U.S. Export Controls: Bush May Ease Restrictions on High-Performance Computers

NTI: Global Security Newswire ^ | 12/18/01 | David Ruppe

[ken5050]

This is Compaq's "plan B" after the merger with HP fails..

[GingisK]

You see, clinton isn't the only one who provides for our enemies. I suspect the 'marching orders' come from a source common to all administrations.

[another1]

Wonder how the apologists will dress this one up?

[anymouse]

Hasn't the world-wide Internet availibility of Extreme Linux and commodity priced PC-based Beowolf clusters made these restrictions a mute point anyway?

$20,000 and a few smart teeagers could build a system capabile of keeping up with a Cray.

Wouldn't surprise me to hear our troops in Afghanistan run across an Al Queda Beowolf cluster or two.

[Jordo]

This is Compaq's "plan B" after the merger with HP fails..

Compaq is still selling the supercomputer building blocks as fast as they can manufacture them. I don't think they would gain very much by opening markets in these suspect countries.

Of course, the success of Compaq's high performance division may or may not be enough to counterbalance the problems of the rest of the company.

[LarryLied]

Ok..I admit it, I had to look up Beowolf Clusters (Thought they might be a kids computer game). Awesome stuff: Beowolf Clusters. I want one.

[LarryLied]

Wonder how the apologists will dress this one up?

No Ron Brown, no selling of Commerce trips, no Chinese arms dealers in the White House, no 120+ people taking the fifth or fleeing the country, no Bernard Schwartz and selling this stuff doesn't matter anymore?

All that said, it is still work finding out more.

[onyx]

Is this a reliable news source without an axe to grinde?

[ChaseR]

"U.S. President George W. Bush is considering an executive order to greatly relax restrictions on exports of U.S.-made, high-performance computers (HPCs) to countries that could use them to develop nuclear weapons and other military advances."

What is going on? What is going on with this!!??
I'm pretty well versed in the Clinton technology giveaway, but now this!!!! Larry, what gives here? What is going on?
(globalization; more delusional thinking/ bribery???) I'm a absolutely clueless!!

[ChaseR]

I wonder what Bill Gertz will say about all of this???

[LarryLied]

Is this a reliable source?

Well, yes and no. Dr.Peter Leitner who is quoted the most, hammered the Clinton administration but good for taking the controls off high tech exports.

NTI: Global Security Newswire, however, exists due to a $250 million dollar grant from Ted Turner. Sam Nunn is involved in the operation also.

[ChaseR]

FYI

[LarryLied]

I wonder what Bill Gertz will say about all of this???

Excellent question. I'm no techie so I have no idea if the controls are no longer needed. Peter Leitner has made a career of opposing almost every loosening of controls. Gertz would nail it one way or the other for me.

[ChaseR]

Thanks Larry - for this very important article/BTTT

[RedBloodedAmerican]

fyi

[ChaseR]

OKC, what do you see in all of this???

[Nick Danger]

Ranked first on the most recent list, released Nov. 10, is Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's ASCI White, at roughly seven trillion operations per second.

The big controversy here seems to be whether these restrictions accomplish anything. Stringing together a whole bunch of little processors is now a common way to build a supercomputer, and everybody knows that. Everybody also knows that these are off-the-shelf, commercial microprocessors that can be bought all over the world.

Out comes the big supercomputer expert to tell us that it's not so, that there are big advantages to having one big computer instead of a whole bunch of small ones.

"Ranked first on the list" is Lawrence Livermore's gigantic ASCI White, delivering 7 trillion operations per second.

What they are not telling you here is that ASCI White consists of 8,192 commercially available IBM RS/6000 microprocessors.

[Bush2000]

This is bad, real bad.

[ChaseR]

- fyi