Computing State of the Art

Nintendo unveiled the video game industry's first new major home console since 2006. 


Not 'A' new console, the sole new console since 2006!


Think about this for a moment, computer games require more horsepower to run than anything else most humans use computers for. Scientists obviously use a lot more power for modelling and crunching data, and the world governments use a crap load of power to watch us and each other. Normal users however browse the web and maybe do a little office work or watch a movie, none of which requires much power at all.


So, 5 years ago was the last real advance in gaming horsepower. Now get a load of this, Nintendo has always used technology that is actually a little out of date. Why? Well it costs less and it gets the job done. They have more units sold than Microsoft and Sony combined.


My thought on this subject though is a bit closer to home. Why does the computer industry try to tell me I need a quad core machine with no less than 4 gigs of RAM when it is running the same basic software I started using in 1995? I use that year because it was my first Windows based system. In reality I have watched video, ran spreadsheets and word processing, plus played high quality games since 1987 on the Amiga 1000 I bought that year. The software has not changed that much but mysteriously it uses a lot more resources to do the same basic job.


Lets compare...

Amiga	Windows PC - Toshiba Satellite
Motorola 68000 @ 7.16MHz	Intel Core i3 @ 2.3GHz
512KB RAM	3GB RAM
July 23,1985	Current

These two sets of numbers say a lot.My laptop has more power than an Amiga by several hundred percent! The RAM is no less than 500% more on most systems than an Amiga 1000.


If I could do all those nifty things on the Amiga back in 1987, why does it take so much more power to do it today?! Speedier? Not really. More features? Sure there are more features but do I use them, nope!


Plain and simple it is bloat. If a Word Processor only did its job rather than constantly add code in the background so it can be instantly placed as a web page, or used for video presentation (yeah it can do that too!). Or how about those video playbacks? Back then it was equal to low quality VHS, but today the best you can use is HDR, most people don't, they still use DVD quality or less if streaming across the web.


I am glad prices have fallen on equipment, but I would like my new computer to be as stable as my Amiga was, and actually run everything as smoothly. After all, my Motorola Droid can! (512KB memory and 512MHz processor running Android/Linux)

Overthought Ideas

I was reading an article at Fast Company about a French engineer that wants to tow icebergs from Greenland to Saudi Arabia in order to provide fresh water.

At least one commentor pointed out it would be cheaper to use a tanker and pull the water from the flow under the glacial icecap, or melt them on site using mirrors into a tanker system.

Things not pointed out is that we now have global modelling systems to see what the effects would be and no one has run this scenario. Without the model I can see reduced desalinity in the water at the proper time and place, reduction of krill habitat that feed under icebergs as they melt, reduction of resting sites for sea birds and sea mammals that use icebergs. Not to mention the carbon footprint of towing or shipping that much water.

I have a better idea for those Saudi princes and really the world near a coast line...
Use salt water through an extra line entering each house to provide clean salt water for use in bathing, swimming pools, and get this toilets!

Salt water is naturally a bit of an anti bacterial, the salt also mildly scrubs surfaces. Look at that would ya! Two things we like, clean toilets and less bacteria! Why do we need clean potable (drinkable) water to flush detrius out of our homes? Or to shower in when a salt bath works better (read how many salts are in your shower products folks!)? Many pool owners are switching to saline water since it is more environmentally friendly.

Cat Food

Writing this with Floyd on my lap, she is my rockin' little kitty cat. Since she was given to me I have raised her on various kitten branded pet foods. Last night I decided it is time to start moving her up the chain to adult cat food. Since I was in a Walmart there were a decent selection of dry foods. I started my minor quest by looking at the ingredients label of the kitten food I had been feeding her, Purina Kitten Chow. Corn. Yup corn was the main ingredient as I recall. My cat does not eat corn. How do I know this? I like corn, sweet yellow or white with dairy cream butter and fresh cracked pepper, the cat does not. Left on a counter she will lick the butter but not chew on the corn. The dog will eat corn, but he seems to eat almost anything.
At that point I must have looked like a insane person as I started picking up bag after bag of dry food for cats from every company Walmart had, including Iams. Until I hit a tiny section for natural foods all the major labels primary ingredients, including Iams was corn. I even had a brief discussion with a random stranger also buying food for his pet about corn and we both started listing things like our food, pet food, cow feed, car fuel, and plastic food containers all made of corn. He did not know of the food containers.
So I turned my attention to the tiny naturals section of dry cat food. Newman's own had decent ingredients but the price was a premium. There was a name I had never heard of, also a bit pricey. This was starting to remind me of shopping for food for my own consumption, the better the food the higher the price, the junkier and more marketed the cheaper. My eye was drawn to a small card board box of 'Purina One beyOnd' Chicken and Whole Oat Meal. I was impressed to find Chicken listed first, then chicken meal, whole brown rice (which my cat does eat from my plate, always seems to be sneaking nibbles from my plate), soy bean meal and a host of other ingredients including eggs, beets, fish oil, apples, etc. Guess what was missing. CORN! Yay for Purina. I say that here because the 1 lb box was a stunningly low $2. Real food at a decent price.
I purchased the food, took it home and immediately had the opportunity to fill a bowl that was nearly empty. Floyd hopped up and sniffed the small nuggets of her new food. She nosed around in it a second then tested a dark morsel with a tentative crunch. I was sort of expecting her to turn and look at me with a pensive, what is this stuff look, instead she plunged face first into the food and was munching away.
I only endorse products I feel  deserve it and this product I freely (as in not being paid for it, though I won't turn my nose up at a check Purina!) endorse, as I fairly certain does Floyd.

Boredom in a Universe Full of Wonder?

I was watching Discworld, the episode about Hogwatch, and at the end Death says something akin to, 'In a universe so filled with wonder humans have managed to invent boredom.' Just then I looked out the widow and saw some amazing lighting on my yard. The greens popped, the trees turned ghostly white and the sky was formidably dark, yet a very small section of a rainbows arch (out of frame to the right) was showing above the neighbors palm tree. Such richness in color and the contrast of bright sun to dark storm in the same section of valley. Beautiful!

How often do we miss beauty or amazing events because we looked the wrong way or were too busy to care? The old saying stop to smell the roses is great advice, but don't forget to look around while you do it!

Who am I?

This is a question that I believe can never accurately be answered. In the moment an answer can be given but should the answer be built on the last month or the lifetime events of an individual? Does my answer change if on the way home a catastrophic accident befalls me? What if the accident happens to another person, known and close to me or a stranger?
My usual answer is I am myself. I am unusual and complicated. I am human and yet part of everything around me.