"There's a fundamental law of physics," he said. "The energy has to come from somewhere."
The Sun! Obviously. What a painfully ignorant way to end a great article. True or not, I like the idea of trees as advanced photoreactors. They've certainly had a long time to perfect what they do.
- Daedius
Very wise. I've read all these comments about open standards. IRC, email, trillian and none of them seem to even mention the profound point that you do. IM is for the masses, and there is nothing in this world that keeps you from creating something beautiful, efficient, open and free. Take back your IM is not a slogan that will draw the people... "Lets CREATE the new IM" is what you all should be bantering.
I asked some higher ups here at SnapStream [snapstream.com] about getting some photos of Beyond TV 4.0 =) Enjoy.
- Main Menu [flickr.com] - This shot shows of the new theme for BTV 4. Please note that the red bar color itself is likely to change. Its currently a hot topic on the beta forums for some reason.
- Library Information Screen [flickr.com] - A really useful screen that you can do compression to divx, copying, playback, and browse information about your recorded shows.
- Time-Shift Dock [flickr.com] - This is the control panel that you can use while watching tv to pause, stop, rewind, record, and back-capture tv. My appologies for having to use static. Don't want to get sued here.
- Transparent Guide [flickr.com] - The transparent guide allows you to browse through whats on without ever having to stop viewing what you are watching. Very nifty feature. Once again, sorry about the static.
* PLEASE NOTE (FOR ALL YOU TROLLS), THE ART THEME IS NOT FINALIZED
I asked some higher ups here at SnapStream about getting some photos of Beyond TV 4.0 =) Enjoy.
- Main Menu - This shot shows of the new theme for BTV 4. Please note that the red bar color itself is likely to change. Its currently a hot topic on the beta forums for some reason.
- Library Information Screen - A really useful screen that you can do compression to divx, copying, playback, and browse information about your recorded shows.
- Time-Shift Dock - This is the control panel that you can use while watching tv to pause, stop, rewind, record, and back-capture tv. My appologies for having to use static. Don't want to get sued here.
- Transparent Guide - The transparent guide allows you to browse through whats on without ever having to stop viewing what you are watching. Very nifty feature. Once again, sorry about the static.
* PLEASE NOTE (FOR ALL YOU TROLLS), THE ART THEME IS NOT FINALIZED
Haha, yah, I know. I saw that blog post the other day and I was thinking to myself, "Marketing has walked into a mess this time". Have you downloaded the DivX beta yet? There are alot of really great features in that beta (gui updates and divx support). Not quite 4.0, but much closer to it. Right now we are working very hard to make BTV 4.0 as pristine as possible. I don't think we are going to do another beta until the release, so be prepared! =) I wonder if the higher ups here would let me post some pics of the DivX beta of BTV 4.0?
One more thing that I didn't really see mentioned in the article at all: HDTV? I know right now that only over the air HDTV is available (due to stingy cable company encryption restriction). I was curious why that did not seem to be a factor in the review it all.
SNAPSTREAM LOVES SLASHDOT =)
I just saw this post some 30 minutes ago. Its really great to see alot of talk about the PVR space, our company has some really dedicated programmers working on making a greater tv media experience! It's too bad the article did not get to review BeyondTV 4 (which we will be releasing pretty soon). I think this is a good article in general though, it reflects alot of things that I hear about on a day to day basis here. Down with Tivo! =) If anyone has any questions about SnapStream or software PVR questions i'll be happy to forward it on to anyone in my company to try to get any replies on the comments here. =)
The answer is simple, China wants to take advantage of its 1 billion plus market to gain huge foothold in the next world cd format and also solve piracy issues at the exact same moment. When you are Chinese government in ABSOLUTE control of the masses, you can do shit like that. Get used to it, because I have a feeling we are going to be seeing alot more repeats of this type of move from China in the decades to come.
Visions of things to come:
Merging of metadata and code. You are very correct that the main CPU cannot just divide up the work. In fact, in many ways I do not belive the BPA (CELL) architecture itself was made to DO this for you so much as allow you to have the capability to do this with an instruction set to help you along the way. The answer I see lies in the code itself (which is why they are opening up to the OS community). If this were solved in hardwere already, the problem would be over. As one of your responders mentioned, in the presentation on the Cell Architexture, 4 possible ways to do this division of the work are offered.
Quite honostly, I believe in the future there will be a greater method. I forsee bytecode as the primary transport among the SPUs. Why you ask? Raw generated C++ itself has very few ways to indicate or compile into forms that can be distributed among a multiprocessors CPU such as BPA (CELL). Bytecode with an informational meta structure (as in.NET/Mono) is what I see as the primary distribution method. Imagine code that when compiled could be easily broken down into units across multiple SPUs. Or better yet, broken down in a manner that was logical to what the code was trying to do.
I foresee each SPU running a bytecode executor (that will originally be written in C/C++). The PPE or library running on another SPU will manage the breakdown and distribution as defined by code meta data.
Yes, byte code is less efficient than raw C++ (10%-20% slower), but the key to this new architecture is taking advantage of synergistic SPU processing among BPA (CELL) CPUs.
- Daedius/Technocracy
"Above the earth, beneath the sky"
This is incredbly interesting idea. I don't know why you have a score of zero. I was wondering if you could elaborate on your ideas for using this virtual directory execution system. You mentioned using spe-gcc? Is this a modified GCC to handle the BPA (CELL) instruction set? Also, you mentioned "compilation" and "moving". How do you forsee this being used in a real application. Compilation seems like a time consuming process for a fast application that wants to distribute itself across multiple SPUs. Also, if you could elaborate here for the Slashdot community just what exactly is this a patch to?
You hit on a really good point. Almost as much as Linux in the past used to snuff over soundcards. Todays webcam use on linux is close to zilch. I respect gaim and all, but in terms over being a world wide communication device (text, video, audio, IM games). I feel it is pretty darn lacking. Albiet, yes, alot has to do with the fact that corporate companies control the major protocols. Its still pretty sad to see. Plus, i've never seen a gaim interface that made me go wow, All these reasons above have kept me attacheed to versions of AIM and MSN, as much as I hope things will change. But alas, it takes contribution. Honostly, I think a better IM client could still be developed out there.
Absolutely one of the best features of OO that amazes everyone who sees me use it is the math type. OO, includes it as a method to type in math equations in a script like format. For example
X sub r sup 2 = left( matrix{ 1 # 0 # 1 ## 0 # 1 # 0 }right).
It takes this and spurts out beautiful math formated text. I love it! I can type notes in high level courses in realtime AS the professor writes on the board.
Another great thing is for PDF. PDFs are hella useful for printing and or sharing. In collaborative assignments its proved invaluable.
First, you are missing view of an ideaology among many open source projects which is to create a very powerful and optimized that does not bind itself, its users, or any other projects that want to build on top of it to any particular GUI. Most programs do this by running in extremely flexible commandline interfaces, allowing library interfaces, or just being a library for external programs to reference.
You do have a point, however, that there is a lacking of a good IDEs in the linux community. I don't think any of us can deny the tremendous effect of an extremely good IDE (Eclipse for java for example). I think within the open source community one of the biggest threats they have to people just picking up linux and wanting to program is a lack of a good IDE. Honostly, when i'm programming in.NET on Visual Studio 2003, I feel like i'm in heaven. I only wish I could have the same type of luxury within linux (Especially with the MONO project!). But with all things, it takes contribution.
Slashdot Mirror
Haha, holy sh!t, you all just slashdotted and digged us at the same time ;P
"There's a fundamental law of physics," he said. "The energy has to come from somewhere." The Sun! Obviously. What a painfully ignorant way to end a great article. True or not, I like the idea of trees as advanced photoreactors. They've certainly had a long time to perfect what they do. - Daedius
Guess that just means more firefox users on Mac now. Now with versions optimized toward their architectures now too.
MOD THIS PARENT UP FOR TRUTH!
Can't believe I got first post! ;P
Now were only 2 years behind Korea, Japan, and the rest of the 3G world!
(Google + xMax) == Free Wireless ISPs?
Very wise. I've read all these comments about open standards. IRC, email, trillian and none of them seem to even mention the profound point that you do. IM is for the masses, and there is nothing in this world that keeps you from creating something beautiful, efficient, open and free. Take back your IM is not a slogan that will draw the people... "Lets CREATE the new IM" is what you all should be bantering.
I asked some higher ups here at SnapStream [snapstream.com] about getting some photos of Beyond TV 4.0 =) Enjoy. - Main Menu [flickr.com] - This shot shows of the new theme for BTV 4. Please note that the red bar color itself is likely to change. Its currently a hot topic on the beta forums for some reason. - Library Information Screen [flickr.com] - A really useful screen that you can do compression to divx, copying, playback, and browse information about your recorded shows. - Time-Shift Dock [flickr.com] - This is the control panel that you can use while watching tv to pause, stop, rewind, record, and back-capture tv. My appologies for having to use static. Don't want to get sued here. - Transparent Guide [flickr.com] - The transparent guide allows you to browse through whats on without ever having to stop viewing what you are watching. Very nifty feature. Once again, sorry about the static. * PLEASE NOTE (FOR ALL YOU TROLLS), THE ART THEME IS NOT FINALIZED
Transparent Guide
I asked some higher ups here at SnapStream about getting some photos of Beyond TV 4.0 =) Enjoy.
- Main Menu - This shot shows of the new theme for BTV 4. Please note that the red bar color itself is likely to change. Its currently a hot topic on the beta forums for some reason.
- Library Information Screen - A really useful screen that you can do compression to divx, copying, playback, and browse information about your recorded shows.
- Time-Shift Dock - This is the control panel that you can use while watching tv to pause, stop, rewind, record, and back-capture tv. My appologies for having to use static. Don't want to get sued here.
- Transparent Guide - The transparent guide allows you to browse through whats on without ever having to stop viewing what you are watching. Very nifty feature. Once again, sorry about the static.
* PLEASE NOTE (FOR ALL YOU TROLLS), THE ART THEME IS NOT FINALIZED
Haha, yah, I know. I saw that blog post the other day and I was thinking to myself, "Marketing has walked into a mess this time". Have you downloaded the DivX beta yet? There are alot of really great features in that beta (gui updates and divx support). Not quite 4.0, but much closer to it. Right now we are working very hard to make BTV 4.0 as pristine as possible. I don't think we are going to do another beta until the release, so be prepared! =) I wonder if the higher ups here would let me post some pics of the DivX beta of BTV 4.0?
Transparent guide overlay is great! =) Glad you enjoy BTV.
One more thing that I didn't really see mentioned in the article at all: HDTV? I know right now that only over the air HDTV is available (due to stingy cable company encryption restriction). I was curious why that did not seem to be a factor in the review it all. SNAPSTREAM LOVES SLASHDOT =)
I just saw this post some 30 minutes ago. Its really great to see alot of talk about the PVR space, our company has some really dedicated programmers working on making a greater tv media experience! It's too bad the article did not get to review BeyondTV 4 (which we will be releasing pretty soon). I think this is a good article in general though, it reflects alot of things that I hear about on a day to day basis here. Down with Tivo! =) If anyone has any questions about SnapStream or software PVR questions i'll be happy to forward it on to anyone in my company to try to get any replies on the comments here. =)
The answer is simple, China wants to take advantage of its 1 billion plus market to gain huge foothold in the next world cd format and also solve piracy issues at the exact same moment. When you are Chinese government in ABSOLUTE control of the masses, you can do shit like that. Get used to it, because I have a feeling we are going to be seeing alot more repeats of this type of move from China in the decades to come.
Visions of things to come: Merging of metadata and code. You are very correct that the main CPU cannot just divide up the work. In fact, in many ways I do not belive the BPA (CELL) architecture itself was made to DO this for you so much as allow you to have the capability to do this with an instruction set to help you along the way. The answer I see lies in the code itself (which is why they are opening up to the OS community). If this were solved in hardwere already, the problem would be over. As one of your responders mentioned, in the presentation on the Cell Architexture, 4 possible ways to do this division of the work are offered. Quite honostly, I believe in the future there will be a greater method. I forsee bytecode as the primary transport among the SPUs. Why you ask? Raw generated C++ itself has very few ways to indicate or compile into forms that can be distributed among a multiprocessors CPU such as BPA (CELL). Bytecode with an informational meta structure (as in .NET/Mono) is what I see as the primary distribution method. Imagine code that when compiled could be easily broken down into units across multiple SPUs. Or better yet, broken down in a manner that was logical to what the code was trying to do.
I foresee each SPU running a bytecode executor (that will originally be written in C/C++). The PPE or library running on another SPU will manage the breakdown and distribution as defined by code meta data.
Yes, byte code is less efficient than raw C++ (10%-20% slower), but the key to this new architecture is taking advantage of synergistic SPU processing among BPA (CELL) CPUs.
- Daedius/Technocracy
"Above the earth, beneath the sky"
This is incredbly interesting idea. I don't know why you have a score of zero. I was wondering if you could elaborate on your ideas for using this virtual directory execution system. You mentioned using spe-gcc? Is this a modified GCC to handle the BPA (CELL) instruction set? Also, you mentioned "compilation" and "moving". How do you forsee this being used in a real application. Compilation seems like a time consuming process for a fast application that wants to distribute itself across multiple SPUs. Also, if you could elaborate here for the Slashdot community just what exactly is this a patch to?
You hit on a really good point. Almost as much as Linux in the past used to snuff over soundcards. Todays webcam use on linux is close to zilch. I respect gaim and all, but in terms over being a world wide communication device (text, video, audio, IM games). I feel it is pretty darn lacking. Albiet, yes, alot has to do with the fact that corporate companies control the major protocols. Its still pretty sad to see. Plus, i've never seen a gaim interface that made me go wow, All these reasons above have kept me attacheed to versions of AIM and MSN, as much as I hope things will change. But alas, it takes contribution. Honostly, I think a better IM client could still be developed out there.
Absolutely one of the best features of OO that amazes everyone who sees me use it is the math type. OO, includes it as a method to type in math equations in a script like format. For example
X sub r sup 2 = left( matrix{ 1 # 0 # 1 ## 0 # 1 # 0 }right).
It takes this and spurts out beautiful math formated text. I love it! I can type notes in high level courses in realtime AS the professor writes on the board.
Another great thing is for PDF. PDFs are hella useful for printing and or sharing. In collaborative assignments its proved invaluable.
emerge screen screen emerge kde control+c emerge nethack nethack "Go little dog 'd'!"
First, you are missing view of an ideaology among many open source projects which is to create a very powerful and optimized that does not bind itself, its users, or any other projects that want to build on top of it to any particular GUI. Most programs do this by running in extremely flexible commandline interfaces, allowing library interfaces, or just being a library for external programs to reference. You do have a point, however, that there is a lacking of a good IDEs in the linux community. I don't think any of us can deny the tremendous effect of an extremely good IDE (Eclipse for java for example). I think within the open source community one of the biggest threats they have to people just picking up linux and wanting to program is a lack of a good IDE. Honostly, when i'm programming in .NET on Visual Studio 2003, I feel like i'm in heaven. I only wish I could have the same type of luxury within linux (Especially with the MONO project!). But with all things, it takes contribution.
WTF, am I the only one who sees on apples website about the iPod shuffle. http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/
...
iPod Shuffle: smaller than a pack of gum, and much more fun! (2)
(2) Do not eat iPod shuffle.
*yawns*.. When is kde 4 due? I remember looking for info on it awhile ago, but not much luck.
6 hours from a 110 3 hours before lunch and 3 hours before I leave work! Perfect =P