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Submission + - Data Center Built In A Silo (datacenterknowledge.com)

1sockchuck writes: A supercomputing center in Quebec has transformed a huge concrete silo into the CLUMEQ Colossus, a data center filled with HPC clusters. The silo, which is 65 feet high with two-foot thick concrete walls, previously housed a Van de Graaf accelerator dating to the 1960s. It was redesigned to house three floors of server cabinets, arranged so cold air can slow from the outside of the facility, through the racks and return via an interior "hot core." The construction and operation of the unique facility are detailed in a presentation from CLUMEQ.

Comment Re:And that's bad how? (Score 5, Insightful) 1747

Newtonian Mechanics are valid, just not as accurate as Relativity. Relativity is, in essence, a more accurate version of Newtonian Mechanics. It refines it, but the basic conclusions are very similar, save for extreme circumstances. Though relativity is more accurate, it's much more complicated, so most people will calculate things with N.M. It works fine at human-experienced scales, speeds and distances. Creationism is entirely different from evolution. It in no way refines the idea for more accuracy, it just throws the whole damn concept out the window and says "We know, and we're right because we said so." And it should be noted that Einstein, unlike the evolution-deniers, backed up his claims with math, logic and science, rather than just anecdotal evidence. Fact checking when you are an informed person or scientist is one thing, saying something is wrong because you don't get it and some old book told you it's wrong is entirely another, invalid, way of thinking.

Comment Boo-Hoo (Score 0, Troll) 446

It appears people still don't understand that Facebook is a company and a BUSINESS. Not a government institute, not a public service. Making money is their sole purpose. Anything else they do is just a means to make that money. People seem to think they can have some expectation of privacy from Facebook when their primary business model is advertising revenues. The way to make the advertising most effective is to base it on your information. Why should they care who you want to see it or what you want done with it? I'd say you're lucky they aren't selling your personal information en masse to advertisers, and they very well may be. If you put your information on Facebook, you should be aware that you are forfeiting all rights to it and you have no right to demand it be private. The people who complain about Facebook not having enough privacy are the same people who complain about Google knowing your search history. It's time to grow up now, this is how the world works.

Comment Re:Agreed. Microsoft lobbies for software patents. (Score 1) 241

Even if the baby jesus came down from heaven today and told them the four hundred thousand patents they infringe, they would be lost again tomorrow, when 10,000 more patents were filed.

This is entirely the problem. The fact that the patent system in the United States (and many other countries) allows a ridiculous number of patents for things with plenty of prior art, plain obvious ideas and troll patents (i.e. the Russian who trademarked the ";-)" or Tsera's ridiculous patent on the concept of a touchpad). The system is entirely broken and needs to be re-done from the ground up or we will continue to have patent trolls trolling trolls and nobody being able to do a damn thing anymore without stepping on some obscure company's patent that they're likely not even using for any product. I imagine that many companies won't release their software or drivers open-source because they're afraid that someone has patented something they've used. It's not just the patent system, either, trademark law and copyright are no better, allowing ridiculously obvious patents to be held for ridiculous amounts of time. As there are more companies, more inventors and as time goes on, there will be fewer and fewer possible inventive ideas. Yes, it will be an absolute nightmare of red tape to fix the system and I'd be shocked if it actually happened, but just because something is unlikely doesn't mean the concept is invalid. At the very least, we need some reform, because this system is failing us and is becoming a detriment to society where all information, ideas and works can be kept under lock essentially indefinitely. As the cliche goes, information wants to be free and this applies to patents just as much as any other works. Short patent lives allows for collaboration and the combination of winning ideas to make greater inventions that benefit the company, the inventors and society as a whole. We need to put an end to this shortsighted selfishness of the current patent system's "I thought of it first, so it's mine and you can't ever use it." philosophy so we can all move forward. But hey, what do I know? I don't even work for the patent office.

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