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x386.net vs. Google
Google has recently started an interesting program to attract potential
employees. Not just any employees, smart potential employees. The first
part of this screening process is an odd set of billboards listing a math
problem. Google's name is nowheres to be found.
Obviously, Google is hoping the difficulty of the problem will weed out
the wannabees and hacks. Obviously, someone should play the part of the
wannabee hack. That would be a perfect job for x386.net.
Using the vast resources a backbone connected 386 brings to bear on such
tasks, I intend to brute force my way through Google's challanges instead
of using high brain fucntion. For those claiming I'm cheating, using a
supercomputer where a slide rule would suffice, I must point out that I
do have other tasks running on this box, and I'm not willing to hammer it
so hard as to interrupt mail or http service.
Look out Google, it's time your vast, multi site, multi node, giganto
cluster had some competition...
...and x386.net's ready to rumble!
~Kurlon
9/16/2004 9:00pm - I start tackling challange #1
~Kurlon
9/18/2004 2:00pm - After approximately 16 hours, my first script had churned
through 5 million digits of e with no results. Bummer. Mentioning this on
irc, I was told the answer is definatly within the first 5 million digits.
Ok, back to the drawing board.
Doing some quick tests I discovered perl was saying many of my numbers were
evenly divisable by values that simple math proved they were not. Uh oh, I
should have checked my work better. A bit more digging, and enabling
Math::BigInt solved my issue. Turns out larger 10 digit numbers are too
much for perl to handle accurately without help from a module.
Correcting my script got me the result in 4 minutes, and demonstrated at least
2 false urls. Interesting. : )
~Kurlon
9/18/2004 2:15pm - Started tackling the second challange.
~Kurlon
9/18/2004 4:00pm - Second challange finished, and no third, drat.
~Kurlon_