Assigning the wire on the same line it is declared is supported in all major synthesis and simulation tools I have used. I'm not sure what verilog standard its from, but I would guess its part of verilog 2001.
Looking at the product brief, it seems that the Intel CPU and the FPGA are being packaged on the same module and connected over PCI-E. So the interface from the processor to the FPGA will be over this connection. I imagine the development flow will be the same as if you connected these devices externally on your PCB. The processor won't need to know its connected to an FPGA, just a PCI-E device, and the same goes for the FPGA. The standard FPGA development flow can be followed.
I should also note that an FPGA will not perform as well as a custom ASIC (such as a GPU) in terms of speed, power, or price (in significantly large quantities). An FPGA can be a very good options for moderate to low volume applications. You are correct with your description of a potential FPGA application. I would say it could rival or exceed the performance of the GPU solution.
It seems like everything the author likes about vim are simply features he found more easily than he did in emacs. Duplicating a line in emacs is not difficult. emacs certainly has macros as well. A few simple google queries or looking in the emacs help system would reveal this very quickly. Not that there is anything wrong with vim, but the criticisms against emacs and other editors just seem lazy.