I do believe that total surveillance is inevitable; it will keep becoming easier and cheaper until it happens sooner or later. I think the big question is who will have access to the data. Since information is power, if access to the information is limited then it will contribute to a power inequality. If access to the source data is free and open, it will diminish power inequality.
Anyone who's listened to Skrillex, or any sort of Dubstep for that matter, knows that it isn't really about the chords. Chords are one dimension of the music. The best new artists are exploring new dimensions, which means analyzing their use of the old dimensions is meaningless.
Indeed. I'm a CNC programmer in a machine shop. Besides the cost of machines and tooling there is significant skill and work needed to set a mill up to make something. With a 3D printer it's "push button receive bacon."
When a government has the power to issue a licence, it also has the power to deny that license. Therefore if you have a right to something it cannot be licensed. Do you have a right to marry whomever you choose? If so, marriage licenses are bogus. If not, then the government has acquired the power to determine who may or may not marry whom. Oh, look, they're doing that now too.
I've built several of my pieces of furniture. My wife even likes them and is asking me to build more. There are several reasons I build instead of buy, greatest of which are cost and customization.
The great thing about 3D printing is that it really isn't time and energy intensive. The machine does the work for you. I'm a CNC programmer, and yes, for long runs, hard materials, and tight tolerances machining blows 3D printing away. But Machining takes not only some rather expensive equipment, but a lot of setup time, programming, and figuring out methodology. With a 3D printer you basically just load a model and hit a button. So what if it takes a day to print out, that's unattended time. And as far as materials go, there are people working on a device to recycle plastic bottles into filament that can be used in a 3D printer. Get one of those and your material is free.
But when certain classes of weapons become illegal or are made more difficult to obtain, the outcome of these events would be rather different. The most recent headlines would probably read something like "man goes on insane rampage, kills six with bolt-action hunting rifle", as opposed to a dozen.
Or he could have set firebombs at all the exits and burned them all to death. Speculation is useless.
What if there wasn't any restriction on what you could buy?
If there were no restriction on what you could buy and carry, I would predict the assailant wouldn't have lasted long enough to get off a full mag. He was successful because no one was carrying.
The human-equivalent robot is probably only about 40 years away by my best guess. It could be longer, but it will definitely be within the next century. At that point our whole concept of employment will need to have changed.
Right now robots could drive the buses, sweep the streets, and flip the burgers. It'll just take a little bit for them to get cheaper than high school kids.
The creative jobs already tend to have far more applicants than positions. In order to be gainfully employed you have to be able to do something better than a robot of comparable expense, which is beyond a growing sector of the population. We're entering an ugly phase of economic reform, between scarcity and abundance. In the old way, the default state was lack, and if you could provide something it had value, and so could be traded for something else of value. In the future there could be abundance, in which case everyone can just take what they want. In between there's the point where there is enough for everyone, but those who have it won't share because (instinctively if not consciously) they're concerned about not having enough in the future. They also won't trade with you because you don't have anything that's of value to them.
What about getting another 10% of drivers out of SUVs? There are plenty of large sedans and wagons that can haul just as much as most SUVs and do it more efficiently.
Throughout history people have been using wastefulness as a way of showing off their wealth. It's a way of stating that you can afford to not be efficient. That is part of the motivation for people to drive large, expensive, inefficient vehicles. You won't convince me that anyone bought a Hummer H3 or Escalade purely for practical purposes. Making the SUV more efficient would reduce the demand for that SUV. I think the effort would be better spent coming up with a way to convince people that it's socially preferable to be efficient, thus effecting them to choose a different vehicle.
- They stopped making the Crown Vic, that means 3 child families must use SUVs and Vans.
Or sedans or wagons. Most vehicles I see on the road are four door four seat sedans, but they must not have any where you live.
- Modern cars are often rather small, making them worthless for big trips with young children (try to fit two decent strollers in the trunk of something that isn't a Crown Vic, I dare you).
Try a Subaru Legacy Wagon. My parents have been driving those since '82, and not only can you fit just about anything in them (including a five person family) and on them (including stacks of plywood), they can also pull other vehicles out of the mud or snow. They also have the advantage of being more efficient than SUVs and don't roll over when you make an avoidance maneuver.
- The towing capacity of the average modern car is about 1000 lbs...
Maybe a Prius or Civic. I've used my dad's Subaru to haul cars and fairly large trailers.
- Modern cars have small engines.... SUVs get much better highway mileage (not better than cars, but not all that far away) because they often put an appropriately sized engine in them.
SOME modern cars have small engines. There are plenty of large sedans and sports cars with big engines if that's what you want. Twice the vehicle takes twice the engine and twice the fuel to go the same speed. SUVs get much better highway mileage than what?
- If you like to do your own repair work,...
I do plenty of my own repair work, and it's not really all that hard.
Slashdot Mirror
Should be easy enough to retrofit with your choice of home made or modified weapons systems.
I do believe that total surveillance is inevitable; it will keep becoming easier and cheaper until it happens sooner or later. I think the big question is who will have access to the data. Since information is power, if access to the information is limited then it will contribute to a power inequality. If access to the source data is free and open, it will diminish power inequality.
You can ask all you want, it will fall on deaf ears. Money talks.
Anyone who's listened to Skrillex, or any sort of Dubstep for that matter, knows that it isn't really about the chords. Chords are one dimension of the music. The best new artists are exploring new dimensions, which means analyzing their use of the old dimensions is meaningless.
An armed society is a polite society.
Cost....And skill.
Indeed. I'm a CNC programmer in a machine shop. Besides the cost of machines and tooling there is significant skill and work needed to set a mill up to make something. With a 3D printer it's "push button receive bacon."
When a government has the power to issue a licence, it also has the power to deny that license. Therefore if you have a right to something it cannot be licensed. Do you have a right to marry whomever you choose? If so, marriage licenses are bogus. If not, then the government has acquired the power to determine who may or may not marry whom. Oh, look, they're doing that now too.
Wishing for mod points. ++
I've built several of my pieces of furniture. My wife even likes them and is asking me to build more. There are several reasons I build instead of buy, greatest of which are cost and customization.
The great thing about 3D printing is that it really isn't time and energy intensive. The machine does the work for you. I'm a CNC programmer, and yes, for long runs, hard materials, and tight tolerances machining blows 3D printing away. But Machining takes not only some rather expensive equipment, but a lot of setup time, programming, and figuring out methodology. With a 3D printer you basically just load a model and hit a button. So what if it takes a day to print out, that's unattended time. And as far as materials go, there are people working on a device to recycle plastic bottles into filament that can be used in a 3D printer. Get one of those and your material is free.
A story in which automated production far exceeds all demand; ramifications are investigated. http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm
But when certain classes of weapons become illegal or are made more difficult to obtain, the outcome of these events would be rather different. The most recent headlines would probably read something like "man goes on insane rampage, kills six with bolt-action hunting rifle", as opposed to a dozen.
Or he could have set firebombs at all the exits and burned them all to death. Speculation is useless.
What if there wasn't any restriction on what you could buy?
If there were no restriction on what you could buy and carry, I would predict the assailant wouldn't have lasted long enough to get off a full mag. He was successful because no one was carrying.
Interesting.
Get them direct: https://www.getbuckyballs.com/order/buckyballs/
That's good for about five minutes; then what?
“What the world needs now, is another folk singer, like I need a hole in my head"
Let them fight to the death for the entertainment of the rest?
Well, the world still needs ditch diggers, janitors and burger flippers too you know.
Until those jobs are automated too.
Most of them would sit on their buts and watch TV, play video games, and whatever similar entertainments haven't been invented yet.
The human-equivalent robot is probably only about 40 years away by my best guess. It could be longer, but it will definitely be within the next century. At that point our whole concept of employment will need to have changed.
Right now robots could drive the buses, sweep the streets, and flip the burgers. It'll just take a little bit for them to get cheaper than high school kids.
So far, the complete and total BOM for my machine is around $85.
Sounds promising. What sort of performance do you expect? Rigidity, work envelope, toolchanger capacity?
The creative jobs already tend to have far more applicants than positions. In order to be gainfully employed you have to be able to do something better than a robot of comparable expense, which is beyond a growing sector of the population. We're entering an ugly phase of economic reform, between scarcity and abundance. In the old way, the default state was lack, and if you could provide something it had value, and so could be traded for something else of value. In the future there could be abundance, in which case everyone can just take what they want. In between there's the point where there is enough for everyone, but those who have it won't share because (instinctively if not consciously) they're concerned about not having enough in the future. They also won't trade with you because you don't have anything that's of value to them.
Methinks thou dost protest too much.
They have roof racks and trailer hitches.
What about getting another 10% of drivers out of SUVs? There are plenty of large sedans and wagons that can haul just as much as most SUVs and do it more efficiently.
Throughout history people have been using wastefulness as a way of showing off their wealth. It's a way of stating that you can afford to not be efficient. That is part of the motivation for people to drive large, expensive, inefficient vehicles. You won't convince me that anyone bought a Hummer H3 or Escalade purely for practical purposes. Making the SUV more efficient would reduce the demand for that SUV. I think the effort would be better spent coming up with a way to convince people that it's socially preferable to be efficient, thus effecting them to choose a different vehicle.
- They stopped making the Crown Vic, that means 3 child families must use SUVs and Vans.
Or sedans or wagons. Most vehicles I see on the road are four door four seat sedans, but they must not have any where you live.
- Modern cars are often rather small, making them worthless for big trips with young children (try to fit two decent strollers in the trunk of something that isn't a Crown Vic, I dare you).
Try a Subaru Legacy Wagon. My parents have been driving those since '82, and not only can you fit just about anything in them (including a five person family) and on them (including stacks of plywood), they can also pull other vehicles out of the mud or snow. They also have the advantage of being more efficient than SUVs and don't roll over when you make an avoidance maneuver.
- The towing capacity of the average modern car is about 1000 lbs...
Maybe a Prius or Civic. I've used my dad's Subaru to haul cars and fairly large trailers.
- Modern cars have small engines.... SUVs get much better highway mileage (not better than cars, but not all that far away) because they often put an appropriately sized engine in them.
SOME modern cars have small engines. There are plenty of large sedans and sports cars with big engines if that's what you want. Twice the vehicle takes twice the engine and twice the fuel to go the same speed. SUVs get much better highway mileage than what?
- If you like to do your own repair work,...
I do plenty of my own repair work, and it's not really all that hard.
- They quit making station wagons...
There may be fewer full sized wagons to choose from, but there are still plenty. Here's a quick peek: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=2013+station+wagons
- It sucks ass getting a flat in a car on a long trip...
There are many sedans and wagons that come with a full size spare. If you choose to buy one without, there is often room to upgrade to a full.
- Stop using gasoline, use LPG or CNG...
What's that about long road trips? Can't find a place to fill up? Oh well, at least you have a full sized spare tire.
BTW, I'm a breeder with a minivan, a V6 convertible, and a motorcycle. It's pretty darned rare for me to need something else.