Gordon Moore - the man who proposed Moore's law

Not so long ago, there was a man named Gordon Moore, who said that the number of transistors that can be crammed inexpensively into a microchip will double every 2 years. He has been right for almost 50 years; Year after year, Intel, AMD and the other chip manufacturers kept packing more firepower into various aspects of our computers. so that the best processors today have speeds of around 3.2GHz. (How fast is your computer's processor? Do you want to know? Read the HOW TO section below!)

The “speed” of a processor is essentially the number of times the set of transistors can be turned on and off per second. The greater the speed, the greater the heat generated.

Intel Penryn 45nm chip

But that did not stop the geniuses at Intel/AMD from coming up with new ways to extend Moore’s Law. They decided to add more processors and gave birth to the Dual Core and Quad Core processors we see today.  But does this really make your computer faster? Of course, you might think that more processors mean more computing power. Indeed, it means more potential computing power. How much of this is used?

Directed Acyclic Graph showing splitting of a job

We can ask processor 1 (lets call it P1) to do A (and P2 remains idle).  Then we do B and C simultaneously. But wait! P2 does not know the answer to A. So, we send the information over from P1 to P2. But remember this takes time. Then, when P1 is done with B, it has to wait for P2 (because of the time wasted in transferring the answer). When P2 is done, it sends the information back to P1 (which again takes time) and P1 does D using the results of B and C.

Algorithms to split jobs are crucial in Grid Computing.

The job was definitely done faster; But definitely not twice as fast. And both processes remained idle for significant times, so their efficiency was not all that great. Unfortunately, most “jobs” in real life are heavily interdependent and cost of transferring resources might be significant. Now imagine how complex this would get if you had 8 processors and how much processing power would be wasted! So, in this case, more is NOT always better as everyone would make you believe. Algorithms have been developed to solve this problem. In fact, developing algorithms to split jobs between processors is currently an active area of research, especially in Grid computing where a large number of processors are separated by the internet and the cost of transferring resources is very significant.  The algorithms cannot be so time consuming that you take more time to decide where to run something than actually running it!

I hope this helped you understand why your Core 2 Duos with the same GHz number are not anywhere near twice as fast as your Pentium 4s.

Anyways once again the day is saved, thanks to some good marketing and determination and Moore’s Law continues to hold. But how long will it last? We have to wait and see!

Whenever the topic of computer graphics comes up, Maya inevitably comes into the picture.

But what is this Maya?
Maya is a 3D computer graphics and modeling software that is used for animation and visual effects in films, TV shows, computer games and architectural designs.

What is special about Maya?
Maya has a powerful set of tools that allows the user to simulate realistically fluid effects, particles, cloth and even hair or fur. Users can create complex objects using basic shapes like spheres, cylinders, cuboids, cones and polygons. For example, take a look at this image. It shows how a human-like character can be modeled using simple polygons.

A human-like character can be modelled using simple polygons.

Once such characters or objects are created they can be animated using the character animation toolset. Through the use of different textures, lighting and surface-reflection properties, objects can seem to be composed of different materials. Take a look at how in the image below, the floor appears shiny and glossy while the ceiling and the walls have a different texture.

Objects can be given different textures in Maya.

What is the advantage of knowing Maya?
If you are a person interested in the field of computer graphics or animation or visual effects, knowledge of Maya will surely be helpful in your career. It is used by 75% of the gaming companies all over the world. So just imagine its significance!

How do I learn Maya?
To begin with, install either the trial or the full version of the software in your computer. The trial version of the software is free but the cost of full version ranges from $895 to $4995 (US dollars). Before installing, ensure that your system meets the requirements of the software.

Once the software installation is done, there are a lot of ways to learn the software. One way is the Help menu of Maya. It provides easy-to-follow lessons to learn all the basics. Another way is video tutorials. Youtube is a haven for such educational videos. Autodesk, the current owner of Maya, also provides extensive tutorials for its software. There are also blogs by its developers, which provide information about software updates and tips for better use.

If you do not find any of these ways suitable and if endowed with a bit of wealth, you could enroll in classes for this software. There a whole lot of authorized (and unauthorized) training centers all over the world which offer certified courses for this software. Take a look here.

Wish you good luck in your quest!

The 'HOW TO' section is an all new feature of the IT Bytes, created with the intention of providing answers to those little yet nagging questions about technology that a common man might have. Here are a set of questions whose answers you might find useful.

HOW TO download videos from Youtube?

Youtube as such does not provide links to download videos. However, Youtube videos can be downloaded by using third-party websites like downloadYoutubeVideos, youtubeCatcher, keepVid, downloader9,etc.

If you have RealPlayer installed on your computer and your browser is Internet Explorer or FireFox 2, a 'Download this video' option pops up when you hover your mouse over the video. Veoh player also provides such an option to download from Youtube.

Moreover, there are several plug-ins or add-ons available online that enable web browsers to download or capture videos. A simple google search depending on your browser will suffice.

HOW TO determine the speed of my computer's processor?

Most of the computers display the processor speed when the system boots. For example, during system boot, a message like : Intel Pentium(TM) III 1000MHz might be displayed. This means the computer has an Intel Pentium processor of 1 GHz or 1000 MHz.

Sometimes the booting is very fast and you may not have enough time to read the data displayed on screen. In such a case you can view the processor information by going into the BIOS or CMOS setup. Processor information can also be viewed by searching for your computer's hardware information. (To know how to perform these steps read the questions to follow.)

However, if you are confident enough, there is yet another method to find out your processor speed. Switch off your computer, open it up, locate the processor and read all the information!

HOW TO enter the BIOS setup?

There are several ways to enter the BIOS Setup mainly because there have been several different computer and BIOS manufacturers. If your computer has been manufactured recently (last ten years), you can enter the BIOS setup by pressing one of these keys during system boot - F1, F2, DEL, ESC, F10. If your computer is a really old one, you need to use one of the following key sequences - CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+INS, CTRL+ALT+ENTER or CTRL+ALT+S.

HOW TO find out my computer's hardware and system information?

If you are a Windows Vista user, type click Start and type dxdiag. This brings up a window that shows all system information and also allows you to save it as a text file. You can also click Start and type msinfo32.

If you are using Windows 98, 2000 or XP, go to Start->Run and type the same commands as mentioned above.

Some computer manufacturers have unique identification numbers for their computers, which you can type in their website to get your system specifications. There are softwares which you can install to help you find your hardware information. (softwares like WinAudit, Belarc Advisor, Fresh Diagnose)

Questions for future issues

How to create a hit-counter for my webpage?

How to change screen resolution in Windows?

How to boot the system from a CD?

Click Here to send us your questions and replies to questions or simply e-mail to newsletter@nusacm.org

John needs to ace the interview to get his dream job.

John stands in front of the MicroApple office knowing that he would have to ace the interview to realize his dream of becoming a top software developer. He is already dreaming ahead – if he did well, he could request for a transfer to the US headquarters in a couple of years, climb up the ranks, one of the Chief Technology officers maybe.. maybe..

John is successful at the interview! How?

How did he do it?

“Most interview questions are questions about your reactions in various situations or behavioral questions’  - says John.
‘For example - Describe a situation where you had to take a tough decision as a leader of a team.

These can be answered using the STAR Framework, which I learnt from RealAcad
STAR stands for -
The S ituation you were in
The T ask/s that were required
The A ction taken in response to the situation
The R esult of the action taken

My answer for such a question like ‘Describe a situation where you had to take a tough decision as a leader of a team’ was -

Situation: I was the head of the events committee of NUS ACM club and we had a big event coming up. Our preparation was on course until the day before the event when the chief guest pulled out because of other commitments.

Task: As the leader, I was expected to deliver on a high quality event as the reputation of our club was at stake.

John calls a team meeting to discuss the situation.

Of course, I had prepared for the interview with several such challenging situations in mind and now it was a question of making the right match – the right situation with a question. And the preparation was well worth it!”

Congratulations to John!

Do check http://tr.im/starfm for more on Star Framework.
Do feel free to send in more queries you may have on interviews to info@realacad.com

Best of luck!