Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The Real Reasons Microsoft, Sony Chose AMD For The Xbox One And PS4


It has been two weeks since E3, the world’s largest gaming show, and the final pieces of the game console puzzle are starting to come into place.  The public knows what the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 look like, what they will run, what they won’t, digital rights management and their price.  Ironically, I have yet to read or hear exactly why Microsoft MSFT +1.9% and Sony chose AMD silicon to power their new consoles and my goal here is to simply lay it out.
To get at why Microsoft and Sony chose AMD, you need to start with the content needs.  Both makers were looking for a way to increase the console “footprint”, increase the amount of apps, and lower the cost of software development.  The Xbox One and the PS4 are designed to do a lot more than games.  They designed the consoles to be the future hub for all home entertainment and home automation and control.  To effectively do this, they will need hundreds of complex apps that are relatively straight-forward to code.  Therefore, you need to start with an application processor architecture that supports this, and it’s not Power architecture.
The apps processors that powers today’s Xbox 360 and the PS3 are based on the Power architecture.  It delivered decent performance seven years ago, but it is much more difficult to program than the ARM (ARM Holdings PLC), MIPS (Imagination Technologies Group PLC), or X86 (AMD and Intel INTC +0.3%).  Additionally, the technological investment in ARM, MIPS and X86 architectures and ecosystems dwarfed PowerPC over the last decade, rendering Power obsolete for the required performance per watt.  In a world where your console needs to have as many apps as your smartphone, the only answer was ARM, MIPS or X86.
My sources have confirmed for me that both Sony and Microsoft felt that MIPS didn’t have the right size developer ecosystem or the horsepower to power the new consoles.  Then it came down to ARM versus X86 architecture.  I am told there was a technical “bake-off”, where prototype silicon was tested against each other across a myriad of application-based and synthetic benchmarks.   At the end of the bake-off, ARM was deemed as not having the right kind of horsepower and that its 64-bit architecture wasn’t ready soon enough.  64-bit was important as it maximized memory addressability, and the next gen console needed to run multiple apps, operating systems and hypervisors. ARM-based architectures will soon get as powerful as AMD’s Jaguar cores, but not when Sony or Microsoft needed them for their new consoles.
Then there is the matter of implementation.  Both Sony and Microsoft wanted a custom X86-based SOC, or system on a chip.  SOCs are silicon similar in design to those in a smartphone, where every single piece of functionality is driven off of a single piece of silicon like the apps processor, graphics, video, image processing, audio, security, memory controller and I/O. The only thing separate inside the consoles are storage and some power management.  The desire for an SOC makes sense for so many reasons.  First is low power, as generally, SOCs are lower power than multiple pieces of silicon.  Also, one piece of silicon generally takes less space and generates less heat than two or three chips.  The requirement for an X86-based SOC ostensibly removed Nvidia NVDA -0.25% from the running.
As for custom, both Microsoft and Sony had different requirements for graphics, video processing, content security, and even memory. Sony and Microsoft could have attempted to pull it off on their own, but they just didn’t have the experience or the IP required to put five to seven billion transistors on one piece of silicon.  They also could have contracted a third party like Open Silicon, but frankly, this is way too complex a project and the stakes too high to go with anyone who hasn’t done leading edge design.  And who can forget the Microsoft’s “red ring of death” costing them billions and tarnishing the Xbox brand.  The requirement for a custom SOC removed Intel from the running, as well as their graphics.
Every one of these factors above contributed to AMD getting the nod.  AMD won this business because they have the advanced IP, know-how, experience and commitment to make this happen.  They have leading edge IP in CPU, GPU, memory, video, audio, and I/O.  They also designed the first quad core, X86 SOC, and it’s not a giant leap to take this to eight cores.  Finally, AMD built an entire product division to support the effort that others weren’t prepared to commit.  It was a clear-cut win.
Now that is why Sony and Microsoft both chose AMD.

The Most Powerful Celebrities,OPRAH WINFREY!

Oprah Winfrey Regains No. 1 Slot On Forbes 2013 List of The Most Powerful Celebrities

Everyone should know this by now: Never count Oprah out. Despite business stumbles and an $88 million earnings drop since last year, Oprah Winfrey returns to the top of Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 ranking of the most powerful celebrities after two years in second place. She leads a female-dominated top 10 that includes Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Madonna, Taylor Swift and Ellen DeGeneres.
Even without her eponymous daytime talk show, Winfrey made an estimated $77 million between June 2012 and June 2013, down from last year’s $165 million. While she wasn’t the highest earner on our list, her money, mixed with strong fame scores in metrics like press mentions and social networking power, pushed her to the top.
Winfrey remains a powerful force in Hollywood. Her Oprah Winfrey Network, once a drifting cable outpost that lost an estimated $330 million for parent company Discovery between 2008 and the end of 2012, is now a smoothish-running media machine that could turn a profit by the end of 2013.
Mistakes like Rose O’Donnell’s talk show? History. Nailing must-see viewing, like her two-night interview with disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, is Winfrey’s focus now, as are scripted shows with help from fellow Celebrity 100 member Tyler Perry. In the near future, shows that don’t star Winfrey could become as much of a draw as her own programs. Winfrey also earns from an empire that includes her O magazine, talk shows from protégés like Rachael Ray and Dr. Phil, and a network on SiriusXM satellite radio.
Full Coverage: The Celebrity 100

Unlike most FORBES lists, which are based on earnings or net worth, our annual Celebrity 100 takes a stab at measuring that most ephemeral of riches: fame. Yes, we factor in celebrity earnings over the last 12 months, but we also tally how often each celebrity is mentioned in print and on TV, and gauge the strength of their Internet presence and how they’re viewed by a critical constituency: American consumers.
This year we added a marketability score (1-100) for each celebrity that was developed by Encino, Calif.-based market research firm E-Poll, based on opinion polling about 46 different attributes for 6,600 different celebrities. Will Smith, Jennifer Aniston and Sandra Bullock are the most marketable celebrities on our list (Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James ranks dead last in that category).
For social networking strength, we worked with another new partner, Starcount, a Singapore-based company that measures impact across 11 social media platforms including Facebook FB -0.25%, Twitter, YouTube and Google GOOG +0.83% +. Each celebrity’s Starcount number gives a sense of how popular he or she is on the Internet.
Pop stars tend to do very well on this metric. Last year’s Celebrity 100 cover boy, Justin Bieber, has the most social networking power of the 100 celebrities on our list, followed by Rihanna and Lady Gaga.
Of course, because we’re FORBES, money carries the most weight in our rankings, and thanks to that Madonna is back on the Celeb 100–in fifth place–after two years off the list. Even though her newest album, MDNA, was a flop, the Material Girl still managed to rank as this year’s top earner thanks to a world tour that helped her rake in $125 million between June 2012 and June 2013.
Lady Gaga, who topped our list in 2011 and is often considered Madonna’s heir, ranks second despite cutting her tour short due to a hip injury. Gaga still managed to earn $80 million and get the second-most press mentions of anyone on our list (behind Rihanna). Gaga is also a master of social networking. Her Little Monsters hang on her every tweet, making her the third most successful social networker on our list.
Together with Beyonce (fourth,) Taylor Swift (sixth) and Ellen Degeneres (10th) women occupy six of the top 10 slots on this year’s list, down from seven last year. Overall, they landed 35 of 100 slots, about the same as last year.
The four men who crack the top 10 are director Steven Spielberg (third), rock band Bon Jovi (seventh), tennis player Roger Federer (eighth), and pop star Bieber (ninth).
Spielberg is up seven spots from last year, with estimated earnings of $100 million. The director was back in peak form with political biopic Lincoln. The film not only earned two Oscars, it also grossed a tidy $275 million at the global box office on a budget of $65 million. Spielberg’s TV work isn’t going quite as well, DreamWorks’ Smash was recently canceled by NBC. But he’s got several new shows in the works, including a small screen version of the popular video game, Halo.
Federer, the highest-ranked athlete on our list, is up 23 spots from last year thanks to the most impressive endorsement portfolio in sports. Ten sponsors collectively pay him more than $40 million annually. He’s also a press darling. Federer ranks seventh for celebrities with the most mentions in print.
Last year’s number one, Jennifer Lopez, falls to 12th place on our list this time around. With American Idol in her rearview mirror, Lopez just doesn’t carry the same buzz as a year ago, despite the ratings implosion of the show. No worries, though. She still managed to pull in $45 million from a major concert tour and endless endorsement work.

the 10 sure ways to Test Your Mental Sharpness

10 Brainteasers to Test Your Mental Sharpness

To test your mental acuity, answer the following questions (no peeking at the answers!):
1. Johnny’s mother had three children. The first child was named April. The second child was named May. What was the third child’s name?
2. A clerk at a butcher shop stands five feet ten inches tall and wears size 13 sneakers. What does he weigh?
3. Before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?
4. How much dirt is there in a hole that measures two feet by three feet by four feet?
5. What word in the English language is always spelled incorrectly?
6. Billie was born on December 28th, yet her birthday always falls in the summer. How is this possible?
7. In British Columbia you cannot take a picture of a man with a wooden leg. Why not?
8. If you were running a race and you passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in now?
9. Which is correct to say, “The yolk of the egg is white” or “The yolk of the egg are white?”
10. A farmer has five haystacks in one field and four haystacks in another. How many haystacks would he have if he combined them all in one field?
Answers

1. Johnny.
2. Meat.
3. Mt. Everest. It just wasn’t discovered yet.
4. There is no dirt in a hole.
5. Incorrectly (except when it is spelled incorrecktly).
6. Billie lives in the southern hemisphere.
7. You can’t take a picture with a wooden leg. You need a camera (or iPad or cell phone) to take a picture.
8. You would be in 2nd place. You passed the person in second place, not first.
9. Neither. Egg yolks are yellow.
10. One. If he combines all his haystacks, they all become one big stack.
Okay, some of these are a bit corny. But they all illustrate several brain idiosyncrasies that affect how we make decisions in the world.
Thanks to the way our brain works, we have a very strong tendency to see what we want to see and what we expect to see. This has huge implications when studying our customers, markets, competitors, and other data that influences key business decisions.
When we only see what we want or expect to see, we miss competitive threats because our brain tells us a threat couldn’t possibly come from that direction. We miss opportunities because we only see what has worked in the past rather than what could be. And we miss major market shifts and changes in customer needs that seem obvious in hindsight but are easily overlooked when focusing on what we already know.
Our brain doesn’t like information gaps, so we tend to jump at the first answer/solution that looks good rather than take the time to examine all the data. This is especially true in a world where we receive more information every day than we have time to assimilate. Finally, our brains love to see patterns and make connections. This trait serves us well in many ways as we move through the world. But the brain doesn’t always get it right.
For example, how did you answer question #1 (be honest)? For most people, the first word that pops into their head is “June,” because the brain quickly spots the April/May/June pattern. Upon re-reading the question and analyzing the data, the answer “Johnny” becomes obvious.
And what about the man with the wooden leg? Your answer depends on how you interpret “with.” Does it refer to the man with the wooden leg or to the camera? A bit of a trick question, but it clearly illustrates how the language we use shapes the way we look at the world.
Perhaps the best example of how we miss things is the egg yolk question. Everybody knows egg yolks are yellow. But the question’s phrasing puts our attention on selecting the correct verb, so we overlook an obvious piece of data and an even more obvious answer.
We can’t change how the brain works – at least not yet. Give science another 50 years and who knows what our brains will be doing! For now, we can become more aware of how our brain works, then pause from time to time to consider what we’re missing. This includes the data we’re unconsciously screening out as well as different sources of data to counterbalance what we expect to see.
Get in the habit of teasing your brain. You’ll be amazed at what you end up seeing that you didn’t see before.
Retweet this blog to find out how clever your friends and business associates are.

24 Ways To Become Highly Productive TODAY

24 Ways To Be Uncommonly Productive Today

Let’s face it we all want more time in our life to get more done, be more, do more and have more.
The thing is, we are all given the same 24 hours in a day as everyone else.
So why is it then that some people are just so much more efficient at squeezing more out of every moment of every day?
Cute Cat lounging around vs super productivity on the Project Program
Well they have a few secrets up their sleeve that you should know about.
Until some genius figures out how to give us more time and charges a fortune for it, I’m going to help you make the most of the time you have at your disposal right now.
Below you will find 24 great strategies you can employ today to save you more time – if you implement them, of course.
1. Get up an hour earlier.
2. Use Sunday evening for planning the week.
3. Say no. (the power of constraints). Ignore. Focus only on the thing you’re looking to achieve.
4. Get a cleaner and stop spending your precious hours on this task each week (your time is worth a lot more)

5. Turn off your emails on your phone
6. Use a simple to-do-list like TeuxDeux  and only put THREE things on it to get done each day
7. Plan your day according to the most important, biggest task, not the smallest and easiest.
8. Avoid meetings at all cost. If you have to go  have one specific outcome in mind
9. Know what the next step is at the end of every conversation
10. Use Leechblock (Firefox Extension) or Nanny (Google Chrome) to block out times when you can’t access social media and other distracting sites
11. Set a timer to go off at 30 minute intervals to focus on one activity and take a short 1 minute break to refocus
12. Take a proper break after 2 hours for 10-20 minutes and dance to your fave song, do some pushups, get out in the fresh air
13. Ask yourself “is what I’m doing right now getting me closer to what I want to achieve.
14. Know what you’re looking to achieve – what does finished look like?
15. Play motivating upbeat music while working to keep your energy levels high
16. Keep an idea book to dump your distractions in, and come back to them a week later
17. Keep a journal of WHAT you have achieved – either in a notebook or I recommend online journal Penzu
18. Work out what is important and what isn’t
19. Stop procrastinating and just DO it!
20. Throw out the TV – literally bury it in your back garden
21. Turn off the internet. If you’re writing or creating go to a coffee shop that has no internet
22. Outsource – get help using oDesk and Elance, and have someone else design your blog in 2 days instead of you taking 3 weeks
23. Don’t say should, say “I will”. Think like Yoda `There is no try, there is only do or do not’
24. Don’t answer the phone. Literally. If it’s important they’ll leave a message

So tell me in the comments below what are you starting today that you will ship in a month?

THE IMPOTANCE OF SELF-EPIGNOSIS. A BOOK WRITTEN BY E.N JASPER AND PATRICK IKEAZOR TALKS MORE ON THAT.....IT'LL SOON BE AT YOUR DOOR STEP!.....this is Sandra ,the winner- CU'S GOT TALENTS 2013.


a photoshoot with the winner of the first edition of CU's Got Talent today and it was fun as you can see with your own korokoro eyes...lol  - See more at: http://thetalkcity.blogspot.com/2013/05/hottt-exclusive-photos-winner-of-cus.html#sthash.MQGcPt5O.dpuf

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