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Nvida's latest mark of their newly discovered open-source kindness is beginning to provide open-source hardware reference headers for their latest GK20A/GM20B Tegra GPUs while they are working to also provide hardware header files on their older GPUs. These programming header files in turn will help the development of the open-source Nouveau video driver as up to this point they have had to do much of the development via reverse-engineering.
In order to drive Nouveau as NVIDIA's primary development environment for Tegra, they are looking at adding "official" hardware reference headers to Nouveau. Ken explained, " The headers are derived from the information we use internally. I have arranged the definitions such that the similarities and differences between GPUs is made explicit. I am happy to explain the rationale for any design choices and since I wrote the generator I am able to tweak them in almost any way the community prefers."
So far he has been cleared to provide the programming headers for the GK20A and GM20B. For those concerned this is just an item for driving up future Tegra sales, Ken added, "over the long-term I'm confident any information we need to fill-in functionality >= NV50/G80 will be made public eventually. We just need to go through the internal steps necessary to make that happen."
Perhaps most interesting is that moving forward they would like to use the Nouveau kernel driver code-base as the primary development environment for new hardware. In 2012 Torvalds sent a public "fuck you!" to Nvidia. Also, don't forget Intel and AMD offerings.
Original Submission
(Score: 5, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Thursday June 25 2015, @07:40PM
it was to work on cuda. computational physics was the focus of my degree. i taught it at caltech then did data analysis at cern. so i was very eager to discuss numerical solutions to differential equations and the like.
instead they asked me one single logic puzzle that had me totally stymied. that question had nothing whatsoever to do with physics or device drivers.
I got a job doing raid drivers because the interviewers at amcc asked me questions that were relevant to the job.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Thursday June 25 2015, @07:48PM
(Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Thursday June 25 2015, @07:58PM
> Did they show it was actually solvable?
Since it sounds like an interview rigged up by an HR type and not a coding type, I'd bet that all they could possibly show is the answer they got off the Internet.
(Score: 3, Informative) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday June 26 2015, @12:13AM
Google evetually figured out that knowing what to do if you were shrunk to the size of a nickel then dropped into a blender did not predict your on the job success.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 25 2015, @08:16PM
> I like reading puzzles too hard for me to solve. What was the problem? Did they show it was actually solvable?
Haven't you figured it out yet? MDC is a pathological liar. His life is full of adventure and variety -- He taught at caltech, worked at cern, dated gabe newells sister and a thousand other things that I would remember if I cared enough to catalog his crazy -- all the while having time to constantly to post about all his amazing experiences on webforums. When does the credulity run out?
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Thursday June 25 2015, @08:52PM
...but he was great in "Some mothers do 'ave 'em"... :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday June 26 2015, @12:10AM
"Does your husband/mother know that you're writing to me?". i mean likenine year old girls would offer their maidenhead to me.
"Will you sing at my daughters edding"
"I dont know how to sing but i play improvisational piano."
"Thats ok - come sing anyway."
When Michael Patrick Dumble-Smythe retired he moved into my aunt's neighborhood so british people would not know where to find him.
He is the specific reason i use my full name online. really i just prefer mike.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday June 26 2015, @12:16AM
I regard it as bad form to tell anyone what my job interview questions are, even when they are totally asinine.
While it wasnt chess consider a chess problem. what move is required so your opponent cannot checkmate you?
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 26 2015, @03:37AM
Toppling your king, the best way to win is not to play
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Friday June 26 2015, @03:37PM
While it wasnt chess consider a chess problem. what move is required so your opponent cannot checkmate you?
That's easy. The only way to win is not to play.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 25 2015, @09:43PM
It's been a long time since I did any Physics, and in my day, us puny undergrads didn't get to do any computing as such, so what books should I read etc. to learn about this sort of stuff? My brain is pretty lame these days, so something that starts with the basics would be best.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday June 26 2015, @03:10AM
I didnt use it but it is quite popular. I dont recall the titles of the books I used but they were all into FORTRAN.
Every law of physics other than general relativity is in CERNLIB somewhere but despite wandering its gordian labyrinth for decades I have yet to actually find any.
Google Runge-Kutta that should get you started. It is a way of avoiding the compounding of errors by overestimating as much as you underestimate.
Ask terry schalk, tas at scipp dot ucsc dot edu to recommend some books. tell him i sent you, hes a good guy.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday June 25 2015, @11:05PM
Perhaps you should have started a competing business instead considering the level of recruitment .. ;-)
Search for "Open Graphics Project".
(Score: 2) by zugedneb on Thursday June 25 2015, @11:19PM
what for?
what would they need a computational physicist for?
one would think they need compiler writers and the sort...
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday June 26 2015, @12:05AM
It is proprietary to nvidia. opencl does the same thing but is cross platform.
In fact there is a compiler but its a very simple one.
cuda and opencl are used for parallel processing. there are many physical problems for which that would work well.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 26 2015, @02:57PM
I know this is off topic You put up an 'ask' question a few weeks ago that did not get thru the queue.
I wanted to answer your question about turning into a lawyer. Dont. My sister did this (she went back to teaching it has a better health plan and per hour paid better). She found it was 100% dull ("all I do is fill out forms for other people and charge them for it"). You have people coming at you all the time trying to 'sue' other people over stupid things. She tells me stories of digging thru 40 years of paperwork.
You are also always chasing people down to pay you. A co-worker of mine got a divorce a few years ago. Her lawyer told her 'you are the first person to pay me on time'. Then lets say you 'win a big case' sometimes who you win money from does not pay up, or your client will just decide not to pay you.
You will also be going into a field where your fellow lawyers *enjoy* messing with you (mentally, physically, financially, and professionally).
You may think "I will make lots of money" not really and not for many many years.
You may think "I will help people". Probably not. Usually at most you can mitigate what they have done. One dude I know just decided not to show for court. Try doing anything gov related when you have a warrant for your arrest. I call them 'that paint is wet' people. They do not listen and then wonder how to get the paint off. There are *lots* of them out there.
If you want a good idea what it is like, try being a clerk at some mom and pop office for a year or so. You will get a real good idea of what goes on. You may love it and then want to go for it. But for this sort of profession I say 'try before you buy'. Get the right dude and they may even help you pay for it if you like it. But go slow on this. It may seem prestigious but in the end its just a job.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday June 27 2015, @12:55PM
oddly my story is marked Accepted but has not been published yet. I figure they are waiting for a lull in the submissions.
My main interest is in working for the rights if the homeless and mentally ill. Often the laws are well established but are not enforced.
There was an attorney in santa cruz who specialized in the homeless. When he was unable to pay his bar association dues they were paid anonymously by a judge.
As a consultant I know all about deadbeat clients.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]