At 12:36 PM 7/29/04 -0400, Tyler Durden wrote:

"Remember that the spookfabs don't have to contend with *economics and yield*."

Damn, this is precisely where I wish Tim May was still around.

We are all just echoes of the voices in his head. But I did work for a company that owned fabs. And have kept up with the semiconductor lit. Yield is a big deal ---you either fit it on a square inch of Si or you don't make it (profitably). The "profitably" part is a non-issue when you have black budgets, ie $400 toilet seats. Bottom line: they're not ahead in tech, but they can make things that private-co engineeers only dream of. DesCrack is a suitcase, get it? I'll let you speculate on AESCrack :-)