h2g2bob @h2g2bob@mastodon.dbatley.com

Staggering charts in the FT by John Burn-Murdoch show that after 12 years of Tory rule we are poorer, sicker and will die sooner than our peers. Utterly disgraceful.

This blog entry by Raymond Chen, "Why doesn’t Windows use the 64-bit virtual address space below 0x00000000`7ffe0000?"¹ is absolutely brilliant.

What I thought was a trivial design decision of some kind turns out to have deep roots in 32-bit Windows (the separation between user and kernel) and, this is where it becomes surreal, the DEC Alpha processor ​!

I quote Raymond Chen directly:

"On the Alpha AXP, most 32-bit constants can be generated in at most two instructions. But there’s a range of values that requires three instructions: 0x7fff8000 to 0x7fffffff. "

As the person who ran the first three DEC Alpha systems in the UK outside DEC "REO" (Reading Office) I have a bit of history with these processors and yet I had never ever heard of this.

Don't ignore the links embedded in the page because they are worth reading too.

(also, if you do not follow Raymond Chen's blog via RSS you should - his series on processors and the history of Windows design decisions is fabulous).

#Windows #MemoryAllocation #DECAlpha #WindowsOnAlpha
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¹ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20221216-00/?p=107598

"We won't ask why you would want to glue ceramic and leather together - we just give gluing info."
- https://thistothat.com best site of the week

Mastodon News Sources

General News - US and World

BBC News (World) Bot - @BBCWorld
BBC News Bot - @BBC
CNN Bot - @CNN
CNN Breaking News - @cnnbrk
DW (Deutsche Welle) News Bot - @dwnews_bot
NPR US News Bot - @NPR_USNews
NYTimes Bot - @NYTimes
Reuters Bot - @reuters
Rolling Stone - @RollingStone
The Guardian US Bot - @TheGuardian_us
Wall Street Journal Bot - @wsj
Washington Post Bot - @WashingtonPost

Tech News

Ars Technica - @arstechnica
MacRumors.com - @macrumors

National Grid's algorithm is predicting a 94% chance of load shedding on the GB power grid tomorrow evening.

The algorithm is famously bad, but it's going to be a tight day across Europe tomorrow.

Next, I *think* this is the world's first domain name with #Braille characters

https://⠠⠃⠗⠇.ga

If I'm wrong, please let me know.

Vent Ad calendar. Day 1.

Time to think about #AdventOfCode! A 2-part coding puzzle every day until Xmas.

Might this be the year I get anywhere near collecting all 50 stars? ⭐️⭐️

If you're interested, have a look at some previous puzzles, pick a programming language, join in!

https://adventofcode.com

Every now and then I come back to this fascinating article by @bert_hubert

#ReverseEngineering the #source #code of the BioNTech/Pfizer SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine

https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/reverse-engineering-source-code-of-the-biontech-pfizer-vaccine/

Looking forward to the book!

https://berthub.eu/dna-book/

NATIONAL IDENTITY
#Census2021 offers a case study in "question order bias". The choices for "national identity" on the 2011 census form in England had "English" as the first option. In 2021 "British" was first. In each case, the first choice on the list proved most popular
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