It seems to me that the human race will very probably destroy itself (nuclear/biological warfare etc.) - it's been trying for 100,000 years and in the past 50 years it's aqcuired the tools.
Richard Feyman recalled walking around New York soon after leaving Los Alamos, believing that there was little point in the construction he saw, because it was likely to be obliterated in the near future. Depending on the definition of 'near future' I think he was dead right.
So ironically I think that the advantages gained by technological advances made in attempting to avoid some natural distaster on earth would be massively outweighed the spin-off benefits for weapons development, or in aggravating the geopolitical balance, disenfanchizing the poor, and so on.
but single signon via public-key/private-key authentication would be very handy. The obvious downsides are less anonymity and phishing. But it's conceptually very easy for everyman, with no username and a single password (ok, it unlocks your private key, but that's the details). And why not start offering it right now. A bank could have you authenticate yourself the 'old-fashioned' way with username/password, then accept your public key over that channel and thereafter allow you to authenticate with your private key.
With the disparity between incomes in developed and developing countries, of course it doesn't make sense to try to save money in a developing country with short-term work (though I wouldn't be surprised if is some money to be made somewhere). That's not the point. The point is to live in and experience a country and pay your way while you're there. Think VSO or it's US equivalent, Peace Corps; think work-for-accomodation in backpackers' hostels around the world, and so on. There's an awful lot more to life than money.
By the way, there's very good health care available in India if your not desperately poor. Otherwise, there's plain old travel insurance to cover repatriation.
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It seems to me that the human race will very probably destroy itself (nuclear/biological warfare etc.) - it's been trying for 100,000 years and in the past 50 years it's aqcuired the tools. Richard Feyman recalled walking around New York soon after leaving Los Alamos, believing that there was little point in the construction he saw, because it was likely to be obliterated in the near future. Depending on the definition of 'near future' I think he was dead right. So ironically I think that the advantages gained by technological advances made in attempting to avoid some natural distaster on earth would be massively outweighed the spin-off benefits for weapons development, or in aggravating the geopolitical balance, disenfanchizing the poor, and so on.
but single signon via public-key/private-key authentication would be very handy. The obvious downsides are less anonymity and phishing. But it's conceptually very easy for everyman, with no username and a single password (ok, it unlocks your private key, but that's the details). And why not start offering it right now. A bank could have you authenticate yourself the 'old-fashioned' way with username/password, then accept your public key over that channel and thereafter allow you to authenticate with your private key.
With the disparity between incomes in developed and developing countries, of course it doesn't make sense to try to save money in a developing country with short-term work (though I wouldn't be surprised if is some money to be made somewhere). That's not the point. The point is to live in and experience a country and pay your way while you're there. Think VSO or it's US equivalent, Peace Corps; think work-for-accomodation in backpackers' hostels around the world, and so on. There's an awful lot more to life than money.
By the way, there's very good health care available in India if your not desperately poor. Otherwise, there's plain old travel insurance to cover repatriation.