This festive map shows seismic hazard in Northern California, where pretty much all the large Internet companies are based, along with a zillion startups. The ones that aren't here have their headquarters in an even deadlier zone up in Cascadia. (...)
So even if you don't agree with my politics, maybe you'll agree with my geology. Let's not build a vast, distributed global network only to put everything in one place!
That slide[1] hits close to home. I'm painfully aware of how hard (and almost pointless/powerless) it is to reason about long-term geological risks, esp compared to less catastrophic and more (short-term) predictable hazards like hurricanes, tornadoes or blizzards; but from time to time I idly question the wisdom, from a civilizational point of view, of having so many concentrated, incredibly talented people living directly atop one of the most dangerous fault regions on earth[2].
But again, it's pointless to think about it as an individual, so better get back to work and keep living day by day, I guess. Wovon man nicht sprechen kann...
Maciej is over-estimating the risk potential here. Or, to be more precise---the companies that have headquarters in the Valley are aware of the risk potential and have contingency plans to mitigate it.
Not that I'm against seeing some great software companies grow out of other geographic locations; I'm merely noting that it's not necessary to do so to avoid the threat of earthquake-related disruption. Threat known and accounted for.
Perhaps. A awful lot of wealthy and reputable companies thought they were solidly prepared against cracking attempts, too. It's harder to take their word for it now than it was five years ago.
So even if you don't agree with my politics, maybe you'll agree with my geology. Let's not build a vast, distributed global network only to put everything in one place!
That slide[1] hits close to home. I'm painfully aware of how hard (and almost pointless/powerless) it is to reason about long-term geological risks, esp compared to less catastrophic and more (short-term) predictable hazards like hurricanes, tornadoes or blizzards; but from time to time I idly question the wisdom, from a civilizational point of view, of having so many concentrated, incredibly talented people living directly atop one of the most dangerous fault regions on earth[2].
But again, it's pointless to think about it as an individual, so better get back to work and keep living day by day, I guess. Wovon man nicht sprechen kann...
[1] https://static.pinboard.in/bt14/bt14.069.jpg
[2] http://peer.berkeley.edu/pdf/Senate_testimonial-8-07.pdf