Trev Harmon

  • Home
  • Business
  • HPC
  • Cloud
  • Big Data
You are here: Home / HPC / My War with the MCP

February 19, 2013 by Trev Harmon Leave a Comment (REPOST)
February 12, 2013 at Adaptive Computing (ORIGINAL)

My War with the MCP

The year was 1982, and a new sci-fi movie was completely blowing our collective minds. Well, actually there were three:

  • E.T.
  • Blade Runner
  • TRON

I’m going to discuss the third one in the list. And, yes, TRON is technically a BASIC command acronym: “TRace ON.” It was the first time computer-generated graphics formed the backbone of a movie, which ignited a revolution, which has yet to reach its culmination–even though we now have CGI-based AI engines such as MASSIVE that not only will do crowd simulations, but also even adds in the “odd outliers and misfits just as we have in everyday life.” Our modern-day rendering marvels are made possible by massive render farms, which despite different terminology, are effectively HPC supercomputing.

(As an interesting side note, if one pays really close attention in the early part of TRON, there’s a CRAY-1 to be found. And, although it goes full circle, I digress.)

Let’s do a bit of a mind experiment, and by experiment I really mean useless flight of fancy. We’ll start with the part that’s easiest to accept…the world of TRON is real. Inside the CPU core there are all these little programs running around in neon-lit suits that look just like you and me (incidentally, I’m hoping my neon trimming is Jedi blue).

Now, in an HPC system, there’s a queue, so all of our little programs line up in a nice, neat line awaiting their turn to be executed (and I mean that in the best way possible). This queue is special because every now and again the guardian moves down the line reshuffling programs. Also, there are many who are cutting in line or jumping the queue, and the guardian—who clearly sees them doing it—not only allows it, but also actually encourages the behavior. Intolerable.

At least, that’s how I hope my program feels. I know that’s how I feel. I hope somewhere down in the depths of the machine, he’s telling the Man (er… the Computer) what for.

Dear HPC sysadmin, if you don’t want me to game the system, please increase my priority. Pretty please.

Filed Under: HPC Tagged With: Blade Runner, CRAY-1, E.T., HPC, MASSIVE, MCP, mind experiment, TRON, war

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Manifesto

Conscious Business Ethics

BusinessEthics300

Learn why it matters. Then sign it!

Get Updates!

Affiliate Disclosure

This site offers affiliate links to some online retailers such as Amazon.com in conjunction with hyper-linked books, movies, music and other such items. IF you click on these links and subsequently make a purchase, I will receive a small percentage of the transaction price

Twitter: trev_harmon

  • I've been working on a side project to help people contextualize and humanize the toll of #COVID19. It's finally do… https://t.co/Qg8ri7KSfJ 05:54:48 PM April 05, 2021 ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • RT @KungLab: Are you sad and angry about the surge in anti-Asian violence? Wondering if there’s something anti-racist you can do? One idea:… 07:58:56 AM March 19, 2021 ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • RT @saysthefox: I think everyone could use a lighthearted/happy story right now so here goes: At the beginning of the pandemic I went thro… 10:17:21 AM December 12, 2020 ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • #DoGoodRecklessly https://t.co/EjpxC0Mess 09:13:43 AM December 12, 2020 ReplyRetweetFavorite
  • 😁 https://t.co/bjYurTuVq0 11:20:50 PM December 11, 2020 ReplyRetweetFavorite
@trev_harmon

Writer, software architect, educator, blogger, photographer, would-be designer, and a believer in the power of simplicity and human-based design.

Other Blogs

Trev Harmon can also be read at:

  • Dream.Learn.Discover
    Primary Author -- This blog is about seeing the good in the world. With all the bad, evil and destruction, there are many, many people who are creating good in their sphere of influence. Some of these spheres are large and some are small. There is a time allotted to each one of us. It is with this time some decide to do remarkable things, though they may not believe them to be remarkable at the time.
  • Adaptive Computing
    Contributor -- The world of high-performance, cloud and supercomputing is opening the way for many new and exciting discoveries. As we push our quest for knowledge forward, technology will play a key role in supplementing our ability to learn and discover.

Copyright © 2021 · Executive Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in