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Albert S. Woodhull
E-mail: asw@woodhull.com.

Current project

In Spring 2006 I am teaching Architecture and Assembly Language Programming (CMPSCI 201) for the UMass Computer Science Department.

Book: Operating Systems Design and Implementation

More than ten years ago, before I came to UMass, I co-authored a textbook, Operating Systems Design and Implementation, 2nd edition. For most of last year (2005) I was using all available time to work on the 3rd edition, which was published early in January 2006. These texts illustrate computer operating system principles with Minix, which looks like Unix to a user, although it is implemented very differently. The new book describes MINIX 3, which carries the microkernel concept to a new level, with all device drivers running in user space (if you don't understand that, well, maybe you don't need to, but it is an important technique for improving operating system reliability). For more information about MINIX 3 see the http://www.minix3.org website.

I have another home page hosted on minix1.woodhull.com. Minix 2 and more information about Minix can be obtained there. Minix is intended for use in teaching operating system principles in university-level courses, and another section of my website is devoted to Teaching with Minix. This is a work in progress with links to information that should be of interest to those who want to use Minix in a teaching laboratory and links to all of the Minix-related course websites I have found or have been told about. Feedback and additional information for this page would be very much appreciated.

Previously at UMass...

Until February 2005 I worked as a computer system administrator for the Department of Biology in the School of Natural Science and Mathematics at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. My job was support of computer facilities at all levels, including network facilities, servers, faculty and staff workstations, and computers in teaching laboratories.

Although the Department of Biology was my employer, other departments within the Morrill Science Center shared my services. The largest of these is the Department of Geosciences. I made many friends at UMass, and I continue to enjoy interacting with faculty and researchers in both departments.

Previously I worked for the group then known as PC Classroom Operations, a division of the UMass Office of Information Technologies (OIT), overseeing technical support of public computer classrooms and laboratories on the UMass campus. Although I don't work for OIT anymore I still have many friends in that organization.

Hampshire College

Before I came to UMass I taught for many years at Hampshire College, which is also in Amherst. For more information see my other web page on my Minix server.

Cuba

In 1999 Hampshire College was developing a relationship with the Universidad de Camaguey in Cuba. In June 1999 I visited Camaguey as part of this exchange.

Nicaragua

Between 1985 and 1997 I visited Nicaragua many times. I taught Computer Science classes in two different Nicaraguan universities in 1988, 1990, 1993, and 1997. Here in Amherst I've been a member of the committee that directs the Amherst, MA - La Paz Centro, Nicaragua Sister City project. I put together a Nicaragua Sister City webpage, but it is somewhat in need of an update.

The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence

I have several computers participating in SETI@home, a world-wide cooperative effort that puts thousands of idle computers to work analyzing radio telescope data for signs of intelligent life in the universe.

In 2005 the SETI@home project phased out use of the original standalone software, and is now using BOINC, the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, which supports multiple projects where individual computers can share in processing data, such as studies of climate change or biomedical data. I have converted my computers to use the new program. The statistics are computed differently for the new version of the SETI program. There are new web pages showing statistics for UMass people and my own statistics using the new version of the software. On the SETI site there is also a page with my user profile, including some thoughts and opinions about the SETI project. There is a connection between this and my longstanding interest in ham radio.

Softball

During the summer I play softball with a team called the Dragons. We are in the Amherst coed unumpired slow-pitch league.