Yep, you're right, Skyrim totally flopped. Bethesda will never make another bloody RPG.

No kidding. I'm pretty sure we know nothing conclusive about what causes autism, so any uncited quote from an unnamed source that claims that too much tablet use could cause it is worthy of scorn. I'm kind of surprised that hypnosec got away with including that crap in the headline. Can we mod him down?

Like this maybe? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Albatross

from TFA:"There may never be another game as popular as WoW, and even if there is, at the very least WoW will always be considered the first mega-successful MMORPG." I'm surprised that no one has challenged this yet. I think WoW became more popular at it's high point, but I think Everquest paved the way for it, and was as popular at it is now. EQ certainly eclipsed the stuff like Ultima Online and Baldur's Gate that preceded it.

Having read the much, much better IBM press release, I see now that the arrays of TX and RX diodes are assembled to the mother chip while it is still in wafer, which would imply automation, and as you said alignment by lithography. Then there is this bit: "The Holey Optochips are designed for direct coupling to a standard 48-channel multimode fiber array through an efficient microlens optical system that can be assembled with conventional high-volume packaging tools." So again, automated, not manual. I simply had no idea there was such a thing as a standard 48-channel multimode fiber array, like they sell them at Frye's or something. In any case, IBM seems to be trying to make it clear that this isn't some esoteric lab experiment like I assumed it was, but uses existing technology that could be scaled into production. Now my question is: what did they use to feed data to 24 40-something Gigabit channels? I'm guessing they loopback the optical side, but that is just a guess, maybe they have 24 optical sources and loopback the electrical side. I wish they had a picture of the whole setup.

from TFA: "the holes on the chip allowing optical access to 24 850-nanometre vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) and photodiode arrays flip-chip soldered to the Optochip" so no, the lasers and photodiodes are not part of the holey chip. But that isn't even the alignment I'm talking about, even if those were built into the chip, I think someone still has to align the polished end of the fiber to the diode, unless the diodes are so perfectly aligned to the holes and the holes have good enough tolerances that the holes align the fiber without intervention. That still sound like a non-trivial thing to get right 48 times. Rework would be a bitch. Also, the people who actually make the reticles might drink Mt. Dew, but the people in chip layout and chip finishing drink coffee, thankyouverymuch.

How would you like to be the technician who had to align 24 photodiodes and 24 lasers to 48 optical fibers on a 5mm x 5mm die. They should have a picture of that heroic individual in the press release. But no, the PR people are just making up crap about transfer rates.

Unfortunately, my company firewall prevents me from reading TFA, but your comments refer to a Detective in Maryland, the DHS, ICE and moving money through foreign banks. I do know that in the cases for PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the others that were shut down in the last big legal action, what they were actually charged with was bank/wire fraud. The credit card companies, in compliance with US law, were refusing to make payments from US residents to these foreign casinos. So the casinos were disguising the charges' origin and nature by routing them through a third-party and presenting them as being for non-gambling products and services. If you are presenting a fraudulent charge to a US credit card company for a US customer, it seems to me that you are breaking US law and under US jurisdiction. What if Bodog is doing the same thing? What if they are routing a charge through the Maldives and disguising its' origin and nature, presenting it to a customer and credit card company in Maryland? At that point aren't they doing business in Maryland? I don't think we can pretend this is all perfectly legal in Canada any more. And if they are legally seizing assets, isn't the domain an asset that is based in the US? If we say that Verisign shouldn't obey a US court order, then what court should have the authority to seize that property? Are you saying the Fed should have to go to a Canadian court because the original registrar is in Canada? Even if the law was broken in the US and the domain resides in the US?

Walled garden, huh? You say that like it's a bad thing. 1. Okay, I shouldn't have said "none". How about few. Aimbot and texture hacks are rare in consoles. We would like to keep it that way. I don't want to play on a console against someone on a PC. 2. I don't believe that PC gaming has higher revenue than console gaming. Regardless, even if PC game sales are under-reported, I don't think consoles would convince PC gamers to change by being more like a PC. 3&4. I concede that PCs have more multimedia services. If you want to hook a PC up to your HDTV in your living room, you're a minority. Most people want an appliance. And an appliance that understands voice commands is pretty cool.

I think you understated the "same for everyone" aspect. The "level playing field" of console multiplayer gaming is a HUGE plus. Maybe on par with the "it just works" aspect.