Received the first response below from an executive at a large HPC vendor… (See previous “SC08 + Magic 8-Ball = Obsession” post below for background.)

Must be the String Theory since this is very much quantum mechanics.  And a solution to Heisenberg’s pesky uncertainty by creating a good “Decision Support System” that gives you certainty, really a true oracle, a decision grid, something that can handle multiple decisions and multiple votes for a single decision.

Truly a tool for the age of analytics.  Tough cooling technology, though.

Very good points above…particularly the Heisenberg reference, although perhaps Schrödinger’s might fit as well (the real answer to that problem is that the cat is half dead, ie. 50% probability that it is alive + 50% probability that it is dead = half alive). I really think I’m onto something, but there are still significant concerns. I need to get a handle on exactly how many magic 8-balls I need. I’m thinking at least 128 to begin with – although that may in the end turn out to be just a development system. I’ll rely on the power of the 8-ball to design and implement its successor. Also, I need to find good shaking mechanism. A beta test of a Home Depot paint shaker proved to be less than optimal and quite messy. I need something that can apply a consistent shake to all balls at the same time or in sequence. It would be great to find an off the shelf solution, but I guess I could also modify a lawn mower engine or something if necessary…. 

And then another party chimed in…this time from the HPC division of another large vendor…

My Pal (the smart one) suggests the following options …

A Black Box Rotisserie => allowing heat, work, and mass flow across the Magic 8 Ball system boundary. So, if you configure your magic eight-ball set-up in a Rotisserie-based configuration in which there are flows of both heat and shaft work and P(dV/dt) (pressure-volume work), across the system boundaries, the heat flow, but not the work flow, causes a change in the entropy of the Magic 8 Ball system and therefore will give you the correct answers as part of your DSS set-up.

It is important to note that during steady-state continuous operation, the entropy balance accounts for system entropy changes related to heat flow and mass flow across the Magic 8 Ball system boundary. This would be an absolute measurement – versus the disorder or randomness of previous proposed system architectures – and will assist in the spontaneous dispersal of energy — at a specific temperature across your entire system.

Beats bustin yer balls at the Home Depot …

So we’re cranking up the complexity a notch or two with the above enhancements…sounding better and better….and then I hear from another old friend…a guy who is best described as Jethro Bodine with a EE degree, who wrote…

As a side benefit, we could roast Schrödinger’s cat when we get bored and need to feed those who might eat cat.

I hear thems good eatin’s!  (Particularly with enough sauce.)