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Google Founders Buy Fighter Jet
Ponca City, We love you writes "The NY Times reports that H211 LLC, a company controlled by Google's top executives, including billionaire founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, appears to have added to its fleet a Dornier Alpha Jet, a light jet attack and advanced trainer aircraft manufactured by Dornier of Germany and Dassault-Breguet of France. The 1982 Alpha-Jet seats two and was originally used by European air forces, but is now being sold relatively cheaply to civilians. The jet has landing rights at Moffett Field, the NASA-operated airfield that is a stone's throw from the Google campus. It is not clear who exactly flies the fighter jet, although Google chief executive Eric Schmidt is an avid pilot. If the top Googlers indeed own the fighter jet, they would be following in the footsteps of Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison, who has owned several aircraft, including fighter jets."
Are these guys Yahoos??
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
In other news, Microsoft is installing anti-aircraft emplacements
> It is not clear who exactly flies the fighter jet,
Hint: The Google AI
Yes, Red Bull is definitely evil. You can tell by the taste.
Companies will do battle in the sky to prove superiority.
Android + Maps + Fighter Jet = Deadly Precision with real-time traffic!
Yes, Red Bull is definitely evil. You can tell by the taste.
Or by it's association with Jagermeister.
Red Bull: The Taste of Evil.
It gives you wings, but they don't say the wings are featherless...
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Isn't it hard to live up to "do no evil" when you have a strike-capable air force? This is a slippery slope, indeed. I think the next time the Yahoo! talks escalate, things just might go a little differently.
Obviously this is a first step toward achieving air superiority in the skies above Google's new aquatic data centers. As the Google Navy continues to expand its influence the importance of protecting the fleet from airborne threats will increase.
Also, never underestimate the bandwidth of a fighter jet full of tapes screaming across the sky at Mach 3.
Well, true, all the fun stuff comes out.
But it isn't very hard to pack it full of fuel and other things-that-go-foosh.
I'm sure the folks at google could wire a laptop inside to guide the thing to the Redmond campus.
I think you see where I'm going with this :D
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
So... Google has added an "airforce" to complement their navy...
Fighter jet, which has been in "Beta" for years.
AA guns, with targeting system running Vista.
Ought to be a good show.
They'll have to offer free rides to people who could never afford a plane of their own.
> In other news, Microsoft is installing anti-aircraft emplacements
So, Ballmer is buying more chairs?
luckily it's payload is light.
...the first thing to come up is a wikipedia article?
Well they have the cheap geothermal power and the free cooling for the datacenters. The only hitch was how out of the way iceland is. But it does have an abandoned NATO airfield so now that the top execs can jet in and out in an hour or so at supersonic speeds goodbye Silicon Valley Hello Reykjavik. Solves all the turnover problem too as in "You want to leave Google and join Microsoft. Fine as soon as you get security clearance from the Icelandic government you can leave (never that is)" With Iceland being bankrupt they would sell their souls and change their national anthem to "Do no evil" if Google comes calling.
**Life is too short to be serious**
Most likely they purchased it through a privately held company because companies have lessened license restrictions for purchasing any class of weapon (ie, if you want to own an RPG legally, just start a corporation and you can buy whatever you want). I'm not sure if licensure is necessary for military aircraft (even decommissioned) but who knows, maybe that's the reason? Plus if they'd bought it through google maybe they'd be concerned about a shareholder backlash? These are just guesses btw, but its what I would surmise.
But if they used Google Checkout, they could have gotten $10 dollars off.
Sam Walton is dead. It's difficult to drive a pickup while afflicted with such a condition.
When they start doing practice runs over Microsoft, the mission will be obvious.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
I think you see where I'm going with this :D
To jail?
I love my sig.
Thanks, now I have images of Steve Ballmer on the roof of MS HQ with a chair in one hand screaming, "Bring it on!" at Larry and Sergey strafing.
No, I was thinking more like The Crimson Permanent Assurance
They were going to buy a Hummer, but the fighter jet gets better gas mileage.
Microsoft's next patent: the anti aircraft chair
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
Yes, war and coups are the obvious solutions to African problems. I'm surprised they've never tried that.
Congratulations, you just gave everyone in the world $10. It will go farther for some than others.