DEC/Compaq is up Rt 3 in Nashua and down 495 in Littleton and Marlboro. DEC used to have an office on just about every other exit o 495 between Franklin and Tewksbury and on various points all over the Greater Maynard Area. It was great when you were a DEC employee. No matter where you were, you were only minutes away from a clean toilet when you REALLY had to go.
As for MCL, it's a damned shame. I have some friends and many former work associates who worked there. Some of the best engineers in the business.
I can't believe that people still use the term "adds" when they mean "ads". As in Advertise.
Sheesh..
As for Slashdot, TANSTAAFL. The dot-com free lunch is definately over.
Re:AMD was right to grab every DEC Alpha engineer
on
It's (Almost) Hammer Time
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Unless you worked at API (formerly Alpha Processor Inc.) in *1999*, you didn't have a 1GHz Alpha. And it for damned sure didn't cost $900.
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-227510.html?legacy =c net
There was ONE or two 1GHz Alpha's mounted in a SlotB format at API in *1999*. These had to use 250MHz cache (at a 1:4 ratio). Limitations in the Tsunami chipset didn't favor anything more than an 833MHz. This meant that with the slow cache and Tsunami limitations, the 1GHz was like putting a Corvette engine in a Cavalier. Goes fast doing only one thing. Don't take a corner.
Those one or two 1GHz Slot B's were proto's. They are probably still on my former desk or in the lab or maybe have been shipped back to Korea by now. API closes its doors this week from what I've heard.
I shorted the L1 bridges on my 800MHz Duron. It's on my KT7A-Raid running at 933MHz. I'm using CAS 2 Crucial PC133 memory.
Runs nice and stable and fairly fast. I need to dump the Matrox G400 tho. Probably go with a GF2 to hold me over till the next motherboard. Then the KT7A-RAID will become my server.
It's still alive and kicking. As a matter of fact, it's currently being ported to IA-64 (Itanic/Itanium) There is also work being done to allow open-source software written for Linux to be easily ported to VMS. Including Autoconf. (Which amazes me frankly!)
I used to be the sysadmin in the VMS Group. Linus may not like VMS, but honestly, you can't beat it. It just works and has worked longer than some of you kids have been around.
Yea, right. If launches were below $1000/lb then all us geeks would be dieting.
Maglev isn't going to send you to the Moon. It's gonna get you started. It is a cheaper method of "getting off the pad". Once you get over the inital hump, you kick in the engines and go. Maglev doesn't substitute for good engine design. It's part of a complete system.
It's interesting reading the replies here. It's as if all clusters are only defined by CPU and speed of the NIC. Sorry, it's not that way at all.
A cluster should be designed to solve a specific problem. You have to do some math up front before making your choices on things like NIC's and CPU's. You can't apply a blanket solution. Some of the things to consider are:
. The size of the data being exchange
. Does the matrix you are computing fit into cache?
. Is the problem dependant on memory bandwidth?
. etc....
For example, for some problems, the amount of data exchanged fits well within a Jumbo Packet of a Gb Ethernet AND is not affected by latency.
Other problems are very dependant on latency and require things like a Dolphin or Myrinet card. These are not inexpensive items.
Still other problems require memory bandwidth and work well with systems like Alpha's.
So, if you are building a small cluster to run POVray at home, go with cheap. If you are trying to crack the human genome, you need racks upon racks of things like high-end Alpha's with Quadrics interconnects. It's all dependant on the problem you are trying to solve.
The "newer" B-52's use the P&W TF-33 fanjet engines.
Another old workhorse, the KC-135 Stratotanker is about as old as the B-52 and is predicted to fly until 2040 also. It originally came with J-57 engines and was known as the KC-135A. It was re-engined in the 80's with fans (similar to the TF-33's) from old Boeing 707 airliners. This resulted in the KC-135E model. Many have since been re-engined with CFM56 high bypass fans. These are KC-135R models.
With the E and R models, the KC135 also got thrust reversers and did away with the water injection of the A models. I remember flying out of Hickam in Hawaii one afternoon. Water injection gave you an extra 2000lbs of thrust per engine for 2 minutes. After the 2 minutes when the water ran out, you lost 8000lbs of thrust. That was a fun moment in the back when we almost lost our lunches.:)
I was a jet mechanic on A and E models in the Air Guard from 80 to 87.
The Moller gets 0 MPG.
When it ever starts really flying and Moller can fly it from say, Boston to Portland, Maine, then we can talk MPG. Until then, it's a Popular Science pretty cover article I've seen one too many times.
Sorry, the CPU is soldered onto the board on the UP1500. And you can't just take an EV6-based CPU and "plug it in" to an AMD or VIA based board. The signalling and power consumption, plus the need to supply at least 2MB of cache kind of eliminate that possibility. Nope, the board has to be specifically designed for Alpha.
FWIW, I was one of the Alpha people laid off from API.
Alpha's problems had little to do with the MIPS fiasco. Alpha's problems had ALOT to do with the fact that Intel "acquired" bits of Alpha without permission and Bob Palmer, CEO of DEC at the time, didn't have the balls to go to court to prove it. Instead, he sold out for $700million and "preferred vendor status" from Intel. Well, that all went in the toilet when he sold DEC to Compaq (and now Compaq is being sold to HP)
It was a comedy of errors, mismanagement and poor marketing that doomed Alpha.
FWIW, I think Hammer has the opportunity to do VERY well and seriously hurt Itanium. I just wish they were announcing who is going to be building 2, 4, & 8 way servers. Hammers battle will be convincing corporate markets that AMD is something more than the computers their kid runs down in the basement with his friends.
Here's the catch. Apple doesn't give a shit about Windows! You want Windows? Buy a Mac and run Virtual PC. To them, it's that simple.
Mac users don't give a rats ass about hacking. They buy a "computer" to get their work/fun done. That's it. Period. I know, my wife is a graphic designer Mac user with a new 867MHz G4. It's a tool. She'd think an iPod would be fine. Would she think it's too expensive? Of course, but would it "just work"? Yup.
I just came from the Apple store in Peabody, MA. They hadn't announced the iPod yet so I didn't hear about it till I got home. However, we did talk about Windows and Linux. The iManager (:-))of the store basically was saying what I've said above. There are people that want a computer for fun or work, they don't want to "hack" and Apple is there for them.
FWIW, I've considered getting an iBook just because the piece of shit Compaq notebook is driving me up a wall. Now if I only had the money....
Alpha ISO's always show up a couple of weeks after the x86 ISO's.
I suspect Compaq is paying RH for the Alpha release, at least for another year or two.
FWIW, I USED to work at API.
To those of you who are Speakeasy users, going to rpmfind.net will get you a "local" Speakeasy mirror. I'm downloading at my max DSL speed of about 35.5KBps.
Enjoy.. And thanks Speakeasy!!
If Linux/Unix had a built-in help equal to VMS, it would go a long way to helping neophytes master Bash and Linux in general.
For those that don't know, HELP in VMS is a command. You can say HELP SET and get all the qualifiers AND examples for the SET command. It's quite complete. Something man isn't. (If man just had decent examples of the commands referenced that would help alot)
I wonder when the FTC will start taking a closer look at the situation Intel is finding itself in?
There is VERY little serious competition to IA64 and it's not because it's the better product.
Disclaimer: I USED to work at API until all us Alpha folk got laid off. I'm not bitter; quite the contrary, I was glad to move on! However, there's a HUGE number of people out of work and going out of work to Compaq's (and to a MUCH lesser extent, API) bungling of Alpha and selling out to Intel just prior to public announcements of HP buying Compaq. We'll never know the details but the FTC should take a closer look.
Slashdot Mirror
DEC/Compaq weren't in Lowell.. Wang was tho. :)
DEC/Compaq is up Rt 3 in Nashua and down 495 in Littleton and Marlboro. DEC used to have an office on just about every other exit o 495 between Franklin and Tewksbury and on various points all over the Greater Maynard Area. It was great when you were a DEC employee. No matter where you were, you were only minutes away from a clean toilet when you REALLY had to go.
As for MCL, it's a damned shame. I have some friends and many former work associates who worked there. Some of the best engineers in the business.
I can't believe that people still use the term "adds" when they mean "ads". As in Advertise.
Sheesh..
As for Slashdot, TANSTAAFL. The dot-com free lunch is definately over.
Unless you worked at API (formerly Alpha Processor Inc.) in *1999*, you didn't have a 1GHz Alpha. And it for damned sure didn't cost $900.
y =c net
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-227510.html?legac
There was ONE or two 1GHz Alpha's mounted in a SlotB format at API in *1999*. These had to use 250MHz cache (at a 1:4 ratio). Limitations in the Tsunami chipset didn't favor anything more than an 833MHz. This meant that with the slow cache and Tsunami limitations, the 1GHz was like putting a Corvette engine in a Cavalier. Goes fast doing only one thing. Don't take a corner.
Those one or two 1GHz Slot B's were proto's. They are probably still on my former desk or in the lab or maybe have been shipped back to Korea by now. API closes its doors this week from what I've heard.
I worked at API.
This has got to be one of the most UNinformed entries on /. in a LONG time. I wonder if it's an Intel employee being directed by his FUDmaster?
I shorted the L1 bridges on my 800MHz Duron. It's on my KT7A-Raid running at 933MHz. I'm using CAS 2 Crucial PC133 memory. Runs nice and stable and fairly fast. I need to dump the Matrox G400 tho. Probably go with a GF2 to hold me over till the next motherboard. Then the KT7A-RAID will become my server.
First, congrats.. Marriage rocks. Second, some words of advice given to me before I was married. "Happy Wife, Happy Life" Learn it, live it, love it.
SubCmdr T'Aco??
It's still alive and kicking. As a matter of fact, it's currently being ported to IA-64 (Itanic/Itanium) There is also work being done to allow open-source software written for Linux to be easily ported to VMS. Including Autoconf. (Which amazes me frankly!) I used to be the sysadmin in the VMS Group. Linus may not like VMS, but honestly, you can't beat it. It just works and has worked longer than some of you kids have been around.
Actually, in tech companies, they are the FIRST to go. Former technical marketing engineer at API NetWorks.
Yea, right. If launches were below $1000/lb then all us geeks would be dieting. Maglev isn't going to send you to the Moon. It's gonna get you started. It is a cheaper method of "getting off the pad". Once you get over the inital hump, you kick in the engines and go. Maglev doesn't substitute for good engine design. It's part of a complete system.
Laser pointers are great for entertaining cats. Ours fly around the room trying to catch the point of light.
It's interesting reading the replies here. It's as if all clusters are only defined by CPU and speed of the NIC. Sorry, it's not that way at all.
A cluster should be designed to solve a specific problem. You have to do some math up front before making your choices on things like NIC's and CPU's. You can't apply a blanket solution. Some of the things to consider are:
. The size of the data being exchange
. Does the matrix you are computing fit into cache?
. Is the problem dependant on memory bandwidth?
. etc....
For example, for some problems, the amount of data exchanged fits well within a Jumbo Packet of a Gb Ethernet AND is not affected by latency.
Other problems are very dependant on latency and require things like a Dolphin or Myrinet card. These are not inexpensive items.
Still other problems require memory bandwidth and work well with systems like Alpha's.
So, if you are building a small cluster to run POVray at home, go with cheap. If you are trying to crack the human genome, you need racks upon racks of things like high-end Alpha's with Quadrics interconnects. It's all dependant on the problem you are trying to solve.
FWIW, I used to work at API and DEC/Compaq.
The "newer" B-52's use the P&W TF-33 fanjet engines. Another old workhorse, the KC-135 Stratotanker is about as old as the B-52 and is predicted to fly until 2040 also. It originally came with J-57 engines and was known as the KC-135A. It was re-engined in the 80's with fans (similar to the TF-33's) from old Boeing 707 airliners. This resulted in the KC-135E model. Many have since been re-engined with CFM56 high bypass fans. These are KC-135R models. With the E and R models, the KC135 also got thrust reversers and did away with the water injection of the A models. I remember flying out of Hickam in Hawaii one afternoon. Water injection gave you an extra 2000lbs of thrust per engine for 2 minutes. After the 2 minutes when the water ran out, you lost 8000lbs of thrust. That was a fun moment in the back when we almost lost our lunches. :)
I was a jet mechanic on A and E models in the Air Guard from 80 to 87.
Or approximately 436,908 DECtapes or TU-58's. (260k each)
The Moller gets 0 MPG. When it ever starts really flying and Moller can fly it from say, Boston to Portland, Maine, then we can talk MPG. Until then, it's a Popular Science pretty cover article I've seen one too many times.
Note that the Digital..er.Compaq Fortran group now works for Intel. They were the first to move over when Compaq gave up Alpha over the summer.
Sorry, the CPU is soldered onto the board on the UP1500. And you can't just take an EV6-based CPU and "plug it in" to an AMD or VIA based board. The signalling and power consumption, plus the need to supply at least 2MB of cache kind of eliminate that possibility. Nope, the board has to be specifically designed for Alpha. FWIW, I was one of the Alpha people laid off from API.
Alpha's problems had little to do with the MIPS fiasco. Alpha's problems had ALOT to do with the fact that Intel "acquired" bits of Alpha without permission and Bob Palmer, CEO of DEC at the time, didn't have the balls to go to court to prove it. Instead, he sold out for $700million and "preferred vendor status" from Intel. Well, that all went in the toilet when he sold DEC to Compaq (and now Compaq is being sold to HP) It was a comedy of errors, mismanagement and poor marketing that doomed Alpha. FWIW, I think Hammer has the opportunity to do VERY well and seriously hurt Itanium. I just wish they were announcing who is going to be building 2, 4, & 8 way servers. Hammers battle will be convincing corporate markets that AMD is something more than the computers their kid runs down in the basement with his friends.
Here's the catch. Apple doesn't give a shit about Windows! You want Windows? Buy a Mac and run Virtual PC. To them, it's that simple. Mac users don't give a rats ass about hacking. They buy a "computer" to get their work/fun done. That's it. Period. I know, my wife is a graphic designer Mac user with a new 867MHz G4. It's a tool. She'd think an iPod would be fine. Would she think it's too expensive? Of course, but would it "just work"? Yup. I just came from the Apple store in Peabody, MA. They hadn't announced the iPod yet so I didn't hear about it till I got home. However, we did talk about Windows and Linux. The iManager (:-))of the store basically was saying what I've said above. There are people that want a computer for fun or work, they don't want to "hack" and Apple is there for them. FWIW, I've considered getting an iBook just because the piece of shit Compaq notebook is driving me up a wall. Now if I only had the money....
Alpha ISO's always show up a couple of weeks after the x86 ISO's. I suspect Compaq is paying RH for the Alpha release, at least for another year or two. FWIW, I USED to work at API.
To those of you who are Speakeasy users, going to rpmfind.net will get you a "local" Speakeasy mirror. I'm downloading at my max DSL speed of about 35.5KBps. Enjoy.. And thanks Speakeasy!!
If Linux/Unix had a built-in help equal to VMS, it would go a long way to helping neophytes master Bash and Linux in general. For those that don't know, HELP in VMS is a command. You can say HELP SET and get all the qualifiers AND examples for the SET command. It's quite complete. Something man isn't. (If man just had decent examples of the commands referenced that would help alot)
I wonder when the FTC will start taking a closer look at the situation Intel is finding itself in? There is VERY little serious competition to IA64 and it's not because it's the better product. Disclaimer: I USED to work at API until all us Alpha folk got laid off. I'm not bitter; quite the contrary, I was glad to move on! However, there's a HUGE number of people out of work and going out of work to Compaq's (and to a MUCH lesser extent, API) bungling of Alpha and selling out to Intel just prior to public announcements of HP buying Compaq. We'll never know the details but the FTC should take a closer look.
So you are saying that all innovation should stop because some wacko in a 3rd world country with his towel in a knot could use it against us?
With that logic, Boeing shouldn't have built the 767.
Really, how often do you need a Winframe client on a handheld?
If you REALLY need something like this, then use (freeware!) VNC on a Palm or a PocketPC to connect to your Window/Mac/Linux system.