illegal as hell, but fun
Month: April 2007
Other Kinds of Minds
given that we don’t know what intelligence is (in any detailed way), it is hard to say exactly how diverse the space of intelligent minds is.
Buying Jobs
Let’s say that the world is so wealthy that most people don’t need to work. Still they might be bored. They might want to work. What kinds of jobs could they buy? Under one view, the resulting jobs would always feel phony. The customers/laborers would never fear being fired. They would never have to try very hard, or could never feel that the enterprise really mattered. You might, for instance, buy a job as a blogger.
considering that technological change will get us there pretty quickly, the comments are pretty inane
Actuarial escape velocity
the point at which, each year, the average human life expectancy increases by at least 1 year. This makes actuarial escape velocity an attractive idea, as a means of achieving indefinite lifespan.
current velocity is 0.5
Dear No First Name
A PR firm wrote us a letter to win our business. It was signed by their Director of Business Development. The letter detailed the awards they’ve won, the placements they’ve achieved for their clients, and the number of clients they’ve had that have been acquired or gone public. It sounds impressive, but it all started with “Dear .” Whoops!
junk mail is dead
Edge finance
Indeed much more important in my view is the heretofore missed opportunity to pass on a truly tailored, friendly and understandable customer experience notwithstanding the fact that the technology (and business models) to do so already exist.
Wiki Widgets
extensions for MediaWiki that provide simple ways to embed information from other sources within a wiki page.
Places blurred on Google Maps
wow, quite the discussion. the efforts of national governments to hide things are getting ever harder.
IP satellite
Although satellites have been passively relaying IP traffic since the 1970s, the use of an orbiting satellite as an active part of the Internet is a more recent development. Once you have smarter satellites, you can treat them as not completely separate but as part of your IP network and manage them as you do your IP networking assets on the ground.
Expand the AMT!
The AMT is a flat tax, it’s broad-based, it doesn’t allow for deduction of state and local taxes (which only increases the incentive of states and localities to raise taxes) and it’s simple. The AMT should be reformed but overall it’s a much better tax than the current income tax.
Gregor J. Rothfuss 