I'm intrigued to see Diamandis involved, a guy who has dedicated a lot of effort to driving technological progress. It got me thinking that perhaps the objective here is less to actually create this technology themselves but perhaps to force the hand of governments and even some companies with large pockets.

The potential ROI for the first group (or country) who successfully builds a fleet of robotic miners could be..err.. astronomical. I imagine there's a number of smart people in government ministries around the world (China and Japan in particular, perhaps the US) who would not like to see this group get a head start on their nation. It could force these government's hand and force them to invest them in this technology, perhaps it might even spark a new space race.

If you were a billionaire interested in space, and unhappy with the cutbacks in funding of exploration, what better way to force governments to reverse course than by threatening to deprive these governments of the massive profits that may be available?

If Google implements a verified identity solution, this would potentially allow them to leverage G+ as an authentication option for online business. Your G+ account could become your SSO access to your financial accounts.

I loved Nokia, they worked hard to make good quality phones with advanced features. I'd reluctantly switched to iPhone about 3 years ago as Nokia fell behind on the Smartphone race, but I never loved Apple and was ready to make the move when a good competitor arrived. Microsoft are not ready for the new era, they are the Mubaraks of the IT world. Nokia is finished, it might sell a few million phones but will never again excite consumers or enthuse developers - I feel really really sad & sorry for enthusiastic Nokia employees.

However if the RFQ comes in from the "Ministry for hanging and bashing skulls with rocks" you would be well aware of what the potential use will be. But I take your point, and agree with it only as long as the company supplying the equipment has a reasonable expectation that the equipment will be used in a non harmful manner and haven't turned a blind eye to other uses.

If it is proven that certain companies, who only exist because of our Western culture and governance systems, supplied equipment which they knew would be used for the purposes of torturing or killing people by a despotic regime, I hope there can be some sanction.

Businesses in Europe haven't cottoned on to creating a Fox News equivalent, which would accuse politicians of being "liberal muslims!!!" every time they bring in new regulation for business.

At least it would give you some time to prepare, both yourself and your loved ones. If I found I had Alzheimers, I would want to make sure that I enjoyed the next few years and ensured that my family were taken care of. I'm sure depression would accompany a diagnosis, but for many people the certainty of knowing is ultimately a relief.

That all depends on how the information was leaked/stolen. The "how" could be more important to Cisco's reputation than the "what".

Very true. Business users need an A4 page size device or there is little point.

From my perspective, English is not a static language and is all the better for it. There is no equivalent of an "Acadamie Francaise" imposing rigid rules and instead these rules develop through use and mis-use. "Old English" from a 1000 years ago is mostly unintelligible to modern day English speakers.

Have we become part of a Turing test?