Author Archives: Bill Catchings

HDXPRT 2012 RFC

on November 2, 2011

We are putting the finishing touches on the RFC for HDXPRT 2012 and will make it available today. We are using the top-down approach I discussed last week, including the six roles I proposed. Our major objective with the RFC is to get your feedback. That feedback played an important part in developing HDXPRT 2011, and we are hoping it plays an even larger role in developing HDXPRT 2012.

The RFC, or request for comments, includes our thoughts and ideas for the design of HDXPRT 2012 based on the many conversations we’ve had over the six months since the current version of HDXPRT debuted. At this point, nothing is written in stone. Now is the time to let us know where you agree and where you disagree.

The RFC is available for Development Community members at http://www.hdxprt.com/forum/hdxprt2012RFC.php. Our goal is to get your feedback by December 2. We’d like as much of the feedback as possible to appear on the forums to help stimulate discussion. However, if you prefer to send in your comments via email, please send them to HDXPRTsupport@hdxprt.com.

Regardless of the mechanism, we want and need your feedback. Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you!

Bill

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How do you use high-definition media?

By Bill Catchings

on October 27, 2011

The first step in our top-down process of defining the HDXPRT 2012 is to look at what people actually do today with high-definition media. The obvious place to start is with what we do with photos, video, and audio. Or, in my case, with what I do.

I regularly do about six different things with high-definition media:

Organize media – This is something I do often. Maybe I’m more of a curator than a creator! In this category I include everything from keeping track of media, to doing simple enhancements (for example, red eye removal from photos), to converting to different formats.
Create media – I include here not only capturing the media, but also manipulating photos and videos. These usages may not be the most difficult ones in the applications, but we all do them, and we all wait on them.
Photo blog – This covers the fancier photo work, typically with more complex editing using digital tools.
Produce video – When you really work on a video, you end up with editing and manipulation tasks that really stress your system. I often end up waiting for my computer to finish this sort of work.
Create music – I’m not very good at this type of work, but mixing, editing, remixing, and sharing music can be a lot of fun!
Viewing video – Finally, we come to viewing video, which is basically watching videos in different HD formats. I’m much better at this.

Some tasks I do often, such as looking at photos or listening to music, don’t tend to be stressful enough on a computer to be worth measuring in the benchmark. Consequently, I didn’t include them here.

That’s just my take, though.

What do you do? What tasks would you like to see in HDXPRT 2012?

Bill

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Posted in HDXPRT 2012, Let us know your thoughts |

An open, top-down process

By Bill Catchings

on October 20, 2011

We’ve been hard at work putting together the RFC for HDXPRT 2012. As a group of us sat around a table discussing what we’d like to see in the benchmark, it became clear to me how different this development process is from those of other benchmarks I’ve had a hand in creating (3D WinBench, Winstone, WebBench, NetBench, and many others.). The big difference is not in the design or the coding or even the final product.

The difference is the process.

A sentiment that came up frequently in our meeting was “Sure, but we need to see what the community thinks.” That indicates a very different process than I am used to. Different from what companies developing benchmarks do and different from what benchmark committees do. What it represents, in a word, is openness. We want to include the Development Community in every step of the process, and we want to figure out how to make the process even more open over time. For example, we discussed ideas as radical as videoing our brainstorming sessions.

Another part of the process I think is important is that we are trying to do things top-down. Rather than deciding which applications should be in the benchmark, we want to start by asking how people really use high-definition media. What do people typically do with video? What do they do to create it and how do they watch it? Similarly, what do people do with images and audio?

At least as importantly, we don’t want to include only our opinions and research on these questions; we want to pick your brains and get your input. From there, we will work on the workflows, the applications, and the RFC. Ultimately, that will lead to the scripts themselves. With your input and help, of course!

Please let us know any ideas you have for how to make the process even more open. And tell us what you think about this top-down approach. We’re excited and hope you are, too!

Bill

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Posted in Benchmarks in general, HDXPRT 2012, HDXPRT development process, Let us know your thoughts |

Discussing the future

By Bill Catchings

on October 12, 2011

As I mentioned a couple weeks back, we’ve begun the HDXPRT 2012 development cycle by asking for suggestions. Before we get much further in the process, we’d like an opportunity to talk with you more directly. The best way to do that is via a webinar.

I’ll be hosting an HDXPRT webinar this coming Friday, October 14 at 2:00pm EST. I’m hoping you’ll be able to join us. I’ll go over the progress we’ve made this year in the HDXPRT Development Community, talk about the HDXPRT 2011 source code we recently released to members, and discuss the roadmap for the development cycle of HDXPRT 2012 that is just starting.

We really want your feedback on the current benchmark and your input on future directions. I encourage you to attend the webinar and let us know your ideas and suggestions. I expect the webinar will last about 45 minutes, depending upon the questions people have. We will be sending out email invitations to members shortly. If you have not joined the community, please do so now (at http://www.hdxprt.com/forum/register.php) and we will get you an invitation as well.

We know you may be unable to make the scheduled time, so we’ll post the webinar when it is over, as we have done in the past (http://hdxprt.com/webinar).

We value your input and participation in the HDXPRT benchmark process and look forward to your joining us later this week for the webinar. “See” you there!

Bill

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Posted in HDXPRT Webinar |

Looking back at the Mac

By Bill Catchings

on October 6, 2011

I expect that pretty much everyone is writing a blog/tribute to Steve Jobs. I’ll leave that to people more eloquent than I and to those who knew him. His death, however, made me think back to 1984 and the first computer I ever purchased with my own money—a 128KB original Macintosh. I was a mainframe and minicomputer systems programmer by training but had moved to CP/M and other personal computers. I had used a Lisa at work and had spent a bit of time on a Xerox Star, so the Mac’s UI concepts were very familiar to me. There was something special, however, about having it at home to play with. It was amazing to be able to use a word processor (MacWrite) that actually showed the fonts on the screen rather than having to embed Scribe (or even worse, TeX) commands into a text file to specify font changes. It was almost magical drawing things in MacPaint. None of what I drew was art, but it was fun. Even my two-year-old daughter found it fun to draw on the Mac with a mouse. A two-year-old using a mouse is nothing special today, but it was then.

I programmed on that early Mac using a C cross-compiler. With other folks at Columbia University, I wrote a version of the Kermit file transfer protocol for the Mac. My officemate even wrote a great Scrabble game for it. The owner of Scrabble was not interested in licensing it for use on a computer. It was a different time.

Over the years, I upgraded my Mac to 512KB and added a 5MB hard drive. I played games like Dark Castle on it. But, as all computers do, it got old and slow. Eventually, I packed it up. I bought a succession of MS-DOS PCs, Windows PCs, Amigas, newer Macs, and all manner of devices. I turned my love of ever faster and better and smaller computing devices into a career. Evaluating and measuring their performance is something I still do today.

That first Mac, though, will always be special—will always bring back memories of when computing was magical. I still have it in my basement. The originally beige case is now a rather strange yellow. I think I need to go and see if it still turns on. I’d like to see that happy Mac face again…

Bill

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Posted in History of computers |

Suggestions?

By Bill Catchings

on September 28, 2011

In the midst of releasing the source code and results for HDXPRT 2011, we are beginning to plan for HDXPRT 2012. To make HDXPRT 2012 as good as possible, we want your suggestions. For the next four weeks, we want to hear what you would like to see in HDXPRT 2012. Obviously, we probably won’t be able to get everything done, but now is the time to dream.

To get you thinking, here are some areas where you might like to see changes or improvements:

Applications. What applications would you like to see in HDXPRT 2012? Should we add or remove any? Do you know of applications that would help us look at performance in areas we haven’t touched?
Workload scenarios. What activities should the applications carry out? Would you like to see other use case scenarios? Why?
Metrics. Are the current metrics easy enough to understand? Can you suggest improvements?
Execution. Are there issues with how HDXPRT 2011 runs that you would like to see improved?
Installation. Would you like to see any changes in how HDXPRT installs?
UI. Is the UI clear enough? Should we provide more progress feedback?
Documentation. Does the documentation give you what you need to run and understand HDXPRT? Would you like to see more white papers and results analysis?

To help make the suggestion period as interactive as possible, please check out the forum, http://www.hdxprt.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?11-HDXPRT-2012-Suggestions, and post your suggestions there. You can also send your suggestions to hdxprtsupport@hdxprt.com.

Bill

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Posted in HDXPRT, Let us know your thoughts |

Author Archives: Bill Catchings

HDXPRT 2012 RFC

How do you use high-definition media?

An open, top-down process

Discussing the future

Looking back at the Mac

Suggestions?

Check out the other XPRTs: