Perimeter Institute Physics Festival!
This may be only marginally related to computer science, but if you are like me, you may also have an interest in physics (and for those who don’t I think there are some lectures on quantum computers which may be cool). The festival runs in October and there is about a week or so of events including lectures, panel discussions and even live taping of TV shows (Steve Paiken if you are familiar with his show). You can register starting today for some of the events and next week for some as well. Here is the link: http://q2cfestival.com
Categories: Miscellaneous, News by Jason Ernst
Tags: Permiter Institute, Physics, Steve Paiken, The Agenda
Problems with Mobile / Wireless Service in Canada
Today I set out to try to find a replacement for my LG8100 phone which has had a very long and horrible life (going through the washer and dryer several times and still working). I am interested in getting some type of blackberry an iPhone, or would even consider one of the newly popular mobile usb modem sticks. The reason for this is because I want to be able to either tether to my laptop, or use the stick to access the Internet while I travel. For instance I am planning a month long cross-Canada trip this summer. All of the sticks seem to only work on 3g networks. They don’t have information on whether they can fall back onto legacy technology at all. Well this is useless unless I can somehow stick to major metro areas. Not very useful for a “mobile” Internet technology.
Categories: Miscellaneous, News by Jason Ernst
Tags: Canada, Cellular, Mobile, Rogers, Telus, Wireless
Top 10 Reasons to Study Computer Science in 2009
The trend in blogs, the internet and news sites lately is to write articles about the economy. Instead of that however, I thought I would use the opportunity to try to encourage people who might be considering studying computer science (or related related fields) to go forward and pursue education in this area. Now is an especially good time to get your foot in the door since admissions have generally been low the last few years and there are plenty of jobs, which is more than we can say about many other areas. It’s also close to the start of the year so maybe it would be good to start with a new career path.
Categories: Computer Science, Education, Miscellaneous by Jason Ernst
Tags: 2009, Computer, Economy, Education, Industry, Job, Retraining, Science, Students, Study, Why?
Cluster Computer Case Suggestions?
So I’ve recently come across a bunch of free computers and I’ve decided to try to hook them together to form a beowulf style cluster for running some of my simulations on since I think I can modify the code to be parallel. I have tested all of the computers and have them spread across my basement floor however I seem to have a problem. I need a way to enclose them into some sort of case or storage area. I don’t want to use wood and have been exploring some kind of plexiglass or similar material without much luck. So far the best idea I’ve seen has been the “Microwulf“.
Categories: Computer Science, Miscellaneous by Jason Ernst
Tags: Beowulf, Cluster, Computing, Project
Distributed Screen Saver Project
A couple of days ago while trying to stay awake while my simulations ran for hours, I came across this website: Electric Sheep. It seems like a really cool idea. It is a “distributed screensaver” that makes use of genetic algorithms to progress and improve itself. If the people who are using the screensaver press a button they can rate the screensaver good. This is then used as part of the fitness function in the genetic algorithm allowing the good screensavers to be carried along into the next generations.
Categories: Computer Science, Miscellaneous by Jason Ernst
Tags: Computing, Distributed, Project, Saver, Screen
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