RadioFreeHPC

The show starts with Dan, Jessi and Shahin in attendance. Henry is traveling from his old home base in Minnesota to his new command bunker in lovely Las Cruces, NM. Last we heard he was in Kansas City and making good time. We’re not sure how long we’re going to have to do without him… Read More »ColdQuanta Serves Up Some Bose-Einstein Condensate

A typical show opening, but we’re missing Henry – he was away packing for his big move from his long-time home base in Minnesota to his new bunker in Las Cruces. He’s packing up all of his memorabilia, like his first punch card sets, his core memory collection and his home terminal, lovingly wrapping them up for the long trip south. News AlertNEWS ALERT:  we interrupt this show blog for a special announcement. We’re having a contest! This is the digital version of the "18th caller" contest. The 18th emailer to RFHPC, starting now, will receive what Dan might describe as a fantastic prize from us at Radio Free HPC. Send in your email entries now, and listen to the show for details. This might take a couple of weeks, it might take a couple of years, but we're nothing if not good with small numbers and large units. And that 18th lucky emailer deserves a prize. A Cool New Book ProjectWe have a special guest today, David Barkai, a 50-year veteran of HPC. David has worked in a wide variety of positions at NASA, Intel, Cray, SGI and others. His project now is writing a book to chronicle the last 50 years in HPC told from the perspective of those who were there. The main emphasis in the book is examining the good that HPC has done in the world, which is quite the story. He’s looking at the applications that have changed the world, from weather forecasting to safer and quieter cars and so on, and the system architectures that have made them possible in a decade-by-decade tour of HPC development. 1970s:  Vector Processors1980s:  Multiprocessors1990s:  Massive Parallelism2000s:  Clusters and Accelerators2010s and beyond:  HPC and AI/CloudAs David says in our interview, the top HPC systems have advanced 10-15 times faster than Moore’s Law, which is astounding. In the book he goes into detail about how the industry drove performance at such a dizzying pace. He’s still writing away and is interested in hearing about your HPC journey to help fill out the book. You can reach him here. Reasons Why No One Should Ever Be Online. Ever.Henry is practicing what he preaches and is not online right now as he waits to the internet company to get him connected again. Catch of the Week:Jessi:  Google’s head of Quantum computing hardware resigns. John Martinis resigned after being assigned to an advisory role in the company. Shahin:  Discusses a paper on Coarse Grain Reconfigurable Architecture (CGRA) as a way of having performance and programmability closer to the metal. Its survey of what's been going on in this area with FPGAs is great and may also point to what we can expect in future supercomputers. Dan:  Subs for Henry with a horrible impression for a first catch. But his real catch is a plug for the Radio Free HPC Studio Products production of “Charles Babbage, his life and times.”  It’s an impressive production with chills, thrills and plenty of action. Don’t put it off, listen now. All those reviews are great for a reason! Join us!* Download the MP3  * Sign up for the insideHPC Newsletter * Follow us on Twitter * Subscribe on Spotify  * Subscribe on Google Play  * Subscribe on iTunes  * RSS Feed * eMail us

A typical show opening, but we’re missing Henry – he was away packing for his big move from his long-time home base in Minnesota to his new bunker in Las Cruces. He’s packing up all of his memorabilia, like his first punch card sets, his core memory collection and his home terminal, lovingly wrapping them… Read More »What Good Did It Do? Quite a Lot, and Quite the Story

Dan starts this episode with, as usual, an introduction of the cast. Henry reports that he’s only three weeks away from his epic move from Minnesota to Los Cruces, New Mexico. Trapping Those Unruly IonsWe quickly move to our main topic:  Honeywell’s Trapped Ion Quantum computing initiative.  Shahin gives us a good overview of digital vs. analog and classical vs. quantum science (I recommend listeners white board out the quadrants he’s describing and their contents). The Honeywell system is in the ‘quantum-gate’ quadrant of Shahin’s model, suspending ions in space through magnetics and then hitting them with lasers to produce entanglement. The Honeywell system is interesting because it is scoring well on the emerging Quantum Volume metric – showing very high fidelity for its qubit count. This system is the culmination of over 10 years of R&D and should be on the market later on this year. Studying from HomeHow does studying from home compare to working from home? Our second topic today is a dive into how universities are operating during the virus-related physical campus closings. Our own Jessi explains how her Purdue classes are now being conducted online with professors either video recording lectures or narrating slide decks. Some of her classes are truncated due to platform limits and tech problems. This is probably to be expected given the sudden move to online. There are practical considerations as well. Many students were on spring break when the lock downs went into place, so they don’t have their books or clothes with them. Jessi definitely does not think that online universities are the wave of the future. She strongly prefers the physical model where she can interact with students and professors. According to Jessi, nothing beats the physical model when it comes to higher ed. Reasons Why No One Should Ever Be Online. Ever.This week, Henry hips us to the fact that Chinese hackers may have been living in the guts of Linux since 2012. This is truly a chilling thought, as Linux runs a good portion of mission critical systems and almost all the cloud systems in the world. How big a threat is this? Listen to the pod to find out. Catch of the WeekJessi:  COBOL LIVES! The state of New Jersey is desperately looking for COBOL programmers to keep their creaky unemployment insurance system cranking along. Henry:  hooked a big fish, but passed it over to Shahin who thinks it's pretty sublime. Shahin:  landed Henry’s catch, which is a very rare film of the WW2 British code breakers hard at work at the legendary Bletchley Park site. Amazing stuff. Dan:  a rare empty net week for Dano, sad, very sad. Join us!* Download the MP3  * Sign up for the insideHPC Newsletter * Follow us on Twitter * Subscribe on Spotify  * Subscribe on Google Play  * Subscribe on iTunes  * RSS Feed * eMail us

Dan starts this episode with, as usual, an introduction of the cast. Henry reports that he’s only three weeks away from his epic move from Minnesota to Los Cruces, New Mexico. Trapping Those Unruly Ions We quickly move to our main topic:  Honeywell’s Trapped Ion Quantum computing initiative.  Shahin gives us a good overview of… Read More »Honeywell Traps, Zaps Ions for Science

RadioFreeHPC Studios PresentsSlightly Inaccurate History of Great Leaps in Computing (SIHOGLIC)Edition OneIn this groundbreaking production, RadioFreeHPC Studios reenacts dramatic moments in the life of computing genius Charles Babbage. We breath life into his early days, his many battles and his Babbage-worthy achievements. We can honestly say, without hyperbole, that this is the finest podcast theater treatment of a computing pioneers’ life. Ever. Just read the reviews: “We laughed until we stopped”  – Natural Science Online “I could clearly hear voices and things…” – Fluid Dynamics Theater Reviews “It wasn’t all that long...”  – LINPACK News & Reviews "The acting!" – Play Reviews “The acting was skillful, the writing brilliant, the overall production gets two big thumbs up!” – Pay & Play Re-Reviews The Cast:Shahin Khan:  Narrator Dan Olds:  Babbage senior, Charles Babbage, Advertiser Jessi Lanum:  Babbage mother, Disgruntled student, Advertiser, Town crier "Special guest star":  Henry Newman, as Henry Newman Written by Dan Olds, Jessi Lanum, with honorable mention to Shahin Khan and "special guest star" writer Henry Newman, who read it once. Produced by Dan Olds Special criticism by Shahin Khan Join us for this groundbreaking podcast and revel in the rich texture that is Charles Babbage’s life story. Enjoy!* Download the MP3  * Sign up for the insideHPC Newsletter * Follow us on Twitter * Subscribe on Spotify  * Subscribe on Google Play  * Subscribe on iTunes  * RSS Feed * eMail us

RadioFreeHPC Studios Presents Slightly Inaccurate History of Great Leaps in Computing (SIHOGLIC) Edition One In this groundbreaking production, RadioFreeHPC Studios reenacts dramatic moments in the life of computing genius Charles Babbage. We breath life into his early days, his many battles and his Babbage-worthy achievements. We can honestly say, without hyperbole, that this is the… Read More »SIHOGLIC: The Life & Times of Charles Babbage

We fire up the show with introductions and a little snippiness on Dan’s part. Henry reports that the weather in Minnesota is nearly human. AI in ScienceJumping into our main topic, Shahin introduces an article from HPCwire interviewing Argonne’s Associate Laboratory Director Rick Stevens about how the DOE will be using AI in science. This is one of the biggest potential changes in our industry and well worth the investigation. But figuring out where AI fits into the traditional world of research and simulation is a difficult problem. Henry points out that nearly every grant proposal needs to include “AI” in order to get serious consideration. We discuss Dan's Great HPC Road Trip* of national labs in 2018 and how nearly every lab is looking at using AI to inform their simulations and cut down on the brute force computing they’re doing now. Dan’s national lab interviews are here: Idaho National Lab, NCAR, NREL, Los Alamos, Sandia, NERSC, Lawrence Livermore There’s also a slight tangent where Dan talks about driving hundreds of miles out of his way to mess with Henry’s Las Cruces lot and future home. This resulted in an epic short film “The Haunting of Henry House” which is stuck in bureaucratic  approval cycles according to Henry. RFHPC Hall of Fame?We also discuss the possibility of founding a Radio Free HPC Hall of Fame, but discarded it when we realized that no one would want to be in it. COVID-19As the conversation continues, Dan brings up an article that discusses how COVID-19 might affect processor foundry revenues and demand. We are, as a group, underwhelmed by the analysis. Henry notes that he has seen a significant increase in the price of laptops when shopping for a graduation gift for his nephew. Henry has reportedly seen an increase of around 20% in prices since February. Reasons Why No One Should Ever Be Online. Ever.Hackers have stolen and ransomed AMD’s GPU test files, a dastardly act, but not surprising to see. They’re looking for $100 million to give the files back, while AMD has downplayed their importance and value. Catch of the WeekHenry:  Another empty net week for our pal Henry Shahin: How is the internet coping with all of the extra traffic caused by Covid19 isolation? Jessi:   For the first time in recorded history, Jessi’s net is empty….sad. SuperCatchDan:  has a SuperCatch! He does a promo of the inaugural episode of a new RadioFreeHPC segment. Suffice to say that RadioFreeHPC Studios has a brand new production of “Charles Babbage, His Life & Times,” a gripping radio drama that will engage your emotions from A-B. Listen in to hear the full conversation* Download the MP3  * Sign up for the insideHPC Newsletter * Follow us on Twitter * Subscribe on Spotify  * Subscribe on Google Play  * Subscribe on iTunes  * RSS Feed * eMail us

We fire up the show with introductions and a little snippiness on Dan’s part. Henry reports that the weather in Minnesota is nearly human. AI in Science Jumping into our main topic, Shahin introduces an article from HPCwire interviewing Argonne’s Associate Laboratory Director Rick Stevens about how the DOE will be using AI in science.… Read More »AI in Science. When is it real?

The conversation today begins with discussing how long it will take until Henry moves into his rammed earth Los Cruces bunker. For those of you keeping track at home, the correct answer was 41 days at the time of taping, which, by the time the podcast is out will probably be “a couple of weeks… Read More »Supercomputers Battle Corona

The conversation today begins with discussing how long it will take until Henry moves into his rammed earth Los Cruces bunker. For those of you keeping track at home, the correct answer was 41 days at the time of taping, which, by the time the podcast is out will probably be "a couple of weeks ago". We quickly move on to discussing the Corona Virus, which started sharing the headlines with its handiwork COVID-19. What else is anyone talking about these days, right? We discuss how the supercomputing community has joined the fight and the impact on the battle against the virus. We do our best to keep the conversation light, knowing that everyone out there is suffering from the virus – it’s the one thing we all have in common these days. We hope you enjoy the episode. Catch of the Week:Henry:  Hackers target medical field during Covid19 crisis, one of the crappiest things we’ve heard in a long time. Shahin:  Tells us about a great paper title, “Software Defined Microarchitecture An Arguably Terrible Idea, but Certainly not the Worst Idea” as found on InsideHPC. Jessie:  Discusses how Globus is offering free access for anyone working on the Covid19 Virus. Great job, Globus, way to pitch in. Dan:  Shares his latest addiction, the ancient Asian game of Go. Here is an intro to the game and some puzzles to work on, get crackin’. Listen in to hear the full conversation* Download the MP3  * Sign up for the insideHPC Newsletter * Follow us on Twitter * Subscribe on Spotify  * Subscribe on Google Play  * Subscribe on iTunes  * RSS Feed * eMail us

 Supercomputer Leaps to New PeaksAt the top of the show we discuss whether Indiana (where Jessi is located at Purdue) is in the heartland or not. We all agree that it is and, yes, Jessi sees Larry Bird all the time. Getting into the heart of the episode, Dan talks about the briefing he received on the new Lawrence Livermore El Capitan system to be built by HPE/Cray. This new $600 million system will be fueled by the AMD Genoa processor coupled with AMD’s Instinct GPUs. Performance should come in at TWO 64-bit exaflops peak, which is very, very sporty. The new box (more like a room) will be 10x faster than today’s fastest supercomputer and faster than the top 200 supercomputers in the world – combined. As the show continues, we talk about the specifics of the system and components. Henry make the unfortunate mistake of bringing up IEEE floating point and sending Dan into a mini-rant. Back to the show, the system should require somewhere close to 30MW worth of electricity, which is much lower than the nearly 60MW predicted just a year or so ago. Not surprisingly, the system will be liquid cooled, but not, as we speculate, cooled by Slushy machines. We have a tremendous tech talk around the varying aspects of the machine and AMD’s great progress in clawing their way back into the market. Well worth a listen. Why No One Should Ever Be Online. Ever.In this edition, Henry talks about how an ultrasonic hack can make your phone vulnerable to pownership. Just sending the exact right frequency of sound to a phone sitting on a solid object might be enough to unlock it and let a miscreant get at all of your goodies. Yikes! Catch of the WeekJessi:  Astronaut applications have opened up again! If you ever wanted to go to space, this might be your chance. You’ll want to have a strong science and computing background – plus hero or heroine good looks wouldn’t hurt either. Shahin:  Discusses AMD vs. NVIDIA GPU comparative shipment figures from 4Q2019. Henry:  Net is empty, ouch. Dan:  Bees can count to six, which is hugely disquieting. If bees can do math, we might be doomed. Maybe this is why beehives are hexagonal? Listen in to hear the full conversation* Download the MP3  * Sign up for the insideHPC Newsletter * Follow us on Twitter * Subscribe on Spotify  * Subscribe on Google Play  * Subscribe on iTunes  * RSS Feed * eMail us

 Supercomputer Leaps to New Peaks At the top of the show we discuss whether Indiana (where Jessi is located at Purdue) is in the heartland or not. We all agree that it is and, yes, Jessi sees Larry Bird all the time. Getting into the heart of the episode, Dan talks about the briefing he… Read More »Climbing El Capitan? Details Detailed!

For RadioFreeHPC aficionados, it’s a typical opening for this episode. Henry is counting down the days until he moves to sunny Los Cruces and we have a lull in the conversation right after the introductions. We recover quickly and move onto the main course of today’s show: Intel’s OneAPI project The OneAPI project is a… Read More »One Big Debate over OneAPI

For RF-HPC aficionados, it’s a typical opening for this episode. Henry is counting down the days until he moves to sunny Los Cruces and we have a lull in the conversation right after the introductions. We recover quickly and move onto the main course of today’s show: Intel’s OneAPI projectThe OneAPI project is a highly ambitious initiative; trying to design a single API to handle CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, and other types of processors. In the discussion, we look under the hood and see how this might work. One thing working in Intel’s favor is that they’re using data parallel C++, which is highly compatible with CUDA – and which is probably Intel’s target with this new initiative. Henry points out that porting codes is a pain and that no one wants to port to another API if it can possibly be avoided, so he predicts that most customers will not want to use it and if they consider it, before they move any code, they need to be sure that this new API is going to stick around for many years. Shahin is generally positive on the project. Henry and Dan to have a rare moment of agreement in disputing Shahin’s thoughts about several things! Let's start with his view that Java has provided portability in exchange for performance – and then improved its performance. Henry and Dan take issue with this, with Henry saying that Java provides little real performance and Dan saying that programs have changed to provide Java performance rather than Java changing to provide performance. Shahin believes that OneAPI is a good thing for the industry and will be successful. Dan believes it’s a good thing for Intel, but has doubts about whether it’s good for the industry. Henry doesn’t see big adoption for the foreseeable future saying, “It has a long way to go and it’s a significant risk.” Dan and Henry end up agreeing and agreeing to disagree with Shahin. Jessi is safely on the fence on this one. It’s a very good conversation, well worth a listen. Why Nobody Should Ever be Online. Ever.This week, Henry shares a personal story about key fobs and a very troubling problem he found with his latest rental car. It has everything, thrills, chills and a shocking conclusion. Catch of the WeekJessi:  The Department of Defense has built a supercomputer in a shipping container, for sending to wherever its computation is needed. The supercomputer itself is designed to work on AI-related problems, and falls under the classification of "AI on the edge," where data is processed in the same location it is collected. While it’s not news, it’s news to Jessi and it’s cool, so it’s her catch of the week. Shahin:  Tells the story of a reporter renting a shared car service, which is unlocked by a cell phone. The reporter ventures out into the hinterlands a little bit and finds that she can’t get the car to work anymore. Why? Because there wasn’t enough cell phone coverage to properly start the car – meaning that the reporter had to wait (and wait) for a person to be sent out to physically interact with the car and get it going again. Yikes – think out your products, people, ok? Henry:  Hackers made a home for themselves inside Citrix for five months, siphoning off personal and financial information. Yikes again. The company had to be alerted by the FBI to the hack and, assumedly, their internal tools didn’t pick up the penetration. That’s a long time to be exploited! Dan:  McAfee researchers show that just a few strips of tape on a road sign can prompt a Tesla car to accelerate by an astounding 50 miles per hour over the posted speed limit on that sign. According to Dan, this is a bad thing. Listen in to hear the full conversation* Download the MP3  * Sign up for the insideHPC Newsletter * Follow us on Twitter * Subscribe on Spotify  * Subscribe on Google Play  * Subscribe on iTunes  * RSS Feed * eMail us