Q&#146;s job open

last updated 8 January 2015

London

The British government has placed a Help Wanted ad for a new director of the Government Communications Center, the agency known in James Bond films as Q-branch. In the movies, Q provides 007 with high-tech, snazzy gear, such as explosive toothpaste, X-ray glasses, and even jet packs for flying. In real life, though, the agency concentrates on listening devices and satellite communications. “If someone did apply for the job hoping for an unlimited budget to convert Aston Martins into submarines,” said Alex Standish, editor of Jane’s Intelligence Review, “they might be sorely disappointed.”