At a recent DAC conference, Bill Dally reveals some chip design aspects are being augmented and improved with AI. These include classic chip design issues like mapping voltage drops, predicting parasitics, place and route, and migrating standard cell. It makes sense the next generation of hardware design tools will be using AI.
See his 2022 DAC presentation here:
See an earlier GTC video here on more generic AI efforts:
Another discussion here on PCGamer.
Intel has taken a really interesting tact with it’s ARC graphics card launch. Instead of coming out with marketing guns blazing and touting the next nVidia killer – this first round of ARC discrete parts is set to tackle the mid and lower range users needs. Something that has been desperately needed over the last 2 years in the great GPU shortage created during COVID and bitcoin miners (who are now dumping cards at firesale prices after Bitcoin dropped from the $3 trillion dollar market cap to just at $1 trillion in 6 months)
Instead of just marketing claims, Intel has been sending Intel fellow Tom Peterson and Ryan Shrout around to the local hardware reviewing websites and channels. They’re walking the reviewers through all the ins and outs of these cards on camera – with actual initial production hardware. This openness and engineer-to-engineer interaction has gotten a surprisingly amount of love from a often curmudgeonly viewership. Here’s some quotes:
This kind of open and honest communication is 10x better marketing than any advertisement spot they could have paid for.
I really like that Intel is hands on and bringing back some “customer” focus.
Give Ryan and Tom a raise. They’re doing great! It’s nice to see two actual humans and not corporate robots for a change
This whole thing made me realize how starved companies have us; with just the smallest show of openness and communication it’s hard not to get your strings pulled. But it’s such a breath of fresh air, and a real oddity at this point in time
Props to Ryan and Tom. I’m sure some shareholders are gonna pull their hair out of this kind of “transparency” with the marketing instead of just pushing the old “our product is great and no other company exists outside of ours” nonesense on customers. Seeing how Intel is letting these guys be honest and personal with journalists and interacting with the online community is gonna help them a LOT. I have much more faith in this project after seeing this video and GN’s interview with them earlier, hats off to Intel for doing it this way.
ARC A750 hands-on, architecture, specs, driver challenges, timelines, overclocking with Tom:
Gamer’s Nexus’s great technical breakdown on performance with Tom:
Linus Tech Tips coverage of the A770 with Tom Peterson and Ryan Shrout:
A380 gaming benchmarks that include analysis of rebar and comparison with competitors:
I love visiting where my favorite movies and TV shows were filmed. This guy has put together the most comprehensive and detailed shooting locations website I’ve ever seen. In this case, it’s for every location in the long running 1980’s hit Miami Vice.
This page discusses one of the most famous scenes in all of TV history – the drive to a deal in Heart of Darkness episode. He breaks down where every single cut was taken – even to the point of confirming locations based off the reflections off the car.
I have twice now missed Puddles’ visits to Portland. The first time because I didn’t learn about the concert, the second due to COVID safety measures.
I personally find his mash-ups to be some of my favorites. You’d be surprised how common song timings match random lyric selections. How about mixing Stairway to Heaven and Gilligan’s island?
Or try Folsom Prison Blues using the lyrics to Pinball Wizard:
Thomas Cole was the founder of the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, but who’s greater ambition was to convey the word of God through sublime landscapes.
The Voyage of Life is a series of four paintings he made in 1842 to great public reception. It is an allegory of the four stages of human life aptly named: Childhood, Youth, Manhood, and Old Age. They depict a voyager who rides the boat on the River of Life accompanied by a guardian angel. The landscape reflects one of the four seasons of the year that correspond with each phase of life.
In childhood, the infant glides from a dark cave into a rich, green landscape. As a youth, the boy takes control of the boat and aims for a shining castle in the sky. In manhood, the adult relies on prayer and faith to sustain him through rough waters and a threatening landscape. Finally, the man becomes old and the angel guides him to heaven across the waters of eternity.
It’s a great reminder that our lives here on earth are finite ones. We too have seasons of our lives that once gone, may not be ones we can go back and visit again. That’s why it is so critical that we live our lives in real Truth – not the constantly changing just-for-today truths that society and the world give. Each day we steer our boat by the little decisions we make – like dips of the oar into the river. Those little decisions add up and guide and direct the major course of our life. Our lives are also full of joys and dangers we must navigate.
But without real truth to base one’s life on, we are often rudderless or constantly searching for peace. So much emptiness, sadness, and confusion arise because we have collectively decided that modern truth is just anyone’s particular subjective take on things. The reality is, as science also teaches us (nature herself as Thomas Cole would probably say), that there IS real objective truths about our world whether we want to deny it or not. Just as there is real objective truths about ourselves as well.
We all put our faith in our beliefs – no matter where those beliefs come from. Many of us get our faith and beliefs from politicians, actors, rock stars, and celebrities of all sorts. Faith that those beliefs will bring us to happiness. In whom and where does your faith lie? How true has that turned out to be in a month? A year? A decade? Your lifetime? Eternity?
The best rick roll I’ve seen yet – from Star Trek’s Inner Light episode.
Are you a fan of Bridgerton? Would you like a fancy dress-up night in 1800’s garb? Well! The Queen’s Ball Bridgerton Experience might be for you.
The Queen herself invites you to a once-in-a-lifetime evening of music and dance complete with acrobatic performances, interactive experiences, a stunning dance show, and plenty of surprises.
As guests at this delightful soirée, you will be transported to 1813 London to take part in the most coveted ball of the season. Prepare to mingle with other members of the Ton as you immerse yourself in an evening unlike any you have ever experienced before.
Enjoy a beautiful ballroom decorated in the Regency-era style, interact with actors dressed in exquisite period costumes, savor delicious cocktails, and listen to live music inspired by the iconic Bridgerton soundtrack.
Even more interesting, when you buy your ticket, you get a discount to local costume and clothing providers like Rent the Runway and Ponton costumes so you can fully dress the part.
When visiting Tokyo Tsukiji fish market, you should definitely try some of the freshest sushi in the world. But which spots should you check out?
This list from Savor Japan had 2 of my favorites, and the others seem like good recommendations too.
One of the best 4k walkthroughs of the Tokyo installation from Feb 2022. It’s even more mind blowing in person if that seems possible.
