We have opened registration for our High Performance Computing Event in Long Beach. I am very excited to have a wonderful list of topics and companies presenting this year. We have opened registration and posted the tentative agenda. The event will be on September 30th at the Long Beach Marriott.
We have 3 outstanding confirmed speakers thus far:
HP, Logan Sankaran, System Tuning and Application Optimization for HPC
Nvidia, Dale Southard, Senior Solutions Architect
Mellanox, Gilad Shainer, Sr. Director of HPC and Technical Computing
The Topics that are going to be covered:
“CPU Processing” – Intel
“Accelerating HPC with GPU Computing” – Nvidia, Dale Southard
“Paving the Road to Exascale Computing” – Mellanox,
“Managing HPC with intelligent policies/HP Cloud” – Adaptive Computing
I love Economics! It is part art, science, and theory. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to marry happiness with statistics to calculate the happiest place on earth. Where is it? You need to listen to the talk to find out, but I guarantee that you would not have guessed it. I found this talk to be a nice inspirational piece to kick off the week. Make it a great week!
I was reading a pretty interesting back and forth thread this morning from Beowulf.org. (If you’re curious what the name or organization is all about click here.) The thread comes from some bright individuals, located around the world, that give their opinions on various topics mostly around High Performance Computing. Today though, the topics were around software patents and what truly qualifies as an “investment”. There were differing opinions on both topics and lots of great information offered. I find the threads to be incredibly interesting and enjoy reading them.
However, the exchange of ideas and opinions made me reflect on how AMAZING it is to live in this great country. It is truly a blessing to be FREE to voice your opinions, and technological advances have only given us more ways to do just that. I can’t imagine what it would be like to not live openly and free. Yet, I know there are people out there that do not have this LUXURY. I know we, as a country, have developed and changed over time to understand that EVERY human has rights and should be free. I am proud of our countries achievements in its’ relatively short history and look forward to its future. We truly are “the land of the free and home of the brave”, and I hope you all join in and celebrate its’ independence this weekend! I leave you with a great performance to put you in the mood.
This is a nice explanation of what biomedical researchers are doing with HPC server. (minimal fluff) Many companies are still tying up workstations to run calculations, but they could see dramatic improvements and efficiencies with a Windows HPC cluster. Typical Linux clusters are not the only solution for HPC applications anymore. You can view the full article here.
Biomedical Researchers Gain Faster Insights; Cut Research Costs in Half, Saving $5 Million
Scripps Research Institute, The
Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute processed test results manually, inhibiting the pace of work and limiting the time to think creatively about their work. To boost productivity, they adopted a custom high-performance computing (HPC) solution based on Windows® HPC Server 2008. Now, test results are processed 600 percent faster; researchers analyze their work more thoroughly and identify more productive research directions. continued..
Here’s a great topic to start the week off right. I will add a couple thoughts at the end of the article, but this article came from a blog called Linux Magazine. I am not a frequent reader, however I think this article makes some good points.
“ Things you could and should do.
1. Always back up. It is recommended you back up your entire hard drive regularly. You should at the very least make a back up of all your photographs. Copy them all to a CD and make at least two copies for safety. For important day to day files, a Memory Stick is probably the quickest and easiest back up. For really important files and photographs, remember that memory Sticks do have a limited life and should not be used for long-term storage.
Once pictures are safely stored on an external media, you can consider deleting some from your computer, to free up hard drive space.
2. Use System Restore and set a restore point once a week. And always set one before installing any new software or hardware. This applies to any downloaded software as well. Remember, Windows does not like changes so if things go wrong, you can use System Restore and go back to a time when things were working properly.
3. Always shut Windows down properly. Do not be tempted to just flick off the power; this will only lead to future problems. Shut down by using the Start and Turn off computer button. This will let your computer shuffle all files neatly into their proper locations; save all your data and close any open programs. I know this can sometimes take awhile, but please be patient. If you, like many other computer users, leave your PC on all the time, it is still a good idea, once a week, to re-start your machine. This will enable Windows to tidy up and put files back where they should be, for faster operations. In the unfortunate event that your computer will not turn off or has frozen for some reason, then the only option is to flick the power switch. However, you should wait at least 30 seconds before turning the power back on. Do not simply flick the switch off and straight back on, you can cause serious damage to your Motherboard by doing so.
4. Use your Security Program to scan for viruses and spyware, at least once a week. Preferably a Full System Scan. Also make sure your security suite is up to date.
5. Clear internet clutter. Temporary internet files can build up over time. Delete these by going to Internet Options via Control Panel.
6. Uninstall any programs you no longer need. Use the add/remove Wizard located in Control Panel. Do not be tempted to simply delete them. Only uninstall programs that you have installed. If any programs were pre-installed on your computer when you got it, even if you have never used them, do not uninstall these.
7. Always purchase and use genuine software. Pirated software, as well as being illegal, is often the source of computer viruses.
8. Do not let other people use your computer. Computers are private, they have personal information, confidential e-mails and pictures you wouldn’t want any body else to see. And they will always mess with your settings because they think they know best. Tell them to buy a Laptop if they are so desperate to use a computer.
9. Clean your screen now and again. Use a soft clean cloth or a lightly dampened cloth, do not use any cleaners. And don’t forget to clean your keyboard. This is best done when your computer is off, otherwise you can end up pressing the hibernate or sleep button. Use a small soft paint brush to clean between the keys. Alternatively, you can buy special cans of compressed air to blow out dust and particles, or use a small USB vacuum cleaner.
10. Unplug any USB devices that you are not using. If they are plugged in, they use up system resources even if not in use.”
Most of us know that we SHOULD do this, but I doubt many of us take the time to do it. I would also add a couple of numbers.
11. Clean your keyboard! It can become a breeding ground for germs.
12. Organize and put everything in its place. Business evolves and positions change. You never know when you are going to need that checklist, research paper, or marketing piece again. However, when you do need it, you will know where to find it.
It seems as though Panasas is expanding its portfolio. Here is a blurb from their most recent press release.
” HPC storage vendor Panasas has launched PAS HC, a high capacity HPC storage solution for active archives and massive primary storage. The offering is aimed at organizations whose active data is expanding into the petabyte realm, outgrowing their traditional NAS or direct attached storage setups.
PAS HC is just the latest offering in Panasas’ NAS storage line. PAS, by the way, is the company’s new shorthand for all the Panasas ActiveStor lines, although, in this case, the architecture of PAS HC is quite different from that of the existing PAS 7, 8, and 9 series products. The latter are blade-based servers that use SATA drives, while the HC is implemented as a rackmount Nehalem-based storage system filled with Fibre Channel JBODs — a first for Panasas.”
I had the pleasure of attending and exhibiting at the Military Business and Community Expo yesterday in Ventura. The event had 400+ attendees and offered up some great opportunities to the community as a whole. I also learned that the US Navy is the largest employer in Ventura County and contributes $1.7 billion in annual impact to the county. The event was designed as sort of a meet, greet, and reach out for the Navy to the community at large, both employed and unemployed. It had a very entrepreneurial spirit to it, and I met some wonderful people. It is amazing to see how resilient the human spirit is when times are tough. I had conversations about new green business models, volunteer veteran support groups, and I even met a newspaper that is expanding into Ventura County. (yes, I did just say a newspaper expanding) I am truly fascinated by the diversity of people that came out and attended this event.
This leads me into the second part of my title, how can you get a free employee for 3 to 6 months? I had this nice woman, by the name of Jenny, come up to my booth and introduce herself. She works for Goodwill of Ventura. My first thought when I heard the name was Goodwill, isn’t that a marketplace for second hand goods? Well it turns out, they have different business units. One of those units carries a contract from the government for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Recovery Act had three immediate goals:
• Create new jobs and save existing ones
• Spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth
• Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending
This has lead Goodwill to reach out to businesses, in 52 of 58 counties in California, to find companies that need employees. These employees are paid by the government for 3 to 6 months, and then it is up to the business to decide if they would like to hire them or not. This is a win-win for both the companies and the individual. The individual gets hands-on work experience, and the company gets another body to help drive the business. I personally could use someone who likes to work with graphics, so I will definitely be contacting Jenny for more information. Please feel free to contact me for more information, however I have added links to their website. Have a great weekend!
This is a great topic to keep track of. Microsoft has announced an innitiative to help train AND certify California residents. Here is a snipit of the page linked to the article for you. California is trending towards the top of all states in unemployment rates, somewhere between 11 and 13%, and residents could use all the added resources they can get. The article has more information, however the vouchers can be found at your local workforce center. Here is a link to the California Employment Development Department for more information.
I love to learn when I make a mistake, because it gives me the opportunity to correct and learn from it! I had an epiphany this morning about a mistake that I made on our website. You see, we have all been trained to look for a “Search Box” in any website. We have AOL (yes they were once a monster), Yahoo, and Google to thank for that. The point of the search box is to get to your desired destination quickly. This is the reason why Google controls the majority of US search traffic. They produce more relevant results for web searchers quicker and easier than any other search engine. I am an avid Googler, so I find it amazing that I made this mistake. The story started when I received a phone call from someone asking about some of our partnerships, and whether we carried certain products. The answer was yes, but what I didn’t comprehend, until this morning, was why she asked the question. You see, search algorithms look through text for matching keywords, letters, terms etc. What it will not do is see images as text unless they are tagged with keywords. The mistake that I made was not that I have images or logos on that unique page, but I forgot to insert the meta data (text) in the web page to allow it to be searchable through our website. I have since corrected the problem, but I am extremely happy that I spoke with that person and learned a bit. So to her, thank you! Remember, tag or insert meta data when using images on your website. Have a great weekend!
