def _node(default=''):
 try:
  import socket
 except ImportError:
  return default
 try:
  return socket.gethostname()
 except socket.error:
  return default

def _node ( default = '' ) : try : import socket except ImportError : return default try : return socket . gethostname ( ) except socket . error : return default
helper to determine the node name of this machine .