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In real life (off the internet), pretty much everyone I meet seems to be using the Raspberry Pi or other Linux embedded system. The use of an actual microcontroller seems quite rare with people I’ve met. Even Arduino seems less popular in my city than embedded Linux. In a way this makes sense — why would someone buy an Arduino when they can get a Raspberry Pi that does so much more at the same price or less? Linux offers a large amount of software out of the box and allows people to program in simpler scripting languages. What is a microcontroller actually good for in comparison to a system on a chip?
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Power consumption is a major factor. Many microcontrollers can run on a few µA. Keep in mind that the microcontroller is just the chip, not the board with all the accessories. When designing a purpose-built system you're designing around 100mm² of space, as opposed to 4000mm² or more for all the gadgets.
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Thank you Yvan, that's a very educated response for those/many of us who don't come from background in Electrical Engineering!
dev
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I've heard many say that Sinofsky is responsible for the death of Silverlight and that it's absence on Windows 8 is a shame. I hear a lot of Silverlight enthusiasts (or apologists) that Silverlight, while being a great technology, was killed because DevDiv and Windows couldn't get along. At last year's build, it was big news that Sinofsky actually said the word Silverlight made news. While the idea that Silverlight ran on a Mac certainly caused waves in the Windows team, it's not the reason for it getting pushed to the pile of technologies that are now in 'sustaining engineering' mode. If any executive is responsible for the current state of Silverlight it's... Steve Jobs.
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Windows Phone 8 has been official for two weeks now. Handsets hit the stores just days ago, and we’ve been busying our fingers learning all the ins and outs of Microsoft’s newest mobile OS. There’s a lot to love about Windows Phone 8—slick user experience, bright live tiles, and unique hardware—but it takes some time to get to know new software. And since we’re already elbow-deep in it, we thought we’d bring you a quick cheat sheet on some of the more common questions about Windows Phone 8. Bonus tip: it's a phone, too!
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Apple (AAPL) launched the iPhone 5 about seven weeks ago and the sleek smartphone still isn’t easy to find on store shelves. It's big, whether we like it or not.
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Bit of an old story, but still mostly true. One thing that has changed is the ship time (now 2-3 weeks rather than 3-4 weeks).
I'm still waiting to buy a factory unlocked iPhone 5. I'm hoping it comes out soon, as I need one for my car's remote starter to work to its full extent.
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AspDotNetDev wrote: Bit of an old story, but still mostly true. Well, you're right. It's a week old now. I must not have been paying attention when I looked at it.
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LAPTOP Editor-in-Chief Mark Spoonauer on the bandwidth capabilities of the U.S. networks. All I can say is "WOW"
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Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shot down talk on Tuesday that the struggling chip maker is exploring a potential sale of the company What? I was just getting ready to party
modified 14-Nov-12 8:20am.
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Countered 2-Vote.
I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
Stephen Hawking
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Shouldn’t years of Web development and advocacy about performance by Yahoo and Google and many others have born fruit and made us aware of how much each HTTP request costs? If you look at the final products, it doesn’t seem that way.... There are a few reasons why our Web is on the chubby side, and most of them actually are possible for us as developers to change. Death by a thousand plugins (and libraries, and HTTP requests, and...).
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Minimalism has become the latest trend in many web designs, particularly in the area of online business and service professional websites. However, unlike many fads, this trend has more than a few practical benefits that make it ideal not just for the short term but also for long range website decoration and appearance. If you’re wondering about how to best keep a minimalist framework in mind for your site or just want to find out a bit about the pros and cons; see how they compare, then read ahead. Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
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How many times have you wanted to send a project to a friend or upload it to a web site like MSDN Code Gallery only to find that your zip file has lots of stuff that you don't need to send in it making the file larger than it needs to be. Clean Project is a utility that cleans Visual Studio project directories so you can quickly upload or email a zip file with your solution. All the code that's fit to share.
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In Windows 8, we reimagined the browser with IE10. We designed and built IE10 to be the best way to experience the Web on Windows. With the IE10 Release Preview for Windows 7 consumers can now enjoy a fast and fluid Web with the updated IE10 engine on their Windows 7 devices. The release preview of IE10 on Windows 7 is available for download today. Modern browsers everywhere!
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Not sure if I'm ready for IE10 with that unknown bug on the loose.
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For me there was a time that can only be described as adolescence in the field of programming and more specifically JavaScript. This period was characterised by a certain laziness and hubris. I thought I was right. I thought others were wrong. I could see no path but the very strict one that I had boxed myself into through a process in which I longed for certainty and the expulsion of realistic doubt. Today I present a short list of JavaScript practices that once seemed right but I now deem foolish.
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The next game console from Nintendo is a strange beast indeed. The controller, called GamePad, has a built-in touch screen. And the system can wirelessly stream its visuals to both the GamePad and the television at the same time. So you can play games in which the player has to alternate between the two screens. Or multiplayer games in which some players look at the TV while others look at the controller. Or you can just play games on the controller and forget about the TV entirely — which we were surprised to find might be the most compelling way to play on Wii U. Will it revolutionize gaming like the original Wii did?
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Why and how did humankind become “unusually successful”? And what, to an evolutionary biologist, does “success” mean, if self-destruction is part of the definition? Does that self-destruction include the rest of the biosphere? What are human beings in the grand scheme of things anyway, and where are we headed? What is human nature, if there is such a thing, and how did we acquire it? What does that nature portend for our interactions with the environment? With 7 billion of us crowding the planet, it’s hard to imagine more vital questions. Science is cool.
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With large numbers of Tablets and Smartphones running virtually identical software, the display becomes the single most important way for manufacturers to differentiate their products – that’s been true for Android and the same will apply for Windows devices. A top notch display makes everything that runs on a Tablet or Smartphone look great or as good as possible – including all of the Apps, web content, photos, and videos – looking a lot better than on devices with inferior displays. The ultimate smackdown: Microsoft Surface RT vs. Apple iPad 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
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While Sinofsky was seen as a brilliant figure at Microsoft, his downfall was that he didn't get along with others within the company. He was notorious for picking fights with other executives, including current CEO Steve Ballmer, and even pushed former executives like chief software architect Ray Ozzie to quit. It's not you, it's... well, actually it is you. Seeya.
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I didn't know that Sinofsky read this page. Now I do. Vote countered.
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I agree with Pete.
Why cannot a person post a news story without some uni-voter being an arse?
Uni-nitwit vote countered with my +5
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