TechXclusives from Xilinx

Hi all,

Does anybody knows where are the web page of "TechXclusives" subject.
It seems they've disappeared from Xilinx website.

Thanks.

On Dec 26, 12:42 am, Alain <no_spa2...@yahoo.fr> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Does anybody knows where are the web page of "TechXclusives" subject.
> It seems they've disappeared from Xilinx website.
>
> Thanks.

And there used to be a nice summary page for different categories of
app-notes that is now gone.  More improvements to the Xilinx web site
for us.

John P.

On Dec 26, 7:31=A0am, johnp <johnp3+nos...@probo.com> wrote:
> On Dec 26, 12:42 am, Alain <no_spa2...@yahoo.fr> wrote:
As you noticed, the website is under de-struction and (hopefully) con-
struction.
You may also have noticed that TechXclusives had been almost dormant
for the past year.
We intend to remedy this situation, and come up with a different but
similar method of publishing short technical notes, publicly readable.
Austin, Ken Chapman, and I  are very interested in breathing new life
into this project. Give us a few weeks...
Peter Alfke

> > Hi all,
>
> > Does anybody knows where are the web page of "TechXclusives" subject.
> > It seems they've disappeared from Xilinx website.
>
> > Thanks.
>
> And there used to be a nice summary page for different categories of
> app-notes that is now gone. =A0More improvements to the Xilinx web site
> for us.
>
> John P.

Meanwhile, you can use the wayback machine...

http://web.archive.org/web/20070426050239/http://www.xilinx.com/xlnx/xweb/xil_tx_home.jsp

HTH., Syms. 

Thanks all for your answers (and interresing to know that this project
is still alive) and the useful links !

Alain.

TechXclusives fell into disrepair because there was no organization
behind it. It totally depended on the individual  authors to submit
something, and the rest of Xilinx, even Marketing, seemed
desinterested and hands-off. Enthusiasm without support and feedback
only lasts so long, like a few years in this case...
It seems like there will be some support in the future.
Peter Alfke

On Dec 27, 7:49=A0am, Alain <no_spa2...@yahoo.fr> wrote:
> Thanks all for your answers (and interresing to know that this project
> is still alive) and the useful links !
>
> Alain.

Alain wrote:
> Does anybody knows where are the web page of "TechXclusives" subject.
> It seems they've disappeared from Xilinx website.

John wrote:
> And there used to be a nice summary page for different categories of
> app-notes that is now gone.  More improvements to the Xilinx web site
> for us.

Peter Alfke wrote:
> As you noticed, the website is under de-struction and (hopefully) con-
> struction.
> You may also have noticed that TechXclusives had been almost dormant
> for the past year.
> We intend to remedy this situation, and come up with a different but
> similar method of publishing short technical notes, publicly readable.
> Austin, Ken Chapman, and I  are very interested in breathing new life
> into this project. Give us a few weeks...

Please suggest to your web developers that they should put technical
documentation (such as data sheets, user guides, app notes, ZIP files
associated with app notes, TechXclusives, etc.) at permanent URLs
that don't get shuffled around and lost whenever the marketing people
decide that the site should be redesigned.

I don't think there's any reason that there can't be a portion of
the namespace set aside for permanent URLs for such things, and the
fancy point-and-drool web pages can ultimately yield links to the
documents at those permanent URLs.

Someone well-known in web development (maybe Philip Greenspun?) pointed
out years ago that URLs for real documents (not fluff) should not
shift around randomly, but should be persistent.  There was a paper on
it, but I can't find it now.  Unfortunately few web developers have taken
this to heart.

Thanks,
Eric

Peter Alfke wrote:
> TechXclusives fell into disrepair because there was no organization
> behind it. It totally depended on the individual  authors to submit
> something,

OK, but that's no excuse for the web developers to throw the files
away.  Even if new ones weren't being generated, the old ones should
remain available.  They contained useful material.

Too many people seem to subscribe to the idea that if information is
old, it has no value.  :-(

Eric

>Please suggest to your web developers that they...put technical
>documentation...at permanent URLs...

>Someone...pointed out years ago that URLs for real documents...
>should be persistent.  There was a paper on it, but I can't
>find it now.  Unfortunately few web developers have taken
>this to heart.

The point has probably been made in various places, but one is:

   http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980614.html

Mike

On Dec 27, 3:20=A0pm, MikeShepherd...@btinternet.com wrote:
> >Please suggest to your web developers that they...put technical
> >documentation...at permanent URLs...
> >Someone...pointed out years ago that URLs for real documents...
> >should be persistent. =A0There was a paper on it, but I can't
> >find it now. =A0Unfortunately few web developers have taken
> >this to heart.
>
> The point has probably been made in various places, but one is:
>
> =A0 =A0http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980614.html
>
> Mike

I understand, and I agree somewhat. But we also have to realize that
this is a fast-changing technology, and something that was cool and
interesting in 2002 is now often obsolete and perhaps even misleading.
That's why we want to overhaul the old TechXclusives, throw some away,
and bring the others up to snuff. We want to cater to working
engineers, not to archaeologists...
An overview of FPGAs that stops with Virtex-II is not meaningful
anymore, and neither are complex asynchronous FIFO explanations, when
you get ready-made designs in the more modern Virtex chips.
Sometimes we will annotate the old stories with warnings that there
are better ways of designing with the more modern parts.
The same considerations should be applied to application notes. Most
of them that are 5 years old are more amusing than enlightening.
Scary...
Peter Alfke