More CPU Means More Data

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item More CPU Means More Data

  • [font="Verdana"]Your article may also related to the Micorosft's Core Base SQL Server licencing move! :-)[/font]

  • This is where distributed computing comes in. If the mountain won't come to Mohammed then Mohammed must go to the mountain.

    One of the examples given for "Big Data" was a smartphone application called SpeedHump. The idea was that the a smart phone has a GPS, clock and accelerometer in in it.

    With the app running the phone users would simply go about their daily business and their phone app would record where, when and how severe any shocks (such as driving over a pothole in the road) were.

    I can see a time coming where we all have our Smartphones but in the presence of other Smartphones running the same collaborative application they are capable of sharing load with any phone in the same cell. Think SETI@home for the 2010s.

    There are obviously technical challenges to be overcome for this to be viable

    • Battery life
    • Connectivity
    • Security
    • ...etc

    If the problems are cracked then ever increasing demand for computing power could be met this way.

  • Look how far we've come from the Apollo guidance computer, which landed 3 men on the moon, and had a fraction of the power of almost all of today's cell phones.

    We can see this as a testament to the skill of the mathematicians and software engineers who worked on the Apollo team. These guys didn't have the benefit of pre-built algorithm libraries or computers with processing power to spare; they were like early explorers crossing the Atlantic in wooden sailing ships without a map or compass.

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • Look how far we've come from the Apollo guidance computer, which landed 3 men on the moon, and had a fraction of the power of almost all of today's cell phones.

    3 men were in the capsule to the moon, but only 2 landed. </pedantic>

  • pheitkemper (9/13/2012)


    Look how far we've come from the Apollo guidance computer, which landed 3 men on the moon, and had a fraction of the power of almost all of today's cell phones.

    3 men were in the capsule to the moon, but only 2 landed. </pedantic>

    Which makes it even more amazing. Send a payload, the payload splits into two pieces, part lands, comes back to dock and return. All done on a PC that we would all toss today.

    Taking part of yesterdays idea and blending it here, These people dreamed, and then made it happen. It shows that creativity is not limited by the tool only by the mind.

    Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!

  • These people dreamed, and then made it happen. It shows that creativity is not limited by the tool only by the mind.

    On that note, this is quite an interesting story which fits right into this discussion. And more than a little inspirational.

    http://joelrunyon.com/two3/an-unexpected-***-kicking

    NOTE: The forum software asterisked-out part of the URL to the story. You will need to figure out what the asterisks represent (and yes, it is 3 letters, and you can buy one vowel), click on the link, then correct the URL in your browser to see the story.

  • Bob,

    Enjoyed the link. The comments are even better. 😀

    M

  • All done on a PC that we would all toss today.

    Moon landing 1969

    IBM PC 1981

    I'm not sure if they even had 8bit processors back in 1969. I can remember Jeff Minter (of Llamasoft fame) saying in an interview in the 90s that having 16Kb was a dream.

    The more I read about the moon landings the more awe inspiring they and the early astronaut/cosmonaut programmes were.

  • mike.styers (9/13/2012)


    Bob,

    Enjoyed the link. The comments are even better. 😀

    M

    Mike -

    I also found the Comments very interesting. I first read this story several weeks ago and now I see the number of Comments is over 420. A lot of people were obviously impacted by the story of this chance encounter in a coffee shop.

    - Bob

  • Bob Abernethy (9/13/2012)


    These people dreamed, and then made it happen. It shows that creativity is not limited by the tool only by the mind.

    On that note, this is quite an interesting story which fits right into this discussion. And more than a little inspirational.

    http://joelrunyon.com/two3/an-unexpected-***-kicking

    NOTE: The forum software asterisked-out part of the URL to the story. You will need to figure out what the asterisks represent (and yes, it is 3 letters, and you can buy one vowel), click on the link, then correct the URL in your browser to see the story.

    I read that last week. a great encounter.

  • Miles Neale (9/13/2012)


    pheitkemper (9/13/2012)


    Look how far we've come from the Apollo guidance computer, which landed 3 men on the moon, and had a fraction of the power of almost all of today's cell phones.

    3 men were in the capsule to the moon, but only 2 landed. </pedantic>

    Which makes it even more amazing. Send a payload, the payload splits into two pieces, part lands, comes back to dock and return. All done on a PC that we would all toss today.

    Taking part of yesterdays idea and blending it here, These people dreamed, and then made it happen. It shows that creativity is not limited by the tool only by the mind.

    Looking at photos and film footage of the Apollo mission command center, it seems there was a LOT of support staff and manual intervention that augmented whatever computer system they were operating. They weren't just gathered there to pat each other on the back and drink Champagne.

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • Eric, That is an excellent point. They made it work as a team and they were not too busy to not communicate and the target dates and times were not such that they could afford to be rude to each other or protects their own work. They put it all on the line and ran with it.

    There might be a lesson to learn from that model.

    Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!

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