Re:Hardware independence?
on
A .Net CPU
·
· Score: 1
A CPU that can run bytecode directly could be very interesting for embeeded developement - if the price and power consumptions are low enough, otherwise writting assembler for PICs/CPUs is still the way to go.
I won't bet - because it will happen. Microsoft has a history now of choking competitors (intentionally or not) for some time now - WMP, Messenger, Explorer, you name it.
Like you said, people don't know what they have avaiable until shown to them.
Also, the Z80, while *very* useful, it's a relatively simple and cheap part to build, buy, or implement into the silicon of another chip. I think the design is even copyright-free by now.
Also check BenQ and Concord cheap line of megapixel cameras. The quality is hit and miss, but they do have some some gems, specially Benq. A friend of mine bough a cheap (sub-$200) 4mp camera from them and the image quality was exceptional.
PS: I was once looking for a webcam and came across a small Concord webcam which is actually a digital camera (VGA sensor, but takes pictures, video and audio) which can be unhooked off it's tripod and carried arround. I had a lot of fun with that one:)
Seriously, now we need Flash to read an article? Sheeze...
Anyway, the article itself was quite basic. "A portable digital camera it's what you need, unless you're a serious photographer; then get a SLR". Nice pictures though.
...look damn nice. Not that it's a surprise, since it's based on the Freespace 2 engine, a sadly underrated game, which looks incredible on modern hardware as well. I'm eager to try that one...
Dune 2 plays very well on Dosbox. I should know, i tried the game not too long ago to see if it was as good as i remembered and spent a couple of hours playing, nonstop. I should've known better...
...but here (Argentina), Nextel offers the best mobile comunications solution, bar none. Yes, it can be expensive, but it's worth it - i have friends who work with their celular & sattelite network and have nothing but praise for the service.
Things always tend to change after a company is bought; i hope they stay doing good.
Game programmers tend to be overlooked as "less serious", for some reason beyond me - if you happen to think that, try counting all the time you spent playing games and tell me they aren't important. Also, if anyone is constantly pushing the envelope of what can be done with computers, specially graphically, is them.
Carmack is one hell of a developer; i've only had chance to check the Quake I/II code, but it was very well written. Not to mention his constant desire to evolve in his area.
Agreed; i would've liked to see them credited for C in the main page. Seems like a major oversight; after all, C is still one of the most popular languages of the world, if not the most popular.
But then again, there're a lot of people missing in that list: Knuth, Lovelace, Von Neumman, Babbage....
You can. The rest of the world can't; depending on taxes, inflation rates, and average income, in another country US$483 might be "cheap", translated to its currency.
Oh, c'mon, he has a point. FreeDOS is a nice OS, but for a modern computer sold to "normal" people it's simply unusable. Like i said in an earlier post, IMHO they bundle FreeDOS instead of "HP-Linux" because it spares themselves of offering support.
Breaking ties with Microsoft and OEM bundled Windows (which, realistically, will end up installed in most of those machines one way or another) might also have something to do with it.
Or maybe it's because they don't have to support it at all; a user-friendly Linux distro can be used by a regular Joe nowadays, but no one (realisticaly) buying a modern PC will use it to run FreeDOS.
It's probably accurate enough; what needs to be reset is the pendulum, from which the kinetic energy is converted into movement in the gears. I don't recall the math, but as long as the weight is moving the time it takes to swing from side to side is constant (no matter how high or fast) - which is how those clocks keep track of time.
13 hs is not too shabby for a weight made of plastic LEGO pieces...
Anyway, kudos to that guy. He has a lot of spare time:) but what he did is incredibly cool.
I stand corrected - after a brief Google search, it turns out that CDs have about 30db of dynamic range to spare over vinyls. For some reason, i thought it the other way arround...
As for the awfully recorded CDs, yes, it's a pitty. Normalizing tracks to a maximum on CDs is one thing, but most CDs these days are very poorly mixed, with everything as loud as possible - notably the ones involving electric guitars, the heavier the worst. Comercial pop crap is notorious for this, but i own a lot of recordings from "good" bands with mixings that don't make the music any justice...
I always thought since vinyl was less forgiving, audio engenieers were more careful during the mix.
Opera 7.11 on WIN2000 (older version, it's what i have at work) opens the CTI site and the spoof in separate windows, with or without popup disabler. I have to check it with newer versions though, i will when i get home.
To be fair, OGG sounds notably better than MP3 at the same bitrate, even to the untrained ear. Still, you're 100% right. MP3 is simply "good enough" for 99% of portable music player consumers, offers a good compression ratio and it's all arround a common, known format.
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A CPU that can run bytecode directly could be very interesting for embeeded developement - if the price and power consumptions are low enough, otherwise writting assembler for PICs/CPUs is still the way to go.
This one was even weirder. C'mon, football and vikings? How can you not love it?! I remember i enjoyed it when i was a kid...
I need my new football game to replace last years', i hate the cover on that one.
I won't bet - because it will happen. Microsoft has a history now of choking competitors (intentionally or not) for some time now - WMP, Messenger, Explorer, you name it.
Like you said, people don't know what they have avaiable until shown to them.
Hell, i remember playing it on my C64 (which, FWIW, was one of the crappiest ports for that computer).
Also, the Z80, while *very* useful, it's a relatively simple and cheap part to build, buy, or implement into the silicon of another chip. I think the design is even copyright-free by now.
Also check BenQ and Concord cheap line of megapixel cameras. The quality is hit and miss, but they do have some some gems, specially Benq. A friend of mine bough a cheap (sub-$200) 4mp camera from them and the image quality was exceptional.
:)
PS: I was once looking for a webcam and came across a small Concord webcam which is actually a digital camera (VGA sensor, but takes pictures, video and audio) which can be unhooked off it's tripod and carried arround. I had a lot of fun with that one
Seriously, now we need Flash to read an article? Sheeze...
Anyway, the article itself was quite basic. "A portable digital camera it's what you need, unless you're a serious photographer; then get a SLR". Nice pictures though.
Dune 2 plays very well on Dosbox. I should know, i tried the game not too long ago to see if it was as good as i remembered and spent a couple of hours playing, nonstop. I should've known better...
I think the radio feature was unilimited with the basic fee. That might have something to do with it... ;)
Things always tend to change after a company is bought; i hope they stay doing good.
Game programmers tend to be overlooked as "less serious", for some reason beyond me - if you happen to think that, try counting all the time you spent playing games and tell me they aren't important. Also, if anyone is constantly pushing the envelope of what can be done with computers, specially graphically, is them.
Carmack is one hell of a developer; i've only had chance to check the Quake I/II code, but it was very well written. Not to mention his constant desire to evolve in his area.
Agreed; i would've liked to see them credited for C in the main page. Seems like a major oversight; after all, C is still one of the most popular languages of the world, if not the most popular.
But then again, there're a lot of people missing in that list: Knuth, Lovelace, Von Neumman, Babbage....
Please, mod him up. And not funny, insigthful.
You can. The rest of the world can't; depending on taxes, inflation rates, and average income, in another country US$483 might be "cheap", translated to its currency.
Oh, c'mon, he has a point. FreeDOS is a nice OS, but for a modern computer sold to "normal" people it's simply unusable. Like i said in an earlier post, IMHO they bundle FreeDOS instead of "HP-Linux" because it spares themselves of offering support.
Breaking ties with Microsoft and OEM bundled Windows (which, realistically, will end up installed in most of those machines one way or another) might also have something to do with it.
Or maybe it's because they don't have to support it at all; a user-friendly Linux distro can be used by a regular Joe nowadays, but no one (realisticaly) buying a modern PC will use it to run FreeDOS.
The Five across the eyes is an unappreciated move indeed...
It's probably accurate enough; what needs to be reset is the pendulum, from which the kinetic energy is converted into movement in the gears. I don't recall the math, but as long as the weight is moving the time it takes to swing from side to side is constant (no matter how high or fast) - which is how those clocks keep track of time.
:) but what he did is incredibly cool.
13 hs is not too shabby for a weight made of plastic LEGO pieces...
Anyway, kudos to that guy. He has a lot of spare time
Seriously, isn't that a bit extreme? Making the service unavaiable is no cure for spam when is unavaiable for everyone else aswell.
I stand corrected - after a brief Google search, it turns out that CDs have about 30db of dynamic range to spare over vinyls. For some reason, i thought it the other way arround...
As for the awfully recorded CDs, yes, it's a pitty. Normalizing tracks to a maximum on CDs is one thing, but most CDs these days are very poorly mixed, with everything as loud as possible - notably the ones involving electric guitars, the heavier the worst. Comercial pop crap is notorious for this, but i own a lot of recordings from "good" bands with mixings that don't make the music any justice...
I always thought since vinyl was less forgiving, audio engenieers were more careful during the mix.
Am i the only one who readed "ESPN sport titles to CRAP $20 price point". Now if that wouldn't be newsworthy, i don't know what would.
Opera 7.11 on WIN2000 (older version, it's what i have at work) opens the CTI site and the spoof in separate windows, with or without popup disabler. I have to check it with newer versions though, i will when i get home.
To be fair, OGG sounds notably better than MP3 at the same bitrate, even to the untrained ear. Still, you're 100% right. MP3 is simply "good enough" for 99% of portable music player consumers, offers a good compression ratio and it's all arround a common, known format.