Take 2

This basically says that Intel is far in the lead and therefore, will sit on their current platform instead of pushing the envelope further.

Santa Clara (CA) - Digitimes is reporting that Intel has decided to adjust its scheduled release of three previous quad-core CPUs due to the problems AMD has been having with their Barcelona architecture and launch. A significant errata in AMD’s processors, the temporary fix of which affects performance by as much as 20% on average, some applications see a 55%+ hit, is the cause of the delay. AMD has been relatively tight-lipped on answering questions relating to the impact, timeframes, etc.

According to Digitimes, Intel believes there will be little benefit to launching the CPUs now that AMD is significantly behind schedule. The three CPUs were Core 2 Quad Q9300, Q9450 and Q9550. The remainder of its 45nm lineup are on track for Q1 2008 launch, though no specific timeframe was given.

In another spastic decision, I’ve decided to see if whole home audio is possible on a budget.  A lot of people know about Sonos and how great it is, but what about people who don’t want to spend 3/4 of a leg to get there.

The primary media playing device is the mac that is connected to my tv set.  Apart from that, I have a Linux workstation that is connected to a 5.1 surround sound system in the 2nd bedroom.  I also have a Nokia n800 that could be moved from room to room to play media.  The solution would have to work with all of these devices.  It would also be a bonus if people at my house could tap into the stream and listen in with minimal effort.

For a very short time I flirted with the idea of using bluetooth to transfer the music around.  After testing bluetooth audio with a headset and finding out just how flaky the audio is, I through this idea out.
At first, I was looking at broadcasting sound by using the local sound server.  This looked promising at first, but it requires that all sound devices be running the specific sound server.  Pulseaudio is an example of this.  My mac just doesn’t run pulseaudio, nor does my Linux box at the moment.  This idea just doesn’t seem to work across multiple platforms.
I took the idea one level higher and looked into broadcasting the sound using icecast.  This doesn’t do exactly what I want either.  Icecast isn’t realtime.  There is processing that takes place to encode the capture from the soundcard.  This encoding creates lag in the stream and causes it to loose quality.  This idea does have some really nice perks though.  The biggest being that anyone can hop on the stream by simply going to a url in their web browsers.  I never got icecast to work.  It doesn’t listen on my sound card’s digital audio out for some reason.   On analog output I didn’t get any sound outputted to a client.  It also seams that icecast is out of date.  There hasn’t been an update in 2 years.  I was trying this using ices. if I go this route again, I’ll most likely try darkice instead.
In my searching for a software solution, I discovered Freecast.  It looks like a viable, simple option that would meet my needs.  It will most likely have the same realtime issues that icecast does, but it’s the most promising thing that I turned up to that point.

After all these failures, I started thinking about more traditional methods of distributing music.   I am currently looking at fm transmitters.  The one that is jumping out at me is the whole home fm transmitter.  My surround sound systems all have an fm tuner on them.  Even the Nokia n800 has an fm reciever.  Plus, I could use older clock radios to pick up the signal as well.  It is looking like this is the winner solution.  I realize that the quality of fm radio isn’t the best, but isn’t itunes selling music at a lower quality still?  This is the simplest solution as it uses fm as its delivery format.  There are no cross platform concerns.
I am currently playing around with darkice.  We’ll see how this turns out. Sara says I can’t buy anything till after the Christmas season .

From http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids&print=true
Our society worships talent, and many people assume that possessing superior intelligence or ability—along with confidence in that ability—is a recipe for success. In fact, however, more than 30 years of scientific investigation suggests that an overemphasis on intellect or talent leaves people vulnerable to failure, fearful of challenges and unwilling to remedy their shortcomings.

The computers are never large enough or fast enough. Each breakthrough in hardware technology leads to more massive programming enterprises, new organizational principles, and an enrichment of abstract models. Every reader should ask himself periodically “Toward what end, toward what end?” — but do not ask it too often lest you pass up the fun of programming for the constipation of bittersweet philosophy.

But if you are support these guys…

David Airlie was interviewed and has come up with two reasons why they opened up their GPU specs.

1.) Lost CPU sales due to lack of open source GPU support at an OEM level.
2.) Future CPU/GPU combination projects would require opening info on the GPU portion to allow uptake.

What a bummer. The CPU seems to be the _big deal_ item here. I think their lack of CPU sales are more due to the fact that Intel has a better chip than anything.

This is just another example that shows us that the Linux desktop market is not big enough to have any sway in the marketplace. The place where Linux has sway is in places where there are CPU/GPU combinations (embedded systems?).

I see this as AMD trying to compete with Intel; not NVidia. Remember, this is to capture more of the CPU market. Is AMD admitting that it can’t compete with NVidia, or are they considering NVidia as a non-competitor due to it’s lack of a CPU business?

In one of the most significant moves this year, AMD has committed to providing specifications for its R500 and above graphics cards. The lack of a good drive for ATI graphics cards has been a thorn in the side for desktop Linux adoptation. This may also impact other vendor’s strategy towards providing support for alternative operating systems.

MD has only talked about this and not yet acted on it. If they do indeed do as they say, my next machine will have an AMD/ATI setup in it. This is a huge change from the last two year in my mentality twards the company.

I just got done setting up my joystick similar to a mouse in OS X.
That’s not all though. The app I used was controllermate
http://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/ , it allows for logical
combinations of various physical device inputs. For example, I can
press up on the joystick and have it move the mouse cursor up.

One can also combine devices into virtual devices. I could make a
virtual mouse that uses the x and y access input from my real mouse, but
then uses some keys on the keyboard as the actual mouse buttons. On the
joystick I set up, I used the analog control to be like a mouse. I then
set up a couple of the top buttons to scroll up and down like a mouse
wheel.

Very very cool stuff. Check it out if you’ve got a mac handy.

I’m gonna set up a Wiimote as an input device next.
http://blog.hiroaki.jp/2006/12/000433.html

I like movies. Expecially good ones. Rotten tomatoes has just ranked Ratatouille as the best movie of this year so far. Here’s why it’s not.

1. Waaay too much of the “We’re gonna die!!!!!!!! We’re ok now!!!!! We’re gonna die!!!!!” type of excitement. See Finding Nemo for a really good example of this annoyance.

2. Over reactions. A good example of this is when Grandma decided to shoot the rats with a shotgun while indoors. Also, why was everyone sooo mad when they found out that a rat was cooking?
3. Suspention of belief. I’m ok with talking rats. I’m ok with a guy who can serve really well when he’s never done it before. Where I draw the line is controlling a person through pulling their hair.

My pick for the summer is Transformers . Ratatouille just isn’t that good.

I had some influence on the last release of gnome-rsync.  The new version includes a command line client that I requested.  This will allow for syncing on login and logout or from cron.  Excellent.