Go West young programmer!

According to this CBC news post, Alberta companies are having a difficult time filling IT positions as demand soars and schools are producing fewer grads. The article points out that demand has nearly doubled in the past year while "Last year, 95 students graduated from the Computer Systems Technology program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton, compared to 320 in 2001."

Holodeck technology a reality in Edmonton?

Researchers at the University of Alberta's computer science department have partnered with Hewlett-Packard, and Edmonton's TRLabs, and are working on 3-D virtual reality technology that they say resembles the holodeck on the Enterprise or Voyager. The application is meant to be more of a high definition video conference than the virtual holiday's enjoyed by the crew of Voyager, but the researchers say the technology "will be so realistic users will be able to see an eye twitch or a bead of sweat". So much for racking up the air miles on the company's dime... CBC story here.