Better Multi-Core Support From AMD?

CPU manufacturer AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) may be working on a new "anti-hyperthreading" technology for their Socket AM2 form factor. Rumours have been circulating since April 2006 stating that AMD is developing technology to boost the performance of applications that run as a single thread on multi-core processors such as the Athlon 64 X2 and FX series.

Intel's HyperThreading technology takes advantage of applications written specifically for use with multi-core processors by allocating resources to a specific CPU. The rumoured AMD development is said to allow single-threaded applications (by far the majority) to take advantage of multi-core processors. Essentially instead of having to develop applications to use multi-core processors efficiently, the processors themselves will do all the work in spreading resources across the CPU.

How this will be achieved is still unknown, although this may simply be a case of overclocking the processor while disabling the other core when required. Rumour has it this functionality has already been incorporated into the Athlon 64 X2 for Socket AM2 form factor. If so a BIOS update and the latest CPU driver installation may the only actions required by the end user. A driver allowing the Operating System to recognise the multi-core processor as a single-core would then be made available to complete the package.

The distinct drawback to this type of CPU technology is it has taken a long time for hyper-threaded applications to hit the market. As is the case with a sparse supply of 64bit applications, software developers have been accused of being "lazy" in making the transition to multi-core support. Without application development to embrace multi-core technologies there can be no growth in this area. As such I question whether this is the right direction for AMD to move in, or whether emphasis should be placed on programmers to step up to the plate and focus on the already established multi-core platform. There are huge benefits in going dual-core or above, but unless the software developers get on board it may be some time before these benefits are felt by the end user.

Tiger 10.4.7 Available Now

The latest update for both Intel and Power PC based Mac's are available for download here. Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.7 provides fixes and security updates for several applications and specific areas of the operating system, such as device syncing and audio problems. An attacker exploiting the worst of these security issues could execute arbitrary code, possibly gaining full control of the OS X maching.

I'm left wondering if Tiger will reach 10.4.9 before Leopard (10.5) is released - hopefully early next year assuming a raft of kernel issues related to Intel architecture are ironed out. At any rate the 10.4.7 update should provide further stability to what I believe is one of the best operating systems available today.

As well as the operating system update, Apple have also released a firmware update for the 17 inch MacBook Pro addressing fan behaviour in the notebook. Users have complained about a variety of fan issues ranging from a "mooing" sound, to the fan constantly spinning and never idling. If you were an early MacBook Pro adopter and have the 17 inch model, download the update here.

Linux....uh, what?

If you're like me and still a bit hazy on the whole Linux thing then this article is for you. You'll get some background on the fundamenal differences between things like Gnu, BSD, UNIX, Darwin, and something called Minix (totally new to me)...as well as some of the popular Linux distro's.

Hopefully over time I'll be posting more of my experiences with Linux, but in order to do that I need to start playing with it a bit more.

Step One: build a firewall, maybe with IPCop. Step Two: build a spamfilter. Step Three: become a Linux convert like I did with Mac OSX.....we'll see.

MacBook Pro....Lemsip Anyone?

Since its release in February 2006, the MacBook Pro has been tarnished with complaint upon complaint from users - largely focussing on substandard manufacturing. Possibly the most common complaint has been the over-use of thermal paste on the MacBook Pro logic board. Several websites and blogs have been popular since this was first discovered due to the authors audacity in doing the unthinkable - voiding their warranty by opening up the MacBook Pro to re-apply the thermal paste in a more sparing manner. They have of course boasted success: much cooler running temperatures (50-65 degrees down to 30-45 degrees) and huge increases in system performance.

That said, I can't imagine Joe Notebook will go out and try this well-intentioned hack on their latest $4100NZD (up to $5900NZD) purchase.

The bottom line is the MacBook Pro is a lemon. An up-to-date list of known defects has been compiled and can be viewed by following this link. I really hope they get the next revision right. The MacBook Pro has been lauded as "the best notebook on the market". In theory this may be true (or perhaps was true in February), but in reality Apple have released a textbook case of why a huge chunk of the I.T. industry is devoted purely to hardware testing!

EDIT: In the interest of preserving the "two sides to every story" perspective, this link presents a rebuttal - of sorts - to the article I linked above. I have drawn my own conclusions after several months exposure to the issues surrounding the MacBook Pro. However for the uninitiated it would be unfair to present my own opinions as gospel.

Bottom line... I wouldn't buy one.

Digg v3.0 is Live

I haven't had much time to check it out but it is definitely live and looking very slick. Go here to view the new site, and here to download episode 51 of Diggnation that explains in detail all the new features (17MB mp3, or video formats ranging from 73MB to 183MB are available).

The new containers are: Technology, Science, World and Business, Videos, Entertainment and Gaming - each with their own sub-categories.

I recall reading something that says Bill Gates has given Microsoft employees the day off today because with Digg v3.0 being released he figured not much work would be getting done anyway! 1 hour into my work-day and I can already vouch for that being true!

What's that smell?

Warning: Don't install DDR2 RAM onto a DDR motherboard. If you do you may notice a horrible popping sound followed by a dirty smoky smell. As a result you may have to replace your power supply. Or your power supply and ram. Or your power supply, ram and motherboard. I guess I'll know which one for sure once I get home from work and have a closer look.

What a bugger, I only just finished paying it off too!!

Should 1024x768 Be The Standard for Web Browsing?

In a recent poll conducted by realtime analytics company Onestat.com, results have shown that the vast majority of Internet users around the world prefer to view their websites in 1024x768 screen resolution. 56.25% prefer this resolution, while 15.79% prefer a higher resolution at 1280x1024.

These statistics show a drastic rethink in website development is necessary. Most commonly websites are optimised for 800x600 resolution. Turn up the resolution on your monitor to 1024x768 or 1280x1024 and you have a large amount of screen real-estate that is left empty. Take this blog for instance: I view the page at 1280x1024 and as such I have wide open spaces on either side of the text windows - this is not as noticable at lower resolutions, namely 800x600 for which the site is optimised.

The parity between the two statistics is understandable considering the rest of the world are using the less common wide-screen formats of 1280x800 (4.09%) and 1152x864 (3.90%), leaving a whopping 12.04% still using the 800x600 eyesore.

Some may argue that less is more, and being the minimalist that I am I tend to agree. However I also realise the potential for development in these empty spaces. My first thought is advertising, although in an Internet over-run by irrelevant and unsolicited commercials I would hope that website developers take the high road and utilise the space more constructively. Either way as the world continues to embrace higher screen resolutions it will be interesting to see this evolution take place.

Happy Birthday!!

Today marks the fifteenth birthday of everyones favourite red, white, and blue Erinaceus Europaeus - Sonic the Hedgehog. With a brand new Sonic episode coming soon for the Nintendo Wii, chances are high that we will be celebrating his 21st birthday before we know it!

digg v3.0 only days away...

digg v3.0 launches on monday, or rather tuesday in new zealand. digg have expanded from just tech news to encompass a broad range of different topics and categories that will appeal to a wider variety of users. a brief on the new features, plus screenshots, is available here.

if you don't already know, digg.com is a social networking website where the users add their own content, un-edited by a central body. check it out here.

mission statement, or some such

okay well i'm not entirely sure of the purpose of this blog. add to that my doubt at being able to get the time together to actually make it useful and i'm left wondering why i even opened the account...but let's for now assume the opposite of all that and say that:

i hope for this to be a place where i can practice, or rather put into practice, the techniques i will learn over the coming months to assist me in my plans of becoming a technology journalist. therefore you can expect to read topics related to just that - technology. however i envisage there will be times when randomly interesting things pop into my equally random head, so i hope this becomes a means of laying such thoughts out in some semblance of coherence. we will no doubt see if this is the case in a few months!

for now and probably the next few posts i'll be coming to terms with how to use this medium properly so don't be surprised if it takes a week or two for anything of any value to appear on here.