Isn't what you are referring to actually a simulation? Emulation would be far easier.
Actually, emulation would not be easier, it would be impossible.
The very definition of the word "emulate" makes it impossible to emulate a processor that does not yet exist.
And yes, what he's talking about would be a simulation. You CAN constuct a simulation of a theoretical future device, but by definition you can't emulate something until it's already been built.
"the joy of overclocking"? That's what makes this all worthwhile?
Now, I could understand spending 50 grand to build a kit car that replicates the appearance (and perhaps even exceeds the performance) of a Lamborghini Countach. Hell, even if the project cost a hundred grand, you'd save money in the deal, and have the pride of accomplishment to go along with it.
What you describe sounds more to me like spending $50 grand to build a kit car that replicates the appearance and performance of a '71 Pinto.
Re:Wrong: Most VMware users need VMware
on
EMC To Acquire VMware
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
One more reason to stick with open source solutions, rather than poring money into companies that hang you out to dry after you QA the software for them.
The problem with that, at least in this case, is that there ARE NO open solutions to turn to. Plex86 and bochs are probably the closest, and neither one is even close to being a suitable replacement for VMware.
And that's just looking at their workstation product. The situation is even more grim when you go looking for an open solution to replace their server products with.
Even if projects got underway today, they wouldn't be ready for a long time. Would be nice to have an open source alternative to ESX Server, though.
I have two roomates. and we'd have to have three cell phones and some whacky calling plan. A hassle, and more than our landline.
See, there's the rub. Ever since I bought a house, my roomate days are behind me, so this is now just a one man show.
A land line would cost me around $35 a month just for the basic service, plus around $75 more in LD calls. My $50 cellular plan covers this all nicely, especially since a lot of that LD calling is done on weekends, which are free, plus I get the added portability on the occasions when it comes in handy. For example, I invite some friends to come boating with me, they can just call me up when they get there, I buzz back to the dock and pick them up. MUCH more convenient than having to arrange and stick to an iron clad schedule.
But, in your case, I can see how your arrangement makes sense.
This is why absolute statements are almost always wrong.
Re:Expect their products to be leased not sold
on
EMC To Acquire VMware
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Oh, one other advantage that absolutely kicks ass...
Need to set up a new database server? Grab your OS disks, fire up VMWare Worksation at your desk, and set it up. This has obvious advantages if the server room is across the building, and even bigger advantages if it's across the country.
When it's configured and tested to your satisfaction, just ftp those disk image files to the GSX server, boot it up, and let the users at it. (at least i HOPE they haven't broken that compatibility recently, I know it works with the versions I have installed.) Oh, and don't forget to burn those image files to a DVD. Now you've got a quick easy starting point should you ever need to set up a similarly configured server in the future.
There are TONS of advantages that come from having your server environment configured this way, and most of them don't become obvious until you've administered in this environment for a little while. A few disadvantages, also, but the tradeoffs are MORE than worth it, IMHO.
I haven't noticed so much of a shift in focus to the VMWare for Windows product as I have a shift in focus from Workstation to GSX and ESX. The Linux kernel simply evolves at a faster pace than they want to expend resources keeping up with for the "bastard child" Workstation product.
The moment I heard the announcement of the server products I strongly suspected that the workstation product's days were numbered. Now, with this acquisition, I'm sure of it.
Hopefully they'll at least sell the Workstation product to someone willing to cater to that market, because the market is certainly there. It's a damn fine product that fills an important role.
It's just not a product that seems to have much of a role to play in the combined future of these two companies after this news.
Re:Expect their products to be leased not sold
on
EMC To Acquire VMware
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Well, depending on what you need VMWare for, just consider Win4Lin [win4lin.com].
You're forgetting that VMWare has more than just one product. It's obvious from the article that VMWare Workstation is not the product they were after.
This deal is all about getting their hands on the ESX and GSX server products.
That said, ALL of VMWare's products are much more flexible than Win4Lin, which is really just a niche product, even moreso than VirtualPC. Those two are designed for people who just need to run the occasional Windows app on a foreign OS.
The real beauty of VMWare's products, even the Workstation version to a small extent, is that you can actually run production servers within the VM's. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it with Workstation, but I have gotten away with it for brief periods in the past.
Now, with GSX server, you CAN run production servers inside a VM with confidence. And with the VMWare Remote Console, you can access those individual servers from across the network as if you were in front of them physically. Mail server is running out of memory, but the file server has way more than it needs? No problem, just access a web interface and move some memory from one to the other. Beats the hell out of swapping DIMMs around.
Plus you can allocate resources at a much finer resolution than with physical hardware.
Not to mention that my server room now only needs two boxes, and two UPSs, instead of dozens.
Personally, I wouldn't even place Win4Lin in the same product category as VMWare's offerings. And they DEFINITELY have different target markets and intended uses.
Yep, they're the Toshiba drives. Stands to reason, though, there aren't many companies out there building drives in that form factor.
If it makes you feel any better, though, my 1st generation 10GB iPod has been abused like crazy, including drops from shirt pocket level onto concrete, while it was running, and the thing's still going like a champ.
I wouldn't let the drive sway you from buying an iPod, it's the battery that is their weak point, and Apple's gotten much better recently in dealing with those problems. Although I figure by the time my battery gives up, I'll have already moved to a bigger iPod, and will just use this one as a portable 10GB hard drive.
Because I'm already running into space limitations on my 10GB iPod between the music on it and that data that I carry back and forth for work. Once the whole Christmas fiasco is out of the way, I'll be upgrading to the 40GB. And you think 1.5GB is going to cut it?
As for oversized? The frickin' thing is the same size as a deck of cards. Very easy to slip into a shirt pocket and carry from my desk to my car. That's all the portability I need.
I don't have a mobile, and won't until I can get one for cheaper than my landline and with as much convenience.
Odd, that's exactly why I have a mobile and no land line. The mobile is both cheaper and more convenient.
Of course, this will vary by person. It happens to be cheaper for me because a significant portion of my calling is long distance, which I don't have to pay extra for with the cell.
As for convenience, I can take it and use it anywhere I want, not just within the vicinity of my house. If I don't want to take it, I can leave it at home. In my mind, having that choice is more convenient than not having the choice.
I'll consider switching back to a landline when they stop charging for long distance, and the average cordless phone has, say, a 50 mile range.
Absolutely. Especially when you factor in the fact that the original video is of quite a bit better higher than a lot of the televisions still in use are capable of displaying, anyway.
I've squeezed full length DVD movies down to well under a 700 MB or so with stereo audio and did not see a visible reduction in picture quality.
Now, if I had a monster HDTV in my living room, I'm sure there would have been a noticeable difference, but on my 36" tube (standard def) there wasn't.
Any practical application for storing video on these drives would not likely have a large enough display to necessitate the same quality level as you find on a DVD. Come on, if you're displaying on a 54" screen, why not just pop the original disc into the DVD player and be done with it?
Well, no, that's not quite how it works. Suggestions are all generated locally, within the box itself, based on criteria like genre, actors, director, etc... TiVo, the device, can generate suggestions perfectly well regardless of whether TiVo, the company, collects any info on your viewing habits.
As for the privacy issue, I think I'm about as big a privacy zealout as you'll find, but I just don't see how somebody finding out that I'm a Star Trek fan is going to bring my world to a crashing halt. It's good to guard your privacy, and even be a bit paranoid about it, but anyone who is bothered by this has gone a bit off the deep end, IMHO.
So all you're really saying is: "Normal users are complete morons." Duh. We all know that already.
So explain to me why a process that used to take 2 hours, 47 minutes, and some odd seconds (give or take a minute or two depending on system load) takes 2 hours and 6 minutes (again, give or take a minute or two) under XP. This is on a back room server that doesn't even have anyone sitting at the console (or even a monitor attached, for that matter) so "user perception" isn't gonna cut it. The plain fact is that XP does it half an hour faster.
Now, I do have the correct explanation, and it boils down to a major improvement in one particular driver, not really related to the OS, as a whole, at all.
The fact is that reporting on "OS speed" (which is a meaningless term unless clarified) is nothing short of irresponsible journalism. If you're considering a new OS, it's incumbent upon you do do your own damn research. Test it out with the software that *you* run, and decide which OS, or which version of the same OS, fits *your* needs.
(Duh. As if I should even have to explain this. What's happened to/. lately? It used to be populated by geeks, these days all you find here are pre-teen morons who fantasize about someday learning just what a "pointer" is. Sheesh.)
What's strange is that I've upgraded 5 different people from 2K to XP. All 5 have commented glowingly about how much faster XP is. This also coincides with the impression I got from testing it on my own machine.
Of course, this is all just anecdotal, but I still think describing XP as "painfully" slower than 2K is a bit of a stretch. (Just wish I hadn't lost MIDI capability altogether.)
Re:What can be done about terrorism?
on
More On Tragedy
·
· Score: 1
thinking of ways to provide sustainable peace throughout the world.
An unattainable fantasy.
Unrealistic fantasies are fine things to debate, and can even provide us with nice ideas when setting our goals.
Times like this, however, require realistic answers. The only effective response to violence of this magnitude is violence of an even greater magnitude.
A lot of people are uncomfortable with that truth. Tough. Our hands have been tied, we have no alternative now other than to respond with extreme and merciless violence.
In many cases, this being one of them, people have a DUTY and OBLIGATION to take the life of another. It is morally unacceptable to allow the perpetrators of these attacks to remain alive.
Of course, our targets must be chosen with precision and certainty, however:
Fierce, aggressive, brutal and merciless violence is the *only* appropriate response to these attacks.
Throw them into the arena with a bunch of BattleBots. I'm sure Nightmare could do things to a spammer that would be quite fun to watch. And just imagine what Toro's lifting arm could do if it happened to impact a pair of testicles.
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "He's pushing him onto the Kill Saws.":)
Won't work. You see, you are not entitled to protection by the DMCA unless you are a multi-million dollar corporation. Big business can do anything they want with your copyright data, and you have no recourse. Remember, here in the US, laws are meant to protect corporations, not honest citizens.
Once you do read the paper, you'll notice that the effect is said to be highly focused.
The Earth is a (rough) sphere. A directionally focuses "beam" would stay near the surface for only a short time and would exit into space.
If you don't understand why every pendulum on the planet wasn't affected, just try to illuminate the entire surface of a basketball with a laser pointer.
(Not that I'm convinced the research is legit, but if you're going to debunk it, then even the "every pendulum on the planet" argument doesn't hold water.)
Slashdot Mirror
Hey, just wait 'til you're an old fart yourself, see where your priorities lie then.
Sure, diseases that kill you suck, but who would want to bother staying alive if there was no hope for sex?
What do you want? A cold, or cancer?
Ya know, I seem to get at least one cold every year anyway, and it's never a big deal.
If this works out, I could start smoking again guilt free!
Isn't what you are referring to actually a simulation? Emulation would be far easier.
Actually, emulation would not be easier, it would be impossible.
The very definition of the word "emulate" makes it impossible to emulate a processor that does not yet exist.
And yes, what he's talking about would be a simulation. You CAN constuct a simulation of a theoretical future device, but by definition you can't emulate something until it's already been built.
"the joy of overclocking"? That's what makes this all worthwhile?
Now, I could understand spending 50 grand to build a kit car that replicates the appearance (and perhaps even exceeds the performance) of a Lamborghini Countach. Hell, even if the project cost a hundred grand, you'd save money in the deal, and have the pride of accomplishment to go along with it.
What you describe sounds more to me like spending $50 grand to build a kit car that replicates the appearance and performance of a '71 Pinto.
One more reason to stick with open source solutions, rather than poring money into companies that hang you out to dry after you QA the software for them.
The problem with that, at least in this case, is that there ARE NO open solutions to turn to. Plex86 and bochs are probably the closest, and neither one is even close to being a suitable replacement for VMware.
And that's just looking at their workstation product. The situation is even more grim when you go looking for an open solution to replace their server products with.
Even if projects got underway today, they wouldn't be ready for a long time. Would be nice to have an open source alternative to ESX Server, though.
I have two roomates. and we'd have to have three cell phones and some whacky calling plan. A hassle, and more than our landline.
See, there's the rub. Ever since I bought a house, my roomate days are behind me, so this is now just a one man show.
A land line would cost me around $35 a month just for the basic service, plus around $75 more in LD calls. My $50 cellular plan covers this all nicely, especially since a lot of that LD calling is done on weekends, which are free, plus I get the added portability on the occasions when it comes in handy. For example, I invite some friends to come boating with me, they can just call me up when they get there, I buzz back to the dock and pick them up. MUCH more convenient than having to arrange and stick to an iron clad schedule.
But, in your case, I can see how your arrangement makes sense.
This is why absolute statements are almost always wrong.
Oh, one other advantage that absolutely kicks ass...
Need to set up a new database server? Grab your OS disks, fire up VMWare Worksation at your desk, and set it up. This has obvious advantages if the server room is across the building, and even bigger advantages if it's across the country.
When it's configured and tested to your satisfaction, just ftp those disk image files to the GSX server, boot it up, and let the users at it. (at least i HOPE they haven't broken that compatibility recently, I know it works with the versions I have installed.) Oh, and don't forget to burn those image files to a DVD. Now you've got a quick easy starting point should you ever need to set up a similarly configured server in the future.
There are TONS of advantages that come from having your server environment configured this way, and most of them don't become obvious until you've administered in this environment for a little while. A few disadvantages, also, but the tradeoffs are MORE than worth it, IMHO.
Actually, I got a different impression.
I haven't noticed so much of a shift in focus to the VMWare for Windows product as I have a shift in focus from Workstation to GSX and ESX. The Linux kernel simply evolves at a faster pace than they want to expend resources keeping up with for the "bastard child" Workstation product.
The moment I heard the announcement of the server products I strongly suspected that the workstation product's days were numbered. Now, with this acquisition, I'm sure of it.
Hopefully they'll at least sell the Workstation product to someone willing to cater to that market, because the market is certainly there. It's a damn fine product that fills an important role.
It's just not a product that seems to have much of a role to play in the combined future of these two companies after this news.
Well, depending on what you need VMWare for, just consider Win4Lin [win4lin.com].
You're forgetting that VMWare has more than just one product. It's obvious from the article that VMWare Workstation is not the product they were after.
This deal is all about getting their hands on the ESX and GSX server products.
That said, ALL of VMWare's products are much more flexible than Win4Lin, which is really just a niche product, even moreso than VirtualPC. Those two are designed for people who just need to run the occasional Windows app on a foreign OS.
The real beauty of VMWare's products, even the Workstation version to a small extent, is that you can actually run production servers within the VM's. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it with Workstation, but I have gotten away with it for brief periods in the past.
Now, with GSX server, you CAN run production servers inside a VM with confidence. And with the VMWare Remote Console, you can access those individual servers from across the network as if you were in front of them physically. Mail server is running out of memory, but the file server has way more than it needs? No problem, just access a web interface and move some memory from one to the other. Beats the hell out of swapping DIMMs around.
Plus you can allocate resources at a much finer resolution than with physical hardware.
Not to mention that my server room now only needs two boxes, and two UPSs, instead of dozens.
Personally, I wouldn't even place Win4Lin in the same product category as VMWare's offerings. And they DEFINITELY have different target markets and intended uses.
Yep, they're the Toshiba drives. Stands to reason, though, there aren't many companies out there building drives in that form factor.
If it makes you feel any better, though, my 1st generation 10GB iPod has been abused like crazy, including drops from shirt pocket level onto concrete, while it was running, and the thing's still going like a champ.
I wouldn't let the drive sway you from buying an iPod, it's the battery that is their weak point, and Apple's gotten much better recently in dealing with those problems. Although I figure by the time my battery gives up, I'll have already moved to a bigger iPod, and will just use this one as a portable 10GB hard drive.
Why wait?
Because I'm already running into space limitations on my 10GB iPod between the music on it and that data that I carry back and forth for work. Once the whole Christmas fiasco is out of the way, I'll be upgrading to the 40GB. And you think 1.5GB is going to cut it?
As for oversized? The frickin' thing is the same size as a deck of cards. Very easy to slip into a shirt pocket and carry from my desk to my car. That's all the portability I need.
I don't have a mobile, and won't until I can get one for cheaper than my landline and with as much convenience.
Odd, that's exactly why I have a mobile and no land line. The mobile is both cheaper and more convenient.
Of course, this will vary by person. It happens to be cheaper for me because a significant portion of my calling is long distance, which I don't have to pay extra for with the cell.
As for convenience, I can take it and use it anywhere I want, not just within the vicinity of my house. If I don't want to take it, I can leave it at home. In my mind, having that choice is more convenient than not having the choice.
I'll consider switching back to a landline when they stop charging for long distance, and the average cordless phone has, say, a 50 mile range.
Absolutely. Especially when you factor in the fact that the original video is of quite a bit better higher than a lot of the televisions still in use are capable of displaying, anyway.
I've squeezed full length DVD movies down to well under a 700 MB or so with stereo audio and did not see a visible reduction in picture quality.
Now, if I had a monster HDTV in my living room, I'm sure there would have been a noticeable difference, but on my 36" tube (standard def) there wasn't.
Any practical application for storing video on these drives would not likely have a large enough display to necessitate the same quality level as you find on a DVD. Come on, if you're displaying on a 54" screen, why not just pop the original disc into the DVD player and be done with it?
I also haven't seen any pictures but if it is expandable to 320GB it's probably not going to fit on a tv.
Yeah, 'cuz a box that holds two hard drives is going to be HUGE man!!!
Sorry, bud, but there are already PVR's out there with that much capacity sitting on top of poeple's TVs.
Well, no, that's not quite how it works. Suggestions are all generated locally, within the box itself, based on criteria like genre, actors, director, etc... TiVo, the device, can generate suggestions perfectly well regardless of whether TiVo, the company, collects any info on your viewing habits.
As for the privacy issue, I think I'm about as big a privacy zealout as you'll find, but I just don't see how somebody finding out that I'm a Star Trek fan is going to bring my world to a crashing halt. It's good to guard your privacy, and even be a bit paranoid about it, but anyone who is bothered by this has gone a bit off the deep end, IMHO.
Uh huh.
/. lately? It used to be populated by geeks, these days all you find here are pre-teen morons who fantasize about someday learning just what a "pointer" is. Sheesh.)
So all you're really saying is: "Normal users are complete morons." Duh. We all know that already.
So explain to me why a process that used to take 2 hours, 47 minutes, and some odd seconds (give or take a minute or two depending on system load) takes 2 hours and 6 minutes (again, give or take a minute or two) under XP. This is on a back room server that doesn't even have anyone sitting at the console (or even a monitor attached, for that matter) so "user perception" isn't gonna cut it. The plain fact is that XP does it half an hour faster.
Now, I do have the correct explanation, and it boils down to a major improvement in one particular driver, not really related to the OS, as a whole, at all.
The fact is that reporting on "OS speed" (which is a meaningless term unless clarified) is nothing short of irresponsible journalism. If you're considering a new OS, it's incumbent upon you do do your own damn research. Test it out with the software that *you* run, and decide which OS, or which version of the same OS, fits *your* needs.
(Duh. As if I should even have to explain this. What's happened to
What's strange is that I've upgraded 5 different people from 2K to XP. All 5 have commented glowingly about how much faster XP is. This also coincides with the impression I got from testing it on my own machine.
Of course, this is all just anecdotal, but I still think describing XP as "painfully" slower than 2K is a bit of a stretch. (Just wish I hadn't lost MIDI capability altogether.)
thinking of ways to provide sustainable peace throughout the world.
An unattainable fantasy.
Unrealistic fantasies are fine things to debate, and can even provide us with nice ideas when setting our goals.
Times like this, however, require realistic answers. The only effective response to violence of this magnitude is violence of an even greater magnitude.
A lot of people are uncomfortable with that truth. Tough. Our hands have been tied, we have no alternative now other than to respond with extreme and merciless violence.
That is complete and utter bullshit.
In many cases, this being one of them, people have a DUTY and OBLIGATION to take the life of another. It is morally unacceptable to allow the perpetrators of these attacks to remain alive.
Of course, our targets must be chosen with precision and certainty, however:
Fierce, aggressive, brutal and merciless violence is the *only* appropriate response to these attacks.
more Bill Nye
:)
And that's a good thing?
Thank god I TiVo Battlebots. That way I can skip Nye, the announcers, and just watch the good parts (the matches, and Tracy Bingham).
One more popped into my head.
:)
Throw them into the arena with a bunch of BattleBots. I'm sure Nightmare could do things to a spammer that would be quite fun to watch. And just imagine what Toro's lifting arm could do if it happened to impact a pair of testicles.
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "He's pushing him onto the Kill Saws."
I thought it was pretty much accepted that drowning is one of the more serene and peaceful ways to die.
:-)
How about removing their skin with a belt sander, then packing them in salt?
Ever seen a commercial bacon slicer operate? All kinds of interesting things come to mind.
Or, just let them bleed to death through a massive open wound where their genitalia used to be.
Not saying that I'd ever do these things to a spammer myself, but I might watch it on pay-per-view.
Won't work. You see, you are not entitled to protection by the DMCA unless you are a multi-million dollar corporation. Big business can do anything they want with your copyright data, and you have no recourse. Remember, here in the US, laws are meant to protect corporations, not honest citizens.
Over the years, while trying out new languages or new development environments, I've probably implemented "Hello World" a couple thousand times.
How 'bout you just send me a hundred bucks and we'll call it even?
:-)
Once you do read the paper, you'll notice that the effect is said to be highly focused.
The Earth is a (rough) sphere. A directionally focuses "beam" would stay near the surface for only a short time and would exit into space.
If you don't understand why every pendulum on the planet wasn't affected, just try to illuminate the entire surface of a basketball with a laser pointer.
(Not that I'm convinced the research is legit, but if you're going to debunk it, then even the "every pendulum on the planet" argument doesn't hold water.)