Rich Devaul News Today

Hi, everybody. Do you detect something missing? Like that unease in your gut that everything has gone to hell? Wonder why that is. Oh, and for those of you who are reading this newsletter on WIRED’s website, here’s some news. First, we’re sending this out early because we have a scoop timed to tonight. And now for some bad news: Aside from an occasional episode shared out of the goodness of my heart, Plaintext will hereafter be available only for subscribers. Don’t look sh...

61 shares Project Loon was developed in Googles secretive X Lab by the same team behind Google Glasses and the driverless car.  It had aimed to bring connectivity to areas of the world where building cell towers is too expensive or treacherous – such as parts of Africa, south-east Asia and the Amazon.  Developing countries that couldnt cover the high cost of laying fibre cables to get online were hoped to benefit from the project, leading to a dramatic increase in internet access.  Loon h...