Liam ProvenAug 5, 2023

Get a sense of scale for computer storage...

Byte of data: a grain of rice
Kilobyte: a cup of rice
Megabyte: 8 bags of rice
Gigabyte: 3 container lorries
Terabyte: 2 container ships
Petabyte: covers Manhattan
Exabyte: covers the UK (3 times)
Zettabyte: fills the Pacific Ocean

Original source of the comparison, for the record: https://www.slideshare.net/dwellman/what-is-big-data-24401517

What is big data?

What is big data? - Download as a PDF or view online for free

Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEAug 5, 2023
@lproven Reminds me of bandwidth calculations we did in the 1980s. We reckoned that at that time the highest bandwidth channel available (with then current technology) between the US and Europe, albeit with a little latency, would be the QEII loaded full of compact disks.
Show threadGary ParkerAug 5, 2023

@TimWardCam @lproven “never underestimate the bandwidth of a van full of DAT tapes” as we used to say when calculating requirements for off-site backups 😀

As you say, latency is the killer

Show threadLiam ProvenAug 6, 2023
@witewulf @TimWardCam I believe the original quotation is from Dr Andy Tanenbaum, the creator of Minix and the originator of the famous "Linux is obsolete" Usenet thread.
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEAug 6, 2023
@lproven @witewulf Trying and failing to remember how I came across Andy Tanenbaum ...
Show threadLiam Proven
@TimWardCam @witewulf Very smart American computer scientist who taught in the Netherlands most of his career. Wrote probably the most widely-deployed FOSS microkenrnel OS in the world, Minix. A forerunner of it was what inspired Linux and Linux was first implemented upon.
Aug 7, 2023 at 10:10amWeb
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEAug 7, 2023
@lproven @witewulf Yeahbut it wasn't in connection with Minix that I came across him, and I can't remember what it was.
Show threadLiam ProvenAug 7, 2023

@TimWardCam @witewulf You need to give some kind of context!

I am aware of 3 claims to fame.

1. Minix.
2. The quotation:

"Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway."

– Computer Networks, 3rd ed., p. 83. (paraphrasing Dr. Warren Jackson, Director, University of Toronto Computing Services (UTCS) circa 1985)

3. His US election tracking website, https://electoral-vote.com/

Electoral-vote.com

Track the 2026 Senate election with a red/blue map of the US updated daily using the latest state polls.

Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEAug 7, 2023
@lproven @witewulf The only context is that I remember some chatter in the office about "Andy Christmas Tree" some time in the 1980s.
Show threadGary ParkerAug 7, 2023
@lproven @TimWardCam back when Linux was still a terminal emulator on steroids. Linus’s book, Just For Fun is worth a read for those early days.