Draney, left, and Shank

Berkeley Lab Crew Sets
Sail This Morning

Laboratory Director Charles Shank will lead a crew of four, including the Lab's Brent Draney from NERSC as navigator, in the 13th Biennial West Marine Pacific Cup race from San Francisco to Oahu, Hawaii, that begins today. Shank will skipper his sailboat, "First Light," when they launch at 11:45 a.m. in the first group of 53 boats that will set sail between now and July 2. The crossing is expected to take about 12 days. Go here for more information on the race.

Solicitations From
Non-UC Vendors

A number of UC campuses and Lab employees have reported the receipt of e-mail or telephone solicitations for the purchase of retirement annuities and related 403(b) plans from vendors with whom UC has no association. E-mail subject lines such as "Retirement Bonus for UC Faculty" and "Understanding Your UC Retirement Plan" have been used in these solicitations. Employees should be cautious about these solicitations. To confirm which solicitors are affiliated with the University, contact the Lab's Benefits Office (x6403).

Class on Blanket Orders
And Procurement

Employees are invited to attend a workshop covering P.O. Process 21000 (Blanket Orders) and 25000 (Regular Procurement Services). Presenters will discuss methods and tools for managing P.O.'s, and for tracking their ledger costs and vendor payments. The event takes place this Thursday, from 9 to 11 a.m. in Perseverance Hall. Go here to register (ASD 9045). Send any specific questions for the workshop to Sue Bowen in advance.

Animals 19, Camshafts 0 (forfeit)
Hit & Run 5, Silver & Black 4
Ballpark Estimates 10, Rated X 2
SUDZ 18, Isotopes 4
Fully Loaded, Bye

The Dawn of the
Apple Supercomputer
By Blane Warrene

Simon

Illuminata senior analyst Gordon Haff thinks Apple's recently announced deal with COLSA gives Apple the credibility to make further inroads in "sci-tech" at lower levels as well. "They are seeing wins in biotech with smaller deals, and this deal legitimizes the PowerPC architecture they are using in their products," Haff said. Apple's delivery of its Xserve-based MACH5 supercomputer to COLSA means more than validation of its role in the world of high-performance computing, according to Horst Simon, director of computing sciences at Berkeley Lab. Simon, also a co-author of the Top 500 list that tracks supercomputers internationally, believes this is an exciting time for the whole industry.   "There has never been such turnover on the list," he told MacNewsWorld. Full story.

Internet Boosts
Power Grid IQ

Despite decades of advances in building controls, electric grid management tools and communications technology, buildings remain fairly isolated and uncoordinated consumers of electricity. Berkeley Lab researchers have devised a system that leverages communications across the Internet to adjust building power use. In a two-week test that involved five commercial buildings, the researchers showed that it was possible to use Internet-based price broadcasting to vary power use according to predetermined price thresholds. Full story.