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All they need to do is register for a free trial subscription to HPCwire by sending an e-mail message to ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- H P C w i r e The Text-on-Demand E-zine for High Performance Computing *** Nov. 3, 1995: Vol. 4, No. 44 Circulation: 18,073 *** This Week's Table of Contents Represents 157 Pages of Text ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Article Retrieval instructions at end of this file more@hpcwire.tgc.com For a free 4-week trial subscription, email trial@hpcwire.tgc.com -------------------- * -------------------- 7099) NEW PARALLEL MARC ON CONVEX SCALABLE SYSTEMS DELIVERS BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE AND ACCURACY FOR NONLINEAR STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS New capabilities for automotive industry will be featured at Autofact Nov. 14 in Chicago _______________________________ IN THIS ISSUE _____________________________ | | | 8039) COMMERCIAL NEWS: FORD OPENS VIRTUAL REALITY TOOL DEVELOPMENT LAB | | 8042) NEWS BRIEFS: INTEL UNVEILS PENTIUM PRO. BENCHMARKS ARE IMPRESSIVE| | 8056) LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: FUJITSU EXEC FINDS SGI COMMENTS AMUSING | |___________________________________________________________________________| FEATURES ==================================================================== Lines 8036) HARSH TRICKS & SCARCE TREATS FOR HPC VENDORS........................210 News Analysis by Norris Parker Smith, editor-at-large Most vendors of high-performance hardware are encountering more tricks than treats this Halloween. A highly subjective, light-hearted rating of major competitors as they examine crystal balls on the eve of a new year. 8037) ARPA ISSUES $3.5 MILLION CONTRACT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF TERA'S MTA......69 by Alan Beck, associate editor Tera claims its multi-threaded architecture (MTA) systems, slated for release in 1996, overcome memory latency. Now a three-year ARPA project is expected to resolve the second issue standing in the way of reasonably-priced supercomputing: bandwidth cost. 8038) IBM SAYS YEAR 2000 COULD BE MASSIVE PAIN IN THE MOUSE................78 Commentary by Norris Parker Smith, editor-at-large Most applications use only two digits for the "year" space in dates. The Year 2000 thus could cause widespread nervous breakdowns for users as well as computers. IBM says there is no one-size-fits-all fix. A 180-page IBM guide on the WWW tells how to repair applications systematically. COMMERCIAL NEWS 8039) FORD OPENS FACILITY DEDICATED TO VIRTUAL REALITY TOOL DEVELOPMENT....52 The new lab will be used to develop virtual reality (VR) tools for engineering design and evaluation applications such as packaging studies, design verification and a "walk-up VR station" for design evaluation. SCIENCE & ENGINEERING NEWS 8040) MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS STREAMLINE DISK DRIVE LUBRICATION....119 Scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology are using Cray's C90 and EL94 to predict at what pressure ultra-thin films of organic lubricants used in nanometer-scale devices may act more like solids than liquids. 8041) ALGORITHM REDUCES TIME NEEDED TO IMAGE OIL EXPLORATION SITES........143 Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed an algorithm that dramatically reduces the time needed to image geological areas where oil may be present. Cray, Intel and IBM expect to have custom commercial versions by 1997. QUOTE OF THE WEEK =========================================================== 8037) "Our proprietary architecture flies in the face of conventional wisdom, and there's a reason. If there was a microprocessor that could solve this problem, we'd use it. But there isn't." -- Jim Rottsolk, CEO of Tera Computer ____________________________INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT_____________________________ | 7101) Come to Digital's Free High-Performance Computing Seminar Nov. 7 | | 7097) Client/Server Data Serving for High Performing Computer Industry | | 7102) The Journal PARALLEL COMPUTING Now Covers Applications | | 7084) SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Interoperability, The GII & The NII | | 7095) Sony Integrator--Tri-Plex Systems Corp.--Delivers Highest- | | Performance Tape Storage Solution for Intel Paragon(tm) | | 7081) Early Registration for SC'95 Closes Today! http://sc95.sdsc.edu/SC95| | 7096) INFRASTRUCTURE Announces "Open Kimono Days" Free Back Issues | | and Commentary for Last Two Weeks of October | |___________________________________________________________________________| NEWS BRIEFS ================================================================= 8042) 200 MHz Intel Pentium Pro Benchmarks at 366 SPECint92.............156 8043) SPEC/HPG Develops Standard High Performance Computing Benchmarks...47 8044) Informix Purchase of Stanford Technology Signals Growth of ROLAP...67 8045) Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Will Receive Cray T3E in 1996.....30 8046) Cray Research Plans to Sell Cray Machining Center to Nortech.......31 8047) Alliances with Seer and CableData Expand Tandem's Market Reach.....45 8048) SITe Will Provide Charge-Coupled Devices for $20M Telescope........50 8049) Oracle Says Oracle7 TPC-C Benchmark Smokes Sybase & Informix.......27 8050) Tandem Joins Alliance to Develop Networked Multimedia Technology...30 8051) IBM SystemView Wins Best Integrated Solution at Recent "Shoot-Out".32 SHORT TAKES 8052) Product Watch: Paradigm Ships CMOS SRAMS. Altera Ends Parts Line..250 8053) Financial Update: Proteon Posts Loss. Exide's IBM Strategy Pays...156 8054) Corporate Liaisons: NEC and Convex Ink Supercomputer Sales Pact...270 8055) People, Promotions & Appointments: Quantum HCSG GM Maeser Resigns.130 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 8056) SGI Comments About Fujitsu ECMWF Win Miss the Mark.................41 by Peter J. Thomas, GM, UK & Nordic, Fujitsu Systems (Europe) Ltd JOB BANK ==================================================================== 667) Employment Opportunities.........................................139 From: Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Cornell Supercomputing Center, Madentech Consulting, Nichols Research, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, * Fujitsu 604) Job Bank Rates and Regulations....................................92 CONFERENCES ================================================================= 8057) More Than 5,000 Expected to Attend Supercomputing '95..............53 2888) Calendar of Upcoming HPC Events (Updated Nov. 2)..................185 HPCwire INFORMATION ========================================================= 7000) Subscription Information/Get On-Off Mailing List/Letters to the Editor Back Issue Index/Masthead, Email Contacts, Submission Tips..........9 ______________________H P C w i r e S P O N S O R S______________________ | | | Full background information on all Sponsoring Companies | | | | 912) Avalon Computer 915) Genias Software 905) MAXIMUM STRATEGY| | 934) Convex Computer Corp. 930) HNSX Supercomputers 916) MasPar Computer | | 921) Cray Research Inc. 902) IBM Corp. 932) Portland Group | | 909) Fujitsu 904) Intel Corp. 935) Silicon Graphics| | *936) Sony | |__________________*Updated information within last 30 days_________________| *** LAST ISSUE'S MOST REQUESTED ITEMS FROM HPCwire *** 8021) FOUR NEW MICROPROCESSORS OFFER HOLIDAY VARIETY......................182 8023) HITS & HISSES: FURTHER SOURCES ON IBM NAS BENCHMARKS.................65 8026) CRAY COMPUTER CORP. ASSETS SOLD IN BANKRUPTCY AUCTION................35 8033) FINANCIAL UPDATE: CRAY REPORTS LOSS, SGI & DIGITAL POST PROFITS.....195 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~