The Register: Intel targets Sun with Itanium 2 benchmarks

Sun's director of marketing for its processor products group, Sue Kunz, questioned how far Intel's figures went in giving a true comparison between the platforms. She said the benchmarks Intel used "fitted" into the 3MB cache the McKinley will ship with, which made for high scores. But, she said, "customers are going to wait and run real apps to see what they're going to get."

She added that Intel appeared to have compared the Itanium 2, which will debut at 1GHz, with a range of different Sparc processors. "The numbers are fairly muddled."

Judge for yourself. Starting point - the Intel spin-meisters at Intel Projects Record-Setting Intel® Itanium® 2 Processor Performance On Key Enterprise, Technical Applications. But note the caveat on that page ;-):

Performance tests and ratings are measured using specific computer systems and/or components and reflect the approximate performance of Intel products as measured by those tests. Any difference in system hardware or software design or configuration may affect actual performance. Buyers should consult other sources of information to evaluate the performance of systems or components they are considering purchasing.

The exam for my Computer Architecture and Design class finished 45 minutes ago. It was a good sign that more than 80% of the students were still there at the end and hadn't left early. I'll probably be busy marking these exam papers (and some courseworks) over the holiday (Jubilee) weekend so expect more postings than normal as sanity-restoring displacement activities kick in ;-)

There are only(!) 105 exam papers to mark - 3 questions per paper. In a week's time, the exam for my first year Computer Organisation class takes place. About twice the number of students and only a few days grace in which to mark the papers.

So much to do. So little time...

Project:Omega - Developing on Mac OS X:

This document provides an overview of the development tools and environments currently available for Mac OS X (

via SiT - The Chronicle: 5/31/2002: The 24-Hour Professor: Online Teaching Redefines Faculty Members' Schedules, Duties, and Relationships With Students

I often feel like a 24-hour professor. I regularly respond to e-mails and newsgroup postings at odd hours of the day, night, and weekend. Sometimes I think my students expect immediate response no matter the time they post their questions. It's a rod I have made for my own back and one which I'll have to wean my students off eventually. It just disrupts my routine too much and leads to false, high, expectations.

I can almost guarantee that they'll be a bunch of questions raised in the next 24 hours since my computer architecture exam is on Thursday morning B-}

Brent has posted his First Impressions of Conversant 1.0b2 after an hour or so of installing it:

I left Conversant with the feeling that I've barely scratched the surface, that Conversant is hugely customizable, that there's a lot of power in there that I haven't touched.

Seth also comments on Brent's experience. Like Seth, I was impressed out how insightful Brent 's feedback was. Brent's a great beta tester ;-) I'm really looking forward to more feedback from Brent.

Naturally, there's room for improvement in any piece of software and as it stands Conversant's power is sometimes obscured by the plethora of configuration screens and options. But once you have climbed the learning curve the full power and potential of Conversant becomes apparent. There's no doubt in my mind that once you 'become conversant' there's no turning back. There's also no doubt that improvements in Conversant's usability will continue to be made and the new users have a major role to play in that process.

For what it's worth I'd recommend everyone with an interest in the groupware, CMS, weblogging, or web application development to check it out. You won't be disappointed.

PS I'm still scratching the surface after two years B-}

via Scripting News - MediaGuardian.co.uk | Media | But who are the real pirates?

MPAA executive Fritz Allaway told Bobbie Johnson, "We have seen our future, and it is terrifying." I - like a lot of other independent directors and producers - would like to see the future get much more terrifying for Fritz and his pals; with a radical reform of copyright and patent law, and a curbing of behemoths such as AOL/Time/Warner, News International/Fox and Vivendi/ Universal/UIP.

Corporate multinationals, wielding unchecked power, terrify me far more than kids with video cameras. In fact, the latter, such as the Norwegian schoolboy who cracked the DVD code, encourage me greatly: their resourcefulness and creativity - rather than the special pleading and restrictive practices of the MPAA - represent a possible bright future for our industry.