I saw a shorter version of this on Facebook that starts 38 seconds into it. I found it impressive.
Sunday, July 18, 2021
Saturday, July 3, 2021
The Extreme Physics Pushing Moore’s Law to the Next Level
From 3 to 9 minutes the video talks about the extraordinary method they use to etch computer chips.
Friday, July 2, 2021
Centaur Smart Chess Set
https://store.moma.org/kids/toys-games/centaur-smart-chess-set/8910-146914.html
BTW, at the Columbus Chess Club last night I helped a guy named Paul Chestnut use his new chess computer. This thing is pretty interesting. It typically sells for about $450. The board can sense where you move the pieces. Want to start a new game? Just set the pieces back to the beginning. Want to take back one or more moves? Just move in reverse. You can take back the computer's move and play a different move for the computer, which might be useful if you want to play against a specific opening, or if you want to analyze.
There are circular lights under each square that highlight where the computer wants to move.
The pieces are the same size as my nice $35 chess pieces, although my pieces aren't as tall as some brands. The board is just barely smaller than a standard tournament board, which makes for a pleasant playing experience. The pieces and the board seem like they are made of lightweight plastic. The pieces don't have much weight to them except that I think that they have a magnet on the bottom. Underneath the board, there is no covering over the electronics that sense the movement of the pieces, so overall this device feels cheaply made.
There is a small screen that shows what position the computer thinks is on the board, which is helpful in case something got mixed up. It can also display a chess clock.
All the brains seem to be on the narrow right side panel. I suspect that it is using something equivalent to a phone processor, or maybe something cheaper. It is running Stockfish, which potentially makes it a very strong chess computer.
Unfortunately, it only has 3 modes of difficulty. There is "Friendly" that tries to automatically adjust to your level, however, Paul and I playing together lost to this mode. There is "Challenge" that tries to be tougher, and then there is "Expert". Given that it is running Stockfish, this "Expert" mode probably plays like a strong Grandmaster or better. The Stockfish program running on a desktop computer is far better than any human player.
An ideal chess program would allow you to set the playing ability by ELO rating, which for computers can go up to about 3600. My rating is around 2000. Magnus Carlsen is rated 2847. Ideally, it could also go down to zero.
The Fastest CPU on the Planet - HOLY $H!T
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbiPapykbxQ
It is not necessary to watch the whole video, but for comparison purposes...
The Apple M1 chip: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Apple+M1+8+Core+3200+MHz&id=4104
This $8,000 CPU: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+EPYC+7763&id=4207
I've never seen a number that high.
BTW, I don't know who sold the computer to my mother, but her computer only has a benchmark of 300. That is worse than most *old* laptops. That is worse than budget smartphones. Still, the computer can browse the Internet just fine, which is what she uses it for.
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