Put an antenna on your house for free OTA TV, get TiVo, turn on the 30-second skip feature, teach your kid how to use it to skip past commercials, and he'll be shielded from about 95% of all the advertisements. You can't really get around product placement in the shows themselves though but it's better than nothing.
Yeah sure go ahead and call me flamebait, because the goram Chinese are just so perfect and careful with everything they do, what could possibly go wrong? In their headlong rush to beat the West at everything and become the predominant political and military power in the world, they wouldn't dream of taking any shortcuts or taking any big risks now would they? After all they're just so peaceful and benevolent, absolute advocates of human and civil rights, freedom of speech, respectful of the borders and territories of neighboring countries, and wouldn't even dream of harming so much as a single fly!
Since businesses always need fleet vehicles that are as inexpensive and simple as possible I'm sure when the time comes I'll be able to find something very no-frills and not-consumer-oriented that fits my very basic needs.
That's how many people live in Scotland. For comparison's sake, the State of California in the U.S. has just under 39 million. Therefore, as much as I like the Scots and Scotland, I'm not terribly impressed by half of their energy coming from renewables.
So they're going to just bypass all that pesky legal stuff like people's rights and impose punishment on people who haven't even been arrested or had their day in court? Sounds to me like vigilantism at best, or quite a bit like cybercrime or cyberterrorism at worst. Sounds to me like they're the ones who need to be arrested by the FBI, not alleged 'copyright infringers'.
Nah, I have a better, cheaper idea: Tinfoil hats are really inexpensive and easy to make, and it'll make anyone worrying about 'evil space aliens' feel at least as much better than expensive lasers.
I know it's probably not a very useful comment for me to make, but I feel the need to make it anyway: What it seems to come down to in so many cases, is 'people treating other people like shit for fun and profit', and I really wish the Human race would knock that shit off already. 'Fuck everyone else, and fuck the future, so long as we have money and power TODAY' really makes me want to pound the wall with my fists, if you know what I mean.
Switch over all gasoline engines to battery usage (which pollute and damage the environment in just as many other ways as battery creation (and reclamation) will cause pollution and environmental damage of other kinds.
While I agree with you on this point, do you have a better solution? Or should we just throw up our hands and go "Oh well! May as well just keep burning fossil fuels!" and forget about it? We KNOW what damage those are causing. The only problem with you or anyone making the point you're making, is that you and others like you never propose a better solution, or worse, you suggest a solution that might mitigate or even prevent the damage entirely, but that is an unworkable solution; 'forcing everyone to use public transit' is one that comes to mind. It would eliminate many problems, but it would never be practical for so many reasons, therefore it's a non-starter.
THIS JUST IN: Following in the footsteps of their neighbor and ally, China, North Korea today has decreed that by law no fun of any kind is allowed at any time, under penalty of death. Citizens are quoted as saying "Meh, so they're not changing anything?"
Oh, and also, I was wondering: What's it like to be irrelevant? Never having been irrelevant, ever, I don't have any idea what it's like, and it's fairly obvious you'd know, so do you mind describing the feeling for me?
Is there even a Chinese word for the concept of 'fun'? Or has the Communist government there outlawed the word, too? I can just imagine hearing whatever Chinese State official it was reading this edict; it would probably sound like Charlie Browns' teacher, except in Mandarin.
Your brain is fucked up. Or you're trolling. Either way please bugger off, you sound like a crazy person. Even if you're not, you'd like it if my tax dollars went to pay for dozens of millions of people laying around fucking off all day long and getting paid for it? I'd sooner push the Big Red Button and blow the planet to smithereens before I'll ever agree to that. Or shoot people like you in the head. Anything to stop it from happening.
This is why I support a change to a formal basic income.
Know what I believe about your 'basic income'? That it will find a way to exclude ME, and make ME work, and raise MY taxes so other people can be on the dole. I'm sure the rich will make sure it works that way, the way they always do: protect their money, and SCREW ME.
Unless I get a signed, witnessed document, iron-clad, enforceable by the U.S. Government, and irrevocable, that says I can quit my job, maintain my current standard of living (which is NOT HIGH at all), and be able to go ride my bike every day and never worry about rent, food, or bike parts ever again? You can forget it, I'll never vote for it, I'll write letters against it.
As you already observed it'll never happen anyway so I have nothing to fear from this.
Letting them stay home and watch TV would mean that I could finish my work with less interference and then go learn another language or play music or whatever else. It's win-win.
That's a total and complete fantasy and you damned well know it is, it will NEVER HAPPEN. What will happen is a welfare state where you and I work to pay for fatass drunks to lay around and get fatter and more drunk. Nope, nope, nope.
I 'cut the cord' years ago, too -- and put an antenna on the roof. AT&T and Comcast both can go fuck themselves sideways with a rusty chainsaw; they can't 'tax' my usage of OTA broadcast television.
Oh and by the way? The 24th century Federation of Star Trek had essentially unlimited more-or-less-free power generation capability, and offshoots of transporter technology gave them replicator technology, which meant that more replicators could be created for essentially nothing, which meant that no human on Earth ever needed to be without food, water, or shelter; the basic necessities of life, and then some, were all provided for, for free, by the world government, to every single person on the planet. They even, for all intents and purposes, abolished the idea of money or even the need for money. Gee, ain't that a nice thought! But we're far, far away from anything like that, if it's even possible -- which it likely isn't. Nice dream though but that's all it is.
Know what I see? I see SOME problems solved by technology.. but I see a whole bunch of problems CAUSED by our headlong breakneck rush forward into MORE technology, meanwhile our poor caveman brains aren't keeping up. I see people getting lazier and lazier, fatter and fatter, dumber and dumber, instead of the opposite. I see people not learning how to do basic things or learning basic knowledge of things because they don't have to anymore, because some machine or some piece of software does it for them. I see a possible future where people can't even take care of themselves in the most basic ways without a bunch of technology around them.
I don't want to live in a world that's filled with nothing but robots, and people avoiding each other. I don't want self-driving cars, I want to do it myself. I don't want some machine making my dinner for me and wheeling it out to my table, I want people who enjoy that sort of work, for whatever reasons they enjoy it, adding to the experience. I'm far from alone in this either.
The 'Wait staff' are people, too; why wouldn't I talk to them instead of treating them like machines, regardless of who else I might be with? Do you disregard some people because they're 'beneath' you or something? Just because someone is taking your food order and bringing it to you doesn't mean that they're dumb or not worthwhile, many of them are just making ends meet until they're done with school or until they get their 'big break' in life, so why should I or anyone else treat them with any less regard or respect than anyone else? I'd have sharp words for anyone I was out with who treated the waitstaff at any restaurant with anything other than respect. All in all I don't think your problems life need to be solved by the rest of us having to endure 'robot' service in restaurants (or in the kitchens for that matter), I think your 'problems' could be solved by learning some manners and a proper level of respect for other human beings, regardless of whether they're waiting tables, the guy you work for, or President of the United States.
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Trolls trolling trolls
'Bots chatting with other 'bots
Put an antenna on your house for free OTA TV, get TiVo, turn on the 30-second skip feature, teach your kid how to use it to skip past commercials, and he'll be shielded from about 95% of all the advertisements. You can't really get around product placement in the shows themselves though but it's better than nothing.
Yeah sure go ahead and call me flamebait, because the goram Chinese are just so perfect and careful with everything they do, what could possibly go wrong? In their headlong rush to beat the West at everything and become the predominant political and military power in the world, they wouldn't dream of taking any shortcuts or taking any big risks now would they? After all they're just so peaceful and benevolent, absolute advocates of human and civil rights, freedom of speech, respectful of the borders and territories of neighboring countries, and wouldn't even dream of harming so much as a single fly!
Well, at least we won't have to look too hard for what it is that's killing us: everything.
Since businesses always need fleet vehicles that are as inexpensive and simple as possible I'm sure when the time comes I'll be able to find something very no-frills and not-consumer-oriented that fits my very basic needs.
Should be immune to all this extraneous bullshit in the vehicle.
I read stuff like this and it makes me question having ethics and conscience.
That's how many people live in Scotland. For comparison's sake, the State of California in the U.S. has just under 39 million. Therefore, as much as I like the Scots and Scotland, I'm not terribly impressed by half of their energy coming from renewables.
So they're going to just bypass all that pesky legal stuff like people's rights and impose punishment on people who haven't even been arrested or had their day in court? Sounds to me like vigilantism at best, or quite a bit like cybercrime or cyberterrorism at worst. Sounds to me like they're the ones who need to be arrested by the FBI, not alleged 'copyright infringers'.
Nah, I have a better, cheaper idea: Tinfoil hats are really inexpensive and easy to make, and it'll make anyone worrying about 'evil space aliens' feel at least as much better than expensive lasers.
I know it's probably not a very useful comment for me to make, but I feel the need to make it anyway: What it seems to come down to in so many cases, is 'people treating other people like shit for fun and profit', and I really wish the Human race would knock that shit off already. 'Fuck everyone else, and fuck the future, so long as we have money and power TODAY' really makes me want to pound the wall with my fists, if you know what I mean.
Switch over all gasoline engines to battery usage (which pollute and damage the environment in just as many other ways as battery creation (and reclamation) will cause pollution and environmental damage of other kinds.
While I agree with you on this point, do you have a better solution? Or should we just throw up our hands and go "Oh well! May as well just keep burning fossil fuels!" and forget about it? We KNOW what damage those are causing. The only problem with you or anyone making the point you're making, is that you and others like you never propose a better solution, or worse, you suggest a solution that might mitigate or even prevent the damage entirely, but that is an unworkable solution; 'forcing everyone to use public transit' is one that comes to mind. It would eliminate many problems, but it would never be practical for so many reasons, therefore it's a non-starter.
The little dog that used to just go yap yap yap is now frothing at the mouth, too. Isn't it time to euthenize it?
Nerd rage
In reference to that, here's an instructional image for you.
Have a nice day, newfriend! Be sure to enjoy your Autism Awareness Day cake!
THIS JUST IN: Following in the footsteps of their neighbor and ally, China, North Korea today has decreed that by law no fun of any kind is allowed at any time, under penalty of death. Citizens are quoted as saying "Meh, so they're not changing anything?"
Oh, and also, I was wondering: What's it like to be irrelevant? Never having been irrelevant, ever, I don't have any idea what it's like, and it's fairly obvious you'd know, so do you mind describing the feeling for me?
How's that working out for you?
Just fine. How's being an ass working for you? Get beat up anywhere lately?
Is there even a Chinese word for the concept of 'fun'? Or has the Communist government there outlawed the word, too? I can just imagine hearing whatever Chinese State official it was reading this edict; it would probably sound like Charlie Browns' teacher, except in Mandarin.
Your brain is fucked up. Or you're trolling. Either way please bugger off, you sound like a crazy person. Even if you're not, you'd like it if my tax dollars went to pay for dozens of millions of people laying around fucking off all day long and getting paid for it? I'd sooner push the Big Red Button and blow the planet to smithereens before I'll ever agree to that. Or shoot people like you in the head. Anything to stop it from happening.
This is why I support a change to a formal basic income.
Know what I believe about your 'basic income'? That it will find a way to exclude ME, and make ME work, and raise MY taxes so other people can be on the dole. I'm sure the rich will make sure it works that way, the way they always do: protect their money, and SCREW ME.
Unless I get a signed, witnessed document, iron-clad, enforceable by the U.S. Government, and irrevocable, that says I can quit my job, maintain my current standard of living (which is NOT HIGH at all), and be able to go ride my bike every day and never worry about rent, food, or bike parts ever again? You can forget it, I'll never vote for it, I'll write letters against it.
As you already observed it'll never happen anyway so I have nothing to fear from this.
Letting them stay home and watch TV would mean that I could finish my work with less interference and then go learn another language or play music or whatever else. It's win-win.
That's a total and complete fantasy and you damned well know it is, it will NEVER HAPPEN. What will happen is a welfare state where you and I work to pay for fatass drunks to lay around and get fatter and more drunk. Nope, nope, nope.
I 'cut the cord' years ago, too -- and put an antenna on the roof. AT&T and Comcast both can go fuck themselves sideways with a rusty chainsaw; they can't 'tax' my usage of OTA broadcast television.
Oh and by the way? The 24th century Federation of Star Trek had essentially unlimited more-or-less-free power generation capability, and offshoots of transporter technology gave them replicator technology, which meant that more replicators could be created for essentially nothing, which meant that no human on Earth ever needed to be without food, water, or shelter; the basic necessities of life, and then some, were all provided for, for free, by the world government, to every single person on the planet. They even, for all intents and purposes, abolished the idea of money or even the need for money. Gee, ain't that a nice thought! But we're far, far away from anything like that, if it's even possible -- which it likely isn't. Nice dream though but that's all it is.
Know what I see? I see SOME problems solved by technology.. but I see a whole bunch of problems CAUSED by our headlong breakneck rush forward into MORE technology, meanwhile our poor caveman brains aren't keeping up. I see people getting lazier and lazier, fatter and fatter, dumber and dumber, instead of the opposite. I see people not learning how to do basic things or learning basic knowledge of things because they don't have to anymore, because some machine or some piece of software does it for them. I see a possible future where people can't even take care of themselves in the most basic ways without a bunch of technology around them.
I don't want to live in a world that's filled with nothing but robots, and people avoiding each other. I don't want self-driving cars, I want to do it myself. I don't want some machine making my dinner for me and wheeling it out to my table, I want people who enjoy that sort of work, for whatever reasons they enjoy it, adding to the experience. I'm far from alone in this either.
Waite staff
The 'Wait staff' are people, too; why wouldn't I talk to them instead of treating them like machines, regardless of who else I might be with? Do you disregard some people because they're 'beneath' you or something? Just because someone is taking your food order and bringing it to you doesn't mean that they're dumb or not worthwhile, many of them are just making ends meet until they're done with school or until they get their 'big break' in life, so why should I or anyone else treat them with any less regard or respect than anyone else? I'd have sharp words for anyone I was out with who treated the waitstaff at any restaurant with anything other than respect. All in all I don't think your problems life need to be solved by the rest of us having to endure 'robot' service in restaurants (or in the kitchens for that matter), I think your 'problems' could be solved by learning some manners and a proper level of respect for other human beings, regardless of whether they're waiting tables, the guy you work for, or President of the United States.