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Comment by chc | Hacker News Reader

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chc·

I kind of doubt that these two names are related except that they both derive from the same common idiom.

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Also "by and large" is a nautical term meaning (roughly) "whether sailing against the wind or sailing with the wind".

and a common phrase (though a little less used than in previous generations) meaning 'generally'

Confirmed about the generational decline: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=by+and+large&y...

Interesting to interpret in that context. Maybe a data center intended to work best exactly when other centers would be experiencing losses in connectivity?

While we're speculating on the meaning behind the name(s) RE:wind, remember that Google acquired Makani Power a while back. They build wind generated power systems using large kites. What better place to put them into production than at sea where there isn't much worry about crashing to the ground.

http://www.makanipower.com/home/

unlikely that the Makani planes would be run from a ship. They each have a huge arc, much larger than the diameter of a traditional turbine.

Furthermore, what's the concern with them crashing in to the ground? It's not like they plan to install them directly over populated areas.

From the website: "Opens up large new areas of wind resource, including the vast resources offshore above deep water"[1]

Doesn't sound that far fetched that they would try to anchor this to the barge to try to tap that potential.

[1] - http://www.makanipower.com/why-airborne-wind/

>> unlikely that the Makani planes would be run from a ship.

Something like this, perhaps: http://www.skysails.info/english

I wouldn't put it past Google to use a tongue-in-cheek name, especially when a good hunk of WALL-E takes place around a massive starship that serves as a floating ark.

The nautical double-entendre that ZeroGravitas mentions only sweetens the deal.

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