Yeah, that's all and well, but Intel has over $20 billion in cash, short-term investments and trading assets. Meaning a huge lot of money that, given the current interest rates, is probably earning almost nothing. Why not put the money to work and sink it into advanced, though possibly not extremely profitable, ventures? There is just no way putting cutting edge technology on the market and expanding the company patent portfolio can be bad for them, and some of the newer technologies might turn out to be much bigger than the marketing foresees now. I just don't understand postponing new development, while having a huge chunk of money in the bank.

And if you can't wait for some 2d portal action, there's a flash game: http://portal.wecreatestuff.com/portal.php Very fun, and someone has actually created a map pack for the original Portal inspired by levels in the flash game.

So how long before we get something like Steam going with Operating systems? Type in your uid and password, and instantly get your operating system with all customizations from any computer. Best part: it goes on sale for $10 twice a year.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/spektr_r.html

Yeah, all teh tubes will clog up and then all the crap (read /b/) will start pouring out.

I don't understand why anyone still goes to large banks for loans or savings instead of community banks and credit unions. The corporations will nearly always give you a worse deal. And have fun talking to the customer service reps who live half a world away. My checking account is truly free and it earns me interest, like it should. And my credit card has 10% APR. Big banks are parasites. Vote with your wallet, people, it's not that hard!

How many libraries of Congress does that equal?

Get them all to work in Internet Explorer. Most demos give errors in IE8x64.

I work in electrical power transmission and distribution, and apparently shooting at insulators is a popular pastime. One of the bullet points in most specsheets for fiberglass insulators is the resistance to damage from gunfire.

FTFA:

Fueling with algae protects the environment as much as buying a Prius. Alternative fuels do not protect the environment, they only reduce the damage slightly.

Fiber is quite resilient to all sorts of stress except for tight bending. The cable can probably be reinforced to prevent that. I'm more curious why they use visible wavelength, when IR spectrum light experiences lower loss in fiber. Is it because the cable is not expected to be of great length, ala current USB cables?

When it's ready, you won't have to.

Carbon nanotubes are known to be toxic. Wouldn't having them next to your body in a situation where you are likely to bleed be kind of unnerving? http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13946-nanotubes-toxic-effects-similar-to-asbestos.html

Feel free to say anything you want about your boss online, but don't be surprised that he might fire you for ANY reason he wants.