http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/18 :)

"lithographic manufacturing techniques, where copper wiring has to be masked with insulating material before lasers etch away."

Umm... I think you need to brush up on your semiconductor manufacturing techniques. Etching is done with plasma or wet chemical processes - not lasers. Copper isn't etched anyway. The normal method is called the (dual) damascene process.

Much as I hate referencing wikipedia - this is a descent introduction:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper-based_chips#Patterning

And the next step will obviously be self-programming, followed by self-awareness, and then we'll have a major issue on our hands.

I think I'd prefer lizard overlords to robot ones - robots have no emotions to appeal to.

Pascal.

may be a worse choice since they would also be short on the emotions end of things.

They also have a high tendency for protein based diets with no qualms on the source of the protein.