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monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 5:18:19 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/canadas-monster-computer-roars-to-life/article1186431/    Wow.  Bob Chapman mentioned this in his last newsletter.  

I want to open this up for conversation.

Note- the US has the largest computers.  It is thought the computer in CA will track everything and everyone there.

We now know teck is not the rah rah is was early on. That - it like a hammer can be used for damage.  Voice menus come to mind- Napoleonic type of customer service- ...the way we function .....

So does this computer "matter" if so why or why not?
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RE: monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 6:05:17 AM   
DarkSteven


Posts: 28072
Joined: 5/2/2008
Status: offline 		I'm not impressed.  The article uses gee-whiz numbers to say how big it is, and then glosses over the actual uses of it.  Uh, the uses are the important part!

In an unrelated note, I got ticked off that three of the fastest five US computers are at Department of Energy facilities.  The DoE is in charge of nuclear weapons design and manufacturing, and hasn't been doing that on a full production basis since 1995.  So, to preserve as much of its funding as possible, the DoE is doing theoretical analysis of nuclear reactions just to create a mission for itself and spend taxpayer dollars.


_____________________________

"You women....

The small-breasted ones want larger breasts. The large-breasted ones want smaller ones. The straight-haired ones curl their hair, and the curly-haired ones straighten theirs...

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RE: monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 7:21:49 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		and yet a computer model is why wall street goofed.

so who is smarter,  a man/woman or a computer?

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RE: monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 8:27:51 AM   
DarkSteven


Posts: 28072
Joined: 5/2/2008
Status: offline 		That's too easy.  The man/woman is capable of thinking on its own.  The computer will never be anything more than a high powered assistant to a person.

Saying that computers are responsible for the Wall Street meltdown is wrong.  The computer model did EXACTLY what it was programmed to do.  That's like blaming the canvas for having a bad painting on it.


_____________________________

"You women....

The small-breasted ones want larger breasts. The large-breasted ones want smaller ones. The straight-haired ones curl their hair, and the curly-haired ones straighten theirs...

Quit fretting. We men love you."

(in reply to pahunkboy)
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RE: monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 8:50:16 AM   
newlychaste


Posts: 70
Joined: 1/24/2008
Status: offline 		One of the posters on the original article said,
"It's still garbage in, garbage out."

The most pertinent parts of this article, as I see it, are that it will be cooled by the winter (which is a nifty design aspect) and that it will be doing processing for the Large Hadron Collider.  In my opinion, it's useless to conjecture that these computers will be used to monitor individuals, partly because:
1.  if it's already being done, another piece of infrastructure isn't going to change the fact that it's being done, and
2.  whether or not it's being done, concerned citizens should tap the processes and procedures in place to voice their opinions. 

I'm all for supercomputers for science.  :)  My main concern with regard to this supercomputer is whether or not the human beings that have access to it will make the best use of its processing power, but hearing that researchers from the Large Hadron Collider will be using it is reassuring.

------
"The Dude abides."

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RE: monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 9:20:08 AM   
DomKen


Posts: 19457
Joined: 7/4/2004
From: Chicago, IL
Status: offline 		This sort of supercomputer does not monitor people. Its optimized for doing very large simulations. Paranoids should not interfere with sane people doing basic research.

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RE: monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 9:21:24 AM   
Racquelle


Posts: 600
Joined: 4/21/2008
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: DomKen

Paranoids should not interfere with sane people doing basic research.
  HERE HERE!  I'll drink to that.

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RE: monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 9:29:02 AM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		Some great replies here.

In 84?   a chess game between the champ and "blue" a computer.   ...the man won- BUT- barely.  it was tied for a long time.   so here we are 25 years later.   and ..... the question remains.   which is smarter.

We have drones -fighting a war-  .........and I cant get thru a voice menu when I place a phone call.   ....rendering me less functional.  hence- THAT computer is smarter then myself....in that intended task.    I have some intellect-- but the creeping computer-ization into our life  will become more extreme over the next 20 years.

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RE: monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 7:49:31 PM   
Loki45


Posts: 2100
Joined: 5/13/2009
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quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy
We have drones -fighting a war-  .........


Wrong. We're "using" drones to fight a war. The drones we have currently are all human-controlled. We do not yet have completely A.I.-controlled drones in our arsenal yet. They're working on them...but they aren't here yet.


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RE: monster computer- Canada! - 6/21/2009 9:14:55 PM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Loki45

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy
We have drones -fighting a war-  .........


Wrong. We're "using" drones to fight a war. The drones we have currently are all human-controlled. We do not yet have completely A.I.-controlled drones in our arsenal yet. They're working on them...but they aren't here yet.



I read we will be using one in Upper New York state-something to do with the border. 

The voice menus that make me talk to them drive me batty!    I find it insulting to talk to a machine.   Then a background noise sets the menu- back to the  start point.   It could be the bird, a truck go by- or a video.  

While at one time I was very excited over the possibilities with teck.  I now- come to dislike- well- google emails requires me to do math problems to send an email- even to send it to myself- I think about 1 per week.  If I get it wrong the the annoying pop thru tells me it is time to go to bed.

CPACHA also is annoying.    Where is the firefox add on the does CAPCHA for me?  

...and it is creeping into more and more stuff/venues.     So- a mixed bag to be sure.

(in reply to Loki45)
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