Malcolm Yoke Hean Low

Compilers and More: OpenCL Promises and Potential

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:49:36 +0800

In this article, Michael Wolfe from PGI discusses different aspects of OpenCL. Given all the hype, what can we expect from OpenCL? Is it really simple? Is it portable? Will it replace other parallel programming models?

Ebook: HPC for Dummies

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:37:59 +0800

This special edition eBook from Sun and AMD shares details on real-world uses of HPC, explains the different types of HPC, guides you on how to choose between different suppliers, and provides benchmarks and guidelines you can use to get your system up and running. Get it here.

Software Engineering: An Idea Whose Time Has Come and Gone?

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:35:29 +0800

An interesting article by Tom DeMarco, author of the 1979 book "Structured Analysis and System Specification" and inventor of the data flow diagram.

An Introduction to Parallel Programming - Module 1: Performance Tuning

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:57:39 +0800

A seven part series from Sun on the introduction to parallel programming. Part 1 is on performance tuning.

Project Natal

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:11:42 +0800

Microsoft has unveiled its new control system for the Xbox 360. Project Natal is a fully hands-free control system that will use face recognition and motion sensors to allow users to play games.

The Read Green Initiative

Tue, 12 May 2009 17:26:59 +0800

The Read Green Initiative offers millions of people FREE access to an alternative, environmentally friendly way of enjoying favorite magazines, books and other publications. Simply select your free one-year digital subscription to any featured magazine and read it with Zinio's interactive reader.

parallel_invoke() - Running Multiple Functions in Parallel using Intel Thread Building Block

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:46:39 +0800

From this article, running multiple functions together with Intel Thread Building block is as simple as the following:

void Function1();
void Function2();
void Function3();

void RunFunctions() {
tbb::parallel_invoke(Function1, Function2, Function3);
}

NTU supports Earth Hour

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:45:45 +0800

Cloud Computing for Dummy

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:53:38 +0800

This video in YouTube gives an easy to understand explanation of what Cloud Computing is.

Free Wireless Broadband Access to NTU Wifi Network via SMS Registration

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:07:26 +0800

(Source) Visitors to NTU campus with mobile phone can now enjoy free, campus-wide seamless wireless broadband access with speed of up to 54Mbps.

To register for the free wireless access day account, simply SMS the keyword 'register' to the phone number 98635582. The visitor will receive via SMS the account username in the format ASSOC\ and a password for access to the NTUwireless network.

Leap Year Bug in Microsoft Zune Player

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:45:13 +0800

On December 31, 2008, every Zune 30 device freezes due to a leap year bug in a driver from Freescale Semiconductor in a "while loop". Obviously a leap year test case is not carried out on the driver. See this article for details.

Four Paths to HPC using Java

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:19:00 +0800

This article from JDJ gives a high-level description of four approaches using fork/join framework, Pervasive DataRush, Terracotta, and Hadoop for writing parallel applications in Java.

Parallel Programming: Three Things You Must Teach

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:53:14 +0800

From Intel Software College, this series of three lectures provides an introduction to parallel programming.

Module 1. Recognizing Potential Parallelism

Module 2. Shared Memory and Threads

Part 1

Part 2

Module 3. Programming with OpenMP

Part 1

Part 2

Google Code University - Introduction to Parallel Programming and MapReduce

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:40:19 +0800

This tutorial from the Google Code University covers the basics of parallel programming and the MapReduce programming model. The pre-requisites are significant programming experience with a language such as C++ or Java, and data structures & algorithms.

Obama Wins Historic US Election

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:09:45 +0800

Understanding Parallel Performance - How do we know we've succeeded?

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:22:18 +0800

In this article, Microsoft software architect Herb Sutter discusses some key issues to keep in mind for accurately analyzing the real performance of parallel code. The article uses simple example code to point out basic considerations and common costs in developing parallel programs.

Multi-agent, Parallel Processing, Robotic, Warehousing

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:50:53 +0800

This article from the July issue of IEEE Spectrum describes a state-of-the-art agent-based robotic warehousing system. Unlike traditional warehouse where operators go around the warehouse picking orders, in this system, swarms of robots controlled by an agent-based scheduling, dispatching and traffic control system, worked in parallel to bring shelves to the operators for picking. The system has already been deployed by Staples, Walgreens and Zappos.

10 Great Tech Books

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 18:59:11 +0800

From the July issue of IEEE Spectrum, below are 10 great general-interest books about technology.

The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski
Mirror Worlds; or, The Day Software Puts the Universe in a Shoebox...How it Will Happen and What it Will Mean by David Gelernter
A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter
The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder
The Design of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman
The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing by David Kahn
Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age by Paul Graham
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes

The links to these books on Amazon are listed in this page.

Professor Who Wrote 200,000+ Books

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:17:17 +0800

This interesting article describes how a management science professor make use of publicly available data on internet and computer AI to automatically "generate" 200,000 books and publishes and sells them for profit.

Programming Languages - 6 Scripting Languages Your Developers Wish You'd Let Them Use

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:24:42 +0800

Links to Programming Languages

6 Scripting Languages Your Developers Wish You'd Let Them Use