>> That raises the question. If Pov will not contemplate using a GPU. How
>> about using a printer to do some calculations? :-P

Oh God, think of the massacre...! O_O

> Using the printer as a coprocessor is a rather moot idea, unless you
> also include a scanner in the system design; there's no other way to get
> data from the printer back into the computer.

You know, PostScript does actually have file I/O capabilities. Sure, 
I've never seen any system that actually *implements* them... but it 
literally does have commands for reading and writing files, doing 
terminal access, etc.

> You /could/ of course make a PostScript printer do some raytracing
> entirely on its own. But I was a bit disappointed by the computing
> performance of the printer I once used for generating a printout of the
> Mandelbrot set, so I'll probably not pursue this project any further...

The last printer I looked at was powered by a 200 MHz Pentium II. This 
was in the days when the Pentium IV was considered obsolete... (We all 
know parts never stop being used, they just move down the food chain.)

Post a reply to this message

On 28/10/2015 06:06 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> But in technology, I see this all the time - IoT isn't a new thing,
> really - I remember seeing networked coffee makers, VCRs, and microwave
> ovens back in the 90's.  It didn't catch on then, but the demo was pretty
> cool.

HTTP 418: I'm a teapot.

https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2324

Seriously. There is a defined HTTP status code for interacting with an 
IoT teapot.

> The idea of on-demand programming was something I was first introduced to
> by someone who worked at NBC back in the mid 90's as well.  He described
> pretty much what we see now with Netflix and other streaming/on-demand
> video services.

Some day, maybe I'll try that.

Ah, who am I kidding? I'll just sit here surfing YouTube...

(I'm still puzzled as to why YouTube can actually exist. But that's 
another story.)

Post a reply to this message

On 10/28/2015 6:06 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Just you wait. It comes to us all.:-P
>> >
>> >Wait one.
> Waiting.;)
>

Your custom is important to us.
Please listen to this elevator musak...

> But in technology, I see this all the time - IoT isn't a new thing,
> really - I remember seeing networked coffee makers, VCRs, and microwave
> ovens back in the 90's.  It didn't catch on then, but the demo was pretty
> cool.
>
> The idea of on-demand programming was something I was first introduced to
> by someone who worked at NBC back in the mid 90's as well.  He described
> pretty much what we see now with Netflix and other streaming/on-demand
> video services.
>

If you read any amount of SF the infinite monkeys got there first. 
Mobile (cell) phones excepted.

Strange how that got missed by everyone except Dick Tracy.

>> >Thinking about it. I'm glad that my time is when it is. I despair when I
>> >see the way the world is going.
> I think we all reach that point eventually.
>

So it seems. Just glad I'm normal in one aspect. ;-)

>> >If I am asked what I want to be on the next turn of the wheel. I will
>> >say. "A rock." And I don't mean St. Peter.
> I wouldn't have guessed that.  Or maybe I would have.;)

You have a head start. :-)

I was talking about Edinburgh Rock. The best thing to come out of 
Edinburgh, the road to Glasgow, excluded. ;-)


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message

On 10/28/2015 6:08 PM, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

>
> I often wonder... like, how much did [famous obsolete computer] actually
> cost? What did it physically look like? What were its technical
> capabilities? It's very hard to gather a general overview of this type
> of data.
>
PDP-8	1965	$18,500	12 	~50,000	The smallest and least expensive PDP

http://homepage.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/pdp8/faqs/



> For that matter, how many FLOPS can you get out of an Inter Core i7? I
> have absolutely no idea; it seems very hard to find data for this...
>

So it is.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/262886-28-core-gflops-benchmark


>>
>> Funnily enough. His project reminded me of you. Did you not once write
>> programs in PostScript or Printer Command Language?
>
> PostScript. And it wasn't *once*. ;-)
>
> Actually, I did start trying to write a PostScript *interpreter*, to
> make debugging this stuff easier! It turns out the language has a lot
> more edge-cases than you'd think though...

One edge-case is more than I ken.
I would ask what an edge-case is but then you would say that I can't 
Google. :-)

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message

On 10/28/2015 6:11 PM, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:
>>> That raises the question. If Pov will not contemplate using a GPU. How
>>> about using a printer to do some calculations? :-P
>
> Oh God, think of the massacre...! O_O

Think of the Amazon Rain Forests devastated as it outputs its 
calculations to hardcopy.

-- 

Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message

On Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:08:56 +0000, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

> I often wonder... like, how much did [famous obsolete computer] actually
> cost? What did it physically look like? What were its technical
> capabilities? It's very hard to gather a general overview of this type
> of data.

Google is really useful.  I hear they have pictures and everything. ;)

> For that matter, how many FLOPS can you get out of an Inter Core i7? I
> have absolutely no idea; it seems very hard to find data for this...

Depends on the speed of the CPU and the number of cores, but a google 
search for "intel core i7 flops" turned up useful results.

Jim
-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

Post a reply to this message

On Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:17:38 +0000, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

> On 28/10/2015 06:06 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> But in technology, I see this all the time - IoT isn't a new thing,
>> really - I remember seeing networked coffee makers, VCRs, and microwave
>> ovens back in the 90's.  It didn't catch on then, but the demo was
>> pretty cool.
> 
> HTTP 418: I'm a teapot.
> 
> https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2324
> 
> Seriously. There is a defined HTTP status code for interacting with an
> IoT teapot.

It's funny, yeah - but the history of that error code isn't really IoT, 
more like RFC 1149.  418 was defined in the HTCPCP/1.0 protcool, defined 
in the referenced RFC as an April Fool's day joke in 1998.

It's a fun read.  (Did I mention that I work with a product that secures 
websites, and HTTP geek stuff is what I currently work with daily? ;) )

>> The idea of on-demand programming was something I was first introduced
>> to by someone who worked at NBC back in the mid 90's as well.  He
>> described pretty much what we see now with Netflix and other
>> streaming/on-demand video services.
> 
> Some day, maybe I'll try that.

Definitely worth it, IMHO.

> Ah, who am I kidding? I'll just sit here surfing YouTube...
> 
> (I'm still puzzled as to why YouTube can actually exist. But that's
> another story.)

People want to publish videos.  Youtube gives them a platform to do that.

And gives Google another platform to push advertising on.

It's about that simple, really. :)

Jim
-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

Post a reply to this message

On Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:40:04 +0000, Stephen wrote:

> On 10/28/2015 6:06 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> Just you wait. It comes to us all.:-P
>>> >
>>> >Wait one.
>> Waiting.;)
>>
>>
> Your custom is important to us.
> Please listen to this elevator musak...

Only if it's good.  Then again, you said "musak", so it probably isn't. :P

>> The idea of on-demand programming was something I was first introduced
>> to by someone who worked at NBC back in the mid 90's as well.  He
>> described pretty much what we see now with Netflix and other
>> streaming/on-demand video services.
>>
> If you read any amount of SF the infinite monkeys got there first.
> Mobile (cell) phones excepted.

Star Trek communicators.  The design of the Motorola Flip phone allegedly 
was taken from Star Trek.

> Strange how that got missed by everyone except Dick Tracy.

More the Apple Watch, but yeah.

>>> >Thinking about it. I'm glad that my time is when it is. I despair
>>> >when I see the way the world is going.
>> I think we all reach that point eventually.
>>
>>
> So it seems. Just glad I'm normal in one aspect. ;-)

LOL

>>> >If I am asked what I want to be on the next turn of the wheel. I will
>>> >say. "A rock." And I don't mean St. Peter.
>> I wouldn't have guessed that.  Or maybe I would have.;)
> 
> You have a head start. :-)
> 
> I was talking about Edinburgh Rock. The best thing to come out of
> Edinburgh, the road to Glasgow, excluded. ;-)

I'll have to remember that one the next time I'm talking with friends who 
live in Scotland.  Especially the ones who live in Edinburgh. ;)

Jim



-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

Post a reply to this message

On 10/28/2015 7:06 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Wed, 28 Oct 2015 18:40:04 +0000, Stephen wrote:
>

>>>
>>>
>> Your custom is important to us.
>> Please listen to this elevator musak...
>
> Only if it's good.  Then again, you said "musak", so it probably isn't. :P
>

Elevator music is another name for musak. Which is often heard when on 
hold. Or in a hotel foyer.


>> If you read any amount of SF the infinite monkeys got there first.
>> Mobile (cell) phones excepted.
>
> Star Trek communicators.  The design of the Motorola Flip phone allegedly
> was taken from Star Trek.
>

More a walkie talkie than a phone that everyone uses. I think.

>> Strange how that got missed by everyone except Dick Tracy.
>
> More the Apple Watch, but yeah.
>

Yip!


>>
>> I was talking about Edinburgh Rock. The best thing to come out of
>> Edinburgh, the road to Glasgow, excluded. ;-)
>
> I'll have to remember that one the next time I'm talking with friends who
> live in Scotland.  Especially the ones who live in Edinburgh. ;)
>

It is a steal from Dr Johnson.


-- 

Regards
     Stephen

Post a reply to this message

On Wed, 28 Oct 2015 19:43:08 +0000, Stephen wrote:

>> Only if it's good.  Then again, you said "musak", so it probably isn't.
>> :P
>>
>>
> Elevator music is another name for musak. Which is often heard when on
> hold. Or in a hotel foyer.

So "elevator musak" is redundant. ;)

>>> If you read any amount of SF the infinite monkeys got there first.
>>> Mobile (cell) phones excepted.
>>
>> Star Trek communicators.  The design of the Motorola Flip phone
>> allegedly was taken from Star Trek.
>>
>>
> More a walkie talkie than a phone that everyone uses. I think.

Well, from a design standpoint, though, that's what inspired Motorola, I 
hear.

>>> I was talking about Edinburgh Rock. The best thing to come out of
>>> Edinburgh, the road to Glasgow, excluded. ;-)
>>
>> I'll have to remember that one the next time I'm talking with friends
>> who live in Scotland.  Especially the ones who live in Edinburgh. ;)
>>
>>
> It is a steal from Dr Johnson.

Oh, sure, try and defer the credit. ;)

Jim



-- 
"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and 
besides, the pig likes it." - George Bernard Shaw

Post a reply to this message