more questions perhaps

Took a trip to Qualcomm today as part of the picT program. Wasn't _entirely_ sure how the Qualcomm part related, but it was very interesting to see the place and listen to what people out in a megacorporation are doing. Also we got to see a lot of upcoming technology. I made a small list with which to impress my family and friends. (It's not often I get to one-up my brother on technology....._he_ works at Nintendo, don't you know.)

Anyway, the nucleus of Qualcomm appears to be a dark security room inhabited by people sitting at triple-monitors, monitoring things. On either side of them were real-time screens showing graphs of problems in the network and spools that might indicate break-ins. (The chief-info guy, who looked very much like some character actor I couldn't place--is this what happens to out-of-work character actors?--said that Qualcomm gets 20,000 break-in attempts a day!) All day long these people work out long threads of code on the third screen, trying to address the problems that come up on the other two.

There was a huge screening of headline news at the front of the room, which they said they keep there just in case something really big hits, like a power outage (but I think they just wanted to watch the Michael Jackson trial). On either side were screens showing real-time shots of various places of "Building R" (I desperately wanted to ask what was so valuable in Building R that they monitored it constantly, but I didn't dare), incoming video streams, network locations across the Qualcomm system, and problem areas.

It was scary. It was just like those rooms they show you in the movies--the rooms they show you that monitor everything we do.

BUT: the upside? Granite-covered conference tables and really good cookies. Yum.