links for 2011-08-06

• Some Scientists Fear Computer Chips Will Soon Hit a Wall – NYTimes.com
  A paper presented in June at the International Symposium on Computer Architecture summed up the problem: even today, the most advanced microprocessor chips have so many transistors that it is impractical to supply power to all of them at the same time. So some of the transistors are left unpowered — or dark, in industry parlance — while the others are working. The phenomenon is known as dark silicon.
  (tags: technology)