RF HPC Ep22 Intel Inside Cable TV

In this episode, the Radio Free HPC team discusses recent reports of Intel's plans to bust up the cable TV industry by offering a service or set-top box that would allow customers to buy channels and individual shows a la carte, and -- AND -- access a cloud-based DVR service. The stuff of dreams, right? But not so fast. Acquiring licenses for each bit of content, and dealing with Hollywood in general, is not for the faint of heart.

What's in this uphill climb for Intel? Chips in every household; entry into a massive market; and another way to offset declining PC sales. What's in it for consumers seems pretty clear, but there's at least one major caveat: What's to stop, say, Comcast from raising rates for its Internet cable in order to cover lost revenue? Then we're all paying Intel and our local cable provider. Is this just "Meet the new boss... same as the old boss?"

This episode also gives us a peek into the guys' viewing preferences and current entertainment setups. (Henry: The Food Network instead of ESPN? Really?)

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Success and Failure in Tech

In this podcast, the Radio Free HPC team looks at success factors for technology Startups. Prompted by a recent interview with Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolshiem, the discussion centers around lessons learned from Sun's decline and eventual acquisition by Oracle. Download the MP3 * Download the video * Subscribe on iTunes * RSS Feed

Christmas Gifts Podcast Part 2 of 3

In Part 2 of this special Holiday podcast, Rich and Dan discuss the perfect Christmas gift for Henry, a man who some consider to be wound a little too tightly at times. Download the MP3 * Download the video * Subscribe on iTunes * RSS Feed

Christmas Gifts Podcast Part 1 of 3

In Part 1 of this special Holiday podcast, Dan and Henry discuss the perfect Christmas gift for Rich, who is a bit of an Apple enthusiast. Download the MP3 * Download the video * Subscribe on iTunes * RSS Feed

Radio Free HPC Reviews the SC12 Student Cluster Competition

In this wrap-up review of SC12, the Radio Free HPC team discusses the Student Cluster Competition, covering the teams, results, and a discussion of how the competition has evolved over the years and where it should go in the future. Download the MP3 * Download the video * Subscribe on iTunes * RSS Feed

SC12 Review - Intel Pumps Xeon Phi Coprocessor

In this podcast, the Radio Free HPC team is still talking about the recently concluded SC12 conference in Salt Lake City. The conversation starts with a short review of Thanksgiving dinner (including disgusting eating noises added in at no additional charge) before moving on to more weighty topics. The topic? Intel's formal introduction of their Xeon Phi coprocessor, including some performance and price information. Rich and Henry think that Intel has a strong hand with Phi, but Dan isn't so sure... Download the MP3 * Download the video * Subscribe on iTunes * RSS Feed

Radio Free HPC Looks at the Chink in TOP500 Armor

In this podcast, the Radio Free HPC team quits griping about the horrible WiFi at SC12 and moves on to a truly big issue: Are LINPACK and HPCC benchmarks useful? Should they be constantly re-evaluated? And shouldn’t you really test machines on the kinds of workloads they’re designed to run?

The catalyst for this discussion is the Blue Waters system, for which no LINPACK numbers have been submitted. Yes, it’s behind schedule, and sure, they’re busy doing the science… but is it also a shot across the bow? Are they rebelling against industry philosophy? If they are, that’s a good thing, according to Henry – because a system is about what you plan to do with it, not how many flops you can get out of it. Rich agrees: if you get a giant LINPACK number on a system that has reliability issues, and you can’t output real science because all your time and money is invested in brute computation, what good is it? And the industry sectors doing meaningful work – where are their systems on the Top500? They’re not playing this game.

Spoiler alert: Henry agrees with Dan on something. Really. It’s at the 10:00 mark, if you’ve got to see it to believe it. We hardly believed it ourselves. Download the MP3 * Download the video * Subscribe on iTunes * RSS Feed