubt it would be the CPU that would be doing the decoding. Most likely like the SoC arm based processors used on todays smartphones there would be dedicated hardware to assist with the video encoding/decoding.