84 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
84 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
From wyle@ethz.UUCP Mon Oct 17 06:21:33 1988
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Flags: 000000000001
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From: wyle@solaris.UUCP (Mitchell Wyle)
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Subject: Re: computer follies
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Summary: ad absurdum
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Date: 17 Oct 88 11:21:33 GMT
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Organization: SOT Sun Cluster, ETH Zuerich
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In article <1417@zen.UUCP> frank@zen.co.uk (Frank Wales) writes:
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>In article <4041@tekgvs.GVS.TEK.COM> toma@tekgvs.GVS.TEK.COM (Tom Almy) writes:
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[...stuff deleted...]
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Using the Boyer-Moore theorem prover on our network of 12 Crays, I was
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seconds away from finishing a statistical text analysis algorithm which
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derives the true conceptual meaning of all Indo-European languages and
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dialects, effectively solving all performance problems in information
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retrieval systems. The forces invading from the Zuerich international
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airport chose that moment to cut all power to the University, and
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mortar shells were falling outside our building seconds later.
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Luckily, our solar-powered, diesel-backed, quantum-predicting energized
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deflecto-modulators kicked in femtoseconds BEFORE the power-failure
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(elements of the system move faster than light), saving all 17
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Terabytes of Cray Core and all 831 Terrabytes of index files my program
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was using. With projectiles exploding and whistling ever closer, I
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decided on the final corrections through my brain-implant interface and
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ran for the bomb shelters, knowing that the DWIN (Do-What-I-Need)
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User-interface would finish cross-compiling my system for all processor
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architectures from 4-bit Casio-watches and HP hand-helds up through
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Connection Machines CM-2s.
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The autonomous tanks started using their armor-piercing rounds on the upper
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floors of the computing center but...
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--
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-Mitchell F. Wyle wyle@ethz.uucp
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Institut fuer Informatik wyle%ifi.ethz.ch@relay.cs.net
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ETH Zentrum
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8092 Zuerich, Switzerland +41 1 256-5237
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From wrs@pupthy.PRINCETON.EDU Wed Oct 19 19:49:31 1988
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Flags: 000000000001
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From: wrs@pupthy.PRINCETON.EDU (William R. Somsky)
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Subject: Re: computer follies
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Date: 20 Oct 88 00:49:31 GMT
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Organization: Physics Dept, Princeton Univ
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In article <482@solaris.UUCP> wyle@ethz.UUCP (Mitchell Wyle) writes:
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> ... Luckily, our solar-powered, diesel-backed, quantum-predicting energized
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> deflecto-modulators kicked in femtoseconds BEFORE the power-failure
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> (elements of the system move faster than light), ...
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That reminds me of the Sidrat 4200 machine we used to have.
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(Came in a big blue box, about 1 meter x 1 meter x 2.5 meters.)
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It had a tachyonic line-voltage monitor that would generated a
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"power-failure-immenent" interrupt two seconds before the actual
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failure to allow time for the machine to bring itself down gently.
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One day, one of our system programmers got the idea to make the
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power-interrupt interrupt-handler REALLY rock-solid. He designed
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everything into it he could think of to protect the system: core
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dump for later retrival, full disk backup onto holographic media,
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etc., etc., etc. He even included a final disconnect_power_mains
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routine ("to protect the power supply from line transients").
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Since the machine had full tensor architecture, this could all
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easily be done in the alloted two seconds warning time. In fact,
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it took just 0.978 seconds. So, a full second before the power-
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failure, the computer was backed-up, shut-down and POWERED-DOWN.
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Of course, the line-voltage monitor detected this power shutdown
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two seconds before it happened and initiated a power-failure interrupt
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THREE seconds before the real power failure. But the power shutdown
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>From that one was detected as well, and ...
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The net result was that the machine shut itself off a full hour
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before it was even turned on!
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
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William R. Somsky Physics Dept ; Princeton Univ
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wrs@pupthy.Princeton.EDU PO Box 708 ; Princeton NJ 08544
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