Posts by Bronek Kozicki 2859 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Sep 2007
If you had a PC case which looked roughly like a normal case from outside (although without fans and with cables on top rather than back), actually was a cistern open on top, with a slid-in mounts for motherboard, HDD and other bits, motherboard connectors in upward orientation, and a top cover to pass the cables through (only bottom and sides need to be watertight), I guess it would work. Although with attached heat exchanger it would probably be large, for a single PC.
according to PSF application, class 16 as used there is for Printed publications concerning computer programs, computer software and computer programming language. .
The only way to make it charge quicker is to use a bigger charger.
Yes you would need a dedicated charger, but that is not much of a problem, is it? 1. you still get higher battery capacity 2. faster charge is often suboptimal to battery performance so you don't really need to bother with it 3. if you did, 5W is tiny anyway. For example, 100W charger is considered entry-level size for LiPo batteries used in RC helicopters (larger than micro size). I would happily swap my LiPos for a new generation of batteries, if it gave me 3x flight times, even I do not get the benefits of faster charge. Which I would since 1000W charger and PSU (especially one built from servers PSUs bought on eBay) are not that very expensive either, considered the cost of things they are used to supply the power to.
I do not need to stick a Raspberry Pi into my Onkyo to access my Spotify account, why my TV should be any different? This one thing aside, a TV is media consumption device, you shouldn't need a general purpose computer you have setup yourself (no matter how small or cheap) to make it work.
Just imagine how TV would be used by a layman, given the possibilities.
For viewing streaming content from iPlayer, blinkbox or Lovefilm I'd very much prefer if I did not have to keep my PC running. TV able to do it all by itself is what I would actually prefer, thank you. If my PC is running, I'd rather do it more useful stuff rather than command its HDMI output. For example, I like to do my email on a PC, browse web, run some VMs and compile stuff, at the same time when the kids are watching a movie I rented in blinkbox.
When I eventually replace my current TV with a new one, there will be few features I will expect the new one to have. These actually reflect changes in mini HiFi systems, that is ability to stream data from network (both local and Internet services). So the fact that TV vendors are exploring this direction is a good sign, even if they do it a bit too eagerly for some peoples (mine included) taste.
For example, I will want my new TV to be able to connect to my subscriptions in LoveFilm , blinkbox , Netflix etc. , just like my HiFi can stream directly from my Spotify and last.fm accounts. Most likely I will not use all of those, but there is no telling which one actually I will want at the time when I buy a new TV. A HiFi delivers wide choice of connection services, but I only use some. On the other side of the same coin, just as I will not buy a HiFi which does not support my accounts to streaming services, similarly I will not be considering a TV which does not do that.
Secondly I would like my TV to be able to stream MPEG, WMV etc. video files , but also DVD and BluRay images saved on local NAS server (just like my HiFi can stream MP3 and FLAC files) but this is where it gets tricky. Manufacturers will have to make a choice: stream only unprotected content (thus encouraging stripping of DRM protection by the users when one makes a copy of owned DVD or BluRay) or employ proper DVD / BluRay certificate on a TV, and act in lieu of a DVD / BluRay player , thus potentially cannibalizing sales of these devices. Judging by the way it went for WiFi, I see former as more likely option but I don't mind, I have certain product from Slysoft to help me manage my own DVDs and BluRays. Oh did someone say that format shifting is illegal? That will probably have to change, too.
There is yet another role which TV can fulfill and that is communication device - Skype video being one example. But why not Apple and BB video chat? If these can be licenses then yes, I'd like to have those too on a TV.
As for fully functional computer? No, thank you, I have other devices for this.
New chip design would be needed anyway, because some of the nonvolatile technologies can potentially have latency in the low tens of nanoseconds, i.e. on par with 2nd or 3rd level cache. Meaning you only need 1 level cache, thus freeing lots of space on the chip. You could use it for more cores, larger level 1 cache, dunno what else. Very exciting, although we are still far from it.
Yes, that is definitely the direction this is going to, that's why I mentioned fifth storage category above. It requires support in programming languages though. It is actually not that difficult to add useful stuff to C++ , you just have to convince a bunch of people that this is both doable and useful. New nonvolatile memory category would most likely qualify, if solutions such as phase change RAM or MRAM hit market in sufficient numbers and capacities, and sane programming model is proposed.
Yes, that's one possible application. With "instant on" you can also have "instant off", i.e. computer which goes to sleep in a millisecond and wakes up in a millisecond too, meaning it can actually go to sleep even when you use it, when monitor and GPU continue work. Even more interesting is memory going to sleep when your programs do not happen to use particular module, without the CPU noticing.
FWIW, I use MegaRAID with few SSDs in RAID0 configuration and FastPath (I like it fast). Am I being careless with my data? Not really, I run backups every few hours apart, onto HDD, also rsynced to external machine. Few hours potential loss of data is not much of a problem for me. However, I might consider switching to CacheCade since I also have few unused 2TB drives. Would need to attach Chenbro or similar expander first, too lazy for it ATM ;)
Normally it would be network job to validate the device, or accept validation performed by other network (they do not like to duplicate the work).
Since OTA updates are normally distributed via network, there would be also some work done on the network side for firmware updates. Although I very much doubt it would be anywhere close to device validation.
Just a comment regarding bandwidth requirements - very high is actually helpful keeping latency under control when you have a "glut" or batch of messages in a short period of time. This is because as soon as you get close to saturation, your messages get delayed. Even if this saturation happens once a month and only lasts a second, this may cost you serious money (e.g. financial figures announcements).
You may very well be correct in all the above assertions regarding F-35C, however the point of catapult is to enable the carrier to carry different non-STOVL aircrafts, not just F-35C.
We are currently building a carrier which can only be used with STOVL aircraft (choice of F-35B or nothing) . This is very suboptimal use of taxpayers money compared to more expensive but also universal carrier which can be used with many different models, including F-18 (relatively cheap and available right now).
I think that companies understand that employees will eventually move to "greener pastures", because times of lifetime employment are well and truly past (in private sector, to say at least). Providing employees with training only makes them more employable by the competition. On the other hands, employees who are truly enthusiastic about particular technologies, will acquire training/knowledge/practice on their own account, thus making themselves more employable. If that does not pay off with the current employment, it might pay with the future one.
Oh yes of course, plenty of employers (especially large corporations) like to make an impression they will guide you by hand, setting so called "career paths". These are only designed to make you more useful to the company, not necessarily more employable. In particular, there are few, if any, selleable technical skills to be acquired this way.
C'est la vie, stop complaining and teach yourself what you want to know. Or if you don't, don't be surprised if you find your skill unsellable to other employers.
Not necessarily. The difference is mainly : how much do you want to pay for integrity constraints and normalized schema? If the amount of data itself to be stored means that you cannot afford these two (look at the example of Square Kilometre Array, above) then the choice is either no data at all, or data without integrity constraints and normalized schema. This is exactly the kind of scenarios "NoSQL" are optimized for.
Practical example: if I were to ask a DBA to run a query returning some 10^7 rows, I am almost sure to hear some grumbling back, most likely related to locks or execution time. However if I run the same query on a NoSQL, no one will notice and I will have results in seconds (I know, I've done that). Similarly, if I need to store some 0.5*10^9 rows of data day in, day out, and keep the data available for few months (or years) to query later, I'm sure NoSQL will oblige, requiring only disk space as and when needed. SQL? I think DBAs will not be very happy, unless some very interesting (and expensive) technological solutions are put in place.
"... effectively Java" is not the same as "actually Java". It is different VM , different bytecode and different compiler. Google decided to reuse Java syntax and API for its own platform, effectively forking Java. If Google are forced by courts (as Oracle is trying to do) they might change s/java/dalvik/g (or any other name, I particularly like Espresso and Mocha).
Of course if a sense, Dalvik is Java, and (if names of Dalvik APIs remains unchanged) in 10 years time, it might be the only Java. It would be very interesting example of evolution of a programming language by forking and survival.
I think we can conclude that Java in browser is in death throes. Only clueless, careless and those without choice continue to use it.
However, is there a future for Java in server environment? On one hand, in this environment no one will try to load a random applet picked from random web site, since all the code is either 3rd part libraries or own. On the other hand, both JVM and 3rd party libraries do have to be occasionally patched, and if Oracle or 3rd parties are not forthcoming this makes Java less viable proposition. Since Oracle started automatically removing JVM version 6 installation when patching JVM version 7 this would point that they no longer want to support version 6. What will Oracle with version 7 when number 8 rolls out?
Also, given that Java seems to be "the language of choice" in many computer science classes I do wonder what future graduates will do? The fact of the matter is that currently CS graduates are ill-prepared for real world computer programming anyway, so I suppose if the language of choice for learning is slipping into irrelevance probably won't make much of the difference anyway. Academia will notice this eventually, though, and switch to something else (Scala? Python? C++?) . It would be in everyone interest if graduates knew more than one language, too.
I would not be surprised if Java succumbed to death by a thousands cuts in the next 10 years.
"... and make games needing left swipe a lot less convenient, if access to the message hub is a left swipe as suggested."
no at all, because all the "system" swipes in BlackBerry have to start beyond the screen, i.e. on bezel area, which is the same touch sensitive as is the screen.
I know because some of the shortcuts in Z10 are not new at all, they are already used in PlayBook, and they work great (in fact better than physical buttons).
Dunno, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to buy an app directly from the developer without Apple chipping 20% of the price (or whatever is the Apple tax now) ?
Coat because we all know that the discussion is not about independent developers. Just trying to point out the alternatives to walled garden ...
Enough fair comments about RIM software (c'mon, there is a reason the bought and extended QNX!) but I want to comment on the hardware. Yes the CPUs are not the fastest, the memory's not beating the records but if you have Dalvik i.e. JVM running on your Android phone there is plenty of overhead for simplest of application. RIM do not have to run all applications on JVM (although they can), thus they can deliver very smooth experience with fewer CPU cycles and thus not the fastest CPU.
Also, entirely different point: I picked BB Bold as my first smartphone because of the keyboard. For me, a phone is primarily communication device, for texts, emails and BBMs, and for this I wanted a good keyboard. And I got one, best in class. If you think that keyboard is "antiquated" you've clearly never used one so, kindly please, stop spilling bollocks and shut the f* up.
The blackberry appears indeed as a printer, if you install that special bit of software first. In it also networked in a way that all mobile phones are networked, by definition (and by whatever means you have enabled in the phone itself). And yes, the whole point of printing to that printer is to make your documents accessible to you while away from home.
I know because PlayBook has the same feature already.
... and that actually makes it 5. set the rules so dead simple that there is no flexibility in the system, everyone knows what they owe and tax avoidance gets replaced by tax evasion. In order to limit the tax evasion the rates must be low, and that goes counter to what most governments feel like. Sadly.
I live in Britain and don't give a crap about laws of continental Europe, why should Poles give a crap about laws that do not concern them? Apart from that I fail to see how this is relevant to virus infections; running pirated software is the same illegal in Britain as it is in Poland or Germany. Enforcement and penalties are also quite robust in Poland, AFAIR.
A database with 65 million rows?
Ha ha ha. Soon after you have started the project you will learn that somehow, many of these rows have subtly different structure to all the others. And then you find that you need to write and maintain communication with more than 5000 databases, each using different schema and using more than a dozen of different protocols. Few of them actually documented and none of them robust enough to actually do the job.
Well I am of course guessing all of this, but these are "normal" starting conditions of someone trying to connect thousands disparate data systems, few of them designed to support distributed data processing. And since each GP, hospital and trust currently has its own private database, that's where you start.
End users don't care about how crap the source is
They care, but just have no means of assessing it. However, would you rather use software which has not released a new version long time ago, or one which releases new versions on regular basis? If no new version was released in a long time, would you ask yourself a question why is it?
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
