Friday, November 01, 2013

S.P.E.C.T.R.E.'s floating HQ?

Or super-secret Google data center?


The Daily Fail is sounding a bit over-positive in their speculation, there, but lots of other people are speculatin' the same thing. To me, the strongest argument for it being Google is that the big G is like the cheerful Aspie kid next door who is ordinarily earnest and helpful but sometimes doesn't have any idea how creepy he's being.

The first time I did a Google search on my phone and the autocomplete feature showed searches I'd done that morning on my desktop, I nearly flung the thing across the room. I mean, sure it was just trying to be helpful, but that's like stepping out of the shower and finding said neighbor kid standing there asking if you need your driveway edged. Google means well, but they have some serious boundary issues.

Anyhow, when I read this, I couldn't help but flash back to that awful day when Starbucks revealed the sinister Phase Two of their operation...

8 comments:

Eric said...

Anybody see a bald guy with a white Persian cat lurking about the docks?

Will Brown said...

Drudge passes along this CBS story; supposedly, the barges are "luxury sales rooms" for high-end customers of Google.

The Obama's post-Presidency address? (Can't think of a higher-ended Google customer off- hand.)

Goober said...

All the speculation about this thing staying in San Francisco bay aside, one wonders if possibly Google is foreseeing a day when having land based server farms will be less than optimal for various political reasons.

With the NSA getting all covetous of what everyone is doing online, and the talks of regulating the internet, eliminating internet anonymity, and so on and so forth ad nauseum, one wonders if the idea behind such a vessel isn’t to have it based in San Fran bay at all, but waters of a more, shall we say, international variety?

Sort of like the old “pirate radio” stations that sat offshore of old blighty back in the days when the folks running the show were still buttoned-down, “nifty fifties” sorts while the people consuming the product were more of the “free love, sex, drugs, and rock n’roll” types that couldn’t have their auditory entertainment needs met by the “approved” stations.

Douglas2 said...

I was an enthusiastic user of the "grand central" telephone service, which was acquired by Google and became Google Voice. I still use my Grand Central number as my primary work/mobile number, because the features are so useful.

But the first time I opened a browser window and found Google ads relating to something I had just been having a telephone conversation about....

Sigivald said...

The first time I did a Google search on my phone and the autocomplete feature showed searches I'd done that morning on my desktop

Don't log in with a Google Account and it won't know you're you.

(On the datacenters, using water for cooling is clever.

Assuming the hippies don't have too big a fit about it.)

Tam said...

Sigivald,

"Don't log in with a Google Account and it won't know you're you."

I do know how it works, thank you. ;)

Dave said...

Umbrella Corporation prototypes for the Arcadia?

Overload in Colorado said...

Cryptonomicon 2013 / Google Money?