Category: Found

Discoveries, finds, or otherwise identified.

Categories
Found

Javascript Benchmarks: Firefox 3.0RC2 vs. Webkit r34367

The latest Firefox build, versus the latest Webkit build, using SunSpider. Testing done on my iMac (24″, 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB Ram) under normal conditions (other apps open, browser frontmost during the test).

COMPARISON         FIREFOX 3.0RC2       WEBKIT r34367
** TOTAL **:           1.56x as fast      2597.0ms +/- 2.1%    1666.8ms +/- 0.3%
=============================================================================
3d:                  1.44x as fast      327.4ms +/- 5.1%     227.2ms +/- 2.1%
cube:              1.62x as fast      120.2ms +/- 1.1%     74.0ms +/- 2.9%
morph:             1.43x as fast      106.2ms +/- 14.3%    74.2ms +/- 3.6%
raytrace:          1.28x as fast      101.0ms +/- 2.8%     79.0ms +/- 0.0%
access:              1.48x as fast      363.4ms +/- 2.0%     246.0ms +/- 0.9%
binary-trees:      1.54x as fast       44.0ms +/- 2.0%     28.6ms +/- 2.4%
fannkuch:          1.61x as fast      136.4ms +/- 1.4%     84.8ms +/- 2.2%
nbody:             1.28x as fast      137.2ms +/- 6.1%     107.4ms +/- 0.6%
nsieve:            1.82x as fast       45.8ms +/- 3.0%     25.2ms +/- 2.2%
bitops:              1.53x as fast      245.0ms +/- 2.6%     159.8ms +/- 1.0%
3bit-bits-in-byte: 1.62x as fast       39.2ms +/- 5.2%     24.2ms +/- 2.3%
bits-in-byte:      2.07x as fast       62.2ms +/- 0.9%     30.0ms +/- 0.0%
bitwise-and:       1.35x as fast       65.4ms +/- 1.7%     48.6ms +/- 3.9%
nsieve-bits:       1.37x as fast       78.2ms +/- 4.8%     57.0ms +/- 0.0%
controlflow:         1.75x as fast       30.8ms +/- 1.8%     17.6ms +/- 3.9%
recursive:         1.75x as fast       30.8ms +/- 1.8%     17.6ms +/- 3.9%
crypto:              1.41x as fast      155.8ms +/- 2.6%     110.8ms +/- 0.9%
aes:               1.43x as fast       61.4ms +/- 3.9%     42.8ms +/- 1.3%
md5:               1.40x as fast       46.8ms +/- 1.2%     33.4ms +/- 2.0%
sha1:              1.38x as fast       47.6ms +/- 3.5%     34.6ms +/- 3.2%
date:                2.15x as fast      321.6ms +/- 7.7%     149.6ms +/- 0.7%
format-tofte:      2.16x as fast      195.0ms +/- 13.2%    90.2ms +/- 0.6%
format-xparb:      2.13x as fast      126.6ms +/- 1.6%     59.4ms +/- 1.1%
math:                1.60x as fast      277.4ms +/- 4.4%     173.0ms +/- 0.7%
cordic:            1.81x as fast      104.8ms +/- 2.1%     57.8ms +/- 1.8%
partial-sums:      1.48x as fast      124.0ms +/- 8.7%     83.6ms +/- 0.8%
spectral-norm:     1.54x as fast       48.6ms +/- 1.4%     31.6ms +/- 2.2%
regexp:              1.35x as fast      225.4ms +/- 0.5%     166.8ms +/- 0.3%
dna:               1.35x as fast      225.4ms +/- 0.5%     166.8ms +/- 0.3%
string:              1.56x as fast      650.2ms +/- 0.5%     416.0ms +/- 0.5%
base64:            1.16x as fast       77.2ms +/- 1.8%     66.6ms +/- 1.0%
fasta:             2.30x as fast      173.8ms +/- 0.9%     75.6ms +/- 0.9%
tagcloud:          1.34x as fast      133.4ms +/- 0.5%     99.8ms +/- 1.0%
unpack-code:       1.67x as fast      173.4ms +/- 0.6%     103.8ms +/- 1.0%
validate-input:    1.32x as fast       92.4ms +/- 0.7%     70.2ms +/- 1.5%

But don’t worry, Firefox! You may be 56% slower on overall Javascript performance, but you’ve been promised to be bug free!

Categories
Found Reflected

Milestones

It’s been nearly four years since I joined the staff of Weill Cornell Medical College. In that time I’ve held three different titles and worked on over what feels like a hundred projects.

The first project I worked on, the one I was hired for, has stuck with me through all four years. In one capacity or another, I’ve always had a hand in the WCMC Elearning team, supporting the curriculum efforts at the Qatar branch of the Medical College. In the spirit of honesty, it hasn’t been my favorite project over the years: an operational effort that rarely gets acknowledged for keeping things running, but the first under fire when it falls apart. It’s been a rough existence, fighting with 270 millisecond latency and MPEG-4 encoders. (Good thing we’re not streaming live 99% of the time.)

On May 8th, the very first class of students graduated from WCMC-Q. This is the first time an American medical school has awarded M.D. degrees outside of US borders. These are the students that my work went towards teaching for those first two years when I was most involved with the project.

I’m proud to have been a part of this effort, knowing that it has achieved substantial good in the world. And I’m proud of the team I’ve worked with over those four years to help make fifteen students halfway around the world make history.

Categories
Found

Dear Fellow Traveller

Dear Fellow Traveller,

Good morning! I hope you are having a pleasant morning, and I’m glad our paths have crossed. I relish every chance I get to meet someone new, no matter the place, time, or circumstance.

Friend, forgive the observation, but given your prone position and placement of your hat tell me that you’re a bit tired. Perhaps you had a late night, or a late start to your day. Maybe you’ve been following the Pope on his trek around the city – truly tiring work!

No matter the cause of your case of the drowsies, please feel free to catch another few minutes of sleep before your flight. Rest comfortably, knowing that your fellow travellers have no use for the three seats you’re blocking with your bum-like presence.

You fucking prick.

Passive-aggressively yours,
Dan Dickinson