Wednesday, January 21, 2009

How many new companies was that again?

Greentech Media recently updated their list of solar industry startups. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of them. At least 200 who are willing to tell the world about their plans, goodness knows how many more in stealth mode.

Most new businesses fail, so many of these won't live long enough to grow up. But without entrepreneurs willing to take the chance, the Intels and Apples and Googles of tomorrow would never see the light of day.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Fifty years of Moore's Law

The current issue of Technology Review has a nice photo essay illustrating the evolution of integrated circuits from Kilby's device to AMD's upcoming quad-core Phenom II. Techie that I am, I would have liked to see scale bars, but it's worth a look even without them.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Shoe moves to other foot, whiplash ensues

Fascinating. Two of the most visible advocates of a strong executive branch have suddenly rediscovered the importance of checks and balances.