Just a brief thought here--hopefully I don't land on some watch list for this.
I hang out on FreeNode during my workday and one of my favorite channels is one about high-performance computing (or parallel computing, or supercomputing, or whatever you want to call it). People come in and ask a variety of questions about parallel computing, ranging from the most uninformed and basic ("how do I make a cluster?") to very specific ("how do you deal with GPGS's requirement to enable passwordless root login between all cluster nodes?")
The other day, a user joined and asked for very basic help--he wanted to know what good books there are for learning how to build and manage a cluster.
The answer, in brief, is that there are none. I gave the guy a link to a homebrew cluster website which (in my opinion) isn't an unreasonable start if going from nothing.
This person didn't want to accept that there are simply no books on HPC clusters, and he kept asking questions that were a little vague. His English wasn't perfect, and he was kind of dodging some of the specific questions others were trying to ask him to get a better grip on what he was trying to accomplish. He claimed to want to do animation with a cluster, but wouldn't specify what specific software he'd use.
Things kind of took a little turn when someone else in the channel (accidentally) pointed out that this user was connecting from Iran. Most of us in the channel happen to work for the U.S. government and use computers that belong to the U.S. government. And apparently it is not unheard of for foreign (enemy) intelligence agencies to clandestinely prod U.S. supercomputing sites in an attempt to gain information they shouldn't have. The line of discussion in the channel got a little weird.
This Iranian fellow was being a little cagey, but he was (a) totally new to the field of HPC, (b) just accused of being a potential spy, and (c) not fluent in English. One of the less-patient regulars in the channel ultimately shut this Iranian guy up.
Anyway, this Iranian fellow has been asking me questions privately since then, and he's in fact not a spy. He reluctantly admitted that he's a lowly helpdesk worker who's struggling to make ends meet. A local animation company needs someone who knows how to do computer animation on clusters, and he thought that if he could learn how to manage clusters, he could do the extra work and keep his head above water. However, he felt he couldn't ask questions in the channel anymore because of the hostile environment that came about the first time he tried. He was being cagey earlier because he didn't want to admit that he was working a bad job and needed to make more money.
Wanting to learn a new skill to pick up a second job and make more money is not an Iranian problem; it's a problem that people have worldwide. It's a problem I have.
Furthermore, a number of students in my department are Iranian, and they're among the friendliest people I've met. They're not any crazier or less fun-loving or sociable than us Americans; in fact, I'd go so far as to say that, compared to the people I've met from other Middle Eastern nations, they're the most "like us" in terms of quickly acclimating to American culture.
I wish I could grasp the divide that has pitted our nations against each other. We're comprised of the same people with the same problems, and individually we don't hate each other. It seems immensely shameful that these sentiments can't translate up to our governments.
I hang out on FreeNode during my workday and one of my favorite channels is one about high-performance computing (or parallel computing, or supercomputing, or whatever you want to call it). People come in and ask a variety of questions about parallel computing, ranging from the most uninformed and basic ("how do I make a cluster?") to very specific ("how do you deal with GPGS's requirement to enable passwordless root login between all cluster nodes?")
The other day, a user joined and asked for very basic help--he wanted to know what good books there are for learning how to build and manage a cluster.
The answer, in brief, is that there are none. I gave the guy a link to a homebrew cluster website which (in my opinion) isn't an unreasonable start if going from nothing.
This person didn't want to accept that there are simply no books on HPC clusters, and he kept asking questions that were a little vague. His English wasn't perfect, and he was kind of dodging some of the specific questions others were trying to ask him to get a better grip on what he was trying to accomplish. He claimed to want to do animation with a cluster, but wouldn't specify what specific software he'd use.
Things kind of took a little turn when someone else in the channel (accidentally) pointed out that this user was connecting from Iran. Most of us in the channel happen to work for the U.S. government and use computers that belong to the U.S. government. And apparently it is not unheard of for foreign (enemy) intelligence agencies to clandestinely prod U.S. supercomputing sites in an attempt to gain information they shouldn't have. The line of discussion in the channel got a little weird.
This Iranian fellow was being a little cagey, but he was (a) totally new to the field of HPC, (b) just accused of being a potential spy, and (c) not fluent in English. One of the less-patient regulars in the channel ultimately shut this Iranian guy up.
Anyway, this Iranian fellow has been asking me questions privately since then, and he's in fact not a spy. He reluctantly admitted that he's a lowly helpdesk worker who's struggling to make ends meet. A local animation company needs someone who knows how to do computer animation on clusters, and he thought that if he could learn how to manage clusters, he could do the extra work and keep his head above water. However, he felt he couldn't ask questions in the channel anymore because of the hostile environment that came about the first time he tried. He was being cagey earlier because he didn't want to admit that he was working a bad job and needed to make more money.
Wanting to learn a new skill to pick up a second job and make more money is not an Iranian problem; it's a problem that people have worldwide. It's a problem I have.
Furthermore, a number of students in my department are Iranian, and they're among the friendliest people I've met. They're not any crazier or less fun-loving or sociable than us Americans; in fact, I'd go so far as to say that, compared to the people I've met from other Middle Eastern nations, they're the most "like us" in terms of quickly acclimating to American culture.
I wish I could grasp the divide that has pitted our nations against each other. We're comprised of the same people with the same problems, and individually we don't hate each other. It seems immensely shameful that these sentiments can't translate up to our governments.