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Top 5 benefits of FPGA technology
Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology continues to gain momentum, and the worldwide FPGA market is expected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2005 to $2.75 billion by 20101. Since its invention by Xilinx in 1984, FPGAs have gone from being simple glue logic chips to actually replacing custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and processors for signal processing and control applications. Why has this technology been so successful? This article provides an introduction to FPGAs and highlights some of the benefits that make FPGAs unique.
Top Five Benefits:
1. Performance
2. Time to Market
3. Cost
4. Reliability
5. Long-Term Maintenance
At the highest level, FPGAs are reprogrammable silicon chips. Using prebuilt logic blocks and programmable routing resources, you can configure these chips to implement custom hardware functionality without ever having to pick up a breadboard or soldering iron. You develop digital computing tasks in software and compile them down to a configuration file or bitstream that contains information on how the components should be wired together. In addition, FPGAs are completely reconfigurable and instantly take on a brand new “personality” when you recompile a different configuration of circuitry. In the past, FPGA technology was only available to engineers with a deep understanding of digital hardware design. The rise of high-level design tools, however, is changing the rules of FPGA programming, with new technologies that convert graphical block diagrams or even C code into digital hardware circuitry.
FPGA chip adoption across all industries is driven by the fact that FPGAs combine the best parts of ASICs and processor-based systems. FPGAs provide hardware-timed speed and reliability, but they do not require high volumes to justify the large upfront expense of custom ASIC design. Reprogrammable silicon also has the same flexibility of software running on a processor-based system, but it is not limited by the number of processing cores available. Unlike processors, FPGAs are truly parallel in nature so different processing operations do not have to compete for the same resources. Each independent processing task is assigned to a dedicated section of the chip, and can function autonomously without any influence from other logic blocks. As a result, the performance of one part of the application is not affected when additional processing is added.
The adoption of FPGA technology continues to increase as higher-level tools evolve to deliver the benefits of reprogrammable silicon to engineers and scientists of all expertise. Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology continues to gain momentum, and the worldwide FPGA market is expected to grow from $1.... more -
Get Started With REST
For a long time, I read about "RESTful APIs" and had no idea what that term meant. The API part means Application Programmer Interface, a way for coders to get data from a website within their own programs. That much I knew. But as for the REST part, that was less familiar to me.
As a programmer, being clueless doesn't stop me from playing around. What I observed when I tested some APIs that use REST is that there wasn't much to it at all.
REST isn't a big deal. In fact, it's all around us! When you go to a web page, you're sending a REST request. When you search the web, yeah, that's using REST, too.
This tutorial, originally submitted by Webmonkey contributer Adam Duvander, is a wiki. Got extra advice? Log in and add it. For a long time, I read about "RESTful APIs" and had no idea what that term meant. The API part means Application Programmer Interface... more -
Java will be free this year, says Sun
The struggle to open up Java completely is finally coming to an end.
Following the announcement of Sun's plans to make Java free and open under the General Public License (GPL) at JavaOne 2006, there have been a few struggles on the path to open source. At the time of the OpenJDK release in May last year, around five per cent of the code -- the portion not owned by Sun -- was still closed.
Simon Phipps, the chief open source officer at Sun Microsystems, said: "We released under the GPL everything we had the rights to release under the GPL and that was last summer. There were a couple of holdouts there. One was the area to do with raster graphics and 2D graphics. That turned out to be owned by a company that didn't want us to release that code as open source. We negotiated with them and because they've said 'yes, you can open source the code', I can tell you they're Codec […].
The only element that's left now is actually a sound-related component within Java. We finally decided that the vendor that's involved there just isn't going to play ball and we're rewriting the code from scratch. That's going to be done within the next couple of months."
Phipps says Java is expected to be completely free within the coming few months.
"I'm expecting that certainly by the end of this year and hopefully sooner we'll have all of the source code for Java under the GPL", he said.
Red Hat also introduced its IcedTea project in June 2007, with the aim of making OpenJDK a part of Fedora, as well as other Linux distributions, without constraints.
The IcedTea project reached a breakthrough this week when the latest OpenJDK binary included in Fedora 9 passed the Java Test Compatibility Kit, a set of tools designed to verify whether a particular implementation is consistent with the Java specification.
OpenJDK, now a part of Fedora 9, contains all the necessary Java APIs of a Java SE 6 implementation. The plan is to now make OpenJDK, a part of the next Red Hat Enterprise Linux edition -- 5.3.
The struggle to open up Java completely is finally coming to an end. ... more -
Men Write Code from Mars, Women Write More Helpful Code from Venus
Female software engineers tend to write code that is more considerate to future engineers. Any more ladies wanna come join the Current.com team? Female software engineers tend to write code that is more considerate to future engineers. Any more ladies wanna come join the Curren... more
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Balaji Natarajan's Blog 2.0
Customizing JFreeChart - Pie chart.
An illustration with examples on how to customize pie chart generated through JFreeChart on various aspects. Customizing JFreeChart - Pie chart. ... more -
BET & MTV programming "predatory"?
MTV and BET show adult content once every 38 seconds, according to a new study released by the Parents Television Council and the Enough is Enough Campaign. The groups analyzed three programs: BET’s “106 and Park”, “Rap City” and MTV’s “Sucker Free”.
While many may not object to the fact that adult content is shown on the channels, others object to adult content—which included sex, violence, obscenity and profanity—shown to children under 18.
“What BET and MTV are offering to children on these three programs is full of offensive and vulgar content, the likes of which cannot yet be found on broadcast television. Being in the trenches fighting for better indecency enforcement and cable choice on behalf of millions of American families, we thought we’d seen it all – but even we were taken aback by what we found in the music video programs on MTV and BET that are targeted directly at impressionable children,” PTC President Tim Winter said.
Industry Ears co-founder Paul Porter goes a step further than Winter, calling the industry out of touch and predatory.
“The study boldly validates that BET’s ‘Rap City’ and ‘106 and Park’ focus solely on commercial rap. The high level of stereotypical imaging is a sign of an out of touch industry that is holding on to mid 90's themes,” he told HipHopDX.
The findings of the study reveal the following:
· The PTC documented 1,647 instances of offensive/adult content in the 27.5 hours of programming analyzed during the December 2007 study period, for an average of 59.9 instances per hour, or nearly one instance every minute.
· 746 sexually explicit scenes or lyrical references in the 27.5 hours of analyzed programming from the December study period for an average of 27 instances per hour, or one instance every 2.2 minutes. Sexual content was even more common in the March test period, with an average 40 instances per hour, or one instance every 90 seconds.
· From the December broadcasts, the PTC documented 221 depictions of violence, including deaths depicted or implied, explosions, implied violence, punching/hitting, rioting, threats and weapons; this data equates to an average of 8 instances per hour, or one instance roughly every 7.5 minutes. Violence also became more frequent in the March analysis, averaging one instance every 6.3 minutes.
For more: http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.6765 MTV and BET show adult content once every 38 seconds, according to a new study released by the Parents Television Council and the Enou... more -
Balaji Natarajan's Blog 2.0
This blog illustrates an example of how to display a dynamically generated pie chart in a jsr 168 struts portlet. The pie chart is generated using JFreeChart. This blog illustrates an example of how to display a dynamically generated pie chart in a jsr 168 struts portlet. The pie chart is gen... more
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The Machine is Us/ing Us
In today's "information age," data is linked together to form an incredibly complex Web. But who really organizes all this data?
This Current Click is one of the most widely viewed viral videos on the Internet. It raises the question: are we using the Web ... or is the Web using us? In today's "information age," data is linked together to form an incredibly complex Web. But who really organizes all this data? ... more -
YouTube seduces HBO to the 'dark side'
While NBC didn't fare so well bringing a web series to the boob tube, HBO is hoping to have better luck hawking its content online.
The premium cable channel has created a signature channel on YouTube that will air highlights from shows like Entourage, The Wire, Flight of the Conchords and Extras, along with full-length episodes of In Treatment and the documentary Habla y Habla, which takes an in-depth look at what it's like to be a Latino in the United States.
There are also plans for special YouTube-only features produced by HBO. While NBC didn't fare so well bringing a web series to the boob tube, HBO is hoping to have better luck hawking its content online. ... more -
microtakeover
microtakeover is an exploration thru the small vastness of life. An expression and indirect communication that intends to let the viewer experience how ever many levels of size and the causation that space defines.
http://www.Psymbolic.com
© 2008 Psymbolic
Video = Psymbolic (Julee & Troy) are Audio / Visual event engineers that create Live Interactive Visual Environments in which they project evolving expression through their video compositions and the realtime surrounding spectacles. Psymbolic's theme orientated visuals are composed of video modules, in which they have been personally creating and producing by means of animation, compositing and programming since 99. During a live performance they use customized realtime visual software and hardware to synch video loops, camera inputs and effects to the mood of the momentous music.
http://www.Psymbolic.com/visuals
Audio = KiloWatts (James Watts) is a quirky electronic experimenter of whom has released numerous tracks and EPs with various labels. He's also 1/2 of the glitchpop group KiloWatts & Vanek, and 1/2 of the Peruvian Amazon outfit 'Skeetaz' with Bil Bless. All in all, KiloWatts is a complex rhythmic audio editor that creates dynamic and unpredictable moods by interweaving an amalgam of experimental ambience and rich melodic structures.
http://www.Psymbolic.com/kilowatts
microtakeover is an exploration thru the small vastness of life. An expression and indirect communication that intends to let the view... more -
Motion Graphics Festival 2008
A full week of buzzing digital media creation will be showcased starting Tuesday, January 15th through Monday, January 21st 2008, at several venues downtown Chicago.
Check out http://www.mgFest.com for the most current festival information.
MGFest 08 features two world-premier theater screenings, multiple post-production studio tours, audio/visual art exhibits, a/v performances, six days of motion design / sound design / and motion programming classes.
These events celebrate creative minds and bright ideas within the emerging media landscape. The Motion Graphics Festival begins a tradition of full-scale environmental design, bringing together a massive range of creative talents to inspire, awe, and activate your mind.. whether you're a hard-core geek, a dedicated composer, a designer, film-maker, artist, engineer, programmer, educator or just someone who likes being close to the creative community.
This video intro is a core part of mgFest, in 2008 the traditional is carried forward by Lift Motion Design Studio and Creative Chaos. The source footage was shot at Foundation Post, and the music was designed by The Great Mundane.
http://www.LiftMotion.com
http://www.Psymbolic.com/the_great_mundane
( Design | Sound | Code ) .: in motion http://www.mgFest.com
A full week of buzzing digital media creation will be showcased starting Tuesday, January 15th through Monday, January 21st 2008, at s... more -
BarCamp Orlando
BarCamp Orlando is a bi-yearly event to bring together people from different technical backgrounds to share and learn from each other. Orlando's first BarCamp event was held on September 22nd, 2007.
At the event, enthusiasts gathered to share their knowledge on topics that were relevant to them. Everything from robots to podcasting was covered, and the turnout surprised many.
This video highlights Orlando's first BarCamp. BarCamp Orlando is a bi-yearly event to bring together people from different technical backgrounds to share and learn from each other.... more -
porn star's advice to Current TV
Well not really, but if porn star Brooke Marks were a TV exec, this is what she'd put on TV.
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James Spahr
"Working with log data from webservers, I wrote software that looked at the referrer data and created a site tree. This map of the site is interesting because it is formed by how the users travel through the site. It is the aggregate view of how the user base views the hierarchy of the website." "Working with log data from webservers, I wrote software that looked at the referrer data and created a site tree. This map of the sit... more
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E15 blog.
"E15 is an experimental architecture that places the power of presentation of web content into the hands of those that use it. Based on a dynamic, interactive OpenGL-based scripting engine, E15 exposes an entirely new face to web content, freely modifiable by each individual user." "E15 is an experimental architecture that places the power of presentation of web content into the hands of those that use it. Based o... more
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video not found
some of the programmers at current tv failed to write the code necessary to make it work. for this, we are sorry.
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Serial Killer or Programming Language Inventor
Fun photo quiz...Imagine the possibilities.
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Code Monkey make me happy.
I think I know a few people like this. Try not to fall out of your office chair laughing at this one.
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Amateur Programming Error Exposes Facebook Code
Owing to a misconfigured server, Facebook exposed its homepage code to what the company called a handful of users over the weekend. The leaked code was promptly posted on a new blog, Facebook Secrets, for all of the internet to see. Owing to a misconfigured server, Facebook exposed its homepage code to what the company called a handful of users over the weekend. ... more
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