This is a total load of manure.
Installing software is a pain in the rear end, and I've been doing it for a bunch of years. The googling for an error message is rarely as simple as it seems, as you run into all sorts of outdated information, or information for something other than the distro your using.
Then you run into a segfault, or the code just exits for "no reason" and then dig through the documentation/ code/ message boards to find that variable X in the config file must be an exact multiple of variable Y


The other side of this thing is horrible too... I was required to write code (GUI / 3D / interactive/ with Web Access) that would install and work under linux (redhat /debian/ suse) and windows. And it had to be easy enough for an average user to install
Found a nasty behavior in my code this week where my fog only worked on full 3d objects but not lines, when used on a nvidia/intel hybrid graphics laptop. As I was trying to show a friend how robust/awesome my code was. A little change to his laptop settings, and he was properly impressed, though his battery promptly drained.
Anyway expecting a user figure out that their in "hybrid" mode is a pretty onerous expectation of a programmer..
Really as a programmer I think that of your releasing code out to be used by the average joe, it should just work.

For any program a programmer should provide a step by step guide of getting working software from a minimal install of the target OS's/Distro's
Anything less is just lazy. Have a couple of test files in the tarball/RPM/DEB that will prove that the program can run properly.
If every chunk of software had this piece to it, the world would be a better place.

The traces in the chips are 2.5 atoms thick, the distance between traces is 22nm for the most modern production technique, there is some room for squeezing it down a bit more, but there aren't many more significant drops in size that can be made.
GPGPU has a long way to go to be flexible enough for general purpose work.
Besides the real push needs to be the push for less power per op, at 1GF/watt, exaflops are a problem.

gaaa ok
11496kWhper year/365=31.5 kWh per day
31.5 kWh per day/24= 1.31 kWh/ hour (or 1.31kW)
1.31 kWh per hour /60 = .022 kWh/minute (still 1.31 kW)
.022 kWh/minute /60= .365 Wh/second (still 1.31 kW)
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When you find a number that is back of the envelope crazy, check your numbers.
That number would mean that every person has one 30 watt bulb going for 8 hours a night, and that's it.. no fridge, no fans, no pc.

Nope, you place it on the dark side of the moon. makes it way harder to hit earth.

A liter of petrol has 35 Megajoules. So it's much more than rubbing your hands together. It's closer the the amount of energy you would expend on a short walk around your neighborhood.

The situation is ridiculous enough that I was hoping that someone would smack this down with some hard evidence to the contrary. I'm still waiting/hoping.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512815/Briton-jailed-years-Dubai-customs-cannabis-weighing-grain-sugar-shoe.html Because a police state is a safe state.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO6XJpTfaZ8 living in a cave is awesome.

Bioinformatics software is horrible. I've written way too many data format converters/massagers for software that doesn't like to comply with standards. My adviser has changed up the specs on the software -which I've been coding over that last two years- to now ignore the data format standards in order to add a minor function.

Somehow my adviser doesn't understand why changing the specs to a non-standard data format would be upsetting

nope it's the chances your going to be a terrorist (one that's going to be a problem this flight).. there are 2 million fliers/day(USA) so if there's 1 terrorist/billion then we should see a terror plot every 500 days, or a 4 person group every 3 years or so.

heck, ever heard of a "blind mule" like Juan Andres? A good bump-swap of bags and you can get a bomb on a plane. Yea a special line is really a bad thing.

There are two ways to make money in the world: Make a bigger pie, or take a piece from someone else. The pie isn't getting any bigger in the US with zero technology advances, the fact that China kills any US industry that seems promising (solar? Hack the US companies, slurp up the trade secrets, then dump the panels for cheaper than they can be made. A PRC victory achieved), and the fact that the US politicians are more interested in "terrorists" and political infighting than actually doing anything to advance the countrey

Actually the pie is getting bigger, the Dow is higher than it's even been, and the average income is pretty good. But the problem is that the median is getting worse and worse. The rich are getting richer, the world is getting better, and yes the PRC is kicking our tail because they have build a proper manufacturing economy and we have blown our domestic manufacturing supply chains to smithereens.

We are far from an "everything has been invented" stage.. Have you been looking at medicine and biology.. or the video of Bret Victor doing real time coding.. or the self driving cars from Google. or the Natural Gas Industry that's changing our power dependencies.. or the gigawatts of wind power that have become viable.. crazy data mining.. cell phones.. led lighting, oled screens, xray backscatter technology, terahertz technology, aerogels, graphene, nanotubes, diamond vapor deposition, flourinert, DeconGel, superhydrophobic surfaces, biomimetic gecko tape, rapid DNA sequencing, full dna replacement of a bacteria, transgenic everything (hypoallergenic cat anyone). multitouch surfaces. the cloud. 50 computer cores per chip-- knights corner. Stuxnet virus..

...... I completely reject the premise that were are remotely close to an "everything has been invented" phase of history

Law is pretty overpopulated, too much lawyer drama on TV, same with forensic analysis.

Or just a modest funeral, with an R2-D2 casket, perhaps one in excellent condition a real bargain, carried by 6 jawa pallbearers, with some John Williams scored procession music. yea it could work. The eulogy by Yoda could be a fun. Joking aside- Brilliant artist, had his posters in my room as a kid. I imagine that Star Wars would be be a cheesy mess without his art. He added wonder to my childhood, I'll remember his work fondly the rest of my life.

the speed of the earth has you moving fast enough that getting enough speed to retrograde to a lower orbit (venus) is substantially more than the fuel needed to crash into jupiter.
Really we just steer it into a comet, and let her take it into the sun for us ;)

Very strong.
jump to 1:20 ish.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june11/nova_01-19.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z07dB3sKTs