official computer news/tech discussion therad

[Amit]

ok to kick it off:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/27/gigabyte-shows-off-robust-core-i7-prototype-motherboard

Surely you've been wondering what types of motherboards would be surfacing to support Intel's Core i7, no? Regardless of your answer, we're pretty sure the gamers and performance mavens in the house will appreciate Gigabyte's latest effort. The prototype mobo, coined Extreme Edition, was recently displayed at NVIDIA's NVISION 08 expo, and if the final version is anything like this, we'd say some records are in real danger of being obliterated. The unit was said to be based on the X58 chipset and provide support for up to six graphics cards, 24GB of DDR3-1333 RAM (or 6GB of DDR3-1900/2000 using overclocked 2GB DIMMs) and a separated 12-phase power supply for the CPU. Interested yet?

omfg 24 gigabytes of memory on a desktop motherboard

finally more than 8 gigs of memory supported on a desktop motherboard

[Squirrel]

wut y wud u wnt that much

[Amit]

making musics!

[Squirrel]

how many musics

could i run winamp on a machine with this hardware

[beso negro]

8gb of memory should be enough for anybody

[bobby__johnny]

and Gates said back in the day, "who need want more than 640K of memory?"

[Surtr]

300mb is all I use. Who the hell needs anymore than that?

[bobby__johnny]

Anyone who runs an OS more recent than Win98

[DBoons Ghost]

Yes because all applications still only require 256MB of RAM.

The era of 64 bit computing is upon us and applications that actually multi-thread but hey why would we ever need more then one processor on a desktop PC?

[Amit]

300mb is all I use. Who the hell needs anymore than that?

anyone who actually uses their computer for interesting things like music making, film production, or just straight up virtualization needs more than that

anyway

lulz

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/27/uks-advertising-standards-authority-yanks-iphone-ad-for-being-m/

Apple's iPhone 3G ads paint a pretty cheery picture of the device in action, but just as many of you have noted, the omission of Flash and Java means there's a big difference between what the "the real internet" and what's on the iPhone -- enough so that the UK's Advertising Standards Authority has pulled one of Apple's latest ads from the airwaves because it claims "all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone." At least two people complained to the ASA that the ad was misleading because sites that use Flash and Java don't work on the iPhone, and the board agreed, saying that "We concluded that the ad gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone" because "viewers were likely to expect to be able to see all the content on a web site normally accessible through a PC rather than just having the ability to reach the website."

why apple didn't make a phone which had the capability to use java and flash on their browser is beyond me anyway

[Mister_Che]

That doesn't make any sense. And to think, I was going to buy one eventually.

[Squirrel]

i think a computer with 24gb of ram would struggle to run doom 4 tbh

[Amit]

i think a computer with 24gb of ram would struggle to run doom 4 tbh

i don't know why you are mocking 24 gigs of ram! think of all the software sampling you could offload from hard drive streaming!!!!

[Squirrel]

i am not mocking it i am just imagining how oarsum doom 4 will be and extrapolating from when i first got doom 3 and was like shi i spent quite a bit of money on this machine to do this and now by todays standards it like lol that comp is shi

i know this is the nature of computers but 24gb is a rather large jump amirite and also doom4 will be amazing

[bobby__johnny]

well if you know D4 is gonna be the ****, let us in on what it'll be like

[Amit]

i am not mocking it i am just imagining how oarsum doom 4 will be and extrapolating from when i first got doom 3 and was like shi i spent quite a bit of money on this machine to do this and now by todays standards it like lol that comp is shi

i know this is the nature of computers but 24gb is a rather large jump amirite and also doom4 will be amazing

true 24 gb is a sizable jump for consumer motherboards oh man i can't wait until ddr3 memory is cheap enough to buy that much memory (which will be never amirite)

idk i was never impressed with doom

give me a new source engine instead

[Squirrel]

i dunno man the hell knights were oarsum and shootin them with the plasma rifle omg light fx

[bobby__johnny]

i could see a Driving or Sports game being adapted to the source engine doing well.

[Kingofdudes]

Believe it or not but some scientists think we are approaching the limit in processor speeds :-0 Hello computers with ridiculous numbers or processors and parallel programming!

[Amit]

But what about the programmers and developers who will need to move everything over to 64 bit computing and parallel programming? It would be like giving a fleet of Ferraris to a bunch of blind paraplegic dead people.

[Phalanx]

Believe it or not but some scientists think we are approaching the limit in processor speeds

Unless you're being sarcastic (which for the autistic douchebag I am - is difficult to decipher), isn't this fact?

[Amit]

phalanx ur smart

isn't the limit for what intel will market to typical consumers about 3.2 ghz with current tech?

[Phalanx]

phalanx ur smart

isn't the limit for what intel will market to typical consumers about 3.2 ghz with current tech?

Well, it just seems that instead of manufacturers concentrating on making processors faster, they're focusing more on just fitting more of the bloody things onto a chip.

I mean, we don't have 10ghz processors yet, but we do have 4ghz quad core processors.

[Kingofdudes]

Unless you're being sarcastic (which for the autistic douchebag I am - is difficult to decipher), isn't this fact?

I'm not being sarcastic, we just talked about it in my computer architecture class on Monday actually :p

But what about the programmers and developers who will need to move everything over to 64 bit computing and parallel programming? It would be like giving a fleet of Ferraris to a bunch of blind paraplegic dead people.

Hahaha. 64 bit processors wont really effect the average programmer. Parallel programming is still something very new in mainstream programming. Lots of research is going on in it right now(the popularity of functional programming will grow because of this). But things are always changing in the world of computers, so I don't think it is going to be too big of a deal in the long run.

At the moment, multi-core processors run multiple processes at once(instead of only 1 on a single core), which isn't horrible. But we can make them more efficient with time.

[Chu]

finally more than 8 gigs of memory supported on a desktop motherboard
ASUS support 16 gigs with some of their motherboards.

Granted 24 gigs is infinitely better, but just saying.

As far as distributed and con-current programming goes, the youngest "paradigm" takes care of that as an in-built feature to the language(s). Basically, you can't help but program with parallelism in mind. Awesome.

[Kingofdudes]

Functional Programming lacks functional side effects! I'm pretty sure that functional programming will be taught in intro programming classes(on a more widespread basis) within the next 5 - 10 years.

[Chu]

Definitely.

Functional Programming is the future!

P.S. They teach Haskell in the "Introduction to Programming" courses here.

[Kingofdudes]

Really? Most schools in my region teach Java or C++. I know MIT and others teach it as well. The only thing about it is the fact that it is harder to pick up than something like Java, and enrollment for CS majors in my region of the country is really low so they are trying to take it easy on incoming students.

[Chu]

There are 45 PhD students in Department of Computer Science here!

Definitely an interest in CS.

[beso negro]

not that many CS grad students at my uni. most of my 400 level undergrad CS classes are pretty small. 20 people at most.

no FP is taught at my school. Java, C++, VB, and assembly only.

[Chu]

The languages offered here, that I know of are: Haskell, C, Assembler, Machine Code, Java, Python ... Don't know what else they teach though.

[horseypie]

fortran is sick

and i know for a lot of simulation and 3D CAE programs 64 bit helps because 32 bit computers (at least the ones at work) cant access more than 4 gb of ram which means loading full assemblies takes like 1/2 an hour on a 32 bit machine

so roll on 64 bit

[Squirrel]

ASUS support 16 gigs with some of their motherboards.

Granted 24 gigs is infinitely better, but just saying.

As far as distributed and con-current programming goes, the youngest "paradigm" takes care of that as an in-built feature to the language(s). Basically, you can't help but program with parallelism in mind. Awesome.

no nt rly

[bradc1988]

The pic I'm using at Uni atm has 64k ram and is 16 bit, and you can do everything with it! Who needs 24GB when you can have strobing LEDs!

I'm not being sarcastic, we just talked about it in my computer architecture class on Monday actually :p


It's not really believe it or not, it is fact. Components are limited physically.

[Amit]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/28/google-talks-android-market-app-store/

Android's gaining a head of steam as it heads towards release -- Google just posted up some details on the upstart OS's app distribution system, Android Market. Just like Apple's iPhone App Store, Android Market will run on Android phones like the HTC Dream and allow users to browse and install apps, as well as comment on and rate apps they've already purchased. (Somewhat terrifyingly, Google describes the rating and comment-system as "similar to YouTube," but we're hoping the reference is to user-generated ratings in general and not the grammar and language catastrophe that is YouTube comments.) Unlike Apple's store, however, Android Market will be open to all -- Google wants devs to "have an open and unobstructed environment" for their apps, and it'll only take three steps (register, upload, describe) to put content on the service. The first Android handsets will come with a beta version of Market that supports free downloads only, but a version that has app sales, versioning, and other features will arrive soon after launch -- given the number of mediocre apps that have somehow passed Apple's vetting process, it'll be interesting to see what shows up in Google's store with no filters at all. More screenshots after the break.

i jizzed

now all i need is an at&t superphone which supports android

[AA-12]

this thread is awesome.

i recently decided that i really need to learn another trade to keep myself busy and make some cash. i'm going to build/repair computers starting with my own new one soon. if i like it enough i might go to school and make something more of it but i don't know.

oh and 24 gigs http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-gizz.gif

[The_Mop]

why apple didn't make a phone which had the capability to use java and flash on their browser is beyond me anyway

You and I have discussed this many times amit, and the reason is because Apple suck. :lol:

As far as tech news go, well, I stumbled across this today:

http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=Asus_Laptop_M50VC-AS001C

I know it's not particularly new, but I noticed that there's a new Centrino Core 2 Duo revision out, Montevina. Came out july according to wiki but I havn't seen it in any laptops recently (even the new Vaios don't have them) Didn't notice any news concerning them, must have been some quite release.

And wtf? i7? what kinda name is that?

[Amit]

i7 is a pretty gay name but i was getting sick of core2quadduoplatinumexpresss

whatever i don't discriminate based on names (i have a wii for godsakes)

[The_Mop]

i know it's not the worst of names but what exactly does the 7 relate to?

hmm, mabe it'll end up with 7 cores...

[Amit]

apparently there is no relation to anything it's juist just some dumb marketing name

but hey idc i still think it's a hot little chippy

[The_Mop]

Yer, someone linked me a few months back to some guys who somehow tested one. The results were ridiculous o.O

[beso negro]

i know it's not the worst of names but what exactly does the 7 relate to?

hmm, mabe it'll end up with 7 cores...

the number of cores will increase 2^n, just like everything else in computing i believe. dual, quad, octo?, sede?

[Chu]

I know the newest SPARCs have 64-cores, so probably.

[beso negro]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122004003325884079.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

expect all other ISPs to follow suit. i have no idea how much data i download a month.

[bobby__johnny]

what? i wish my isp had a 250GB cap.

I'm on a 60gig cap/month

[The_Mop]

the number of cores will increase 2^n, just like everything else in computing i believe. dual, quad, octo?, sede?

Was a joke, admittedly not a very good one but nonetheless.:p

[AA-12]

The Comcast thing is such BS, but it makes sense. Luckily I've got absolutely no limits on my broadband :]

[Amit]

I upload 24/7 at 200 KBps on Comcast and I rarely go over 200 GB every month.

[BillyBonebrake]

why dose Windows 7 look a lot like Vista? anyone got the scoop on it? why are they coming to us with this?

seems redundant

[The_Mop]

I dunno, seems a bit strange that windows 7 is already in development considering the gap between XP and Vista releases... mabye this is just some reaction to the bad press that vista got.

[Knifeboy]

I dunno, seems a bit strange that windows 7 is already in development considering the gap between XP and Vista releases

??
what.

Microsoft is always developping a new operating system.. Do you just think the whole OS development department of microsoft sits on its *** for 2 years then spends a couple of weeks throwing together a release?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows#Timeline_of_releases

[beso negro]

how could you call yourself a computer scientist if you can't write 6 million lines of code in two weeks

[The_Mop]

Well, I'm talking more about announcing the intended release (which apparently is 2009/2010 according to wiki). Shoulda made that clear really. The fact XP and however many versions of it were ubiquitous for pretty much 7 years (and for most of it, the next OS 'longhorn' was basically one big questionmark), seems a bit strange that Vista's only going to be around for 2/3 before windows 7 comes out.

[Knifeboy]

The fact XP and however many versions of it were ubiquitous for pretty much *7 years.

*6

And XP came out 1 year after Microsofts previous release Win ME, or more importantly Windows 2K

[beso negro]

I upload 24/7 at 200 KBps on Comcast and I rarely go over 200 GB every month.

yea but the 250gb cap is per household.

[Amit]

yeah and?

[beso negro]

yeah and?

i guess you don't have any roommates. :/

i have 3. if they all used as much as me we could be in trouble.