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I have update the astro computer faq for using "ssh -X"

http://www.astro.yale.edu/cgi-bin/dept/computer/faq.cgi and added it to the introduction for new users web page: http://www.astro.yale.edu/dept/computer/intro.html

Since the power shutdown, we have had problems with ssh.

Using ssh to connect to a machine often does not allow you open graphical windows (eg xgterm, vi, gimp) on the remote machine. This has affected machines within the department and those working remotely. Approximately 1/3 of the department machines show this behaviour, in particular roc.

I have not resolved the exact cause, but the solution is to use the "-X" parameter when using ssh to connect to ANY COMPUTER within the department eg)

ssh -X roc.astro.yale.edu



This should properly set the DISPLAY shell environment variable and allow remote X11 windows.

If you have any questions or need further help connecting remotely, please contact us: astro.support@yale.edu

> ROC seems to be down. > > --- Sarbani

We seem to have encountered a hickup in our north wing's power between 1 & 2 AM this morning. roc self-restart improved by adjusting BIOS settings. all should be good now, individual workstations may need a reboot.

-- -Craig Henry

The university email system has imposed a file size limit of 10MB for all messages from their email system ( www.mail.yale.edu ). This limitation will eventually be enforced on our email system.

Most graphical email programs (eg thunderbird ) will give warning message when you attempt to send an email larger than this 10MB size.

However, pine freezes when sending attachments. It does not give an error message and does not recover. You may be forced to kill the window in which pine is running.

As alternatives for sending large files, using the "Yale File Transfer Facility" web site at transfer.med.yale.edu or the astronomy ftp site (/data/ftp/pub). The astro ftp server is accessible to the outside world at ftp.astro.yale.edu.

Regards,

Chris

We think all the servers are back on line following the power shutdown last night. The latecomer was the machine for /data/dept, which was not online until 9:30am or so this morning.

Anyone who turned on their machine before 9:30 and cannot access /data/dept will probably need the reboot their workstation.

Regards,

Chris & Craig

A reminder to please turn off your computer and screen before you leave tonight.

I will start power down of the server computers around 6:30pm this evening. We plan to turn machines back on starting at 8am tomorrow morning.

Regards,

--Chris

Ageia, an intellectual property company.

Announced release of a specialized CPU for physics computations associated with computer games.

http://physx.ageia.com/

http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/03/22/ageia_physx/

From there FAQ:

What is a physics processor?

A physic processor is one designed specifically for the unique requirements of physics algorithms, which represent an environment that's much different general purpose or graphics processing.

And the AGEIA PhysX processor is the first and only physics processor (PPU) available for games. The PPU calculates all of the movement and interaction in a game at incredible speeds, so that graphically-sophisticated games can have realistic "cause and effect" action. AGEIA PhysX calculates the equations of matter and force and their interaction and movement in real-time environments.



What makes the AGEIA PhysX hardware special?

The only way to get real physics with the scale, sophistication, fidelity and high level of interactivity is with the AGEIA PhysX processor, which was developed from day one to accelerate the highly specialized physically based simulations. Its massively parallel, interactive AGEIA PhysX cores are optimized specifically for dynamic large-scale, physics processing, which enable it to accelerate real-time physical motion and interaction at a scale and quality far beyond that of general purpose solutions.

For more information, read Advanced Gaming Physics Defining the New Reality in PC Hardware

Hi Everyone,

In anticipation of power outage tomorrow evening, all computers should be turned off Wednesday evening.

We will begin shut down of the server computers tomorrow at 6pm.

Please turn off your computer (including the screen) before you leave tomorrow night.

You can shut down your workstation from your linux desktop by choosing the "Log Out" option from the programs menu (should be at the bottom of the menu).

For redhat and scientific linux users, you should receive a Log Out menu similar to this graphic:

Gnome Logout Window http://www.astro.yale.edu/chunter/gnome-logout.png

Select the "Save current setup" option if you want to restore your current desktop/open terminals when you next login.

Choose the "Shut Down" option and click OK.

Please email us at astro.support@yale.edu if you have any questions !

Chris & Craig



On Mon, 20 Mar 2006, John Fox wrote:

> At midnight on Wednesday, March 22 the electricity to all of Gibbs will be > turned off for five hours. It is expected to be back up at 5 AM, Thursday, > March 23. > Chris and Craig will make all the preparations and be giving directions as > they did last time but all machines should be turned off when you leave > here on Wednesday. > If you have any questions or problems, please let me know today. > John >

Our webserver and website crashed staturday night. I was able to get it back online when I arrived in the morning. I traced the problem to some buggy systems admin software that I have since corrected (which will hopefully rresolve the issue).

--Chris

~1:30 PM Chris must reboot roc you will not be able to operate properly until your system is logged in after that reboot -Craig

Today is the last day for returning your computing survey responses. Late surveys will reviewed individually, but not included in the department results.