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faragon

1,162 karma · joined August 28, 2009

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faragon··on Jev introduces a new shape of LLM
Is it 100% deterministic?
faragon··on Recreating Voodoo Graphics and a Late-1990s Gaming PC on an FPGA
New post by @nand2mario. This is the continuation of his work in his z486 FPGA core ([1]), now adding the implementation of the original Voodoo Graphics GPU. In addition to the linked blog post, it is also published a video ([2]), and a SD image for testing ([3]) with the Xilinx KV260 dev kit, as this time the FPGA used in the MiSTer FPGA project is not enough for fitting the CPU core and the GPU.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49308269

[2] https://x.com/nand2mario/status/2096133116066992568

[3] https://x.com/nand2mario/status/2096454368929485184

faragon··on How accurate have Ed Zitron's AI skeptic predictions been?
Accurate or not, there are many risks other than those that could bring AI companies value to 0. E.g., systems not requiring passing over all the data continuously, but in small regions running at L2-L3 cache memory speed. Once someone figures out that, the need for high bandwidth memory would end.
faragon··on z486: A 486-Class Pipelined FPGA CPU with Integrated Floating-Point
Games, very few, if any. But software in general, quite a lot.
faragon··on z486: A 486-Class Pipelined FPGA CPU with Integrated Floating-Point
This is the closer we have for having a full 32-bit x86 system with FPU. Even with the lower precision in the x87 FPU by using the FPGA DSP blocks, eventually having a "486DX" (i486 instruction set + FPU) would enable running a massive amount of PC software (1980..2000's). Taking his z386 core (based in the i386 microcode) and adding 486-class optimizations, including a simplified dual I/D L1 cache, vs the unified but more complex L1 cache in i486's, really is a beautiful and imaginative approach.
faragon··on Firefox 153 available with support for Vulkan video decoding, JPEG-XL
8K decoding needs HW acceleration, unless having 8-16 cores with AVX-512.
faragon··on China's open-weights AI strategy is winning
1) open-weights

2) critical mass

3) de-facto monopoly

4) closed-weights on frontier models

5) profit

faragon··on Linux on the Sega 32X. Who needs hardware synchronization primitives anyway?
Thank you very much! Is the SSFv2 mapper supporting memory writes in the MiSTer FPGA, too? (Megadrive and/or 32x cores). Also, now that there's a SH3 core already available ([1] for replicating the Cave CV1000 system), it could be mind blowing having a system with 512MB of RAM on a SH3 at 100MHz running Linux.

[1] https://github.com/ika-musume/HS3

faragon··on Microsoft new Outlook takes 10 seconds to do what Outlook Classic does instantly
They may consider rewriting their web-based apps into native apps using IA.
faragon··on [dead]
https://archive.is/RsXYO
faragon··on Windows quality update: Progress we've made since March
Microsoft degrading user experience plus lower price on Mac computers it maybe their downfall. E.g., removing local accounts, unwanted advertising, arbitrary decisions (forced TPM requirement), etc.
faragon··on How many products does Microsoft have named 'Copilot'?
"All your Copilot are belong to us"
faragon··on OpenAI to double workforce as business push intensifies
Wasn't their target to replace humans with AI? Why is that not applicable to their business?
faragon··on Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up
IIRC, the original CGA/EGA version was: 8x 360KB 5.25" disks, or 4x 720KB 3.5" disks.
faragon··on The Eternal Promise: A History of Attempts to Eliminate Programmers
Maybe it's time for creating simpler languages, easier to validate with a mix of LLMs, grammar validation, and test-covered aggregation/integration.
faragon··on Arm wants a bigger slice of the chip business
It's "fair": ARM takes 1% of the iPhone CPU, i.e., less than 0.1% of the total phone price, while Apple takes 30% of the apps in the iStore
faragon··on IBM tripling entry-level jobs after finding the limits of AI adoption
With the workforce may happen like with DRAM and NAND flash memories: unexpected demand in one side leaving without enough offer in other sides.
faragon··on xAI joins SpaceX
My question is how they'll update the hardware, if AI processors get outdated every 4-5 years? Or they will keep outdated satellites just for routing and Internet-related services?
faragon··on Nexphone-A phone that runs Android, Linux, and Windows?
Is it working for phone calls when running Debian and Windows?
faragon··on Microsoft will give the FBI a Windows PC data encryption key if ordered
Why Microsoft stores the encryption keys of the users in their servers? Key recovery is convenient, but in my opinion it should exist the "opt out" option, without MS being involved in the key storage in their datacenters.
faragon··on Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy
My prediction: Google will win. Rationale: cost/token + pre-existing ad knowledge + APIs for third-party apps. My concern is how an OpenAI collapse could hurt Microsoft and Nvidia.
faragon··on Asahi Linux with Sway on the MacBook Air M2 (2024)
Why Apple don't sponsor Asahi Linux? E.g., I would buy Apple computers gladly for running Linux.
faragon··on The architecture of “not bad”: Decoding the Chinese source code of the void
That's beautiful. E.g., I have Chinese coworkers and now I realize what they meant with "that's not wrong". I felt those expressions like humbleness, but now I realize they were trying to keep their authenticity. Mind blowing.
faragon··on Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips
Why Apple don't just buy Intel? That would allow better vertical integration.
faragon··on Ego, empathy, and humility at work
Empathy and humility are ok when shown by behavior, not when used as a "manipulative card" against "ego". E.g., when the "empathy card" is used to manipulate others in "you're an ego-driven person that always knows better than me". In my opinion there are less confrontative ways, e.g., a team lead handling the frictions with procedures, diplomacy, and other soft skills.
faragon··on 'The French people want to save us': help pours in for glassmaker Duralex
Duralex were used and loved in Spain, too. Most houses still have some of them, although nowadays there's lot more competition. I would pay twice for their glassware, quality-wise is good stuff.
faragon··on Dillo, a multi-platform graphical web browser
I used Dillo in 2001-2002 with the PlayStation 2 Linux kit. With 32MB of RAM for Linux, and 4MB for the graphics. It worked really well despite the CPU was 294MHz (MIPS R-5900, two-way in-order CPU, with SIMD unit, and only one hardware thread, having two auxiliary vector units as companions).
faragon··on Real VT102 Emulation with MAME
VT102 specs, e.g., 8085A 6MHz CPU [1]

[1] http://adb.arcadeitalia.net/dettaglio_mame.php?game_name=vt1...

faragon··on Why can't transformers learn multiplication?
Maybe the AGI will come with the equivalent of a "Turing Machine" enabling some kind of computability.
faragon··on Windows 7 usage seemingly skyrockets in wake of Windows 10 end of support
Why Microsoft just don't make optional the TPM requirement for upgrading from Windows 10 to 11?
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