Where are these dumb terminals? Off the shelf PCs are standard in businesses everywhere; swapping them out might not be practical for a large organisation as they might not have enough spares on hand for more than a few failures. That happened a few times back in Nortel.
Even the basic premise doesn't stand up to a cursory glance. In order to use cloud computing people are going to need computers, which are going to need er, support. Doesn't matter what they are being used for, its the same machines.
Where mobile devices like phones and tablets shine is during a commute on a train or bus. How true it is I don't know, but I heard that in Japan many people just don't have a home computer or laptop, since they spend so much time commuting. In most western countries driving is a lot more common, to and from work and home, both of which have more useful machines available.
This is of course the weakness of mass consumer cloud adoption - if you have a machine capable of doing useful work, you already have a machine capable of beating the cloud hands down in every way without the ongoing cost and risk of an internet connection. For sharing large files, collaborative work, desktop publishing (blogs, flickr accounts, youtube), smallish offsite backups, the cloud works great, but even then you need local copies.
Likewise phones. Even what I would call the baseline in computing tasks, word processing (typing words and seeing them appear on screen) is basically impossible on a phone.
Agreed. Cloud based systems are a cachet that finds itself most useful for people who are highly mobile, even a low range laptop or netbook these days has vastly more computing power than is needed to operate every application most people might need. Data storage on USB drives and other mini systems are also well capable of absorbing a lot more data than most people produce. I mean any computer capable of playing a modern computer game can do almost any other task with ease, and cloud computing isn't useful for most of those other tasks.
The "cloud" is being heavily promoted for a variety of fairly obvious reasons, but to me its a solution looking for a problem, with as much value as thin client systems have.
Just rough estimations, it doesn't need to be exact. The problem with close ups is you can't exactly show the group the map one piece at a time unless you physically cut up the map or cut up a covering, and really its just a pain from start to finish. A quick, rough sketch of each area (like a bare room outline) and a good description does the trick. This also simulates reality, in that people don't usually get a top down to the millimeter precise projection of places they enter.
Bit of a shame really since there are so many gorgeous maps out there.
Without additionally having drastic population control, that's going to doom us to a totally unsustainable world
Nah. We're already on the cusp of the dawn of the true space age, there's all the room in the universe out there. Even if there wasn't, people aren't gaping maws of resource consumption, they are overall producers. The real trick will be to bring developing countries up to western standards of living, that way population growth will even out. Look at that Indian kid that solved the physics problem in Germany lately, how many like him are languishing in slums across the globe? Wicked waste of human potential.
Our goal must be to bring everyone to their maximum potential, population growth will solve itself at that point.
On the plus side, environmental concerns would take a huge leap forward, since its not people five generations down the road who will be affected by your decisions, its you personally. The world would go 100% renewable in a matter of years.
On the minus side, death really is the great leveller. The concentrations of wealth accumulated get dispersed among heirs and a large lump gets given to the government. This serves numerous important roles, but if people just aren't dying, you are going to see a huge disparity between bicentenians and teenagers, which risks creating an overclass of semi immortal super rich.
The effects it would have on progress are uncertain, could go either way. It will be vital to have measures in place to prevent massive concentrations of wealth in too few hands, and similarly with authority and scientific tenure for example - you do not want eternal professors or judges.
On the whole it would be a huge positive though, and by the time we have mastered it, we will already be plumbing the limitless wealth of the asteroids, not to mention infinite living space, so perhaps the concentration of wealth might not be an issue. Authority is a different matter however, change is good.
Yeah maximum 20d6 falling damage, so leap out of the plane at your destination, pop back a good healing potion after picking yourself out of the crater in the pavement, and off to the hotel to check in.
So, because the wages are rising in Asia, and now US companies are moving their manufacturing back to Central America where wages are low, will benefit who? Obviously, the workers in Central America, but not US workers.
Ah so now we get to the crux of your comments on slavery. Its not for the "slaves" but the American workers you are concerned. I think that speaks for itself to be honest.
When the local economies collapse because the US companies pull out, then poverty and crime skyrocket and the local governments cannot contain it and we end up with whole new kinds of problems.
Yes, I'm sure China's economy will collapse any day now. India's too.
Considering the massive wealth transfer and resource accumulation of places like China, maybe you should think about just who is exploiting who. Or did you miss the whole rare earth metals thing?
Your argument is that developing nations should be stripped of access to western markets and left to languish in poverty. Not quite the moral high ground you thought you had, eh.
You know what the Chinese response to the Arab spring was? To promise more liberties and freedom to its people. The rulers are terrified, as living standards in China improve their grip seems to get inexplicably weaker. Inexplicable to them since they believe that people will reward them with continued subservience. That is not how it works, rather people with more spending money and leisure time will start to demand more say in their governance.
The summary's grasp on ethics seems a little shakey to me. Those low paid workers in Asia are damn glad to have the job, and what they do get paid goes a lot further than in the west. This is a process of enrichment, whereby poor countries in the far east get wealthier, develop a middle class, and start demanding democracy, resulting in not only a greatly enhanced standard of living but new markets for western countries as well as fresh innovations and freedom of choice.
Forget all that, think about the possibilities of inherited genetic memory! Imagine being born with the knowledge of a PhD in ten different fields and being able to speak fifty languages. All we'd need is a way to access the information stored in the DNA. This may in fact become essential as the amount of time it takes to gain mastery in a field exceeds the human lifespan, as it eventually will. And each new generation could be upgraded with the achievements of the last, the technological and cultural advancements of the human race would be accelerated immensely.
The darker side of course is implanted genetic propaganda, brainwashed from birth and unable to ever break the cycle, human robots. Thats slightly different though since its not knowledge but rather behaviour.
Slashdot Mirror
Where are these dumb terminals? Off the shelf PCs are standard in businesses everywhere; swapping them out might not be practical for a large organisation as they might not have enough spares on hand for more than a few failures. That happened a few times back in Nortel.
Even the basic premise doesn't stand up to a cursory glance. In order to use cloud computing people are going to need computers, which are going to need er, support. Doesn't matter what they are being used for, its the same machines.
www.startram.com
Talk about +1 appropriate.
Where mobile devices like phones and tablets shine is during a commute on a train or bus. How true it is I don't know, but I heard that in Japan many people just don't have a home computer or laptop, since they spend so much time commuting. In most western countries driving is a lot more common, to and from work and home, both of which have more useful machines available.
This is of course the weakness of mass consumer cloud adoption - if you have a machine capable of doing useful work, you already have a machine capable of beating the cloud hands down in every way without the ongoing cost and risk of an internet connection. For sharing large files, collaborative work, desktop publishing (blogs, flickr accounts, youtube), smallish offsite backups, the cloud works great, but even then you need local copies.
Likewise phones. Even what I would call the baseline in computing tasks, word processing (typing words and seeing them appear on screen) is basically impossible on a phone.
Agreed. Cloud based systems are a cachet that finds itself most useful for people who are highly mobile, even a low range laptop or netbook these days has vastly more computing power than is needed to operate every application most people might need. Data storage on USB drives and other mini systems are also well capable of absorbing a lot more data than most people produce. I mean any computer capable of playing a modern computer game can do almost any other task with ease, and cloud computing isn't useful for most of those other tasks.
The "cloud" is being heavily promoted for a variety of fairly obvious reasons, but to me its a solution looking for a problem, with as much value as thin client systems have.
What? Seriously, what? People with genes would not be procreating? If it wasn't for modern medicine, people wouldn't be getting sick? What?
Just rough estimations, it doesn't need to be exact. The problem with close ups is you can't exactly show the group the map one piece at a time unless you physically cut up the map or cut up a covering, and really its just a pain from start to finish. A quick, rough sketch of each area (like a bare room outline) and a good description does the trick. This also simulates reality, in that people don't usually get a top down to the millimeter precise projection of places they enter.
Bit of a shame really since there are so many gorgeous maps out there.
Without additionally having drastic population control, that's going to doom us to a totally unsustainable world
Nah. We're already on the cusp of the dawn of the true space age, there's all the room in the universe out there. Even if there wasn't, people aren't gaping maws of resource consumption, they are overall producers. The real trick will be to bring developing countries up to western standards of living, that way population growth will even out. Look at that Indian kid that solved the physics problem in Germany lately, how many like him are languishing in slums across the globe? Wicked waste of human potential.
Our goal must be to bring everyone to their maximum potential, population growth will solve itself at that point.
On the plus side, environmental concerns would take a huge leap forward, since its not people five generations down the road who will be affected by your decisions, its you personally. The world would go 100% renewable in a matter of years.
On the minus side, death really is the great leveller. The concentrations of wealth accumulated get dispersed among heirs and a large lump gets given to the government. This serves numerous important roles, but if people just aren't dying, you are going to see a huge disparity between bicentenians and teenagers, which risks creating an overclass of semi immortal super rich.
The effects it would have on progress are uncertain, could go either way. It will be vital to have measures in place to prevent massive concentrations of wealth in too few hands, and similarly with authority and scientific tenure for example - you do not want eternal professors or judges.
On the whole it would be a huge positive though, and by the time we have mastered it, we will already be plumbing the limitless wealth of the asteroids, not to mention infinite living space, so perhaps the concentration of wealth might not be an issue. Authority is a different matter however, change is good.
but we are trying to corral slime here
I used to work for Nortel back in 00/01. Nothing new, believe me.
Business wise I'd type, fiction wise I prefer to use pen and paper.
Paizo makes most of its money off adventures, not rules
Ah now see, this is the smart way to play it. What I liked about AD&D 2E was the vast depth of resources available.
Yeah, I find it difficult to even use maps in gaming, unless they are countrywide or large scale.
Yeah maximum 20d6 falling damage, so leap out of the plane at your destination, pop back a good healing potion after picking yourself out of the crater in the pavement, and off to the hotel to check in.
My comments were in reference to those in power lording it over those who have no power.
Your comments have nothing to do with the well being of the poor and downtrodden, rather with the protection of the wealthy in the US.
Maybe we should just throw out capitalism and democracy and embrace socialism and communism like the Chinese. Is that what you are proposing?
Someone talking about having a grasp on reality and saying the Chinese are communist in the same breath, now that's ironic.
There is no possible way you could read that into my comment, so duly noted and filed.
So, because the wages are rising in Asia, and now US companies are moving their manufacturing back to Central America where wages are low, will benefit who? Obviously, the workers in Central America, but not US workers.
Ah so now we get to the crux of your comments on slavery. Its not for the "slaves" but the American workers you are concerned. I think that speaks for itself to be honest.
When the local economies collapse because the US companies pull out, then poverty and crime skyrocket and the local governments cannot contain it and we end up with whole new kinds of problems.
Yes, I'm sure China's economy will collapse any day now. India's too.
Considering the massive wealth transfer and resource accumulation of places like China, maybe you should think about just who is exploiting who. Or did you miss the whole rare earth metals thing?
I'm going to assume you're just misinformed rather than being woefully full of shit.
http://blogs.theprovince.com/2012/03/05/andres-oppenheimer-rising-wages-in-china-will-benefit-workers-in-the-americas/
Your argument is that developing nations should be stripped of access to western markets and left to languish in poverty. Not quite the moral high ground you thought you had, eh.
You know what the Chinese response to the Arab spring was? To promise more liberties and freedom to its people. The rulers are terrified, as living standards in China improve their grip seems to get inexplicably weaker. Inexplicable to them since they believe that people will reward them with continued subservience. That is not how it works, rather people with more spending money and leisure time will start to demand more say in their governance.
The summary's grasp on ethics seems a little shakey to me. Those low paid workers in Asia are damn glad to have the job, and what they do get paid goes a lot further than in the west. This is a process of enrichment, whereby poor countries in the far east get wealthier, develop a middle class, and start demanding democracy, resulting in not only a greatly enhanced standard of living but new markets for western countries as well as fresh innovations and freedom of choice.
Capitalism. It works.
And more importantly can we use them to produce real artificial gravity?
Forget all that, think about the possibilities of inherited genetic memory! Imagine being born with the knowledge of a PhD in ten different fields and being able to speak fifty languages. All we'd need is a way to access the information stored in the DNA. This may in fact become essential as the amount of time it takes to gain mastery in a field exceeds the human lifespan, as it eventually will. And each new generation could be upgraded with the achievements of the last, the technological and cultural advancements of the human race would be accelerated immensely.
The darker side of course is implanted genetic propaganda, brainwashed from birth and unable to ever break the cycle, human robots. Thats slightly different though since its not knowledge but rather behaviour.