It is only hard to distinguesh from the background noise because you don't really know what to look for. That does not mean the destined receiver doesn't know what to look for.
According to this website, commercial SS radios can work with noise levels 5dB higher than the signal strength. It also explains a few techniqies used.
Would it matter? What would the effect be of a micrometer hole in the sail?
If the sail is constructed so that small holes won't rip it, I think micrometeors could be safely ignored. Since the hole is so small compared to the total surface, the change in light pressure should be negligable.
If you accept IDs from another server, you are trusting that server to be secure or at least consistant although you have no guarantee at all.
How long would it take, you think, before someone makes a "one-shot OpenID" server?
As you can read on the page, the author is aware of these limitations.
I hope a site will be able to choose from which sites it accepts authentications or at least know which server provided the authentication and assign a trustlevel based on that. (If the protocol doesn't provide any real way to authenticate the server there is no security anyway). In essence, I have no problem accepting IDs from slashdot, accounts from johndoeblog.com mean nothing to me.
"Since the current GPUs have very complex and programmable Vertex shaders, CPU doesn't need to do any vector pre-processing."
The complexity of those GPUs is exactly what limits their scalability. You can only put so much transistors on a chip... does the fact that they have taken SLI from under the dust again not tell you anything?
"In fact there have been talks about moving physics and AI calculations from CPU to the GPU!"
And why do they talk about moving it there? Because the GPU is more powerfull than the CPU. Which, with Cells would not be true.
"He didn't have much proof for hits points. He didn't talk in detail about capabilities of the current GPUs, let alone the future one. His specs for PS3 are totally out of this world (come on, 4 CPU cores, 32 ALUs running at 4.6GHz within a tiny console?)"
It all depends on the price of a Cell. If these are indeed meant to be built into TVs and standalone DVD players, then they are going to be cheap.
What is more, it is the ideas behind these Cells that make them fast, not their clockspeed. Half the clockspeed and it is still has more punch than the current x86 CPUs.
They have solved the main problem of the current CPUs. Memory bandwidth. They paid for it in software complexity, but so what? All current OSses already contain an advanced memory manager.
Moving complexity to the software level makes a lot of sense. Lots easier to debug... and that makes the hardware all the cheaper. No complex hw memory mananger, no complex CPU cores. Just a set of (relatively) simple ALUs and a proven CPU core as controller.
First of all, as another post says, the GPUs contain a video controller, DAC and so on. Second, the Cell will still be able to accelerate graphics performance by doing all kinds of vector pre-processing. Last, it will be a lot more easy for software companies to build PS3 games fast if they have somewhat the same computing/graphics environment as on a x86. Reasons enough, I think.
But what struck me most is that you seemed to have missed the whole point the authors seeks to make. Yes, Moore's law will double the performance of the GPU within 18 months. So? It still does not give them the raw processing power of those Cells. Nor the scalability. (Damned! These things will be in you TV, your DVD, your stereo and they all cluster...) If these Cells really become low cost chips, I seriously doubt x86 will survive.
In order to get faster than 33.6, however, your data path between you and your ISP must be entirely digital. To go faster than 33.6, the modem goes "all digital" on the wire.
Actually, this is not correct, the modem still "goes analog". The problem with exceeding 33.6 kbps is an AD conversion, not DA conversion. Which is why those 56kbps modems only provide 33.6 kbps upstream. The DA conversion in the downstream part of your line is not subject to Shannon's law.
Your analog line must be terminated at a digital exchange which must have a purely digital link to your ISP however.
Well, ok, so "disagree" wasn't the best of words. I reacted to your statement that is seemed smooth.
I do consider the 32bit install a pain beyond the diskspace (which, it seems, I'm always short on). You just have an entirely different installation to maintain. Although this is not such a huge pain in Gentoo, it is still annoying.
You are quite correct in stating OO moves fast and that the availability of source makes porting things seem "not too daunting". Please do not forget however the huge amount of available packages and the limited amount of amd64 owners who are both willing to run 64bit environments and capable of fixing bugs. But as you said, this will improve with time.
In Gentoo, many packages would probably compile and run. It is just that no one has bothered to try them or report their findings if they did.
I disagree. I've been running 64bit Gentoo (amd64) for some time now.
Many apps don't even compile under amd64, but the most important ones do (as they are tested/fixed first or have been running on 64bit platforms before). There is still a lot to do. There is no 64bit flash. There are no 64 bit accelerated drivers for ATI cards. For some reason even OpenOffice does not compile or work well in amd64 (a 32bit version can be used however).
Under Gentoo (possibly other distros, I have not checked) you can run normal 32 bit binaries if you install compatiblity libraries and kernel support. This can be used to run those apps that do not compile in 64bit. These mixed environments bring their own problems though. The most obvious one is diskspace. Compiling must be done under a complete 32bit chroot enviromentand thus requires a seperate 32bit install.
In short, running a clean 64bit linux environment is a pain. Too many apps are not tested yet. Very little closed source linux apps (skype for example) and (closed source) drivers actually run under amd64. Many verdors' linux support is limited... their 64bit linux support is usually best described as "absent".
I would also like to add that those pursuits are (now more than ever) mostly in the interest of the insanely rich. Especially things like cutting back welfare budgets and abolishing tax on stock revenues. I do understand that people who invested in politicians want a return on their money, but there are limits.
And although paranoia should be used with moderation, a healthy dose of critical observation cannot hurt. The latter might give you trouble keepng that paranoia in check though. YMMV,
We're talking about an 18-year-old here. Do you think he has $158,000? Not. A. Chance.
If he's smart he would give himself in and claim Microsofts reward... or have a (trustworthy) friend do it and split the other $92,000.
Or you can just be an unqualified but network savvy computer geek. Just the kind of guy to be out of cash and looking for an easy job to pay the rent/upgrade race.
It would also no be a bad idea to implement something like this for all IP. Say... yes, you can have a patent but if it has earned you a certain amount of money it automatically becomes public domain. Currently, it uses (unrealistic) time limits, limiting the speed of intellectual growth. The more people who would think a certain innovation is worth money, the faster is becomes public domain and part of the foundation for further growth without disadvantaging the inventor.
For books or music, this would result in the better the music, the faster it would be free and the easier it would reach people.
Slashdot Mirror
Not to mention they can just turn the signal modulation back on if it'd pleased them.
It is only hard to distinguesh from the background noise because you don't really know what to look for. That does not mean the destined receiver doesn't know what to look for. According to this website, commercial SS radios can work with noise levels 5dB higher than the signal strength. It also explains a few techniqies used.
At $2.4 million a day, that is $876 million or 2.19 % or that $40 billion. They *will* care about a 2% change in their profit margin.
and most males prefer to be inside a female?
Would it matter? What would the effect be of a micrometer hole in the sail?
If the sail is constructed so that small holes won't rip it, I think micrometeors could be safely ignored. Since the hole is so small compared to the total surface, the change in light pressure should be negligable.
If you accept IDs from another server, you are trusting that server to be secure or at least consistant although you have no guarantee at all.
How long would it take, you think, before someone makes a "one-shot OpenID" server? As you can read on the page, the author is aware of these limitations.
I hope a site will be able to choose from which sites it accepts authentications or at least know which server provided the authentication and assign a trustlevel based on that. (If the protocol doesn't provide any real way to authenticate the server there is no security anyway). In essence, I have no problem accepting IDs from slashdot, accounts from johndoeblog.com mean nothing to me.
For me, a windows machine feels like style over substance. Pretty knobs on an empty box.
A Unix machine feels like substance over style. Something solid to built on. It appeals to my enginering instincts.
Compaq does have a special PCI hotplug standard and it requires special hardware.
I dare you to hotplug any PCI hardware.
If you have ever read the reverse engineered NTFS filesystem specifications, you'd understand why.
"Since the current GPUs have very complex and programmable Vertex shaders, CPU doesn't need to do any vector pre-processing."
The complexity of those GPUs is exactly what limits their scalability. You can only put so much transistors on a chip... does the fact that they have taken SLI from under the dust again not tell you anything?
"In fact there have been talks about moving physics and AI calculations from CPU to the GPU!"
And why do they talk about moving it there? Because the GPU is more powerfull than the CPU. Which, with Cells would not be true.
"He didn't have much proof for hits points. He didn't talk in detail about capabilities of the current GPUs, let alone the future one. His specs for PS3 are totally out of this world (come on, 4 CPU cores, 32 ALUs running at 4.6GHz within a tiny console?)"
It all depends on the price of a Cell. If these are indeed meant to be built into TVs and standalone DVD players, then they are going to be cheap.
What is more, it is the ideas behind these Cells that make them fast, not their clockspeed. Half the clockspeed and it is still has more punch than the current x86 CPUs.
They have solved the main problem of the current CPUs. Memory bandwidth. They paid for it in software complexity, but so what? All current OSses already contain an advanced memory manager.
Moving complexity to the software level makes a lot of sense. Lots easier to debug... and that makes the hardware all the cheaper. No complex hw memory mananger, no complex CPU cores. Just a set of (relatively) simple ALUs and a proven CPU core as controller.
But what struck me most is that you seemed to have missed the whole point the authors seeks to make. Yes, Moore's law will double the performance of the GPU within 18 months. So? It still does not give them the raw processing power of those Cells. Nor the scalability. (Damned! These things will be in you TV, your DVD, your stereo and they all cluster...) If these Cells really become low cost chips, I seriously doubt x86 will survive.
In order to get faster than 33.6, however, your data path between you and your ISP must be entirely digital. To go faster than 33.6, the modem goes "all digital" on the wire.
Actually, this is not correct, the modem still "goes analog". The problem with exceeding 33.6 kbps is an AD conversion, not DA conversion. Which is why those 56kbps modems only provide 33.6 kbps upstream. The DA conversion in the downstream part of your line is not subject to Shannon's law.
Your analog line must be terminated at a digital exchange which must have a purely digital link to your ISP however.
Images? how many images do you see on an average slashdot page?
I do consider the 32bit install a pain beyond the diskspace (which, it seems, I'm always short on). You just have an entirely different installation to maintain. Although this is not such a huge pain in Gentoo, it is still annoying.
You are quite correct in stating OO moves fast and that the availability of source makes porting things seem "not too daunting". Please do not forget however the huge amount of available packages and the limited amount of amd64 owners who are both willing to run 64bit environments and capable of fixing bugs. But as you said, this will improve with time.
In Gentoo, many packages would probably compile and run. It is just that no one has bothered to try them or report their findings if they did.
I disagree. I've been running 64bit Gentoo (amd64) for some time now.
Many apps don't even compile under amd64, but the most important ones do (as they are tested/fixed first or have been running on 64bit platforms before). There is still a lot to do. There is no 64bit flash. There are no 64 bit accelerated drivers for ATI cards. For some reason even OpenOffice does not compile or work well in amd64 (a 32bit version can be used however).
Under Gentoo (possibly other distros, I have not checked) you can run normal 32 bit binaries if you install compatiblity libraries and kernel support. This can be used to run those apps that do not compile in 64bit. These mixed environments bring their own problems though. The most obvious one is diskspace. Compiling must be done under a complete 32bit chroot enviromentand thus requires a seperate 32bit install.
In short, running a clean 64bit linux environment is a pain. Too many apps are not tested yet. Very little closed source linux apps (skype for example) and (closed source) drivers actually run under amd64. Many verdors' linux support is limited... their 64bit linux support is usually best described as "absent".
I would also like to add that those pursuits are (now more than ever) mostly in the interest of the insanely rich. Especially things like cutting back welfare budgets and abolishing tax on stock revenues. I do understand that people who invested in politicians want a return on their money, but there are limits.
And although paranoia should be used with moderation, a healthy dose of critical observation cannot hurt. The latter might give you trouble keepng that paranoia in check though. YMMV,
They can try but it won't work for long.
Gentoo
guess i'm a slashdot newbie...
We're talking about an 18-year-old here. Do you think he has $158,000? Not. A. Chance. If he's smart he would give himself in and claim Microsofts reward... or have a (trustworthy) friend do it and split the other $92,000.
Or you can just be an unqualified but network savvy computer geek. Just the kind of guy to be out of cash and looking for an easy job to pay the rent/upgrade race.
Be glad he is your brother...
and most likely break compatibility with solaris HPUX, etc...
or one just hacks the driver.
For books or music, this would result in the better the music, the faster it would be free and the easier it would reach people.