Tuesday, March 15, 2005

MOD 88 hardware can now be exported!

EXPORT ISSUES

I have finally received the results of the Commodity Classification request for the MOD 88. It's listed as “4A994(B),” which is described as: "Digital computers" having a "composite theoretical performance" ("CTP") equal to or greater than 6 million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS).” Under this classification, we can export it to most destinations, with the exception of a few countries (there are also specific institutions, individuals, and end uses which are prohibited regardless of this classification).


DEMO BOARD WALKTHROUGH

Of all the visitors to the MOD 88 webpage (http://cellmatrix.go.dyndns.org), very few have actually logged in. We're not sure why this is, but we're designing a pre-loaded walkthrough of the system. We're hoping this will give people a better overview of what the MOD 88 is, and may encourage people to login and try experimenting with it on their own. We hope to have this walkthrough up in the next week or two.



Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Update

Export Issues

Having attended a one-day workshop on export matters, I now believe the MOD 88 may be classified so as to not require an export license. This would speed up and simplify shipping the MOD 88 out of the US. The classification request is still listed as “Pending” by the Bureau of Industry and Security.


DC Visit

In addition to attending the export workshop, there was a lot of brainstorming during my recent trip to DC. Murali Raju and I discussed various topics related to the Cell Matrix, especially programming considerations. Brian Eubanks (who has a blog at http://brian.mxdj.com/) and I met for brunch, and discussed a number of topics, including Rhombic Dodecahedra (
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/RhombicDodecahedron.html), the Laws of Form (http://www.lawsofform.org/), and the I Ching (and how each of these might relate to the Cell Matrix). Look for more details down the road...


MOD 88 Webpage Overhaul

We are working on an improved version of the MOD 88 Webpage interface. This new version should be more stable, easier to understand, and will support self-contained walkthroughs. We hope to finish this in the next week or two.