The Bush administration is talking about banning export of American supercomputers. Bob Cringely is talking about building a supercomputer in your garage. The price fits too --- a bit over $40,000, about the same as an SUV, for the 200th most powerful machine on the planet. This miracle of science is really just a few dozen stock PCs wired together. The wiring-up part is no black magic either; all the software, including the "channel bonding" stuff that Cringely refers to, has been around for years and is readily available, as are tips and tricks from other folks who've done it. And even one of these stock PCs has all the power of the Cray-1s of yesteryear. Someone needs a rap with a clue stick.