In July 1969 President Richard Nixon & CIA director Richard Helms paid a secret visit to UCLA for a meeting with Head of Computational Studies Walther Fuchs.
It was after dark and Nixon & Helms were smuggled in a rear fire exit. Both were disguised and wore false beards and glasses in case they were spotted by some inquisitive student working late on her dissertation.
In the study of Fuchs the 3 relaxed with Havana cigars and Hennessy Cognac. The study was lit by moonlight filtering through the thick drape curtains & a single green reading lamp on the worn teak desk.
The walls were lined with antique leather bound books and a few more modern tomes with titles like “packet mode switching” and “The fundamentals of Electricity”
Nixon exhaled slowly, blowing a couple of smoke rings before taking a large sip on his Cognac.
Helms eyes moved around the room constantly as if searching for something elusive.
Nixon – “Walter, we need your help & what you do must remain absolutely secret, you can’t even tell your Mother”
Fuchs – “Of course, anything for my Country Sir”
Helms – “we want you to develop a system which we can use to capture peoples communications”
Nixon – “….it should appear entirely voluntary, so that they divulge their innermost secrets at will”
Helms – “It will develop over time with more & more people becoming increasingly interconnected…..”
Nixon – “if you help us we will invest billions of dollars here at UCLA & develop a whole new industry to support it’s growth….”
Helms – “we will use it to fight International Crime & to defeat the Commies…”
Fuchs – ” there……there is something I’m working on it’s called ARPANET”
Helms – “sounds good but why don’t we call it the International Net……..or INTERNET..”
Nixon exhaled and blew smoke rings across the room.
Governor Jerry Brown signed through legislation to allow fully automated vehicles on California’s roads.
Neil Armstrong will forever be remembered for his unique achievement of being the first human being to set foot on another planet. His famous quote ” that’s one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind” is burned forever in our collective memory and recalls a seemingly simpler age of great optimism and opportunity when anything could be achieved given the right determination. Armstrong had that “right stuff” is spades and was an inspiration to millions of scientists and engineers the world over.
We have seen trillions wiped off stock markets worldwide, the FTSE 100 has lost over 10% of it’s value in the last week alone & our TV screens have been filled with hysterical traders and concerned politicians.
On 4th July 1776 the 13 American Colonies declared their independence from the British Crown & established the United States of America by publishing the Declaration of Independence.
Whatever the rights or wrongs of the killing of Osama Bin Laden the message delivered surrounding his dispatch was certainly confusing to say the least.
Recent data from the IMF supports the view that China and Africa are becoming increasingly entwined as trading partners as China exploits the vast mineral and material wealth of the African continent in return for Capital Investment, machinery and technological know how.
Whilst the U.S and Europe have been mired in recession the Chinese rescue package has ensured that growth in that country continues at a rate of around 10%.
This incident highlights the ethical dilemmas posed in Subcontracting. How do we deal with massive corporations which often dwarf our own ? How do we balance the need to reduce manufacturing cost with the need to deal with undemocratic regimes with questionable human rights records ?
The outsourcing market is a large, diversified and complex model but it is still possible to discern some notable trends:-