SC11: How this professor cleaned Watson’s clock

Ethan Miller with Watson at SC11 this week.

IBM’s Watson supercomputer, or at least a simulation of it, is in Seattle this week for the SC11 supercomputer conference. I got a chance to stop by and see attendees test their Jeopardy! skills against the machine that reigned supreme on the quiz show last year. And for the most part, Watson seemed infallible, dropping… Read More…

Video: Facebook’s ultra-efficient server, a guided tour

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I’ve been spending the afternoon at the SC11 supercomputer conference, taking place this week in Seattle, where one of the more unexpected companies on the show floor is Facebook. Actually, it won’t be a surprise if you’re familiar with the Open Compute Project, an open-source-style project that started with the social network’s efforts to share… Read More…

Supercomputer in the cloud: Amazon lands on Top500 list

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Here’s a surprising name on the new list of the world’s fastest supercomputers: Amazon Web Services. Looking to promote its latest offering in High Performance Computing — dubbed the Cluster Compute Eight Extra Large, or CC2 for short – the Seattle company’s cloud computing team has submitted its benchmark speed results to the keepers of the… Read More…

Guest Post: Is Seattle the center of supercomputing?

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Supercomputers were once the exclusive province of government spy agencies, research labs and academics. The top computer makers were the only vendors. Things have changed since Seymour Cray introduced the first machine at Control Data in 1965. One of the biggest changes is how many of the vendors are now in the Seattle area. With… Read More…

Cray hooks huge $188 million supercomputer contract with University of Illinois

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Leaders in the field of supercomputing are arriving in Seattle this week for SC11, one of the biggest confabs for those interested in high performance computing. And as more than 10,000 attendees arrive for the conference — which begins today and runs through Friday at the Washington State Trade & Convention Center — Seattle’s hometown… Read More…

Watson in Seattle: Tips from Ken Jennings on beating IBM’s supercomputer

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A scaled-down version of IBM’s Watson will be in Seattle starting this weekend for the SC11 supercomputer conference, giving attendees a chance to match wits with the machine that made a name for itself on television competing against Jeopardy! champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter last year. As it happens, we had Jennings as a… Read More…