Universal Rule

Book Reviews

Monday, June 28, 2004

Simulate global climate change at home -- Comment()
Test the plausibility of The Day After Tomorrow: "Computer users are being invited to download and run a climate model of what may happen this century. The test will see how predictions may change if the behaviour of the Gulf Stream is affected, as the film shows. The project is the work of climateprediction.net, a consortium of UK universities and the Met Office."

Buy both an iPod and a Nomad -- Comment()
I looked up iPod at Amazon.com, and noticed that Amazon recommends that you buy both an iPod and a Nomad 4 GB player: "Creative Labs Nomad MuVo2 4 GB MP3 Player .... Buy this item with Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Silver M9160LL/A today!" Probably people buy the other because of the price, and the other because of the usability.

Greetings from Moominworld! -- Comment()
One of the places our family visited last week was Moominworld, which was a positive surprise. The place was not yet crowded (it will be in July), and there were lots of things to see and try out for our children.

The archipelago in the south-west of Finland is definetely something to see. There are also lots of sights in the old city of Naantali. Perhaps visiting Moominworld will be a new family tradition.

Updated Top 500 supercomputer list -- Comment()
Top500 Supercomputer List Updated: "There has been quite a bit of shuffling around in the latest edition of the Top 500 supercomputers in the world. The full list has been published along with a press release covering the changes to the top 10." [Matt Croydon::postneo]

Finland has now dropped to position 186 with the IBM p690 system. Just a year ago this system was in position 38. Fast changes indeed.

-- Comment()
A massive Xserve G5 cluster: 'The US Army has ordered a massive Xserve G5 cluster with 1566 nodes. Named "Mach 5," the system is expected to place as high as second in the world.' [Ars Technica]

Being proud of your children -- Comment()
I took a week off from work, spending a lot of time with the family. Having small children teaches a lot. The children learn so fast it is unbelievable, and sometimes they also shatter the expectations. You think the child is of a certain type, and then you notice the courage, or the caring of others which you did not expect. I was humbled.