Poorer than a CEO
Above is a graph showing my net worth since January 2007. I have removed the actual dollar values for the bars because I'm ashamed of how poor I am. Or wealthy I am. I'm not telling. But remember that I'm a grad student, not a former CEO of a failed investment bank - you get the idea.
I've put two numbers in orange on the graph. If in my richest half month I had one dollar, now I have 68 cents. Put another way, I'm now about two-thirds of my former self, and this took five months. The graph above includes my cash accounts, which haven't gone down, so my investments have declined even more than a third. Luckily, I don't need that money any time soon (I have to graduate before that), but it's a bit depressing.
It's also an opportunity to buy some really cheap bank stocks and hold them until they recover. Which would more or less cancel out the inevitable tax increases my generation will have to pay to bail out our selfish parents.
At least I can say that I'm ahead of the curve on the grad school thing.
more ...The Experiments End
1 min 6 sec, no sound
My beard experiment has ended. As part of the journey, I did an experimental time lapse, above. As you will see, I slowly shaved my beard and rotated the chair. I should have thought more about exposure consistency between frames. Doing it inside would have worked better but I thought the outside view was more interesting.
I admit that a few hours later I am still occasionally reaching up to stroke my beard, and finding nothing there.
I took a break when my mustache was in full flight and posed with Melissa. As you can tell by her expression, she loved the `stache.
more ...Failed Time Lapse
Two days ago Melissa and I drove from Berkeley to San Diego. We drove on US 101 for most of the way, but used Hwy 1 between Monterey and San Luis Obispo. The weather was fantastic and the scenery beats I-5 any day, even on 101. It does take longer, but it's worth it if you don't have arrive at the destination at any particular time. I wanted to record the journey, as I have before, but this time looking forward. Using the Canon A620 my father gave me and my laptop connected to it using USB, I managed to do this without too much interference. However, the batteries on the camera died early on, so I didn't capture the whole trip, or even the most scenic parts of it. In the future I'll need to use an external power source.
I am sharing it because there's no harm. It's not very good, so I didn't bother to add any music.
The video lasts 1 minute 44 seconds, is 5.6 MB in size, and the frames are separated by eight seconds.
more ...
"Real" Medal Count
As a follow-up to the announcement that all judged sports are being eliminated from the Olympics, I'm publishing below an updated medal count. Unlike the medal counts you've seen, this one only counts the "real" medals; events that aren't ridiculous.
You'll notice that China, which leads the gold rankings by a fair amount in the link above, is by far the most affected by this correct ranking. Indeed, only three of the American golds are improper, while 25 Chinese golds are trash, which is just less than half their total. Eliminating judged sports is not anti-China, it just happens that China focuses on those kinds of events. Many other nations, including the USA, lose a fair number of overall medals due to this modification.
more ...Gateway Cycling
I recorded the BMX races last night out of curiosity. (I've included some HD screen grabs of crashes for your enjoyment; click on them for the full size image.) BMX has been introduced to increase the interest of young people, those who like Xtreme sports. NBC even has a BMX crashes compilation (link broken) for you to watch while you drink your Mountain Dew or get another tattoo.
This is the first year BMX is being contested at the Olympics and I'm conflicted about it. While I support any kind of cycling, in order to introduce this kind of cycling, the Olympic Organizing Committee cut two track events (the men's 1000m and women's 500m time trials) to make room for the BMX events. This was done to conserve the number of cycling events. According to this page (link broken) there are 18 cycling events. Swimming has 34 events. So increasing the number of cycling medals wouldn't have given it a ridiculous number of medals (unless you think swimming has a ridiculous number of events, which I in fact do). Granted, Olympic cycling isn't as popular as Olympic gymnastics, and that only has 14 medals, but at least gymnastics takes place on different equipment. The cycling events range from 40 seconds to over six hours on four different kinds of venues that require very different types of skills and strategies. Each medal rewards a clearly different set of accomplishments. All but two of the swimming events are in the same damn pool (the 10K open-water swim is new this year) with the same equipment, only the strokes and distances change, and the distances vary by far less than cycling. It's not clear that adding BMX is a net gain for cycling in the Olympics, and they could have very easily increased the number of cycling events, in my opinion.
Of course, cycling has the Tour de France every year, while swimming has ?
I think the best thing that can happen is if BMX becomes a kind of gateway drug into cycling. Get the young ones into the sport and then push them into the real hard stuff, like the velodrome and road cycling. Then they'll really be hooked and there's no going back.
more ...Cancelled Olympic Events
Breaking news: These sports will be immediately eliminated from the Olympic games, due to the fact that they are incredibly lame and arbitrary. Any sport that is judged is "inherently flawed and unfair," the UN ruled today, and subjecting the worldwide public to these events will be deemed an "act of cruelty." Any medals already awarded in these sports in the undergoing Olympics will be reclaimed and turned into equipment for legitimate sports, like weights or shot puts (much like turning "swords into plowshares").
- Boxing: A borderline event, it does have a clear scoring system, but matches can be called when "in the referee's opinion, (a boxer is) being outclassed or excessively punished." Also, boxing is brutal and thuggish.
- Diving: Until and unless the diving competition becomes quantifiable (e.g. splash height and distance in the belly flop competition), diving is prohibited from the Olympics.
- Equestrian: While this isn't always judged, any Olympic sport that uses another animal is so obviously disqualified it needs no further comment.
- Gymnastics: The king of judged sports. Incredibly popular world-wide. This event pits tiny men and girls (and they're almost entirely girls, see the "16" year-old Chinese girl) in events where grace and style are actually part of the scoring. There have been scoring controversies every year. Until and unless scoring can be done by an objective computer, this event is banished to the WE channel between reruns of Hallmark movies.
- Judo & Taekwondo: While these are awesome events, they are judged. An electronic scoring system, similar to fencing, would be acceptable.
- Modern Pentathlon: See equestrian, above.
- Rhythmic Gymnastics: See gymnastics, above. Also, no real sport needs a ribbon which one twirls artistically.
- Synchronized Swimming: While the world loves a pool full of young women in swimsuits (see Baywatch), any sport set to music and that has choreographers is clearly eliminated from the Olympics. Dancesport isn't in the Olympics, and Synchronized Swimming shouldn't be either. (*)
- Trampoline: Most don't even know this is in the Olympics. So most won't miss it.
The UN also ruled that in evaluating future Olympic sports, the IOC will only consider events that Stephen Skory cares about.
(*) With apologies to my good friend Chris S., it seems to me that Dancesport is hijacking the word "sport' like so many humanities hijack "science.' If dancing was obviously recognizable as a sport, it wouldn't need to append the word at the end. We don't call it Baseballsport. Or Physicsience.
more ...Cray Coolness
I'm back on the new supercomputer in Tennessee: the Cray XT4 Kraken. The coolest command on the computer, in my opinion, is xtshowcabs
. Below is the (anonymized) output. This shows which job is running on each node (each processor has four cores in one processor). The lower-case letters correspond to jobs listed at the bottom. Each vertical set of symbols (eight wide, twelve high) is a physical cabinet of nodes*.
What you see below is one job running 8192 cores (a
), another running on 4096 (h
), one with 2048 (k
) and a smattering of smaller jobs. My jobs are i
and j
, running on 8 cores each. The computer is just about full here, about 96% usage.
This also allows me to know who to blame when my jobs are sitting waiting to start for days.
Compute Processor Allocation Status as of Fri Aug 1 18:14:16 2008
C0-0 C0-1 C0-2 C0-3 C1-0 C1-1 C1-2 C1-3
n3 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
n2 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
n1 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
c2n0 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
n3 SSSSS--- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 --- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 --- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 SSSSS--- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 SSSSSSSS -------- --lihhhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 -------- --ljhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 -------- --ljhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 SSSSSSSS -------- ---lihhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C2-0 C2-1 C2-2 C2-3 C3-0 C3-1 C3-2 C3-3
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C4-0 C4-1 C4-2 C4-3 C5-0 C5-1 C5-2 C5-3
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C6-0 C6-1 C6-2 C6-3 C7-0 C7-1 C7-2 C7-3
n3 hhhhcccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhcccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhcccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 hhhhhccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbgggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbgggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbgggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbbggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh cccccccc ccccbbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh cccccccc ccccbbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh cccccccc ccccbbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 hhhhhhhh cccccccc cccccbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C8-0 C8-1 C8-2 C8-3 C9-0 C9-1 C9-2 C9-3
n3 ggggffff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 ggggffff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 ggggffff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 gggggfff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeedddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeedddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeedddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeeeddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 gggggggg ffffffff ffffeeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 gggggggg ffffffff ffffeeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 gggggggg ffffffff ffffeeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 gggggggg ffffffff fffffeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C10-0 C10-1 C10-2 C10-3 C11-0 C11-1 C11-2 C11-3
n3 ddddkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 ddddkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 ddddkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 dddddkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkXkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk Xkkkkkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkXkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
Legend:
nonexistent node S service node
; free interactive compute CNL - free batch compute node CNL
A allocated, but idle compute node ? suspect compute node
X down compute node Y down or admindown service node
Z admindown compute node R node is routing
Available compute nodes: 0 interactive, 149 batch
ALPS JOBS LAUNCHED ON COMPUTE NODES
Job ID User Size Age command line
--- ------ -------- ----- --------------- ----------------------------------
a 155793 xxxxxx 2048 9h00m xxxxxxxx
b 156058 xxxxxxxx 128 0h50m xxxxxxxx
c 156060 xxxxxxxx 128 0h50m xxxxxxxx
d 156062 xxxxxxxx 128 0h49m xxxxxxxx
e 156064 xxxxxxxx 128 0h49m xxxxxxxx
f 156066 xxxxxxxx 128 0h48m xxxxxxxx
g 156068 xxxxxxxx 128 0h48m xxxxxxxx
h 156080 xxxxxxx 1024 0h33m xxxxxxxx
i 156085 sskory 2 0h22m enzo.exe
j 156087 sskory 2 0h21m enzo.exe
k 156089 xxxxxxxx 512 0h04m xxxxxxxx
l 156091 xxxx 4 0h02m xxxxxxxx
(* I'm pretty sure that's the layout. I could be wrong, so don't invade a medium-sized oil-producing country based on that intelligence.)
more ...No, You Are Not Cool
I've seen this Lotus Elise parked on campus often, but recently it got this "007" sticker. Putting the double-oh-seven on your car is about as bad as putting random Japanese characters on your windshield. James Bond did drive a Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me, but it went underwater. This Lotus doesn't even have a roof. And yes, this is the same parking lot where I saw the Hawaiian GT-40.
After I took this photo, the driver came up and I chatted briefly with him. I did not say to his face that he's a doofus, but I was thinking it the whole time. Apparently he has the numbers on because he took the car to a race course, but there are 998 other three digit numbers he could have chosen that were less ridiculous than 007. He said his other car he races has "666" on it and he calls it "The Beast."
In the same lot today I saw this Smart Car. While I disagree with the color choice (red? on a 71 HP car?), the owner of this car is ever so much cooler.
more ...Huzzah!
I have previously groaned about the Tour of California ignoring everything south of Los Angeles. But today it was announced that next years tour will visit San Diego County! The final stage is Rancho Bernardo to Escondido. They must plan a circuitous route as those communities aren't very far apart.
I'm excited.
more ...Car Pit
Today Steve Lynch and I did some exploring off Peñasquitos Park and came across these derelict cars dropped into a small gorge. A VW Beetle, Audi and Ford Explorer (high gas prices, you know) were ones I could identify. There were two others rusted beyond recognition. It looked like after the cars had been shoved into the pit, they had been sledgehammered, to make sure they were really dead, of course. The Beetle was missing its motor, among other things, while the Ford didn't have any seats in it. The Audi was probably a nice car once upon a time, it had a sun roof (or moon depending on trademarks).
I like to imagine this is what might happen if the world order collapses. People just junking once useful and valuable things when you can no longer get gasoline or electricity. Kind of like Mexico.
more ...Tour de France Fantasy Pool
For the last few years I've participated in a friendly Tour de France fantasy pool with some friends. We get together, have a barbecue, and pick teams of riders. It's very much like fantasy football or baseball teams. Each team pays $20 to enter, which goes to the winner (naturally). However, the winner is obliged to use that money for a party after the Tour, so everyone wins in the end.
Some years ago an Excel spreadsheet was written to help calculate the scores. It's kind of clumsy and surprisingly un-automated. So I threw together a Python script in an afternoon which is much more automated and puts the results on the web for easy viewing.
Above is the graph of how each team is doing as a function of stage. Along with three friends I formed two teams, "Storky's Bitches" and "The Pump Handles." Neither names were my first choice; I blame Kris Wells. I've never done very well at the Tour Pool, and it's looking like this year will be no different. Of course, it's early, so things may change.
Take a look at the full results page, and check back each day throughout the Tour to see how things are progressing.
more ...Supercomputers
Faithful readers will remember me posing with my favorite supercomputer about a year ago. Datastar is going to be turned off in a few months. When it was turned on three years ago, it was the 35th fastest computer in the world, it has since slipped to 473rd. Despite the fact it's no longer the fastest thing around, it works wonderfully, and as I write this, there are at least sixty people logged onto this machine. Everyone I know loves Datastar, and wishes it wasn't going to be turned off. I am starting to move my work and attention to the newer machines. They are faster, and have many more processors, which makes queue times short (which is the time it takes for a job I request to run)
A few months ago, Ranger was turned on. It is a Sun cluster in Texas with 63,000 Intel CPU cores. It is currently ranked fourth fastest in the world. Datastar has only 2528 CPUs (but those are real CPUs, while Ranger has mutli-core chips which in reality aren't as good). By raw numbers, Ranger is an order of magnitude better than Datastar, except that Ranger doesn't work very well. Many different people are seeing memory leaks using vastly different codes. These codes work well on other machines. I have yet to be able to run anything at all on Ranger. For all intents and purposes, Ranger is useless to me right now.
If you look at the top of the list of super computers, you'll see that a machine called Roadrunner is the fastest in the world. Notice that it is made up of both AMD Opteron and IBM Cell processors. The Cell processor is the one inside Playstation 3s. Having two kind of chips adds a layer of complexity, which makes the machine less useful. The Cell processor is a vector processor, which is only awesome for very specially written code. The machine is fast, except it's also highly unusable. I don't have access to it because it's a DOE machine, but a colleague has tried it and says he got under 0.1% peak theoretical speed out of it. Other people were seeing similar numbers. No one ever gets 100% from any machine, but 0.1% is terrible.
Computers two and three on the list are DOE machines, so I don't have access to them. On the near horizon is a machine called Kraken, in Tennessee. It's being upgraded right now, but when it's complete it will be very similar to, but faster than the fifth fastest computer on the list currently, called Jaguar. It is a Cray XT4 that runs AMD Opteron chips. I got to use Kraken recently while it was still an XT3, and it was awesome. Unlike Ranger, it actually works. As an XT4, it should be even faster than Ranger. It will also have a great tape backup system, unlike Ranger.
I am predicting that Kraken will be come my new favorite super computer, replacing Datastar. However, I think it's a shame that Datastar is being turned off even though it's still very useful and popular. When it's turned off to make way for machines like Ranger and Roadrunner(*), that's just stupid.
(*) The pots of money for Ranger, Datstar and Roadrunner are different, but you get the point. Supercomputers aren't getting better; in some cases, they're getting worse!
more ...Hawaiian GT-40
Parked in front of my building this morning is a Hawaiian Ford GT, which retails for the suggested price of $139,995. Someone has to be serious about their car to bring it all the way from Hawaii. They even have driving gloves that match the seat belts.
This is the first time I've seen one parked, I never realized how deep the vents behind the radiator are in the hood.
Like all expensive cars, the motor has its own window.
more ...My Lacerated Digit
Be careful around those sharp coconut milk can tops, or else you could cut your finger. Then you'd have to go to the emergency room to get your finger glued and a tetanus shot.
I'm just saying, I think it's best if you take my word for it.
more ...Music History Graph
Above is a small part of my music listening history as reported to last.fm over the last year and a half. Time is plotted left to right, overall number of tracks by the width of the shape, and the colors represent individual artists. I used LastGraph3, which if given your user name will make a set of graphs from your data.
If you click on the image above, you'll see the full history. It looks like I go through periods where I listen to a fair bit of music, and then stop, and start again. I think there's a fair amount of smoothing of the data. I think my history would look even more jagged without smoothing.
I like plots like this because they show multidimensional data using colors and shapes in an intelligent way. Of course the classic example is Minard's famous depiction of Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign. I think everyone should have to learn how to make good plots, and understand how to read one. When I was a TA, I constantly had to remind students the point of making graphs - I think nearly all of them felt it was busy work rather than a way to organize and visualize data; a way to recognize a physical effect.
Just like significant figure errors (I am bothered enough by those to contact newspaper reporters: I've done it in the past), I cringe at the sight of misleading or poorly organized graphs. The worst offenders tend to use Excel, whose plots are instantly recognizable as probably being garbage. I also dislike the USA Today charts and many plots seen on the various network evening news shows. Too much artistic influence from graphics artists (no offense K.P.!), and not enough substance.
more ...