 | Astrophysics Lab Replaces Supercomputer with 8 PS3s October 17, 2007 12:19pm in science |
 An astrophysics lab has replaced a supercomputer they use for research with 8 PlayStation 3 consoles. Some reasons behind this include the fact that using the supercomputers cost them $5000 a pop which adds up rather quickly. The whole idea that the PS3 can run Linux is also a plus as it allows the lab to run them the way they want uninhibited.
"The interest in the PS3 really was for two main reasons," explains Khanna, an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth who specializes in computational astrophysics. "One of those is that Sony did this remarkable thing of making the PS3 an open platform, so you can in fact run Linux on it and it doesn't control what you do."
The 8 PS3s were donated by Sony and stringing them together with proper otimized code allows them to function very much like a supercomputer. The experiment they're running is to calculate the amount of gravity that would be generated should a black hole swallow a star. This grid has apparently been up for a month and the 8 PS3s apparently generate the processing power of about 200 supercomputer nodes that they used to use. Astrophysicist Replaces Supercomputer with Eight PlayStation 3s [wired.com] Tags: astronomy, playstation, linux, tech, news |
| 0 Comments |
| Interview with Richard Stallman October 15, 2007 12:36pm in tech |
 Richard Stallman, the eccentric founder of the GNU operating system and GPL, had an interview with LinuxInsider. It's an interesting read as he gives his thoughts on what open-source and free software actually means. Full Story [linuxinsider.com] Tags: linux, links, opensource, freesoftware, news, interview |
| 0 Comments |
| Shuttleworth on Ballmer, Microsoft October 11, 2007 11:02am in tech |
I just read an article that goes along with my previous entry about Ballmer attacking Linux. Mark Shuttleworth, the CEO of Canonical (the company responsible for Ubuntu) where he disputes Steve Ballmer's claims against Linux. He raises some very good points and I am forced to agree that Ballmer and Microsoft are taking the wrong approach against Linux. Does Linux encroach on some of Microsoft's intellectual property? I'm sure there are some that aspects of Linux do. However, none of the Linux developers can really do anything without Microsoft first letting them know what they're infringing on. I'd be curious as to how many times has Microsoft violated the GPL licenses in their programs. I also like Mark's comment saying that Linux innovation just piggyback's off Microsoft. As Mark states, this is complete bullshit because if you look at IE7 and Microsoft's virtualization (the two examples Mark Shuttleworth gave, and I'm forced to agree) came from innovations from Firefox and Xen respectively. It's definitely an interesting read. Stallworth on Ballmer [Linux-Watch.com] |
| 0 Comments |
| Top Ten Side Effects of Switching to Linux October 03, 2007 1:04am in tech |
| I found this list online, and it made me chuckle...probably because I use linux. 10. You start talking about 'killing' programs instead of forcing them to quit 9. You keep reminding yourself that you don't have to save your work every five minutes 8. You start substituting C for K in your normal writing (Did you know that Pizarro konquered the Inkas?) 7. You talk your grandmother into open-sourcing her secret cookie recipe 6. People give you strange looks when you brag about your uptime 5. You cause Bill Gates' fortune to decrease by 0.0000001 percent 4. The only viruses that bother you are the ones that cause the flu 3. The blue screen of death only appears to you in nightmares 2. You actually get some serious work done 1. Your problems meeting members of the opposite sex disappear View the story here: http://www.linux.org/news/LO2007/teneffects.html |
| 1 Comments |
| My Thoughts on Linux September 21, 2007 12:50am in tech |
As many of those who know me have learned, I am an advocate of open source and Linux. My server runs Ubuntu and my desktop triple boots with Windows XP, Ubuntu, and Slackware. I like what Linux offers, the ability for customization as well as some pretty nice apps to do almost everything I need. I've been a pretty steady Linux user for over a year now and I really wish I could just dump Windows and just run a pure Linux box. Unfortunately, the same thing that could possibly keep many from making the switch entirely is keeping me on Windows from time to time. One of the biggest drawbacks to Linux for a lot of people my age is gaming. I mean there's Cedega and WINE, but c'mon, let's face it, next to running games natively on Windows, neither Cedega or WINE can compare. This is particularly true on the more recent, graphic intensive games. I mean I've moved towards console gaming a lot more lately so this wouldn't be so big of a deal, but there are a handful of games where I still need my computer particularly World of Warcraft, Battlefield 2142, and my collection of RTS games. Hardware support has improved tremendously lately, I know on my Desktop, everything just works. My multimedia keyboad keys even work properly without any special configuration. The only driver installation I have to do are the nvidia drivers and dual screen setup. Past that I can simply install and go. This I'm sure is a little different on laptops, but I have a Macbook Pro and I'm perfectly content using OS X and see very little reason to install Linux on it. My experience might not match every case, but it seems that slowly but surely, hardware support seems to be growing. Software is growing in leaps and bounds. So far, with the exception of games, I have found very few Windows apps that I can't find an open source alternative for. My mac formatted iPod even works fine on Linux (a feat I don't even think is possible under Windows) Linux in my opinion is a great alternative to Microsoft Windows, and an even better alternative to the bloated mess of an operating system Microsoft calls Windows Vista. I just really wish more companies would port their games to Linux...it would make my life so much simpler and I could say goodbye to Windows forever...I'd hope. Tags: thoughts, linux, opensource, ubuntu |
| 1 Comments |
 |  |  |  |