Q: Are iPhone-hype jokes played out?

A: Eh, whatever.



Via the Fake Steve Jobs blog.

By the way, for those of you who live outside the Internet and hadn't heard: The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs is really fricking hilarious and simultaneously really fricking insightful (if you care about tech things even a little). I'd been avoiding it, because I thought it was strictly for Mac nerds, but it's actually entirely accessible and also brilliant. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, CNET has some background and an interview.

Q: How can I prevent Firefox from sucking (up my PC's resources)?

A: Zolved provides a solution. Or several solutions. [via Lifehacker]

Over the past few weeks and especially days, Firefox had been using so much of my PC's system resources and memory, it prevented me from using barely any other programs while I had my browser open. I was concerned it was a problem with my laptop aging (or being overworked to death).

It turns out to be something much simpler, and stupider. Because I use the popular Download Statusbar add-on, I didn't realize I hadn't cleaned up my download history in several months. Clearing that list of several kajillion items magically fixed all the problems. Woo.

Q: Is the D-Wave quantum computer going to BLOW YOUR MIND?

A: Yes! Or maybe! Or possibly there's no way in hell.

Such is the level of excitement/confusion/indifference surrounding D-Wave Systems, Inc.'s plans to unveil Earth's first-ever quantum computer. Which is totally going to change the world, pending its actually existing.

• Quantum computer to debut next Tuesday [engadget]
• And via D-Wave's index page:
  

Wish I could make it to the paradigm shift,
but my only transport is a Segway.

That's the competitive edge that comes with working in a business that no one outside of M.I.T. understands: Your product could be complete horseshit, but as long as you can put together a sufficiently confusing Power Point presentation, a lot of millionaires will invest in you anyway.

I'm not saying the quantum computer is all hype; I'm also not saying it's not all hype. What I'm saying is, thank God one of my faithful readers went to M.I.T.

So Jordan, if you're out there, please explain quantum physics, the future of computing, and whether or not this thing is just hype in, oh, 50 words or less. Note: If the D-Wave 16-qubit processor significantly increases the chances of our being enslaved by robots before 2010, you can expand that to 100 words.