Intel, Ore-Ida partner for 22 nm process

The future of computing lies not in French Fries, but in Waffle Fries:

F’in Low Dispersion

This is why you pick up a thesaurus instead of letting your engineers name the technology:

FLD ("F" Low Dispersion) glass is the highest level low dispersion glass available with extremely high light transmission. This glass has a performance equal to flourite [sic] glass which has a low refractive index and low dispersion compared to current optical glass. FLD glass offers superior optical performance, equal to flourite, at an affordable price.

ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass has lower dispersion characteristics than SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass, which Sigma has been using in its APO lenses (and some non-APO lenses as well) for many years now. It has other advantageous properties as well.

See also: Chateau Potelle VGS wines. They're very good.

Security non-story of the day

Via BusinessInsider, Verifone Trashes Square, Saying It Has "A Serious Security Flaw":

Today is a wake-up call to consumers and the payments industry. Last year, a start-up named Square introduced a credit card reader for smartphones with the goal of making it very easy for anyone to accept credit cards through a mobile device. Seems like a great idea, but there is a serious security flaw that Square has overlooked that places consumers in dire risk.

In less than an hour, any reasonably skilled programmer can write an application that will "skim" – or steal – a consumer's financial and personal information right off the card utilizing an easily obtained Square card reader.

So what? Anybody you hand your card to could be putting it through a skimmer. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Square user, the 7-11 clerk, or the waiter at your favorite restaurant. There’s no Square-specific risk here. The only story is that Verifone is scared to death of the competition.

The Great Stagnation: Snack bar implications

Economist Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution recently released a short work of non-fiction called The Great Stagnation. The central thesis is that the 20^th century was an unusual time of technological “low-hanging fruit” that greatly improved everyday life with relative ease (automobiles, electricity, etc.). We face a “Great Stagnation” where the relative improvement of life for the average person will be quite modest in comparison. We’re not going to see the revolutionary improvement we’ve become accustomed to.

He may be right.