Monday, October 15, 2001		Lens on IT

Undated image of a 3D video animation showing a humanitarian airdrop from a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane. The containers were placed on board a C-17 Globe Master III and airdropped October 7 over eastern Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. This animation simulation was created with Lightwave software to brief Air Force and Department of Defence commanders and was also released to the media to demonstrate the operation. 

Britain's Queen Elizabeth holds a hi-tech baton to be used for the 2002 Golden Jubilee Commonwealth Games during a presentation at Buckingham Palace in London. The baton, to be relayed through 22 Commonwealth countries on its way to the Manchester Games, is fitted with sensors to monitor the runner's pulse, a reading which is then transformed into a blade of blue light. 

A shopper looks at a selection of mobile phones on display at an Australian Telco Optus shop in Sydney. Singapore Telecommunications Ltd's Australian Telco Optus said it would slash up to 700 jobs as it seeks to achieve cost savings of up to Aus $100 million per year amid an industry downturn. Australia's second largest Telco also cut it's earnings and revenue forecasts for 2001/02 after a weak first half, but said it expected to continue growing at twice the estimated sector growth rate of 4-5 per cent this year.

A large crowd look at the newly unveiled Holden Monaro coupe at the Sydney Motor Show. The new model is the first Monaro released in around 25 years, and was built using Holden's new $3 million virtual reality design studio enabling production of the car without the need to build expensive prototypes, and run its entire testing and validation process on computer. 

— Reuters photos