Andrew Gray

Andrew Gray

  • Commented on The Nakamoto Variations
    I always thought the invention of Bitcoin would be perfect for a time traveler. Way better than the cliche betting on sports, or investing in companies sure to succeed. Just got back to the earliest time a cryptocurrency could be...
  • Commented on Crib Notes: Empire Games
    Even better, keep the orbital nuclear battle-station in a third timeline. I'm guessing that submarines can't move between worlds due to contact with the water, but orbital and aerial deterrents would work nicely. I wouldn't be surprised if the US...
  • Commented on Book day!
    That's an interesting observation about Mo. I'm clearly going to need to re-read the series. If Mo is already something other than human, perhaps it is something that has a natural aversion to the sort of entity that is the...
  • Commented on Book day!
    Yeah, the Mandate - Black Pharaoh connection caught me off guard too, and I had to try and see if I was remembering right. I thought he was just a particularly high level super-powered human. Though perhaps that particular superhuman's...
  • Commented on Book day!
    It sounds like the Black Pharoh is better because he only wants to rule and play with humanity, not destroy them and devour their souls. I get the idea the whole thing is kind of a game for him. What's...
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    It's possible we could see the abandonment of both visual and aural interfaces in favor of gnostic ones. Direct links to whatever sort of computing devices then have 100 years, with your thoughts translated into action, and knowledge appearing fully...
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    I think it may well be possible to "record" brains long before we can do anything with them. Emulation will probably come next, with a lot of debate over whether or not they are real conscious minds, and how accurate...
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    Think about metadata -- each emoji has an underlying concept. You could have culture specific emoji that mean the same thing just displayed differently. Displays would just show the ones appropriate to the viewer. Though there's nothing really preventing pan-cultural...
  • Commented on 2117 revisited
    I think we could see the opposite of what it sounds like you're predicting. With computer-mediated communication we could see an increasing balkanization of language into multiple dialects. Seamless computer translation of written and spoken word could mean that you...
  • Commented on We get mail (contd.)
    Beliefs in things like gods, magic, spirits, etc. is probably tied to things in our minds like how we see faces in things that don't have faces, and how we always look for a cause for everything that happens. In...
  • Commented on Popcorn Time
    They would need to morph into a broader right-populist (English) nationalist "Make Britain Great Again" party. Everything wrong with Britain is because of Europe's spite, Finance (London) screwing over industry and the working class, and unfair trade deals. Maybe even...
  • Commented on Popcorn Time
    A lot will probably depend on how they can spin the blame for the negative effects of Brexit. I could see a lot of voters believing it is the fault of a petty and vengeful EU who wanted the UK...
  • Commented on Popcorn Time
    Yeah, losing Scotland would pretty much guarantee a Conservative government for the remaining UK. At least for the next decade. There's probably a political realignment in the cards though. If Brexit goes badly the Conservatives will get the blame. But...
  • Commented on Popcorn Time
    What's interesting is that all of this can be traced back to 9/11 and illustrates how one event can have major consequences. 9/11 led to the US invasion of Afghanistan and set the political atmosphere that allowed the invasion of...
  • Commented on The internet of decay
    It generally takes a long time to design those tests, in the US at least you have to be able to show they aren't biased against a protected group in any lawsuits that might come up. And as a result,...
  • Commented on The internet of decay
    As the computational power of these connected toys and devices increases, it will become more likely that someone will push their own firmware or software updates out to unsecured devices. Possibly adding new capabilities to them. In general, if these...
  • Commented on Some notes on the worst-case scenario
    Well, that is a fairly plausible worst case scenario. Though you could also throw in destabilizing various regions to promote warfare. Though personally I don't think there's anything so sinister. I think the white nationalism is merely a side effect...
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    While I think a lot of Republicans in Congress would greatly prefer Pence over Trump, it will take a lot before the impeach him. Most of what people on the Left have point at is really weak when it comes...
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    I think he might actually be doing something smart by signing so many upsetting executive orders in a short time. Even just one of them would get protests, and rather than stretch things out over months or a year he...
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    He got the countries from an older law from Obama's administration. Which is why it doesn't make much sense given the current situation....
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    I'm thinking hybrid more along the lines that it is not purely a 20th century democracy, but partly a 19th century one or older. And they're not necessarily the only one, having a monarch is a holdover from the 19th...
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    Have you actually been to Orlando, outside of the tourist strip? I lived there for years, it's a pretty normal place overall....
  • Commented on Policy change: future US visits
    It's interesting to see how people living in 20th century democracies (or hybrids like the UK) view an 18th century imperial republic like the US. And if it wasn't for our combination of racism and being too cheap to build...
  • Commented on Theme, Fiction, and Empire Games
    I'm still trying to figure out what Kurt's function is, within the context of his timeline. Rita's an interesting case -- her timeline seems to be behind our in terms of social progress by at least 15 years. I'm guessing...
  • Commented on Empire Games
    Is it bad that I think the USA is still more pleasant than the Commonwealth, even allowing for tech differences? :) One question though -- does the Philip K. Dick book mentioned in the text mean that this is an...
  • Commented on Things Can Only Get Better! (Part 1)
    And each month, three beloved celebrities will pass away....
  • Commented on Suspense is the key
    I suppose The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August starts that way, thought it might be a bit of a hybrid between that and a hook. It starts at the end of his 11th life where he gets a message...
  • Commented on Sometimes I don't know why I bother!
    Harald Hardrada is an interesting guy. Half-brother to a guy who became a Saint, forced into exile at age 15 where he became a commander for Yaroslav the Wise of Rus, then latter going to Constantinople and joining the Varangian...
  • Commented on Sometimes I don't know why I bother!
    I always found Jean Laborde interesting. Shipwrecked on Madagascar at the age of 26 and had the country building blast furnaces, power looms, artillery, and horse railways by the age of 32. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Laborde...
  • Commented on Reality is broken
    I'm really interested in how a privatized agency and related corporations would apply geas and other magical compulsions to contracts. Imagine binding employees to non-compete agreements and NDAs with magic. Or making EULAs compel the end user to comply. On...
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