Linux as an MPP/SuperComputing OS ?

Royal Dutch Shell plans to use an array of 1024 Linux servers to build a "supercomputer" (shouldn't it be "massively parallel computing" ?) to analyze seismic data and geophysical information in it's search for oil.

The US Presidential Elections

There are a few points about the whole exercise that I found weird.

1.  Each county in each state, and each state, can have its own method of counting and recording votes (different ballot designs, punched cards, OCR etc)

2.  County officials and state officials responsible for the elections are, themselves, elected officials, and each could be a member of a particular party

3.  The election results were being declared and "certified" without having completed a count of postal ballots

4.  Judges are also elected and each could be a member of a particular party -- even judges of the US Supreme Court are publicly known to be affiliated to specific parties !!

5.  There are no federal laws governing the manner in which elections are to be conducted -- elections are left to the states to decide.  There is no independent institution or commission vested with the authority to organise and oversee elections.

6.  In India, too, we do not have direct presidential elections.  Maybe we should reconsider it.  Our constitution was drafted as a "mix" of the British and US consitutions.  Remember when Vasant Sathe used to call for direct presidential elections ?

The final decision of the US Supreme Court was a victory for the Republican Party but not a victory for democracy.  To say that the calendar is more important than accurately verifying the intention of the voters is to insult democracy.

The US is no longer "the greatest democracy in the world".  There are a few plus points.  There was no violence, no "civil rights rebellion" (as threatened by Jesse Jackson) and the rule of law (albeit as delivered by fallible humans) prevailed.  Al Gore conceded defeat gracefully.  So, USA is still a democracy, worth respecting.  But, as I say it is not "the greatest democracy in the world".  It cannot lecture other countries on what is right and what is wrong in democracy.

USA has proven to have it's own version of democracy alive.  Every country has a variant of democracy.

The US is probably a nation divided.  Partisanship and schisms have been brought to the fore.  Whatever doubts everybody has (and I do) about George Bush's mandate, it is time to accept the facts as they are. George Bush is the new President of the most powerful nation on Earth.  And I hope that the citizens, congressman and senators of the US do not cause any further derailment.

BUT WAIT ...  There is still the Electoral College to consider.  Members of the Electoral College are not legally bound (although they are morally bound) to abide by the decision of the citizens.  They might cast votes differently and still bring in Al Gore.