One of the things I like about Google is that they sometimes do stuff for the heck of it or sometimes to scratch a research itch. At most other companies the bean counters would have stepped in. Or a small project would be done to obtain a short term hype to make money. Not at Google, I don't expect the Galapagos will make them anything else than admiration. And as Google employs many, many people I highly respect, I suspect the stuff they make has a certain longevity about it.

You mean to tell us you never expected this until today's epiphany?

And all the best wishes to Larry from me too.

I'm not from north America. My perception is that you had to be good at sports to easily get anywhere. Now the game has changed and suddenly you have to be rich?

Gee, I didn't expect to discuss Machiavellian arts here;)

Speaking for myself, I tend to be good at solving programming problems. I can also absorb a system that has been conceived by highly appreciated and lauded and abstract the essence so that a better performing and easier to maintain system results. I do that because computer languages sort of make sense to me. Of course I also have a formal degree.

What I see is that certain people just know how to make a group work. Apparently just by being present they seem to hack it. Just as programming languages make sense to me, to them communicating with people is second nature.

Having said that, after years of dealing with people I sort of learned the trade too and I have come to a respectable level in communicating with people. The difference is that the natural born managers almost never develop shortcomings in technical areas. Whether they eventually need it is yet another matter.

Dude, get out of your basement and take a trip to western Europe. Experience gun bans with less crime than in the US before being a naysayer.

Naah. Intelligence is often coupled to solving mathematic problems. I claim that social skills also take intelligence. A less measurable one perhaps but still.

Sure. When skills are beyond doubt there is that je ne sais quoi that lets you and the prospect resonate or at least give you an intense and good feeling.

My main car most likely has technology in it that is 17 years old. My leisure car only has a decent ECU of about 10 years old and the mechanical technology varies from 30 to 50 years. Still I can easily maintain that very few other cars or even motorcycles will be able to overtake me on mountain passes and also provide the sheer pleasure the little leisure car does.

What I mean to say is that new technology per-se isn't a guarantee for your itch to be scratched. I'd be pleased to eventually buy a newer main car with technology that may be 8 years old.

Also, Maria has strong Christian association and hence sells better to ameri^H^H^H^Hreligious zealots. JosefDB and BabyJesusDB would also be serious contenders. Praise the lord! Amen.

I agree with you partly. It's not that you can go into a shop and pay the loaf of bread with a bunch of "personal information". Google goes through great lengths to analyse your information and make it more valuable. Whether Google is ethical about it is for this discussion besides the point.

Google users don't pay in any currency. Usually issues with Google services are well documented and I take that is in order to minimise support costs. IMHO if you use a service for which you don't pay with money and you need someone to search and read you documents because you're too lazy to do that yourself, then pay them to do so. And otherwise seek and pay for a service that suits you best.

Stap my vitals! Jolly rotten I say.
Still I hope he got to shag the old gal. You know, for old times sake and all that rot. And, of course, to sort of compensate for the troubles he went through. I mean, the old spouse will never believe him anyway, so he might as well. And with considerable vim I say!

Indeed you assume I'm British. But I'm not. I lived in the Netherlands for quite some time, where I came into contact with British contractors. They motivated me to do the "daring" thing and to sell my skills for 4 times the price I was getting then. That's how much positive influence Mrs. Thatcher had on me, a regular guy that likes to do his job well.

More Britishness rubbed off and I genuinely started to appreciate the Brits. Keep in mind that when I was in NL I was mostly surrounded by left wingers that listened to UB40 and thought little of Thatcher. Sod prejudice!

This is geek news because she created the conditions where IT professionals could sell their skills at a decent price. If you were in commercial IT between 1985 and 2005 and you didn't even try to become self employed, then you should ask yourself whether you missed something.

I am aware that the deregulation of the financial market went too far. However, I maintain that if Mrs. Thatcher wouldn't have exercised her influence, the UK would not have thrived as it did.

You spell "a***", not "a**". For f***'s sake, learn English!

A colleague of mine proudly takes his tablet to the can. Never mind the wanking, it's his hygiene that bothers me. Won't touch that or any other tablet/smart phone with a barge pole. At least regular keyboards are not often brought into the loo.