An Interesting Story
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http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm[^] I apologize if this is a repost, but I got it from a friend and thought it was interesting. It's from the guy with the How Stuff Works website. Nathan
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http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm[^] I apologize if this is a repost, but I got it from a friend and thought it was interesting. It's from the guy with the How Stuff Works website. Nathan
I wonder if the software consultant that got hired was this guy[^]. :-D Chris Meech We're more like a hobbiest in a Home Depot drooling at all the shiny power tools, rather than a craftsman that makes the chair to an exacting level of comfort by measuring the customer's butt. Marc Clifton VB is like a toolbox, in the hands of a craftsman, you can end up with some amazing stuff, but without the skills to use it right you end up with Homer Simpson's attempt at building a barbeque or his attempt at a Spice rack. Michael P. Butler
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http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm[^] I apologize if this is a repost, but I got it from a friend and thought it was interesting. It's from the guy with the How Stuff Works website. Nathan
Cool, beautiful even. But unlikely. [edit]OK, Chapter 5... I'm outta it first this: is a fourth generation civilization conceived of by Eric Renson. Eric was an American who was heavily involved in what was then called the open software movement. Then - a blatant advertisement for communism. (Not that I dislike the idea, but as blue-eyed as it's described - yawn) [/edit]
Flirt harder, I'm a coder.
mlog || Agile Programming | doxygen -
I wonder if the software consultant that got hired was this guy[^]. :-D Chris Meech We're more like a hobbiest in a Home Depot drooling at all the shiny power tools, rather than a craftsman that makes the chair to an exacting level of comfort by measuring the customer's butt. Marc Clifton VB is like a toolbox, in the hands of a craftsman, you can end up with some amazing stuff, but without the skills to use it right you end up with Homer Simpson's attempt at building a barbeque or his attempt at a Spice rack. Michael P. Butler
I'd rather be Robo-Sapien. This aging shit is tiresome. :) Later, JoeSox Love is a virus we benefit from. joeswammi.com ↔ humanaiproject.org ↔ joeswammi.com/sinfest
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http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm[^] I apologize if this is a repost, but I got it from a friend and thought it was interesting. It's from the guy with the How Stuff Works website. Nathan
A stilted, uneven and obvious parable about today's corporate America disguised as science-fiction. If today sucks and tomorrow is worse then wouldn't yesterday be better? Maybe instead of inventing fantastical pixie dust worlds to live in we could just burn all of the technological advancements of the last 100 years. One thing I wondered about the Australia Project - how convertable are their magical currency credits? What if I collect stamps? How could some super-robot magically create a rare stamp for me? How would I purchase anything from outside of the hive? I followed some of his other links and it came as no surprise his desire to double minimum wages and slash executive perks. What he fails to realize in his corporate pig bashing frenzy is that by removing the incentives of the super-rich you turn a Wal-Mart into a small chain of stores. Why expand when you will never make any more money because some loony communist wants to redistribute the fruits of your labor to the people you were kind enough to employ in the first place? I know I wouldn't want the headaches involved in running a 100,000 employee company if I could make the same money running a small local chain. "OOOOOh, but thats the problem! You need to expand your mind man! Give up this quest for worldy posesesions!" Yeah - right. His clumsy attempt at disguising the communist manifesto as a utopian science fiction story ignores human nature. That is why communism never worked and that is why his headache of a read could never work.
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A stilted, uneven and obvious parable about today's corporate America disguised as science-fiction. If today sucks and tomorrow is worse then wouldn't yesterday be better? Maybe instead of inventing fantastical pixie dust worlds to live in we could just burn all of the technological advancements of the last 100 years. One thing I wondered about the Australia Project - how convertable are their magical currency credits? What if I collect stamps? How could some super-robot magically create a rare stamp for me? How would I purchase anything from outside of the hive? I followed some of his other links and it came as no surprise his desire to double minimum wages and slash executive perks. What he fails to realize in his corporate pig bashing frenzy is that by removing the incentives of the super-rich you turn a Wal-Mart into a small chain of stores. Why expand when you will never make any more money because some loony communist wants to redistribute the fruits of your labor to the people you were kind enough to employ in the first place? I know I wouldn't want the headaches involved in running a 100,000 employee company if I could make the same money running a small local chain. "OOOOOh, but thats the problem! You need to expand your mind man! Give up this quest for worldy posesesions!" Yeah - right. His clumsy attempt at disguising the communist manifesto as a utopian science fiction story ignores human nature. That is why communism never worked and that is why his headache of a read could never work.
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What's the latest butt-scratch count? Check it out!Interestingly enough, Terry, I came away from this story with serious reservations. I read it to the end. What I expected (maybe I'm just a cynic) is that the Vertebrane thing would turn into a way for the few to control the many without the many even knowing they were being controlled. Indeed, as a work of science fiction, it fizzled out. But isn't it an interesting idea, even if hopeslessly idealistic? The explanation of the financing of the project is almost surrealistically unrealistic. Likewise the idea of the Australian population joining the project en masse. Yet (and I know I'm going to be flamed by this) I found the first two or three chapters totally believable even knowing that they hadn't happened yet. That description of working for Home Depot and never seeing a fellow worker rang true. Tell me that Home Depot management wouldn't implement this system if they had a chance. Tell me that McDonalds and Taco Bell and Burger King and In'n'out wouldn't. Tell me that Walmart wouldn't. And then tell me that if the legal framework in the US allowed it, none of those companies would place an electric collar on their workers to enforce greater efficiencies. In the end, maybe this Australian is as American as you. I wouldn't trust anyone to replace three of my vertebrae with a computer controlled device. Nor, I suspect, would you. But maybe that American I'm addressing can become as Australian as me and acknowledge that there are many many many ways to run the world. The American way isn't the only one. Rob Manderson **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
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Interestingly enough, Terry, I came away from this story with serious reservations. I read it to the end. What I expected (maybe I'm just a cynic) is that the Vertebrane thing would turn into a way for the few to control the many without the many even knowing they were being controlled. Indeed, as a work of science fiction, it fizzled out. But isn't it an interesting idea, even if hopeslessly idealistic? The explanation of the financing of the project is almost surrealistically unrealistic. Likewise the idea of the Australian population joining the project en masse. Yet (and I know I'm going to be flamed by this) I found the first two or three chapters totally believable even knowing that they hadn't happened yet. That description of working for Home Depot and never seeing a fellow worker rang true. Tell me that Home Depot management wouldn't implement this system if they had a chance. Tell me that McDonalds and Taco Bell and Burger King and In'n'out wouldn't. Tell me that Walmart wouldn't. And then tell me that if the legal framework in the US allowed it, none of those companies would place an electric collar on their workers to enforce greater efficiencies. In the end, maybe this Australian is as American as you. I wouldn't trust anyone to replace three of my vertebrae with a computer controlled device. Nor, I suspect, would you. But maybe that American I'm addressing can become as Australian as me and acknowledge that there are many many many ways to run the world. The American way isn't the only one. Rob Manderson **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
Rob Manderson wrote: Indeed, as a work of science fiction, it fizzled out. I've read a lot of science fiction (as I'm sure the rest of you have .. we're all geeks programming computers here) and I've noticed that an awful lot of science fiction fizzles out in the end -- the solutions just don't seem so wonderful when you actually think about them. I think that the reason for this is that we all agree that there's something wrong with the system, but realize that there is no single 'magic' way to fix it.
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. ~Stephen Roberts
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A stilted, uneven and obvious parable about today's corporate America disguised as science-fiction. If today sucks and tomorrow is worse then wouldn't yesterday be better? Maybe instead of inventing fantastical pixie dust worlds to live in we could just burn all of the technological advancements of the last 100 years. One thing I wondered about the Australia Project - how convertable are their magical currency credits? What if I collect stamps? How could some super-robot magically create a rare stamp for me? How would I purchase anything from outside of the hive? I followed some of his other links and it came as no surprise his desire to double minimum wages and slash executive perks. What he fails to realize in his corporate pig bashing frenzy is that by removing the incentives of the super-rich you turn a Wal-Mart into a small chain of stores. Why expand when you will never make any more money because some loony communist wants to redistribute the fruits of your labor to the people you were kind enough to employ in the first place? I know I wouldn't want the headaches involved in running a 100,000 employee company if I could make the same money running a small local chain. "OOOOOh, but thats the problem! You need to expand your mind man! Give up this quest for worldy posesesions!" Yeah - right. His clumsy attempt at disguising the communist manifesto as a utopian science fiction story ignores human nature. That is why communism never worked and that is why his headache of a read could never work.
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What's the latest butt-scratch count? Check it out!Terry O'Nolley wrote: obvious parable about today's corporate America disguised as science-fiction The fact that it is a parable about today is patently obvious and you are naive to think otherwise. Terry O'Nolley wrote: One thing I wondered about the Australia Project - how convertable are their magical currency credits? Exactly as valuable as any of the various currencies in use today. (ie: I think there's a special set of dice somewhere.) Terry O'Nolley wrote: How could some super-robot magically create a rare stamp for me? You obviously failed to understand an important part of the story. The value of rare and unique objects is because of their rarity -- once they can be reproduced easily they have no special value. There was a discussion here recently about manufactured diamonds and it's the same there -- if we can make them easily enough they lose (at least some of) their value. The concept used in the story is essentially an extension of today's no-cost digital copying to material objects. The question both raise is: "what is the value of something which was once in limited supply but is now ubiquitious." Terry O'Nolley wrote: by removing the incentives of the super-rich you turn a Wal-Mart into a small chain of stores I don't believe for a minute that because we only give some executive 10 million instead of 15 million that he won't open another Wal-Mart store. In fact, I firmly believe that if the workers in the store are happier that they will provide better customer service and the store will have more customers and make more money. And you already believe that giving more money to the executive will make him work harder, so you obviously believe that giving the worker more money will also make them work harder. All the times I've been to Wal-Mart I've *never* seen an executive, but I've seen an awful lot of their 'Associates' (that would be a funny misuse of language if it didn't have communist overtones). The attitudes and work of the 'associates' is obviously more important. Another thing you've failed to realize is that when people live on minimum wage they don't spend money because they don't have it. If they were paid more, they could afford more food and more expensive goods and they would buy these things to improve the quality of their lives unlike the executives who already have more money than they know what to do with. Consumers actually spending money i
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Terry O'Nolley wrote: obvious parable about today's corporate America disguised as science-fiction The fact that it is a parable about today is patently obvious and you are naive to think otherwise. Terry O'Nolley wrote: One thing I wondered about the Australia Project - how convertable are their magical currency credits? Exactly as valuable as any of the various currencies in use today. (ie: I think there's a special set of dice somewhere.) Terry O'Nolley wrote: How could some super-robot magically create a rare stamp for me? You obviously failed to understand an important part of the story. The value of rare and unique objects is because of their rarity -- once they can be reproduced easily they have no special value. There was a discussion here recently about manufactured diamonds and it's the same there -- if we can make them easily enough they lose (at least some of) their value. The concept used in the story is essentially an extension of today's no-cost digital copying to material objects. The question both raise is: "what is the value of something which was once in limited supply but is now ubiquitious." Terry O'Nolley wrote: by removing the incentives of the super-rich you turn a Wal-Mart into a small chain of stores I don't believe for a minute that because we only give some executive 10 million instead of 15 million that he won't open another Wal-Mart store. In fact, I firmly believe that if the workers in the store are happier that they will provide better customer service and the store will have more customers and make more money. And you already believe that giving more money to the executive will make him work harder, so you obviously believe that giving the worker more money will also make them work harder. All the times I've been to Wal-Mart I've *never* seen an executive, but I've seen an awful lot of their 'Associates' (that would be a funny misuse of language if it didn't have communist overtones). The attitudes and work of the 'associates' is obviously more important. Another thing you've failed to realize is that when people live on minimum wage they don't spend money because they don't have it. If they were paid more, they could afford more food and more expensive goods and they would buy these things to improve the quality of their lives unlike the executives who already have more money than they know what to do with. Consumers actually spending money i
Daniel Ferguson wrote: The fact that it is a parable about today is patently obvious and you are naive to think otherwise. I didn't think otherwise - hence my use of the word "obvious". The fact I used the word obvious should have made it obvious that I thought so and you are naive to think otherwise. Daniel Ferguson wrote: Terry O'Nolley wrote: One thing I wondered about the Australia Project - how convertable are their magical currency credits? Exactly as valuable as any of the various currencies in use today. So, If I wanted to take a trip to Tahiti (something that would only expend the resources necessary to fly to Tahiti) but my hotel there cost $1000 a night - how would my magical energy credits pay the Tahitian hotel owner? Daniel Ferguson wrote: Terry O'Nolley wrote: How could some super-robot magically create a rare stamp for me? You obviously failed to understand an important part of the story. The value of rare and unique objects is because of their rarity -- once they can be reproduced easily they have no special value. But what about the historical legacy of ancient artifacts? What if I wanted to own an origianl Rembrandt painting? The resources involved are miniscule - a few grams of paint, a few square feet of canvas and a pound and a half of wood for the frame. But the knwoledge you are holding history in your hands cannot be reproduced by their super-duper-recycler robots. Daniel Ferguson wrote: Terry O'Nolley wrote: by removing the incentives of the super-rich you turn a Wal-Mart into a small chain of stores I don't believe for a minute that because we only give some executive 10 million instead of 15 million that he won't open another Wal-Mart store. And if that was the limit of his rabid communism then I would agree. Not with a slap-dash richness penalty, but through the tax system. But that isn't where this modern-day Marxist wants it to go. He is obviously arguing for total redistribution of wealth. It is the same sort of technique of punishing the innovators that sank communism.
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Interestingly enough, Terry, I came away from this story with serious reservations. I read it to the end. What I expected (maybe I'm just a cynic) is that the Vertebrane thing would turn into a way for the few to control the many without the many even knowing they were being controlled. Indeed, as a work of science fiction, it fizzled out. But isn't it an interesting idea, even if hopeslessly idealistic? The explanation of the financing of the project is almost surrealistically unrealistic. Likewise the idea of the Australian population joining the project en masse. Yet (and I know I'm going to be flamed by this) I found the first two or three chapters totally believable even knowing that they hadn't happened yet. That description of working for Home Depot and never seeing a fellow worker rang true. Tell me that Home Depot management wouldn't implement this system if they had a chance. Tell me that McDonalds and Taco Bell and Burger King and In'n'out wouldn't. Tell me that Walmart wouldn't. And then tell me that if the legal framework in the US allowed it, none of those companies would place an electric collar on their workers to enforce greater efficiencies. In the end, maybe this Australian is as American as you. I wouldn't trust anyone to replace three of my vertebrae with a computer controlled device. Nor, I suspect, would you. But maybe that American I'm addressing can become as Australian as me and acknowledge that there are many many many ways to run the world. The American way isn't the only one. Rob Manderson **Paul Watson wrote:**What sense would you most dislike loosing? Ian Darling replied. Telepathy Then I'd no longer be able to find out everyones dirty little secrets The Lounge, December 4 2003
Rob Manderson wrote: Interestingly enough, Terry, I came away from this story with serious reservations. I read it to the end. I also read it to the end. While most here would agree that the society depicted in that story would be a neat way to live, we must realize that it ignores human nature. I know I would be bored shitless in such a place. I would prefer to fight my battles here in the decadent west and carve out my riches through my own effort than to live the life of a mediocre eunuch surrounded by a billion other eunuchs. The people who say they don't desire the thrill of conquest and the pride of the conqueror are the people too timid to make a name for themselves. And the last thing I want would be to live amongst such sheep for the rest of my life.
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