aggray

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• Commented on The language of alienation
  Reposting my comment from before... This one could come from the near future: "Pot farm front for illegal gun printing ring." A bit more hard to grasp in the US than the UK because of the idea that pot would...
• Commented on Books I've written
  Which major characters you've written are your favorite and least favorite?...
• Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
  I agree, and try to bring this sort of thing up when people bring out demographics as to why China or Japan, or Europe are doomed. In most of the world, the workforce is massively unproductive and under used. How...
• Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
  Politically, a nuclear attack on US soil would pretty much require a nuclear retaliation, regardless of who is in power. 90% of the US public would demand it, it's just how we are. We're the only nation who have actually...
• Commented on Obituaries
  When my sister was about 4, she saw the Statue of Liberty on TV and was convinced it was of Thatcher... I can't help but wonder at an alternate timeline where we have a 150 foot tall statue of Margaret...
• Commented on The permanent revolution
  There's also a tendency to equate change with progress. But there have been numerous examples of changing bringing regression in various areas. In the past 200 (or maybe 500-1000 depending on your definitions) change has been progress for both the...
• Commented on How I feel this morning
  I'm annoyed that iGoogle is going away in November......
• Commented on Political failure modes and the beige dictatorship
  I think you're misjudging the Tea Party. From what I can tell it tapped into real sentiment....
• Commented on Political failure modes and the beige dictatorship
  One could say that the US system is an attempt to fix the Monarchy. The President is basically an elected monarch, originally without term limits, and counterbalanced by one group of legislators representing the wealthy and another representing the larger...
• Commented on The Anthropic Stupidity Hypothesis
  Another possibility -- domestication. Studies have shown that domestication makes animals less intelligent individually than their wild ancestors. There is also a lot of evidence that humans have been self-domesticating for at least 10,000 years. We have a lot of...
• Commented on Customer Satisfaction Survey
  Actually one of the things against older workers is that they want to keep or maintain their current salary, when a new employer won't pay that. I see that quite a lot, unfortunately -- with candidates for HR jobs... Part...
• Commented on What are the big issues of 2013 going to be?
  In the US there is a possibility that death or health issues could open a seat on the Supreme Court. This would certain set off a major political battle with the Republicans trying to block any nomination from Obama with...
• Commented on What are the big issues of 2013 going to be?
  Insourcing has been quietly happening for some time in the US, but it is starting to attract more attention in the media. Same with manufacturing. Turns out businesses underestimated the cost of offshoring -- less quality control, difficulty coordinating things,...
• Commented on Things that keep me awake at night #1: The end of telephony
  I haven't had a landline in about 8 years. My wife and I both had cellphones with more minutes than we used, free long distance, etc. I didn't see the point in paying for one. I pretty much only use...
• Commented on Things that keep me awake at night #1: The end of telephony
  The US has a situation where customers have come to expect free or heavily discounted brand new phones every 2 years, putting the companies in the position of giving away $400-$600 interest free up front to customers. Plus due to...
• Commented on The ticking clock, stopped
  Eventually some point of equilibrium would be reached. The system is self correcting -- as profits fall people engage in more productive pursuits and profits rise. OTOH, large scale businesses could well collapse in the near future. Technology may make...
• Commented on The ticking clock, stopped
  I agree with all of your points, except I don't think it will necessarily lead to high unemployment in the long run. You'll see disruption in industries revolving around geriatric care and products and likely infant/child products as well. But...
• Commented on The ticking clock, stopped
  Of course I'd take it. Even if I couldn't afford it, I'd take out loans to pay for it. But the cost isn't bad, and would likely be covered by my insurance. Heck, I'd expect most insurance plans to cover...
• Commented on The ticking clock, stopped
  That raises an interesting point -- would treatment be provided to prisoners? In the US, I would think not but it may vary by state. Which means that being sentenced to prison has even more consequences -- you age and...
• Commented on 2512
  Microsoft has some promising research: http://blogs.technet.com/b/next/archive/2012/11/08/microsoft-research-shows-a-promising-new-breakthrough-in-speech-translation-technology.aspx#.UJ5YOIdBAeV...