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TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's NTT Data Corp. said it has successfully linked thousands of computers on the Internet to finish a task in 132 days that would take a single computer 611 years. AFP/File Photo   It marked Japan's first test of "grid computing" -- where linked computers share small parts of mammoth calculations -- and meant sales of the processing power would go ahead by next March, the company said Thursday. "The project went just according to plan," said NTT Data spokesman Yoshinori Munekata. "We are already in talks with several customers for the product." In the test that...

Freepers...this is a fascinating use of computer technology. Grid Computing, along with IBM and other sponsors is looking for people to join the PatriotGrid. Similar to the SETI project, members allow the distributed use of their computer (only when it is in idle mode) to run computer programs to find treatment for Smallpox and other bio-weapons. This is using the spare "cycles" in your PC to fight terrorism. Click on the Grid Computing Link above for more information.

One good way to gauge a new technology's degree of acceptance is to observe whether it has moved out of the laboratory and onto store shelves -- from science to commerce. According to that measure, grid computing is just coming of age.     • What Supercomputers Can and Cannot Do - Yet • Universities Connect on 'Tera-Scale' Supercomputer Grid • Sun Says Business 'Gets' Grid Computing Often called the next big thing in global Internet technology, grid computing employs clusters of locally or remotely networked machines to work on specific computational projects. One well-known example of grid computing --...