Got my second computer up and running with Ubuntu tonight. It took over 2 hours worth of futzing with the display settings to get my dual monitor setup to work properly. Still have to put it through some more rigorous testing but I’m getting the feeling that it’s finally working.
I’m using the fact that I’m setting up my Ubuntu machine to avoid doing two assignments which are due next week, specifically one that’s due on Tuesday that I haven’t really started. It’s pretty simple, and I have to admit that I actually prefer this kind of assignment; find a field of study or a specific problem for which cluster/distributed computing is uniquely well suited for. The frustrating part is that the first thing that comes into mind is bioinformatics: Frankly I don’t want to study a paper on gene-finding methods in-depth in order to ascertain what particular portion of the God-knows-how-complex algorithm is embarassingly parallel and thus well-suited for parallel computing. I’d much rather study something to do with, say, online identity and/or secure sign-in systems over large networks or the logisitics of keeping a cluster running. I’m much more interested in getting a cluster running, rather than the reasons behind why you’d want to run one in the first place.
That sounds odd coming from someone whose major is in bioinformatics, but I have a huge term project on gene-finding this semester and I don’t want to bang my head against that wall when I don’t have to.
Speaking of distractions, Ratchet and Clank for PS3 is much much better than I had thought. I spent a good portion of my morning engrossed in that. Lightning Ravager for the win.
