You shot me! That\’s unfair, my monitor was refreshing…

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Well, in this post, Monitor Interlacing? What’s the refresh rate, kenneth? I attempted to address the concept of a Monitor\’s refresh rate…  But I noticed an odd search request:

How Does Reaction time related to Vertical refresh rate

For those that missed the earlier post, a Monitor\’s refresh rate is a measurement of of the number of times a second that the video is displayed on a CRT monitor.  LCD monitor do not display the image in the same way.  While they have a latency, due to the amount of time it takes to \”toggle\” the pixel to the new state, their image is persistent, and thus does not have to be refreshed XX number of times per second.
As I stated, my first reaction was that a monitor, even in interlaced mode, would be significantly faster and would have no impact on the users reflex reaction time.
I examined a few documents through a Google search, and it appears that CRT based monitors add roughly 10-20 Ms to the reflex time.  This is explained by the fact that the image may be sent to the CRT during a refresh, so the image needs to be completely built before the user can actually respond to the image.
Now this is simplified, especially since the user may be able to respond to the image before it is completely displayed.  But there is a small delay imposed by the CRT drawing cycle. Now does this apply to LCD displays, yes, but not in the same manner.  The drawing on LCD is different, but there is still a delay.  I believe it wouldn\’t be as large, but I have not yet found any documentation on this, but my common sense says that it would be less than an CRT display.
I welcome any input on this, especially by anyone in this field.
References:

Click to access 2155-a.pdf

http://www.neurobs.com/pres_docs/html/18_tutorials/03_tutorial_-_picture_stimulus_timing.htm

How fast is a iPhone or iPhone 3GS?

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

The iPhone is a fully fledged computer in it\’s right, but how does it compare against \”real\” computers?
The Key components in the original iPhone are:

  • ARM1176JZF with TrustZone, with a clock at perhaps 600 MHz
  • ARM Intelligent Energy Manager
  • 16-kbyte/16-kbyte code/data cache
  • Vector floating point coprocessor
  • ARM Jazelle-enabled for embedded-Java execution
  • SIMD high performance integer CPU with an eight-stage pipeline, capable of 675 Dhrystones/sec and 2.1 MIPS
  • 0.45 mW/MHz power draw (with cache)

According to the Dhrystone Benchmark results from Roy Longbottom\’s PC benchmark collection, that\’s somewhere between a Pentium II (300 Mhz) & a AMD K62 (500 Mhz).  But of course, the iPhone 3GS is more powerful and faster…
Wikipedia lists the MIPS for the ARM6 (in the regular iPhone) as being
740 MIPS \"\" 532-665 MHz and the ARM7 (in the iPhone GS) at being 2000
MIPS at 600 MHz. However, I believe Apple underclocks the chip speed
to just 400 Mhz, so I\’ll assume a 1257 MIPS rate.
So, a 933 Mhz G4 would be about 2200 MIPS vs. 1250 MIPS for the iPhone
3GS .  So, if we take the MIPS/Mhz equation the other way, a G4 running at
534 Mhz would be around as fast a processor as the iPhone 3GS. The
original Power Macs G4 were 400Mhz, 450Mhz, and 500Mhz in 1999. That
would make your iPhone pretty much the equivalent of the top of the
line 1999 Power Mac G4.
And, the Power Mac G4 came with 256Mb of memory (compatible with the
iPhone 3GS) and only a 10Gb to 27Gb hard drive, so a 32Gb iPhone would
contain a lot more space.  So, the iPhone 3GS is pretty much equivalent to a ten year old, top of the line Macintosh computer.
EDN: iPhone is Precisely Designed | News | iPodObserver.

The sci-fi passwords Twitter doesn\’t want you to use

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

What does Twitter have against Star Wars? We\’re not quite sure. But a list maintained by the social networking site of passwords you\’re not allowed to use features that movie title plus many other familiar sci-fi words and phrases.

The taboo terms include:

batman

gandalf

matrix

ncc1701

startrek

starwars

superman

thx1138

In addition to the banned movie titles and character names, there are also more generic ones, such as:

dragon

merlin

monster

rocket

saturn

wizard

Why are these passwords off limits to Twitter users? It\’s been suggested that perhaps the company detected attackers trying to hack accounts with them.

If you want to see a more complete (though definitely NSFW) list, check out PC magazine.

How do I migrate my information to a new Macintosh?

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

First, the brick & mortar Apple Stores will offer to migrate your data for free, if the new system is purchased from them, the main hassel is the wait, and bringing in the old system.
Alternatively, on the new system, as soon as it is booted will offer to migrate the old computers data. All you would need is one of the following an ethernet cable, Wireless network, or a Firewire cable.
see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3322
To use Migration Assistant, both Macs must be FireWire-equipped or be connected to the same Ethernet or wireless network.
Tip: If you have a MacBook Air or MacBook (13-inch, Aluminum, Late 2008), make sure both computers are connected to the same Ethernet or wireless network. See this article.
Note: If you experienced issues while using some files or applications on your previous computer, you may not want to transfer those files and applications to your new computer. If you do, you may transfer issues or incompatible files.
To transfer files via Migration Assistant Before performing migration, use Software Update on your older Mac to ensure you get the latest updates for Mac OS X. If you\’re using a portable Mac, make sure the power cable is connected. On your new Mac, open Migration Assistant, located in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder. Read the Introduction screen, then click Continue. If a dialog appears, type your admin password, then click OK. In the Migration Method screen, select “From another Mac,” then click Continue. If you are using FireWire, connect a FireWire cable between your new Mac and your earlier Mac, then click Continue. If you are using a wireless network, click \”Use Network to transfer files and important settings over a wireless network\”, then click Continue.
Follow the instructions in Migration Assistant to restart your earlier Mac if necessary. Select the hard disk and user accounts from which you want to transfer, and select whether you want to transfer applications, files and folders, or your Library folder. Note: When you first open a transferred application on your new computer, you may need to re-enter the application’s serial number or registration code.
Select whether you want to use your old network, time zone, and Sharing settings, and then click Transfer. When Migration Assistant is finished transferring files, click Quit.

Warning: SUID file …. has been modified and will not be repaired.

Benjamin Schollnick2 Comments

Question:
I was using Disk Utility to do a \”Verify Permission\” and I got the following message:

Warning: SUID file \”System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAgent\” has been modified and will not be repaired.

It\’s a known issue, and actually a bogus message.

It has been around since Mac OS X 10.5, and while it has changed for Mac OS X 10.6, the issue still arises…

\”You can safely ignore this message. It is accurate, but not a cause for concern.\” (Apple Support 2007-11-06 — Document No. 306925)

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1448

Warning: SUID file \”System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/MacOS/ARDAgent\” has been modified and will not be repaired.

Resolution You can safely ignore these messages. You can also usually ignore any \”ACL found but not expected…\” message. These messages can occur if you change permissions on a file or directory. These messages are accurate but are generally not a cause for concern.