Book Chapter, Pandemic Reviews, Pathways
Jul. 7th, 2021 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tcpipBecause I was not in a good place for quite some time, I found myself ignoring the looming deadline for the book chapter "Monitoring HPC Systems Against Compromised SSH" for CRC Press. Well, with a Herculean effort over the past several days I powered through what needed to be done and made the word count. The most fun day was Monday where I wrote a thousand words and subtracted eleven hundred, but all writers and programmers know what that is like. As Ken Thompson once quipped; "One of my most productive days was throwing away 1,000 lines of code." Currently, my co-authors are checking over it and have submitted a couple of patch files. The editor is happy, so it looks like another publication relating to supercomputing is in the pipeline. In somewhat related news I also attended a meeting of Linux Users of Victoria last night on containerisation, probably the first one I have been to since I stepped down from being on the committee for fifteen years or so. The meeting struck me as being more conversational than the presentation-and-QandA format that I am familiar with, but such is the nature of different people running a show.
As a profession, the dual role of supercomputer engineer and educator does, of course, accord pretty reasonable compensation for what is often some challenging tasks (I've just spent two days building a recent version of TensorFlow and its dependencies from source). But of course, my main motive is to provide the computational support for the various empirical scientists who are trying to make the world a better place. I have mentioned in the past how incredible it is that we have vaccines at all for SARS-CoV-2, and I know quite well there are several research teams on Spartan who are working in that area. Nevertheless, public health is not just medicine, but also policy. This is why yesterday I found myself penning some words for the Isocracy Network on public health policy as the pandemic reaches four million confirmed deaths. I acknowledge I am especially concerned with what appears to be the beginnings of a disaster (because I can do cumulative math) on Thailand and Indonesia, and probably Malaysia as well, with the Delta variant of the virus, a lack of vaccines, and poor social regulation.
Wilful awareness of such issues, and even solutions, is a great challenge to my sensitivities which can induce feelings of depression and helplessness. "This is the bitterest pain among men, to have much knowledge but no power" (Herodotus, Book 9, Ch. 16). It is appropriate then that I've spent much of this evening composing my thoughts about the terribly boring topic of electoral systems, with a view of contributing a few design ideas about how to encourage better public representation. Because if we find ourselves to be ruled by incompetent and corrupt fools there are two causes; the first is that there are incompetent and corrupt fools (fixing that is more the domain of psychology) and secondly because our political system has provided opportunities for such people to acquire power. Providing a considered alternative system and a path to achieving it is a worthwhile endeavour in its own right, "another world is possible", as has been said. In the meantime, within my own profession and outside, I do what I possibly can. Knowing that I am using my knowledge and skills for compassionate purposes brings solace. I hope it is a feeling that remains.
As a profession, the dual role of supercomputer engineer and educator does, of course, accord pretty reasonable compensation for what is often some challenging tasks (I've just spent two days building a recent version of TensorFlow and its dependencies from source). But of course, my main motive is to provide the computational support for the various empirical scientists who are trying to make the world a better place. I have mentioned in the past how incredible it is that we have vaccines at all for SARS-CoV-2, and I know quite well there are several research teams on Spartan who are working in that area. Nevertheless, public health is not just medicine, but also policy. This is why yesterday I found myself penning some words for the Isocracy Network on public health policy as the pandemic reaches four million confirmed deaths. I acknowledge I am especially concerned with what appears to be the beginnings of a disaster (because I can do cumulative math) on Thailand and Indonesia, and probably Malaysia as well, with the Delta variant of the virus, a lack of vaccines, and poor social regulation.
Wilful awareness of such issues, and even solutions, is a great challenge to my sensitivities which can induce feelings of depression and helplessness. "This is the bitterest pain among men, to have much knowledge but no power" (Herodotus, Book 9, Ch. 16). It is appropriate then that I've spent much of this evening composing my thoughts about the terribly boring topic of electoral systems, with a view of contributing a few design ideas about how to encourage better public representation. Because if we find ourselves to be ruled by incompetent and corrupt fools there are two causes; the first is that there are incompetent and corrupt fools (fixing that is more the domain of psychology) and secondly because our political system has provided opportunities for such people to acquire power. Providing a considered alternative system and a path to achieving it is a worthwhile endeavour in its own right, "another world is possible", as has been said. In the meantime, within my own profession and outside, I do what I possibly can. Knowing that I am using my knowledge and skills for compassionate purposes brings solace. I hope it is a feeling that remains.
