Compiling fftw2 in IA64

Compile and Install FFTW2 on IA64 architecture was a painfulness experience. However, the problems happen when you're trying to link your MPI programs with the fftw lib.

I got the next error:

/home/jas/fftw2/lib/libfftw.a(rader.o)(.text+0x23e2): In function `fftw_create_rader??unw':
: undefined reference to `__libm_sincos'
/home/jas/fftw2/lib/libfftw.a(twiddle.o)(.text+0x9d2): In function `fftw_create_twiddle':
: undefined reference to `__libm_sincos'
/home/jas/fftw2/lib/libfftw.a(twiddle.o)(.text+0x11c2): In function `fftw_create_twiddle':
: undefined reference to `__libm_sincos'
/home/jas/fftw2/lib/libfftw.a(twiddle.o)(.text+0x1a22): In function `fftw_create_twiddle':
: undefined reference to `__libm_sincos'


You can solve it, adding the next strings to your compilation line:

• -L/opt/intel/cc/9.1/lib
• -limf

Now, it works ;-)

Regards.

PD: An useful program for reviewing the content of a static library is nm.

Google Code University

Daily, previous to start my work, I read the following web pages:

• www.eltiempo.com.co
• gmail.com
• facebook.com
• google.com/reader

Of course, I read them for being informed about different issues of my reality, I mean: my country, my friends, and news related with different topics such as: technology, literature, education, among others.
I have to confess, that I'm not digg RSS lover, but today I read it quickly and found this interesting link http://code.google.com/edu/.

It contains relevant information about hot topics in computers, such as: AJAX, Distributed Systems, Web Security, and Languages.

As a matter of fact, I will review the Distributed Systems area because it's interesting to know what they have to say about this topic.

Regards,

Compiling Octave on IA64

My research work involves signal processing analysis. A lot of work in signal processing is done with Matlab. However, there is not free license of Matlab for Linux. Hence, I use Octave. Octave is a Matlab clone for free and open source. Many of the non-advanced scripts developed for Matlab works under Octave. For example: scripts for handling images and sounds, work pretty well in Octave.

However, in order to run Octave on IA64 architecture a little modification must be done. The configure script does a good job for x86 architecture but not so good for IA64. During the compilation procedure I got this error:

unresolved reference to `?1__serial_memmove'

I solved the problem modifying the Makeconf file located in the root directory of the source code. Then, look for the line that contains the FLIBS variable and add the following strings:

• -L/opt/intel/cc/9.1.046/lib
• -lirc

My resulting line was:

FLIBS = -L/opt/intel/cc/9.1.046/lib -L/usr/lib/gcc/ia64-redhat-linux/3.4.5 -L/usr/lib/gcc/ia64-redhat-linux/3.4.5/../../.. -lz -lfrtbegin -lg2c -lirc -lm

The ?1__serial_memmove definition is given in the libirc.[so|a] library, and it's located at /opt/intel/cc/9.1.046/lib directory.

Some data:
uname -a: Linux volatile.ece.uprm.edu 2.6.9-42.0.3.EL #1 SMP Mon Oct 9 16:02:20 EEST 2006 ia64 ia64 ia64 GNU/Linux
icc --version: icc (ICC) 9.1 20070111

Resources:

• http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/isn/Community/en-US/forums/thread/321963.aspx

Compiz and Gnome on Compaq R3000 laptop

In my last trip to Raleigh (NC), I bought a laptop battery for my old Compaq Presario R3000. I'm very happy because now I can stand for many hours unplugged from the grid.
Also, I had upgraded my laptop memory to 1 Gbyte. Certainly, the applications run more smoothly.

Because, I'm Linux user, my operating system has a modest hardware requirements.

Many people say that software is the computer soul. Now, I agree totally. My hardware laptop has been empowered with Compiz. In order to work with Compiz, my NVIDIA(NV17 GeForce4 420 Go 32M) video card requires the NVIDIA-Linux-x86-96.43.05-pkg1.run package, that you can download from Unix area at NVIDIA site.

Today, Linux has a lot of applications that make of it a futuristic operating system. Compiz and Beryl along with the windows managers, Gnome and KDE, make the Linux user experience, one very enjoyable.

I feel like my laptop (3.5 years old) takes a new breath and I'm happy with it.

Delay start of applications in gnome.

Hi,

Today, I perceived my gnome applications have a long delay start. A wiki google reveal me the problem.
My hostname, in the /etc/hosts file, was not associated with 127.0.0.1 address. I add the following line:

127.0.0.1 pdclab-09.ece.uprm.edu pdclab-09

and the problem was resolved.

References:


https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-system-tools/+bug/12852 as a matter of fact my problem happened in a FC7 machine.

Extending your new battery life

I have an old Compaq Laptop (R3000) and it still works well, however, after three years of "hard" work (remember, I'm PhD student) its battery discharges quickly. My laptop fulfills my requirements at this time, so I decided to buy a new battery.
Despite of the new battery has one year of warranty I decided try to preserve its durability. Then, I google for pages providing tips how to extend the battery life. There are a lot of urban myths about it and many times they advises don't distinguish amongst the existing battery technologies.
Finally, I found this interesting link. That article was written by a senior systems engineer and consultant at Dell and a technical marketing manager at HP.
As conclusion, I can say:

1. Stop dispensable programs and services, avoid fancy features in your computer such as: high resolution screen, number of colors, among others; defragment your hard disk periodically for optimal disk access.
2. For a new battery, charge it at 100%, then discharge it totally, finally charge it at 100%. Since, Lion-ion batteries have a microprocessor, this routine help them to determine its charge capacity.

Anyway, use your battery with no care, take advantage of the warranty, then, one year later, you will decide, a new battery or a new laptop? ;-)

Latinamerican, Talk in english publicly

Finally, I have came back to home with a lot of positive experiences in my OSG All Hands Consortium participation.
There, I had opportunity to meet interesting people with different background of knowledge.
The organizers invited me to participate in a session panel on March 5th.
The panel was developed as follows: every panelist has ten minute for presentation and three minutes for questions. We were six panelists in total.
My presentation was the third. I talked about my experience in Grid School at Brownsville, Texas in 2006, the personal benefits of participate there, advantages and disadvantages, and finally, I talked about my current work in PRAGMA, advantages and disadvantages of work with PRAGMA.

As conclusion of my participation, I realized in order to be understood for your audience, it's necessary have a good and large vocabulary and don't be concern so much about your grammar level.
For example, Anglo speakers, when they start speaking Spanish, have difficulties conjugating verbs, however, we can understand them with a little effort when they say something like that: "Mi tener un negro carro".
So, I'm sure that it's important know about grammar, specially when you write, however don't be shy at time to speak in public, the Anglo be nice with you and they recognize your effort.

However, it's a good idea write a script of your presentation. This backup make you more confident.

OSG All Hands Consortium

Today, I will go to North Carolina to participate in the OSG All Hands Consortium Meeting. This event will be held on the Campus of the University of North Carolina.
The main goal of the event is to discuss and promote grid technologies amongst existing and new users.
On Wednesday March 3rd, in the afternoon, I will participate in a panel, where the panelists will discuss their experience with OSG.
I hope they aren't disappointed since I working with PRAGMA. However, I have expectations to work with documentation for disseminating Grid technologies in the research community in the future.

I'll write soon. Regards!

An useful graphical hardware tool

Hi,
I was reading some entries in my google reader account and I found an interesting tool for visualizing your hardware information through a graphical interface.
I found this tool in the Fedora RSS.
For Fedora users, submit the command yum install lswh-gui. Enjoy it!