tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54611422011-11-27T15:34:22.908-08:00EntroPCRuminations on technology by Kevin KrewellKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.comBlogger751100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-39475831572066339472010-12-16T00:07:00.000-08:002010-12-16T00:14:52.871-08:00Yes, I've been neglecting my blog, with Twitter and Facebook stealing my time away from it. But I have more time as I'm taking some time between jobs. I've left NVIDIA and will be returning to Microprocessor Report, now in the hands of The Linley Group. As I've told many people, I've always loved writing for the Microprocessor Report, but it was the corporate owners that were strangling the life Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-5203074903176749182010-11-13T15:09:00.000-08:002010-11-13T15:17:21.996-08:00It's clear that the future of processor design has much less to do with raw performance and everything to do with power efficiency. Computing is now bound by issues of power constraints - be it a cellular handset or a supercomputer data center. In this area, ARM has the advantage over x86. The issue will be whether Intel's superior process roadmap can overcome the inherent inefficiencies of the Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-56735614658741825552010-08-30T00:12:00.000-07:002010-08-30T00:34:55.249-07:00While my blogging has been quite sporatic, I did have the opportunity to blog on the NVIDIA corporate blog "Inner Geek". In my post "The Collectors Edition", I showed off a part of my collection of PC graphics cards dating back to the mid-90s.Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-6914456425228291632010-08-29T23:57:00.000-07:002010-08-30T00:01:18.755-07:00Microprocessor Startup Apocalypse?This past week, I was a participant in the annual Hot Chips symposium at Stanford University. As part of the organizing committee, I help the conference with PR, including press and analysts. The conference is a mix of academic and commercial presentations, but the general leaning of the conference is more commercial – especially after the demise of the Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-12433511630027968532010-05-26T23:40:00.000-07:002010-05-27T00:04:00.251-07:00Intel just announced that Larrabee is officially, really, NOT going to be released as a discrete GPU any time soon. Or for the next 5 years. Or more. Why, you may ask? Well, because it made a really weak GPU that would probably cost too much to manufacture and have returned bad margins. How could the mighty and wise Intel have spent over three years working on this project and not know it would Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-63118211701832308412010-02-03T23:12:00.001-08:002010-02-03T23:28:05.319-08:00Today, Linley Group posted their latest newsletter and it was pretty interesting.In addition to the nice things the Linley Group has to say about Tegra 2 (which BTW IS actually in production now), they also have some interesting conjecture about the Apple A4 processor used in the new iPad.This may prove to be the most likely scenario:"A third idea is that the A4 uses the 1GHz Cortex-A8 CPU known Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-7040534027351821082010-02-02T22:58:00.000-08:002010-02-02T23:06:01.484-08:00As I mentioned yesterday, the iPad has kicked off some interesting discussions. Here's one I found particularly interesting because it referenced some very interesting posts:http://emergentbydesign.com/2010/02/01/699/I have already envisioned a great app for wine cellars. But I could use that camera :(I expect there will be (external?) camera/video options eventually.For all the complaints about Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-8282081857227088042010-02-01T23:37:00.000-08:002010-02-02T00:01:30.444-08:00Apple’s iPAD AnnouncementThere has been no end to the conversation surrounding the Apple iPAD, officially announced on January 28. For months, even years, before Steve Jobs walked out on the stage last Wednesday at the Yerba Buena Center and let the perverbial cat out of the bag, there had been rumors of an Apple tablet, a device that would fit between an iPhone and a Mac PC. That device is Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-43225121832991561302010-01-25T22:09:00.001-08:002010-01-25T22:35:18.262-08:00This Wednesday, Apple will announce something new. The bulk of the conjecture is that it will be a Tablet/slate computer. Every pundit has an opinion. I'm feeling left out of all the punditry. So, here's my thoughts (not that you asked):If there is an Apple Tablet/Slate (BTW, I have not seen a good definition of the category), It will be more like a large iPOD Touch - ARM-based, designed for Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1143421269205805962009-12-28T23:54:00.000-08:002009-12-28T23:55:17.818-08:00Writing has always been hard for me. Give me formula to solve, or a question to answer. But an essay, often brought me to a complete standstill. To some extent, I have gotten good enough to be passable, but it’s never my strong suit. I do find that the times from about 10:00PM onward is my most productive writing times. I don’t know if it’s a holdover from college days (with the last minute Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-2497626572387590182009-12-26T22:16:00.000-08:002009-12-26T22:42:09.047-08:00Wow. It's been sooo long since I posted anything here. Bad, blogger :(I blame Twitter ;)Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-79955982318469452902009-07-15T10:12:00.001-07:002009-07-15T10:33:47.773-07:00I'm looking forward to my next PC build - an ION-based HTPC. I purchased from Amazon a ZOTEC ITX 330 ION motherboard with the dual-core Atom processor and an ITX case from AOpen. I plan to migrate my old HTPC in a much bigger Antec case into the small form-factor design.A couple of issue remain - the AOpen case supports only one 2.5in hard drive and the old HTPC has a 3.5in HD. I'll have to buy aKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-38989323001127511892009-06-04T22:44:00.000-07:002009-06-04T23:00:03.577-07:00in a follow-up conversation with a colleague, I had a deeper discussion on the evolution of x86 cores and may modify my stance on its applicability to ultramobile devices. The problem I think an x86 faces is expectations, not capabilities. An x86 in a handset would run at 1GHz at best, which is perceived as slow in the PC space. The operating system would have to be optimized for efficiency and Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-57399252589125936412009-03-15T17:17:00.001-07:002009-03-15T17:37:36.074-07:00Last week, my friend and former colleague at Microprocessor Report Peter Glaskowsky, posted to his blog on CNet responding to a GigaOm story by Stacey Higginbotham. Peter called a post x86 world "preposterous." I disagree with Peter and here's what I posted:I have to disagree. In order for Intel and x86 to be successful in the smartphone market, there needs to be a reasonable need to run the PC Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-10976247104759867662009-02-08T22:39:00.000-08:002009-02-08T23:09:23.115-08:00Netbooks or mini-notebooks, no matter the name you call them, they are the hottest topic in the PC market. My company finally jumped into the fray with the ION platform which combines the very low power Atom processor with our very capable 9400 chipset. This is a very capably platform that would only get better when Intel releases a dual-core Atom processor. The aging 945 chipset from Intel is anKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-82251501621467361872008-12-14T23:18:00.000-08:002008-12-14T23:22:51.809-08:00At least this economic recession has had one benefit - it has flushed out a number of financial cheats and scoundrels. The greedy have been found out and in many cases dealt with. Companies that used financial tricks have run out of options. Companies are going to have to make money the old fashioned way - by creating something of value. I've never understood a system that rewards people for Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-28352379039185467342008-12-14T22:42:00.000-08:002008-12-14T23:18:17.138-08:00As the agony of AMD's spiral down continues, it couldn't have helped when the San Jose Mercury columnist Chris O'Brien put AMD on his list of companies that are in serious trouble. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_11200791?nclick_check=1Why did AMD fail to sustain its success after its triumph over Intel with Opteron and Athlon 64? First off, AMD underestimated Intel's ability to rebound Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-31307442243395777822008-11-14T00:15:00.000-08:002008-11-14T00:36:54.255-08:00I listened to parts of AMD's Financial Analyst Day (gotta keep up with our competitors). First off, I have to say Rick Bergman's attempt to get a majority share of the graphics business by lumping in consoles was lame to the nth degree. Neither ATI nor NVIDIA controls or drives the sales of consoles. Also, those are contract designs from years ago that aren't even competitive with today's Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-39390965798247504392008-11-12T21:56:00.000-08:002008-11-12T22:33:43.517-08:00I was reading AMD's Pat Moorehead's blog post on mini-notebooks (Netbooks in Intel-speak; research companies are using the mini-notebook name). Pat's become Mr. Gadget for AMD, which is funny considering AMD is not really in the gadget business. Back to mini-notes - Pat divides the use model into two types: at home and away from home. Pat's ideal "at-home" mini-note is really just a small Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-42899874865399496362008-11-12T21:51:00.001-08:002008-11-12T21:56:43.165-08:00On the eve of AMD's Financial Analyst Day, did anyone find it odd that Intel decided to release its lower guidance? If that doesn't scare the bejesus out of the financial analysts, I don't know what will. That's just plain mean (of Intel).Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-13277493526843650042008-10-23T21:01:00.000-07:002008-10-23T21:47:38.869-07:00I pause from the "usual" processor technology talk, to address another topic that's been a favorite interest of mine since grade school: space travel. Buzz Aldrin thinks that we should send the first explorers to Mars on a one-way trip to the red planet:http://www.physorg.com/news143972922.htmlI can't completely agree with him. Much like the early plot of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, the Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-28296197257505915882008-10-12T23:26:00.000-07:002008-10-12T23:38:25.905-07:00Sorry for the lack of posts - worklife and funlife has been busy. Frankly, not really much new to report on the processor front. The Larrabee watch continues - still no sign of real silicon. The AMD "asset smart" split was announced and it didn't help the stock much. A lot has been written about it, although the present economic crisis has overshadowed it. I see it as mixed news. The infusion of Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-52909010101635458382008-09-16T22:55:00.000-07:002008-09-17T00:02:47.181-07:00I'm on the organizing committee of a conference called Hot Chips. Our last conference included a very funny panel from a number of well known chip designers, analysts, and a legendary educator. You can see a shortened version of the panel here:http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/video?id=562Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-52023688493838797952008-09-09T22:09:00.000-07:002008-09-09T22:19:08.353-07:00Well, it's not quite a month since my last post. For all you Catholics out there, there will be a familiar ring to that admission.So I need to keep this blog posting going. The problem, as usual, is time, compounded by short post on Twitter. Well, that plus the fact I have only one proven reader, maybe two. Well, that's a classic chicken and egg situation - I might get more readers if I posted Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-28460644540105710362008-08-17T23:16:00.000-07:002008-08-17T23:40:50.627-07:00Now for something close to my heart: microprocessors. I have a question for you: is microprocessor design dying? I ask, because chips like Intel's Atom are perceived as innovative, when, in fact, Atom is a through back design. An analyst was asked by a publication is he thought Atom would be one of the innovations of the year. Atom is dual-issue, in-order design where low power trumps performanceKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-86485584337346295482008-08-17T22:30:00.000-07:002008-08-17T22:40:02.752-07:00Life now has a renewed sense of urgency. A close family member of my wife (actually, the cousin of her ex-husband, but we're actually very close to him) was diagnosed with a malignant brain cancer. The only symptom he had was he had difficulty speaking for the last 2 weeks. No other symptoms. After he insisted on getting it check, they found a tumor and today the biopsy came out as malignant. Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-77423290445273188212008-08-07T22:51:00.000-07:002008-08-07T23:15:19.962-07:00I don't know why I bother with this blog, but I've decided I need to keep writing because I want to polish my skills. That and I REALLY want to get my opinion out in some sort of public forum. Every time I talk to somebody about processors, I find myself going into my analyst mode and it just seems like where I feel most comfortable. My biggest problem as an analyst is that I can be too rational,Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-15229326615849173732008-07-13T17:59:00.000-07:002008-07-13T23:59:29.807-07:00Well, its been a long time since I last posted, but I couldn't resist this one "I told you so" post about AMD. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080711/amd_writedown.html?.v=6In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, AMD said it recently discovered that its business units that make chips for cell phones and digital televisions, both acquired as part of the ATI transaction and considered "Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-11853427665782709202008-06-11T23:21:00.000-07:002008-06-11T23:35:32.724-07:00The week after Computex, it's a good opportunity to look at the hot topic - MIDs and small, cheap notebooks (Intel calls Netbooks, others Laptots) and Intel's Atom processor.The MID market is the newest battleline between the PC and the smartphone. Smartphone solutions are based on the ARM instruction set that dominates the smartphone business, including the iPhone. Leading chip suppliers includeKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-84689864752102379052008-05-20T21:24:00.001-07:002008-05-20T21:32:42.623-07:00Hi All,And by "all" I mean anyone who stubbles accross this blog and a cousin or two (hey Den).I promised more commentary on the PA Semi deal: I heard news from a reliable source that Dan and company are going to work on a new design for Apple and it's not PowerPC and it's not x86. So you go figure it out for yourselves. It'll be 2-3 years before we'll see the fruit of this deal in an Apple Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-26628379092862506452008-04-22T23:09:00.000-07:002008-04-22T23:31:52.650-07:00This is crazy! Forbes reports that Apple is buying P.A.Semi:http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/04/23/apple-buys-pasemi-tech-ebiz-cz_eb_0422apple.htmlThere is some bad speculation in the Forbes story, but it's really hard to imagine this turn of events.It could be that Apple wants on in-house desing team and buying PA Semi gives them one. Dobberpuhl has designed chips for just about every Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-85305874243763053212008-04-17T21:30:00.000-07:002008-04-17T21:47:22.461-07:00The AMD news today was pretty bad, but it was expected. It did raise some questions:1. What happened to the Bobcat core? We were told Bulldozer is in development and is scheduled to ship in 2009, but Dirk dodged answering about Bobcat (light weight core for products that would compete with Intel's Atom).2. Will we EVER see asset light? Hector has been using this allusion for a year now with no Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-12991847708159759782008-04-10T22:47:00.000-07:002008-04-10T23:00:02.255-07:00My CEO was all over Intel at today's financial analyst meeting. Intel has been just plain buttheads lately, saying just things to create FUD. The problem is that too many people just assume Intel will follow through without any real understanding of Intel's strengths and weaknesses. Look at Intel's track record outside of x86 processors for PCs: DRAM (fail), flash memory (spin-off), i860 (fail), Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-3530780834513476752008-03-24T10:50:00.000-07:002008-03-24T10:57:06.264-07:00Barrons wrote a positive article about my employer, but Larrabee continues to be mentioned as a threat. I wish more analysts and reporters would take a wait-and-see attitude WRT to Intel graphics. Let's face it, Intel's track record is poor in this area.Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-5968750982736975222008-03-17T22:46:00.000-07:002008-03-17T22:58:45.479-07:00I really suck at posting to my blog. I just don't seem to have the time - or is it inclination? There's a lot of noise coming out of Intel on Larrabee and graphics, but so far it's just noise. Larrabee is the perfect chip - no benchmarks, only Powerpoint. Oh, I've been told they have these great simulators for Larrabee 2 and 3. Come on folks, why are you giving Intel so much credibility for Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-39112816477913995392008-02-27T23:52:00.001-08:002008-02-28T00:18:04.676-08:00It's nearly the end of February and I have been remiss in posting. It's been a busy month, along with a flu bug and some weekend trips.I'll be catching up on all the action soon. The most interesting news so far in 2008 has been the surprising Isiah processor from VIA and I really want to know more about Sun's Rock. AMD and Intel have been a bit boring of late, although some details of Intel's Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-42659854350140363152008-01-27T19:53:00.000-08:002008-01-27T21:13:44.533-08:00Back again with some time to post. There's been some interesting news I'd like to cover.First, Apple introduced new products at MacWorld. The most controversial product was the MacBook Air, the thinnest notebook shipping today (maybe, the thinnest ever). I found the Air made too many compromises to be anything but an executive toy. I know something about sub-notebooks having owned a Fujitsu P2040Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-50795729103172750172008-01-06T23:37:00.001-08:002008-01-06T23:44:38.331-08:00I've had a very relaxing vacation with stays in San Francisco and Carmel Valley. Lots of movies, but none were really outstanding - just entertaining. Monday it's back to work.CES kicked off with Bill Gates' keynote. The best part was the comic video of Bill's last day on the job done in the style of "The Office." So far, none of the CES product announcements has excited me - plenty of new HDTVs,Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-84741011422650432872008-01-04T01:17:00.000-08:002008-01-04T01:30:04.287-08:00I just got back from a couple of days away from the Internet. While catching up on things, I found out that Om Malik had a heart attack last week. Get well Om - you'll have to make some changes in your lifestyle now.With the holidays, I've been distracted and haven't posted. I'll be back soon as we get set for CES. I'm watching CES from a safe distance - San Jose. There will be enough reporters Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-83920898114264201692007-12-11T22:02:00.000-08:002007-12-11T22:39:15.206-08:00As I've thought more about Larrabee, I have some additional observations:I'd like to clarify my point about the x86 instruction set. It's not innately bad, but it doesn't progress the architecture. The x86 ISA has too few registers, an irregular instruction length, and highly irregular instruction decoding - none of which help with architectural efficiency. It's just all the work and R&D put intoKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-86870817332792343302007-12-07T12:52:00.000-08:002007-12-07T13:02:41.391-08:00My last post did generate a response, so check it out below and my response to the comment.I should add that I was talking from my perspective. NVIDIA does take the Larrabee program very seriously. I see it more as a research project gone amok. What I also find amusing is that Intel, for many years, tried to run away from the x86 instruction set with i960, i860, i432, EPIC (Itanium), and xScale, Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-63955126744338021702007-12-05T23:00:00.001-08:002007-12-05T23:26:46.772-08:00It's a bit late (actually you may note I tend to blog late at night anyway), but I've been wanting to take on a topic that's of interest to me from both an NVIDIA point of view and my Microprocessor Report analyst background. It's the chances that Intel's Larrabee will be a successful GPU. I would like to offer the opinion that the deck is stacked against it, despite Intel's hype machine pushing Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-37036286522056686322007-12-05T00:42:00.000-08:002007-12-05T00:44:04.787-08:00Sorry for the lack of postings but I'm now been caught up in the game Crysis. Excellent gaming experience. I like.Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-38606584325564618502007-12-03T00:25:00.000-08:002007-12-03T00:36:00.851-08:00Hi Ho Everybody, I'm back. I haven't had a lot of time with the Eee PC, but it's still reasonably nice. I'll like it a lot better when ASUS increases the screen resolution. It would also be nice to move up to a Core 2 processor with real power management, but these are the trade-offs you make when its only $400.I've been in the middle of thinking about AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA as we all do this Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-70611015738591597412007-11-14T22:39:00.000-08:002007-11-14T22:51:40.977-08:00There's an extensive review and guide to hacking the Eee PC on Ars Technica.There was also a discussion on TWiT 121 with Patrick Norton being the skeptic and Wil Wheaton Harris willing to give it a chance. I think it's the most interesting (new) computer $400 can buy.I haven't had the opportunity to explore it any further, I went to the SIA dinner with John Cleese as the guest comic. Rather funnyKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-56802073918363965092007-11-13T23:44:00.000-08:002007-11-14T22:48:25.331-08:00New gadget in the house! I bought an ASUS ~$400 Eee PC. I was fighting the urge to buy it for two weeks now and finally it won. I could have waited for the 8GB model or the black model, but in a moment of weakness, I succumbed.I've go the wireless set up for home and started to try out the various features. The mike is reasonable, the video is pretty crappy, the speakers are weak but sufficient, Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-80328201714730636832007-11-06T16:31:00.000-08:002007-11-06T17:12:59.848-08:00My response to TWiT 120First, I told Leo that I couldn't make the show for two reasons: one, was that I had a friend from Chicago coming into town; and, two, was that I didn't think there was anything I could provide an interesting comment on as the preceding week's news was more about software/Leopard and Internet business related.As it turns out, I was wrong on both counts. My friend and I Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-84731819398995228252007-11-01T23:25:00.001-07:002007-11-01T23:34:15.116-07:00Here's the update on the Vista game PC. I ditched Microsoft technical support and decided to start over again. This time a bought a 10,000RPM boot drive and installed the O/S on that drive, saving the 500G RAID 0 drive for applications (games). I first installed the OEM copy of Win XP MCE I had originally build the system with. I didn't bother to install any of the service packs or even Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-84790647152754331702007-10-23T23:32:00.000-07:002007-10-23T23:40:57.946-07:00So I spent two and a half hours with the Microsoft support line and still no resolution to the problem. I've concluded that I will have to re-install WinXP and then re-install Vista. But first, I'm going to install a new 10,000 RPM main drive and re-install the O/S on that drive. Using a RAID 0 drive as the boot drive caused way too many problems with the WinXP install.On a side note, I picked upKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-22374881939943148442007-10-21T12:40:00.000-07:002007-10-21T13:33:07.067-07:00Some quick blogging while I'm working with Microsoft tech services to re-enable my Vista. Fun.We're at 1 hour 10 minutes and counting....A little background: I had some instability with the rebuilt game PC system and I thought it would be better to upgrade to Vista with a new set of drivers. The Motherboard is an ASUS P5N-E SLI with 2GB of DRAM. It turns out the motherboard has had some DRAM Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-17572526838899723942007-10-07T16:38:00.000-07:002007-10-07T22:31:43.428-07:00I just finished my participation on TWiT 116! I'm almost an occasional semi-regular guest as this is my third TWiT (not counting the MacWorld episode where I was in the audience and also asked a question).Not to sound too fawning, but I really enjoy the TWiT pod/netcasts. I usually listen to them on the way to work in the car.If you'd like to make a comment about my guest appearance, please be Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-63602941213054756452007-10-07T14:03:00.000-07:002007-10-07T22:33:03.639-07:00One of the new products I'm going to review on this site is the Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router. It's looks and functionality were too good to pass up.Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-23465372866036966172007-10-07T12:11:00.000-07:002007-10-07T12:24:53.995-07:00I'm back!After a fling with Vox, I'm back to Blogger and my EntroPC blog for technology. I'll keep Vox around for personal blogging about stuff like wine, beer, cars, etc. EntroPC will continue my technology-related thoughts and experiences.For those who are wondering about the name, EntroPC is a pun on entropy and PCs. While I originally thought about the PC industry losing it's energy, I Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1162361561059632182006-10-31T21:48:00.000-08:002006-10-31T22:12:42.043-08:00Boooo! It's a scary Halloween blog...from Hell!So where was I? The media center PC is up and running (without RAID right now)- and it's running Vista (RC1, build 5600). Vista does actually look pretty nice, although I haven't run it all that much so far. It is after all, just an operating system. People make too much about it.Now, the part that's still a work in progress is connecting it into my Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1157783510484074712006-09-08T23:27:00.000-07:002006-09-08T23:31:50.486-07:00But seriously....not that I try to be seious all that often. My latest project is a living room (or in my case media room) media PC in a low profile chassis. I have it assembled and wil post pictures. The problem that has stopped me is that I'm having trouble configuring the SATA drives to be boot drives. I tried to set the two SATA drives as RAID 0 configuration, but it Windows won't install on Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1157782997846086822006-09-08T23:18:00.000-07:002006-09-08T23:26:20.956-07:00Episode: Blog-iliciousLast time our "hero" was struggling at Microprocessor Report. He loved processors and being a technology analyst, but the completely clueless company management was running it into the ground. What was he to do?Along came the fair NVIDIA with an enticing proposition (and a wad of stock options) and led our hero to greener pastures. But were they all that much greener? Well, Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1137486161414614462006-01-17T00:18:00.000-08:002006-01-17T00:22:41.460-08:00It's Blogging time again!Once again I hope to bring this blog back. I have been at a lot of interesting events recently and it would be cool to relay what I saw to you all (who aren't there just yet).So stay tuned....I have Macintel info coming; I just bought a Gateway Tablet PC convertible that I'm dying to try out; and I'm building my second Windows Media PC (not-quite-Viiv).It's Baaack!!!!Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1109229279157226172005-02-23T22:58:00.000-08:002005-02-23T23:14:39.156-08:00Howdy,I'm back in the blog, again. I've still cutting through the Cell hype and mis-information that the news bubble on Cell created. The technology-challenged press had a hard time wrapping their heads around the story. Some wanted to instantly deflate it. (Michael, you know you wanted to say: Ha, this is just an overblow game chip!) But, vector processors are serious solutions to some workloadsKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1108235680900222152005-02-12T11:03:00.000-08:002005-02-12T11:14:40.900-08:00Rise! Arise from the dead my blog! It is time. buwhahaha.OK, so much for the melodramatic re-introduction of my blog. At the Sun Analyst Conference, I raised my hand when one of the Sun CTOs asked who has a blog. I did have one, but stopped writing in it almost a year ago.The problem is that I am not a natural writer. The day job takes a lot of concentration for me and I just don't feel like Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1083537714350654412004-05-02T15:41:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.309-07:00It's the Blog that won't die: Part V
Wow, have things changed and gone full circle since I left off. I left MDR in December to join a microprocessor/comm/networking chip start up (it had three product lines), but I found that the product marketing role just didn't fit me very well. So I struggled for four months trying to fit in and it just wasn't working very well. I started to think about Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1067759673370481302003-11-01T23:54:00.000-08:002007-10-21T14:18:30.316-07:00It's the night of the living Blog!
It's back!! I'm getting my Blog back on. I demoted myself back to analyst and shed the general manager job. I'll now have time to drill down into the technology and markets again. Being a key analyst is a lot more transportable than being the manager of a money losing operation. The problems are still there and I'll be doing my best to get MDR financially Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1059713066675058342003-07-31T21:44:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.324-07:00Hi. I'm back. Anyone miss me?
There is just too much to catch up on in one update. But I had a great vacation. Lots of sun and surf in Maui.
I didn't get into the Maui High Performance Computer Center (needed security clearance and a sponsor), so I didn't get to see their IBM Linux cluster. So I got to really get away from tech for a week and a half.
It's been very busy since I got back. The Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1057204127016704932003-07-02T20:48:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.331-07:00It's a mind-Blogging experience!
Well, actually my mind is blogged out right now. I'm in crunch mode trying to get a bunch of things done before vacation. Yeh, vacation!!!! Sun, surf, Sierra Nevada, more s-words... (see, my mind es gone). Anyway, the PC industry is on summer brake as well. September is gets nuts: TechXNY, IDF, Computex, and Athlon 64--all in one month. Yikes!
I'll see if I get Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1056957222160499592003-06-30T00:13:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.337-07:00Welcome to the Blog is Right!.
I just had a discussion tonight about the future of PCs. There are still many people who believe the PC is dead as a driver of innovation. That we've reached 2+ GHz and it's all over. Thanks for stopping by, but the PC revolution is old hat now. I don't believe it. I was one of those people who believed that a 500MHz PC processor was good enough. But still I use aKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1056597070990343762003-06-25T20:11:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.343-07:00Bumper sticker: How am I Blogging? Call 1-800-get-blog
Wow, I had my second known reader: the ever bubbly, Michael Kanellos of C|Net. I have to me more careful with my spelling from now on.
So the Apple deal is winding down, but it certainly ruffled Intel's feathers. They don't like being called number two. The argument can be made for both sides. What if Apple used the same compilers IBM used Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1056518635583906902003-06-24T22:23:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.350-07:00MAC'f'sizzle! I've been in the reality distortion zone and back! Got to see Mr. Jobs in action at the Apple WWDC.
It's amazing to see Steve leading the faithful. It's all "cool" and wizzy stuff. Me, a die hard WinDoze user was impressed with the slick features in Panther. When switching between users, the screen does a 3D block rotate on the screen where the old screen looks like the surface on Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1056086451910733942003-06-19T22:20:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.355-07:00And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful Blog! (T-Heads)
The shows over. Some interesting processors. Innovation is alive! It's just seems that no one respects real innovations anymore. Some people have the opinion "Why bother, just slap another same-old processor and let Moore's Law take care of performance scaling." That would be very boring. But, then I also applaud Mazda for Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1056002642941771082003-06-18T23:04:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.361-07:00If you Blog it, they will come!
Thanks for the first response, Michael. Got the spelling right. Its weird, my middle name is Michael, but I can never seem to remember -ael or -eal. EPF is winding down, but a lot more work remains to make the next show (Microprocessor Forum in October) an audience draw. I'm tired tonight. See you all soon.
KK
Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1055832837848767802003-06-16T23:53:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.366-07:00Hi Micheal! I have my first reader! Live long and prosper.
[Our IS maven has been creating a web diary longer than the word blogger has been around.] Welcome to my humbly blog.
Tomorrow is the first day of Embedded Processor Forum and it has some interesting material. Stay tuned for the interesting parts. I had a long discussion with IBM on their latest developments and its very interesting. I'mKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1055391756395933502003-06-11T21:22:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.371-07:00Arr, me bloggers, hoist the mizzenmast. (done with a pirate voice)
What would the PC industry be like if AMD, Transmeta and VIA all went away? Without compeition, Intel could slow processor developments and innovation and keep prices high. Intel already gets amazing prices for its PC and server chips, generating more cash than it can spend (Hello Intel, I have one word for you: dividends). And Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1055315120751726722003-06-11T00:05:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.376-07:00Oh one last thing. If anyone finds this Blog, please send me an e-mail at feedback@entropc.com and let me know how you discovered it. Thanks. KKKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1055314818203353422003-06-11T00:00:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.385-07:00Suddenly, he was back, blogging again.
Welcome back to the blog that never ends. OK, who remembers Emerson, Lake, and Powell (ELP)?
Someday, someone might read this. In the meantime, this is good practice for, like, when someone actually reads it.
I watched NBC's Last Comic Standing. I would have loved to compete in that, well if, you know, I was really funny or something.
Actually, I have someKevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1055144310645171962003-06-09T00:38:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.390-07:00Later that same day....
It getting late, but I wanted to add some more to EntroPC. First, I know the name only amuses me, but a Google search does provide a reference to an English lab with the same name.
I find Blogger easy to us, but will likely upgrade to a better level of service when its available. I want to add graphics and pictures. So I consider this "my first Blog" type of site for now.Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1055127147961719842003-06-08T19:52:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.394-07:00OK, It's day 2 of the unknown Blog. If you write it and no one reads it, did you really blog?
Last week I went to the opening of the new Computer History Museum and it was very cool. They just moved into a new building at 101 and Shoreline in Mountainview, CA. It was great to see the old hardware in the visible storage exhibit. Go check it out!
This week will be busy: I have graduations and Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461142.post-1055033442484459902003-06-07T17:50:00.000-07:002007-10-21T14:18:30.399-07:00Welcome to the start of my Blog. EntroPC is all about the evolution of personal computing, including, but certainly not limited to the Wintel-compatible PC (which we used to call the IBM-compatible PC).
My name is Kevin Krewell. I'm an analyst, editor, and general manager at this company. But that publication only covers a portion of my interests. I'm looking at this site as an outlet for other Kevin and Felyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17463380405465187522noreply@blogger.com0