I wouldn't presume to know more than a mechanical engineer at an elevator company. But I might still be able to figure out why someone who has spent their entire career building one style of system, with the only variance being the size of the motor and the length of the cable, with investments into the supply chain for those specific components and technicians familiar with working and installing those components, might tell you that the old way is the best way without seriously considering an alternative.

Hey, I mean If I was staring at the choice of selling 10 of my most expensive systems to a client, or telling him to hire an engineering firm and materials scientist to reinvent the wheel (or elevator), I know which one is better for my bottom line.

"Google has been considering satellite-based Internet service for more than a year. In late 2013, it hired satellite-industry veteran Greg Wyler, who at one point last year had more than 10 African-Americans working for him."

This statement seems completely out of place in the context of the article, was it posted on a site promoting African American's involvement with STEM career fields or similar?

You know that as a profession, HR is overwhelmingly dominated by women.

At my work we have an equal number of men's and women's restrooms, and those restrooms are sized to allow the same number of people (so if the men's room has 2 stalls and 2 urinals, the women's room has 4 stalls). This is despite the fact that we have 4x as many men as women working in our facility (it's not a hiring issue, we just don't get the applicants).

The end result is that on average men can expect to wait 15-20 minutes before getting an open stall to use, while the women generally will not even see another person in the restroom unless they came in together.

Job: Network Engineer
Experience: 10+ years
Education: BS Comp. Sci
Age: Early 30s
Salary: 115k (but also excellent benefits including six weeks vacation and 14 sick days per year)
Location: The sticks, MD

I once setup a hotspot using my phone for a co-worker to browse on his computer while we waited at the Airport for a flight (I had a no shit real unlimited plan at the time). When he turned his computer on in the hotel room that night he synced right up, assumed I must be in a room close to him, and went ahead and used that connection.

The next day at the job site I told him that not only was I not in an adjacent room, but that I was in a different hotel a block or two away (I am never quite sure what counts as a block, it was several hundred feet). Turns out we had a direct line of sight through the window above all of the other buildings as he was on the 10th floor and I was on the 12th.

No, it won't. That was a result of decoupling the service provider from the physical medium. That isn't included in this discussion and won't be a part of the upcoming proposed changes.

When my office was "re-aligned" under another division we were also moved to another building and went from 10x12 cubes with windows to a basement bullpen. The first thing I did was get a screen filter for my computer monitor, the second thing I did was start taking all of my phone calls on speaker. I also encouraged others in my area to do similar.

2 Months later we had brand new office furniture including cubicles. Only 8x8 this time, but still much better than the open room format.

I imagine if I were a "popular" author I would put my older, lesser producing works into a service like this. Let someone who recognizes your name but has never read your books read something that represents your style, but isn't your current top moneymaker. Then if they decide "hey, this Stephen King fella is actually pretty good" they can buy your other works individually.

Was it mentioned if an author has to put ALL of their books into this service? I can't tell you how many times a friend loaned me the first book in a series and I bought the rest. If you put 1/3rd of your catalog into a service like this and people are exposed to your work, then they may buy the stuff that isn't in this service. It's just another form of advertising, only this one pays you instead of the other way around.

I think you are glossing over a not insignificant group that reads books, but doesn't pay. Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Spotify have proven that if it is cheap enough and convenient enough, many people who previously chose illicit methods can be converted to paying customers.

Wasn't there some kind of study that when people were presented with a positive choice that favors someone else, and a negative choice that is "fair" they choose the negative (e.g. I will give you a dollar, but I give all of your friends two dollars, or I give no-one any money).?

Someone should tell Brandon Sanderson before he finishes the Stormlight Archive. At his current trajectory, the last book in the series may be 10k pages.

Perhaps they should also be allowed to block cell phones so that you will have to make use of your hotel phone. And of course ban outside food and drink so you will need to eat from their restaurant or vending machines. Make sure you also don't bring your own towel to the pool or your own sunscreen, that would be stealing from the hotel.

Since it would be brand new infrastructure, I'm waiting for the whining posts about how Cubans in shacks made from discarded garage doors have gigabit internet access for $1/mo when Americans in Key West (50 miles away) have to make due with 5mbit DSL for $60/mo.