slowdive1979 - Slashdot User

Wolfram Offers Prize For (2,3) Turing Machine 164

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday May 16, 2007 @02:53AM from the universal-or-not dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Stephen Wolfram, creator of Mathematica and author of A New Kind of Science, is offering a prize of $25K to anyone who can prove or disprove his conjecture that a particular 2-state, 3-color Turing machine is universal. If true, it would be the simplest universal TM, and possibly the simplest universal computational system. The announcement comes on the 5-year anniversary of the publication of NKS, where among other things Wolfram introduced the current reigning TM champion — 'rule 110,' with 2 states and 5 colors."

Submission + - AMD to Intel: This is what quad-core is all about

Submitted by

secretsather

on Monday May 14, 2007 @11:39AM

secretsather writes: "http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/05/14/am d-to-intel-this-is-what-quad-core-is-all-about/

AMD unveiled its new processor family, rightfully named Phenom, which is re-defining the term 'quad-core' and leaving much explaining for the guys at Intel. If your CPU doesn't say AMD, it's not a true quad-core processor.

In recent demo of technology AMD was quoted as saying "Intel Duct Tapes while AMD innovates" as an image of two single core Intel processors were duct taped together.

Strong words by AMD, but what justifies such a blunt statement? Take a look at Intel's quad core processor and how it operates.

You can see, by the above diagram, that Intel's quad core actually consists of two dual-cores on a single chip. But does this design constitute a true dual-core processor? AMD seems to think not, and with good reason.

In this instance, If cores 1 or 2 needed to communicate with cores 3 or 4, or if each had to access the other core's L2 cache, data would be sent through the front side bus (FSB), causing a bottleneck.

With the true quad-core design offered by the upcoming AMD Phenom processors, each core will communicate with the others on a single die, rather than through an external front side bus as shown below.

AMD's Phenom design also boasts a unique shared L3 cache for quicker data access while each core can communicate directly through Direct Connect Architecture.

"AMD's quad-core processor rollout will put more computing horsepower at PC users' fingertips," observed Nathan Brookwood, research fellow at Insight 64. "Quad-core innovations come at a time when many users are finding that the combination of Microsoft Vista(TM), multi-threaded applications and DirectX 10 no longer delivers the crisp performance they experienced on last year's fastest systems running last year's software."

With resources like an integrated DDR2 memory controller, HyperTransport(TM) technology links, and 128-bit Floating Point Units (for improved speed and performance) AMD's Phenom processors are specifically designed to take advantage of a computer's resources, allowing maximum performance-per-watt while maintaining a reliable, virtualization-ready and energy efficient machine.

The Phenom processor family was demonstrated in San Francisco as AMD rolled out a machine, codename "FASN8 for "fascinate," which included two true quad-core AMD Phenom processors and the new DirectX 10 ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT.

Nero, the creator of the popular disc authoring program Nero Burning ROM, was at the right side of AMD, demonstrating Nero software that was specifically designed with true quad-core in mind.

"As we demonstrated with AMD in San Francisco, Nero is pleased to be on the leading edge, delivering applications that are optimized to take advantage of quad-core processors," said John Tafoya, GM of Global Alliance at Nero. "The increased performance of AMD's latest processors, coupled with Nero's quad-core optimized applications is helping bring about Nero's vision of a true 'Liquid Media Revolution.'"

AMD's open platform approach allow for AMD Phenom processors to be compatible with a wide range of solutions, including AMD's motherboard and chipset partners ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and NVIDIA.

"AMD is confident the performance enhancements enabled by true quad-core client technology in computing-intensive environments will allow them to realize new possibilities and find new inspiration," said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD's desktop division.

Software developers are already getting excited as they show full support for the true quad-core. Lionhead Studios, maker of the popular games "The Movies" and "Black and White" believe that AMD's quad-core technology is "another step in delivering the power we are looking for," said Tim Rance, CTO of Lionhead.

Rance added: "We are eager to push the detail in our simulations ever deeper, make our physics more fine grained, our AI more emotional and our lighting more dynamic. All of this will enable us to deliver the mass-market experiences that our customers are looking for."

AMD is expecting its true quad-core and dual-core AMD Phenom-based desktop systems to ship in the second half of 2007."

Submission + - Top 10 reasons Microsoft loves/hates open souce

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Monday May 14, 2007 @11:27AM

coondoggie writes: "Over the years, Microsoft has had some pretty harsh words (and actions) for the open source community in general and for Linux in particular. And with news this week that the company reportedly wants open source software users to pay royalties on 235 alleged patent violations, the relationship is obviously changing. We take a look at five ways Microsoft is embracing open source or Linux and five ways it is doing to battle against those same forces. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/051407-micro sft-open-source.html"

Submission + - Graduate Degree in Artificial Intelligence

Submitted by Wyrd01 on Monday May 14, 2007 @11:21AM

Wyrd01 writes: I got my degree in Computer Science several years ago. One of my related passions has always been Artificial Intelligence, and while I've read a lot of books on the subject I've never done much with it. I've been thinking about going to back school lately and wanted to get some feedback from the wise and very blunt crowd here at Slashdot. I've heard many times that if you love something you shouldn't make it your job, lest you become burned out. On the other hand I've heard doing what you love for a living makes getting up a pleasure every morning. I doubt that debate will be resolved here.
So I've looked into a few schools and UAT's (http://www.uat.edu/) new Artificial Life program (http://www.artificiallifedegree.com/) caught my eye. Does anyone know anything about this school/program? For all I know it's just a fancier looking ITT Tech, Devry, or other such school that might not garner a lot of respect in the field. Then again it could be "The Next Big Thing".
Another factor here is that I will likely need to move in the next 2 or 3 years, so a place where I could do an online degree might be helpful. Would people strongly recommend I wait until I can physically attend a Grad School, or is an online degree a valid alternative? Are one of these "tech" schools a valid option, or should I stick to the traditional Universities?
And finally, does anyone in the field of Artificial Intelligence/Life have any words of wisom (or warning) for those of us aspiring to join your ranks?

Slashdot Top Deals