Low end GeForce 600 thought

I wonder if the low-end cards on the impending GF600 series are going to have improved performance over their equivalent 500 series parts or if it is just going to be a die shrink. There's been small refinements over the last couple of card generations, but the TDP for the lowest end part has stayed around 30W.

Honestly I'd like to see something along the lines of the 520, but configured more for lower TDP, say around 15W or less. I like my high end parts as much as the next person but I have been building or rebuilding a lot of boxes lately for the office. Having some hyper-efficient video cards in there would make "Windows 7-izing" the older devices we have in there a lot easier.

Of course some of the motherboards have AGP slots so looking to AMD for DX9c or better stuff would be best in those instances as the cards would be newer from them, but some of the boxes will need to be gutted and having a superefficient PCI-E card for the office would be nice. Hell, if someone could lower the draw to the point where old school passive sinks were used, that would be great too.

Well, another tech post

I was reading Techrepublic today and in one of the threads there were a whole bunch of (ignorant) people going on about how the desktop is obsolete, noone will be making them anymore soon, expansion card makers will go out of business, etc.

Seriously. How can you people know so much about computers and still stay stupid shtuff like that.

Ten years ago people were saying the same thing. "Well with these Pentium 4's and Athlon's that are coming out now, laptops now have enough power to rival desktops for most uses, and they are more portable. The desktop is gonna die by 2011!"

Why do some people continue to fail to understand that desktops fill an important role in the digital ecosystem? Both consumers and businesses appreciate a platform that is easily maintainable AND upgradeable AND cost-effective. The kids still readily use desktops when they are at home.

Yeah, a laptop works fine too 8 times out of 10, but to get one that isn't loaded with cr*pware or to have the horsepower needed to mitigate the effects of said program-garbage, you do tend to spend noticeably more than you would for a similarly-speced desktop.

Look, the same things can be said for firearms. Rifles are fine for some things, side arms are of more use in other situations. You can get a perfectly acceptable bolt action rifle for $200-300 (at least you could up until recently). For a "I can sleep at night knowing"-grade reliability semi-auto pistol, you are looking at $500-1000. And even then you do not have a weapon with the range of a rifle. They fill two important, yet different, roles.

So in other words, the desktop, laptop, smartphone, and tablet are all tools that have particular uses in the given ecosystem, and any one of these devices cannot totally replace the functionality of any of the others. How in earth can the other three possibly displace the desktop's unique set of skills and abilities anytime in the foreseeable future? It's just going to magically disappear, because there are mobile devices out there with Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari? Bull!

You might see desktop (and laptop) computers coming out with operating systems that have smartphone influences (Windows 8 can use the Windows Phone 7 inspired Metro UI in addition to the classic Windows landscape, Android OS is coming to PCs, and so on). But the tool that these accessories attach to is not going anywhere, anytime soon.

/metoo

Steve Jobs is dead. Rest in peace old bean. Pancreatic cancer is not a nice way to go, kids.

I am a little annoyed though. Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds are as important, if not more so, than Jobs. And that's not counting the people involved in hardware development, strictly software. But either way, I know full well that when they die they will not be deified, because they don't have slick marketing departments behind them.

Oh well.

Resuming

Was busy for the last couple of days, but now am in a better position to post.

I was thinking about the direction of this blog. I was thinking of doing a political blog, but those are a dime a dozen theses days. Honestly linking to WaPo or Drudge or whatever is what everyone else does too. I need something unique, to stand out from the pack.

Of course, I also want to maintain my privacy; sort of a contradictory position considering I am also blogging on Google servers, but there you go.

Perhaps providing useful information to people would be a good starting point. And also information analysis. I'll have to think of something as a near-future post. Until then...

Ugh

Take a mint after a thick BBQ. Just saying.

Apple/Intel Takes Gun, Shoots Foot

Can anyone explain to me how the new Thunderbolt interface is a good idea? Seriously, the initial offerings are no less than $1000 U.S., and you have to buy a $50 cable on top of that just to use the stuff. Yeah, it's faster than USB 3.0, but it is backwards compatible with NOTHING starting out. On top of that Intel is not adding native support to Ivy Bridge processors, even though they developed Thunderbolt.

This thing is well positioned to conk out in the PC market, it's just another hole to put things into, and there are only a few pegs for the hole and they are all made out of solid gold. I could see adoption, maybe, if some external graphics card devices (say, a box that you can put normal NVIDIA and AMD cards into and make them portable) appeared in the "$300 or less" range but I don't see that happening for at least two years, if at all.

This is perfect for Apple on the other hand, it's just like early Firewire: approximately three smug urban hipsters who call themselves "graphic artists" while conversing with females in attempts to get laid will use it...

> Play

I started this blog because I wanted a simple way to discuss or share information with people. Either light information to entertain, or information has some value and can help people prepare for future contingencies. I've been trying to get the mechanical kinks with the site worked out, but feel that I really should start taking care of business and start posting regularly.

Things are getting difficult out there, and risk and danger are the unspoken bywords of the day. The obvious problem is the economic situation, with might very well bring down the European Union, and could cause some damage to the United States and China. It is very concerning that no-one involved in the recovery process seems to have any clue on how to do it. And we cannot discount the people who have/had actively "gamed" the system at one point or another, sometimes under the employment of the former group.

But there is also the political problem as well. I subscribe to the notion that generally it is a good thing when people mind their own business unless they suspect bad stuff is going down. And I include government and some private enterprise concerns in the "people" category, at least for the purposes of the preceding statement.

However, those two concerns disagree with me. In the last few years alone the social pendulum of the world has swung very far to the side of "Order", and it has not noticeably stopped swinging that way yet. Politicians in the West, at a accelerated pace, are actively ignoring or in some cases even going against the wishes of their constituents. I will concede that that is the classical mode of operations for most member of that particular profession, and yet the current crop in that field are either so inept at manipulating the masses that they come of as crass and sloppy, or they over-reach so far that they become offensive and naturally to be viewed with suspicion. So at best we have choice between incompetent politicians, dictatorial politicians, or politicians who are both incompetent and dictatorial. And of course in the East, frequently the single choice flavor of politico is that of the dictator, who may or may not be incompetent.

Considering the state of society on planet Earth these days, its little wonder you have so many dissatisfied people intent on taking to the streets. And while Communism, Nazism, Jihadism, et cetera, are naturally very much a part of that process, we now are starting to see even the laissez faire elements of the populace, bog standard conservatives and liberals (and so on), take up placards and march at the same time (but perhaps for different reasons). This is most notable, as usually its one or the other group who is up in arms about something...usually when the politicians from the dissenting group are in the minority; that both have been riled up simultaneously indicates that something is seriously amiss.

And then there are other issues that could be touched upon as well, not the least of which are the increasing incidences of unusually cruel behavior among people from all walks of life.

But in the meantime, here's a fuzzy kitty.

[EDIT: Slight grammar correction in first & second paragraphs; baseline content unaltered, 11-Jul-2011.]

Whatever

I had a big post lined up for yesterday, but I didn't get around to posting it. The Fourth can get hectic, especially if you are on the grill all day. Might post it tomorrow or the day after.

By the way, what is up with the Blogosphere the last few weeks? Half the pages I go to, most of the bloggers are too busy to post, and the other half are too depressed to post. Is shit seriously starting to get that bad?

Bad Luck Comes In Threes

Hugo Chavez is in the news again. Apparently he has cancer in a bad way.

So in light of this development, instead of dedicating a scathingly impolite post regarding the fruitcake, I instead leave you with a mildly naughty (but SFW) picture.

H/T: Fausta for the base image.

Back

Just got back from a longish trip. It's nice to be back home, even though the trip was fun while it lasted.

I don't live in an urban area at the moment, so I have to deal with my fair share of critters. Thankfully, they were good while we were gone, and nothing has visibly been investigated by them.

It's cold and windy out tonight. It's really too bad that they lead such harsh lives, especially on nights like these. I'd hate to be a injured little critter with the gusts as they are this evening.

Good & Bad

Yikes, three days with no post. Not as though anyone has likely found this little section of the internet yet, but who knows?

Still, I should keep up with the posts. Do you know that the average blog has a life-span of approximately 6 months? Read it in an old study, though that might have changed recently. Seems to be a lot more dead sites out there. That and a lot of blogs seem to be "slowing down", as it were. Especially the news & politics blogs, a lot of the ones I go to have either...
A) Authors slowing down due to crushing dispair, or,
B) Authors slowing down because blogging about worldly affairs interacts negatively with their blood pressure medication.

Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't actually posted an "opinion" piece yet. The Portland post wasn't a opinion piece as its a fact that Portland is a glorified hole in the ground. But nothing yet where I have publicly analyzed an event based off of information that may or may not be accurate. Let's do that today. Both links are courtesy of the Drudge Report. Yes I actually have read the articles before posting them, I don't post headlines. I *do* have a little time in the day.

Story #1 (the good news): Archaeologists to raise ancient Egyptian ship
Drudge cycled this story off his page just before I posted it, but it was on there. Anyway, this is actually a pretty cool story, as its not every day you find an ancient Egyptian boat lying around, much less one owned by a Pharaoh. I don't think that this will boost tourism to Egypt a whole lot, as the country's social and economic problems have escalated since Mubarak was kicked out of the big seat. But from a historical (and a historical engineering) standpoint, this is a magnificent find.

Story #2 (the bad news): No Bibles or Jews on DELTA flights to Saudi Arabia
Actually this is NOT the story Drudge linked to. Apparently USA Today messed around with the story just a few minutes ago, replacing the original article with a bunch of "xxx"'s. Most strange. That said, the linked OpEd (also on USA Today's site) has the gist of the article down.

In any event, I will definitely will try and avoid flying on DELTA from now on if at all practicable. DELTA sucks anyway. Most people would be better served by practically any other airline. Even ValuJet. And yes, ValuJet still exists...but it's hiding. It seems to have gotten a bit better over the years, they don't crash very often anymore.

I seem to have gotten a bit off subject. Oh well.

Smile, Simple, Stupid

I was trying to design an elaborate background for the last few hours, with every effort invested coming back unsatisfactory, when I remembered the aforementioned "three S's". Remembering that every other blog I go to on a regular basic also has a simple background, I dumped my previous efforts and came up with the black, gray and blue scheme you see in front of you presently. Not the most original scheme out there but at least it won't make you cry blood.

Soon I should begin blogging in earnest (barring the recent Portland post, of course). WE ARE GONNA FEEL THE WORKRATE.

Demonstrating the Intellectual Capacity of a Broken Toaster

A few years ago I toured the West Coast of the United States. One of the localities I happened to visit was Portland, Oregon. I only spent a few hours there, and yet it made an indelible impression on me that will last a lifetime. Truly, it is one of the worst places in the United States. More hobos and street thugs per square foot than any other city in the nation, and it seems that there is a bit of a widespread drug problem amongst all classes in that city. Either that, or the locals are simply less lucid than other areas of the country.

For example, the restaurant (a rather nice one actually) I went to was mostly empty, but the conversations being held in it were...interesting to say the least. Like the engaged couple who called into the restaurant and wanted them to cater their wedding, with the caveat that none of the food was prepared with utensils or on surfaces that had EVER touched a dead animal, on a $7,500 budget. The only problem is that it would cost the restaurant ~$30,000 to get new equipment, as it was not a strictly vegan establishment. The couple wanted them to go buy new equipment and food anyway and stay within the $7,500 budget. The staff, who were otherwise rather professional, were so pissed that they screamed to each other about it for 10 minutes. Which is how I found out about it.

And the people immediately next to me were rather interesting as well. A man was trying to convince a woman about a possible course of action for the evening, which I will lay out thusly:
1) They go back to his place.
2) They watch movies there.
3) She doesn't go home, but he doesn't have sex with her. (He was a bit loud on that point)
4) She sleeps on the couch. (Or maybe he would; the details are a bit fuzzy so many years later, either way its a stupid idea)

Naturally, the woman didn't think that would work out well. After she said this, the man repeated the plan again. And again, the woman didn't say "NO", but said it wouldn't be a workable plan as-is. So then the guy repeated the plan again, the woman said "its not feasible" again...and it never ended. The same conversational line went on and on AND ON. For nearly a whole hour! Of course they both seemed a bit mentally sluggish, but I chalked it up the to the local drug problem, as they were hardly the only people I had encountered up to that point who seemed to have issues with cognitive throughput.

If you think I am being horribly unfair, please take a look at this more recent story from the Portland area. Some people might be surprised at the rank idiocy of dumping 8 million gallons of water from a reservoir because someone took a leak in it. But I'm not. It's Portland.

Plus ça change...

The title refers to the recent font change which (depending on your browser) you may or may not have noticed. I used @font-face CSS scripting; it temporarily overrides the original font used by Blogspot. So far it seems to work fine for IE 8 and Opera 11, and given compatibility research I've done this should mean that if you are using IE 4-8, Opera 10.5 [EDIT: or later], or recent versions of Chrome and Safari, you should be seeing the new font.

I have IE9 on another machine, and the font is NOT loading there. So IE9 and (maybe) Firefox might not be loading the new font. I will fix it for IE9, considering that pretty much everyone uses Internet Explorer and sooner or later IE9 or its successors will have a large adoption rate.

But anyway, a large piece of the blog's future style is now integrated and operational. Now I just have to find a decent background picture and we are all set for prime time.

Nothing New Yet

The page is still in the process of being formatted. I have a few tricks I'm working on still. It all involves time and money, as usual.

But I want to keep this venture current so, for the time being, I may as well include a new post regarding the last subject discussed here: Greece. Apparently Germany and France are trying to save the sinking ship that is the Greek economy.

Yep, good luck with that one.

Need to start posting about something other than Greece, though.

The Revolution Might Be Televised

The layout of this blog is still being developed, as it was just opened minutes ago.

In the meantime, if you have found your way here some how, I would like to turn your attention to Greece momentarily. The situation there has the potential of becoming quite interesting in the very near future.