The sub-title claims 80% efficiency. Where did they get that from? 80% is close to the theoretical maximum, so I think the figure is misleading and can discredit Arstechnica and more importantly an otherwise admirable endeavor.
There are powerful tools out there that can do this type of computation and more in a breeze. I have personally worked on SaturnAPI [0], which is a RESTful API for Matlab/Octave. You can build your own APIs to do almost any calculation imaginable. If anyone needs to solve equations, definitely give it a shot. You can solve all sorts of equations, linear and non-linear [1].
I'm currently in Bangkok and wanted to add that if you keep on the low and spend your money here there are no problems. It sucks as soon as you try to speak up, buy property, make money from this place, or do anything where the rule of law is important. You will miss the rule of law, i.e. republic, of well-established nations.