Alan Sill
@alansill.bsky.social
Physics/cloud/data centers/HPC. This one's for personal viewpoints and technical stuff I find cool. I'm open to questions and try to reply to serious or interesting ones. Also at https://mast.hpc.social/@AlanSill and https://hpc.social Slack and Discord.
Deadline for submissions for the 11th #HPC, #BigData, and #DataScience devroom at #FOSDEM26 (Brussels, Sat-Sun 31 Jan + 1 Feb 2026) is Mon 1 Dec 2025. Please see details below. Looking forward to another dynamic, exciting, packed session!
By annual tradition, the HPC, Big Data, and Data Science devroom will be part of FOSDEM again next year (Sat-Sun 31 Jan + 1 Feb 2026 in Brussels). \o/
Please help us spread the word, and/or submit a talk proposal by 1 Dec 2025.
All details available via hpc-bigdata-fosdem26.github.io 🍻
Please help us spread the word, and/or submit a talk proposal by 1 Dec 2025.
All details available via hpc-bigdata-fosdem26.github.io 🍻
FOSDEM'26 HPC, Big Data, and Data Science Devroom
FOSDEM'26 HPC, Big Data, and Data Science Devroom
hpc-bigdata-fosdem26.github.io
November 12, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Deadline for submissions for the 11th #HPC, #BigData, and #DataScience devroom at #FOSDEM26 (Brussels, Sat-Sun 31 Jan + 1 Feb 2026) is Mon 1 Dec 2025. Please see details below. Looking forward to another dynamic, exciting, packed session!
Reposted by Alan Sill
P.S.: If you'd like to support our open-source projects including our jobs board, Slack/Discord/Mastodon, community map, weekly online chat, podcasts, community syndicated blog, discussion area, surveys, please click on one of the links below: github.com/sponsors/hpc... or github.com/sponsors/hpc...
Sponsor @hpc-social on GitHub Sponsors
The hpc-social resources provide an open platform for community engagement, including a variety of open source work on code and resources hosted on the hpc.social domain and associated community ca...
github.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:32 PM
P.S.: If you'd like to support our open-source projects including our jobs board, Slack/Discord/Mastodon, community map, weekly online chat, podcasts, community syndicated blog, discussion area, surveys, please click on one of the links below: github.com/sponsors/hpc... or github.com/sponsors/hpc...
Reposted by Alan Sill
Dear all #HPC and #AI/#Quantum/#RCD and #Supercomputing folks and friends: It's just 3 years since we launched the survey.hpc.social/results/hpc-... that led to the creation of the multi-faceted set of resources of the hpc.social website and tools. This is just to say THANK YOU and see you at #SC25!
Welcome to HPC.social!
A welcome to our high performance computing community!
hpc.social
November 11, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Dear all #HPC and #AI/#Quantum/#RCD and #Supercomputing folks and friends: It's just 3 years since we launched the survey.hpc.social/results/hpc-... that led to the creation of the multi-faceted set of resources of the hpc.social website and tools. This is just to say THANK YOU and see you at #SC25!
Reposted by Alan Sill
"Fossil demand has been flat for industrial energy since 2014, for buildings since 2018, for road transport since 2019, & may peak for electricity this year. 2/3 of countries have already seen peak fossil demand in end-use sectors, & half the world has seen a peak in fossil fuels for electricity."
The Electrotech Revolution | Ember
The annual slidedeck from Kingsmill Bond and the Ember Futures team unpacks how electrotech is rewriting the economics and geopolitics of energy.
ember-energy.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:02 AM
"Fossil demand has been flat for industrial energy since 2014, for buildings since 2018, for road transport since 2019, & may peak for electricity this year. 2/3 of countries have already seen peak fossil demand in end-use sectors, & half the world has seen a peak in fossil fuels for electricity."
Reposted by Alan Sill
I think there is a wave building on ground-source.
www.thestar.com/news/gta/ins...
www.thestar.com/news/gta/ins...
Inside the deal that’s making geothermal heat go mainstream in Toronto
Over the past decade, geothermal has gone from being installed in less than one per cent of new homes in Toronto to nearly 30 per cent this year, according to the Ontario Geothermal Association.
www.thestar.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:40 AM
I think there is a wave building on ground-source.
www.thestar.com/news/gta/ins...
www.thestar.com/news/gta/ins...
Reposted by Alan Sill
The HPC Carpentry project is a community-driven lesson program to provide lessons to introduce students and researchers to high-performance computing. To express interest the project as instructors, lesson adopters, maintainers, or more, please fill out the survey at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
HPC Carpentry Community Survey
The HPC Carpentry project is a community-driven lesson program to provide lessons to introduce new students and researchers to high-performance computing (HPC). HPC Carpentry is reaching out to gather...
docs.google.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:47 PM
The HPC Carpentry project is a community-driven lesson program to provide lessons to introduce students and researchers to high-performance computing. To express interest the project as instructors, lesson adopters, maintainers, or more, please fill out the survey at docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Reposted by Alan Sill
above quote is from
NASA Staff Horrified at Plan to Throw Out Incredibly Specialized Science Equipment Like Garbage
NASA staffers are raising concerns over a dozen buildings on its Goddard Space Flight Center's campus in Maryland being emptied.
futurism.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:45 PM
above quote is from
Reposted by Alan Sill
Have you heard about this?
"As the govt shutdown drags on, buildings at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (HQ for the Webb telescope among other missions) are being emptied without notice. Highly specialized equipment is at risk of being thrown away like trash."
h/t @climatebrad.hillheat.com
"As the govt shutdown drags on, buildings at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (HQ for the Webb telescope among other missions) are being emptied without notice. Highly specialized equipment is at risk of being thrown away like trash."
h/t @climatebrad.hillheat.com
NASA may be quietly gutting an iconic campus with what it calls strategic closures, workers fear | CNN
Buildings at Goddard’s Maryland campus are being emptied and padlocked, sources say. NASA leadership has pushed back against the concerns.
www.cnn.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Have you heard about this?
"As the govt shutdown drags on, buildings at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (HQ for the Webb telescope among other missions) are being emptied without notice. Highly specialized equipment is at risk of being thrown away like trash."
h/t @climatebrad.hillheat.com
"As the govt shutdown drags on, buildings at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (HQ for the Webb telescope among other missions) are being emptied without notice. Highly specialized equipment is at risk of being thrown away like trash."
h/t @climatebrad.hillheat.com
Reposted by Alan Sill
In this 2025 study, more than half of LLM responses cited fake sources or links.
www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
AI Search Has A Citation Problem
We Compared Eight AI Search Engines. They’re All Bad at Citing News.
www.cjr.org
November 9, 2025 at 9:51 AM
In this 2025 study, more than half of LLM responses cited fake sources or links.
www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
www.cjr.org/tow_center/w...
Reposted by Alan Sill
=>
Daikin Applied, Acquisitions
Chilldyne, Nov 4, 2025 chilldyne.com/daikin-appli...
Jan 2025 www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AEE...
StorageReview, Aug 2, 2024 www.storagereview.com/review/high-...
ARPA-E COOLERCHIPS, Oct 2023 x.com/ogawa_tter/s...
DDC Solutions, Aug 18 ddcsolutions.com/daikin-appli...
Daikin Applied, Acquisitions
Chilldyne, Nov 4, 2025 chilldyne.com/daikin-appli...
Jan 2025 www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AEE...
StorageReview, Aug 2, 2024 www.storagereview.com/review/high-...
ARPA-E COOLERCHIPS, Oct 2023 x.com/ogawa_tter/s...
DDC Solutions, Aug 18 ddcsolutions.com/daikin-appli...
November 9, 2025 at 7:27 AM
=>
Daikin Applied, Acquisitions
Chilldyne, Nov 4, 2025 chilldyne.com/daikin-appli...
Jan 2025 www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AEE...
StorageReview, Aug 2, 2024 www.storagereview.com/review/high-...
ARPA-E COOLERCHIPS, Oct 2023 x.com/ogawa_tter/s...
DDC Solutions, Aug 18 ddcsolutions.com/daikin-appli...
Daikin Applied, Acquisitions
Chilldyne, Nov 4, 2025 chilldyne.com/daikin-appli...
Jan 2025 www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AEE...
StorageReview, Aug 2, 2024 www.storagereview.com/review/high-...
ARPA-E COOLERCHIPS, Oct 2023 x.com/ogawa_tter/s...
DDC Solutions, Aug 18 ddcsolutions.com/daikin-appli...
Reposted by Alan Sill
Vince Gilligan on AI:
“AI is the world’s most expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine. I think there’s a very high possibility that this is all a bunch of horseshit. It’s basically a bunch of centibillionaires whose greatest life goal is to become the world’s first trillionaires.”
“AI is the world’s most expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine. I think there’s a very high possibility that this is all a bunch of horseshit. It’s basically a bunch of centibillionaires whose greatest life goal is to become the world’s first trillionaires.”
Vince Gilligan and Rhea Seehorn on What ‘Pluribus’ Is Really About, Why Hollywood ‘Needs More Heroes’ and How Silicon Valley Has ‘F—ed Up the World’
Vince Gilligan and Rhea Seehorn unpack the first two episodes of 'Pluribus' and slam AI: 'Silicon Valley' has 'f---ed up the world.'
variety.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Vince Gilligan on AI:
“AI is the world’s most expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine. I think there’s a very high possibility that this is all a bunch of horseshit. It’s basically a bunch of centibillionaires whose greatest life goal is to become the world’s first trillionaires.”
“AI is the world’s most expensive and energy-intensive plagiarism machine. I think there’s a very high possibility that this is all a bunch of horseshit. It’s basically a bunch of centibillionaires whose greatest life goal is to become the world’s first trillionaires.”
Reposted by Alan Sill
While cleaning a storage room, our staff found this tape containing #unix v4 from Bell Labs, circa 1973
Apparently no other complete copies are known to exist: https://gunkies.org/wiki/UNIX_Fourth_Edition
We have arranged to deliver it to the Computer History Museum
#retrocomputing
Apparently no other complete copies are known to exist: https://gunkies.org/wiki/UNIX_Fourth_Edition
We have arranged to deliver it to the Computer History Museum
#retrocomputing
November 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
While cleaning a storage room, our staff found this tape containing #unix v4 from Bell Labs, circa 1973
Apparently no other complete copies are known to exist: https://gunkies.org/wiki/UNIX_Fourth_Edition
We have arranged to deliver it to the Computer History Museum
#retrocomputing
Apparently no other complete copies are known to exist: https://gunkies.org/wiki/UNIX_Fourth_Edition
We have arranged to deliver it to the Computer History Museum
#retrocomputing
Reposted by Alan Sill
US-RSE is heading to #SC25! 🎉
📍 Booth #3911 | Nov 16–21 | St. Louis, MO
Stop by, meet fellow RSEs! Join our #RSE-HPC Workshop (Nov 16) and Topgolf Focus Group + Social Hour (Nov 18)! More at us-rse.org/rse-hpc-2025/
🎯Email contact@us-rse.org to sign up for the workshops!
📍 Booth #3911 | Nov 16–21 | St. Louis, MO
Stop by, meet fellow RSEs! Join our #RSE-HPC Workshop (Nov 16) and Topgolf Focus Group + Social Hour (Nov 18)! More at us-rse.org/rse-hpc-2025/
🎯Email contact@us-rse.org to sign up for the workshops!
Research Software Engineers in HPC (RSE-HPC-2025)
Research Software Engineers in HPC (RSE-HPC-2025)
us-rse.org
November 7, 2025 at 5:22 AM
US-RSE is heading to #SC25! 🎉
📍 Booth #3911 | Nov 16–21 | St. Louis, MO
Stop by, meet fellow RSEs! Join our #RSE-HPC Workshop (Nov 16) and Topgolf Focus Group + Social Hour (Nov 18)! More at us-rse.org/rse-hpc-2025/
🎯Email contact@us-rse.org to sign up for the workshops!
📍 Booth #3911 | Nov 16–21 | St. Louis, MO
Stop by, meet fellow RSEs! Join our #RSE-HPC Workshop (Nov 16) and Topgolf Focus Group + Social Hour (Nov 18)! More at us-rse.org/rse-hpc-2025/
🎯Email contact@us-rse.org to sign up for the workshops!
Reposted by Alan Sill
Unprecedented corruption - not just monetizing the presidency by selling branded products, but selling those products directly to government employees and having the Department of Homeland Security promote them to the media
November 7, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Unprecedented corruption - not just monetizing the presidency by selling branded products, but selling those products directly to government employees and having the Department of Homeland Security promote them to the media
Reposted by Alan Sill
Attending #SC25 and interested in Research Software Engineering #RSEng and #AI? Come to our panel Thursday, 20 Nov 2025, 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm, rooms 240-241-242
Research Software Engineering in the Age of AI
sc25.conference-program.com/presentation...
Research Software Engineering in the Age of AI
sc25.conference-program.com/presentation...
November 4, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Attending #SC25 and interested in Research Software Engineering #RSEng and #AI? Come to our panel Thursday, 20 Nov 2025, 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm, rooms 240-241-242
Research Software Engineering in the Age of AI
sc25.conference-program.com/presentation...
Research Software Engineering in the Age of AI
sc25.conference-program.com/presentation...
Reposted by Alan Sill
🚀 Slurm-web v5.2.0 is here! 🎉
Discover the new advanced core allocation visualization, direct URLs for fullscreen cluster views, and failed job filtering—plus, we’ve adopted the MIT License for more flexibility!
🔗 rackslab.io/en/blog/slur...
#HPC #AI #Slurm #OpenSource #WebUI
Discover the new advanced core allocation visualization, direct URLs for fullscreen cluster views, and failed job filtering—plus, we’ve adopted the MIT License for more flexibility!
🔗 rackslab.io/en/blog/slur...
#HPC #AI #Slurm #OpenSource #WebUI
Release of Slurm-web v5.2.0
Enhanced core allocation visualization, direct cluster graph routes, failed job filtering, and MIT license adoption.
rackslab.io
November 3, 2025 at 3:32 PM
🚀 Slurm-web v5.2.0 is here! 🎉
Discover the new advanced core allocation visualization, direct URLs for fullscreen cluster views, and failed job filtering—plus, we’ve adopted the MIT License for more flexibility!
🔗 rackslab.io/en/blog/slur...
#HPC #AI #Slurm #OpenSource #WebUI
Discover the new advanced core allocation visualization, direct URLs for fullscreen cluster views, and failed job filtering—plus, we’ve adopted the MIT License for more flexibility!
🔗 rackslab.io/en/blog/slur...
#HPC #AI #Slurm #OpenSource #WebUI
Reposted by Alan Sill
I thoroughly believe in celebrating the small victories, so here is a tiny one.
The percentage of humanity's energy system that is derived from fossil fuels, ticked down again in 2024 and is now technically at the lowest level since the 1960s, though fossil fuels still dominate.
The percentage of humanity's energy system that is derived from fossil fuels, ticked down again in 2024 and is now technically at the lowest level since the 1960s, though fossil fuels still dominate.
November 4, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I thoroughly believe in celebrating the small victories, so here is a tiny one.
The percentage of humanity's energy system that is derived from fossil fuels, ticked down again in 2024 and is now technically at the lowest level since the 1960s, though fossil fuels still dominate.
The percentage of humanity's energy system that is derived from fossil fuels, ticked down again in 2024 and is now technically at the lowest level since the 1960s, though fossil fuels still dominate.
Reposted by Alan Sill
The US has abdicated any role in fighting the most urgent threat to human welfare in history, so other countries need to step up and figure out how to do it without us.
How to fight climate change without the US: a guide to global action
With the US government absent from the COP30 global climate summit, it will be up to others to avert catastrophe.
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:09 PM
The US has abdicated any role in fighting the most urgent threat to human welfare in history, so other countries need to step up and figure out how to do it without us.
Reposted by Alan Sill
Good morning with good news: Global solar deployment keeps smashing records!
About 3X more solar was built in H1 2025 than in all of 2021 and nearly 2X more than in all of 2022!
2025 global new solar (more than 700 GW) will smash the record set in 2024!
www.semafor.com/article/10/3... #energysky
About 3X more solar was built in H1 2025 than in all of 2021 and nearly 2X more than in all of 2022!
2025 global new solar (more than 700 GW) will smash the record set in 2024!
www.semafor.com/article/10/3... #energysky
November 4, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Good morning with good news: Global solar deployment keeps smashing records!
About 3X more solar was built in H1 2025 than in all of 2021 and nearly 2X more than in all of 2022!
2025 global new solar (more than 700 GW) will smash the record set in 2024!
www.semafor.com/article/10/3... #energysky
About 3X more solar was built in H1 2025 than in all of 2021 and nearly 2X more than in all of 2022!
2025 global new solar (more than 700 GW) will smash the record set in 2024!
www.semafor.com/article/10/3... #energysky
Reposted by Alan Sill
a century of glaciers melting 🧪🌐
November 3, 2025 at 5:21 PM
a century of glaciers melting 🧪🌐
Reposted by Alan Sill
Forrest Smith, the only National Park Service engineer cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells, lost his contract, leaving 93 orphaned wells on park lands unmanaged. These leaking wells release methane and toxins, threatening human health and the environment.
He Alone Tracked Leaky Oil Wells in National Parks. He Was Let Go.
www.nytimes.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Forrest Smith, the only National Park Service engineer cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells, lost his contract, leaving 93 orphaned wells on park lands unmanaged. These leaking wells release methane and toxins, threatening human health and the environment.
Reposted by Alan Sill
"Electricity is the ultimate perishable good"
No longer. Batteries will change the solar harvest, in the same way silos and refrigeration changed the food harvest... but over years, not decades 🔋🍏
"Silos for Sunshine": a great new thoughtpiece💡
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
No longer. Batteries will change the solar harvest, in the same way silos and refrigeration changed the food harvest... but over years, not decades 🔋🍏
"Silos for Sunshine": a great new thoughtpiece💡
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
October 31, 2025 at 9:06 AM
"Electricity is the ultimate perishable good"
No longer. Batteries will change the solar harvest, in the same way silos and refrigeration changed the food harvest... but over years, not decades 🔋🍏
"Silos for Sunshine": a great new thoughtpiece💡
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
No longer. Batteries will change the solar harvest, in the same way silos and refrigeration changed the food harvest... but over years, not decades 🔋🍏
"Silos for Sunshine": a great new thoughtpiece💡
ember-energy.org/latest-insig...
Reposted by Alan Sill
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess...”
Per Danny Kemp via press pool
Trump is at the Halloween party at MAL
“Official theme is Gatsby and ‘a little party never killed nobody’, we’re told.”
Trump is at the Halloween party at MAL
“Official theme is Gatsby and ‘a little party never killed nobody’, we’re told.”
November 1, 2025 at 3:09 AM
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess...”
Reposted by Alan Sill
Project Gutenberg CEO Greg Newby helped put a trove of literature online
by John Last
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
You are deeply missed @gbnewby. Thanks for keeping us together!
#ebooks #publicdomain
by John Last
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
You are deeply missed @gbnewby. Thanks for keeping us together!
#ebooks #publicdomain
Project Gutenberg CEO Greg Newby helped put a trove of literature online
A professor and a fixture of the hacker community, he was also ‘undoubtedly the most consequential volunteer’ to the project, a massive library of free, public domain texts on the internet
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 1, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Project Gutenberg CEO Greg Newby helped put a trove of literature online
by John Last
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
You are deeply missed @gbnewby. Thanks for keeping us together!
#ebooks #publicdomain
by John Last
www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...
You are deeply missed @gbnewby. Thanks for keeping us together!
#ebooks #publicdomain
Reposted by Alan Sill
So many own goals.
Once again: higher ed is one of our most successful exports. We export more higher ed to China than soybeans. And yet Trump and the mini-Trumps are deliberately destroying the quality of our product
Once again: higher ed is one of our most successful exports. We export more higher ed to China than soybeans. And yet Trump and the mini-Trumps are deliberately destroying the quality of our product
October 30, 2025 at 11:53 AM
So many own goals.
Once again: higher ed is one of our most successful exports. We export more higher ed to China than soybeans. And yet Trump and the mini-Trumps are deliberately destroying the quality of our product
Once again: higher ed is one of our most successful exports. We export more higher ed to China than soybeans. And yet Trump and the mini-Trumps are deliberately destroying the quality of our product