Re: 1teraflops cell processor possible?

On Tue, 2 Dec 2003 08:48:38 -0000, "Rupert Pigott"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

<snip>
>
>I'm sure IBM will sell you a 64K node machine if you ask
>them. You might need to mug Bill Gates or something though.
>Hell it might even be possible to persuede BillG to back
>some research.
>
I'm sure your comment was made completely in jest, but, as far as I
can tell, Microsoft has lost the supercomputing market about as
completely as it is possible for a software vendor to be shut out of a
market.

If I wanted to sell my soul, Microsoft might *be* interested in
backing research on a supercomputer application that would wind up on
a computer using a Microsoft OS. 

In order to do that in a way that wouldn't cut you off from almost all
of the world research community, you'd probably wind up doing
everything under Cygwin (with a corresponding loss of efficiency), and
I have a feeling they would catch on sooner or later. 

Who knows.  They might not care, just as long as the demo was flying
the windows banner.  Have to give that some thought. ;-).

>I suspect what would happen is that a bunch of guys with a
>big pile of mag-tapes would turn up in black helicopters
>and commandeer your machine despite your protests that an
>American's Garage is his Castle. :(
>
I've often wondered if weirdos like me, with a serious background in
stuff they don't want people to know about, but no longer under their
direct watchful gaze, ever show up on their radar screen.  Maybe I
should drum up a contract so the DIS can have a legitimate reason to
rummage around and confirm that all those kilowatts flowing into my
house as electricity and going out through the roof as heat are not
going into the growing of illicit substances or the result of other
subversive activity.  As one correspondent recently remarked, it's all
enough to make you nostalgic for the days when September was just a
month, and not a state of mind.

RM
>Cheers,
>Rupert
>