Virgin Media said it was "disappointed" that it "fell short" of its own high standards on broadband speeds.
On this logic, if China's economy stumbles, or indeed as it produces ever more of its own high-end investment goods, Germany will be in trouble.
But it has also reinforced China's determination to accelerate the development of its own high-tech industries and reduce its reliance on the United States.
Charlie Hebdo magazine received a controversial freedom of expression award from American PEN on Tuesday night despite the vocal opposition of many of its own high-profile members.
Comic Relief, which was criticised by some of its own high-profile supporters, including the comics Frankie Boyle and Al Murray, said that it had commissioned an "urgent review" of its investment strategy.
The finishing touches are currently being applied to two blocks, 20 and 16 storeys high, commissioned by the London borough of Hackney, which was once an enthusiastic detonator of its own high-rise housing stock.
But a deal could prove attractive in that it would free British Telecommunications from the headache of wrangling with regulators and it would provide cash for the company to accelerate the development of its own high-speed services.
The once indomitable animation studio Pixar is currently a victim of its own high standards: Cars 2 and Brave were technically immaculate but narratively wan, a trend that continues with this belated prequel to 2001's superior Monsters , Inc
There are moments where Goldberg falls short of its own high standards: the contemporary dance material lacks bite, and some of the "real -life" rehearsal behaviour becomes surprisingly twee.
"The technology has improved to the point where the experience of both the doctor and patient are close to the same as in-person visits, and in some cases better," says Dr. Kaveh Safavi, head of global health care for Cisco Systems, which is supporting trials of its own high-definition video version of telemedicine in California, Colorado and New Mexico.
