Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Linux, Open Source, Unix, Troubleshooting
Test system stability using Pi calculations
by Simon Kerbel Jan 22nd 2008
There are many unique ways to test your system stability (like faking an earthquake by shaking your desk wildly), but this one takes the cake. The System Stability Tester, a freeware download for Linux, Unix, and Windows, claims to test the stability of your system by calculating millions of digits of Pi in different threads, and comparing the threads for any disparities. You can also run the test on a single thread for benchmarking purposes.
Originally developed as a system stressing and benchmarking tool for overclockers, the System Stability Tester has since gone open source (licensed under the GNU public license) and more mainstream (e.g., by giving Windows users an easy executable install file).
So after your system calculates up to 128 million digits of Pi, what comes next? Memorization, of course. In "White and Nerdy," Weird Al claimed to know Pi to a thousand places. In the real world, if you can believe it, that number is paltry.
Fun fact for the day: the world record for number of memorized Pi numbers is held by Chao Lu of China. Want to know how many numbers he memorized? Click the jump...
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
