Book Reviews
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Saturday, April 5, 2003
![[Item Permalink]](http://radio.weblogs.com/0112083/images/ur_bullet.gif){kind=small} Virtual blood with an virtual needle -- Comment()
On Friday I was demoed the CAVE enviroment at Manchester Computing. This supercomputer site has an impressive array of systems, and the CAVE was also quite impressive, although it is not wholly immersive. There were also smaller systems available for using, for example a system with force feedback and stereo view of the model. It was a nice demo to try to get blood from a virtual hand using a virtual needle. When you pushed the needle through the skin, it actually felt like the skin had been punctured. Nice! And nobody got sick at the sight of blood.
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SARS linked to birds -- Comment()
New Scientist: "Bi Shengli told the South China Morning Post that collaboration with health officials in Guangdong had revealed that the earliest SARS patients had been in close and continued contact with chickens, ducks, pigeons and owls." [t e c h n o c u l t u r e]
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-- Comment()
Dumbo may be a jumbo, but he's no go-slow: "Elephants are known for their plodding pace but they are more quick-footed than they appear and may even break into a run, researchers said on Wednesday." [Google Technology News]
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The state of the grid, or return from Manchester -- Comment()
On Friday is was in Manchester at the Computer Science department of the University. The campus area is nice and has some open spaces, but the department itself was a bit crowded. The spring was well advanced, with daffodils in flower everywhere, and leaves in many bushes and small trees. The temperature in daytime was 13-15°C. What a contrast to Finland: it was snowing when I left, and it was snowing when I returned. I learned a lot about the state of the art in grid technologies at the meeting. Also, I found about some practical details about the European Union activities in this area. It is now much clearer what EU wants to promote in the 6th framework programs. This is an interesting area to be involved in, and I started to believe that much of the hype in grids in fact is not hype at all. There really is something revolutionary going on. I have to think some more about grids and the meeting in Manchester. The hospitality was fine, and the company excellent.
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