Actually, I suspect that before any of that happens we will have a discussion about how "bandwidth" is in an emergent property not fully determined by any single piece of hardware (as the bottleneck analogy would lead one to believe). Of course, I know less about that than many on the lists, so I might get smacked down... but I know bandwidth is never perfectly constant, that its stability depends on the time frame within which it is viewed, and that at a suitably wide time frame the device point in the process causing the back up will vary.
Eric On Sun, Oct 11, 2009 09:05 PM, Douglas Roberts <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >Far, far removed, thankfully, from the topic of 'should, >or should not FRIAMers be encouraged to ramble enthusiastically about [pick >your topic] in the never ending goal of advancing science'. Topic du >Jour, for those who have lost count: emergence, and should we (or not) >expect anything of substance to (pardon me) emerge from discussions >thereunto. > >Ok, the different topic: > >Today I was, with mixed >anticipation, looking forward to watching the 2009 remake of "The Day The Earth >Stood Still". The mixed nature of my anticipations were rooted in > > >a} the movie got shitty reviews, >b) it would be the first actual >1080p movie that I would stream from my fileserver to my new Linux home >entertainment center, and >c) I like good science fiction. > >Imagine my >surprise to discover that > >a) the movie was a shitty remake of the >wonderful 1951 classic which starred Michael Rennie. Keaneu Reeves was but a >pale imitator in the role of Klaatu. >b) I did not have enough bandwith to >stream the movie from my file server, and > >c) the science fiction was pretty pathetic, compared to the >original. > >The BluRay 1080p movie is 8.8 GB, which translates to about >1.9 - 2.2 GB/sec streaming rate necessary to watch it. I was unpleasantly >surprised to discover that my supposedly 300 Mbps (37.5 MB/s) 801.11N wireless >network capped out at around 2 MB/s. The movie would go for bit, then get >all choppy, then lose sound, then stick. > >As it turns out, life is all >about the bottlenecks, and working around them... Is it flawed Linux >drivers for my 801.11n USB wireless internet hardware that is the problem, or >is it the hardware? Or, perhaps, is it the massive flux of pscitticene brainwave activity from the Parrot Farm >that is creating emergent GHz interference patterns with the 801.11n TCP >stack? Rigorous investigation is indicated. > >Later, we will return >to the current raging emergence controversy, at which time we will >vigorously engage in the discussion about whether or not the history of >"chaos science" is a basis upon which we should wish to build a platform >of "emergence science". > >--Doug > > > > >- > > ============================================================ >FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > >
============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
