I was really hoping for a laser that would slice satellites into pieces.

If we had honest numbers out of China, I'm betting they'd be #1 by a long shot.

Would he have attempted this, or even been able to attempt it, without the Science Channel's interest? Did their attention and the publicity and funds it engendered enable this guy to kill himself? If I worked for the Science Channel, I'd be haunted by that question.

It's going to be up to 5 years before they're in place, but the FAA has proposed new drone regulations that would make it mandatory for all but the smallest drone aircraft to identify themselves and to show their position in real time. Only certain government entities and a few others would be exempt. If those were in place, at least you'd be able to tell if they're public or private (or illegal, in which case you could report them and presumably have authorities do something) by whether they're following that requirement.

Maybe advanced races formulated and follow the Prime Directive and we're being protected until we're ready to join them. Star Trek has to be right about something.

Isn't Vietnam socialist/communist? I thought rich people were considered a scourge under such a system.

when politicians and police find themselves being identified and tracked wherever they go by networks of cameras such as Ring doorbells, dashcams, cell phones, and other consumer cameras. How long until some service like Waze or Uber uses your cell camera to record the position, time, and plate number of every car around you and sells that info or loses it through a hack? I'm betting that's coming.

Aren't likes how influencers prove their popularity so they can charge big bucks for posts?

I'm frozen in time with Adobe Master Collection CS6, the last release before they went to the "pay forever" model. I'm also stuck at Microsoft Office 2010 (though I mostly use an even earlier version, 2003) for the same reason. I'm not going to pay multihundreds every year for software. I hope FOSS puts enough pressure on these companies that the resulting loss of market share makes them rethink their strategy.

They'd be better off using the billion to try to change California's political and regulatory climate. That's the real inhibitor to private construction of housing at more reasonable costs.

I've got email that goes back 20 years, because I chose to get my own domain for email and hosting. Sure it costs money, but it gives me complete control, unlike depending on the likes of Google. They've screwed me so many times in the past that I'll never sign up for one of their ephemeral services again, "free" or not.

They were in proximity. Hiding, literally, under their desks, but still ...

Instead of tenth-degree groveling, they've switched to fifth-degree. That'll give the big middle finger to China, all right.

Conservatives are traditionally a pro-business bunch, but tech companies have chosen sides and engaged in a campaign of censorship against them, thus turning a natural ally indifferent to them at best, hostile at worst. Facebook and its ilk will have few defenders to push back against regulatory and lawsuit overreach when the pitchfork-wielders are at the gate.

... for they provide the funds and incentives for manufacturers to ramp up production and continue development so that the rest of us can buy the tech at reasonable prices and with some/most of the more egregious problems fixed.