Stony Brook University (profile here) has had their work cut out for them at the 2012 ISC Student Cluster Competition. From the very beginning, they had software problems with their cluster, requiring them to concentrate on troubleshooting and repairing while their competitors were running code. Despite this, they managed to complete the competition and turn in credible scores on the benchmarks and applications.

In each of these competitions, it seems like there’s always one team that’s snakebit – just fated to have problems all the way through. But like other unlucky teams before them, Stony Brook carried on and made it through. They could have given up and made their way to Hamburg’s notorious Reeperbahn red-light district (where I set up my office). However, they resisted the temptation, stuck with the competition, and finished in fine form.

In the video, I visit (read: annoy) an obviously under-the-gun Stony Brook team. Mercifully, I keep my visit short and they’re done with me pretty quickly.