Slashdot Mirror


User: corngrower

corngrower's activity in the archive.

Stories
0
Comments
812
First seen
Last seen
Profile
(view on slashdot.org)

Comments · 812

  1. Re:hear hear on Intel and HP Commit $10 billion to Boost Itanium · · Score: 1
    I think DEC management was too focused on what they had done in the past. Microprocessors were fairly new, and I don't think management had a clue as to how quickly they would advance in processing power. They were using medium scale integration with multiple big boards making up the processor.

    Management just couldn't grasp the idea of a computer that would be affordable to a single person. Computers had always been expensive, $50,000 or more machines. (and $50,000 was for something like a 16 bit machine with 256K memory and 10-20Mb disk space, low end in that time)

  2. Re:hear hear on Intel and HP Commit $10 billion to Boost Itanium · · Score: 1

    It wasn't a problem with the hardware being slow, it was a problem with DEC missing the market. They were building top end machines when their company was built on selling midsized machines for manufacturing, scientific, and midsized businesses. That market went to the x86 and clones. The high end market didn't have the volume that DEC needed. DEC got squeezed out. Lack of vision on the part of DEC management is what killed the company. The company had the talent to build a microprocessor based system which could have hit the market before the IBM PC and with a much superior operating system, but the top management blew off the idea. DEC could have been the leader instead of a wanna-be in the personal computer market.

  3. Re:24 Months to go before the death of Itanic on Intel and HP Commit $10 billion to Boost Itanium · · Score: 1

    Being that I today read an article about the new Itanium chip being released, I'd say you hit the nail on the head. They want the chip to sell well, so this is a marketing ploy to convince potential customers they'll stand behind the chip for years to come. Customers won't buy this thing if they see it as a dead end. Then they'ld have the expense of switching to another platform just a few years down the road.

  4. Re:AMD64 on Intel and HP Commit $10 billion to Boost Itanium · · Score: 1
    That bit about it being great for compiler researchers was a bit of sarcasm. Meaning, the performance of the the itanium isn't all it was hyped up to be because the compilers aren't able to find enough parallelism in the code to keep all six instruction pipelines busy.

    Actually, it may be easier develop more efficient compilers(for the itanium) for the higher level languages than it would be for 'C'. Might be, I don't develop compilers.

    It was hoped, that compilers could take a 'big picture' view of what the program was doing and then compile efficient code based on a global perspective. At any time, the processor has only a limited scope of what's going on and would not be able to do as good a job in instruction scheduling.

  5. Re:Don't try this at home on 7 Myths About The Challenger Disaster · · Score: 1

    Paraffin in the U.S. is a type of wax used to seal jelly in home canning. Here, one would not be able to soak a rag in paraffin without heating the paraffin so that it melted.

  6. Re:AMD64 on Intel and HP Commit $10 billion to Boost Itanium · · Score: 1

    For certain few people, yes. It's faster, but considerably more costly (at present). It's great for people doing advanced research on compiler technology.

  7. The short and long of it on Britons Unconvinced on Evolution · · Score: 1
    For example some cling to the idea that change happens over time. Others think changes in structure and form occur more quickly.

    Both are correct. Genetic mutation can occur that causes a small small advantage for the individual. This occurs from parent to an offspring, quick change. But it can take a long time for this gene to propagate to the entire population.

  8. Re:Chuck Norris Is Evolution on Britons Unconvinced on Evolution · · Score: 1

    You forgot to mention that he roundhouse kicks the others to beyond the Kuiper belt.

  9. Re:Et tu, Britannia? on Britons Unconvinced on Evolution · · Score: 1
    The fact is that evolution flies in the face of the second law of thermodynamics..

    Actually, it's the second law of thermodynamics that supports evolution. Well possibly not quite, but it's very similar.

    The random mutations to the genome that allow evolution to happen are a consequence of the second law of thermodynamics. These random variations give certain individuals in the population an increased or decreased probability of the individuals survival. Over time the genome of the entire population drifts towards the genes that provide an increased chance of survival.

  10. Re:News flash: global warming in effect on 2005 Was the Hottest Year on Record · · Score: 1

    To those that modded you insightful or interesting... Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Ha Ha Ha Ha! Ha Ha Ha Ha! What idiots!

  11. Bad ass microbes on Japanese Scientists Dig up Million-year-old Ice · · Score: 1

    Seriously, they quaranteened the astronauts after they came back from the moon trips for fear of microbial contamination. Wouldn't it be just as likely for some bad-ass microbe to exist in one of these frozen million-year-old ice samples?

  12. Re:So how will this kill flash on Microsoft's Sparkle a Flash Killer? · · Score: 1

    Flash was stillborn on my machine.

  13. Revolting on Undervolting a Laptop · · Score: 1
    Also, "undervolting" is not a word.

    But "revolting" and "revolted" are. We revolted the CPU to 1.05 Volts.

  14. Re:I am an AMD fan BUT ... on Intel's New Architecture Too Late? · · Score: 1
    MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL on the PRICE - AMD is slowly giving up the most important weapon they had against Intel and without some cuts on price for the X2 line AMD might seriously loose market share to Intel in 2006 !!!

    From what I've read, AMD is selling all the chips they can produce. Lowering the prices would just reduce their revenue. When their new Fab comes fully on line the supply side of the equation will change and it's likely prices will fall somewhat. That or if Intel lowers their prices.

  15. Re:I am an AMD fan BUT ... on Intel's New Architecture Too Late? · · Score: 1

    SOI reduces capacitances on the chip and allows the chip to run faster as the transisters then don't need to source/sink as much charge to drive outputs to the proper voltage levels. I'm not sure just how much faster, but it is a significant amount.

  16. Re:Yay diversity! on College Students Lack Literacy · · Score: 1

    In some states, a student is not required to attend the public schools in their own district, but can also elect to attend at a school in a neighboring district. Vouchers aren't the only way to provide an incentive for schools to be concerned with quality.

  17. Re:Yay diversity! on College Students Lack Literacy · · Score: 1
    The reporting may have been flawed, but the fact remains that the public education system in America is far from being all it could be. Given the technology available today, some of the basic tenents of the system should be re-considered. Stossel pointed out a flaw that exists in some states whereby schools have little incentive to improve the quality of education they provide. His point that giving the schools more money doesn't solve the problem is supported by various studies.

    Stossel's report laid the blame totally on the school system. This is far from the truth and shows just how biased the segment was. Studies also show that a supporting home environment is necessary for a child's success at school. That environment is lacking in many inner city neighborhoods. Parents cannot shun their responsibilies in providing their children with a good education.

  18. That's because... on College Students Lack Literacy · · Score: 1

    teachers aren't allowed to use the ruler.

  19. Re:What colleges? on College Students Lack Literacy · · Score: 1

    Your boss probably would have tested to be among the illiterates.

  20. Re:Not Geometry, pattern recognition on Humans Hard-wired for Geometry · · Score: 1

    I'll agree with you. And the one they found difficult, (the rotating notes) they probably mentally flipped the object over, making it the same as the other six, hence the diffficulty in realizing it was any different than any of the others. Now if they'd shown a variety of the 'note' objects, with one side colored blue, the other side colored red, and one of them had the colors on the two sides reversed, I'm sure that more of them would have recognized the one out of the ordinary.

  21. Re:Um, RAMBUS? on AMD Licenses Z-RAM Technology · · Score: 1

    Yes, AMD does use SOI technology in their recent processors, Licensed from IBM.

  22. Re:Looking towards the future on NASA Warns of Cluttered Space · · Score: 1
    F = GMMe/R^2 = Ma and by dividing through by M, GMe/R^2 = a,

    The mass of the object falls out, hence the acceleration is the same, no matter what the mass of the object. So at first glance it would appear that you were wrong.

    BUT.... The earth also accelerates towards the object. And since the mass of the apple is greater than the mass of the feather. The earth's acceleration is GREATER for the apple than for the feather, hence the apple and the earth collide infinitesimally quicker than the feather and the earth. You are indeed correct.

  23. Re:Don't suppose the No Nukes freaks will apologiz on Pluto Probe Launches · · Score: 1

    Yeah. What do you suppose we ought to do about that big nuclear source that's sitting just 93,000,000 miles away?. It's just sitting there spewing out all kinds of nasty, high energy particles. Lots of harmful radiation as well.

  24. Re:Fastest too.. on Pluto Probe Launches · · Score: 1

    It will be travelling 47,000 mph after getting a boost from Jupiter. That's like nearly 800 miles per minute, about 13 miles per second. Better not be any astronauts in its path, if it it one, they'd be an astro-naught.

  25. Re:It's it reality on Is There Still Racism in IT Hiring Practices? · · Score: 1

    You should have told them, "I'll connect you to one of my subordinates."