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Seeing that this is the first time that I got a special request for a blog entry, I thought I’d write about it. My friend pointed me towards this new microprocessor design that claims to be faster, cheaper and more efficient than today’s computers at certain kinds of tasks. This is wonderful news.

But first, some background.

Since the dawn of computation, we have always had to trade off speed and accuracy. This is simply a limitation of the finite number of bits used in computation. With only a limited number of bits, values have to be rounded off at some point. Also, if the number is too big or small for the number of bits used to store it, the number is typically truncated.

As for these bits, their 0 or 1 state is represented by a specific voltage level on a transistor. In the past, with 5V devices, the levels were set at 0 (0-0.7V) and 1 (4.3-5.0V). But with the low 1V used in devices today, the margin for error is reduced drastically. Therefore, it becomes troublesome to make consistently accurate devices. Lots of microprocessors get binned when they fail to produce accurate results.

However, there has also been some research into using these ‘faulty’ devices for computation in applications where accuracy is not paramount. An example is a JPEG image that can contain 16 million colours. However, these images are typically displayed on monitors with only 256 thousand colours. So, some loss of accuracy is certainly acceptable.

Now, I tried to look up some original papers on this particular technology by this particular group of people. However, these papers did not reveal the technology specifics. The best that I can do is guess at the kind of work that they’re doing.

By reducing the voltage of the processor, the power will be reduced by a square factor (halving the voltage will quarter the power). However, the problem is that the noise margin becomes significant and the ability to discern a 0 from a 1 on a transistor deteriorates. These processors will still produce correct results, but not all the time, that’s all.

By increasing the switching frequency of the processor, the power consumption will increase linearly (doubling the frequency doubles the power). However, there is also a maximum speed at which a transistor can switch voltage levels. Therefore, by lowering the voltage, we can technically switch the transistors sooner, hence faster.

However, if a way is found to tolerate these inaccuracies, we would be able to run processors at a faster switching speed and lower voltage.

One way of doing this is through the use of redundancy. This particular article does not make clear of whether this is the method chosen. However, it maybe something similar. If we built three adders instead of one, and chose the correct result based on the majority vote of these adders, we would be able to tolerate the inaccuracies in each individual adder, while still getting meaningful results at the end.

Although using three address triples the size of the chip (which triples the power consumption and cost), this can be traded off. Power consumption is still a win as any reduction is a square factor while any increase is linear. Cost can be reduced by using an older and cheaper manufacturing process. The point is that these factors can be traded off.

So, that’s my read of the technology (my limited read of it anyway).

I had reason to be in KLCC today. Since I’ve not been there in almost 5 years, I decided to just have a look around. Surprisingly little has changed in Suria KLCC though. Almost every store that was once there, is still there and additions have been few.

I took the opportunity to visit the concept stores from Sony and LG. The 70″ LCD-TVs are certainly eye-catching. I would love to have one of those things in my living room. However, the price tag starts at RM70,000 (£13,000) and is a tad prohibitive for me. However, I’ve noticed that their 32″ LCD panel prices are pretty slick. The ones with 1080p resolution are priced modestly at around RM2,300 (£430). Not too shabby, I think.

After lunch, I visited Kinokuniya to browse through their books. Their prices are surprisingly cheaper than that of Borders or MPH. They’ve also got a much better selection of scifi books than the other two. I was also incredibly impressed by their customer service.

I approached the information counter to ask about a book: “Anathem” and the service personnel asked me: “Neal Stephenson?”. I’m surprised that she even knew which book I was talking about and the author. She told me that it was out of stock but she took down my phone number and said that they will contact me when they get the stock. Sweet! Their quoted price of RM70 was also cheaper than the prices elsewhere.

In the end, I ended up buying a book by Ian Banks. I’ve read a few of his non-scifi books and have been quite impressed. Since he is actually famous as a scifi writer, I thought that I’d give one of his books a try. If I like it, I would have another author for me to read on top of Gibson, Reynolds and Stephenson.

Plus, I ran into a former uni-mate while having lunch. How random is that?

I saw GINA on the TV for the first time last week and I immediately fell in love. There is nothing else quite like her and when she winks, it is like a stab through the heart. Her curves are like none other and her skin is as smooth as silk.

Seriously, GINA is a great concept car. The fundamental question that it tries to answer is what happens when the traditional skin is removed. The safety and stability aspects of a car is taken care of with the main frame. So, BMW replaced the skin with a rubberised fabric.

As a result, the car takes on the shape of the frame. By making parts of the frame movable, the car is able to morph its shape and adjust its size for different applications. It can raise a rear spoiler for those high speed runs on the freeway, or broaden its luggage compartment when extra space is needed.

In addition, light is able to feed through the fabric. Therefore, the lights can shine through even when they are hidden under the fabric. This diffuses the light and produces a soft glow, which is suitable for the brake lights and indicators. The headlamps light the way through an opening in the fabric – the eyes.

This got me thinking that, the same concept can also be applied to other things. If it can be used on a car, it can most certainly be used on consumer electronics. I would love to see someone like Apple, maybe take this up and make things with fabric skins instead of plastics. That would be truly fashionable.

What can I say about this film. It has far exceeded my expectations. I had only bought it because there wasn’t much else left for me to buy. I have purchased a large number of Korean films from the local inventory. Since this film was relatively cheap, I thought that I would give it a try.

This is a seriously good film. It kept me at the edge of my seat, made me cry, and caused me to scream at one point. Instead of writing my own, I thought that I’d just quote one from the Internet:

Ex-cop pimp Jung-ho is irritated because his girls keep disappearing without clearing their debts. One night, he gets a call from a customer and sends Mi-jin. Jung-ho realizes the phone number of the customer matches that of the calls the missing girls got last. As something smells fishy, he searches for her. During his search, Jung-ho dents a car in the alley. When Jung-ho spots blood splattered on the driver’s shirt, he senses the man, Young-min, is the suspect. After an intense chase, Jung-ho catches Young-min. But because of Jung-ho’s pretense as a cop, they are both taken to the police station. At the station, the man bluntly confesses he has killed the missing women, and the last girl, Mi-jin, may still be alive. As the whole police force is obsessed with a random search for corpses, Jung-ho is the only one who believes Mi-jin is still alive. With only 12 hours left to detain the serial killer without a warrant, Jung-ho’s hunt begins, searching for Mi-jin entrapped in a place nobody knows.

All I can say is that this is one hell of a show. After watching so many Korean films, I’m starting to get a sense of their style of cinematography and story telling. This film is classic Korean with one heck of a story. I’d watch it again just to be able to scream out loud again.

I had, on recent occasion, an opportunity to play with the HP Mini Netbook for a few hours. After fooling around with it for a bit, I have come to the conclusion that it is really not suitable for me.

I’m sure that there are many people out there who find them utterly indispensable, evidenced by the growing Netbook market, but I doubt that I would find it very useful – except possibly as a CarPC (come to think of it, it would make a pretty decent CarPC).

I have two main peeves with the Netbook.

Firstly, the keyboard. While the HP Mini has the largest keyboard of all the present Netbooks in the market, it is still pathetically small. Typing on it is extremely erroneous but I’m sure that after some adjustment, it would get better with time.

Secondly, the monitor. All netbooks come with a very small screen (8″-10″) that is further plagued by a low resolution. I found myself bent over trying to use the screen. Increasing the font-size may help, but that will further reduce the effective work area on screen.

However, this is all just my personal opinion.

I can however, see netbooks replacing smart phones. If they built some 3G capabilities into device, it could easily become the business appliance of choice. You can not only check email on it but also do some serious work alongside. Plus, you wouldn’t need to compromise your browsing experience on a even smaller phone screen.

Now, if only Intel can come up with a better use for their Atom platform.

Bill Gates, infamous for releasing buggy software into the world, recently released a jar of mosquitoes at TED recently! He was quoted as saying, “there is no reason only poor people should be infected.” (He surely has a flair for the theatrics) Man, you’re my hero!

In Malaysia, we are presently having an outbreak of dengue. I remembered my British friend telling me about dengue with fear and trepidation and me smiling at him and thinking to myself – dengue, no biggie. Thing is, we get it all the time here. It’s endemic to this region.

Thing is, I don’t really understand all this fuss over dengue. According to this article, it has a 0.02% fatality rate. Seriously, 0.02% (mainly the babies and geriatrics).

Anyway, here’s the full video. He releases the mosquitoes at about 5:15 and talks a lot about how we can make great teachers from about 8 minutes onwards.

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

PS: Before anyone accuses me of being a Bill Gates fan-boy, I have to say that I’ve always respected the man, regardless of his shortcomings.

Well, the dust hasn’t settled yet, but for the situation to even come to this stage is utterly laughable.

• The Sultan orders (by royal decree) the MB and the whole exco to resign. The MB is refusing to follow. This is just crazy. Doesn’t he realise that the Sultan has the legal authority to just banish him from the state if he feels like it? Once the Sultan makes his decision, it’s unwise to go against it.
• All sorts of people (who used to like the idea of defections) no longer like the idea of political defections. It’s nice that some people have finally had a taste of their own medicine. I’ve never been a fan of defections. I’ve always preferred the idea of re-elections.
• Senior UMNO politicians are condemning the defections. Dr M and Ku Li have openly criticised the way in which Perak was turned over to a ‘blue’ state again. Frogs like to jump. They can jump left one day, and right the next. It’s never a good idea to depend on frogs.
• There are massive public rallies planned for tonight. The PR are planning to use people power to pressure the Sultan into dissolving the state assembly and calling for fresh elections. I doubt that it would work but good luck anyway. Stay safe and don’t get hurt.
• The PR are filing legal challenges against the decision by the EC to recognise the frogs. As far as I can tell, this is too little too late. No amount of legal wrangling is going to change the fact that a royal decree has been issued. Even if the PR win the legal case, they will still need to deal with the Sultan.

Personally, I’m just kicking back and waiting to watch the show. It is darn funny.