Who is going to Terra Soft's FREE Cell Hack-a-thon?

[Fei's Nik]

Hack-a-thon Introduction

Exactly what it sounds like, more fun than a server room of geeks! Terra Soft is hosting the first-ever hack-a-thon for the optimization of applications for the Cell Broadband Engine. The desired outcome? Your chosen application(s) optimized for the Cell processor to showcase the potential and value of this architecture. Terra Soft will use the success of the hack-a-thon to obtain additional resources for the build-out of research infrastructure, made available for free to consortium members.

Hosted in the new Sony HPC cluster room at Terra Soft's Loveland, Colorado headquarters, this promises to be an exceptional, memorable event. All work and no play? NO WAY! Terra Soft is supplying a rotation of PS3 games, fooseball, warm beverages, home-cooked lunch each day, a closing dinner Friday evening ... and yes, a hot tub for those who desire to relax after a long day and evening of coding.

Skiing is as close at 2 hours, rock climbing indoors or out, and Rocky Mountain National Park just 29 miles from the Terra Soft front door.

What is provided? What do I need to bring?

Terra Soft will provide direct access to Sony, Mercury, and IBM Cell systems. We will do our best to provide a PS3 for each participant who desires to work on a Sony product, and no more than 3-4 persons per Cell blade (as this higher performance system can handle a heavier load). Participants should bring their own laptop with both wireless card and ethernet jack.

The daytime high can fluxuate between 30F and 50F. Nighttime lows are often in the teens. Bring warm socks and comfortable shoes for the hack-a-thon as the concrete floor of our HPC facility is a bit chilly. Bring a sweater or two and a warm cap and gloves if you are to be outdoors. Weekend adventurerers should be prepared for whatever activity is desired.