I'm involved in the industry, and can say that anyone who gave up pretty much anything regarding those types of systems would find themselves no longer employed by any financial services firms. Ever again. As the article indicates, it is an arms race, which is why the potential code leak was such a big deal. The kind of advantage gained by knowing the algorithm of a competing firm is potentially massive, even if it came down to something as simple as fixing a single loop for a smaller set of average recursions. In short, these are black box technologies. Anybody who really talked about them should get used to removing their current position from their resume, if not sued to oblivion over violating terms of an NDA.

I fully agree with your comment, and I think as a demographic we have pretty highly limited options for discussion. It is true that 99% of our 10% is checking texts from celebrity bloggers about LA gossip, but as long as you never feel pressured into being anything you're not, it's easiest to just ignore them and stick to your standards. Personally I meet some great people volunteering with local charities, especially at libraries. Most of them aren't on our softball team but everyone's got friends, right? Hopefully one of these days it will pan out and in the meantime it's good to know you're helping some cause or another.

As a Phoenix resident, it is not feasible to look at a project with that kind of cost. While we are shamefully low on any kind of viable mass transit right now, we are beating all of the rider estimates for our shiny new light rail system in the metro area. Unfortunately, our budget is slashed to the point where all of our colleges/universities are laying off staff, and future expansions to the existing light rail to even get Phoenix some mass transit have been delayed.

If you want to pitch a project in Arizona, you better make sure all the retired people are going to vote for it. If these guys want a chance in hell (which is what Phoenix is going approximate over the next four months), they better top the speed at 15mph and put in seats designed by Cadillac, with a place to park your golf cart.

I think most of us would look a whole lot better naked if WoW had a melting effect. Seems to be more of an expansion one IMHO.

"quantum computers, at least on paper, can do that calculation millions of times faster than a conventional microprocessor."
Wow, imagine what they can do on silicone!