ziz a dumb question?

Gary Kline kline at thought.org
Sat May 1 21:44:09 UTC 2010


On Sat, May 01, 2010 at 05:20:55AM +0200, Polytropon wrote:
> On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:03:50 -0700, Gary Kline <kline at thought.org> wrote:
> > On Sat, May 01, 2010 at 04:19:13AM +0200, Polytropon wrote:
> > > On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 18:57:08 -0700, Gary Kline <kline at thought.org> wrote:
> > > > i've never been anything near the extreme-green movement.  i
> > > > figured that newer computers/cpus/etc would be more efficient
> > > > than what came before. 
> > > 
> > > Oh, you mean that a "modern" desktop PC consumes as much power
> > > as my old AS/400e with 10 hard disk drives - as loud a a common
> > > PC, 2 times as big and 4 times as heavy? :-)
> > > 
> > 
> > 	Yeah, gee-whiz :)
> 
> Incorrect values: 4 times as big and 8 times as heavy - but
> the same power consumption. :-)
> 
> 
> 
> > 	i've thought about this for at Least ten years.... why not
> > 	have 4 CRT's or xterminals hanging off one very beefy
> > 	machine?  but do they have anything with graphics and
> > 	keyboard + mouse that can work via one USB port/jack? 
> 
> Don't confuse my use of "network terminal" with classic serial
> terminals. Look, for example, at the devices AXEL builds, or
> already present for many years: Sun Ray terminals. They also
> have audio I/O, card reader, and USB connectors (where the
> keyboard and mouse usually are connected). A regular monitor
> (maybe with speakers) makes it a full-featured workstation.
> But no data users can mess around with, and its power requirements
> are really low.
> 
> Our university's library had many of them, and I liked them
> because they were completely silent (in difference to the
> boring beige PC boxes they scattered around the library).
> 
> You can find specs of an AXEL terminal as exemple here:
> 
> 	http://www.axel.com/usa2/prod_ax3.html?mv2_pos=1
> 
> They're calling it "thin client", but it's terminal. A box
> where you plug in a screen and a keyboard and connect it
> to a network IS a terminal. :-)
> 

	i'll check it out when i'm using evo or kmail.  i'm using my
	olden mutt rt now.  with me, one issue is that i just bought
	a 20" widescreen that i use [via KVA] for most of my
	computers.  o/wise, i like the idea.  sure save on power;
	maybe even help save the Earth, altho it may be too late.

> 
> 
> > i'm
> > 	sure my wasted cycles could be put to very good use. 
> 
> Today's average users are treating their high-end HPC PCs
> as worse typewriters, so there are enough cycles to use. :-)
> 

	yeah, you can put that in a do-loop ...   i do more
	reading/research theses days, so not even a fancy
	typewriter!!

> 
> 
> > but it 
> > 	would mean haning off a second display/kybd/mouse.  
> 
> Which is no problem using network terminals, everything you need
> is a LAN (or maybe even WLAN) connection.


	i do have a [TINY] LAN.  i use ssh mostly, but kvm too.

> 
> Still, multiple GPUs is possible, but results in a major raise
> of power consumption (because you have to use a "modern" GPU).
> Multiple input devices is no problem via USB.
> 
> 
> 
> > 	the ARM/A-9 chip looks great.  its a RISC chip that is super
> > 	efficient.  gang four A9's in one package:: low power and at
> > 	least 2GHZ ....  the only drawback is that the a9 is only
> > 	32bits.  So we cannot try to calcale the 7th root of
> > 	infinity, :-) 
> 
> ARM is an efficient platform in terms of energy, and I think
> it will be more and more important in the future, especially
> if you consider the mobile devices market. And when it's good
> at running on battery, it's good on running on AC power. When
> the industry comes up with "extra new energy efficient PC
> hardware", we already know that it existed for years. :-)
> 


	at the linux meeting last month someone mentioned that the
	ARM chip might be a good place for the linux/free-OS types to
	do major work.  the parts for the A9 are already available.
	or almost.  it wouldn't take much to build a very effivirnt 
	pc-class box.  max it out with 4g of ram, and maybe 64g of
	SSD.  linux, bsd, save-the-earth lowpower?   it is coming;
	just a matter of who wants to be a zillionaire... .


> 
> 
> > i mean, come-on-people, get real.  4G of ram
> > 	ought to be Plenty!!  
> 
> Hey, 640 kB should be enough for everyone. :-)
> 

lolololol.  (best laugh this week)


> 
> 
> > 	i'm trying to// or i'm =thinking about= getting rid of my
> > 	pfSense machine.  i used ifp for *yesrs* with no breakins.
> > 	So NOBODY got into my poetry!!
> 
> That's what they want to make you believe. :-)
> 
> 
> 
> > 	according to my /var/log/<foo>.log files, the only crackins
> > 	were from kiddie-scripters.  i squashed them.   
> 
> By using means of blocking for known script-kiddie sources, you
> can get rid of a lot of useless traffic - and possible trouble.
> 
> 

	i ran my script every few hours for 6, 8 months, then finally
	had no more hits.  there is a finite number of those
	kiddies:)

	gary


> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Polytropon
> Magdeburg, Germany
> Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
> Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...

-- 
 Gary Kline  kline at thought.org  http://www.thought.org  Public Service Unix
    The 7.83a release of Jottings: http://jottings.thought.org/index.php
           http://journey.thought.org  99 44/100% Guaranteed Novel



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