802.11 works for both "WLAN" and "WPAN" applications... why bother addressing two protocols?
Bluetooth uses a lot less power than IEEE 802.11. This makes it suitable for use in your next keyboard and mouse, your PDA, etc. You don't want to replace a battery in your keyboard every week! Nor does a keyboard or a mouse need an IP address (yet!:) )
Also, Bluetooth support adds $5 to the cost of a device today. In a years time that will be $2, in two years time $0 as it will be a standard integrated part of PDA CPUs, etc. The chips are small, easy to integrate, etc. 802.11 adds a lot more to the cost of the device ($20+), uses up power (to transmit further) thus requiring more/better batteries (more $$$).
We all know the solution is wireless electricity distribution....:) Tesla didn't finish his work in this arena though, and nobody has looked at it since or cares.
This article does not address the _real_ issue that I have heard quite a few people bring up - that the intentions of the technologies and their use cases are orthogonal, but they use the same chunk of bandwidth and the nature of their frequency usage does not play nicely with each other.
Did you read a different article to the one I read? It does mention it, and describe why it ISN'T an issue, and that both these specifications live quite happily together.
2.4GHz is an open area of bandwidth - you have to expect interference. Home RF, DECT, Bluetooth, 802.11. Hence these technologies are designed to deal with interference, even high interference.
The use of one of the technologies in an area with the other technology only raises the noise level a bit. In fact, interference for each of these technologies is not caused by the other technology being present, but just by high levels of general interference (e.g., using it inside a nuclear reactor).
I have a friend who's currently trying to think of a business case for Grid Computing... but is having trouble. Apart from academics and researchers, can The Grid ever become mainstream? Why should companies invest in it, i.e., your average medium-to-large corporation? The books often seem to cite creation of virtual companies and vertical integration of companies (i.e. from the component manufacturers to the end retailers), but these situations don't seem particularly realistic... and you'd have to agree policies over data sharing for a start!
The Archos stuff apparently has bad bass and treble, looks like a dog, and weighs twice as much as the Apple iPod. The iPod is apparently a quality device (reviewlet on the register) with quality headphones and a quality bit of hardware that may be software extensible (i.e, add games, calendar, todo list, etc on it like that Rex PDA thingy).
In other words, the iPod is to its competitors what the iPaq is to the first WinCE machine: smaller, lighter, easier to use, more modern, nicer to look at, and much more functional.
As someone else said - Firewire doesn't require a computer controller. When Apple/Sony release their Digital Camera with Firewire connector on it, you will be able to connect the iPod to it to download the pictures from the camera. This could make the camera very cheap, as the user won't need a fancy mini-CDR or large flash memory storage device.
Theoretically, you could connect an external Firewire harddrive to the iPod, and boost the iPod's capacity even more whilst it was plugged in. But it may require some software to do that!
Actually, hard drive manufacturers for a long time have decided that 1 billion is 1000x1000x1000, not 1024x1024x1024. The powers of two are only used for memory capacities. My old "5.2GB" HD only had 4.7GB of space on it. So Apple were not lying when they say that the hard drive is 1000x1000x1000.
20"GB" = 18.6GB in this case.
Add on the secret resource links in MacOS, and maybe 20"GB" really is 18GB.
This is using a standard modern PC. How about using a 9 year old Amiga 1200 to do exactly the same thing? Look here.
Quick overview: uses a DSP to decode at up to 256kbps in 18-bit. Has 4MB RAM, of which 1.1MB is used for the OS and software. Has a remote control interface. Takes 8 seconds to boot. Uses 35W of power. Has a custom power supply.
I think that this is much more interesting that the standard PC based one described above!
It means that data will be deleted, not just moved back into the free list of space on the hard drive. i.e., overwritten with 0's, or 1's, or preferably 22 times with pseudo-random 0's and 1's.
Basically, this is a feature for the people who download a lot of the more illegal unsavoury prawn on the internet.
The vendors then put the license info and hologram directly on the PC
Hell, so that PC case is licensed to run Windows XP.:)
Seriously, someone needs to come out and state whether consumers own software (i.e., can do what they like with it), or only license the software (where the software is then provided on a CD/DVD and you install it agreeing to the license agreements, however evil).
The real issue with XP is how some features will not work until you register with Microsoft and Passport. The next big Microsoft monopoly is standing like a 10 mile high brick in your back yard! When the internet division of Microsoft was IE, splitting it off was silly. Now the internet division is huge, and splitting this off the rest of the company makes sense. Don't let Microsoft tie their OS into the open internet in such a way that the functionality of the Internet is damaged for people who don't use the Microsoft OS or authentication mechanisms..NET could do this.
If there has to be a centralised authentication mechanism, or multiple centralised authentication mechanisms, then build them around an open-specification platform. Then at online shops, you can just select your choice of authentication/data/address/preferences server from the list (Passport, Sun, Tucows, BT, etc). Anybody want to set up a project on SourceForge? Cool name needed... how about AuthSafe or SecureStore?
Apart from the above, XP is good - it gets rid of the crap base that is DOS. However, the government needs to look at the issue of how long Microsoft supports its products. I don't think that at least 5 years is unreasonable!
This is what VIA are doing - their C3 processor can be mounted directly on a motherboard. The PM133/PM266 chipset is cheap and provides enough facilities for a device you describe. It just requires a manufacturer to go out there and do it, and make it available to consumers.
If.NET using companies have to raise their prices because Microsoft is charging them more all the way down the chain, then great. That means my company which is not using.NET can charge less and thus become even more attractive to the end consumer.
Honestly, I think that Microsoft will have grabbed a total world monopoly in anything to do with computers by 2010. OS, hardware, network, payments, authentication, subscriptions... everything. And people will pay heavily - Microsoft may charge $250 per application at the moment, but when they have the developers tied in and trapped, that will be $2000pa. Transactions may start at 2% of transaction value, but in a few years that will be 5%, then 10%.
Competition is good. Make Linux and other free operating systems great. Make them compete on both the desktop and as wonderful integrated servers that are easy to program using simple, easy languages. Improve the paradigm of the internet (uh oh, dilbert time) by having web browsers that can not only load a web page, but can dynamically update that page as a bit of new data arrives (e.g., a new post on/. would appear in the correct place at the time it was posted - no reloading necessary). It doesn't have to be.NET, it can be better, and it can happen sooner, and it can be safe, secure and reliable.
I assure you, Firewire is a darn site more convenient that USB for this kind of product. Being able to upload 2 hours of mp3s (100MB) in under 10 seconds compared to several minutes is damn convenient, especially if you middle name is not "patient". Also, Firewire doesn't use up any system resources while in operation, and I would hazard that USB ports are much more likely to be used up in a modern system than Firewire ports.
The Archos ways twice as much as the iPod. The iPod is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. The Archos nearly weighs a pound! Not nice to have that backing against you every couple of steps or whatever.
The iPod will come down in price - it is a new product based upon new technologies (1.8" HD for example). When it comes down to $300, it will be worth the price. Apple know they can fleece early adopters before Christmas however, and who can blame them?
Also, the iPod looks a lot nicer. Maybe not important to a typical geek, but important for a lot of people. Especially people who already have Macs!
The addition of Firewire, lighter weight, better looks etc are worth an extra $100 over the 6GB Archos in my opinion. And Apple will be around for a good few more years in case something goes wrong with it. Now all Apple need to do is write an OS for a PDA based around the hardware in this device...
This device uses a sexy new small HD format, the 1.8" HD. Just 0.2" thick, and it currently holds 5GB of data.
When can I add these to PDAs? That is more space than my laptop has! And in a couple of years that will be a 20GB 1.8" hard drive...
So, I think in the short term is will not be hackable for a bigger drive. I can't buy 1.8" HDs anywhere to replace it with. But in two years time they might be a lot more ubiquitous, and this device may be upgradable then.
Still, it did not deserve the rap that was given to it - it is a nice, SMALL, mp3 playing device and data transportation device. Apple could have used a 40GB 2.5" hard drive, but that would have been heavier, bulkier and noisier. Things that are not good for the "Apple Experience".
Imagine: web applications could be the real thing, and all that (MS)HTML/(MS)XHTML/(MS)XML/(MS)JavaScript cacaphony could be tossed.
Have you ever heard of REBOL? It does all of this. http://www.rebol.com/
You can download their demo stuff, and run applications directly from their web site, etc. The language is amazingly simple to use, and it just works.
There is an interview with the creator of REBOL on OSNews, which is interesting. REBOL is the world's best chance at beating.NET... well, in the creator's opinion anyway.
It is good to see that these timeless games are being updated to use the latest technology and computer power to make them even more realistic, both graphically, audiowise and AI-wise.
I am hoping for larger maps (in the sense that they are more detailed than previous versions, not actually a larger area of land). Real terrain, where you can use the terrain for battle advantage, etc. That would be cool.
I don't need real 3D environments for a game like this, it doesn't need it.
Aksherly, the problem is becoz the Inglish langwidge is not spelt fownetically. This makes it a much harda landwidge to lern if you are from a forrin cuntry where they iver have thoze funny vowels with hats and apostrofees on them that alta the sownd produced when spoken, and make the ritten langwidge more in line with the spoken.
However, I would not like to read Scottish or Geordie English language books (I have seen one) written as it is spoke.
Americans say "alu-min-um", we say "Alu-min-ium", so strangely enough, this word is spelt pretty much as it is said in both countries.
Olde Englishe is written much more as it is spoken. Some motherf*cker obviously decided to f*ck up the language and spell things differently at some point in history (must have been an arts student, they have not better use for their time), and it stayed that way. C*nt.
And notice I said *after* the war. The speech is not being broadcast now for the right reasons - keywords in the speech that might launch other attacks, etc. Although the speech is available in full on the Internet, so fat lot of good that will do.
Osama ranting will have value - to historians and politicians particularly.
The fear is that the government and military will never be accountable or give real proof of who the enemy we are fighting is. Maybe not this conflict, but a future conflict? Did the media have any real choice or not about showing the video?
The point is that in the end, people around the world should not allow themselves to become more oppressed than they already are because of this conflict. Temporary oppression for National Security reasons is fine and necessary, but these regulations should not extend into peacetime.
I agree that Mandrake 8.1 is great. I have it running on my old HP Omnibook 4100 with KDE, and the only problem is that I need more memory for KDE to run. Paging with an old laptop HD is not fun... Are there any articles out there on how to optimise KDE (2.2.1) for memory usage?
It also doesn't support the sound chip inside the laptop, when 7.1 did (in a manner). Have to look into this when I have time and can be bothered...
Personally, I reckon the only way Linux will be used as a gaming OS if is the games come as bootable DVDs with Linux as the underlying OS the game runs on... and this is an ideal use for Linux (it already has drivers for most graphics and audio chipsets). Performance under gaming still needs some tweaking, but I don't care as I don't play games that often.
All in all, I would say that Mandrake is the best choice of Linux for a Linux based gaming distribution. However, I would like to see how easy the driver update mechanism is for newer audio/graphics/etc drivers (coming in 2.5 kernel I believe) compared with Windows (even if it does need a reboot). I would also like to see if 100% of current Windows games will run under this WINE based gaming emulation. Maybe the emulation also includes the drivers...?
OT: No, not the graphically excellent 8-bit computer game from 1991 called "After The War"...
T: After this conflict, will we see that Bin Laden speech in full? Will we hear about all the other things that are being kept (rightly) silent now? Or will they be stamped "Top Secret - 25 years", and only released when many of us are collecting our pensions and don't give a damn?
We just have to make sure that the current conflict just keeps on with its original aims - combat terrorists, terrorism and supporters of terrorism, and doesn't morph early next year into a different beast (cheaper oil would be nice, wouldn't it?). There needs to be public accountability for the actions of the military within all conflicts, to ensure that they operate within the bounds of their mission, and that they should not become a pawn in some political game.
Which I don't think will happen this time, but though like pointing out.
CmdrTaco explain this one: Invalid form key: On9kApk2Hq ! and Invalid form key: GSQ8puWVyf !
The video card is a standard Savage based device - XFree86 supports this just fine.
Sound card is integrated VIA southbridge audio. I cannot comment regarding this except I find it more likely than not to be supported in Linux, if not FreeBSD.
USB is standard VIA USB controller which I have used fine in FreeBSD before, and I assume that Linux will support it just fine.
Firewire is Lucent chipset. I don't know if it is supported, look in the kernel source for a Lucent firewire driver.
It is just a standard VIA integrated PIII/C3 chipset, with Savage 4 video. Linux/X/etc will run fine. Dunno about the Firewire though, I assume that Linux has Lucent Firewire drivers... To be honest, it is a sucky performer graphically, audiowise and so on. Fine for a fancy alarm clock/mp3 player I suppose. I want performance mini-systems...
Agreed. I will install a microATX nForce board in that case instead, and get ultimate power with expandability. That case doesn't look like a dog either. Front-facing headphone sockets would be nice, however, but it has the front-facing USB ports.
When will a manufacturer release a fully integrated, but tiny, motherboard that supports Athlons and Durons eh? I.e., a performance micro-motherboard.
Using the nForce, but like the motherboard in this box only having 1 PCI and no AGP, I am sure you could make an even more compact design, or have room for 2 PCI slots (one for a low profile card perhaps). All you need to replicate the functionality of this box is an on-board Firewire connector. The audio will be 5.1 channel dolby, the video will be GeForce 2 MX, and the network will be high performance as well (compared with Realtek).
Yes, I know that this solution will be requiring a slightly beefier power supply - until the 0.13u Athlons come out, of course...
The idea is that you would have different motherboards, where the inter-chip connect is optical. I.e., the optical fiber would be connected to the motherboard (by superglue or something) and go INTO each chip where on-chip optical hardware converts to and from optical signals.
This is about 10 years off in my estimation. Maybe 5 years in very expensive solutions.
So there would be no optical connectors to gather dust, or loose fiber to shatter.
Now to connect motherboards hardware to disks and other things, either use metal still, or deal with the dust problem in a suitable manner. Like accepts that you will not get 10GB/s from a hard drive...
The article inferred that you could generate electricity by using the device, but it seems that you can EITHER apply electricity to cool/heat something, or gain electricity by some other means which was never made clear.
So in the end, you need this material on your die, a heatsink on top that can deal with ~2x the heat that the CPU would be putting out, and a fan to cool the heatsink. The important thing is that the heat is being removed from the CPU damn quickly and efficiently, and being moved a millimeter or two higher... I think.
Slashdot Mirror
Bluetooth uses a lot less power than IEEE 802.11. This makes it suitable for use in your next keyboard and mouse, your PDA, etc. You don't want to replace a battery in your keyboard every week! Nor does a keyboard or a mouse need an IP address (yet! :) )
Also, Bluetooth support adds $5 to the cost of a device today. In a years time that will be $2, in two years time $0 as it will be a standard integrated part of PDA CPUs, etc. The chips are small, easy to integrate, etc. 802.11 adds a lot more to the cost of the device ($20+), uses up power (to transmit further) thus requiring more/better batteries (more $$$).
We all know the solution is wireless electricity distribution.... :) Tesla didn't finish his work in this arena though, and nobody has looked at it since or cares.
Did you read a different article to the one I read? It does mention it, and describe why it ISN'T an issue, and that both these specifications live quite happily together.
2.4GHz is an open area of bandwidth - you have to expect interference. Home RF, DECT, Bluetooth, 802.11. Hence these technologies are designed to deal with interference, even high interference.
The use of one of the technologies in an area with the other technology only raises the noise level a bit. In fact, interference for each of these technologies is not caused by the other technology being present, but just by high levels of general interference (e.g., using it inside a nuclear reactor).
I have a friend who's currently trying to think of a business case for Grid Computing ... but is having trouble. Apart from academics and researchers, can The Grid ever become mainstream? Why should companies invest in it, i.e., your average medium-to-large corporation? The books often seem to cite creation of virtual companies and vertical integration of companies (i.e. from the component manufacturers to the end retailers), but these situations don't seem particularly realistic ... and you'd have to agree policies over data sharing for a start!
In other words, the iPod is to its competitors what the iPaq is to the first WinCE machine: smaller, lighter, easier to use, more modern, nicer to look at, and much more functional.
As someone else said - Firewire doesn't require a computer controller. When Apple/Sony release their Digital Camera with Firewire connector on it, you will be able to connect the iPod to it to download the pictures from the camera. This could make the camera very cheap, as the user won't need a fancy mini-CDR or large flash memory storage device.
Theoretically, you could connect an external Firewire harddrive to the iPod, and boost the iPod's capacity even more whilst it was plugged in. But it may require some software to do that!
20"GB" = 18.6GB in this case.
Add on the secret resource links in MacOS, and maybe 20"GB" really is 18GB.
Quick overview: uses a DSP to decode at up to 256kbps in 18-bit. Has 4MB RAM, of which 1.1MB is used for the OS and software. Has a remote control interface. Takes 8 seconds to boot. Uses 35W of power. Has a custom power supply.
I think that this is much more interesting that the standard PC based one described above!
Basically, this is a feature for the people who download a lot of the more illegal unsavoury prawn on the internet.
The vendors then put the license info and hologram directly on the PC
Hell, so that PC case is licensed to run Windows XP. :)
Seriously, someone needs to come out and state whether consumers own software (i.e., can do what they like with it), or only license the software (where the software is then provided on a CD/DVD and you install it agreeing to the license agreements, however evil).
The real issue with XP is how some features will not work until you register with Microsoft and Passport. The next big Microsoft monopoly is standing like a 10 mile high brick in your back yard! When the internet division of Microsoft was IE, splitting it off was silly. Now the internet division is huge, and splitting this off the rest of the company makes sense. Don't let Microsoft tie their OS into the open internet in such a way that the functionality of the Internet is damaged for people who don't use the Microsoft OS or authentication mechanisms. .NET could do this.
If there has to be a centralised authentication mechanism, or multiple centralised authentication mechanisms, then build them around an open-specification platform. Then at online shops, you can just select your choice of authentication/data/address/preferences server from the list (Passport, Sun, Tucows, BT, etc). Anybody want to set up a project on SourceForge? Cool name needed... how about AuthSafe or SecureStore?
Apart from the above, XP is good - it gets rid of the crap base that is DOS. However, the government needs to look at the issue of how long Microsoft supports its products. I don't think that at least 5 years is unreasonable!
This is what VIA are doing - their C3 processor can be mounted directly on a motherboard. The PM133/PM266 chipset is cheap and provides enough facilities for a device you describe. It just requires a manufacturer to go out there and do it, and make it available to consumers.
Honestly, I think that Microsoft will have grabbed a total world monopoly in anything to do with computers by 2010. OS, hardware, network, payments, authentication, subscriptions... everything. And people will pay heavily - Microsoft may charge $250 per application at the moment, but when they have the developers tied in and trapped, that will be $2000pa. Transactions may start at 2% of transaction value, but in a few years that will be 5%, then 10%.
Competition is good. Make Linux and other free operating systems great. Make them compete on both the desktop and as wonderful integrated servers that are easy to program using simple, easy languages. Improve the paradigm of the internet (uh oh, dilbert time) by having web browsers that can not only load a web page, but can dynamically update that page as a bit of new data arrives (e.g., a new post on /. would appear in the correct place at the time it was posted - no reloading necessary). It doesn't have to be .NET, it can be better, and it can happen sooner, and it can be safe, secure and reliable.
The Archos ways twice as much as the iPod. The iPod is small enough to fit in a shirt pocket. The Archos nearly weighs a pound! Not nice to have that backing against you every couple of steps or whatever.
The iPod will come down in price - it is a new product based upon new technologies (1.8" HD for example). When it comes down to $300, it will be worth the price. Apple know they can fleece early adopters before Christmas however, and who can blame them?
Also, the iPod looks a lot nicer. Maybe not important to a typical geek, but important for a lot of people. Especially people who already have Macs!
The addition of Firewire, lighter weight, better looks etc are worth an extra $100 over the 6GB Archos in my opinion. And Apple will be around for a good few more years in case something goes wrong with it. Now all Apple need to do is write an OS for a PDA based around the hardware in this device...
When can I add these to PDAs? That is more space than my laptop has! And in a couple of years that will be a 20GB 1.8" hard drive...
So, I think in the short term is will not be hackable for a bigger drive. I can't buy 1.8" HDs anywhere to replace it with. But in two years time they might be a lot more ubiquitous, and this device may be upgradable then.
Still, it did not deserve the rap that was given to it - it is a nice, SMALL, mp3 playing device and data transportation device. Apple could have used a 40GB 2.5" hard drive, but that would have been heavier, bulkier and noisier. Things that are not good for the "Apple Experience".
Have you ever heard of REBOL? It does all of this. http://www.rebol.com/
You can download their demo stuff, and run applications directly from their web site, etc. The language is amazingly simple to use, and it just works.
There is an interview with the creator of REBOL on OSNews, which is interesting. REBOL is the world's best chance at beating .NET... well, in the creator's opinion anyway.
I am hoping for larger maps (in the sense that they are more detailed than previous versions, not actually a larger area of land). Real terrain, where you can use the terrain for battle advantage, etc. That would be cool.
I don't need real 3D environments for a game like this, it doesn't need it.
However, I would not like to read Scottish or Geordie English language books (I have seen one) written as it is spoke.
Americans say "alu-min-um", we say "Alu-min-ium", so strangely enough, this word is spelt pretty much as it is said in both countries.
Olde Englishe is written much more as it is spoken. Some motherf*cker obviously decided to f*ck up the language and spell things differently at some point in history (must have been an arts student, they have not better use for their time), and it stayed that way. C*nt.
Monster Magnet Rule.
And notice I said *after* the war. The speech is not being broadcast now for the right reasons - keywords in the speech that might launch other attacks, etc. Although the speech is available in full on the Internet, so fat lot of good that will do.
Osama ranting will have value - to historians and politicians particularly.
The fear is that the government and military will never be accountable or give real proof of who the enemy we are fighting is. Maybe not this conflict, but a future conflict? Did the media have any real choice or not about showing the video?
The point is that in the end, people around the world should not allow themselves to become more oppressed than they already are because of this conflict. Temporary oppression for National Security reasons is fine and necessary, but these regulations should not extend into peacetime.
It also doesn't support the sound chip inside the laptop, when 7.1 did (in a manner). Have to look into this when I have time and can be bothered...
Personally, I reckon the only way Linux will be used as a gaming OS if is the games come as bootable DVDs with Linux as the underlying OS the game runs on... and this is an ideal use for Linux (it already has drivers for most graphics and audio chipsets). Performance under gaming still needs some tweaking, but I don't care as I don't play games that often.
All in all, I would say that Mandrake is the best choice of Linux for a Linux based gaming distribution. However, I would like to see how easy the driver update mechanism is for newer audio/graphics/etc drivers (coming in 2.5 kernel I believe) compared with Windows (even if it does need a reboot). I would also like to see if 100% of current Windows games will run under this WINE based gaming emulation. Maybe the emulation also includes the drivers...?
T: After this conflict, will we see that Bin Laden speech in full? Will we hear about all the other things that are being kept (rightly) silent now? Or will they be stamped "Top Secret - 25 years", and only released when many of us are collecting our pensions and don't give a damn?
We just have to make sure that the current conflict just keeps on with its original aims - combat terrorists, terrorism and supporters of terrorism, and doesn't morph early next year into a different beast (cheaper oil would be nice, wouldn't it?). There needs to be public accountability for the actions of the military within all conflicts, to ensure that they operate within the bounds of their mission, and that they should not become a pawn in some political game.
Which I don't think will happen this time, but though like pointing out.
CmdrTaco explain this one: Invalid form key: On9kApk2Hq ! and Invalid form key: GSQ8puWVyf !
Hattig :)
-- The price of Linux is support: Book Prices to Kill...
Sound card is integrated VIA southbridge audio. I cannot comment regarding this except I find it more likely than not to be supported in Linux, if not FreeBSD.
USB is standard VIA USB controller which I have used fine in FreeBSD before, and I assume that Linux will support it just fine.
Firewire is Lucent chipset. I don't know if it is supported, look in the kernel source for a Lucent firewire driver.
The problem with the Aluminium case is that it looks ugly and a bit hacked up. A nice black plastic case would have been nicer.
When will some case manufacturer make a stereo-component sized case for PC components?
Agreed re: Savage video subsystem. Lets hope for a nForce version of this motherboard in the future.
It is just a standard VIA integrated PIII/C3 chipset, with Savage 4 video. Linux/X/etc will run fine. Dunno about the Firewire though, I assume that Linux has Lucent Firewire drivers... To be honest, it is a sucky performer graphically, audiowise and so on. Fine for a fancy alarm clock/mp3 player I suppose. I want performance mini-systems...
Agreed. I will install a microATX nForce board in that case instead, and get ultimate power with expandability. That case doesn't look like a dog either. Front-facing headphone sockets would be nice, however, but it has the front-facing USB ports.
Using the nForce, but like the motherboard in this box only having 1 PCI and no AGP, I am sure you could make an even more compact design, or have room for 2 PCI slots (one for a low profile card perhaps). All you need to replicate the functionality of this box is an on-board Firewire connector. The audio will be 5.1 channel dolby, the video will be GeForce 2 MX, and the network will be high performance as well (compared with Realtek).
Yes, I know that this solution will be requiring a slightly beefier power supply - until the 0.13u Athlons come out, of course...
This is about 10 years off in my estimation. Maybe 5 years in very expensive solutions.
So there would be no optical connectors to gather dust, or loose fiber to shatter.
Now to connect motherboards hardware to disks and other things, either use metal still, or deal with the dust problem in a suitable manner. Like accepts that you will not get 10GB/s from a hard drive...
The article inferred that you could generate electricity by using the device, but it seems that you can EITHER apply electricity to cool/heat something, or gain electricity by some other means which was never made clear.
So in the end, you need this material on your die, a heatsink on top that can deal with ~2x the heat that the CPU would be putting out, and a fan to cool the heatsink. The important thing is that the heat is being removed from the CPU damn quickly and efficiently, and being moved a millimeter or two higher... I think.