This is something I have experienced myself.

A short story I wrote was entirely fiction based, yet some of the assumptions I made about the technology involved were close enough to the truth that an aerospace simulation company that develops military simulation technology uses the story as a concept model to explain their own simulation technology.

The surprise to me was when they contacted me to let me know. I had never realised just how much I had gotten right until they said "It's a lot closer to the truth than many of us like to admit".

Good SF has a way of taking a complicated technical matter and putting it into contexts that people can understand and relate to - in this respect, SF is more important as a tool for humanity than many other forms of traditional writing.

GrpA

He's convinced every young person in Iran to hate the regime...

GrpA.

No, School is supposed to be about training them to have sufficient basic skills to enter the job climate.

Parents are supposed to teach kids how to think for themselves...

GrpA

Given the US withdrawal in Iraq, engaging in a war with Iran won't be easy or popular. Lately they've managed to capture drones and threatening the shipping will let them achieve their own goals with the least risk of provoking a US response.

I guess the real question is, what will the US do if it is attacked? In all likelyhood, they will be buzzed by Iranian boats without actually being attacked. But how close will they let such boats approach?

GrpA

Then you may want to read the free book: "Military Diorama" - http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/35490

This book is presently in use with the Military Simulations industry ( or at least with specific companies within it ) as a context model to help people understand why simulation technology is important.

If you want to examine the ethics behind testing of human subjects for reactions, you can also read "Turing Evolved" which is set 28 years after Military Diorama and is also a free book. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34627

Both of the books are free to download and distribute ( released as "Shareware" ), well reviewed on all major ebook sites and both examine the technology of military simulations and the ethics behind them. One of the larger military simulation companies reviewed both stories and now uses them as a context model to explain where the technology is going and what it's purposes are for. They described Military Diorama as "A lot closer to the truth than many of us like to admit"

GrpA.

My thoughts too, but Tesla was busy at the time and it was after Marconi won the Nobel Prize in 1911 that Tesla finally sued Marconi and Won.

Marconi fooled the American public pretty well and to this day, most people still believe Marconi invented the Radio Telegraph - probably including most people on Slashdot.

The Radio Telegraph was invented by Tesla. The Radio ( as we know it today ) was invented by Fessenden.

Neither really got the credit they deserve - Marconi had the political connections he needed to abuse the US patent system... I guess nothing has changed in 112 years.

GrpA

Not likely... Apple is a true multinational and would be run and staffed by Italians for the most of it. And it's not bullying - it's a clear case of failing to meet their warranty obligations.

To be fair, consumer laws in the US are pretty poor and there's very little government intervention even when US companies deliberately and systematically break the law.

But this was not in the US, it was in Italy and like much of the the rest of the world, there are laws in Italy to protect consumers from dodgy goods. This is known as Statutory Warranty and you can be sure that if a company was fined so much, it is usually because they knew the law and were breaking it on purpose as a means to making extra profits.

All Apple had to do is compete on the same level playing field as everyone else in Italy ( and in fact, most of the rest of the world ) and it looks like they chose not to, got caught and got punished.

GrpA

That is corporate ethics at it's absolute worst. You can be sure that it's likely Apple in Italy knew of the situation and was milking it if they got a fine like that... :(

I wonder if the fine even approaches the profits they made abusing the laws like that.

GrpA

Why is the parent marked Troll? Closed borders are exactly why people can't move en-mass from one area of the planet to another... And countries that are upset by such serious issues and cannot sustain broad migration are not suitable for internal migration.

In fact, it seems a perfectly logical response to the post it was referencing...

GrpA

This is all about 9/11. Back then, the US declared a war on irony. If the US ask scientists to self-censor so as not to assist terrorists and the scientists ignore them and publish dangerous details, then a terrorist group take up their invention and the scientists are killed in the attack, then the US will finally win that war...

Besides, I've read many published research articles that I'd really *not* want to see in terrorist hands... Most of them published by the US military.
So maybe the US already won the war on irony.

GrpA