Members of the UW Security and Privacy Research Lab, proudly wearing their waivers. (via UW CSE News)

The best insights, observations, comments, tweets and random zingers we heard this week.

“I FULLY UNDERSTAND: (a) that the Experiments involve risks and dangers of SERIOUS BODILY INJURY, INCLUDING PERMANENT DISABILITY OR PARALYSIS (‘Risks’)” — text of the waiver signed by members of the University of Washington Security and Privacy Research Lab before testing their hacked vehicle on an airport runway. They printed it on the backs of their shirts.

Aviel Ginzburg has been pushing the boundaries of the iPad ... and other stuff, apparently. (Randy Stewart photo)

“Friend staying with me just complained that the iPad I keep next to the toilet ran out of battery. I surround myself with people like me.” — Aviel Ginzburg of Seattle startup Simply Measured, making a confession on Twitter.

“Hmmm… That was much more flammable than expected.” — Ginzburg, in an unexplained and out-of-context tweet the same day, leaving us to hope the flames weren’t related to his friend, or to that iPad next to the toilet.

“Yikes, so when I trip up, my pocketed phone deploys a bag or springs in my crotch? That’s certainly one way to impress the ladies.”GeekWire reader Canucker on news of Jeff Bezos seeking a patent on smartphone airbags.

“Since so many people drop their phones in the toilet, maybe the phone should deploy pontoons.” — Tom Sheppard, a.k.a. @applenag, suggests an alternative  to Bezos’ plan.

“I would also love to have wipers to clear off my screen.” — GeekWire reader aashishc on the Bezos patent.

“Hats off to Clint for taking this on. The 3 – 6 month gap in between a Startup Weekend and applying to TechStars or similar program is time when people could really benefit from a bit more direction and a bit of cash.” —  GeekWire reader Donald DeSantis on Clint Nelsen’s move to fill that gap with a new venture called Startup Labs.

“I agree Donald, it’s like being on E-steroids for 54 hours during (Startup Weekend) and then experiencing the big downer Monday morning, wishing it could go on.” — GeekWire reader Mike Vandenbos, explaining the psychological risks of an entrepreneurial overdose.

Concur's Steve Singh, talking tech amid the market turmoil.

“Fundamentally, if you think about a tough economic environment, you’ve got to look for productivity gains, and technology as a whole is really about driving productivity improvements across the enterprise. So companies like Concur and frankly I think across the tech sector will fare better in my view than the vast majority of companies.” — Steve Singh, CEO of Bellevue-based Concur Technologies, sounding upbeat amid the financial turmoil, on CNBC this past week.

“A lot of technology spending is driven by consumers. While consumers so far continue to show that they have a great appetite for things like Apple and Google you worry about that slowing down.  The other thing I would add is government is a big purchaser of technology. … As they begin to pare back their own spending it will have an impact on technology.” — former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, throwing some cold water on Singh’s optimism, on the same CNBC program.

“Congrats to the entire Zulily team; this is the fastest-growing business in Seattle history and it has been remarkably capital efficient and very humble.” — Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman, commenting on GeekWire about daily deal site Zulily’s meteoric growth and $43 million financing round.

“This technology, the iPhone, it is amazing. I love it.” — Aklilu Teka, a driver for the Uber car service in Seattle, experiencing the magic of a smartphone for the first time, not minding that customers can use Uber’s iPhone app to track his whereabouts.

“Startup advice overheard: you have too many hipsters, you won’t scale like that. Hire some fat guys who know c++.” —  Jay Kreps on Twitter.

“Every OS has its purpose. OSX, building webapps. Linux, running web apps. Windows, testing IE.” — Aaron Scruggs on Twitter.

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