The article was in the dead tree edition a few days ago. It isn't a review by the film critic team on the Telegraph and it reads more like a story of "how the film came to be made".
At least we get to argue about for a long time, slagging each other off in the press. Quite the gravy train.
I've seen IR sensors saturated by bright sunlight fail to capture signals. On a live stage those overhead lights would probably have the same effect.
What happens is that the IR sensor signal is analysed for changes in amplitude (delta) rather than absolute signal level. If bright light saturates the dynamic range of the sensor then delta changes become smaller and smaller in absolute size and a delta falls below detection threshold.
Putting something over the IR sensor to cast a shadow would probably have been good enough.
Ian. -- People are hired who build doghouses, then given cranes and expected to build skyscrapers. We're then surprised when they fail.
There's a technical paper on HotSpot technology that covers much of the ground. It does mention range checking removal, but also some of the complications: dynamic loading of classes, runtime reflective method calling, and adherence to the Java security model. From a quick read it suggests that flow analysis is appropriate for inlining virtual method calls, and that de-optimization has to happen when the environment changes. Complicated stuff.
I know enough about compilation optimization to appreciate how complicated a subject it is, and that many optimizations can appear to be counter-productive. I'm always going to have an interest in it, but don't think I'm ever going to be working on it from the inside by doing software research.
I'm not totally surprised, but I am a little. Hotspot can often do range checking at compile time and remove the run time checks. However, for it to do that successfully may depend on subtle features of the code, so it won't always succeed. Additionally it may well depend on which version of the jre you are working with.
Range checking at compile time is probably best done by the javac compiler. Hotspot is busy compiling and converting java bytecodes at runtime, so it's unlikely it can do the complicated flow analysis required to determine if the runtime range check can be removed. You start from the position that the range check can't be removed, and find a reason to do so... not the other way around.
You're right about version dependency on the JRE for performance. Shirazi's book (linked in my original post) brings this out in great detail. More importantly you have to remove the effect of the hotspot compilation: either tune on the interpreted code only, or let the program run long enough for the hotspots to be found and compiled before looking at performance data. When the hotspot compiled code kicks in all of the statistics gathered up to that point get badly skewed.
Only throw Exceptions in "exceptional" cases, because they will slow things down? Again, advice I've been hearing since the early days.
One tip from Java Performance Tuning by Jack Shirazi is to create the Exception once, store it statically, and throw the object as many times as you need to.
Ugly? Sure. Hacky? Definitely.
But if you're after that extra bit of performance without leaving Java, need to use exceptions, and don't care about the stack trace, then it saves many cycles.
One thing that I've found with hig performance numerical routines is the cost of array lookup (with all of its runtime range checking) is something that can really slow a routine down. I've taken a routine that ran in 500ms and tuned it down to about 80ms (running under the Hotspot compiler). A comparable hand optimized assembler routine doing the same job took 20ms.
One example doesn't make a trend... but when you know what you're doing the performance is there for the taking.
Okay, that was a bit of a ramblin' rant, but this really pisses me off. I'm tired of hearing how we're running out of addresses when the simple solution is to stop friggin' using them!
Would the last person to leave the Internet please turn off the routers?
I've not worked with Flash animation so can't call you on the implementation technicalities.
I suppose that from their point of view it takes out a lot of the hassle out of trying to get the synchronization exactly right... some of the scenes just wouldn't work the way they do if the sound or looped music transition were a second or two out. It would lose much of the intensity and impact. And that, for me, has been a large part of what the Brokens Saint's experience has been about.
I don't know how much of difference it makes to filesize either but I've downloaded 23 out of 24 chapters on 56k, so if it reduces file size then I appreciate that too:)
And for this P2P thing: does anyone here really think at the music industry will just lean back and watch their profits flush aways through DSL customer lines ?
Base on past form would they try and attach a levy to DSL and cable subscription?
I remember seeing a book once that helped you identify songs by whether the sequence of notes at the beginning of the piece went up, down or stayed the same pitch when compared to the previous note. It was about the size of a telephone directory.
A quick Google finds out that its called The Parson's Code, with a lot more information here.
Presumably the fingerprinting scheme works in a similar fashion (over a larger portion of the song, and probably over multiple fragments of the song as well).
People want to use the XBox as a multimedia center for their living room. A quote from another article related to this one (I refuse to read NYT) said something along the lines of, "the XBox looks excellent next to a TV in your living room, it's more silent than a typical PC, and its small form-factor make it perfect. Not exactly what Bill Gates had envisioned."
The quote was also in the NYT article, it's from Michael Steil of the Xbox Linux Project.
That the XBox has a small form factor, looks good next to a TV, and doesn't make much noise, is exactly what you want from a device you're going to put near a television. I'm sure Bill Gates saw the device exactly that way.
Personally, I run my business on Linux and have implemented it in several companies where the Linux system itself was replacing a pirated copy of Linux.
They probably haven't and won't release it, even as binary-only, because they'd rather license it to Linksys for an additional fee.
Would it be possible for the public to pony up such a fee through PayPal? Is the domain 11g-ransom.org available?
The company that Linksys licenced the drivers would not be under any obligation to enter into a licensing arrangement. Even if they did you can be sure that source code access would be locked under an NDA, and you wouldn't be allowed to release the source under a different license.
If their exploit is working, MS wouldn't have much to loose, cause if the exploit is released everyone can run Linux and pirated games on their Xbox. If they release a Linux bootloader they might can keep the exploit secert. They could also sell a Linux Kit like Sony is doing and keep things under control. (For example register consoles with linux bootloader and blacklist them in future games and xbox live, cause it isn't unlikely that someone finds a way to use a linux bootloader to boot pirated games)
Who would worry too much about being banned from future games and xbox live when you'd be getting a cross-subsidised PC without paying the subsidy by buying games. Isn't that one of the main reasons why MS wants to control what can boot on the XBox?
Anything successfully pirated would just be icing on the cake for those that need it.
"The attached mailpiece, from the mailer identified below, offers for sale matter that I believe to be erotically arousing or sexually provocative and therefore is a pandering advertisement. Under the provisions of 39 USC 3008, I request that a Prohibitory Order be issued against the mailer and the mailer's agents or assigns."
So, how long will it be until officially sanctioned cover bands step in to replace the Stones once they get too old to tour, but are still a profitable commodity?
Slashdot Mirror
Just wait for the spam social engineering angle to kick in:
"Just enter your credit card details into this site to see if your credit card number was one of those stolen"
(Answer: not until 5 seconds ago)
The article was in the dead tree edition a few days ago. It isn't a review by the film critic team on the Telegraph and it reads more like a story of "how the film came to be made".
At least we get to argue about for a long time, slagging each other off in the press. Quite the gravy train.
I've seen IR sensors saturated by bright sunlight fail to capture signals. On a live stage those overhead lights would probably have the same effect.
What happens is that the IR sensor signal is analysed for changes in amplitude (delta) rather than absolute signal level. If bright light saturates the dynamic range of the sensor then delta changes become smaller and smaller in absolute size and a delta falls below detection threshold.
Putting something over the IR sensor to cast a shadow would probably have been good enough.
Ian.
--
People are hired who build doghouses, then given cranes and expected to build skyscrapers. We're then surprised when they fail.
I'd like to see the PR try it for ASIMO 5.
"a far more pressing issue for me is why doesn't google remove links for "kiddie porn" or "illegal porn" or "rape pics" or something?"
Because it's easier to filter out one or two specific brand names than a few thousand different metaphors and spellings.
Google does already try to do this... visit the preference settings and play with the SafeSearch settings.
Ian.
There's a technical paper on HotSpot technology that covers much of the ground. It does mention range checking removal, but also some of the complications: dynamic loading of classes, runtime reflective method calling, and adherence to the Java security model. From a quick read it suggests that flow analysis is appropriate for inlining virtual method calls, and that de-optimization has to happen when the environment changes. Complicated stuff.
I know enough about compilation optimization to appreciate how complicated a subject it is, and that many optimizations can appear to be counter-productive. I'm always going to have an interest in it, but don't think I'm ever going to be working on it from the inside by doing software research.
Cheers,
Ian.
I'm not totally surprised, but I am a little. Hotspot can often do range checking at compile time and remove the run time checks. However, for it to do that successfully may depend on subtle features of the code, so it won't always succeed. Additionally it may well depend on which version of the jre you are working with.
Range checking at compile time is probably best done by the javac compiler. Hotspot is busy compiling and converting java bytecodes at runtime, so it's unlikely it can do the complicated flow analysis required to determine if the runtime range check can be removed. You start from the position that the range check can't be removed, and find a reason to do so... not the other way around.
You're right about version dependency on the JRE for performance. Shirazi's book (linked in my original post) brings this out in great detail. More importantly you have to remove the effect of the hotspot compilation: either tune on the interpreted code only, or let the program run long enough for the hotspots to be found and compiled before looking at performance data. When the hotspot compiled code kicks in all of the statistics gathered up to that point get badly skewed.
Ian.
Only throw Exceptions in "exceptional" cases, because they will slow things down? Again, advice I've been hearing since the early days.
One tip from Java Performance Tuning by Jack Shirazi is to create the Exception once, store it statically, and throw the object as many times as you need to.
Ugly? Sure. Hacky? Definitely.
But if you're after that extra bit of performance without leaving Java, need to use exceptions, and don't care about the stack trace, then it saves many cycles.
One thing that I've found with hig performance numerical routines is the cost of array lookup (with all of its runtime range checking) is something that can really slow a routine down. I've taken a routine that ran in 500ms and tuned it down to about 80ms (running under the Hotspot compiler). A comparable hand optimized assembler routine doing the same job took 20ms.
One example doesn't make a trend... but when you know what you're doing the performance is there for the taking.
Ian.
And the evil bit set...
Okay, that was a bit of a ramblin' rant, but this really pisses me off. I'm tired of hearing how we're running out of addresses when the simple solution is to stop friggin' using them!
Would the last person to leave the Internet please turn off the routers?
The really geek chique about the new ship designs is that the S-wing looks to be made entirely out of 'old skool' space lego pieces, circa 1980s ;-)
:)
Hmmm... lets see...
The Q wing is the quake logo.
The C-wing is a kilrathi fighter.
The G-wing looks like its a Starfury from Babylon 5.
And the O-ring is just silly
Many of them do look pretty cool though.
Ian.
I've not worked with Flash animation so can't call you on the implementation technicalities.
:)
I suppose that from their point of view it takes out a lot of the hassle out of trying to get the synchronization exactly right... some of the scenes just wouldn't work the way they do if the sound or looped music transition were a second or two out. It would lose much of the intensity and impact. And that, for me, has been a large part of what the Brokens Saint's experience has been about.
I don't know how much of difference it makes to filesize either but I've downloaded 23 out of 24 chapters on 56k, so if it reduces file size then I appreciate that too
Ian.
the problems that you're citing are problems of the particular implimentation and not Flash itself.
Except that the the problems turn out to be caused by a technical choice between event and stream audio in Flash. More info here:
Broken Saint's FAQ
Ian.
And for this P2P thing: does anyone here really think at the music industry will just lean back and watch their profits flush aways through DSL customer lines ?
Base on past form would they try and attach a levy to DSL and cable subscription?
Ian.
I remember seeing a book once that helped you identify songs by whether the sequence of notes at the beginning of the piece went up, down or stayed the same pitch when compared to the previous note. It was about the size of a telephone directory.
A quick Google finds out that its called The Parson's Code, with a lot more information here.
Presumably the fingerprinting scheme works in a similar fashion (over a larger portion of the song, and probably over multiple fragments of the song as well).
Ian.
People want to use the XBox as a multimedia center for their living room. A quote from another article related to this one (I refuse to read NYT) said something along the lines of, "the XBox looks excellent next to a TV in your living room, it's more silent than a typical PC, and its small form-factor make it perfect. Not exactly what Bill Gates had envisioned."
The quote was also in the NYT article, it's from Michael Steil of the Xbox Linux Project.
That the XBox has a small form factor, looks good next to a TV, and doesn't make much noise, is exactly what you want from a device you're going to put near a television. I'm sure Bill Gates saw the device exactly that way.
What wasn't envisioned was the Linux part.
Ian.
What? You don't cast spells in your everyday activities?
:)
Phah! You Normal =P
You meant muggle
Can the OSS community now modify the firmware and make custom things for it?
Perhaps we can find a security crack and get Linux to run on it.
Uh... cancel that.
Personally, I run my business on Linux and have implemented it in several companies where the Linux system itself was replacing a pirated copy of Linux.
:)
I assume you mean Windows
Ian.
Would it be possible for the public to pony up such a fee through PayPal? Is the domain 11g-ransom.org available?
The company that Linksys licenced the drivers would not be under any obligation to enter into a licensing arrangement. Even if they did you can be sure that source code access would be locked under an NDA, and you wouldn't be allowed to release the source under a different license.
Ian.
How would the SQL database help him?
If their exploit is working, MS wouldn't have much to loose, cause if the exploit is released everyone can run Linux and pirated games on their Xbox. If they release a Linux bootloader they might can keep the exploit secert. They could also sell a Linux Kit like Sony is doing and keep things under control. (For example register consoles with linux bootloader and blacklist them in future games and xbox live, cause it isn't unlikely that someone finds a way to use a linux bootloader to boot pirated games)
Who would worry too much about being banned from future games and xbox live when you'd be getting a cross-subsidised PC without paying the subsidy by buying games. Isn't that one of the main reasons why MS wants to control what can boot on the XBox?
Anything successfully pirated would just be icing on the cake for those that need it.
Ian.
Enabling access to goatse.cx doesn't count?
So, how long will it be until officially sanctioned cover bands step in to replace the Stones once they get too old to tour, but are still a profitable commodity?
The Gall Stones?
Does this suggest the forking of EdoofusBSD?
*ducks* and runs... and then goes and reads the Google thread. Oh, it's already AppleBSD.