Actually, I work for a semiconductor manufacturer and can tell you that fab workers don't necessarily have to have anything more than a high school diploma. Also, "fab worker" isn't one size fits all - there are different positions such as material handler, loader, etc. Fab workers are normally trained on a particular position and as time goes on are trained to be able to cover more positions. After 14 years, she probably had been trained on nearly every position in the fab but wasn't a Doctor of Fabology or anything like that.

Also, in CA the entire facility (not just the fabs) has signs posted stating the chemicals present can cause cancer, birth defects, etc. Not sure about TX.

That's actually pretty cool...I often hit the caps lock key on accident (usually trying to hit the tab key) and other than that I rarely actually use it. Maybe someone will cook one of these up for PC users.

You've apparently never been to Fry's, where they can have 50 registers and only 5 open.

I saw one of those at a 7-11 in Murietta, CA when I stopped to get gas.

Yeah, but how many are missorts compared to what the robot would missort? The robot should have 100% accuracy and doesn't need to take breaks.

Isn't SSD drive repetitive?

Did anyone read the article? He plans on building it in Chicago, not Dubai. And it's still a freaking stupid idea.

When I was in high school, we created maps of the school for use with a wargame called Battlesuit. Later, we based roleplaying games in our home town, using maps of landmarks and whatnot. This is in no way something new, it's just that Counterstrike maps get more distribution than a hand drawn hex grid played by some wargame geeks. It doesn't mean it shouldn't be treated the same way - whether the map is of a real school, an imaginary school, or an imaginary place it's all just for a game. I mean, threats to Western civilization in the 20th and 21st century have ranged from dancing to music to the games that we play. Alarmists have to have something to get people alarmed about, right?

Brent had the same thought I did...the cost of replacing one of these barriers when they're damaged is probably going to quickly outstrip any electricity generated. The other thing to consider is how often they have to be replaced. On any typical Southern California freeway that you travel on a daily basis, if you're paying attention you can always spot fresh damage to the center divider.

Apparently Sony has retained Sir Simon Milligan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kids_in_the_Hall#The_Pit_of_Ultimate_Darkness_.28Simon_and_Hecubus.29) to do their marketing.