By Fareed Zakaria
If you ask people in Silicon Valley what makes it work, they will talk about many things — the ability to fail, the lack of hierarchy, the culture of competition. One thing almost no one mentions is the government. And yet, the Valley’s origins are deeply tied to government support. The reason there were so many engineers in California in the 1950s and 1960s was because large defense companies had attracted them there. Most of the legendary start-ups that fueled the computer revolution — Fairchild Semiconductor, Intel — got off the ground largely because the military, and later NASA, would buy their products until they became cheap and accessible enough for the broader commercial market. GPS, the technology that now powers the information revolution, was developed for the military.
And then there was government funding for research, which is sometimes thought of simply as large grants to universities for basic science but often was far more ingenious. My favorite example comes from Walter Isaacson’s fascinating new book, “The Innovators.” In the 1950s, the U.S. government funded a massive project at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, employing equal numbers of psychologists and engineers who worked together to find ways “that humans could interact more intuitively with computers and information could be presented with a friendlier interface.” Isaacson traces how this project led directly to the user-friendly computer screens of today as well as ARPANET, the precursor of the Internet.
Federal funding for basic research and technology should be utterly uncontroversial. It has been one of the greatest investments in human history. And yet it has fallen to its lowest level as a percentage of GDP in four decades.
" Christmas for Sarah Palin is about freedom. It’s about her freedom to worship as she wants, and simultaneously to shove that freedom to be Christian down everyone else’s throats. Another thing she’d like to shove down everyone’s throats is her special Christmas moose chili. She does not want to brag about her moose chili, but she does want everyone to know that it is “really, really, really good.”
And the buffoon of the year award goes to... guess !
Palintwit. At 45 years of age, Sarah Palin is more of a hot babe than u could ever be. U must be jealous.
Blue Saffron is a canary
1. Sarah Palin is actually 50 and looks like a horse.
2. You imply that I'm female. What makes you think that?
Because u write like a girl. That's why
You're a phucking idiot. Now get back in your trailer. Your sister's waiting for you and her knickers are down.
@palintwit. KMA.
Khalistan for Sikhs in India.
FREE KHALISTAN
Palintwit voted for McCain because he loves Sarah Palin. Ha!
Hindus in India have started rhaping in 2015 with new fervour.
Hey palintwit. U write like a girl. If u are a guy, u must be feminine looking. I don't like pretty boys.
@Bobby. Go sukk Modi's di ck
@Philip and Blue Saffron. Go drink palintwit's peee.
@rupert s ukkin diks are yours and your alter ego chrissy etc. sport. Modi is your prime minister rhapist.
2600 rhapes were reported in India new years eve. A new record for Guinness.
warm , yellow, and smelly, phewww.
I am a muther f ukkin coksukker.
Obviously from India.
Bobby eats camel s hit
I am a stu pid muthr fukker b itch
I fu ck Philip up his as.ss.
I like palintwit's peee. I sukk paki di cks
I am an Islamic pig face. I su k Modi's di ck
I am a muslim from Pakistan. I sukk Modi's big long India di ck because my Islamic religion tells me to do so.
I fukk Blue Saffron & his mother up the azzz
I just b utte f ukked my hindoo muther in India. I am thusly an indian muther fukker
I am a hindoo hog and fukk my daughter every day in India. You call it rhape. I call it gud karma.
Hey, Check this out. http://www.mypayout.com/ref/facebook/b7e65e49.html It's a pretty insane new system for making money online... 100%free
I am a Pakistani Muslim mutr fuker. I fuk my mother up her Islamic a.s.s.
Why do hindoos from India smell like s hit? Bcoz these b@sturds are s hit. Lol
Hey check this out. Nice way to make money:
Pimpbluesaffronuphisass.com
I just f ukked my sister with the red dot on her forehead. I am a hindoo cok sukker from bombay india. I suk d iks.
why do pakis suk camel di ck?
Because Islam tells them to
I just fukked my mother and my sister. Great fukk. Only $20 bucks
I am from Pakistan. I love to be Muslim. I fukk my mother
As a devout muslim st upid mother fu kker. I fuk my mother's a.s.s.