Forced labor, or sweatshopping, as a grad student. I was given the keys to a new Indigo2, some really big datasets, and some vague ideas about a thesis project.
In the end I emerged with some OK scientific contributions. But more significantly, I had acquired some absolutely wicked text and graphics-processing skills, a hardened addiction to Unix, and a transformed view of computing systems.
It's a damn shame that SGI has become what it is today. Because for a while there, it was really lightning.
I'm still a big fan -- but of a dying legacy. And well, that kinda sucks.
In the end I emerged with some OK scientific contributions. But more significantly, I had acquired some absolutely wicked text and graphics-processing skills, a hardened addiction to Unix, and a transformed view of computing systems.
It's a damn shame that SGI has become what it is today. Because for a while there, it was really lightning.
I'm still a big fan -- but of a dying legacy. And well, that kinda sucks.
There are three things that came out of Berkeley: BSD, LSD, and STDs. I don't believe this to be a coincidence. --me (circa 90s)