Soldato
Cell Computing
- Thread starter dunc
- Start date
Soldato
Yikes, Seti is gonna take over my life even more 
Associate
So how long before we can run SETI on the toaster?
Imagine that, a toaster farm.
Imagine that, a toaster farm.
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Brings up visions of TalkieToaster. Red Dwarf fans'll know what I'm blabbering about
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Originally posted by Sammael
Brings up visions of TalkieToaster. Red Dwarf fans'll know what I'm blabbering about
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Associate
Yust another reason to order a take away - I can't use the oven its processing SETI units. 
Interesting, but not sure how much I believe such a sensationalist article. If it were possible to build processors dozens of times faster than the current models, you'd think massive companies like Intel would have looked into it by now..
Soldato
Im waiting for the support call that goes like this.
user : Help my toaster is refusing to toast my bread ?
Callcentre: ok , lets call up the online diagnostics and see whats happening.
< insert the usual delay and some very annoying music >
Callcentre : Ah It seems your toaster is complaining that you dont have enough butter in your fridge for the toast. You could try lowering your butter per slice settings ,oh it seems your dont have admin rights to the toaster so you cant do that.
User: But I put a new pack of butter in the fridge yesterday.
Callcentre : What make of butter is it ?
User : Its , blah , blah .
Callcentre: Oh dear that make of butter is not compatible yet , we are still waiting for the development team to release new firm ware for your fridge that will reconise it.
User: Cant I just disconect the toaster from this damn cell circuit?
Callcentre : Well its all wifi these days so you cant disconect anything.
User : Right then I am going to unplug the ****** fridge then, hang on a minute.
Callcentre: Dont do that !!!
<user unplugs fridge anyway>
User : Well that did not work , and now the coffee machine is beeping at me as well .
Callcentre : The toaster still cant confirm you have enough butter for your toast so it wont work. As it cant speak to your fridge it has to assume you dont have any butter at all , clever eh ?
After checking the diagnostics of the coffee machine I see its complaining that you dont have enough milk as per the milk settings. This is because it cant speak to the fridge , because you just unplugged it !!!!
<User plugs fridge back in>
User: The coffee machine is still bleeping and not working , even though I have plugged the fridge back in ?
Callcentre: Your fridge is complaining that it suffered an unexpected shutdown and because it can not be certain if any of its contents have gone off it wont publish its contents list to the rest of the cell.
User : So what do I do now ?
Callcentre: Your only option is to go and buy some more butter and milk and make sure they are compatible with your fridges firmware . See your user handbook for a list of compatible options.
Make sure that you put the rest of the loaf of bread back in the bread bin and close its lid otherwise it will send a message to the toaster to sugest that the bread has gone off.
<User hangs up and goes to get fresh supplies , only to find the front door wont open, on hearing the phone ring he answers it>
User : Hello, whos that ?
Callcentre : Your front door has just informed us that it has had an access violation.
User : What!! , I just tried to open it , but it kept beeping at me and refused to open.
Callcentre : Ah , was it two long beeps
User: Yes it was, why?
Callcentre: Thats the incorrect clothing error, it looks like the admin user , your wife ? , has set restrictions on which clothing is appropriate for you to be wearing if you wont to go outside.
User: Cant I overide it ?
Callcentre: Sorry , you need admin rights for that unless it detects a fire or other emergency.
User: So what the heck do I do now ?
Callcentre: You need to contact someone with admin rights to your cell. You have now used up your maximium allocated daily support time , so I need to hang up.
<user is heard screaming obsenities as the callcentre hang up>
Shady
user : Help my toaster is refusing to toast my bread ?
Callcentre: ok , lets call up the online diagnostics and see whats happening.
< insert the usual delay and some very annoying music >
Callcentre : Ah It seems your toaster is complaining that you dont have enough butter in your fridge for the toast. You could try lowering your butter per slice settings ,oh it seems your dont have admin rights to the toaster so you cant do that.
User: But I put a new pack of butter in the fridge yesterday.
Callcentre : What make of butter is it ?
User : Its , blah , blah .
Callcentre: Oh dear that make of butter is not compatible yet , we are still waiting for the development team to release new firm ware for your fridge that will reconise it.
User: Cant I just disconect the toaster from this damn cell circuit?
Callcentre : Well its all wifi these days so you cant disconect anything.
User : Right then I am going to unplug the ****** fridge then, hang on a minute.
Callcentre: Dont do that !!!
<user unplugs fridge anyway>
User : Well that did not work , and now the coffee machine is beeping at me as well .
Callcentre : The toaster still cant confirm you have enough butter for your toast so it wont work. As it cant speak to your fridge it has to assume you dont have any butter at all , clever eh ?
After checking the diagnostics of the coffee machine I see its complaining that you dont have enough milk as per the milk settings. This is because it cant speak to the fridge , because you just unplugged it !!!!
<User plugs fridge back in>
User: The coffee machine is still bleeping and not working , even though I have plugged the fridge back in ?
Callcentre: Your fridge is complaining that it suffered an unexpected shutdown and because it can not be certain if any of its contents have gone off it wont publish its contents list to the rest of the cell.
User : So what do I do now ?
Callcentre: Your only option is to go and buy some more butter and milk and make sure they are compatible with your fridges firmware . See your user handbook for a list of compatible options.
Make sure that you put the rest of the loaf of bread back in the bread bin and close its lid otherwise it will send a message to the toaster to sugest that the bread has gone off.
<User hangs up and goes to get fresh supplies , only to find the front door wont open, on hearing the phone ring he answers it>
User : Hello, whos that ?
Callcentre : Your front door has just informed us that it has had an access violation.
User : What!! , I just tried to open it , but it kept beeping at me and refused to open.
Callcentre : Ah , was it two long beeps
User: Yes it was, why?
Callcentre: Thats the incorrect clothing error, it looks like the admin user , your wife ? , has set restrictions on which clothing is appropriate for you to be wearing if you wont to go outside.
User: Cant I overide it ?
Callcentre: Sorry , you need admin rights for that unless it detects a fire or other emergency.
User: So what the heck do I do now ?
Callcentre: You need to contact someone with admin rights to your cell. You have now used up your maximium allocated daily support time , so I need to hang up.
<user is heard screaming obsenities as the callcentre hang up>
Shady
Associate
ROTFL. Sony, Toshiba and IBM aren't massive? Each of those makes Intel look like a back-street operation.
Put the three together and what have you got? A colossus! 
Man of Honour
Originally posted by shadyseti
Im waiting for the support call that goes like this.
user : Help my toaster is refusing to toast my bread ?
Callcentre: ok , lets call up the online diagnostics and see whats happening.
< insert the usual delay and some very annoying music >
Callcentre : Ah It seems your toaster is complaining that you dont have enough butter in your fridge for the toast. You could try lowering your butter per slice settings ,oh it seems your dont have admin rights to the toaster so you cant do that.
User: But I put a new pack of butter in the fridge yesterday.
Callcentre : What make of butter is it ?
User : Its , blah , blah .
Callcentre: Oh dear that make of butter is not compatible yet , we are still waiting for the development team to release new firm ware for your fridge that will reconise it.
User: Cant I just disconect the toaster from this damn cell circuit?
Callcentre : Well its all wifi these days so you cant disconect anything.
User : Right then I am going to unplug the ****** fridge then, hang on a minute.
Callcentre: Dont do that !!!
<user unplugs fridge anyway>
User : Well that did not work , and now the coffee machine is beeping at me as well .
Callcentre : The toaster still cant confirm you have enough butter for your toast so it wont work. As it cant speak to your fridge it has to assume you dont have any butter at all , clever eh ?
After checking the diagnostics of the coffee machine I see its complaining that you dont have enough milk as per the milk settings. This is because it cant speak to the fridge , because you just unplugged it !!!!
<User plugs fridge back in>
User: The coffee machine is still bleeping and not working , even though I have plugged the fridge back in ?
Callcentre: Your fridge is complaining that it suffered an unexpected shutdown and because it can not be certain if any of its contents have gone off it wont publish its contents list to the rest of the cell.
User : So what do I do now ?
Callcentre: Your only option is to go and buy some more butter and milk and make sure they are compatible with your fridges firmware . See your user handbook for a list of compatible options.
Make sure that you put the rest of the loaf of bread back in the bread bin and close its lid otherwise it will send a message to the toaster to sugest that the bread has gone off.
<User hangs up and goes to get fresh supplies , only to find the front door wont open, on hearing the phone ring he answers it>
User : Hello, whos that ?
Callcentre : Your front door has just informed us that it has had an access violation.
User : What!! , I just tried to open it , but it kept beeping at me and refused to open.
Callcentre : Ah , was it two long beeps
User: Yes it was, why?
Callcentre: Thats the incorrect clothing error, it looks like the admin user , your wife ? , has set restrictions on which clothing is appropriate for you to be wearing if you wont to go outside.
User: Cant I overide it ?
Callcentre: Sorry , you need admin rights for that unless it detects a fire or other emergency.
User: So what the heck do I do now ?
Callcentre: You need to contact someone with admin rights to your cell. You have now used up your maximium allocated daily support time , so I need to hang up.
<user is heard screaming obsenities as the callcentre hang up>
Shady
Soldato
Quality
Originally posted by Seti-Cruncher
ROTFL. Sony, Toshiba and IBM aren't massive? Each of those makes Intel look like a back-street operation.
Very true. Still .. SETI WUS in 5 minutes? Can't help but be skeptical.
Associate
It's perfectly doable now - if you have the hardware and expertise at your disposal. What I think this project is aiming at is hardware-supported, affordable cluster technology.
The average home or business already has a substantial number of digital processor devices. Apart from computers, VCRs, DVD players, digital TV devices, refrigerators, games consoles, etc, etc, have their own processors. Now imagine a system where all of those devices could be used on a single task while not actively engaged on their primary function - in much the same way as we are contributing to SETI, etc.. Now do you see the potential?
Associate
I read the same article and the seti result was calculated on the maximum theoretical speed of a Cell's 8 apu's all running perfectly.
It'll be quick but I bet it will not be quite that quick
If the various devices were in a cell working on a seti unit, that shouldn't be compared to having a number of pcs working on seperate units.
If peoples' clusters / borged pcs were all working together on one unit, then they would be finished rather rapidly.
There is, as always with any sort of multiprocessor system, the question of overheads and the real gain per additional processor.
Will it take a central PC to control all these units - if so would it not be better to let the pc do what it is good at and leave the toaster to burn your bread, without having to keep worrying about what service pack / patch level it is running at ?!!
If peoples' clusters / borged pcs were all working together on one unit, then they would be finished rather rapidly.
There is, as always with any sort of multiprocessor system, the question of overheads and the real gain per additional processor.
Will it take a central PC to control all these units - if so would it not be better to let the pc do what it is good at and leave the toaster to burn your bread, without having to keep worrying about what service pack / patch level it is running at ?!!