The Council of the Elders met in counsel to discuss the latest developments. All Martians waited to hear the news. Some came to wait outside the headquarters, others listened on the Ber'gor network. The doors opened, and a security detail walked out (with their gelsacs swollen), followed by K'Breel, Speaker for the Council of the Elders, who paused to look over the gathered crowd. Soon he gathered his thoughts and began to speak:
Reports that our treasure has been discovered by the Earthlings have been far overstated. Our receivers have determined that initial reports were wrong, they merely found our waste pile in the northern wasteland. Our refuse has been covered there, mixed with rock and dirt, buried to keep it away from us. Be assured that the true heart of Martian treasure remains concealed well in the southern reaches.
Having a tax system with a high rate but plenty of loopholes is bad because it distorts the market drastically. Companies that are unable to find the right loopholes are unable to compete, and companies that look for things that can take advantage of loopholes instead of things that can make money on their own.
My county has electronic voting machines. After I finish voting, it makes a printout of my ballot and shows it to me. I look at the paper ballot, verify that it is correct, and click "Yes" (or "No").
So yes, electronic voting machines with a verifiable paper trail are possible, and it has been done.
He is going to run up a massive deficit. How soon before the conservatives try to disparage him?
If people voted based on deficit spending, Perot, Gore, and Kerry (and maybe Paul) would have been elected president. Republicans talk about fiscal conservatism, but not many actually take it seriously.
Albedo differences are nonexistent in the polar night. So that's definitely not it. Here is temperature data for the past several decades. If you look at it, the first thing you notice is that temperature in the winter (night) is hugely variable, mainly affected by winds rather than sun, and a 30 degree swing is not entirely surprising, although it is larger than normal.
Of water that you actually use, 80% goes to agriculture.
FWIW this is inaccurate, too. In good years, maybe it's true, but when there are droughts, farm usage gets cut first. Last year some farmers only got 10% of their normal allotment.
ok, I uploaded some pictures of some non-farmed regions of the central valley so you can see:
Summer. The ground is typically dry all summer, but some trees have the endurance to survive until the rainy season. Winter. The ground is typically wet all winter. Winter orchard that hasn't been watered for four months. It might have been mowed, though. The ground will usually be mud all winter long from winter rains, and not dry out until April or May. Sometimes it freezes, then the ground is hard, but it thaws when the sun comes out. Near Shasta more trees are able to survive, but the summer dryness still kills the grass. My hypothesis is they're more likely to get summer rains, making life tolerable for more species of trees, but not often enough for grass.
Owen's valley is a different place than the central valley. During the rainy season, it is too cold for anything to grow, and in the summer it is dry; so overall plants have it harder. Also, a lot of the pictures in your link are of Owens Lake, which is fairly toxic. The water all goes to the Los Angeles district. They're like a giant sponge, soaking up water from the western united states, and always trying to get more. There used to be farms in Owens valley, and if you drive near Manzanar, there is a plaque that says before LA took it, the water would flood the area two feet deep in the springtime, but who knows if that is true.
The far north end (Sacramento Valley) isn't very arid,
The Sacramento Valley is some of the most beautiful farm land on earth. Green fields, dark, fertile soil. Blue skies, cows look at you as you drive by.
Most of California is not a desert. It's a diverse region from desert to mountain to swamp to rainforest.
The majority of the crops are grown in the central valley, most of which is definitely not a desert (only in the far south-west end does it get close to desert naturally). It gets plenty of rain, and likely would be deciduous forest except most of the rain happens in the winter (instead of year-round), which is why irrigation is important.
There is currently an anti-farmer campaign going on in California, and there are good arguments for re-negotiating (some of the water allocations along the south of highway 5, by Patterson, are ridiculous, for example); but there is a lot of resistance to change, because if the water rights are ever re-negotiated, municipalities like San Francisco would probably lose their senior water rights status. Those holders guard their rights fiercely.
Everything you said is generic claptrap. You could have said exactly the same thing about the current Faster-Than-Light travel revolution and it would have been just as relevant.
'Deep learning' isn't going to get us there. We'll need something new.
"The Google customers had all bought the phones from the company’s Project Fi mobile carrier, and had them shipped directly to a reseller in New Hampshire"
I'm actually really having trouble seeing why this is a problem.
Notice how many news sites (like CNN) now interleave fake story links with their real stories?
I went to CNN to verify, and I couldn't find them. Then I realized I have ad block on. So maybe that's part of the solution, get ad-block for more people.
If you want to try out your analysis of silly, start by trying to answer "What employment sector can absorb the 3.5 million truck drivers who will be replaced with automated vehicles?"
You're asking the wrong question, it should be "What employment sectors........." because the will be absorbed into multiple sectors, including those who remain truck drivers (since not all of those can be automated).
And they will be absorbed......at the immediate time when thy lose their jobs, their will be a political crisis, depending how fast it happens. The response will depend on who is in office at the time.......Maybe vouchers for retraining in as electricians or locksmiths, or maybe expanded unemployment relief. There will be some human tragedies, as some people can't transition, and lose their way in drugs or suicide.
But the world will keep spinning, and the rest of us will carry on, all of us without a solution to the existential problem.
with the current AI revolution and quantum computing can also match the mental capabilities of most humans as well.
The current AI 'revolution' isn't going to give us computers with mental capabilities that match most humans. If you're really interested in understanding the state of AI, Peter Norvig is doing a town hall presentation, I encourage you to visit it.
My guess is they elevated concern due to the mass influx of people to Brazil due to the olympics. Wanted everyone to be prepared. After a few months, when the major risk was gone, they reduced concern again.
That is, the influx of a bunch of people from all over the world added to the danger of a serious epidemic.
Once there was a man who painted a new sign for his store: "Fresh Fish for Sale"
His friend came along, saw what he was doing, and said, "Of course they're fresh, what kind of jerk sells unfresh fish?"
The man decided he was right, and crossed out the word fish.
The friend thought a bit and said, "Well........why say for sale? Why would you have fish in your store if they're not for sale?"
So,,,,,,,,,the man crossed off the words 'for sale,' becoming more efficient.
Then his friend thought some more, and said, "Ya know, everyone can tell they're fish, we can smell them from a block away."
The man crossed off the word fish, thankful he had such a wise friend.
Words are redundant, as can be proven by this following paragraph:
The closest I've seen is History of Religious Ideas by Mircea Eliade, but I feel like it still doesn't quite make it all the way. Somewhat informal, still.
Slashdot Mirror
Reports that our treasure has been discovered by the Earthlings have been far overstated. Our receivers have determined that initial reports were wrong, they merely found our waste pile in the northern wasteland. Our refuse has been covered there, mixed with rock and dirt, buried to keep it away from us. Be assured that the true heart of Martian treasure remains concealed well in the southern reaches.
And with that, he turned and exited.
An additional clarification:
Having a tax system with a high rate but plenty of loopholes is bad because it distorts the market drastically. Companies that are unable to find the right loopholes are unable to compete, and companies that look for things that can take advantage of loopholes instead of things that can make money on their own.
My county has electronic voting machines. After I finish voting, it makes a printout of my ballot and shows it to me. I look at the paper ballot, verify that it is correct, and click "Yes" (or "No").
So yes, electronic voting machines with a verifiable paper trail are possible, and it has been done.
He is going to run up a massive deficit. How soon before the conservatives try to disparage him?
If people voted based on deficit spending, Perot, Gore, and Kerry (and maybe Paul) would have been elected president. Republicans talk about fiscal conservatism, but not many actually take it seriously.
the Koch brothers are responsible for most of the "content" on NPR
Uh....what?
Albedo differences are nonexistent in the polar night. So that's definitely not it.
Here is temperature data for the past several decades. If you look at it, the first thing you notice is that temperature in the winter (night) is hugely variable, mainly affected by winds rather than sun, and a 30 degree swing is not entirely surprising, although it is larger than normal.
Of water that you actually use, 80% goes to agriculture.
FWIW this is inaccurate, too. In good years, maybe it's true, but when there are droughts, farm usage gets cut first. Last year some farmers only got 10% of their normal allotment.
ok, I uploaded some pictures of some non-farmed regions of the central valley so you can see:
Summer. The ground is typically dry all summer, but some trees have the endurance to survive until the rainy season.
Winter. The ground is typically wet all winter.
Winter orchard that hasn't been watered for four months. It might have been mowed, though. The ground will usually be mud all winter long from winter rains, and not dry out until April or May. Sometimes it freezes, then the ground is hard, but it thaws when the sun comes out.
Near Shasta more trees are able to survive, but the summer dryness still kills the grass. My hypothesis is they're more likely to get summer rains, making life tolerable for more species of trees, but not often enough for grass.
Owen's valley is a different place than the central valley. During the rainy season, it is too cold for anything to grow, and in the summer it is dry; so overall plants have it harder. Also, a lot of the pictures in your link are of Owens Lake, which is fairly toxic. The water all goes to the Los Angeles district. They're like a giant sponge, soaking up water from the western united states, and always trying to get more. There used to be farms in Owens valley, and if you drive near Manzanar, there is a plaque that says before LA took it, the water would flood the area two feet deep in the springtime, but who knows if that is true.
Incidentally, Owen's Valley can still be quite beautiful.
Clearly Trump wins this year.
The far north end (Sacramento Valley) isn't very arid,
The Sacramento Valley is some of the most beautiful farm land on earth. Green fields, dark, fertile soil. Blue skies, cows look at you as you drive by.
"warning to others not to put all your eggs in one basket, because these days, you have no rights over that basket whatsoever."
This can not be repeated enough.
Most of California is not a desert. It's a diverse region from desert to mountain to swamp to rainforest.
The majority of the crops are grown in the central valley, most of which is definitely not a desert (only in the far south-west end does it get close to desert naturally). It gets plenty of rain, and likely would be deciduous forest except most of the rain happens in the winter (instead of year-round), which is why irrigation is important.
There is currently an anti-farmer campaign going on in California, and there are good arguments for re-negotiating (some of the water allocations along the south of highway 5, by Patterson, are ridiculous, for example); but there is a lot of resistance to change, because if the water rights are ever re-negotiated, municipalities like San Francisco would probably lose their senior water rights status. Those holders guard their rights fiercely.
The summary doesn't mention it, but a huge factor is the bark beetle infestation going across California right now.
Everything you said is generic claptrap. You could have said exactly the same thing about the current Faster-Than-Light travel revolution and it would have been just as relevant.
'Deep learning' isn't going to get us there. We'll need something new.
I read your comment three times, and have no idea what you are trying to say, other than you think I'm silly. Thanks for that.
"The Google customers had all bought the phones from the company’s Project Fi mobile carrier, and had them shipped directly to a reseller in New Hampshire"
I'm actually really having trouble seeing why this is a problem.
Notice how many news sites (like CNN) now interleave fake story links with their real stories?
I went to CNN to verify, and I couldn't find them. Then I realized I have ad block on. So maybe that's part of the solution, get ad-block for more people.
If you want to try out your analysis of silly, start by trying to answer "What employment sector can absorb the 3.5 million truck drivers who will be replaced with automated vehicles?"
You're asking the wrong question, it should be "What employment sectors........." because the will be absorbed into multiple sectors, including those who remain truck drivers (since not all of those can be automated).
And they will be absorbed......at the immediate time when thy lose their jobs, their will be a political crisis, depending how fast it happens. The response will depend on who is in office at the time.......Maybe vouchers for retraining in as electricians or locksmiths, or maybe expanded unemployment relief. There will be some human tragedies, as some people can't transition, and lose their way in drugs or suicide.
But the world will keep spinning, and the rest of us will carry on, all of us without a solution to the existential problem.
with the current AI revolution and quantum computing can also match the mental capabilities of most humans as well.
The current AI 'revolution' isn't going to give us computers with mental capabilities that match most humans. If you're really interested in understanding the state of AI, Peter Norvig is doing a town hall presentation, I encourage you to visit it.
Oh, that's the kind of thing geniuses do.
Falconry is a lot of effort for keeping the rare drone out.
A great many women find that tolerable, especially if the guy is 102.
ftfy
My guess is they elevated concern due to the mass influx of people to Brazil due to the olympics. Wanted everyone to be prepared. After a few months, when the major risk was gone, they reduced concern again.
That is, the influx of a bunch of people from all over the world added to the danger of a serious epidemic.
Once there was a man who painted a new sign for his store: "Fresh Fish for Sale"
His friend came along, saw what he was doing, and said, "Of course they're fresh, what kind of jerk sells unfresh fish?"
The man decided he was right, and crossed out the word fish.
The friend thought a bit and said, "Well........why say for sale? Why would you have fish in your store if they're not for sale?"
So,,,,,,,,,the man crossed off the words 'for sale,' becoming more efficient.
Then his friend thought some more, and said, "Ya know, everyone can tell they're fish, we can smell them from a block away."
The man crossed off the word fish, thankful he had such a wise friend.
Words are redundant, as can be proven by this following paragraph:
.
The closest I've seen is History of Religious Ideas by Mircea Eliade, but I feel like it still doesn't quite make it all the way. Somewhat informal, still.