“fear that the companies’ networking gear and software could be used by China’s spooks to eavesdrop on sensitive communications, or that it might contain “kill switches” which would allow China to disable the systems involved in the event of a conflict. “I think it’s ridiculous to allow a Chinese company with connections to the Chinese government and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to have access to a network,” says Dmitri Alperovitch of CrowdStrike, a web-security outfit.”

“It is only going to get worse. Piracy has started to move beyond the Internet and media and into the physical world. People on the fringes of tech, often early adopters of new devices and gadgets, are now working with 3-D printers that can churn out actual physical objects. Say you need a wall hook or want to replace a bit of hardware that fell off your luggage. You can download a file and “print” these objects with printers that spray layers of plastic, metal or ceramics into shapes.”

“In an environment where stockpiles of information can be integrated into a computer chip and seemingly infinite information is a click away online, patrons will visit libraries to make sense of it all. “Having too much is worse than not enough,” Dawson said. “Librarians will serve as a guide to resources and help people find relevant information. Filing and validating information will be one of the most important skills of our future.”

“The Fiber TV plan (as part of Google’s whole Fiber plan) costs $120 / month, plus a $300 construction fee. But if you sign a two-year contract, the construction fee is waived. “You don’t have to settle for old-time television anymore,” execs said. We’re into that idea.”