When you think of grid computing, chances are you envision clusters of computers working to solve a scientific problem. Base One International, a New York City developer of grid software, is working to change that preconception with its development tools that create a “virtual supercomputer cluster” of PCs built around a database, such as DB2/400, that is capable of tackling everyday back-office processing.

Steve Asherman, president, chief technology officer, and co-founder of Base One, looks at all the work being done around Web services to connect disparate applications and platforms and wonders why it has to be so complex.

Stalker Software this week is debuting a new release of its CommuniGate Pro messaging server software that supports a promising young technology called Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP. With the capability to initialize a number of different types of connections, including Voice Over Internet Protocol, secure instant messaging, and video conferencing, among others, SIP is positioned to open up a whole new world of mobile collaboration, Stalker says.

SIP is an IP-based telephony signaling protocol under development by the Internet Engineering Task Force. It is a text-based protocol, similar to HTTP and SMTP, used to initiate interactive communication sessions

Affirmative Computer is launching two new twinax controllers for connecting legacy AS/400 displays and printers to OS/400 servers via the IP. The iTwinax Controller Models 2407 and 2414 support seven and 14 devices respectively, and preserve the investment that OS/400 shops have made in older equipment while bringing them into today’s Ethernet networks.

Affirmative Computers, in Tempe, Arizona, is best known for its line of Windows- and Linux-based thin clients for IBM‘s iSeries and zSeries host computers. The launch of the iTwinax Controller reflects a logical extension of Affirmative’s thin-client computer line, says Robert Kosednar, a vice president with

Michaels, ross & cole last week announced M-Power, a new development tool for Java largely based on the mrc-Productivity Series development environment. As we previously reported, M-Power runs on all major databases and platforms and, as mrc points out, enables users to use inexpensive PCs to develop, test, and even run Web applications that previously would have been tethered, under mrc-Productivity Series, to an OS/400 server.

Chicago-based mrc has been hinting at M-Power for several months through an ad campaign featuring Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. In June, mrc announced that it would begin shipping its new development tool in