Conference 7.286::digital

    That's great news.  Now if only DEC could get a channel allocated 
    on NASA's communication link.   He could take up a uVAX and we 
    could have our first node in space!   He could even host a VAXnotes
    conference.  Imagine everyone in DEC having an opportunity to post 
    a topic in space...

    Seriously it could demonstrate the possibilities of a more normal 
    work place in space.  Wouldn't it be good to have at least e-mail 
    capability of those who will be working on board the space station?

    Of course the first mail he would get is one of those damn chain 
    letters.

    /Bob
    

    >>Imagine everyone in DEC having an opportunity to post
    >>    a topic in space...
      
    ... and the moderators will write lock the first topic ...
    
    ;-)
    
    Scooter

    Does anybody know what Franco does for Digital?

    I don't know what Franco does, but I know many people who are Space cadets.
    
    :-)

        re .4
        
        Indeed, once Franco has soared into outer space, perhaps Marketing
        will be a good place for him.
        
        q
        

    Depending on whether his orbit is hyperbolic or not....

    Franco works as a consultant for the telecom industry in the european
    ACT in Valbonne/France. Until recently I had the pleasure to work with
    him in the same group.
    
    theo.

    .7 (Theo) is right about Franco's present job. He's been around
    for quite a while. I had the pleasure to kow him back in 77/78
    when he was "Application engineer" for CSS/NSG Annecy and operating
    in Italy.
    Real nice fellow.
    I hardly believed the dates in the basenote, assuming this was from
    the past, but as it seems real, I am really delighted to see him
    getting close to the "dream of his life".
    
    I happened to meet Franco in a corridor this week, had no time 
    to talk, just exchanged smiles and didn't realize that his smile
    might have been brighter than usual!
    
       Fred

    forwardings deleted
                                        Date:     28-Aug-1989 10:48am EDT
                                        From:     Shel Sherman @LAO
                                                  SHERMAN.SHEL AT GOLETAA1 AT DOHENY AT TUS
                                        Dept:     LAGD SALES
                                        Tel No:   213/417-4249

Subject: "HAVE YOU HEARD?"

WHILE MOST OF US HAVE ENJOYED THE BRILLIANT AND "AWE-STRIKING" IMAGES 
FORWARDED TO US FROM VOYAGER FROM BILLIONS OF MILES AWAY, FEW OF US 
KNOW THAT THE ENTIRE IMAGE ENHANCEMENT PROCESS TAKES PLACE ON A 4 NODE 
VAX CLUSTER AT THE JET PROPULSION LABORATORY.

THIS MONTH, AND ESPECIALLY THIS PAST WEEK, THE FIELD SERVICE DISTRICT, 
REPORTING TO AGGIE RUCKER, HAS BEEN ON FULL ALERT WITH 7 X 24 COVERAGE 
AT THE LAB.  OUR EFFORTS TO PREPARE FOR, PREVENT AND REACT TO ANY 
POSSIBLE CONTINGENCY IS ONE OF THE STORIES NOT IN THE PRESS THIS WEEK 
ABOUT DIGITAL.

AS DIGITAL EMPLOYEES WORKING IN THE GOVERNMENT/AEROSPACE SECTOR, WE 
CAN ALL BE PROUD OF THE OUTSTANDING JOB BEING DONE BY OUR FIELD 
SERVICE TEAMMATES TO ASSURE THAT THE COUNTRY'S SPACE PROGRAM AND 
NASA'S PRESTIGE CONTINUES TO FLOURISH.  ONE HAS TO ONLY IMAGINE A 
DIFFERENT SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES TO TRULY APPRECIATE THIS WEEK'S NEWS.  
WE CAN ALSO BE PROUD THAT OUR DESIGN ENGINEERS AND OUR HARDWARE 
ARCHITECTURE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY ARE.  WE OFTEN TAKE THIS SORT OF 
THING FOR GRANTED.  FIELD SERVICE'S OUTSTANDING EFFORT CAN ONLY LEAD 
TO A BETTER RELATIONSHIP WITH JPL AND WITH NASA IN GENERAL.

A SPECIAL THANKS IS OWED TO THE 24-HOUR-A-DAY EFFORT BY FIELD SERVICE, 
TO THE COMPETENT FIELD SERVICE ENGINEERS INSURING A FLAWLESS 
OPERATION, AND TO THE FIELD SERVICE DISTRICT MANAGER, AGGIE RUCKER, 
WHO TOOK ON THE RISK AND RSPONSIBILITY.

THANK YOU ALL!

Distribution Deleted

    I have also seen a rebuttal that refutes the claim that "all" the
    image processing was done on a VAX.  Instead, most of it was said
    to have been done on a Hypercube.  This is much more believable.
    
    				Steve

    re .10

    The Hypercube and other parallel processors have higher performance
    than VAX processors, but there's quite a bit of image processing
    software available for VAX/VMS systems because much of the academic
    work in image processing in the late 70s and early-to-mid 80s was done
    on VAX processors.  Most of the work of Haralick, et al. at Virginia
    Tech was made commercially available as part of a software package
    called GIPSY.  If the VAX-based software was never ported to other
    platforms, it's conceivable to me that JPL might still be using VAX
    systems for image processing.

I posted the rebuttal in the space conference. The geology team were definitely
using a HyperCube for the Triton images, and were clearly impressed with the
speed with which they could push the image data through.

Maybe a nit, but that memo claimed 'all'. As an aside, I have now seen more
copies of that thing than any of the chain letters and 'Little Buddy' letters
that caused uproar in the past. This memo is definitely a candidate for the 1989
'biggest waste of network bandwidth' award.

gary

I've been trying to find an appropriate place to post the following message
since it appeared on INFO-VAX two weeks ago.

							-- Jerry

From:	IN%"mailrus!sharkey!atanasoff!atanasoff.cs.iastate.edu!hascall@tut.cis.ohio-state.EDU" 25-AUG-1989 10:29:25.55
To:	[email protected]
CC:	
Subj:	Anyone else see the Neptunian VAXen?

    I was watching the NASA/JPL feed last night (wow!).  During one
    "Voyager Update" they had a little counter showing the seconds
    to closest approach:

	  00:00:05
	  00:00:04
	  00:00:03
	  00:00:02
	  00:00:01
	  17-NOV-1858

    Oh well!  :-)

John Hascall
ISU Comp Center
"Have your people call my people and we'll do lunch by the pool."  ;-)

    It got around....

re: .13

Thats priceless!  (-:

- George