From: Cliff S.
At 09:22 PM 12/25/00 +0100, Jim wrote:
Yours is the first negative post I've got in these 18 months.
. . . well, there is always a FIRST time.
Tell us Jim, how is your Free_Parts SuperComputer EMPloyed ?
I am surpised you have not had more, errm, slightly negative reactions. I have had to buy some ridiculously expensive EDO ram to try and improve the performance of my very humble, non super- P166 Mhz. If I had asked publicly for someone to give me some EDO .. would you have given me some ? I am sure your project is very admirable; but you are being just a little naive to not expect some kind of, shall we say, questioning about it. Cliff p.s. Maybe you should run seti@home on it, may be extraterrestrials have cheaper technology for us :)
From: James (Jim) Hatridge
At 09:22 PM 12/25/00 +0100, Jim wrote:
Yours is the first negative post I've got in these 18 months.
. . . well, there is always a FIRST time.
Tell us Jim, how is your Free_Parts SuperComputer EMPloyed ?
I am surpised you have not had more, errm, slightly negative reactions.
Oh, ye of little faith! Most people either ignore me or help me. For someone else doing the same as me, ie using "giveme" systems to build a 'wulf, check out the Stone Soupercomputer web site. That guy even has an online form for you to fill out to give him your old systems.
I have had to buy some ridiculously expensive EDO ram to try and improve the performance of my very humble, non super- P166 Mhz. If I had asked publicly for someone to give me some EDO .. would you have given me some ?
I got a 32mb EDO chip from a guy in Japan three months ago. Look, the mistake you're making is that I'm not looking for "Top of the Line" bleeding edge hardware. Also I don't want stuff that you have any use for. I bet if this is not your first computer you have an old 486 or PI laying around the house working as a doorstop. Since it's worthless to you why would you not pull the 4 or 8mb chips out of it and mail them to someone when they pay the postage. This is not only a Beowulf project it's also a recycling project. Also, on your ridiculously expensive EDO ram, in two or three years when you upgrade to the newest bleeding edge what worth is the old ram to you then? Of all the computers I have the oldst is a 486 from 1992 and the newst is about 3 years old. All of them have come from someone who said that "I don't need it anymore." Most people only run one computer at a time. So when they upgrade to a new one, the old system is more or less junk for them. Part of my project is to show them how to use older hardware. Today here in Germany, the standard single system at the downtown computer store is between 600 & 800 mhz. I bet that in about 3 to 4 years, people will start to give them away as they upgrade to the newest.
I am sure your project is very admirable; but you are being just a little naive to not expect some kind of, shall we say, questioning about it.
Questioning I like, because I can then talk about something I'm interested in. This guy was laughing at me. That was less than kind of him. In fact I have a private mailing list of 23 people that I keep up to date about my project. You could say that they are my questioners.
Cliff
p.s. Maybe you should run seti@home on it, may be extraterrestrials have cheaper technology for us :)
Is SETI still running? I had though that it was done. <p><p><p>Thanks for your questions <G> ..... Jim Hatridge hatridge@straubing.baynet.de Proud Linux User #88484 Owner -- beowulf-newbie list Don't blame me I voted for Harry Browne! www.lp.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jim's Beowulf Project Looking for giveaway computers and parts I need it all! Email Jim for details on how you can help build a poor man's super computer.
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 16:20:40 +0200
From: Des Aubery
HI Cliff et al...
On Wed, 27 Dec 2000, you wrote:
At 09:22 PM 12/25/00 +0100, Jim wrote:
Yours is the first negative post I've got in these 18 months.
. . . well, there is always a FIRST time.
Tell us Jim, how is your Free_Parts SuperComputer EMPloyed ?
I am surpised you have not had more, errm, slightly negative reactions.
Oh, ye of little faith! Most people either ignore me or help me. For someone else doing the same as me, ie using "giveme" systems to build a 'wulf, check out the Stone Soupercomputer web site. That guy even has an online form for you to fill out to give him your old systems.
I have had to buy some ridiculously expensive EDO ram to try and improve the performance of my very humble, non super- P166 Mhz. If I had asked publicly for someone to give me some EDO .. would you have given me some ?
I got a 32mb EDO chip from a guy in Japan three months ago. Look, the mistake you're making is that I'm not looking for "Top of the Line" bleeding edge hardware. Also I don't want stuff that you have any use for. I bet if this is not your first computer you have an old 486 or PI laying around the house working as a doorstop. Since it's worthless to you why would you not pull the 4 or 8mb chips out of it and mail them to someone when they pay the postage. This is not only a Beowulf project it's also a recycling project.
Also, on your ridiculously expensive EDO ram, in two or three years when you upgrade to the newest bleeding edge what worth is the old ram to you then? Of all the computers I have the oldst is a 486 from 1992 and the newst is about 3 years old. All of them have come from someone who said that "I don't need it anymore."
Most people only run one computer at a time. So when they upgrade to a new one, the old system is more or less junk for them. Part of my project is to show them how to use older hardware. Today here in Germany, the standard single system at the downtown computer store is between 600 & 800 mhz. I bet that in about 3 to 4 years, people will start to give them away as they upgrade to the newest.
I am sure your project is very admirable; but you are being just a little naive to not expect some kind of, shall we say, questioning about it.
Questioning I like, because I can then talk about something I'm interested in. This guy was laughing at me. That was less than kind of him. In fact I have a private mailing list of 23 people that I keep up to date about my project. You could say that they are my questioners.
Cliff
p.s. Maybe you should run seti@home on it, may be extraterrestrials have cheaper technology for us :)
Is SETI still running? I had though that it was done.
Thanks for your questions <G> .....
Jim Hatridge hatridge@straubing.baynet.de Proud Linux User #88484 Owner -- beowulf-newbie list
Don't blame me I voted for Harry Browne! www.lp.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jim's Beowulf Project Looking for giveaway computers and parts I need it all! Email Jim for details on how you can help build a poor man's super computer.
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
From: Jerry Kreps
Hi James,
I believe that what you are doing is great ... it can serve as a fore-runner and example for many of the less privileged nations (I come from South Africa).
It would be great to see super-computer systems like this, and less sophisticated networks installed in schools in regions where people exist on a few $ per month. This would give the next generation of scholars a chance.
Could you imagine if the First World were to donate their genuinely unused computing equipment to Africa - instead of worrying about whether or not to give financial hand-outs?
"Give a man a fish and he will be satisfied for one meal. Teach a man to fish, and he will feed himself..."
By the way, I happen to be one of Jim's "questioners"... :-))
-- Scientific theories, according to Sir Karl Popper, can be "falsified," or proven wrong, by experiment. Unscientific theories -Marxist dialectical history and Freudian psychology were Popper's favorites- are formed in such a way that they cannot be falsified by data.
Message-ID: <3A4F5D0A.DC2FC1CE@iname.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2000 16:21:30 +0000
From: Chris Reeves
Most people either ignore me or help me. For someone else doing the same as me, ie using "giveme" systems to build a 'wulf, check out the Stone Soupercomputer web site. That guy even has an online form for you to fill out to give him your old systems.
I've been 'aquiring' old systems for a while now, and am going to have my first stab at my beowulf in a couple of weeks time (so far I've just been doing some research). The only thing I paid for was £15 for a huge box of motherboards/graphics cards/network cards, etc. and 5 or so semi-complete machines. A couple of weeks ago I got hold of another 8 semi-complete boxes for nothing - they were going to be thrown in a skip.
I have had to buy some ridiculously expensive EDO ram to try and improve the performance of my very humble, non super- P166 Mhz.
Cool - I upgraded to a P166MMX about a month ago... along with onother 32MB of EDO RAM ;-)
If I had asked publicly for someone to give me some EDO .. would you have given me some ?
Worked for me for a few SIMMs (although I did pay a little for the 32MB mentioned above).
I got a 32mb EDO chip from a guy in Japan three months ago. Look, the mistake you're making is that I'm not looking for "Top of the Line" bleeding edge hardware. Also I don't want stuff that you have any use for. I bet if this is not your first computer you have an old 486 or PI laying around the house working as a doorstop. Since it's worthless to you why would you not pull the 4 or 8mb chips out of it and mail them to someone when they pay the postage. This is not only a Beowulf project it's also a recycling project.
Also, on your ridiculously expensive EDO ram, in two or three years when you upgrade to the newest bleeding edge what worth is the old ram to you then? Of all the computers I have the oldst is a 486 from 1992 and the newst is about 3 years old. All of them have come from someone who said that "I don't need it anymore."
Most people only run one computer at a time. So when they upgrade to a new one, the old system is more or less junk for them. Part of my project is to show them how to use older hardware. Today here in Germany, the standard single system at the downtown computer store is between 600 & 800 mhz. I bet that in about 3 to 4 years, people will start to give them away as they upgrade to the newest.
I am sure your project is very admirable; but you are being just a little naive to not expect some kind of, shall we say, questioning about it.
Questioning I like, because I can then talk about something I'm interested in. This guy was laughing at me. That was less than kind of him. In fact I have a private mailing list of 23 people that I keep up to date about my project. You could say that they are my questioners.
p.s. Maybe you should run seti@home on it, may be extraterrestrials have cheaper technology for us
Is SETI still running? I had though that it was done.
It is still running, but not for long. I joined 1 and a half years ago, but only started crunching units on the 10th of December 2000 (due to a processor upgrade). It doesn't run over a beowulf cluster anyway :( Similarly to Jim's Beowulf Cluster, mine is initially an academic exercise to learn more about the systems and software, and to have fun. Once built, it'll probably be put to good (non-profit-making) use - might collaborate with Jim on a project ;-) Just a FYI. Bye now, Chris -- __ _ -o)/ / (_)__ __ ____ __ Chris Reeves /\\ /__/ / _ \/ // /\ \/ / ICQ# 22219005 _\_v __/_/_//_/\_,_/ /_/\_\
participants (5)
-
chris.reeves＠iname.com -
cslnx＠raggedclown.net -
daubery＠mweb.co.za -
hatridge＠straubing.baynet.de -
jerrykreps＠jlkreps.net