[Announce] PASUG Mtg: Thurs, Apr 22nd

[Larry Lavins]

.           PHILADELPHIA ALTERNATE SYSTEMS USER GROUP
.                  http://www.phillyos2.org
The Philadelphia Alternate Systems User Group (PASUG) invites
all interested computer users to attend the April meeting.
.            THURSDAY, APRIL 22nd, 2004  7:00-10:00PM
.  Bryn Mawr Community Center, 9 S. Bryn Mawr Ave, Bryn Mawr,PA
  
.            ***  APRIL 22nd MEETING AGENDA  ***
.       --  INTEL P4 vs AMD ATHLON XP/MP SHOOTOUT  --
          >>>  SPECIAL TREAT: FRESH HOT PIZZA!  <<<
  
The April meeting promises to be a memorable experience. Everyone is
invited to come witness a 21st century hi-tech update of the famous
"Shootout at the OK Corral:" Doug Leach's Intel P4 system vs Vadim
Kavalerov's AMD Athlon XP/MP system.
  
Among the newest generation of processors from both AMD and Intel,
both have chosen to implement significantly different architechtures
in their processor designs. In particular, Intel's P4 is optimized to
improve performance with streaming multimedia applications, provided
the code is optimized to take advantage of these new designs. The AMD
Athlon XP/MP offers Intel MMX and SSE compatibility as well as 3DNow!
multimedia extensions. But AMD seems to have taken a more traditional
architectural approach which is less reliant on the latest optimizing
compilers. In OS/2 systems, many of which use older legacy software,
one might wonder how the performance of the two will compare.
  
This month's meeting will feature a competitive demo, by Doug Leach
and Vadim Kavalerov, of 2 comparable systems running OS/2, one with
an Intel P4, and the other with an Athlon MP running identical pro-
grams to encode audio files to MP3 using CD2PM3 as the front-end to
the stripper and encoders. Several different encoders will be used
including the most recent version of LAME, compiled with the latest
GCC compiler and which provides an executable optimized for Athlon
systems. We'll compare encoding speeds of several music tracks with
several versions of LAME, and Bladeenc for OS/2.
  
Doug will also review the different programs required to strip and
encode music files to MP3 under OS/2 using CD2MP3. If time permits,
we will also listen to some of the MP3's produced with PM123 to see
how the quality of the different encoders compares.
  
Other agenda items include announcements, news & new software
releases, Q&A session, and 50/50 raffle. You will also enjoy
fresh hot pizza, delivered to our meeting at the break period.
  
MEETING FORMAT & TIME SCHEDULE (Subject to change)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.  7:00 - 7:15   Meeting start & Introductory Comments
.  7:15 - 7:45   Q&A Session
.  7:45 - 8:15   Fresh Pizza Break & Raffles
.  8:15 - 9:50   Networking Presentation/Demo
.  9:50 -10:00   Close-down, pack-up & exit building
                 by 10:00pm
- - - - -
Mark the date and time: THURSDAY, APRIL 22nd at 7:00pm.
PASUG meetings are open and free for all users, their guests and
others interested in learning about OS/2, Linux and associated
technologies. We have a very full agenda and tight schedule
which will be enforced. Please be on time promptly by 7:00pm
to avoid missing earlier parts of the meeting.
  
.          **   WE SUPPORT OPEN STANDARDS   **
  
PASUG meetings are held at the Bryn Mawr Community Center, next
to Ludington Library, at the corner of Lancaster and Bryn Mawr
Avenues, Bryn Mawr, PA. on the 4th Thursdays of Jan to Oct, and
the 3rd Thursdays of Nov and Dec.
  
Directions to the Bryn Mawr Community Center (BMCC) and other
useful information about the PASUG activities may be found on
our web site at http://www.phillyos2.org, or contact U/G Leader
Larry Lavins: llavins at earthlink.net, or phone (215) 878-9608.