Tracy Johnson relays a better-than-average fake news release:

> MICROSOFT TESTS NUCLEAR DEVICE AT SECRET HANFORD FACILITY
>
>  REDMOND (BNN)--World leaders reacted with stunned silence as Microsoft
>  Corp. (MSFT) conducted an underground nuclear test at a secret facility in
>  eastern Washington state. The device, exploded at 9:22 am PDT (1622
>  GMT/12:22 pm EDT) today, was timed to coincide with talks between
>  Microsoft and the US Department of Justice over possible antitrust action.

Sometimes a good joke needs to be explained a bit. I thought that I would take
on that task, if you don't mind, and explain some of the more obscure
references in the text:

"University of Washington
geophysicist Dr. Whoops Blammover"
===========================================
"Whoops" was the name commonly given to the Washington Public Power Supply
System (see: http://www.wnp2.com), a series of nuclear reactors begun in 1957
that was destined to provide the residents of Washington state with electric
power too cheap to meter.

Much of the impetus for Whoops came from Dixie Lee Ray, as loony a fully
acredited scientist as you're ever likely to find. The late Dr. Ray served as
both governor of Washington state and as head of the Atomic Energy Commission,
and was one of the principal advocates of the Whoops project. Ultimately, it
all went disasterously wrong, falling into bankruptcy and leaving the
taxpayers (both US and Washington state) with a multi-billion dollar debt.
Those shareholders (mostly ordinary people) who invested in Whoops had their
investments wiped clean. In the end, their shares were lowered to zero dollar
value.

A brief history of the project, as represented by the project itself, can be
found at:

     http://www.wnp2.com/corp/keydates.htm

A sense of Dixie Lee Ray's philosophy can be found at:

     http://www.blackstoneaudio.com/html/books/b1551.html


RTG
===========================================
An RTG is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, generally constructed by
attaching a Peltier device to a block of plutonium. The temperature difference
across the Peltier device (a semiconductor/metal sandwich) creates an electric
current substantial enough to power a spacecraft for hundreds of years. RTG's
were commonly used in all of the early planetary spacecraft but their usage
has become much more controversial of late. Nowadays, each spacecraft that is
launched with an RTG power supply is generally met with a moderately sized
group of protestors at Kennedy's and Vandenburg's gates.


"The existence of an RTG in each Pentium II microprocessor would explain
why the microprocessors, made by the Intel Corporation, run so hot. The
Intel chips 'put out more heat than they draw in electrical power'"
============================================
An oblique reference to "cold fusion".


Prof. E. E. Thymes of MIT
============================================
"E.E. Times" is a trade journal, much like Computerworld.

I'm not sure that this explanation helps or harms the Tracy's posting, but I
liked it, given the recent Indian nuclear tests, the American government's
indecisiviness on sanctions, and Microsoft's problems with the DOJ. I thought
it was very well done.

Wirt Atmar