On Being a Writer: Scene & Sequel
Simply put, a scene defines a goal, presents conflict, ends in disaster, thus driving the story forward. The sequel ties that scene to the next, gives the reader and your hero a bit of a rest. It’s much like inserting peaks and valleys in your writing. In the scene we climb to the peak and descend to the valley which is the sequel, then we climb up to the next peak or conflict that is going to fall into the valley on the next disaster. Others relate the sequel to the bridge between scenes.
The three things a scene should include are:
Goal: A hero wants to posses something, wants revenge for something or wants to be relieved of something. Thus she wants to achieve something or she wants to resist something.
Conflict: Not argument between characters as some might believe, but rather is what happens in opposition to what hero wants.
Disaster: Something happens to prevent the hero from reaching her goal. It need not be disastrous in the strict sense of the word. It might simply be someone showing up she did not expect with information she did not know that puts an entirely new light on her struggle to achieve her goal. Or it can simply be a dark hint of what may happen if she pursues her goal, rather than a specific disaster.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
VLDB09 Overview, part 2 « Technofeel
VLDB09 Overview, part 2 « Technofeel: "the '10-year award keynote', rewarding the most influencing paper of the last decade. The award was attributed to the MonetDB staff for their paper 'Database Architecture Optimized for the New Bottleneck: Memory Access' describing a novel approach to database storage (column storage, well known nowadays) and to the join operation optimized for the CPU cache, thus avoiding the overhead of memory access, and how the column oriented engine allow for . They also talked about vectorwise and its enhanced query computation pipeline performing batch hit operations. Well done guys, it's a pretty impressive work !"
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
EETimes.com - Sun, IBM push multicore boundaries
EETimes.com - Sun, IBM push multicore boundaries
Sun Microsystems claimed a new watermark for server CPUs, unveiling Rainbow Falls, a 16-core, 128-thread processor at the Hot Chips conference Tuesday (August 25). But analysts gave the IBM Power7 kudos as the more compelling achievement in the latest round of high-end server processors.
Power7 packs as many as 32 cores supporting 128 threads on a four-chip module with links to handle up to 32 sockets in a system. "It is scaling well beyond anything we've ever really seen before," said Peter Glaskowsky, a technology analyst for Envisioneering Group (Seaford, NY).
Sun Microsystems claimed a new watermark for server CPUs, unveiling Rainbow Falls, a 16-core, 128-thread processor at the Hot Chips conference Tuesday (August 25). But analysts gave the IBM Power7 kudos as the more compelling achievement in the latest round of high-end server processors.
Power7 packs as many as 32 cores supporting 128 threads on a four-chip module with links to handle up to 32 sockets in a system. "It is scaling well beyond anything we've ever really seen before," said Peter Glaskowsky, a technology analyst for Envisioneering Group (Seaford, NY).
China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World
China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World: "Intel, which established operations in China in 1985, has more than 7,000 employees in the country"
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Fred Hahn: How Do We Become Fat?
Fred Hahn: How Do We Become Fat?: "High blood glucose elicits the release of insulin, which speeds the uptake of glucose by tissues and favors the storage of fuels as glycogen and triaglycerols, while inhibiting fatty acid mobilization in adipose tissue."
YouTube - Lisp for High-Performance Transaction Processing
YouTube - Lisp for High-Performance Transaction Processing: "Lisp for High-Performance Transaction Processing"
Linux-Kernel Archive: Re: Implementing NVMHCI...
Linux-Kernel Archive: Re: Implementing NVMHCI...: ".. and the point is, if you have granularity that is bigger than 4kB, you
lose binary compatibility on x86, for example. The 4kB thing is encoded in
mmap() semantics.
In other words, if you have sector size >4kB, your hardware is CRAP. It's
unusable sh*t. No ifs, buts or maybe's about it."
lose binary compatibility on x86, for example. The 4kB thing is encoded in
mmap() semantics.
In other words, if you have sector size >4kB, your hardware is CRAP. It's
unusable sh*t. No ifs, buts or maybe's about it."
Water before meals
http://www.ipwr.org/publications/WaterWeightLoss.Obesity.2009.pdf
when combined with a hypocaloric diet, consuming 500 ml water prior to each main meal leads to greater weight loss than a hypocaloric diet alone in middle-aged and older adults.
when combined with a hypocaloric diet, consuming 500 ml water prior to each main meal leads to greater weight loss than a hypocaloric diet alone in middle-aged and older adults.
DBMS2--Database management and analytic technologies in a changing world - Part 2
DBMS2--Database management and analytic technologies in a changing world - Part 2: "For example, if you look at some details, the ParAccel 30-terabyte benchmark ran on 43 nodes, each with 64 gigabytes of RAM and 24 terabytes of disk. That’s 961,124.9 gigabytes of disk, officially, for a 32:1 disk/data ratio. By way of contrast, real-life analytic DBMS with good compression often have disk/data ratios of well under 1:1.
Meanwhile, the RAM:data ratio is around 1:11 It’s clear that ParAccel’s early TPC-H benchmarks ran entirely in RAM; indeed, ParAccel even admits that. And so I conjecture that ParAccel’s latest TPC-H benchmark ran (almost) entirely in RAM as well. Once again, this would illustrate that the TPC-H is irrelevant to judging an analytic DBMS’ real world performance.
More generally — I would not advise anybody to consider ParAccel’s product, for any use, except after a proof-of-concept in which ParAccel was not given the time and opportunity to perform extensive off-site tuning. I tend to feel that way about all analytic DBMS, but it’s a particular concern in the case of ParAccel."
Meanwhile, the RAM:data ratio is around 1:11 It’s clear that ParAccel’s early TPC-H benchmarks ran entirely in RAM; indeed, ParAccel even admits that. And so I conjecture that ParAccel’s latest TPC-H benchmark ran (almost) entirely in RAM as well. Once again, this would illustrate that the TPC-H is irrelevant to judging an analytic DBMS’ real world performance.
More generally — I would not advise anybody to consider ParAccel’s product, for any use, except after a proof-of-concept in which ParAccel was not given the time and opportunity to perform extensive off-site tuning. I tend to feel that way about all analytic DBMS, but it’s a particular concern in the case of ParAccel."
The Cost of Not Understanding Probability Theory | Math-Blog
The Cost of Not Understanding Probability Theory Math-Blog
An increased awareness of probability and statistics can only improve society and its ability to assess situations and make rational decisions. How do we begin to remedy this situation, not only in Italy, but around the world? We can start by devoting far more time in grade, middle and high school math classes, in order to teach students about this important subject and the implications that it can have on their everyday lives, understanding of society, and ability to make wise financial decisions.
An increased awareness of probability and statistics can only improve society and its ability to assess situations and make rational decisions. How do we begin to remedy this situation, not only in Italy, but around the world? We can start by devoting far more time in grade, middle and high school math classes, in order to teach students about this important subject and the implications that it can have on their everyday lives, understanding of society, and ability to make wise financial decisions.
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Old New Thing : Common gotchas when writing your own p/invoke
The Old New Thing : Common gotchas when writing your own p/invoke: "n 64-bit Windows, the LONG and DWORD members are four bytes, but the dwExtraInfo is a ULONG_PTR, which is eight bytes on a 64-bit machine. Since Windows assumes /Zp8 packing, the dwExtraInfo must be aligned on an 8-byte boundary, which forces four bytes of padding to be inserted after the time to get the dwExtraInfo to align properly. And in order for all this to work, the MOUSEINPUT structure itself must be 8-byte aligned."
Friday, August 21, 2009
CMN90091_virt_swit_728x90
CMN90091_virt_swit_728x90: "we will consider two broad categories:
Client partitioning, in which multiple virtual machines are executed locally on a single client PC
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), in which, through whatever mechanism, the desktop software is managed and/or executed centrally via your server infrastructure"
Client partitioning, in which multiple virtual machines are executed locally on a single client PC
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), in which, through whatever mechanism, the desktop software is managed and/or executed centrally via your server infrastructure"
Thursday, August 20, 2009
AMD IBS
http://developer.amd.com/Assets/AMD_IBS_paper_EN.pdf
Instruction-Based Sampling is a feature introduced in AMD Family 10h processors. Although IBS is a statistical method, the sampling technique delivers precise event information and eliminates inaccuracies due to skid.
The processor pipeline has two main phases: instruction fetch and instruction execution. The fetch phase supplies instruction bytes to the decoder. Decoded AMD64 instructions are executed during the execution phase as discrete operations called "ops." Since the two phases are decoupled, IBS provides two forms of sampling: fetch sampling and op sampling. IBS fetch sampling provides information about the fetch phase and IBS op sampling provides information about the execution phase.
IBS fetch sampling and IBS op sampling use a similar sampling technique. The IBS hardware selects an operation periodically based on a configurable sampling period. The selected operation is tagged and the operation is monitored as it proceeds through the pipeline. Events caused by the operation are recorded. When the operation completes, the event information and the fetch (or instruction) address associated with the operation are reported to the profiler. Thus, events are precisely attributed to the instruction that caused them. IBS does not impose any overhead on instruction fetch or execution -- everything runs at full speed.
Instruction-Based Sampling is a feature introduced in AMD Family 10h processors. Although IBS is a statistical method, the sampling technique delivers precise event information and eliminates inaccuracies due to skid.
The processor pipeline has two main phases: instruction fetch and instruction execution. The fetch phase supplies instruction bytes to the decoder. Decoded AMD64 instructions are executed during the execution phase as discrete operations called "ops." Since the two phases are decoupled, IBS provides two forms of sampling: fetch sampling and op sampling. IBS fetch sampling provides information about the fetch phase and IBS op sampling provides information about the execution phase.
IBS fetch sampling and IBS op sampling use a similar sampling technique. The IBS hardware selects an operation periodically based on a configurable sampling period. The selected operation is tagged and the operation is monitored as it proceeds through the pipeline. Events caused by the operation are recorded. When the operation completes, the event information and the fetch (or instruction) address associated with the operation are reported to the profiler. Thus, events are precisely attributed to the instruction that caused them. IBS does not impose any overhead on instruction fetch or execution -- everything runs at full speed.
Stress tests rain on Amazon's cloud - Storage - Technology - News - iTnews.com.au
Stress tests rain on Amazon's cloud - Storage - Technology - News - iTnews.com.au: "Stress tests conducted by Sydney-based researchers have revealed that the infrastructure-on-demand services offered by Amazon, Google and Microsoft suffer from regular performance and availability issues"
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
IBM 'Smart Analytics System' Aimed at Reinventing Data Warehousing - Storage - Byte and Switch
IBM 'Smart Analytics System' Aimed at Reinventing Data Warehousing - Storage - Byte and Switch: "Big Blue says the new IBM Smart Analytics System will deliver optimized combinations of hardware, software and business-problem-specific applications that will reset deployment-speed, cost and performance expectations for 'analytics-ready' data warehouses."
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Mitsubishi LT-46244 Vertical Line - AVS Forum
Mitsubishi LT-46244 Vertical Line - AVS Forum: "Mitsubishi extends warranty 1 extra year for 144/244/133/134 Series LCD modules
For those of you affected by the vertical green or red lines on last generation Mitsubishi LCDs, it appears that Mitsubishi has acknowledged this issue and is extending the warranty on LCD modules for one extra year. I think this is likely an issue covered by this warranty extension. Here's the warranty paragraph from mitsubishi-tv.com:
If you have one of the following models please read below for an important announcement - LT-40133, LT-40134, LT-46144, LT-46244, LT-52133, LT-52144, LT-52244. It has come to our attention that a limited number of these Premium Flat Panel Televisions may have performance issues related to the LCD Module used in these sets. As part of our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, MDEA is announcing an extension of the warranty coverage applicable to the LCD Module for the models listed above. For a period of one additional year beyond the one year limited warranty, MDEA will cover the cost of repair or replacing the LCD Module (parts and labor) at no charge to you. All other terms and conditions of the MDEA limited warranty will continue to apply.
I just hope they've fixed the issue in the 148/246 Series panels."
For those of you affected by the vertical green or red lines on last generation Mitsubishi LCDs, it appears that Mitsubishi has acknowledged this issue and is extending the warranty on LCD modules for one extra year. I think this is likely an issue covered by this warranty extension. Here's the warranty paragraph from mitsubishi-tv.com:
If you have one of the following models please read below for an important announcement - LT-40133, LT-40134, LT-46144, LT-46244, LT-52133, LT-52144, LT-52244. It has come to our attention that a limited number of these Premium Flat Panel Televisions may have performance issues related to the LCD Module used in these sets. As part of our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, MDEA is announcing an extension of the warranty coverage applicable to the LCD Module for the models listed above. For a period of one additional year beyond the one year limited warranty, MDEA will cover the cost of repair or replacing the LCD Module (parts and labor) at no charge to you. All other terms and conditions of the MDEA limited warranty will continue to apply.
I just hope they've fixed the issue in the 148/246 Series panels."
Stephen Colebourne's Weblog
Stephen Colebourne's Weblog This blog explains the JCP IP process in pictures. And how Sun have managed to use it to block Apache Harmony.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
My Way - Sports News
My Way - Sports News: "That was 0.11 seconds faster than the mark he set last year at the Beijing Olympics - the biggest improvement in the 100-meter record since electronic timing began in 1968."
Friday, August 14, 2009
Like a complete unknown: Bob Dylan frogmarched to collect ID after rookie policewoman fails to recognise scruffy music legend | Mail Online
Like a complete unknown: Bob Dylan frogmarched to collect ID after rookie policewoman fails to recognise scruffy music legend | Mail Online
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/bigbrother/article-1206617/Like-complete-unknown-Bob-Dylan-frogmarched-collect-ID-rookie-policewoman-fails-recognise-scruffy-music-legend.html#ixzz0OCmAFdHJ
It was in 1965 that Dylan wrote Like A Rolling Stone, with its line: 'How does it feel to be on your own, a complete unknown?'
He found out while staying at the Ocean Place Resort in Long Branch. Before taking part in a concert with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, he decided to take a stroll through the town's Latin quarter.
'Residents called to complain there was an old scruffy man acting suspiciously,' said officer Spencer. 'It was an odd request because it was mid-afternoon. But it's an ethnic Latin area and the residents felt he didn't fit in.'
This is not the first time that Dylan has wandered off alone while on tour.
After a concert in Belfast in 1991, he shunned his chauffeur-driven limo and was captured by a TV crew waiting at a bus stop.
And in the middle of an American tour he popped unannounced into the childhood home of author Mark Twain.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/bigbrother/article-1206617/Like-complete-unknown-Bob-Dylan-frogmarched-collect-ID-rookie-policewoman-fails-recognise-scruffy-music-legend.html#ixzz0OCmAFdHJ
GFS: Evolution on Fast-forward - ACM Queue
GFS: Evolution on Fast-forward - ACM Queue
it's atypical of Google to put a lot of work into tuning any one particular binary. Generally, our approach is just to get things working reasonably well and then turn our focus to scalability—which usually works well in that you can generally get your performance back by scaling things.
it's atypical of Google to put a lot of work into tuning any one particular binary. Generally, our approach is just to get things working reasonably well and then turn our focus to scalability—which usually works well in that you can generally get your performance back by scaling things.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The powerful and mysterious brain circuitry that makes us love Google, Twitter, and texting. - By Emily Yoffe - Slate Magazine
The powerful and mysterious brain circuitry that makes us love Google, Twitter, and texting. - By Emily Yoffe - Slate Magazine
"Seeking is the granddaddy of the systems." It is the mammalian motivational engine that each day gets us out of the bed, or den, or hole to venture forth into the world. It's why, as animal scientist Temple Grandin writes in Animals Make Us Human, experiments show that animals in captivity would prefer to have to search for their food than to have it delivered to them.
..
Wanting is Berridge's equivalent for Panksepp's seeking system. It is the liking system that Berridge believes is the brain's reward center. When we experience pleasure, it is our own opioid system, rather than our dopamine system, that is being stimulated
"Seeking is the granddaddy of the systems." It is the mammalian motivational engine that each day gets us out of the bed, or den, or hole to venture forth into the world. It's why, as animal scientist Temple Grandin writes in Animals Make Us Human, experiments show that animals in captivity would prefer to have to search for their food than to have it delivered to them.
..
Wanting is Berridge's equivalent for Panksepp's seeking system. It is the liking system that Berridge believes is the brain's reward center. When we experience pleasure, it is our own opioid system, rather than our dopamine system, that is being stimulated
Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS
Official Google Blog: Introducing the Google Chrome OS
Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies.
Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies.
GLADINET - About Gladinet Vision and Technology
GLADINET - About Gladinet Vision and Technology: "Mission
Access Without Boundaries
Function
Web 3.0 Software, Web Service Platform
Gladinet as Personal Software
a: Integrates web storage/applications to your desktop. Web Applications Made Local.
b: Connects your computers together to share files and services.
c: Share your files with friends.
Gladinet as Service Platform
a: A platform for different cloud services to interact with each other.
b: A platform for end users like you to access online data and services directly from Windows® Operating System instead of from a Browser.
c: A platform for service providers to deliver and integrate services to your desktop"
Access Without Boundaries
Function
Web 3.0 Software, Web Service Platform
Gladinet as Personal Software
a: Integrates web storage/applications to your desktop. Web Applications Made Local.
b: Connects your computers together to share files and services.
c: Share your files with friends.
Gladinet as Service Platform
a: A platform for different cloud services to interact with each other.
b: A platform for end users like you to access online data and services directly from Windows® Operating System instead of from a Browser.
c: A platform for service providers to deliver and integrate services to your desktop"
reddit.com: what's new online!
reddit.com: what's new online!: "tool in any developers tool box can be the well known 'cheat sheet'. Today, we will have a look at 30 essential web developer cheat sheets, ranging from MySQL to Photoshop"
fefoo search app
fefoo search app: "Besides managing search engine there are 19 webmaster tools that are part of the webmasters category which you can use to manage your websites"
fallon_300x250_map_working_tex
fallon_300x250_map_working_tex: "The Zune HD will be powered by the Tegra APX 2600 chip, which has an Arm11-based processor core, a GeForce graphics core and other components. The chip also has specialized cores to encode and decode high-definition video, which will enable the Zune HD to play 720p HD video, Rayfield said."
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Understanding Linux CPU Load - when should you be worried?
Understanding Linux CPU Load - when should you be worried?: "Unix refers to this as the run-queue length: the sum of the number of processes that are currently running plus the number that are waiting (queued) to run."
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Feature Column from the AMS
Feature Column from the AMS: "his brief example points to the beginnings of a field known as principal component analysis, a set of techniques that uses singular values to detect dependencies and redundancies in data.
In a similar way, singular value decompositions can be used to detect groupings in data, which explains why singular value decompositions are being used in attempts to improve Netflix's movie recommendation system. Ratings of movies you have watched allow a program to sort you into a group of others whose ratings are similar to yours. Recommendations may be made by choosing movies that others in your group have rated highly."
In a similar way, singular value decompositions can be used to detect groupings in data, which explains why singular value decompositions are being used in attempts to improve Netflix's movie recommendation system. Ratings of movies you have watched allow a program to sort you into a group of others whose ratings are similar to yours. Recommendations may be made by choosing movies that others in your group have rated highly."
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