I have it on good authority that while Martha Stewart may be a long way from a geek, she does own a very high-end IBM RS6000 SP cluster running IBM's AIX flavor of UNIX. I believe that it's for data warehousing/mining but it COULD be developing strategies (a la IBM's Deep Blue) for domination of the geek world.
Of all the celebrities that you send up in AY2K, (Are Rob and Jeff celebrities yet?) have any responded in a negative way? Conversely, have any responded in a fashion more positive that what you would've expected?
Also,like many others I'm sure, I'd love to see the face above the boots. Or will "comic strip realities collapse" if your face goes on-line? The Mac SE/Kid-Pix self portrat just didn't cut it.
I believe that Apple coined the term, "Personal Computer," in the Apple ][ days. (It sounds Jobsian, doesn't it?) Of course they never trademarked it. When IBM came out with the "PC" they co-opted the term.
Minor correction, the Palm V has Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries. These are better, no charge "memory" if you are recharging without running it all the way down. Also better power characteristics in a smaller space. Most laptops today use this battery technology.
How about StarBridge Systems HAL computer? It was in Slashdot a while ago (where are the archives?). Remember, it outperforms the largest supercomputer, yet sits on a desktop. Also, you could fire a bullet through it and it would keep running. It uses FPGA circuits.
The guy behind this is named Kent Gilson. We haven't heard much from him lately.
This kind of application has EVERYTHING to do with electronic commerce. Don't be misled by thie high visibility of amazon.com and eBay, which follow the business-to-consumer model.
I recently came across a stat (source: International Data Corporation, Global Market Forcast for Internet Usage and Commerce, 7/97. Dated? Maybe a little but still very relevant) that showed that in 1996, business-to-consumer e-business was $1.6B of a $2.6B "pie," or 60%.
By 2001, however, business-to-business e-commerce would dominate, growing to $178B, or 80% of a $222.6B (!) total market.
That's a lot of B's for companies to toss back and forth. It's only natural that businesses would evolve methods such as this to accomidate their needs more efficiently.
Linux is great but it still lacks the unified management environmnet that SMIT offers to AIX. If IBM will release a SMIT for Linux (shouldn't be TOO hard, it's mostly scripts anyway) then we'll know that IBM is serious and not just looking to latch on to penguin popularity.
As an IBM SP specialist, and a Linux advocate I am impressed and intrigued by the Beowulf configuration built by Hess.
The SP does have a fairly robust management toolset (PSSP) and uses kerberos with parallel commands for secure multi-node management.
To be honest, I haven't read up on the capabilities of Beowulf but the impression I get from the article is that Hess had to write some apps to approximate the management capabilities of the SP.
Two questions:
1) Did Hess have to write these apps because Beowulf has a weak management system, or did they have to write them because Beowulf has a functional system that is different from what they were used to?
2) Any chance that these management apps would be available under the GPL? Or even that more details about how they configured their systems will be posted?
I'd love to be able to show my customers what Linux can do. Maybe Jeff Davis from the above post can shed some light on this.
I, for one, am glad to read this type of analysis of the Colorado situation.
With some background in sociology, I have been amazed at how much energy has been spent looking in the wrong directions for blame.
With all the current emphasis on political correctness and multiculturalism, the lack of tolerance demonstrated by the school administration and "social elite" toward the "geek outcast" (note: this is not redundant) sub-culture is amazing.
Obviously, no one is ultimately to blame but the killers. They were certainly aware that their actions were wrong. But in a society where post tramuatic stress syndrome gives legal legitamacy to many evils, the society must also conclude that these young men, as well as the people quoted by Katz have experienced their share of tramuatic stress.
The late 90's answer to aleviate the stress caused by being a member of a persecuted sub-culture is to celebrate the very qualities which separate them from the mainstream.
Besides the radical approach of dismantling the public school system and replacing it with smaller, truely neighborhood based schools, I think the time is ripe for a new wave in public school administration.
Sensitivity to diversity is more than a racial or sexual issue. It must be taught that all individuals exist on a continum of style and behavior. And short of illeagal behavior, the only "wrong" behavior is that which causes harm to others.
Nerds shooting jocks is wrong. Jocks hazing nerds may be less wrong because no one dies (usually) but is still in the same family of "wrongness." Both crimes are committed because the victim is a member of the "hated other."
Perhaps the answer for the people repressed in the ways outlined in Kats' article is through the legal system. In much the same way that other minority groups fought for their rights in the courts, a few choice law suits citing the repressive environment of public schools will definately have a great impact on the national debate.
Finally, I propose a national geeks vs jocks Quake deathmatch day. It would do a lot to demonstrate that the motavation to survive and win is really something that both groups have in common.
Slashdot Mirror
Nitrozac:
First let me say that I'm a big fan of AY2K.
I have it on good authority that while Martha Stewart may be a long way from a geek, she does own a very high-end IBM RS6000 SP cluster running IBM's AIX flavor of UNIX. I believe that it's for data warehousing/mining but it COULD be developing strategies (a la IBM's Deep Blue) for domination of the geek world.
Of all the celebrities that you send up in AY2K, (Are Rob and Jeff celebrities yet?) have any responded in a negative way? Conversely, have any responded in a fashion more positive that what you would've expected?
Also,like many others I'm sure, I'd love to see the face above the boots. Or will "comic strip realities collapse" if your face goes on-line? The Mac SE/Kid-Pix self portrat just didn't cut it.
Thanks for all of the great work. Keep it up!
I believe that Apple coined the term, "Personal Computer," in the Apple ][ days. (It sounds Jobsian, doesn't it?) Of course they never trademarked it. When IBM came out with the "PC" they co-opted the term.
Would that make Slashdot "commin', commin', commin' around?"
Minor correction, the Palm V has Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries. These are better, no charge "memory" if you are recharging without running it all the way down. Also better power characteristics in a smaller space. Most laptops today use this battery technology.
Be careful what you ask for...
How about StarBridge Systems HAL computer? It was in Slashdot a while ago (where are the archives?). Remember, it outperforms the largest supercomputer, yet sits on a desktop. Also, you could fire a bullet through it and it would keep running. It uses FPGA circuits.
The guy behind this is named Kent Gilson. We haven't heard much from him lately.
(I think you could even run Linux on it.)
This kind of application has EVERYTHING to do with electronic commerce. Don't be misled by thie high visibility of amazon.com and eBay, which follow the business-to-consumer model.
I recently came across a stat (source: International Data Corporation, Global Market Forcast for Internet Usage and Commerce, 7/97. Dated? Maybe a little but still very relevant) that showed that in 1996, business-to-consumer e-business was $1.6B of a $2.6B "pie," or 60%.
By 2001, however, business-to-business e-commerce would dominate, growing to $178B, or 80% of a $222.6B (!) total market.
That's a lot of B's for companies to toss back and forth. It's only natural that businesses would evolve methods such as this to accomidate their needs more efficiently.
trichard
I wonder where this puts Project Monterey, IBM's joint development effort with SCO for a unified un*x to run on IA64 platforms?
See this Slashdot link for more info.
Linux is great but it still lacks the unified management environmnet that SMIT offers to AIX. If IBM will release a SMIT for Linux (shouldn't be TOO hard, it's mostly scripts anyway) then we'll know that IBM is serious and not just looking to latch on to penguin popularity.
trichard
As an IBM SP specialist, and a Linux advocate I am impressed and intrigued by the Beowulf configuration built by Hess.
The SP does have a fairly robust management toolset (PSSP) and uses kerberos with parallel commands for secure multi-node management.
To be honest, I haven't read up on the capabilities of Beowulf but the impression I get from the article is that Hess had to write some apps to approximate the management capabilities of the SP.
Two questions:
1) Did Hess have to write these apps because Beowulf has a weak management system, or did they have to write them because Beowulf has a functional system that is different from what they were used to?
2) Any chance that these management apps would be available under the GPL? Or even that more details about how they configured their systems will be posted?
I'd love to be able to show my customers what Linux can do. Maybe Jeff Davis from the above post can shed some light on this.
Ted Richardson
I, for one, am glad to read this type of analysis of the Colorado situation.
With some background in sociology, I have been amazed at how much energy has been spent looking in the wrong directions for blame.
With all the current emphasis on political correctness and multiculturalism, the lack of tolerance demonstrated by the school administration and "social elite" toward the "geek outcast" (note: this is not redundant) sub-culture is amazing.
Obviously, no one is ultimately to blame but the killers. They were certainly aware that their actions were wrong. But in a society where post tramuatic stress syndrome gives legal legitamacy to many evils, the society must also conclude that these young men, as well as the people quoted by Katz have experienced their share of tramuatic stress.
The late 90's answer to aleviate the stress caused by being a member of a persecuted sub-culture is to celebrate the very qualities which separate them from the mainstream.
Besides the radical approach of dismantling the public school system and replacing it with smaller, truely neighborhood based schools, I think the time is ripe for a new wave in public school administration.
Sensitivity to diversity is more than a racial or sexual issue. It must be taught that all individuals exist on a continum of style and behavior. And short of illeagal behavior, the only "wrong" behavior is that which causes harm to others.
Nerds shooting jocks is wrong. Jocks hazing nerds may be less wrong because no one dies (usually) but is still in the same family of "wrongness." Both crimes are committed because the victim is a member of the "hated other."
Perhaps the answer for the people repressed in the ways outlined in Kats' article is through the legal system. In much the same way that other minority groups fought for their rights in the courts, a few choice law suits citing the repressive environment of public schools will definately have a great impact on the national debate.
Finally, I propose a national geeks vs jocks Quake deathmatch day. It would do a lot to demonstrate that the motavation to survive and win is really something that both groups have in common.
Ted Richarson