Mixed Signals
Any sufficiently advanced information is indistinguishable from noise
Tuesday 16 October 2007, 3:24 PM
I'm Google, fly me!
That's not the news from Deep Thrust, though. Barely pausing to wipe the rain from his flying goggles, he reports that the company is upgrading the Gulfstream Vs to Gulfstream G550s - the longest range business jets in the business, with more tech than you can shake a browser at - and, furthermore, Larry, Sergei and Eric are to get one apiece. Well, a private jet's like a toothbrush, isn't it? You hate to have to share. Not the done thing.
However, trusty Thrusty continues, some obscure company hierarchy is coming into play. While Eric's getting his shiny new toy in November, Lazza and Serge are having to wait until March. Doubtless there are good reasons to do with whatever stratospheric fiscal machinations go into acquiring this sort of thing, and if I had a Gulfstream V, a 757 and a 767 to play with while waiting I'd probably be prepared to accept a March deadline without too much fuss. Yet I think we can tell who's in charge here.
One small problem remains. They've only got permission for four jets at Moffett Field - where are they going to park the fifth?
PreviousComments on this post
That's easy. An accountant has calculated that for 80% of the time, at least one jet will be away somewhere else, therefore it doesn't make financial sense to pay for 5 parking spaces.
During the 20% of the time when all 5 jets do need to be at Moffett Field, one of the planes will circle overhead. Before it runs out of fuel, one of the 4 on the ground will take off to allow the jet in the air to come in and have a rest.
The accountant has since left the company, and now works for the BBC.
Ah yes, I think I saw the gentleman concerned at Broadcasting House yesterday. He was busy telling the staff that his vision for a more creative, more respected and more effective BBC was to take the core values of news and factual programming, and turn them over to the wardrobe department of CBeebies.
(I _was_ at the Beeb yesterday, as it happens, recording my bit of the last in the current series of Click On, Radio 4's IT strand. And Mark Thomspon was on the studio monitors, in an open-necked pink shirt that showed off his chest hair, saying... well, I think I got it right first time).
