CPU Affinity: Because Even A Single Chip Is Nonuniform
Sometimes, we run on autopilot when configuring CPU Affinity, turning over complete control to our intuition. It happens just as easily in everyday life, too. For example, while planning a vacation, a man buys adjacent airline seats for his family of four. He selects seats 3A, 3B, 3E, and 3F. “I got us the entire […]
Last Level Cache: Where It’s Bad To Be Inclusive
I remember when Big Tech focused all their recruitment efforts at prestigious engineering colleges and universities. They’ve since evolved to be more inclusive, casting a wider net that encompasses places like HBCUs and Code Bootcamps. Corporations traditionally reserved “Openness to Feedback” for only execs or upwardly mobile hotshot employees. But nowadays, companies boast of flat […]
5-level vs 4-level Page Tables: Does It Matter?
Ever tipped a mediocre waiter 20% only to discover later that you *tremendously* over-tipped since 18% had been already included? Or installed software that changed your default search engine to Bing before you realized? Or purchased a gift from an online retailer which automatically opted you into its annoying newsletter and monthly catalogue? Now you’re […]
Google Benchmark w/o PMU Counters? Congratulations, you played yourself!
DJ Khaled, the internationally famous Hip Hop DJ, record executive, and music producer, is the Tony Robbins of Rap. He’s almost as famous for his motivational catchphrases as he is for his chart-topping hits. Who from Gen X to Gen Z hasn’t pushed through a final set in the gym w/o his mantra “Anotha one” […]
Memory Access Patterns and New Year’s Resolutions
“This is it – this is the year when I’m finally gonna do it!”, millions of optimists vowed while preening in front of a bathroom mirror on the morning of Jan. 1st. Yes, many of us use this time of year to make New Year’s Resolutions, personal pledges of self-improvement. Take a wild guess what […]
TLB Shootdowns: How To Deter or Disarm Them
This month marks the 140th Anniversary of the “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” between the Earps and the Cowboys. Legend has it this conflict started from the outlaws’ violation of a city ordinance to hand over firearms while inside city limits. Lawman Virgil Earp, his brothers, and Doc Holiday confronted them in order to disarm […]
Intel DDIO: A VIP Pass to Skip the Line
“There are never any shortcuts, and anyone who tells you there’s a shortcut is blowing smoke.” — Malcolm Gladwell (Journalist & Author) “Malcolm Gladwell says it takes 10,000 hours to master something. This is [nonsense]. Total, utter [nonsense].” — James Altucher (Entrepreneur, Hedge Fund Manager, Comedian & Author) Remember when people used to complain about […]
CPU Benchmarks and Bad Tinder Dates
“You’re not perfect, sport. And let me save you the suspense. This girl you’ve met, she isn’t perfect either. But the question is whether or not you’re perfect for each other.” — GOOD WILL HUNTING (1997) It’s comin’! That season that journalists predict will be a wild ‘Summer of Love’, when hordes of singles starved […]