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A Cluster Of Pocket PCs

Posted by timothy on from the can-this-really-be-the-first dept.

Don Stratton writes "This is the coolest thing I have seen anyone do with a Pocket PC... ever! Well-known Pocket PC developers SPB Software House, located in Russia, have come up with a very interesting spin on computing clusters. The short version is they connected 12 Pocket PCs together in the first known 'supercomputer cluster' of its type and had it calculate the old '3n + 1' problem. It was just done for fun, and not intended to seriously compete with desktop computers, but it does point out some interesting possiblilities for the future of handhelds with wireless connectivity working in ad-hoc computing clusters."

119 comments

  1. Happy, aren't you? by gooru · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is that a beowulf cluster in your pants, or are you happy to see me?

  2. omg by blake8087 · · Score: 5, Funny

    in soviet russia... i mean... imagine a beowulf... um... no comment

    --

    --Slashdot readers delight in generalizing the behavior of other Slashdot readers.
    1. Re:omg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no, no, no...

      i for one, welcome our new pocket-pc cluster overlords.

    2. Re:omg by Johnso · · Score: 1

      You could hook up these PocketPCs to your speaker bracelet...

      --
      I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
    3. Re:omg by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      I think it is perhaps too much of coincidence to have a story that is both about Russia and clusters. Somebody purposely sought out such a story I bet. What is next, making a profit on Russian clustering technology by helping companies filter out goatse gifs?

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  3. How do you? by koali · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Parallelize 3n+1? It looks like it cannot be parallelized. On the other hand, they could try several different starting n's at once, but that is not very interesting...

    1. Re:How do you? by NSash · · Score: 1

      You just have each node use a different starting point, continuing until it hits the 4,2,1 loop, and ensure that when a node picks a new starting point it doesn't pick one that has already been picked by another node.

    2. Re:How do you? by Ass,+Ltd.+Ho! · · Score: 5, Interesting
      The answer to your question is really kind of interesting. I came across it while searching through some japanese documents at the university of Nagasaki.

      instead of taking the "multiple-serializing" approach you suggest, you begin by using the output of your first transform filter as a sort of "seed" to feed groups of parallel "second-tier" transform filters. Once you've done that, you can see how it is easy to fan those outputs out and iterate into third or fourth-tier (obviously, that's a LOT of pocket PC's!) transform filters. As the filters each work their way through seed data, they each begin to converge toward (notice i didn't say TO) a solution. You then use what the japanese called a "recompositing Reimann filter" to sort of sift your way from the multi-tiered parallel seed results back into a final solution.

      It's very elegant, IMHO.

      --
      HO
    3. Re:How do you? by dash2 · · Score: 1

      very elegant I'm sure, but could you tell us again, in English?

    4. Re:How do you? by Nucleon500 · · Score: 1

      A further optimization is that when you get to a number that's known to go to 1, you don't need to go the rest of the way. So you can prove the conjecture by crossing out each number which goes to 1, and continuing until there are no numbers left.

      --
      Litigious bastards
    5. Re:How do you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > you can prove the conjecture by crossing out each number which goes to 1, and continuing until there are no numbers left.

      Infinite loop.

    6. Re:How do you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      YHBT. YHL. HAND.

  4. Wow! by inteller · · Score: 4, Funny

    now I can open up my contacts with blazing speed!
    ...if I just didn't need a backpack to carry it all around with me.
    Chalk up another nerdgasm that got posted to /.

    1. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey their buddy, look at the top of the page

      Slashdot:
      News for Nerds, stuff that matters.

      Nerdgasm is what Slashdot is all about.

  5. Break out the mini racks by antimith · · Score: 5, Funny

    IBM is introducing their lates server line, the IBM ButterKnife series, featuring a fully hot swappable cluster of up to 200 MS Pocket PC's. On good days you'll get the output of a screaming 386!

    --
    "Oh... There it goes... my brain stopped" - Ed from Ed, Edd, and Eddy.
    1. Re:Break out the mini racks by Licensed2Hack · · Score: 1

      IBM is introducing their lates server line, the IBM ButterKnife series

      Wouldn't that be something like the iServer uSeries?

      cluster of up to 200 MS Pocket PC's

      I thought IBM and MS didn't like each other any more? IBM is pushing Linux on all their other hardware, why would the iServer uSeries be any different?

  6. Too obvious? by Burpmaster · · Score: 3, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, Pocket PCs imagine a beowulf cluster of YOU!

    1. Re:Too obvious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, it looks like in Soviet Russia, you imagine a Beowulf cluster of PDAs. Thus, it follows that in all locations that are not in Soviet Russia, it is actually the Beowulf cluster of PDAs that imagines you.

  7. Sounds like a dot-com VC funding pitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting
    it does point out some interesting possiblilities for the future of handhelds with wireless connectivity working in ad-hoc computing clusters


    That or report for a MBA marketing buzzword course.

  8. The "3n + 1" Problem by LittleGuy · · Score: 4, Informative

    The "3n + 1" problem involves starting with a particular integer n, and repeatedly performing the following operation:

    If (n is even) divide n by 2;
    Else multiply n by 3, and add 1.

    For example, starting with the number 6, we get the following series:

    6, 3, 10, 5, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1, 4, 2, 1...

    The 4,2,1 loop repeats over and over, so it's usually convenient to terminate the process once it is entered. All numbers tested so far eventually hit this loop, although it has not been proven that all numbers do.

    --
    Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
    1. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by mcmonkey · · Score: 2, Interesting
      The 4,2,1 loop repeats over and over, so it's usually convenient to terminate the process once it is entered. All numbers tested so far eventually hit this loop, although it has not been proven that all numbers do.

      -1, -2, -1, -2, ...

    2. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I applaud your ability to cut and paste from the linked article.

      Well done! Well done!

      Especially as the site is not even feeling the /. effect.

    3. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by Quixote · · Score: 1
      "Mathematics is not yet ready for such problems."
      --Paul Erdo"s, talking about the 3n+1 Problem.

    4. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by bensgroi · · Score: 0

      Informative? As in, as informative as actually reading the article?

      --
      You'll like being a dude!
    5. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given the rules stated and starting with 6, shouldn't the series be:

      3(6/2) + 1 = 10
      3(7) + 1 = 22
      3(8/2) + 1 = 13

      ???? What am I missing?

    6. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by schwatoo · · Score: 1

      Here's a quick rendition of that in Python: #!/usr/bin/python values = [] N = 100 while (values[-3:] != [4,2,1]): print N, values.append(N) if (N % 2 == 0): N /= 2 else: N = N * 3 + 1

      --
      I have trouble with passwords among other things.
    7. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by DrStrangeLoop · · Score: 1
      ???? What am I missing?

      the word 'repeatedly' in the description of the problem. i think this is also known as 'ackermanns function', with

      unsigned long A(unsigned long n){
      return n%2?A(n/2):A(3*n+1);
      }

      if i am not mistaken, that is.
    8. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by way2trivial · · Score: 1

      second step begins with result of prior step 3(6/2)+1=10
      10/2=5
      5*3+1=16

      --
      every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
    9. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by use_compress · · Score: 0

      numbers tested so far eventually hit this loop

      Natural Numbers-- If a number is not an integer, it would be perpetually multiplied by three and thus would not follow the 4,2,1 pattern. Previous posts have established that if the number is an integer 0) tested do conform to this is property.

      If you would like to prove this property, you will obviously need the principle of mathematical induction. You would start with the base case of saying that the property holds for 1, the first number in the series, or P(1) holds. This is easy--

      1 => 1*3 + 1 = 4 => 4/2 = 2 => 2/2 = 1 => ...

      So, we essentially have to show that each number resolves to 1. We incidentally have proved by construction that 1 will infinitely cycle. Next, we assume that the property holds for P(n). We want to show that the property will hold for P(n+1). This is the tricky part. I would start the proof by saying

      If P(n) is odd, the next number in the sequence will be 3n + 1. By definition, this number will resolve to 1. If P(n) is even, n/2 will also resolve to 1. Each of these numbers are added into the set A. Continue extrapolating numbers from these two values and add them to A.

      Similarly, if P(n+1) is odd, the next number in the sequence will be 3n + 4, if it's even, it will be (n + 1)/2. Both of these numbers will resolve to 1. Each of these numbers are added into to the set B. Continue extrapolating numbers from these two values and added them to B.

      When we find a common element in A and B, we will have proven the hypothesis.

    10. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't obviously need mathematical induction. The proof may require you to prove it for N where N is an arbitrary number or perhaps, prove it for N when N is odd and then reduce the case where N is even to the case where N is odd. Not to say that this is how it will be proved, but there are a number of ways other than mathematical induction to prove something about all the numbers.

  9. useful application by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we found a way to strap these small computers to small animals (eg mice) we might actually be able to do some useful calculations.

  10. this only says... by mantera · · Score: 2, Insightful

    expect things to come out of russia, china, india, and eastern europe in years to come.

  11. We reciently decomissioned our first webserver... by Matey-O · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm talking to a cubiclemate about it and said "Do ya wanna see the computational horsepower of the server we just turned off?"

    And held up my old iPaq and new iPaq. (The server was a dual PPro 200.)

    --
    "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
  12. they must read /. by PhiberOptix · · Score: 5, Funny

    building a cluster of pocket pcs is fun and all, but I bet that the most fun part of the project was posting about it here on /. just to see the flood of beowulf cluster in soviet russia jokes.

  13. Hmm.. by DarkBlackFox · · Score: 3, Funny

    Imagine the number of Beowulf comments this story draws.

    1. Re:Hmm.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A... Beowulf cluster of them?

  14. At last! by SoTuA · · Score: 1, Funny

    We can stop imagining a beowulf cluster of pocket PCs. It's here!

  15. WRONG terminology. They're HAILSTONE numbers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WRONG terminology. They're HAILSTONE numbers and have been termed 'Hailstone numebers" since the 1970s when i computed them for fun back then.

    This sequence has always been called the classic hailstone number sequence and I find it upsetting that the russians refused to use the terminology... despite language differences.

    the editor should have corrected and called it hailstone.

  16. Something to think about by bigjnsa500 · · Score: 2, Funny
    Since GRID computer has really come alone these past years, this latest venture is just too cool. As a participant and user of the Grid, I can definitely see potential. Imagine plugging your Pocket PC into a Grid to check your jobs or participate. Now imagine millions of other people walking down the street or at a coffee shop, or car, etc.. participating in a big Grid.

    There is going to be a time where everything will be plugged into the Grid. Man, I can't wait!

    --
    This is a test. This is a test of the emergency sig system. This has been only a test.
    1. Re:Something to think about by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I for one, welcome our new PocketPC/Grid overlords.

  17. Similar to blue gene... by gnuadam · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This sort of reminds me of what they're doing with blue gene. Instead of using hot, ultra fast processors, they're using what amounts to 2 embeded processors per node and depending on kick ass networking to carry the load.

    For parallel problems, sometimes faster processors is not better...

    --
    You say :wq, I say ZZ. Why can't we all just get along?
  18. Wireless Clustering by Rich0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Come to think about it, having something in between WI-FI and bluetooth might make for big wireless networking capabilities in a handheld. If the market penetration were high enough, you could route a packet from anywhere to anywhere as long as you had a high enough TTL.

    The challenge would be in organizing the routing tree. You'd have an advantage in that generally two nodes that are close to each other would tend to stay that way over moderate periods of time. Even on the road your handheld would stay close to the others in your same lane of traffic.

    If you could set up these devices to be able to share CPU automatically when idle it would mean that your handheld could utilize the CPU and RAM of the handheld in the briefcase belonging to the guy in front of you on the plane.

    Certainly none of this is ready for prime time, but it does raise some interesting possabilities.

  19. I'd like to get my hands out of my pants, but ... by burgburgburg · · Score: 4, Funny
    I'm manipulating my pocket cluster.

    Wait, put down the phone. Stop dialing 911. Wait, stop!

  20. this might interest you... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://eri.ca.sandia.gov/eri/howto.html
    not with ordinary pocket pc's, but still very cool.

  21. It's been done before by smartin · · Score: 4, Informative

    Information here, pics here.

    --
    The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
    1. Re:It's been done before by ePIsOdEOnline · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure the innovation and difference in this new PocketPC cluster is the fact that it transmits data through the cluster through the wireless spectrum (irDA).

      The iPaq model that is shown in the parent uses pretty bulky pcmcia card expansion slots and a lot of wires to connect everything together. The wireless spectrum opens up the possibility to compute a much broader range of jobs through the limited brains of pocketPC's .

      I'm kind of interested to find out what OS this was created under. Did they successfully impliment this under windows CE? or is it a modified OS build specifically for this job?

    2. Re:It's been done before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pocket PCs are not that limited any more. They are becoming more powerful everyday. Just think...a POcket PC DOES have more power then a 386. DId you do real work on a 386? Oh, I forgot....you were too young.

    3. Re:It's been done before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The iPAQ model is only using bulky pcmcia cards expansion slots to connect a 40G HD to each ipaq, which is much faster than a NFS root. The main interconnect is 10BT. They run both PVM and MPI under linux. I believe that this was done about 3 years ago at handhleds.org.

    4. Re:It's been done before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, that was Pocket PC 2002 OS (a flavor of WinCE)

  22. Mesh Networks/MOSIX/wifi/etc by OctaneZ · · Score: 1

    The most interesting application I see, is the bluetooth/wifi/whatever is actually being adopted wireless protocol. Then allow the machines to unload threads ala the way MOSIX allows nodes to be added and removed, just need to figure a way around the master scheduler. Maybe each machine runs it's own scheduler.... more over head, anyway, just a really neat idea.

  23. heh by ed.han · · Score: 1

    o, i like that.

    my big question, of course, is why do you still have your old ipaq? :>

    ed

    1. Re:heh by Matey-O · · Score: 1

      ALL of my old pdas go in the Desk drawer of Doooooom!

      (dusty screen and 20 minute battery life was what did it in.)

      I still have a Newton 110 in there...and a Palm 7...

      --
      "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
  24. a beowulf cluster of watches by Binky+the+Wonder+Slu · · Score: 2, Funny

    I fugure 24 of them should more or less keep track of most of the worlds time zones.

  25. Okay, I'll give it a shot too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Ehem. ...can you imagine a beopuppy cluster of these things?

    Thank you.

    1. Re:Okay, I'll give it a shot too... by noe_mo · · Score: 1

      I think the proper term is 'Beo cub ...

      --
      This, and more Deep Thoughts after Lunch...
  26. Wireless or not... by SharpFang · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...a "cluster" of more or less randomly distributed and connected computers isn't such a bad idea.

    On universities, 99% of computers run with nearly zero CPU load for most of the time. People read emails, surf the web, but for most of the time the computers idle. And then someone has some work reaoznajeszdy, waits in queue for a month, throws data on the university campus dedicated cluster, waits for results for a week and receives results that are invalid due to some mistake in input data, so whole procedure must be repeated all over.

    Now imagine, we install a "cluster server" on all networked computers. Assign certain resources to the project and let our PC participate in that cluster. It loads a custom computational module for given task, loads data from some anonymous dude on the other end of the world and computes his project. Heaviest "daily" stuff gets finished within few hours. It doesn't really disturb you - works as "idle task", just like SETI@home or such. But, say, you're a raytracer. You prepare a nice animation in LightWave and would leave it overnight to render. Just upload it to the net and have it rendered in 5 minutes on the worldwide cluster. Cool, eh?

    Of course the system could be abused. I think some "credit system" would be in order, so people who provide more, get better priority. Plus some way of authoring the "modules" so it couldn't be used to take over the computer. And of course this would be the first step to creating a self-conscious AI, good or evil :) But I think it would be worth a try.

    --
    45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    1. Re:Wireless or not... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My alma mater, Case Western Reserve University, has one of the highest network bandwidths available per student as well as one of the largest WiFi setups. With that kind of bandwidth, there are some very hard problems that Case could tackle with a good Grid client installed on every computer connected to their network.

      I smell a PhD in this...

    2. Re:Wireless or not... by Glonoinha · · Score: 1

      -On universities, 99% of computers run with nearly zero CPU load for most of the time.

      Every once in a while I walk past a totally idle server and I say 'take THAT!' and I pick a massive data directory at random and zip the contents onto a share on another server. Pegs the CPU, shakes up the RAM utilization, hammers the local hard drive and jacks up my network utilization.

      Works with people too. I learned that at PHB school.

      --
      Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
  27. It's just another Asimov prediction by denisbergeron · · Score: 1

    in The End of Eternity !

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une Signature !
  28. Other mini clusters by JimmyQS · · Score: 2, Informative

    A few weeks back I submitted an article about some mini-clusters we made at the Institute for Simulation and Training at the University of Central Florida. Here's a link: http://helios.engr.ucf.edu/beowulf/miniature.phtml "

  29. All computers horsepower... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...is nothing, when you think of the real horse power of a real mare!

  30. Obligatory comment by S.I.O. · · Score: 1

    Can you imagine the Windows CE license fee of a cluster of these?

  31. a smaller form factor by F2F · · Score: 1

    this one is even smaller, and has no moving parts:

    http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~mirtchov/p9/cluster /

    the laptop is used as a file- and authentication server (frontend to the cluster).

    there's virtually no limit to how much it can grow (using Plan 9 as the underlying OS is key here).

    also note the cute switch.

    at USENIX this year this baby stole the show at the LinuxBIOS and Plan 9 BOFs.

    1. Re:a smaller form factor by MGS+Hartman · · Score: 1

      yup, the 9grid rocks!

  32. Interesting but... by 110010001000 · · Score: 0

    ...please remember that the PocketPC API is just an almost complete subset of the base Win32 API. So almost anything that can be done on a desktop PC can be done on a PocketPC.

    Cool though!

  33. Next: Wireless wristwatches! by CrystalFalcon · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can't WAIT for the first 802.11g-enabled wristwatch, imagine being able to link up ad-hoc to a dozen other watches and be able to... ...uhm... ...to tell time twelve times as efficiently!

  34. Spontaneous supercomputer. by YouHaveSnail · · Score: 2, Funny

    For some geeky reason, the notion that you could spontaneously assemble a fairly powerful "machine" just by getting together with a bunch of suitably equipped friends really appeals to me.

    Mark my words: this meme will eventually find its way into a movie. A bunch of people will be trapped together. and the obvious geek will hook a bunch of their PDA's together in order to decode a message or open some sort of cypher lock which will disarm the deadly hazard and free the people with mere seconds to spare. And, of course, he'll get the girl.

  35. This reminds me... by Ancient+Devices+King · · Score: 1

    of an idea I had in high school to cluster TI83's. We just couldn't figure out how to get them to talk to more than one other unit without cable switching...

    --
    -"It seems like you're trying to exploit a security hole. Would you like help?"
  36. a javascript 3n+1 calculator by pascalpp · · Score: 1

    http://www.pascal.com/misc/3nplus1.html

    1. Re:a javascript 3n+1 calculator by LePrince · · Score: 1

      And here's the limit on your calculator (YES, I have WAY too much free time on my hands ;-))
      99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 99999999

    2. Re:a javascript 3n+1 calculator by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 1

      Throwing negative numbers into this thing gives us more interesting output.

      I like it.

      --
      Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  37. Not new by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 1

    This is not new...except that the code is running on top of PocketPC OS. Cactuscode.org used the 3600 series iPaqs, 340 MB microdrives, Linux and I am assuming a PC Card Ethernet connection for the networking. They actually have code on this site. So, the only thing new that Spb is doing is using the IR Ports and using Pocket PC as the os du jour. I would rather see BT connections being used for this and setting something up at a conference where nodes could be added as people walk in and out of an Expo hall. That would be mega cool and they could even have a node where you could look up and see what your machine was doing. Small devices such as these can do real work. They are no longer toy computers. Of course I know a mainframe guy who calls a RS/6000 a toy computer.

    --

    Gorkman

  38. There is more than handhelds by MKaufmann · · Score: 1
    There is so much computing power around me, not just in my organizer and in my desktop pc.

    Of course, many microcontrollers have an unchangable firmware, but not all of them:

    camera (PPC860 @ 66mHz)

    mobile phone (80C166 @ 16mhz)

    car (engine electronics, SAB80C517 @ 12mhz)

    ISDN phones

    washing machine. (No kidding.)

    And these are only the devices, where I know for sure that they allow firmware upgrades.

    Where can I find Linux for washing machines?

    Markus

    1. Re:There is more than handhelds by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      How do you find the processor operating an electrical device, short of opening it up and looking i mean.. I`m curious what processor is running my tv, dvd player etc

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
  39. Redundancy Gains by Quirk · · Score: 1

    The article didn't speak to any redundancy gains that come with the cluster. Nor did it speak to cost comparison. This looks like the beginning of a major direction in future development.

    --
    "Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
    Cohen
  40. Yeah, we talked about this a long time ago... by fitten · · Score: 1

    Back around 1997 my group built a cluster of laptops running MPI for kicks. We laughed at how small it was stacked so we talked about making things even smaller. We talked about getting a number of Palms together or some other such tiny form factor machines and selling "6-packs" of clustered computing power - even to the point of laughing about making flanisters to put them in or cardboard "beer-like" holdersr Of course, back then, the aggregate computing power of a "6-pack Cluster" was about equal to that of just a regular PC.

  41. Hey! by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 1
    Imagine a Beowulf clust- oh... wait a minute...

    Um.

    Oh! In Soviet Russia, the clust- ah forget it... the moment has passed. :(

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
  42. Newton cluster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Long time ago I read something about a Newton cluster from a bunch of surplus Newtons from NSA... Anyone know this was for real?

  43. Plus floppy RAID? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they hooked this up to up a floppy-disk RAID (http://ohlssonvox.8k.com/fdd_raid.htm) they'd REALLY have something!

  44. And this is news? by thesupraman · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Excellent, They clustered a bunch of expensive management toys together and achieved about performance than a cheap desktop computer that costs less than the price of one of these toys?

    Give them a medal - AND a slashdot leading story!

    What next? how about a cluster of abacus? hey - wouldn't that be great! I feel excited already!

    This is not some uber-hack, it is a trivial bit of work that a couple of half drunk people with a CE development system could throw together in a few hours!

    How about some better ideas - distributed processing on nokia 3650's using SMS messages for data transfer and a cute graphics look to convince thousands of people to run the client? or even a dynamic bluetooth cluster that reconfigured as people entered and left the transmission area?

    Wow! that took SECONDS of thinking!

  45. For those times where... by rune2 · · Score: 1

    You just really have to run SETI on the road.

  46. Modular Cluster Composition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    DFuse

    Check out Figure 7.

  47. That's what you call it by Easy2RememberNick · · Score: 1

    12 are called a cluster. Just one is called a piece-of-crap. I should know I own one.

  48. The end is near!! by gbulmash · · Score: 2, Funny
    What happens when enough of these pocket PC's network and an intelligence develops that determines humanity to be a threat to its existence?

    I envision nightmarish scenes out of "Small Soldiers"... lilliputian armies of talking Barbies, chasing people down and carving them up.

    I don't know about you, but the day my Palm Tungsten's calendar shows I've got a 4 p.m. meeting with Death, I'm a headin' for the hills.

    - Greg

    --
    Start a happiness pandemic
  49. -1, WTF??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Neither clusters, nor portable computers... the reality-computing supercomputers were huge and emitted aluminium sheets, like punch cards... so what the fuck are you talking about?

  50. Imagine... by silicon+not+in+the+v · · Score: 0

    A cluster of computer geeks unhooking their Commodore 64 web servers and hooking them together to form the combined computing power of...my microwave.

    --
    We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
  51. I for one.. by adeyadey · · Score: 1

    1: Welcome our beowulf cluster in soviet russia overlords,
    2: but can they run Linux???
    3: Profit!!!

    Serious point - what is the origin of the beowulf/soviet/overlord/profit!!/etc jokes? Anyone done an FAQ? Anyone care?

    --
    "You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
    1. Re:I for one.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The beowulf cluster thing is just somthing people kept saying everytime sombody posted a new story about a powerfull computer.
      The In Soviet russia Television watches you is a pun from an old comic
      I for one welcome our new ant overlords is a quote from kent brockman in an episode of the simpsons (Homer in space)
      Underwear, ???, Profit, is a joke from southpark from the underwear gnomes episode

    2. Re:I for one.. by MochaMan · · Score: 1

      Yes, but the real question is what happened to pouring hot grits down a petrified Natalie Portman's pants?
      Seems to have somehow gone out of vogue in recent years...

    3. Re:I for one.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I for one..." came from a Simpsons episode, seems to have made a fairly solid appearnace in the rest of the world as well, according to google

  52. You missed... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    0, 0, 0, 0, ...

    1. Re:You missed... by mcoko · · Score: 1

      No he didn't. 3 x -1 = -3 not -1.

      But I would assume that the 3n+1 problem only works for positive numbers.

      --
      www.fotoforay.com
  53. We're not all like that here... by roesti · · Score: 1
    I bet that the most fun part of the project was posting about it here on /. just to see the flood of beowulf cluster in soviet russia jokes

    Not everyone on Slashdot makes the same remarks over and over again, you insensitive clod!

    --
    Attack its weak point for massive damage!
  54. Re:We reciently decomissioned our first webserver. by Dan+East · · Score: 1

    The performance of a 206 mhz ARM (or XScale) processor is not remotely close to the that of an x86 processor running at the same speed. ARM is RISC, has a very small cache, no math coprocessor, etc, etc.

    Dan East

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  55. Pocket Quake by Dan+East · · Score: 1

    How is this different from several people playing multiplayer Pocket Quake over WiFi, simulating in parallel a virtual 3D environment on their Pocket PCs?

    Pocket Quake is almost 3 years old.

    Dan East

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  56. on a more serious number.... by hatrisc · · Score: 1

    with a better operating system running on these, you'd have to wonder would a cluster of zauruses be able to do better? or is the limit of pda style clustering what we've seen here. (at least with the available computing power right now)

    --
    I write code.
  57. flash clustering by monkeyboy87 · · Score: 1

    all we need is a little wifi and people could converge for a brief time to create an uber cluster and the wonder off to sip coffee and the local coffee shop.

  58. Sounds familiar, but can't google it to confirm by MCRocker · · Score: 1

    Yeah. I was thinking the same thing, though I thought it was a University that had done it rather than the NSA. I can even remember the picture in the article showing some guy plugging in an apple talk cable to an Apple Newton MessagePad on a huge rack full of the things.

    You beat me to posting this because I was trying to find a reference to this, but I'm not finding anything on google. If anyone out there has a more solid lead on this topic please post it.

    --
    Signatures are a waste of bandwi (buffering...)
  59. What fscking "supercomputer"? by JohnQPublic · · Score: 1
    From the article:
    It turns out that even a small cluster consisting of twelve nodes is still slower than a mainstream Pentium II-class desktop PC.
    Last I checked, a P-II wasn't anybody's idea of a supercomputer. Ever.
  60. not surprising by v_1_r_u_5 · · Score: 1

    In the amount of time it takes for a successful transmission of just a few bytes over infrared, the pentium machine would have probably ran several thousand iterations. Infrared is horribly slow, regardless if you're just sending a few bytes at a time.

  61. Am I missing something??? by Man_Holmes · · Score: 1

    You take 11 PPC handhelds @ $800 each for a total of $8800 and build a beowulf cluster. Yet it's still runs slower than single $1500 laptop.

    Only real world application I see is the defense department. Same people who are buying $800 hammers and $1200 toilet seats.

    Man Holmes

  62. Why cluster with other handhelds? by wirde · · Score: 1
    it does point out some interesting possiblilities for the future of handhelds with wireless connectivity working in ad-hoc computing clusters

    If I had a handheld with wireless connectivity, I'd rather have it belonging to a cluster of "real" computers...

    --
    in GNUin GNUin GNUin GNUin GNUin GNUin GNUin GNUSegmentation fault
  63. Re:We reciently decomissioned our first webserver. by Matey-O · · Score: 1

    Yes, but then the funny correlation would never have been made if I stuck to absolutes now, would it?

    --
    "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
  64. Cell processor by webrunner · · Score: 1

    "future of handhelds with wireless connectivity working in ad-hoc computing clusters."

    Isn't this what Cell is supposed to be? Only with like, toasters and PS3s?

    --
    ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
  65. Spb Software House by 21mhz · · Score: 1

    These are the guys who ported WTL to Windows CE.

    --
    My exception safety is -fno-exceptions.
  66. apropos by fqrley · · Score: 1

    'If you were plowing a field, which would you rather use? Two strong oxen or 1024 chickens?' - Seymour Cray

  67. Great Concept, but too early. by nurb432 · · Score: 1

    If ALL pc devices could be part of one massive cluster, it would make things a lot more efficent.

    You just 'plug-in' with your device, and you get instant large scale power and storage.

    It would reduce costs of devices, and size.. would make palmtops as generic as a stickypad you just lay around.

    Though we arent quite there in the wireless technology department to make it practical.... yet..

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  68. Silent But Deadly? by t.n.t · · Score: 1

    Did anyone else read Spb Software as SBD Software? Or was it just me :-)