# Summary of IRC Discussion (March 27, 2009)

• Discussion of PyThonoCC, a Python binding for OpenCASCADE CAD software, with kanzure sharing a collection of scripts at http://heybryan.org/books/Manufacturing/pythonocc/scripts/ and troubleshooting environment variables like CSF_GraphicShr.

• Conversation about the cyberpunk manga "BLAME!" which features a massive, seemingly infinite megastructure, prompting philosophical discussion about how such enormous structures would develop isolated communities due to computational and information transfer limitations.

• Gene discussed plasmak fusion technology, noting it could theoretically produce 3 gigawatts from a basketball-sized reaction chamber using a helical flashtube system and requiring a 100kJ capacitor bank (equivalent to the energy in 2-3ml of gasoline).

• Kanzure worked on compiling and troubleshooting ElmerFEM (finite element method software) for fluid dynamics simulations, sharing screenshots of cavity fluid flow and dealing with Fortran compilation issues.

• News that Springer publishing was being put up for sale, with kanzure suggesting they should "rip the database before then" and noting that according to industry veterans, such transfers happen "once every five years."

• Kanzure mentioned potential SSH access to TACC's "Stallion" display wall (featuring 75 monitors) at the University of Texas visualization lab.