The heat rising from San Jose isn't merely an effect of a convention center full of GTX 280 cards being flipped on at once. Nvidia's decision to host its inaugural computing conference, Nvision 08, this week in the company's home town has fanned the flames of passion inside city officials.

Mayor Chuck Reed along with the San Jose, California city council has proclaimed August 20-27 "Visual Computing Week." Let it be known throughout the land that all good citizens of San Jose should begin ...appreciating high-performance graphics processing. Just try harder if you're already in the business of caring.

"NVIDIA and the NVISION 08 event have demonstrated the market growth and cultural shift that can happen when art and technology come together," said Reed. "As the capital of Silicon Valley, San Jose remains the epicenter for digital technology and is the perfect place to stage an event which demonstrates the creativity and innovation that defines the region."

In other words, many thanks for pumping so much Nmoney into our Neconomy. Keep it Ncoming please.

Today, Nvidia is opening up the conference, which will showcase the company's latest graphic wares, technologies, and perhaps some hardware announcements. The graphic chip maker is presently emphasizing a push into the realm of general processing with its Tesla hardware and CUDA development tools.

Nvidia also plans to hold the "first-ever attempt at the world's 'Longest Non-Stop LAN Party'" at the conference. At least all the hot air should help waft an ensuing funk of stale sweat and Cheetos dust above the noses of dutifully celebrant citizens. ®