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tscrib

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Tim Scribner Systems Engineer for Lockheed Martin in Ottawa, Canada.

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As much as I want to commiserate with you about sending humans into space - I have to remind myself that this is an escapist's fantasy. I am also an engineer, and a realist.

We just happen to be tied to a water-filled, fertile, and atmospherically suitable planet - the only one of this kind we can reach with our current technology. Looking to the stars is an easy way to ignore problems of over-consumption, over-population and climate change. If we don't figure out how to live on this planet, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes elsewhere.

Let's pull our gaze back down to Earth: our capital is better spent addressing Earthly problems vice sending us out on an inter-planetary expedition.

Once this gets rolled out to more cities, this will certainly be looked back as a disruptive product in the home internet market. Google is well-placed to destroy the traditional ISPs.

Google Fiber: come to Canada please!

I'm a regular commuter cyclist (Halifax, NS; now Ottawa, ON) and how I wish I could ride on such a highway! Even the best cycling lanes I have experienced are punctuated by stops, intersections and red lights. When you're cruising at 35km/h, there is nothing worse than having to come to a complete stop.

More of this please.

> I hate to say it but Facebook is not going to be overthrown, ever.

For ever is a long time. As eevilspock said, I'll take this as an exaggeration rather than literally. However even then I have to disagree. Virtually any prediction we make (pundits, bloggers, analysts too) certainly will be wrong regarding the tech sector. Disruptive technologies are unknown to us until they are surprised upon the general public. Facebook may stay around for a number of more years, or some new tech will push it into non-existance.

The great thing about guessing about the future is that it is free, and you don't get called on it if you're wrong.

Lastly, the only thing we truly know about the future, is that it will be unlike anything we can imagine today.

I've been meaning to buy one of these for my parents for some time now. They rarely do anything other than email, surf the web and photos. The improvements (especially the speed bump and cameras) finally give me a 'features' justification for buying it for them.

The article properly points out that a company cannot do its business without employees. Certainly: employees have the skill to actually perform the tasks the company was founded upon to provide. What the article fails to recognize the power in that relationship. As much as employees rely on companies for employment, the company relies on skilled workers and low turn-around for continuity and to keep costs low. Re-training and the administration of recruiting/hiring new employees are huge expenses. In my experience, you (as an employee) weild immense power. By having options on the table (other employment choices, or even offers), one can easily negotiate for higher wage/more vacation/etc.

[dead] 15 years ago

Doesn't Quicksilver already offer this same functionality? I'm also unsure if I would use this app.

This area must be on the list of improvements for Apple with the next software shipment. There is huge opportunity to use this space as a communication hub, something all iPhone users would benefit from.

Indeed. Ars Technica has been covering it in excellent depth. I'm just surprised it didn't happen earlier. From the onset, especially HBGary's reaction, it seemed the only way out was that Barr would be canned or step down.

The government and large defence companies certainly do care about ethics. It's just a different 'kind' of ethics than you would normally envision. Its more about your appearance to the general public, and your market than anything else. If the general public perceives your action an unethical, then it is, and it is detrimental to your company.

I've worked for several defence contractors, and each one is crazy about ethical training. Monthly online ethics training courses are mandatory. Any perception of wrongdoing is incredibly harmful when dealing with the federal government. Billion dollar contracts are won and lost based on those perceptions.