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Chicoms say they need IBM supercomputer for Olympics weather forecasts
From East Asia Intel, subscription.China has used its hosting of next summer's Olympic Games to justify the purchase an IBM supercomputer with military applications ostensibly to aid in weather forecasting. And once you forecast the oleo-lympic weather, wacha gonna do about it? The IBM computer is a System p575 and is capable of ultra high-speed computing. Chinas government does not distinguish between military and civilian production, and the computer likely could aid nuclear weapons testing and missile and other armaments development, said U.S. officials opposed to the sale. IBM defended the sale saying the computer was built and intended for weather forecasting purposes, and that all export rules were followed. And besides, we need the money. "The IBM supercomputer will allow for much more fine numerical weather forecasting for the Beijing area during the Olympics and afterwards," said Liu Xulin, director of the Beijing Meteorological Information Center. Said one U.S. China hand: If anyone truly believes that China needs this supercomputer for Olympic weather forecasts, I have a time-share at a Starbucks in the Forbidden City that I'm trying to sell. Cannot blame the Chicoms for trying. We have thousands of people willing to sell out this country for the not-so-almighty dollar. Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-08-31 |
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