$1B Intel Plant Helps Vietnam Reinvent Itself

'Fact tags' only confused customers: Intel exec

(NEWSER) - PC makers seem to have gotten the hint and are beginning to hawk their wares not with dazzling technobabble but with information useful to the average consumer, the New York Times reports. For years, tech concerns have touted their achievements in impenetrable language on “fact tags” (DDR2 RAM, anyone?), but that approach may not fly when most people just want a fast Internet connection. “We have been stuck in 1995,” an AMD exec says. “We are basically the laggards.” More»

Defense secretary urges against plan that would become 'Christmas bombing'

(NEWSER) - Newly declassified documents and tapes from the Nixon era show how conflicted the administration was over public dissatisfaction with the war in Vietnam, the AP reports. One October 1969 memo from Defense Secretary Melvin Laird advises the president against adopting a proposal for a massive assault on North Vietnam, noting “seemingly rising levels of discontent in the United States.” More»

Ruling class thinks former POW would increase trade

(NEWSER) - John McCain has won admiration from an unlikely place: Vietnam, the nation he bombed 23 times during the war there. Including politicians, newspaper editors, and even his former captor, Vietnamese are voicing support for the candidate. The Republican pushed to restore ties with the country a decade ago, and many Vietnamese hope he will now push to increase trade. More»

Before the iMac, there were mega machines

(NEWSER) - Convenience is a given when it comes to today's PCs, but the machine you're reading this on has come a long way. Major transformations date as far back as the early 19th century. Live Science gives the back-story on 10 revolutionary computers.

1. The Difference Engine, 1822: Designed by Charles Babbage but not built until decades later, today's replicas show this math-table-generating machine to work flawlessly.
2. ENIAC, 1946: This US Army computer weighed 30 tons, used 17,478 vacuum tubes, and consumed 150 kilowatts.

Major coup in battle between rival chipmakers

(NEWSER) - In an important win over its sometimes-struggling rival, Intel has wooed away AMD client DreamWorks Animation. DreamWorks will replace its current servers and computer workstations, which use AMD chips, with new Intel-powered ones. The studio said the change will make its computing faster and help it start producing 3-D animation, reports the Wall Street Journal. More»