In fact AMD has an amazing technology portfolio. Having graphics chip (ATI Division), the hypertransport technology and AMD64, we can expect some interesting developments

In today's times where you need a Visa to enter the US, a lot of people bypass it. In the past it was difficult to fly from let's say South America to the Far East, because everybody had to fly via the US. This is a thing of the past. You can now fly via Dubai or South Africa. You can even do a round the world tour without stepping on US territory a single time, but went through all continents.
With the Visa requirement, the US tracks foreigners. With TSA, the US tracks it's own citizen...

A way to increase income from international phone calls.
Can be circumvented by letting the internet phone provider calling you on a land line (free) or a cellular (with a small surcharge).

Even more ironic would be when US Cosmonauts have to enter French territory (French Guyana is part of France) and board a Russian launch vehicle.
Do you have the appropriate travel documents???

A chat and email solution is one aspect.

But we humans can convey more information via spoken language and mimics. An audio and video connection for interacting with the team member across the globe is important.

Use IM with integrated Audio and Video, and which enables desktop sharing for collaborative working.

To stitch further the sense of a team despite of the distance, you can extend the office with the view of the other offices' common room filmed from a camera onto a video wall. Of course there is a privacy issue, and not everybody is comfortable with it. It is worth a try

When do we get the connected rooms across several rooms from Dan Simmons' Hyperion???

An issue that needs to be solved is the storage of electricity, as sunlight is available only during the day. Although it is not addressed in the article, the issue stays. One proven technology is hydroelectric storage using dams in the Atlas or in continental Europe. But the capacity is not high enough. But in any way, the Desertec is definitely a alternative to fossil fuels.

It will wipe then all of malware from the start on.
M$, please make it perfect with a mandatory harddisk format at install time.

That could be taken care of. Or at least the result of the transit to mars would show what a manned mission should take care of in terms of protection.

It is also a testbed for the vasimr propulsion.

Of course I would send it empty to orbit mars. It would be a first base for arriving mars expeditions. Would do you think about that?