While you're probably right about the TiVo, I can't agree that the Familiar Linux distro for the iPaq is a "hack on a closed system", simply because the iPaq is not (IMO) a closed system. You do know that the primary sponsor of the (excellent!) handhelds.org site is Compaq Computer Corporation, right? And that they (Compaq, that is) had their own Linux for the iPaq going initially, but then merged that with Familiar because it was better? Compaq are not behaving in a very proprietary way when it comes to people running "alternative" software on their iPaq... Which is good, because it allowed me to easily port something unexpected.;^)
Without actually refuting your point, can I just chuckle a bit over that comment? Thanks. *Chuckles*. Ah. Now, I have no idea about the price/performance ratio of the GSCube, and the (required, AFAIK) SGI Origin server needed to actually feed it data probably isn't cheap, but... Could you not find it in your heart to consider a machine with 2 GB of RAM + 512 MB of VRAM as being up to the task? Also, if Sony are cool enough to create rendering software that actually uses the graphics hardware of the GSCube, something that is almost a requirement to beat PCs, then maybe those 1.2 billion polygons per second can make a difference, too?;^)
Sounds reasonable. I guess much of the confusion surrounding the FF movie and the GSCube stems from the fact that Square showed off a version of the movie being rendered in real time on the GSCube at SIGGRAPH 2000. I was there, I saw it. Unlike my colleague, though, I did not pick up the joypad and steer the camera around... A nice, albeit classic, way of slamming the "yes it's real time" fact in someone's face. Please note that the version of the movie rendered on the GSCube was simplified, i.e. they did not just take the existing production scenes to it. Anyway, the GSCube stlill ooks simply awesome! I wonder if any (European) companies are going to use it... *Drool*.;^)
Well, I don't know about the mice, but I used a very generic USB keyboard ($25) with a friend's PS2 to take the bundled BASIC for a spin. It was quite fun (always nice with a basic that let's you draw Gauraud-shaded triangles with a single command, although that's of course pretty simple in C/OpenGL too). It seemed to lack any high-precision, as in <1-second resolution, timers though, which kind of killed it for me. Anyway, the keyboard worked just fine.
Or, heck, maybe Compaq could. Since they have the advantage of manufacturing the iPaq to begin with, it could be easier than waiting for HP to fix it...;^)
True. The spec sheet linked to in the press release puts it a nice 660 W. Whoa. I also find the resolution, 1365x768 as mentioned everywhere, a bit odd...
It stands for "asymmetrical", because the bandwidth is not symmetrical, i.e. it is not the same in both directions on the wire. To be specific, the bandwidth available downstream (into the home) is typically larger than the one available upstream (out of the home). This is because ADSL is designed in a consumer-centric way, assuming and/or implying that most users do not want to run servers.
Also, if you read my comment again, you'll hopefully come to the conclusion that I was indeed right. The original comment (#17) by Teun was both misspelled and incorrect, and I tried to correct it on both accounts. Just trying to help, you know.;^)
Um, not wanting to sound like a complete idiot here, and having actually had some EE theory, I must still ask the question: if your second assertion is true, then what is it that excites the phosporous (sp?) coating? Holes? Can energy be transferred to the coating by electrons leaving it? Wow.
What? Using a lower-case 'p' as an abbreviation of "per" is, as far as I know, pretty well recognized as an alternative to the slash. I don't quite get your reference to ATA/133 (whatever that is; perhaps you are thinking of ATA/33?), though...
Re:Perhaps as a microplatform
on
PS2 As PC
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· Score: 1
The keyboards were out before the PS2, actually. Sound like magic? It's not, it's just USB.;^)
Well, the theoretical bandwidth limit for USB 1.x is 12 Mbps. Assuming a 320x240 8-bpp format (not exactly something to rest your eyes on), that gives you ~19 fps... Going up to more reasonable 16-bpp format of course drops you down to ~9 fps, which isn't really video anymore.;^) Perhaps you should investigate sticking a network adapter in that PC Card slot, assuming it really is PCMCIA?
Yeah, me too! I mean, it seems like such an obvious fit--nForce has dual-DDR 4.2 GBps goodness, and an AthlonMP needs 2.1 GBps maximum. 4.2/2.1 = 2! Heh. On second thought, it's not quite so perfect, since some bandwidth for I/O and graphics is good to have. Um, Nvidia, could you add another 2.1 GBps to that? Thank you.;^)
After spending yesterday reading about all the good stuff Nvidia has crammed into the nForce, including the nice 800 MBps "HyperTransport" link between their versions of the north and south bridges, I threw myself over these long-awaited 760MP exposes, to see what AMD use. I'm more than a little surprised (and disappointed) to find that they went with the "good-old" PCI interconnect, limited to a measly 266 MBps (if it's 64-bit). The weirdness increases when you realise that Nvidia didn't actually develop HyperTransport themselves--it's licensed from (wait for it) AMD!
I guess the reason is that HyperTransport is too recent a development for AMD to include it in the 760MP, which has been under development and testing for like two years, but still... It's a shame. It seems that even the upcoming "mainstream" SMP chipset, the 760MPX, won't include HyperTransport.
Um, I don't want to sound too negative, but this part:
...there's a path to an NVidia/AMD Xbox implementation at a lower price point.
of your post doesn't exactly jive well with this part from the end:
this new chip is GeForce 2. [...] The XBox uses GeForce 3
I mean, you clearly understand that just popping an AMD Palomino on an nForce-based board does not, in fact, make an Xbox. Also, I doubt that if, if it were possible, would in fact be cheaper: a non-nForce motherboard for the Athlon CPU today is around $100, and $200 for the CPU doesn't sound unreasonable. Add a memory, harddrive and case to that, and I think you've pretty much killed the chance to be cheaper than the Xbox--and you would still not have comparable graphics!
On a more constructive (or at least less whiny) note, I think there are at least three reasons why nVidia doesn't include GeForce3-level graphics in the nForce:
Competition--the GF3 is still pretty new, and budget cards (the "MX"s) are expected in the fall (at the earlies). Including the same level of graphics power in a supposedly cheap motherboard chipset would compete directly with graphics board sales.
Transistor counts--the GeForce3 is >57 million transistors. Perhaps it was a bit too much to integrate?
Memory bandwidth--a GeForce3 typically has a 128-bit DDR memory interface, clocked at 230 MHz. That's 7.2 GBps, or more than 50% more than all the memory bandwidth provided by the nForce!
Now, let's just hope NVIDIA are kind enough to allow Linux to run on motherboards based on the nForce. Darn, I think my formerly so simple next-computer-purchasing-plan ("must have SMP Athlons, must have SMP Athlons...") just became a bit more complex. The nForce is *cool*!!;^)
I'm no regular reader of Chick's Hardware, so I don't have any "gut feel" about their reliability...
I was confused by the layout of the article. It starts out with saying that it's based on rumors, but follows that up with what looks like a real feature-set specification (complete with corporate-style disclaimers). What gives? Is the G550 an announced product? I zoomed over to Matrox' site of course, but couldn't find it. Not even on their press release page... Weird. Can anyone clear that up for me?
Anyway, the specs seem real enough (although I'm note sure what a "draw cell" is), and the speculation doesn't come off as too weird either... I guess we'll just have to wait and see what Matrox is planning.;^)
Nitpick: that's Kaffe, actually, with just a single 'e'. So your "(sic)" thing is probably not correct. BTW, if it's not obvious, "Kaffe" is coffee in Swedish (and probably at least one more Scandinavian or Nordic language). "Kaffee", on the other hand, is coffee in German...
Qt is so much nicer to core
So, um, I take it Qt core dumps a lot, then, but it sort of feels good when it happens?;^) ObNoFlamers: it was a typo, yeah, y eah. But I couldn't stop myself.;^)
"Easy". Check out the first paper on this page. It's from SIGGRAPH 2000, where it rocked my world.;^) It describes how OpenGL, with two (fairly simple, although not supported by today's[*] hardware) extensions, can be used to execute RenderMan shaders.
[*]: Check out what a certain id Software programmer typically says when asked about desirable future directions for rendering hardware, and extrapolate.;^)
I'm sorry, but that is just plain false. Do the research. The GeForce3 includes lots of features that simply do not exist in earlier generations. I'm impressed by the fact that the '3 beats the older cards, running older non-tuned software, while being clocked far slower (-50MHz when going from the GeForce2 Ultra to the GeForce3). That says something about the engineering involved, I think.
I couldn't find any mention of Linux on the page linked to in the posting. However, I did find this on that page, which initially amused and confused me: Battery Type: Lithium-ion
Operating Time: Standard Type about 4.5H Large Type about 9.0H
Operation hours depends on usage situation.
I first thought they said that you get twice the battery time by changing to a smaller font in the interface...;^) Then I understood that they were (probably) talking about different types of batteries. Oh, and that the large type actually gives you more battery time as well, that kind of screws my initial "theory"... Anyway, I think this is kind of expensive-looking, somehow. I'd rather go with a Sony Picturebook. I'd pick a Sony over a Casio every day, basically.
Slashdot Mirror
While you're probably right about the TiVo, I can't agree that the Familiar Linux distro for the iPaq is a "hack on a closed system", simply because the iPaq is not (IMO) a closed system. You do know that the primary sponsor of the (excellent!) handhelds.org site is Compaq Computer Corporation, right? And that they (Compaq, that is) had their own Linux for the iPaq going initially, but then merged that with Familiar because it was better? Compaq are not behaving in a very proprietary way when it comes to people running "alternative" software on their iPaq... Which is good, because it allowed me to easily port something unexpected. ;^)
Without actually refuting your point, can I just chuckle a bit over that comment? Thanks. *Chuckles*. Ah. Now, I have no idea about the price/performance ratio of the GSCube, and the (required, AFAIK) SGI Origin server needed to actually feed it data probably isn't cheap, but... Could you not find it in your heart to consider a machine with 2 GB of RAM + 512 MB of VRAM as being up to the task? Also, if Sony are cool enough to create rendering software that actually uses the graphics hardware of the GSCube, something that is almost a requirement to beat PCs, then maybe those 1.2 billion polygons per second can make a difference, too? ;^)
Sounds reasonable. I guess much of the confusion surrounding the FF movie and the GSCube stems from the fact that Square showed off a version of the movie being rendered in real time on the GSCube at SIGGRAPH 2000. I was there, I saw it. Unlike my colleague, though, I did not pick up the joypad and steer the camera around... A nice, albeit classic, way of slamming the "yes it's real time" fact in someone's face. Please note that the version of the movie rendered on the GSCube was simplified, i.e. they did not just take the existing production scenes to it. Anyway, the GSCube stlill ooks simply awesome! I wonder if any (European) companies are going to use it... *Drool*. ;^)
Heh. Since you asked for it, I guess a little bit of plugging is alright: check out gentoo (quick screenshot link). Some people like it.
Well, I don't know about the mice, but I used a very generic USB keyboard ($25) with a friend's PS2 to take the bundled BASIC for a spin. It was quite fun (always nice with a basic that let's you draw Gauraud-shaded triangles with a single command, although that's of course pretty simple in C/OpenGL too). It seemed to lack any high-precision, as in <1-second resolution, timers though, which kind of killed it for me. Anyway, the keyboard worked just fine.
Or, heck, maybe Compaq could. Since they have the advantage of manufacturing the iPaq to begin with, it could be easier than waiting for HP to fix it... ;^)
I guess BBC News reads Slashdot too, then...</TROLL>
(I'm sorry, I just wanted to see what it felt like to b*tch about this fine site repeating itself)
True. The spec sheet linked to in the press release puts it a nice 660 W. Whoa. I also find the resolution, 1365x768 as mentioned everywhere, a bit odd...
It stands for "asymmetrical", because the bandwidth is not symmetrical, i.e. it is not the same in both directions on the wire. To be specific, the bandwidth available downstream (into the home) is typically larger than the one available upstream (out of the home). This is because ADSL is designed in a consumer-centric way, assuming and/or implying that most users do not want to run servers.
Also, if you read my comment again, you'll hopefully come to the conclusion that I was indeed right. The original comment (#17) by Teun was both misspelled and incorrect, and I tried to correct it on both accounts. Just trying to help, you know. ;^)
Now that is what I call a review! Holy cow! It's just plain huge! ;^)
Um, first, that would be "asynchronous", and second, the word you're looking for is probably asymmetric(al)". Mmkay? ;^)
Um, not wanting to sound like a complete idiot here, and having actually had some EE theory, I must still ask the question: if your second assertion is true, then what is it that excites the phosporous (sp?) coating? Holes? Can energy be transferred to the coating by electrons leaving it? Wow.
What? Using a lower-case 'p' as an abbreviation of "per" is, as far as I know, pretty well recognized as an alternative to the slash. I don't quite get your reference to ATA/133 (whatever that is; perhaps you are thinking of ATA/33?), though...
The keyboards were out before the PS2, actually. Sound like magic? It's not, it's just USB. ;^)
Well, the theoretical bandwidth limit for USB 1.x is 12 Mbps. Assuming a 320x240 8-bpp format (not exactly something to rest your eyes on), that gives you ~19 fps... Going up to more reasonable 16-bpp format of course drops you down to ~9 fps, which isn't really video anymore. ;^) Perhaps you should investigate sticking a network adapter in that PC Card slot, assuming it really is PCMCIA?
Yeah, me too! I mean, it seems like such an obvious fit--nForce has dual-DDR 4.2 GBps goodness, and an AthlonMP needs 2.1 GBps maximum. 4.2/2.1 = 2! Heh. On second thought, it's not quite so perfect, since some bandwidth for I/O and graphics is good to have. Um, Nvidia, could you add another 2.1 GBps to that? Thank you. ;^)
After spending yesterday reading about all the good stuff Nvidia has crammed into the nForce, including the nice 800 MBps "HyperTransport" link between their versions of the north and south bridges, I threw myself over these long-awaited 760MP exposes, to see what AMD use. I'm more than a little surprised (and disappointed) to find that they went with the "good-old" PCI interconnect, limited to a measly 266 MBps (if it's 64-bit). The weirdness increases when you realise that Nvidia didn't actually develop HyperTransport themselves--it's licensed from (wait for it) AMD!
I guess the reason is that HyperTransport is too recent a development for AMD to include it in the 760MP, which has been under development and testing for like two years, but still... It's a shame. It seems that even the upcoming "mainstream" SMP chipset, the 760MPX, won't include HyperTransport.
- Competition--the GF3 is still pretty new, and budget cards (the "MX"s) are expected in the fall (at the earlies). Including the same level of graphics power in a supposedly cheap motherboard chipset would compete directly with graphics board sales.
- Transistor counts--the GeForce3 is >57 million transistors. Perhaps it was a bit too much to integrate?
- Memory bandwidth--a GeForce3 typically has a 128-bit DDR memory interface, clocked at 230 MHz. That's 7.2 GBps, or more than 50% more than all the memory bandwidth provided by the nForce!
Now, let's just hope NVIDIA are kind enough to allow Linux to run on motherboards based on the nForce. Darn, I think my formerly so simple next-computer-purchasing-plan ("must have SMP Athlons, must have SMP Athlons...") just became a bit more complex. The nForce is *cool*!!I'm no regular reader of Chick's Hardware, so I don't have any "gut feel" about their reliability...
I was confused by the layout of the article. It starts out with saying that it's based on rumors, but follows that up with what looks like a real feature-set specification (complete with corporate-style disclaimers). What gives? Is the G550 an announced product? I zoomed over to Matrox' site of course, but couldn't find it. Not even on their press release page... Weird. Can anyone clear that up for me?
Anyway, the specs seem real enough (although I'm note sure what a "draw cell" is), and the speculation doesn't come off as too weird either... I guess we'll just have to wait and see what Matrox is planning.Nitpick: that's Kaffe, actually, with just a single 'e'. So your "(sic)" thing is probably not correct. BTW, if it's not obvious, "Kaffe" is coffee in Swedish (and probably at least one more Scandinavian or Nordic language). "Kaffee", on the other hand, is coffee in German...
Qt is so much nicer to core ;^) ObNoFlamers: it was a typo, yeah, y eah. But I couldn't stop myself. ;^)
So, um, I take it Qt core dumps a lot, then, but it sort of feels good when it happens?
Um, I know next to nothing about this company, but this product sure sounds right for you, then! ;^
"Easy". Check out the first paper on this page. It's from SIGGRAPH 2000, where it rocked my world. ;^) It describes how OpenGL, with two (fairly simple, although not supported by today's[*] hardware) extensions, can be used to execute RenderMan shaders.
[*]: Check out what a certain id Software programmer typically says when asked about desirable future directions for rendering hardware, and extrapolate.I'm sorry, but that is just plain false. Do the research. The GeForce3 includes lots of features that simply do not exist in earlier generations. I'm impressed by the fact that the '3 beats the older cards, running older non-tuned software, while being clocked far slower (-50MHz when going from the GeForce2 Ultra to the GeForce3). That says something about the engineering involved, I think.
I couldn't find any mention of Linux on the page linked to in the posting. However, I did find this on that page, which initially amused and confused me: ;^) Then I understood that they were (probably) talking about different types of batteries. Oh, and that the large type actually gives you more battery time as well, that kind of screws my initial "theory"... Anyway, I think this is kind of expensive-looking, somehow. I'd rather go with a Sony Picturebook. I'd pick a Sony over a Casio every day, basically.
Battery Type: Lithium-ion
Operating Time: Standard Type about 4.5H Large Type about 9.0H
Operation hours depends on usage situation.
I first thought they said that you get twice the battery time by changing to a smaller font in the interface...