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Tiny Titan

tinytitan.github.io

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Re: Tiny Titan

#61

Post by Const-me »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #50
zeveb wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I meant running multiple VMs in VirtualBox to simulate a distributed system as an alternative to buying multiple Raspberry Pis, not running Linux in VirtualBox. The really cool thing, though, about multiple Raspberry Pis is that the systems really are running in parallel, rather than faking it with multitasking. That's definitely worth something in an educational context.

Ah, I see what you mean. That makes more sense. Still, I think there's value in having this cool looking machine to fiddle with over the computer they're used to messing with all the time. I think it likely to engage more.

This.

Technically, a single PC with multi-process program is often enough. I've used this approach when I worked on some cloud game server, worked good, I just needed to make sure service discovery was OK finding multiple server instances on same IP but different ports.

Re: Tiny Titan

#62

Post by benbenolson »

mcguire wrote: post #60
ndesaulniers wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't appreciate the sheer scale of hardware? The blinking LEDs alone are a spectacle.

At one point I noticed a dearth of blinking lights in our (CS dept) machine room and suggested we get some plywood, spray paint, and a bunch of LEDs so that anyone peering through the door wouldn't see a big room full of what looked like shelving and cable octopi.

You clearly haven't been to ORNL. Definitely go on a tour sometime, it's well worth it.

Re: Tiny Titan

#63

Post by mcguire »

benbenolson wrote: post #62
mcguire wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At one point I noticed a dearth of blinking lights in our (CS dept) machine room and suggested we get some plywood, spray paint, and a bunch of LEDs so that anyone peering through the door wouldn't see a big room full of what looked like shelving and cable octopi.

You clearly haven't been to ORNL. Definitely go on a tour sometime, it's well worth it.

I should, they do fascinating work.

Re: Tiny Titan

#64

Post by andrewguenther »

amelius wrote: post #39
vinceguidry wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is right there at the top of the article: that it's for the classroom.

Yes, so what will the target-audience learn over the virtual experience? Other than that they can't run this at home because of the cost?

Imagine trying to explain to a kid that this one computer is actually a bunch of computers and why that is cool vs. having a bunch of flashing lights visually showing the work being done in a way that they have never experienced before. Which do you think would be more engaging?

> Other than that they can't run this at home because of the cost?

Do you really think that, as an example, a middle school student is going to be able to go home and install virtual box on their home computer? If they even have one?

Re: Tiny Titan

#65

Post by cwal37 »

benbenolson wrote: post #62
mcguire wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At one point I noticed a dearth of blinking lights in our (CS dept) machine room and suggested we get some plywood, spray paint, and a bunch of LEDs so that anyone peering through the door wouldn't see a big room full of what looked like shelving and cable octopi.

You clearly haven't been to ORNL. Definitely go on a tour sometime, it's well worth it.

Also fun, 1-2 times a year the Spallation Neutron Source[1] is shut down and the tunnels are open for tours. Was happy to have had the opportunity to check that out when I was working there, although I think my favorite high-science tour is still the National Ignition Facility[2]. Going inside of that places was awesome. Thinking back now, LLNL had a number of great tours actually, HEAF[3] was pretty cool as well.

As far as I know none of those are open to the general public though; you have to work there. Someone I was dating at the time went on the public's tour of NIF, which really only involved them standing in the lobby. Ironically, she was a nuclear physicist and I do environmental and energy economics-y things, so I was completely unqualified to know anything about what I was seeing and she didn't even get a physicist as her tour guide.

[1] https://neutrons.ornl.gov/sns

[2] https://lasers.llnl.gov/about/what-is-nif

[3] https://wci.llnl.gov/facilities/heaf

Re: Tiny Titan

#67

Post by Damogran6 »

I'm just dipping my foot in the pool and building a cluster with a Pi 3B as the leader and 3+ Pi Zero W's. (Three now, expecting to pad it as a lesson.)

Am I shooting myself in the foot by using the Wifi ethernet to handle inter-device communication?

Re: Tiny Titan

#68

Post by dang »

gebeeson wrote: post #38

Wow. That is a great post - I have a voracious 12 yo grandson who is now all about computing, math and 'being a developer/engineer'. He asked last night if I had any cool projects that we could do. Yes. Yes I do. Thanks for this post!

A grandfather like you and projects like that would have been a dream come true for me at 12. I bet many people here would say the same.

If he hasn't seen it yet, the "Nand to Tetris" course/book would be a perfect thing to work through together.

Re: Tiny Titan

#70

Post by dvtv75 »

andrewguenther wrote: post #64
amelius wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, so what will the target-audience learn over the virtual experience? Other than that they can't run this at home because of the cost?

Imagine trying to explain to a kid that this one computer is actually a bunch of computers and why that is cool vs. having a bunch of flashing lights visually showing the work being done in a way that they have never experienced before. Which do you think would be more engaging? > Other than that they can't run this at home because of the cost? Do you really think that, as an example, a middle school student is going…

"Imagine trying to explain to a kid that this one computer is actually a bunch of computers and why that is cool vs. having a bunch of flashing lights visually showing the work being done in a way that they have never experienced before."

As a kid, I would do something in a virtual environment (although at that time, that meant "programming the ZX Spectrum") and the others would say "does not!" or "prove it" and then any evidence they couldn't touch was not real, it was just something I made the computer do.

On completion of my CS degree, some former friends of mine would read something at an appropriately undergrad level that they thought was interesting and tell me about it. When asked "Can you not do that?" the response would typically be "No. And neither can you."

There's something quite satisfying about building something that you can throw at the head of another person.

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