An ISGC 2010 GridCast Introduction

This is my first post in a series for GridCast about before, during and after the International Symposium on Grid Computing (ISGC) 2010 in Taipei, Taiwan. Hopefully I'll capture something in this series of interest to you. Maybe you'll guide me in interesting directions by interacting...

I attended ISGC 2009 almost a year ago at the same place and had a great time. This post is really just an introduction, but the gem of it is perhaps a travel tip for anyone visiting Academia Sinica.

So, I am Andy Turner, a researcher based at the University of Leeds in the UK. For almost 5 years I have been engaging in what might now be called eResearch. My focus has been to develop applications of a geographical nature and I have done this mainly as part of the MoSeS and GENESIS projects funded by the UK ESRC through its National Centre for e-Social Science.

My top travel tip is that there is a fantastic swimming pool on the Academia Sinica campus. As a resident of the Guest House I had no difficulty getting in for a swim last year and I'm hoping for the same again. You'll be expected to wear a hair net and shower prior to entering the pool area. Also if I remember right, you should remove your shoes before entering the changing area. The staff there were very friendly last year, and I managed to borrow both goggles and hair net from them upon entry each time I went, but this year I plan to pack and bring some with me. The cost was minimal and although I'm unsure of opening times, I usually got a swim before breakfast and managed to catch the start of the days proceedings.

Another exercise on campus that I enjoyed last year was walk up the hill. Last year there was a path being built or upgraded to a viewing platform. It was steep, and I think it will be mostly steps and take about 30 minutes up and down taking it fairly easy and hopefully catching breath whilst admiring the view at the top.

I'll be posting again once I reach Taipei, and may manage to link to some photos and provide a better map to help you locate the start of the walk.