Parallel Success Starts With Proper Planning

"Measure twice; cut once.” That maxim of carpentry is also good advice for parallel programming, according to a recent technical paper from Intel. Taking maximum advantage of a Many Integrated Core (MIC) coprocessor requires careful design of algorithm, data structure and architecture, warns “Intel Xeon Phi Application Design and Implementation Considerations.”

(Read my complete blog on the topic at GoParallel)

M2M: Rise of the Machines? Not Yet

In the 1970 science fiction thriller Colossus: The Forbin Project, two giant supercomputers from the United States and Soviet Union secretly join forces to take control of the collective nuclear might of the two countries. In the film, the two machines discover each other's existence, communicate back-and-forth, share their collective data, and cut their human creators out of the process. It is the ultimate example of machine-to-machine communications, or M2M.

(See my complete blog on the topic at InternetEvolution)

Wanted: Energy-Efficient Supercomputers

Who says super-fast computing has to be energy-wasting computing? That challenging question is at the core of a discussion workshop on large-scale parallel processing at the IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium in Boston May 20-24.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at goparallel.sourceforge.net)

Data Deluge Bottlenecking Breakthroughs

Data complexity and lack of scalability of underlying algorithms is bottlenecking the nation’s ability to analyze and apply massive amounts of science and engineering data for new breakthroughs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The DOE says translating the unprecedented flow of data from experiments and simulations – much of it generated by massively parallel computers – requires  “fundamentally different techniques, tools, and approaches.”

(See my complete blog on the topic at goparallel.sourceforge.net)

Finding the ROI in workplace wellness

To read the headlines, it’s a wonder if anyone knows what to really make of wellness programs.

“Corporate wellness programs: Not quite the cost savers”

 

“Wellness programs show hard-dollar savings”

“Study shows no quick savings from wellness programs”

“Employee wellness programs provide significant savings over time”

“How can an employer tell if its corporate wellness program is really working?”

Clearly, there is plenty of disagreement on the topic. It may be due to a lack of historical data. That may be why more than 75 percent of respondents to a recent survey by the National Business Group on Health said they do not know their return on investment for wellness programs.

(See my complete blog on the topic at Healthcare Finance News)

HPC Drives Life Science Research at Texas Supercomputing Center

Life science accounts for a key segment of the 3,000 research scientists in astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, aerospace engineering, petroleum engineering and geosciences using the Stampede supercomputer system at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas, Austin. “Oscar” Jiao, the center’s life science computing specialist, recently sat down with the Go Parallel Editor Joe Maglitta to talk about how researchers are using the nine-petaflop supercomputer to pursue new discoveries in their fields.

(See the video interview at http://goparallel.sourceforge.net)

Barcelona Supercomputing Center Joins OpenMP board

Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) has joined the OpenMP Architecture Review Board (ARB), a consortium of 24 vendors and research organizations creating the standard for world’s most popular shared-memory parallel programming model.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at goparallel.sourceforge.net)