SoylentNews

At Last, a 2.5Gbps Consumer Network Switch: QNAP Releases QSW-1105-5T 5-Port Switch

After entirely too long of a delay, the wait for faster consumer-grade network switches appears to be coming to an end. This week QNAP launched its QSW-1105-5T switch, one of the industry’s first unmanaged 2.5Gbps (2.5GBASE-T) switches. The 5-port switch supports 2.5GbE operation on all five of its RJ45 Ethernet ports, and along with being unmanaged it is also fanless, allowing the switch to work maintenance-free and installed virtually anywhere. The QSW-1105-5T is already on sale in Taiwan for roughly $100, meaning that we’re looking at a price-per-port of about $20.

[...] As the first of what will undoubtedly be many 2.5G switches over the coming months, the QSW-1105-5T also gives us our first real look at what we can expect from this generation of switches as far as footprints and power consumption goes. Since it’s not carved from a pro-grade switch, the 18 cm x 14.5 cm switch is significantly smaller than earlier NBASE-T switches. And with a maximum power consumption rating of 12 W, we’re looking at power consumption of just a bit over 2 Watts per port, which is also a significant improvement over admittedly far more powerful switches.

All of which sounds unremarkable, and indeed that’s exactly what makes the QSW-1105-5T so interesting. The biggest barrier to wide consumer adoption over the last few years has been the cost – both in regards to the core technology and added frills – so we’ve been waiting for quite a while to see NBASE-T technology transition from pro-grade switches to cheap, consumer-grade gear.

Pinephone “Community Edition: PostmarketOS” Launched with 3GB RAM, 32GB Flash, USB-C Hub

After PinePhone “BraveHeart Edition” with any OS pre-installed introduced at the end of last year, Pine64 launched PinePhone “Community Edition: UBports” with Ubuntu Touch last April, and now the company is taking pre-orders for Pinephone “Community Edition: PostmarketOS with Convergence Package”.

Besides using a different operating system, the new PinePhone also got a hardware upgrade with 3GB RAM and 32GB flash instead of the 2GB/16GB configuration from earlier models. Due to the changes and the addition of a USB-C dock for convergence, the price has also gone up from $149.99 to $199.99 with shipping scheduled to start at the end of August. If you don’t need the extra memory, storage, and convergence package, you can still pre-order PinePhone with postmarketOS for $149.99.

Got a PinePhone!
Adventures in PinePhone-land

Previously:

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) Starts "14nm" FinFET Volume Production

Look out Nvidia and AMD… Chinese GPU maker has a GTX 1080-level card in development

The new story:

Asia based Zhaoxin has plans for a dedicated graphics card series

A 70 Watt GPU wouldn't be as interesting as the 200 Watt "1080-level" GPU w/HBM concept from Jingjia Micro, but it could be good enough for cheap office PCs. It's also just a start: note that Zhaoxin's CPUs are on "16nm" while the GPU is on "28nm".

One interesting thing about Soylent News is that there's a very clear, very tangible political division in comments for practically everything. You see everything from Nazi sympathizers to full-blown Communists, but the far ends of the spectrum generally talk much more often. I suppose that could describe wider America, too, but usually it's not so intermixed in real life. I suppose internet makes that easier.

Myself, I'm socially center-left, and far-left economically. I value freedom of speech as a near-absolute, but I think capitalism is about to burn itself out and take a lot of us with it. But whatever, my beliefs are not what this one is about.

I'm wondering, what do Soylentils *really* think of their political opposition?
What do far-right think of the far-left, etc?

Describe how you think they view the world, what you think motivates them, nothing's off the table.
Only rule is, be honest about how you actually perceive them.

I might weigh in at some point in the comments, but I can't promise that.

I wonder if this journal will get any attention, whether it will explode into a white-hot thermite flame war, or whether I'll just get two or three comments calling me a faggot.

I'm genuinely curious about this. Let's hear it.

Facebook reveals holographic optics for thin and light VR headsets

Now it’s revealing a holographic optical architecture designed for thinner, lighter VR headsets, which it expects will appear in future “high performance AR/VR” devices.

Discussed in a Siggraph 2020 research paper titled “Holographic Optics for Thin and Lightweight Virtual Reality,” the system uses flat films to create a VR display only slightly thicker than today’s typical smartphones. Facebook’s “pancake optics” design combines several thin layers of holographic film with a laser projection system and directional backlights, delivering either flat imagery or volumetric holograms depending on the sophistication of the design. Depending on how many color, lighting, and alignment-enhancing components a prototype contains, the thickness of the optical system can range from 11mm to just under 9mm.

In wearable prototype form, each eye display features a resolution of roughly 1,200 by 1,600 pixels — comparable to current VR goggles — with a field of view that’s either a 93-degree circle or a 92-by-69-degree rectangle. That’s roughly comparable to the display specs of a 571-gram Oculus Quest, but in a glasses-like form factor that weighs less than 10 grams in total, albeit with only a single eye display in the prototypes. The researchers note they could cut parts and change materials to achieve a 6.6 gram weight equivalent to plastic aviator sunglasses, but would compromise performance by doing so.

Google Takes a Step Closer to Making Volumetric VR Video Streaming a Thing

Google unveiled a method of capturing and streaming volumetric video, something Google researchers say can be compressed down to a lightweight format capable of even being rendered on standalone VR/AR headsets.

Both monoscopic and stereocopic 360 video are flawed insofar they don’t allow the VR user to move their head completely within a 3D area; you can rotationally look up, down, left, right, and side to side (3DOF), but you can’t positionally lean back or forward, stand up or sit down, or move your head’s position to look around something (6DOF). Even seated, you’d be surprised at how often you move in your chair, or make micro-adjustments with your neck, something that when coupled with a standard 360 video makes you feel like you’re ‘pulling’ the world along with your head. Not exactly ideal.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX Workstation CPU Spotted, Lots of Zen 2 Cores & Increased I/O on WRX80 Platform

They will be supported by AMD's new WRX80 platform which is actively being worked on by several board partners right now. Main features include 8-channel DDR4-3200 support in UDIMM, RDIMM, LRDIMM flavors, 96-128 Gen4 PCIe lanes with 32 switchable lanes to SATA and some PRO features which will allow these chips to be the ultimate workstation solution in the market. In another tweet, Videocardz reported that AMD will be introducing its Ryzen Threadripper PRO lineup on the 14th of July which is next week [Tuesday].

I think 256 GiB RDIMMs (Samsung) are still the highest capacity out there, so it could support up to 4 TiB of memory.

That's also a greater amount of PCIe 4.0 lanes, TR 3990X only supports 64.

The Ryzen 3000XT refresh CPUs are out:

New AMD Ryzen 3000XT Processors Available Today

Nothing interesting there as they offer bad price/performance compared to the CPUs they replace, low performance gains, and 3800XT and 3900XT also drop the stock coolers. And Zen 3 should be out within 3-4 months. If the non-X chips are forced out of stock and the prices drop, then it might be of some interest.

What could be more interesting is the top-end 8-core Renoir desktop APU:

AMD Ryzen 7 4700G Flagship Renoir APU Overclocked To 4.75 GHz Across All 8 Zen 2 Cores on Standard Cooling

Chiplet technology is good for scaling up core counts, but it's not as efficient as monolithic dies like Renoir. Importantly, the Infinity Fabric clock should be higher in Renoir. So it might perform better and use less power despite having 1/4 the L3 cache.

It could also mean that the 4700G will cost more than the 3800X (debuted at $400, now around $300-$320). But you don't have to buy a GPU.

In other news, Intel's Lakefield is widely being seen as a disappointment:

The Intel Lakefield Deep Dive: Everything To Know About the First x86 Hybrid CPU

It seems that the big and small cores won't run at the same time. The main improvements are in power consumption or idle power consumption, but performance will be lackluster, comparable to other low TDP dual-core or Atom quad-core chips. The devices that Lakefield will land in will also be absurdly overpriced (kind of like the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx it is competing against).

Intel will get another shot at a heterogeneous x86 architecture with Alder Lake next year.

I'll be the first to admit I'm a fan.

First time I heard her play, was about 8 years ago. It was just Amy, a guitar, and a tambourine. Still a teenager and up on stage in front of maybe 100 people. By the end of the first song, I knew she was gifted. Outstanding voice and timing. When the crowd applauded after the third song, I heard her say "Awww!" in a "You like me, you really like me!" Sally Fields kind of way. She didn't know how good she was! I knew then I was witnessing something special.

Background: I played an instrument in band for 8 years (grade school through high school). In college, I was a member of the sound group that set up, mixed, and tore down concerts at the student union (and other venues). There's more, but suffice it to say I like to think I have an "ear" for music.

I saw her perform several more over times over the years as she went to Berklee School of Music in Boston, started a band, did some touring, moved to New York City (Brooklyn), and then to Los Angeles. She proceeded to co-write songs for other artists: "Back to You" -- Selena Gomez; "Without Me" -- Halsey (#1 Billboard charts); "Adore You" -- Harry Styles; et al.

In January of 2020, she was listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 for music. It's an annual list of the top 30 people under 30 years old who are recognized for their accomplishments.

On several occasions I had the good fortune to meet and chat with her. She has always struck me as a genuine, humble, down-to-earth person first and foremost as well as a gifted performer.

She signed with Warner Music about a year ago. She'd been working on an album and was on the verge of its release... and then the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Finally, the first single off her upcoming album is out. There's a video up on YouTube: "Queen of Silver Linings" -- Amy Allen. She has an Instagram page and an official web page which also has links to where the single is available..

More background info is available on her Wikipedia page.

UPDATE:

"Queen of Silver Linings" is a different style for Amy. She used to have a bunch of videos of her own up on YouTube, especially of when she was fronting her band (Amy & The Engine), but took them down a while ago. That said, other people who saw her perform had put up videos, as well. Some are of poor quality, so I'll spare you having to endure those. Here are some "historically representative examples". For starters, check out Get Me Outta Here (Vine Sessions), Love Me (Sofar Session), and Love Me (Live at Boston Tree Lighting )

Hong Kong security law: Pro-democracy books pulled from libraries

Books by pro-democracy figures have been removed from public libraries in Hong Kong in the wake of a controversial new security law.

[...] Since the security law came into effect on Tuesday, several leading pro-democracy activists have stepped down from their roles. One of them - one-time student leader and local legislator Nathan Law - has fled the territory.

At least nine books have become unavailable or marked as "under review", according to the South China Morning Post newspaper. They include books authored or co-authored by Joshua Wong, a prominent pro-democracy activist, and pro-democracy politician Tanya Chan.

Hong Kong: books by pro-democracy activists disappear from library shelves

I will add a list here if I find it. Authors censored include Joshua Wong, Tanya Chan, and Chin Wan.

Unfree Speech - Joshua Wong
http://libgen.li/search.php?req=Unfree+Speech%3A+The+Threat+to+Global+Democracy&open=0&res=25&view=simple&phrase=1&column=def

Forgive me if I'm not too coherent, just dumping my thoughts before I go to bed at another ungodly hour.

Recently, when I had time and before my boss had hired me back remotely, I was going to work on a programming language of my own.
I could have done it, but the free time to get the base of it going is now gone, and in retrospect it probably wouldn't be what I wanted it to be anyways.
Upon further thought, I realized that garbage collection, my desired approach, just wouldn't cut it.

The last few weeks, I've been learning Rust. It's a new language, an immature language, but it has enormous potential,
much more so than any other competitor to C and C++ I've seen ever before.

I really love C and C++, I genuinely do, and I'll still be using them frequently. You might say that because of personal history, I even have a bit of an attachment to them.
It actually made me pretty sad to have to force myself to accept that the weaknesses of C and C++ can't be worked around sufficiently.
My first programming language was ANSI C, and I've done a *lot* of work in C++, especially at my day job.
C and C++ are definitely not going anywhere for a long, long time.

That said, I've come to realize that if programmers don't adopt something like Rust, we're going to continue to see more and more Electron/Node.JS hell, more huge bloated apps needing a Java or C# runtime that take forever to start up and use a ton of RAM, and more giant piles of Python that are far more performance sensitive than is sane to use Python for.

Nowadays, a lot of desktop app development is done in slow, bloated languages. Personally I never understood Java or C# until recently. I figured, if you need performance and strong typing, you should probably just use C++, and if you want rapid development and the ability to quickly slap something working together, those languages are about as bad as C++, and you should probably use Python or Ruby. I think for a lot of people, the point of those languages is safety by default.

I'm pretty good at memory management. I wasn't when I was first learning ANSI C of course, but over the years I've gotten pretty good at not leaking memory or using freed pointers. I've even gotten pretty good at multithreaded programming. The problem is, many beginner and intermediate level developers are still horrible at it. They constantly introduce vulnerabilities and segfaults, race conditions and heap corruption. That's never going to change. Companies will not change their tactics to hire more experienced devs, and even experienced devs will shit the bed from time to time.
I finally truly understand why a ton of banking software is written in Java and C#, it's the safety.

The fact is, I don't like where software development is going. I don't like most stuff being written in slow, semi-proprietary, patent-haunted managed languages like Java and C#, or psychotic event-looped web-hell like Node.JS.

I just won't touch Java or JavaScript, for differing reasons of course. C# is a little better I think since .NET Core, but not much, and at least it has unsigned integers and real pointers, if you want them.

I don't want to live in a world where everything is slow and bloated. When I fire up Discord or Slack, my i5 thinkpad really churns and it takes a sizable portion of my 8GB of RAM just to get the GUI up.
Compare that to a GTK or Qt app.

But, I think people settle for C# and Java, rather than D or Go etc, because they have to use a garbage collector anyways. They have to eat that turd whether they go for an obscure language like D, or a popular one like C#.

I think that's what makes Rust different. There's parts of Rust's syntax I really don't like, like the single quote for lifetime specifiers, but the more I played with it, the more I liked it overall.

I do think some of the 'cult of safety' around Rust needs to evaporate. Using unsafe code where you know it's correct needs to stop being frowned upon by web devs who came from Node.JS so they can say "AM BIG BOY", but are still terrified of pointers. That kind of aura will drive away a lot of different devs I know. That doesn't mean unsafe should be preferred, quite the contrary, or you really miss the whole point of Rust, but I have seen too much unhealthy outrage at *any* use of the 'unsafe' keyword.

Well, I guess I have firmly inserted the crab into my anus.
That's all I got for now.