One of the big energy wasters in current PCs are those way too big PSUs. Most PCs consume something between 100 and 150 watts. Most PSU are designed for 300 or even more watts. Switching power supplies are more efficient than older models, but even those reach their maximum efficiency only at or near their peak output.
So if you want an efficient PSU be sure to buy a high efficiency but low watt PSU. (Those Mini-ITX Boxen come supplies with a 60 watt PSU).
There was a very interesting article in German computer magazine c't (sorry, not available online) that discussed the use of mobile CPUs in desktop boards. The conclusion was, that in a normal PC only half of the power savings of the CPU transform into real power savings. When you put an Mobile Athlon in your board (as I do) your CPU uses around 30 watts less than the normal Athlon. But in a real PC only 15 watts will be saved. The rest is still wasted in the PSU. (of course a 30 watt CPU is still much easier to cool, so I think it's still worthwile)
Btw. the second big source for power wasting are all those power regulators (correct term?) on your mainboard. Ever wondered why some mainboards come with heatsinks on them?
Building a really efficient PC is not a simple task... But choosing a high efficient *and* correct (=enough) output PSU is one of the most important.
The strange thing about the Sony clies is that as soon as the managed to buy a good, small, multimedia capable PDA with a wonderful screen (320*480) and very good battery life they quit the market... Very strange. There isn't a comparable alternative from Palm. very sad.
Please file bugzilla entries for these. And for all the etc's too.
Closing the browser and cacncelling the downloads without any warning is bad. An easy solution would be auto-pausing the downloads so one can resume it after restarting.
But please file you complaints, so people can vote. most of them are quite easy to fix.
Yepp, you get the point. When a action is implicitly called this will be confusing. Selecting text AND automatically adding it to the clipboard is confusing. Yes yes you can train people, but it is still confusing.
Think about this: Is there any wide spread application which uses the text selecting/copy/paste paradigm? Any file manager? Paint programm? Mail? NO! All use drag&drop or some keystrokes to perform copy/paste. And IMHO for a reason.
And one thing I always have to say when discussing GUIs is that the major paradigm that's used way too seldom is Drag&Drop. Selecting a text and dropping it into the application where it should be pasted is so wonderful and intuitive (and it doesn't need a single keystroke or mouse click more than the x-way to copy/paste). In a file manager, in an editor, everywhere. Intuitive and consistent. And you can explain this behaviour in 10 seconds to everyone. Try that with ctrl-c/v or the X-windows way.
Problem No. 1: The VRM (voltage regulator module).
Efficiency is low.
Problem No. 2: The power supply unit.
Efficiency is low. Especially if you have a 300 watt unit and a computer that only uses say 60 watts.
German computer magazine c't has measured such a setup. I don't have the article handy, so I quote from memory.
If you reduce the power consumption of your CPU by 40 watts, less than 20 watts will be saved due to the loss of the PSU and the VRM.
So if you really want to build a low consumption PC, be sure you have a board that is desgned for this and a PSU that is designed for this.
I wouldn't be that suprised if a Mini-ITX board with a 15 watt CPU and components uses 40 watts less than a normal PC with an ATX board and the same CPU running with a 300 watt PSU.
(Yes, i was suprised by this article too as a run a undervolted Mobile Athlon in my board, but I never measured the power consumption myself).
of course there will be things that get more expensive (like taxi driving cause it consumes energy), but if you'll give all money from the energy taxes back (that's important), that won't matter.
Yes, you're right, people which drive their own car will have less money in their pockets, but people which use public transportation will have more (cause the normal taxes are lowered).
And don't worry about the taxi drivers. They will buy a new car if that's cheaper and they will drive their old one if that's cheaper. Taxi driving will get a bit more expensive. Maybe. (More simple: Taxi drivers will increase prices. Demand will drop a bit. Maybe. When people have more money in their pockets cause other taxes are lowered, the higher prices for taxis won't matter that much)
When you want to increase energy taxes because you think that's what you should do, it's very important to do it very very slowly (and consistently). And only by that amount that can be saved. If you think cars can be 30 percent more efficient, increase energy taxes by 30 percent over the next 10 years (or whatever the average age of cars is in the US). Slowly, 3 percent a year (yes I'm oversimplifying again, 3 percent every year is more than 30 percent...).
If you double energy prices next month, OK, then you'll have a rather severe economic slowdown. But if you can adapt to the (calculably) price increases there won't be major problems.
E.g. replacing your ultra-inefficient SUV with a efficient Diesel from e.g. Volkswagen won't cause any harm. Many people think: more efficient == smaller == less expensive. But that's not true. Even if you pay 2000 bucks more for a efficient car and you save 2000 bucks later for gasoline is completely neutral to growth.
Or let me give an example: gasoline prices have increased enormously in the last two years due to the iraq stuff. Has the growth in the US been affected? No! The last year has been one of the best in terms of econmic groth.
If you increase taxes on energy and lower the other taxes, so that it's net neutral, there won't be a disruption in economic growth. You'll just have to think long term. Do it slowly. And start sometime.
Btw. I completely agree, that voters don't think long term. Sad but true.
I think, that reducing the energy consumption in the US is more than realistic. Look at the facts:
Every US citizen consumes nearly two times the enrgy a German does. Every US citizen consumes nearly 80% more than a Japanese does. And we are talking about three of the most wealthiest, highly industrialized (think comparable) countries on Earth.
There's so much room for saving energy in the US that it's totally uncomprehensible for me that many seem to think it's that hard. It isn't.
No technical reason. The market just too small. Toyota sell sth. around 20.000 hybrids worldwide per year. Too few to justify a diesel and gasoline engine. Most of the hybrids are sold in the US, where Diesel is somewhat exotic (in sharp contrast to Europe, where nearly half the cars have Diesel engines).
The combination of Diesel/Hybrid would be absolutly wonderful.
You're correct! Hemp is one of the best producers of biomass. Hemp can directly produce oil (nearly as much as rape), which (with rather slight modifications) can be used to fuel a diesel engine. And you could possibly use the rest of the hemp for the production of ethanol as described in the article. Another wonderful aspect of hemp that it doesn't need fertilizers and that hemp is nearly resistent against most varmints.
There are hemp sorts available, that don't make fun smoking cause they don't contain enough THC. These sorts can safely be seaded everywhere.
* Draws less power than normal Athlons (due to reduced core voltage)
* Rather cheap (premium to a normal athlon is ~ 50 USD (or 200 MHz ---> price of Athlon 2200 is similiar to a Mobile Athlon 2000)
* runs in many normal socket-A-mainboards
Cons:
* not available at every corner
* not running in every mainboard
* no guarantie whatsoever that it will work
* no support for PowerNow! (no *dynamic* frequence scaling)
There are at least two very cool software solutions for running your Athlon at lower voltages:
8rdavcore: A programm to dynamically adjust your FSB and core voltages. I have my Epox 8RDA3+ running between 866 MHz @ 66 MHZ FSB & 1,15 volt and 1466 MHz @ 133 MHz FSB & 1,3 volt. Energy consumption should be less than half of the normal usage at the lowest speed (btw. available for linux too and (for me) rock stable). You can try this with your normal Athlon too.
CPUMSR: A programm, that can adjust your multiplier and core voltage. Needs a Mobile Athlon and one of the supported mainboards. Doesn't work on my Epox board, so I can't tell you much more. There's a guide how to transform your normal Athlon into a Mobile one (a method similiar to unlocking the max speed of your Athlon).
A fast AND power saving computer IS possible. And the premium for this is low (100 USD).
(That's the main reason why the Linux desktop will take off on the corporate desktop first (if at all). Every good administrator looks for unified hardware in a big company. Checking if Linux is OK is simple. With 100 different computer configurations you will always find combinations that won't work with Linux (but of course work with Windows (at least kind of work...). Think of laptops (Centrino), think of 802.11g WLAN,... )
I opted for a Panasonic GS 10 which costs 150 Euros (~180 USD) less and is somewhat leighter than Sony's comparable model (PC 105). Picture quality in low light conditions is a bit better with the Sony. Featurewise those cameras are 99% equal. I didn't like Sony's touchscreen (though that is definitly my personal opinion and it's not bad at all). I didn't like the fact that the Sony's batteries can only be charged inside the camera (at least that's what you get, when you buy the camera; an optional battery charger may be available).
If you want to spend more than 600 USD, IMHO you'll have to check out the 3-CCD camera from Panasonic. They are a big improvement, which all the cameras in between aren't.
I wouldn't buy anything but MinDV. Hi 8 is dead and only useful if you want compatibilty with your old camcorder. The new DVD(-RAM) recorders are expensive, while picture quality is lower (due to higher compression) and are therefore a waste of money. (They may get really interesting, but the first generation isn't).
And as many have pointed out: Digital zoom is worthless. A 100x-zoom with a normal 800.000 pixel camera means 80 pixel resolution left and is completely useless.
I've been searching for this for long time: software controlled undervolting. Throttle down your CPU (and lower noise and energy consumption) when you don't need full performance and let it run at full speed (hey, even at more than full speed with FSB of 150...) when you need it.
Found this gem in the forums at www.silentpcreview.com: 8rdavcore. Available for Windows and Linux. Works wonderful on my Epox 8RDA3+ board and on some others with a nforce chipset.
Flexibilty is the real reason for building it yourself.
Stuck with single speed DVD-R in your DVD recorder that you have bought for USD 1000 a year ago? Stuck with a 40 GB drive? Stuck with no time-shifting? Not with your HTPC. Throw-Away vs. upgradebility: Worth the time IMHO.
In Europe ripping the Mini PCI card is (IIRC) the only way to get a Linux compatible Mini PCI 811g card. I haven't found a distributor for one of the few available prism based mini-pci cards in Germany.
First: Your point about hardware support has valid points. Multimedia support (TV cards for example) lacks somewhat.
BUT: You'll have to change the way you upgrade your computer and OS; hardware/drivers as well as software.
With Linux (as a normal user) you choose a distribution. The distro maker packages software and drivers for you. So if you need new drivers for your printer, don't go to epson, go to gimp-print or to be more precise check if e.g. Mandrake offers a new version of gimp-print with better epson drivers for you.
The same thing applies to your software upgrades: Good distribution makers package sth. like 1.000 packages for you. That's a lot more than Joe Average needs.
Compare that with WindowsUpdate. I have never ever installed a single driver with WindowsUpdate. I never ever installed software except Microsoft Software (to be more precise: bug fixes and security fixes) with WindowsUpdate.
So what's easier? Clicking MandrakeUpdate or checking 10th of sites for new version of drivers and software?
I guess you're just one the many users who think the way they've done it for the past 15 years is the only way to do it and if Linux does it differently that has to be worse.
Bye egghat.
Re:Javascript + FORM implementation MOD UP.
on
XForms Essentials
·
· Score: 1
don't have mod points now. But the link in the parent post is valuable!
"A day is any of several different units of time. The word refers either to the period of light when the Sun is above the local horizon or to the full day covering a dark and a light period. Different definitions of the day are based on the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky (solar day). The reason for this apparent motion is the rotation of the Earth around its axis, as well as the revolution of the Earth in an orbit around the Sun." Source
I'm only knitpicking at guys who call other guys asshats...
You'r wrong: SuSE still IS privatly hold. There was no going public (Mandrake went public).
But you're right, the EU won't do anything. Their market (Linux) isn't big enough and their market share isn't big enough. (But public vs. private company doesn't matter; when two private companies that will have a market share of 80% after the merger the EU will intervene).
Slashdot Mirror
One of the big energy wasters in current PCs are those way too big PSUs. Most PCs consume something between 100 and 150 watts. Most PSU are designed for 300 or even more watts. Switching power supplies are more efficient than older models, but even those reach their maximum efficiency only at or near their peak output.
... But choosing a high efficient *and* correct (=enough) output PSU is one of the most important.
So if you want an efficient PSU be sure to buy a high efficiency but low watt PSU. (Those Mini-ITX Boxen come supplies with a 60 watt PSU).
There was a very interesting article in German computer magazine c't (sorry, not available online) that discussed the use of mobile CPUs in desktop boards. The conclusion was, that in a normal PC only half of the power savings of the CPU transform into real power savings. When you put an Mobile Athlon in your board (as I do) your CPU uses around 30 watts less than the normal Athlon. But in a real PC only 15 watts will be saved. The rest is still wasted in the PSU. (of course a 30 watt CPU is still much easier to cool, so I think it's still worthwile)
Btw. the second big source for power wasting are all those power regulators (correct term?) on your mainboard. Ever wondered why some mainboards come with heatsinks on them?
Building a really efficient PC is not a simple task
Bye egghat.
The strange thing about the Sony clies is that as soon as the managed to buy a good, small, multimedia capable PDA with a wonderful screen (320*480) and very good battery life they quit the market ... Very strange. There isn't a comparable alternative from Palm. very sad.
bye egghat.
Please file bugzilla entries for these. And for all the etc's too.
Closing the browser and cacncelling the downloads without any warning is bad. An easy solution would be auto-pausing the downloads so one can resume it after restarting.
But please file you complaints, so people can vote. most of them are quite easy to fix.
Bye egghat.
IMHO if a company can buy one of the few remaining competitors IN CASH, everyone should be really worried :-(
Bye egghat.
Yepp, you get the point. When a action is implicitly called this will be confusing. Selecting text AND automatically adding it to the clipboard is confusing. Yes yes you can train people, but it is still confusing.
Think about this: Is there any wide spread application which uses the text selecting/copy/paste paradigm? Any file manager? Paint programm? Mail? NO! All use drag&drop or some keystrokes to perform copy/paste. And IMHO for a reason.
And one thing I always have to say when discussing GUIs is that the major paradigm that's used way too seldom is Drag&Drop. Selecting a text and dropping it into the application where it should be pasted is so wonderful and intuitive (and it doesn't need a single keystroke or mouse click more than the x-way to copy/paste). In a file manager, in an editor, everywhere. Intuitive and consistent. And you can explain this behaviour in 10 seconds to everyone. Try that with ctrl-c/v or the X-windows way.
Bye egghat.
No, it isn't, at least energy wise.
Problem No. 1: The VRM (voltage regulator module).
Efficiency is low.
Problem No. 2: The power supply unit.
Efficiency is low. Especially if you have a 300 watt unit and a computer that only uses say 60 watts.
German computer magazine c't has measured such a setup. I don't have the article handy, so I quote from memory.
If you reduce the power consumption of your CPU by 40 watts, less than 20 watts will be saved due to the loss of the PSU and the VRM.
So if you really want to build a low consumption PC, be sure you have a board that is desgned for this and a PSU that is designed for this.
I wouldn't be that suprised if a Mini-ITX board with a 15 watt CPU and components uses 40 watts less than a normal PC with an ATX board and the same CPU running with a 300 watt PSU.
(Yes, i was suprised by this article too as a run a undervolted Mobile Athlon in my board, but I never measured the power consumption myself).
Bye egghat.
Maybe I'm a bit oversimplifiying things, but ...
...).
of course there will be things that get more expensive (like taxi driving cause it consumes energy), but if you'll give all money from the energy taxes back (that's important), that won't matter.
Yes, you're right, people which drive their own car will have less money in their pockets, but people which use public transportation will have more (cause the normal taxes are lowered).
And don't worry about the taxi drivers. They will buy a new car if that's cheaper and they will drive their old one if that's cheaper. Taxi driving will get a bit more expensive. Maybe. (More simple: Taxi drivers will increase prices. Demand will drop a bit. Maybe. When people have more money in their pockets cause other taxes are lowered, the higher prices for taxis won't matter that much)
When you want to increase energy taxes because you think that's what you should do, it's very important to do it very very slowly (and consistently). And only by that amount that can be saved. If you think cars can be 30 percent more efficient, increase energy taxes by 30 percent over the next 10 years (or whatever the average age of cars is in the US). Slowly, 3 percent a year (yes I'm oversimplifying again, 3 percent every year is more than 30 percent
If you double energy prices next month, OK, then you'll have a rather severe economic slowdown. But if you can adapt to the (calculably) price increases there won't be major problems.
Bye egghat.
I you do it right, there won't be a disruption.
E.g. replacing your ultra-inefficient SUV with a efficient Diesel from e.g. Volkswagen won't cause any harm. Many people think: more efficient == smaller == less expensive. But that's not true. Even if you pay 2000 bucks more for a efficient car and you save 2000 bucks later for gasoline is completely neutral to growth.
Or let me give an example: gasoline prices have increased enormously in the last two years due to the iraq stuff. Has the growth in the US been affected? No! The last year has been one of the best in terms of econmic groth.
If you increase taxes on energy and lower the other taxes, so that it's net neutral, there won't be a disruption in economic growth. You'll just have to think long term. Do it slowly. And start sometime.
Btw. I completely agree, that voters don't think long term. Sad but true.
Bye egghat.
I think, that reducing the energy consumption in the US is more than realistic. Look at the facts:
Every US citizen consumes nearly two times the enrgy a German does. Every US citizen consumes nearly 80% more than a Japanese does. And we are talking about three of the most wealthiest, highly industrialized (think comparable) countries on Earth.
There's so much room for saving energy in the US that it's totally uncomprehensible for me that many seem to think it's that hard. It isn't.
Bye egghat.
No technical reason. The market just too small. Toyota sell sth. around 20.000 hybrids worldwide per year. Too few to justify a diesel and gasoline engine. Most of the hybrids are sold in the US, where Diesel is somewhat exotic (in sharp contrast to Europe, where nearly half the cars have Diesel engines).
The combination of Diesel/Hybrid would be absolutly wonderful.
bye egghat.
You're correct! Hemp is one of the best producers of biomass. Hemp can directly produce oil (nearly as much as rape), which (with rather slight modifications) can be used to fuel a diesel engine. And you could possibly use the rest of the hemp for the production of ethanol as described in the article.
:-)
Another wonderful aspect of hemp that it doesn't need fertilizers and that hemp is nearly resistent against most varmints.
There are hemp sorts available, that don't make fun smoking cause they don't contain enough THC. These sorts can safely be seaded everywhere.
No, my post is not a pipe dream
Bye egghat.
Pros:
* Draws less power than normal Athlons (due to reduced core voltage)
* Rather cheap (premium to a normal athlon is ~ 50 USD (or 200 MHz ---> price of Athlon 2200 is similiar to a Mobile Athlon 2000)
* runs in many normal socket-A-mainboards
Cons:
* not available at every corner
* not running in every mainboard
* no guarantie whatsoever that it will work
* no support for PowerNow! (no *dynamic* frequence scaling)
There are at least two very cool software solutions for running your Athlon at lower voltages:
8rdavcore: A programm to dynamically adjust your FSB and core voltages. I have my Epox 8RDA3+ running between 866 MHz @ 66 MHZ FSB & 1,15 volt and 1466 MHz @ 133 MHz FSB & 1,3 volt. Energy consumption should be less than half of the normal usage at the lowest speed (btw. available for linux too and (for me) rock stable). You can try this with your normal Athlon too.
CPUMSR: A programm, that can adjust your multiplier and core voltage. Needs a Mobile Athlon and one of the supported mainboards. Doesn't work on my Epox board, so I can't tell you much more. There's a guide how to transform your normal Athlon into a Mobile one (a method similiar to unlocking the max speed of your Athlon).
A fast AND power saving computer IS possible. And the premium for this is low (100 USD).
Bye egghat.
IMHO the look of XP compared to the look of W2K isn't exactly what I'd call professionell and what I'd call cartoonish and childish.
...
Hmmm. MS has sold millions of these bright, colourish and childish desktops
bye egghat.
Syncing not available until 2.0.
... (for now).
So not an answer to the Askslashdot question and not an answer to the majority of PIM users
Bye egghat.
I deeply deeply second that.
...). Think of laptops (Centrino), think of 802.11g WLAN, ... )
(That's the main reason why the Linux desktop will take off on the corporate desktop first (if at all). Every good administrator looks for unified hardware in a big company. Checking if Linux is OK is simple. With 100 different computer configurations you will always find combinations that won't work with Linux (but of course work with Windows (at least kind of work
bye egghat.
What's your point?
...
You can't choose MacOS when you are buying a PC.
You can't choose Windows when you are buying a Mac.
So I'l continue to say that nobody chooses MacOS at all, cause all they do is take the default that comes bundled with their new computer
Bye egghat.
I found Camuser.uk helpful.
I opted for a Panasonic GS 10 which costs 150 Euros (~180 USD) less and is somewhat leighter than Sony's comparable model (PC 105). Picture quality in low light conditions is a bit better with the Sony. Featurewise those cameras are 99% equal. I didn't like Sony's touchscreen (though that is definitly my personal opinion and it's not bad at all). I didn't like the fact that the Sony's batteries can only be charged inside the camera (at least that's what you get, when you buy the camera; an optional battery charger may be available).
If you want to spend more than 600 USD, IMHO you'll have to check out the 3-CCD camera from Panasonic. They are a big improvement, which all the cameras in between aren't.
I wouldn't buy anything but MinDV. Hi 8 is dead and only useful if you want compatibilty with your old camcorder.
The new DVD(-RAM) recorders are expensive, while picture quality is lower (due to higher compression) and are therefore a waste of money. (They may get really interesting, but the first generation isn't).
And as many have pointed out: Digital zoom is worthless. A 100x-zoom with a normal 800.000 pixel camera means 80 pixel resolution left and is completely useless.
Bye egghat.
I've been searching for this for long time: software controlled undervolting. Throttle down your CPU (and lower noise and energy consumption) when you don't need full performance and let it run at full speed (hey, even at more than full speed with FSB of 150 ...) when you need it.
Found this gem in the forums at www.silentpcreview.com:
8rdavcore. Available for Windows and Linux. Works wonderful on my Epox 8RDA3+ board and on some others with a nforce chipset.
Bye egghat.
Flexibilty is the real reason for building it yourself.
Stuck with single speed DVD-R in your DVD recorder that you have bought for USD 1000 a year ago? Stuck with a 40 GB drive? Stuck with no time-shifting? Not with your HTPC. Throw-Away vs. upgradebility: Worth the time IMHO.
Bye egghat.
Google Cache of Page 1
Google Cache Page 2
Images are missing though.
In Europe ripping the Mini PCI card is (IIRC) the only way to get a Linux compatible Mini PCI 811g card. I haven't found a distributor for one of the few available prism based mini-pci cards in Germany.
Bye egghat.
First: Your point about hardware support has valid points. Multimedia support (TV cards for example) lacks somewhat.
BUT: You'll have to change the way you upgrade your computer and OS; hardware/drivers as well as software.
With Linux (as a normal user) you choose a distribution. The distro maker packages software and drivers for you. So if you need new drivers for your printer, don't go to epson, go to gimp-print or to be more precise check if e.g. Mandrake offers a new version of gimp-print with better epson drivers for you.
The same thing applies to your software upgrades: Good distribution makers package sth. like 1.000 packages for you. That's a lot more than Joe Average needs.
Compare that with WindowsUpdate. I have never ever installed a single driver with WindowsUpdate. I never ever installed software except Microsoft Software (to be more precise: bug fixes and security fixes) with WindowsUpdate.
So what's easier? Clicking MandrakeUpdate or checking 10th of sites for new version of drivers and software?
I guess you're just one the many users who think the way they've done it for the past 15 years is the only way to do it and if Linux does it differently that has to be worse.
Bye egghat.
don't have mod points now. But the link in the parent post is valuable!
Bye egghat.
So you'll save your taxes.
...
Quote from the EFF link in parent post:
"EFF is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, so your donation is 100% tax-deductible in the United States."
So no money to Paypal (good) and no money to George B. (good too).
Spend the saved money from the taxes to Sourceforge
Bye egghat.
"on a day" != at daytime.
...
"A day is any of several different units of time. The word refers either to the period of light when the Sun is above the local horizon or to the full day covering a dark and a light period. Different definitions of the day are based on the apparent motion of the Sun across the sky (solar day). The reason for this apparent motion is the rotation of the Earth around its axis, as well as the revolution of the Earth in an orbit around the Sun."
Source
I'm only knitpicking at guys who call other guys asshats
Bye egghat.
You'r wrong: SuSE still IS privatly hold. There was no going public (Mandrake went public).
But you're right, the EU won't do anything. Their market (Linux) isn't big enough and their market share isn't big enough. (But public vs. private company doesn't matter; when two private companies that will have a market share of 80% after the merger the EU will intervene).
Bye egghat.