So, without going into great detail, let's just say that I was running an algorithm to compute some stuff which is related to my research. It has been running for about a month now and is only about half way done. The machine it is running on is exceptionally big and fast and whatnot, but this makes little difference. I first wrote the algorithm some time in 2007 or thereabouts. At that time, I ran it on much less data and it took about a week using three powerful machines. A week was not great, but I could deal with that. It was alot of data.
Today, I decided to take a whack at making it faster, since two months of compute time for something that might need to run every so often is clearly pretty lame. The first thing I did was rewrite the code in C. It was written in Matlab before. C is fast. Matlab is slow. Oh, so very slow. C is a bit harder to "use", but not much really. This rewrite and subsequent debugging took the better part of the day. Maybe 6 hours of work, give or take.
Then, I set to work on parallelizing it. That took, maybe another 2-4 hours. Since really, it parallelized up quite nicely into two major parallelizable tasks which must themselves be executed serially. I setup the parallel version to divide work (mostly) evenly among 100 processors on a 16 node cluster we have at the lab here, and then waited.
So, how long did the new version take? It took 2 minutes and 40 seconds to run. Holy hell! I mean, you have to take into account the 10-12 hours I spent today in working on optimizing and parallelizing it, but damn - why have I been waiting a month for these results? This is pretty amazing to me. At this very moment I have a paper sitting on top of my to-read stack which was published in 1989. When that paper was published, doing the amount of computation I just did in three minutes would have been completely infeasible. Yeah, I know, Moore's law and all that. It's not a new observation. Still, it blows me away how rapidly the area I work in can change, especially with regard to capacity. Also, while I know that people have been harping on the importance of parallelism as a computational paradigm for years now, it really hits home when I can decrease the runtime of a complex algorithm by 28,000 times in just a day's work. Crazy.
Holy Parallelism, Batman!
2009.06.04 06:26:57
Listening to: The Avett Brothers
From the geekery Department
Summer
2009.05.14 14:39:14
Listening to: The Beattles
From the Life and Climbing Department
Well, Summer is in Boulder. I can tell because I took the knitted ear warmers off my helmet, the creek is looking tempting for tubing, and I don't expect to wear anything on my feet except sandals for the next 4 months.
Classes wrapped up nicely - I got the grades I needed and had fun with my chaotic route setting project in my nonlinear dynamics class. With that stuff behind, the summer begins, and that means climbing and research, mostly, for the next month and change. In mid-June, I'm headed to Korea for a conference with a stop over in Tokyo to visit Jake. After that, it's back to Boulder, and the long drive up to Portland with James. Once in Portland, I'll be off to Smith in the newly acquired GusBus for some serious(?) climbing with misters Ryan and Gustav. Then Salmon bake, backpacking, and apparantly, a trip to Spain for another conference. Looks to be a packed and adventurous summer.
Since I last posted, I've done a little bit of climbing. I sent a project in lower Boulder Canyon which feels pretty good. I took a trip to the Estes Park Valley area with Becky, Travis, and Kara. There I worked, but did not succeed in climbing, a beautiful line called Tabula Rasa. I had to clean off my draws in the snow when the weather changed. Pics from that trip are here and here, and there may be more later once Kara returns from somewheres in rural Colorado. Yesterday, I made it out to Avalon crag in Boulder Canyon with Becky and onsited a lovely climb called Mists of Avalon. Avalon has a whole boatload of really lovely looking 10s and 11s. I'll have to spend some more time there.
This weekend a paper gets submitted, and then the plan is to do a couple days of climbing. That's probably the plan for next weekend too. Life is good.
Classes wrapped up nicely - I got the grades I needed and had fun with my chaotic route setting project in my nonlinear dynamics class. With that stuff behind, the summer begins, and that means climbing and research, mostly, for the next month and change. In mid-June, I'm headed to Korea for a conference with a stop over in Tokyo to visit Jake. After that, it's back to Boulder, and the long drive up to Portland with James. Once in Portland, I'll be off to Smith in the newly acquired GusBus for some serious(?) climbing with misters Ryan and Gustav. Then Salmon bake, backpacking, and apparantly, a trip to Spain for another conference. Looks to be a packed and adventurous summer.
Since I last posted, I've done a little bit of climbing. I sent a project in lower Boulder Canyon which feels pretty good. I took a trip to the Estes Park Valley area with Becky, Travis, and Kara. There I worked, but did not succeed in climbing, a beautiful line called Tabula Rasa. I had to clean off my draws in the snow when the weather changed. Pics from that trip are here and here, and there may be more later once Kara returns from somewheres in rural Colorado. Yesterday, I made it out to Avalon crag in Boulder Canyon with Becky and onsited a lovely climb called Mists of Avalon. Avalon has a whole boatload of really lovely looking 10s and 11s. I'll have to spend some more time there.
This weekend a paper gets submitted, and then the plan is to do a couple days of climbing. That's probably the plan for next weekend too. Life is good.
Late Winter Mountaineering
2009.04.13 20:58:48
Listening to: The Coup
From the Climbing Department
This year, I got a late start to winter mountaineering. However, in the last week, Eric and I made two attempts, one of which was successful. This late, it's hard to say if it's really winter mountaineering or early spring mountaineering. But, in any case, many of the difficulties and dangers of climbing in the winter are still present, but with slightly more reasonably temps and maybe a little less avalanche risk, depending on the conditions - a nice compromise, really.
Last monday, we tried for the summit of an un-named 13,800' peak between Frisco and Leadville which is colloquially called "Atlantic Peak" due to its proximity to Pacific Peak. Knowing that the days are reasonably long, we started fairly late - leaving Boulder at 7am. Due to the length of the drive and a couple stops, it was probably around 10am before we hit the trail. We made quick work of the approach, and started up towards the ridgeline which required climbing through a stand of trees on deep snow. We got to the ridge around 1pm, ditching our snowshoes, and started working our way up it to the summit. The climbing was good - steep, on snow-covered talus, with a few decent patches of steep snow to kick steps in. Around 2pm we found ourselves at 13,100', just 700' vertically shy of the summit, but with the ridge blocked by a 50 foot section of snow. On each side of the snow, was a good bit of exposure - at least 1500' to fall down. Given the consistency of the snow (not good), we decided that we weren't comfortable crossing without at least a rope and a boot-axe or hip belay. We made lunch there on the ridge, and then started the long descent. It was the right decision, but it sure is hard to turn around when the summit is right there. The weather was pretty fantastic - not a cloud in the sky. Even at 13,100 feet, at probably around 10F temps, it felt like t-shirt weather due to the amazing amount of solar radiation. Needless to say, we got quite sunburnt in spite of sunscreen. The pictures from the trip are here. In my opinion, this one is the best of the lot.
With our first climb of the season under our belts, but no summits, we were eager to try again. This time, we set our sights on Mt. Bethel, a 12,800' peak near Loveland Pass. Bethel is a stunning pyramid-shaped mountain which looms above as you approach the I-70 tunnel at Loveland pass. It's not really a big destination for climbers, but I have wondered about climbing it for some time. We did some research and decided to go for it. It's probably 6 miles round trip and 2400' of gain. We followed an obvious line just left of the SW ridge, W of the obvious avalanche chute. The climb was very nice - a snowshoe up an access road, then about 1000' of gain bushwhacking through the trees. Above treeline, we went right of two big rows of snow fences (presumably to keep snow out of the avalanche chute which is aimed right at I-70). There were a few risky patches avalanche-wise, but we used caution and kept climbing. The climb was very steep - more than 40 degrees for many sections and there were a few wonderful areas of nice alpine snow - great for crampons, axes, and kicking steps. We made the summit at about 2pm, celebrated a little and then climbed back down. The weather this time was less idyllic, but at the same time, pretty expected for a winter climb. The sun showed itself for all of 15 minutes. The rest of the time, it was breezy, cold, and cloudy. The pictures are here.
It occured to me, on the seemingly-infinite hike out that this was my 9th climb in colorado. Of those 9 climbs, 4 were in the winter, and 3 were successes. That puts my success rate at 33.3% percent overall and 25.0% percent in winter. Of those 9 climbs, all but two were what I would consider challenging (the easy climbs being a Fall attempts on Mt. Toll and Mt. Bierstadt, although, we did make the Bierstadt climb a little more challenging by carrying up a keg of Scottish Ale). Will probably have to round that total out to 10 by doing another climb in the next month. Not sure what yet.
Last monday, we tried for the summit of an un-named 13,800' peak between Frisco and Leadville which is colloquially called "Atlantic Peak" due to its proximity to Pacific Peak. Knowing that the days are reasonably long, we started fairly late - leaving Boulder at 7am. Due to the length of the drive and a couple stops, it was probably around 10am before we hit the trail. We made quick work of the approach, and started up towards the ridgeline which required climbing through a stand of trees on deep snow. We got to the ridge around 1pm, ditching our snowshoes, and started working our way up it to the summit. The climbing was good - steep, on snow-covered talus, with a few decent patches of steep snow to kick steps in. Around 2pm we found ourselves at 13,100', just 700' vertically shy of the summit, but with the ridge blocked by a 50 foot section of snow. On each side of the snow, was a good bit of exposure - at least 1500' to fall down. Given the consistency of the snow (not good), we decided that we weren't comfortable crossing without at least a rope and a boot-axe or hip belay. We made lunch there on the ridge, and then started the long descent. It was the right decision, but it sure is hard to turn around when the summit is right there. The weather was pretty fantastic - not a cloud in the sky. Even at 13,100 feet, at probably around 10F temps, it felt like t-shirt weather due to the amazing amount of solar radiation. Needless to say, we got quite sunburnt in spite of sunscreen. The pictures from the trip are here. In my opinion, this one is the best of the lot.
With our first climb of the season under our belts, but no summits, we were eager to try again. This time, we set our sights on Mt. Bethel, a 12,800' peak near Loveland Pass. Bethel is a stunning pyramid-shaped mountain which looms above as you approach the I-70 tunnel at Loveland pass. It's not really a big destination for climbers, but I have wondered about climbing it for some time. We did some research and decided to go for it. It's probably 6 miles round trip and 2400' of gain. We followed an obvious line just left of the SW ridge, W of the obvious avalanche chute. The climb was very nice - a snowshoe up an access road, then about 1000' of gain bushwhacking through the trees. Above treeline, we went right of two big rows of snow fences (presumably to keep snow out of the avalanche chute which is aimed right at I-70). There were a few risky patches avalanche-wise, but we used caution and kept climbing. The climb was very steep - more than 40 degrees for many sections and there were a few wonderful areas of nice alpine snow - great for crampons, axes, and kicking steps. We made the summit at about 2pm, celebrated a little and then climbed back down. The weather this time was less idyllic, but at the same time, pretty expected for a winter climb. The sun showed itself for all of 15 minutes. The rest of the time, it was breezy, cold, and cloudy. The pictures are here.
It occured to me, on the seemingly-infinite hike out that this was my 9th climb in colorado. Of those 9 climbs, 4 were in the winter, and 3 were successes. That puts my success rate at 33.3% percent overall and 25.0% percent in winter. Of those 9 climbs, all but two were what I would consider challenging (the easy climbs being a Fall attempts on Mt. Toll and Mt. Bierstadt, although, we did make the Bierstadt climb a little more challenging by carrying up a keg of Scottish Ale). Will probably have to round that total out to 10 by doing another climb in the next month. Not sure what yet.
Cold, Wet, and Beautiful
2009.04.01 20:57:01
Listening to: Flaming Lips
From the Backpacking Department
I recently returned from a spring break adventure kayaking in the San Juan islands in Washington. Jimi and Gus had been planning a trip up there, and I basically invited myself along.
We were out for 7 days. Our trip took us all over Lummi Island and out to Clark for 3 days. We had planned to go to Sucia and make a couple other day trips, but got held back due to weather. Sea kayaking is something I didn't have much experience with before, but now I feel pretty competent.
The weather was typical for March in the NW. We got some beautiful days (sunny, calm waters, no wind) and some terrible days (greater than 8 foot swells, windy, cloudy, rainy). In addition to the trip, I got a day and change in Portland to see friends and family (and drink beer and coffee and eat burritos) which was great.
The pictures from the trip are here. My favorites are here. There are some 120 format ones that I took with my Diana that are being processed right now and I'll have up in a couple weeks (pushing C41 120 is a PITA it turns out).
In other news, I've been developing my own B&W film with pretty good results. It's super fun and saves me a good amount of money. If I could process 120 film and C41 in general too, I'd be able to save even more money.
Otherwise, things are going pretty typically. Research, schoolwork, athletics. My intramural basketball team has started playing again and we're getting solidly stomped. It's a mostly new team and our offense sucks, but we have a lot of fun and everyone plays hard. I'm going to try to ramp up my climbing now that I'm done with Jiu-jitsu for a month or so (waiting for warm-weather-park-rollin' with James). I got third place in an alley cat race in Boulder (he hasn't posted the SMS/alleycat results yet).
For schoolwork, the semester is wrapping up. I'm working on a really cool project in my Chaotic Dynamics class which involves using chaotic trajectories to help set climbing problems in rock gyms. More on that later. Today I hear back on a couple submitted research papers too, so I'm looking forward to that.
That's all for now.
We were out for 7 days. Our trip took us all over Lummi Island and out to Clark for 3 days. We had planned to go to Sucia and make a couple other day trips, but got held back due to weather. Sea kayaking is something I didn't have much experience with before, but now I feel pretty competent.
The weather was typical for March in the NW. We got some beautiful days (sunny, calm waters, no wind) and some terrible days (greater than 8 foot swells, windy, cloudy, rainy). In addition to the trip, I got a day and change in Portland to see friends and family (and drink beer and coffee and eat burritos) which was great.
The pictures from the trip are here. My favorites are here. There are some 120 format ones that I took with my Diana that are being processed right now and I'll have up in a couple weeks (pushing C41 120 is a PITA it turns out).
In other news, I've been developing my own B&W film with pretty good results. It's super fun and saves me a good amount of money. If I could process 120 film and C41 in general too, I'd be able to save even more money.
Otherwise, things are going pretty typically. Research, schoolwork, athletics. My intramural basketball team has started playing again and we're getting solidly stomped. It's a mostly new team and our offense sucks, but we have a lot of fun and everyone plays hard. I'm going to try to ramp up my climbing now that I'm done with Jiu-jitsu for a month or so (waiting for warm-weather-park-rollin' with James). I got third place in an alley cat race in Boulder (he hasn't posted the SMS/alleycat results yet).
For schoolwork, the semester is wrapping up. I'm working on a really cool project in my Chaotic Dynamics class which involves using chaotic trajectories to help set climbing problems in rock gyms. More on that later. Today I hear back on a couple submitted research papers too, so I'm looking forward to that.
That's all for now.
Things and Stuff
2009.03.12 03:07:10
Listening to: Dispatch
From the Life Department
I am currently slightly euphoric because it's the first day I've felt anywhere near 100%-well in about 5. For this, I can thank some terrible Influenza-A-like virus. Also, I got a fair bit of work done today, so it seems like a good opportunity to slack off and update the ol' website.
Probably lots of stuff has happened since I last wrote.
I now live alone again, for the second time in my life. After living with me for 10 months, James moved to somewhere else in Boulder. Our apartment was very small and we probably deserve Nobel prizes for not killing each other during that 10 months. Or, really even arguing. Now he lives with other people, who seem nice.
I've been practicing Brazilian Jujitsu for a couple months about once a week, and am really digging it. I can't afford to train at the fancy place in town, but hope to keep doing some adhoc training through spring by fighting people (James) in public parks throughout Boulder. It is a fantastic workout, is very fun, and is good conditioning for climbing.
I got a new-old lens for my camera. Well, I guess it's about as old as I am. It's a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 and I think it's the perfect lens for what I like to shoot. I also started developing my own film and am really digging that. Between developing and scanning myself, shooting film almost seems cheap. I still need a better/older camera body though to fix my focusing woes.
I've been to some shows. Some with music. Others with screens. They were all good. Some were great.
I haven't done any winter mountaineering, ice climbing, or snowboarding (yet). For this, I'll blame Eric, although it's probably my fault (and my latent injuries). There will be more winters in Boulder to do these things.
In 9 days, I fly to Portland and then drive to Seattle for a week-long kayaking trip in the San Juan Islands with Sirs Gustav and Jimi. Really looking forward to that. Also am hoping I end up with at least a soggy day in p-town to say hi to friends and family.
Otherwise, I'm just working on research, schoolwork, a little side consulting, spending time with friends, and trying to be in climbing shape. The weather is creeping towards Spring in Boulder and regular outdoor climbing is damn near here. I want to crush my projects and make new ones this spring so that I have stuff to work on over the summer (which it's looking more and more like I'll spend in Boulder).
Probably lots of stuff has happened since I last wrote.
I now live alone again, for the second time in my life. After living with me for 10 months, James moved to somewhere else in Boulder. Our apartment was very small and we probably deserve Nobel prizes for not killing each other during that 10 months. Or, really even arguing. Now he lives with other people, who seem nice.
I've been practicing Brazilian Jujitsu for a couple months about once a week, and am really digging it. I can't afford to train at the fancy place in town, but hope to keep doing some adhoc training through spring by fighting people (James) in public parks throughout Boulder. It is a fantastic workout, is very fun, and is good conditioning for climbing.
I got a new-old lens for my camera. Well, I guess it's about as old as I am. It's a Nikkor 50mm f1.4 and I think it's the perfect lens for what I like to shoot. I also started developing my own film and am really digging that. Between developing and scanning myself, shooting film almost seems cheap. I still need a better/older camera body though to fix my focusing woes.
I've been to some shows. Some with music. Others with screens. They were all good. Some were great.
I haven't done any winter mountaineering, ice climbing, or snowboarding (yet). For this, I'll blame Eric, although it's probably my fault (and my latent injuries). There will be more winters in Boulder to do these things.
In 9 days, I fly to Portland and then drive to Seattle for a week-long kayaking trip in the San Juan Islands with Sirs Gustav and Jimi. Really looking forward to that. Also am hoping I end up with at least a soggy day in p-town to say hi to friends and family.
Otherwise, I'm just working on research, schoolwork, a little side consulting, spending time with friends, and trying to be in climbing shape. The weather is creeping towards Spring in Boulder and regular outdoor climbing is damn near here. I want to crush my projects and make new ones this spring so that I have stuff to work on over the summer (which it's looking more and more like I'll spend in Boulder).
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