Artificial photosynthesis? I think not. At what point does this synthesise anything? Photosynthesis means "light + carbon dioxide + water = sugars". If anything, this is indirect photocatabolism as it does not synthesise, i.e. make a more complex, anything but catabolises, i.e. breaks down into simpler substances.

"the metric most often offered as a performance indicator (mA) is hype, like megapixels and megahertz."

With respect, that's nonsense. mAh (note the 'h', for hours) is THE metric for battery capacity. Saying that it's not is like saying that metres is a poor metric for length. Moreover most, if not all, battery manufacturers quote mAh figures to IEC/ANSI standards making the figures comparable between manufacturers.

However, you should look at the full ANSI/IEC test results from the manufacturer and interpret them for your application before coming to any conclusions about which battery in the best in your application. The case in point is a classic example; the headline "Lithium AA batteries are a better deal than cheap alkalines" omits the qualification "in a continuous digital photography application". There are many examples where alkaline primary batteries will perform more economically than lithium primary cells and vice versa.

It looks to me like a hydraulic control lever from a mechanical digger/back-hoe of the JCB/Caterpillar variety. Difficult to be certain without anything else in the photo to give an accurate scale.

When asked about the iPlayer's P2P system (which you can't switch off, meaning that once you download shows, they're available for other iPlayer users to download from you), Highfield says that the ISPs have sold "unlimited" broadband to their customers without expecting us to actually use the service without limits. They have a dishonest pitch for their technology, and Highfield essentially says, "Well, that's their problem."

Every significant ISP in the UK peers with the BBC. That means that the BBC get gigabits per second of free access to those ISPs customers. It's damn cheeky to turn around and insult those selfsame ISPs to excuse forcing a P2P system onto iPlayer users. The BBC might find some ISPs reviewing their peering policies in light of this and the BBC might have to start buying some transit from those ISPs instead.