A thought to help you not be able to sleep tonight - technology
We take it for granted that as technology advances, year after year, we all benefit. Better computers!
Imagine for a moment you were a country isolated, and denied access to technology.
What would you do? You couldn't begin to reinvent technology. That's taken decades of the world's economy funding it to happen. Anything you could do for years would be childlike.
Now imagine not that you're an isolated country, but that the general public lost access to high-end technology - while a group - call it the state, deep state, whatever - kept it to themselves.
Suddenly, the public would realize they've been contributing to the development of a power that can be used against them at any time. And too late once they realize it.
No suggestion here, no solution - just a thought to keep you awake.
Comments
Technological advantages have always only benefited
a select few. The illusion has been American citizens were part of the select few. I think most of us here saw through the illusion some time ago and is why we are at C99.
Over reliance of computers and automation causes skills and knowledge to be lost. Part of the resilience movement is retaining and relearning skills we were beginning to lose.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
hyper-computerization
And renders the machines which rely overmuch on computers and automation far less effective. Witness: the huge increase in collisions involving US Naval vessels in recent years. These things didn't happen without major causes (like very poor visibility conditions) back when people were directly in control of the movements of the ships. But hyper-computerized warships are colliding with other vessels at frightening rates these days, at a cost of billions.
And don't get me started on driverless cars.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
wait until we get self-driving cars...
The autos are moving into electric and driverless cars full speed ahead.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Trucks! Can't wait for a bunch of unemployed drivers, woo
what was the plan for worker displacement in California? I forget.
1 - Something something consultants.
2 - Retraining test framework buzzwords, blah blah blah matrix.
3 - For one year, or until forgotten, whichever comes first.
4 - kthxbye!
Is that about right? I know I left all the Venture Capital money out, it was never in. The plan is lazy unfairness, so neoliberal dreams live on forever. Same same.
Meh
@studentofearth There is more to
There is more to technology than computers. Technology advances like sanitation, clean water, medicines, printing, agriculture, engineering, manufacturing, etc etc have benefited millions and millions of people outside the PTPB. Sure, some technology can be misused or have bad outcomes, but let us not throw the baby out with the bath water. They are all tools and can be used to build something or demolish, the problem with them is the users' lack of wisdom.
My stance is new technology is not the only answer
When the automatic response becomes new technology is the solution we are not looking for best practices to use in our local environment. Plus the diary author was trying to disturb my restful night sleep with worries. Lack of modern technology does not scare me as much as the harm created by some modern practices.
The modern technology I would miss the most - internet - ability to research any subject without traveling my rural home and participate in quick communication with a widespread community.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
soe, you have printed the New Democrat party platform
Tom Perez was trying to keep this bottled up, but you have got it just about right--not quite though.
Never fear, however. Camel Harris is adding a rider to the MFA/SP bill which will add insurance coverage to robots injured on the job. They will remain covered until their second malfunction after which they will be euthanized by reading aloud to them What Happened.
@Alligator Ed
Is there no end to their cruelty to the vulnerable?!
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
@studentofearth
Well, there you're in luck! Censorship and propaganda will soon make internet research pointless. And at the rate Youtube is removing music videos, (just found - so far today - I'd had a Siouxie and the Banshees videos deleted from a playlist I have running for 'violating guidelines' when I'd just cleaned out the latest batch of deleted videos yesterday....) soon trying to find music there will be pointless as well.
At this rate, soon there will be no point to our having internet at all, apart from justifying the profitable 'public/private' spying industry's public expense drawing account.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Do find more information behind paywalls as time goes
by, but it is still easier than traveling to the city or University and using a copier.
Since information disappears or is altered I often create a PDF via the print command to archive research and download interesting free books..
Believe youtube videos can be downloaded for personal use. Do not have a great method or link but wikihow has some information. Copyright laws were altered for the major corporations to make more $$, video selection is only going to get worse unless something changes.
If we lose net neutrality major changes will be seen fast.
Still yourself, deep water can absorb many disturbances with minimal reaction.
--When the opening appears release yourself.
I am reading a book (don't ask the title) on my Kindle #4
about a post-nuclear world scenario where survivors have spent years asleep on an alien ship rotating around Earth from beyond the moon. Earth has cooled off most places from radiation damage and the rescued humans get a chance to start again (Brazil?) with only the technology they can fabricate. Or find. I would look for rake heads. And shovel heads.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
@riverlover
And a way to manage without adequate oxygen, since global dimming would have taken care of natural oxygen production. The probable extent of that doesn't even get calculated into most assessments...
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Most SF writers forget about it too
Somebody (name withheld to protect the foolish) came up with a scenario where humans had a research station on a "barren" world where "life had never come into being" - and were able to operate in the open air, no pressure domes, no suits, no nuthin'. The world also had open ocean, blue sky, and storms.
Logic says not so "barren" - just maybe not past the one-celled ocean life stage.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Try Kim Stanley Robinson's "Aurora"
In this one KSR takes on the moral and physical issues in interstellar colonization. His "barren world" has an interesting twist I had not seen before.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Free Software, Free Society
Links to alternative thought:
http://www.fsf.org/
https://stallman.org/
https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/respects-your-freedom
Nenni ekki. I am always up at 3am, it is eternal. Beep boop! Boop beep! Yes, this is what a 90s cell phone looked like. My friend carried a giant "bag phone" in her car until 2006 or so. Good times.
peace
Although I don't sleep at night, computer dementia has arrived
People born into the cell phone age (but not before it) have lost the ability for basic calculations, can't read a map (where is my trusty GPS?), can't make change without a cash register, have an intelligent conversation lasting more than 10 seconds, do not know how to write letters (email, you know).
These, and more, are all rapidly disappearing fundamental abilities due to the no-think/instant gratification iPhone addicted populace. Walking across a street with one's face in a phone is certainly conducive to some population reduction but won't stem the epidemic.
Hold on...my phone is ringing.
yeah, but, they're, like more creative than us
oldsters. or something. 'cuz their minds have been freed from all the baggage of trivial knowledge. or something.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.
I second your comment or something
I actually forgot what I was going to write but my iPhone shut down and took all my words with it. Thankfully, Tim Cook sent me a new pre-hacked phone to replace it and now I can exercise my free speech. One feature that kinda disturbs me now is that the
smellspell-checker cannot be defeated. Or something.Witness Equifax
A company I have never willingly or knowingly engaged, gathers personal data on me and sells it at a profit. Then, they proceed to lose it to whoever. The cost to me might be priceless and the cost to them is some temporary loss of valuation.
Yahoo! Over 3 billion served
I mean breached, do I need to link? Not even news anymore. Okay those were only "email" accounts, except talk to my friend who is dealing with so much ID theft she can't keep up? People who should be retired by now are getting the shaft from everywhere it seems.
White House Chief of Staff, pwned!
https://www.techspot.com/news/71288-white-house-believes-chief-staff-john-kelly-personal.html
itshay
Having been homeless...
It doesn't scare me as much as it scares a lot of people who've never had to live without their creature comforts.
You find what you can do, and readjust. I only recently got a smart phone, and am just now starting to understand why so many people had problems with me saying texts took to long, let's just talk instead.
I think I'd be ok. Wouldn't be perfect, but I am perfectly willing to climb the hierarchy of needs again. Just remember the basics. Eat, crap, sleep, sit, bathe and companionship. After all that is taken care of, figure out how to set up a water wheel for some power to make the other 6 easier.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Who Won WW II?
The US farm draftees, according to at least one article. There used to be many farms in the US, and each farm had to rely on machines. Machines that broke down now and then. That's the nature of machines. So when a machine had to be repaired, the farmer and the farmer's kids had to do the repairs. Low budget self-maintenance taught those US farm kids how to fix almost anything. The German machines were superb - when they ran. But the German machines required superb repairs by highly trained machinists. Those machinists were hard to find. Self-taught repairs from the US might have looked a little 'low-class,' sometimes, but they worked.
Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long
@jabney The US capability for
The US capability for mass production of high quality standard parts was a big part of winning the war. A lot of the British planes etc in the early part of the war depended on the assembly of selected parts, while the US planes were full of interchangeable standard parts. Crash your plane, pull off parts from another one and you were back in the air.
I've got a history of Pratt & Whitney and it tells an anecdote of a group of British manufacturers/engineers came over for a tour/talk. They noticed a table full of engine parts and were remarking on the quality of them, only to be told those were rejects that had failed to pass quality control. They at first thought they were being set up for a practical joke until they had a chance to see more of the factory.
Hmm. Reminds me of a funny story. Forty years ago
my husband and I were driving in the Black Forest in our old car when the radiator cracked. Stop-leak products would not do the job. At a German gas station a mechanic suddenly had an inspiration. He ran back into the building and came out kneading something in his hand which he proceeded to stuff into the crack. “You know what that is? That’s bread! We did this in the war!”
I don’t think Germany lost because the people couldn’t fix things. They lost because the country was run by a bunch of crazy people, especially Hitler. Our crazy people should take note.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
An Outlier Perhaps?
Read the youtube comments about the Mercedes Sprinter; "just to do an oil and filter change would cost you between $180 to $200." And I bet using bread dough to patch the radiator would void the warranty anywhere these days. No doubt some in the German Army in WW II used 'non-approved' methods; and some in the US Army in WW II always required everything done 'by the book.' But back then, there were two cultures, and the US culture allowed more unofficial 'experimentation by the grunts' in the Army, while the German culture allowed more official experimentation by the doctors in the camps.
Strange that a harp of thousand strings should keep in tune so long
i myself made reference to this meme in a post
here a while ago, but in general, when asked "Who Won WWII", I have two answers, depending on the context and my mood:
A. Russians in T-34 tanks.
or
B. The Fascists.
The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.