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Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Jackass Hugo Chavez Receives Murderous Mullahs' Highest Honor - Persian Journal Latest Iran news & Iranian Newspaper
Uh...is anybody shitting themselves yet or are you still too busy watching "SpongeBob" ...well....huh?
Friday, May 12, 2006
Purpose, point, possibility ...
Corporatism, capitalism, consumerism...
Statement: unless we choose a future, one will be chosen for us. This is a self-evident truth and has great implication for the on-going argument over destiny and free will. In the eastern philosophies the concept of karma states that past actions will influence current states
and the future path of events. In physics this is refered to as "sum over histories". When considered, these spiritual postulates appear to be absolute in nature and could be relied upon
to form a basic set of laws for human life. If I fail to plan for the future the future will occur nonetheless and rather than being random, will be the result of the cumulative sum of my past actions and the actions of those around me and that of the world as a whole. There is no
place for the idea that any individual can achive "salvation" separate fron the whole. Either we achive "salvation" or you will only be able to go so far before beginning to feel the gravitatational pull of the world. Yes, I realize that this may seem a little abstract to conceptualize but I believe that it is reliable. At the dawn of quantum physics one of the first things that became clear is
the startling simularity between the newly discovered laws and principals of quantum science and the precepts of esoteric spiritual philosophy. Karma is one example. Another is the
concept of the impermanence of all things. Another is the interconnectedness of all things.
Karma = sum over histories
Impermanence = quantum dynamics, sub-atomic energy flux
Interconnectedness = quantom structure, wave collapse.
This universe is a whole, unified phenomenon. No one thing is separate in any way. The future is knowable, unless modified by the actions of consciousness. The universe is in a continous state of flux, nothing is permanent. The only element that seems to be separate in any way is consciousness. There is now increasing evidence that consciousness is a quantum phenomenon or perhaps more fundamental than that. So spirituality, far from being an abstract, "imaginary" pastime is in fact advanced critical thinking and higher perception that allows the individual to percieve that actual hidden nature of reality. A fact now supported by advanced physics. (in light of this view, the now famous words of Robert Oppenhiemer "...I am become shiva, destroyer of
worlds..." on the occasion of the first atomic bomb detonation take on greater dimension)
I have a draft manuscript entitled "evo" on phase of the book deals with the subject of human evolution and the current status of the process. One of the fundamental premises of the book is that evolution is beginning to breakdown. The reason for this is that we are no longer completely on automatic pilot but that we are, due to the development of consciousness, beginning to pass out of the zone of control that nature exerts. I do not believe that this is due to technology, although technology would be an external manifestation of this process. I believe that we are beginning to develop Higher Consciousness. If we accept that Quantum Physics has revealed a universe that resembles the visions of the mystics and the principles of spirituallity then Higher Consciousness must have, not only a basis in fact, but a directly percievable manifestation. I believe that it is Telepathy. No, not mind reading but the individuals direct awareness of that which has no direct manifestation. Collective awareness or awareness of the whole (race, earth universe...) would produce states that would explain the phenomenon of telepathy (or at least the perception of it). Spoken language would not exist if we had no ears. Similarly, what we crudely refer to as telepathy must start out with a faculty of human sense. Third eye, higher consciousness, 6th sense. In my humble opinion all of this is the perception of that state that an individual enters into when he or she gets thier shit together and grows the fuck up.
This is a rare state indeed and has resulted in the greatest advances in human history. Technology is forcing us to admit that there is a "whole" out there and that we may no be able to totally ignore it forever. Humans don't learn unless they have to. We are most often responsive to external stimuli. Until now there has been little in the way of external stimuli that we profound enought or powerfull enought to pierce the viel of stupidity that has been our swadling cloths and stimulate us into making use of the other 97% of the human mind that had no purpose until now. (funny, modern physics now says that 97% of the universe may be composed of "Darke Mattere" such that the holy cosmologicical constancy of father Einstein might be explained....perhaps when the other 97% of the human mind sees the light of day so will the rest of the universe...) Ok, no more ranting and stabbing...
The fact is that in times past only the most advanced of us percieved the existance of the question of meaning or the question of purpose. In most of those cases the question was in reference to the individual and not the whole. Any potential answers, even though they where (most likely) juvenil rumors and supersticion where treated as the highest secrets of the order. Now more and more of us are starting to wonder as to the nature of the human race and its place in the grand skeme of things. Sadly, the evidence thus far is that we serve a purpose similar to that of a cancer or virus that complete destroys the hosts ability to survive, in addition to destroying itself in the process. But the fact is that we are more "globally aware" than ever before thanks to technology and that may be the external stimuli that is causing the internal evolution that is cause us to "see". The effect of this appears to be rather predictable; we are sticking our collective heads up our group ass and turning inward to ignore it with a vengence (funny that.....) Hence;
Corporatism, capitalism, consumerism...
This is what "they" are doing. It also happens to be what you are doing. We are drownding in a pool of fantasy and delusion. We a devoting our lives to the higher goal of more cellular billing and lower cost computer peripherals, infinite income is not quite enought and we must have more money no matter what the cost. The key, of course is buying. The more we buy the more money is made by those who sell and that then creates the increase in the wealth of the economy in general that allow us to make more money so that we can buy more .... I'm not making this up. This is really happening. This is "what they are doing" This is all that they are doing. On a deeper level there is no "they", only you. There 6.5 billion of you and your all fucked up and guilty. So drop the bullshit. Yes I know, I see the images of the impoverished billions sifting through the trash to find a meal. (I've done it myself) and they are there because you are insuring that nothing spoils your personal delusion. They will in turn, rise up and over throw the tyranny that holds them in check (you) and start the cycle over again. The simple fact is that unless the human race achieves salvation your personal ass is roasted, period. We can not survive unless and until we get our collective shit together, no not the "other guys" that need to, you. And not your way. No more religion, no more politics. You personally must evolve and percieve reality directly.
Missing time...
Due to illness, a server update and business misfortune I have been
unable to post for several days. Any way, on to the point...
So what have "they" been doing any way? What might the agendy of an
exclusive clique of individuals be that are, by proxy, rulers of the
world? Perhaps:
Phase one: get power
Phase two: protect power
Phase three: control power
Phase four: ....
Uh, you get the point yes? Under the US CODE the law considers a
corporation to be an entity for purposes of legal liability. In reality,
like any other, entity the first rule is survival. Since power is the
only element that defines this perticular entity it is the primary task.
There would have been a purpose initially, but the "harsh realities"
would have forced the leadership to suspend those
goals until such a time as the power needed was secure. Commence phase
one.in time it would have become easier to leave things "on the back
burner" and continue the job of power. After several generations the
original purpose would become a legend. So that's what the driver, the
lawyer and the accountant have been up to.
It stands to reason that if the most powerful nation on earth is in this
state then the rest of the human race isn't much better off what with
having to compete with US. So therefore it seems pretty clear that
whatever the purpose of the human race is it isn't very high on tbhe
agenda. So we seem to be having a bad time with this, no? Seen from a
distance we would appear to be showing signs of
depression, mania and neurosis. As a collective that is. This would be a
spiritual observation. And this would bring this diatribe back to the
point. That being that here at the beginning of the twenty first
century, we are beginning to confront a very difficult problem. We have
no idea why we are here and the question is, whether we like it or not,
"on the table". Without purpose there is little
hope of a future worth living. And that statement will very much apply
to your children and your children's children. Like it or not. And that
is the point.
Monday, May 08, 2006
point counter point
This is a symptom of what is lost. We are no longer driving. We have a driver to do that. The problem with that is that the driver is ultimately in charge, yes you can threaten to fire him but the wheel (of karma?) remains firmly in his hand. Worse still is the possibility that you CAN'T drive and don't know the roads. Boy what an act of trust that is. So if the driver decided that you couldn't be trusted to call the shots as to how to get where you think you are going there would be little you could do about it and in all likelyhood you wouldn't even know you had changed directions (being that you are in the back of the Limo on the phone mixing a drink -n- all....) and should you, or one of your party question the driver it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine him misleading you, for your own good that is.
Now imagine that you have a lawyer and and accountant and a driver and they are not going to allow you to make bad decisions or mistakes (in thier humble opinions...) and decide to "take care of things for you". The king becomes the crown. Thats you.
That is part of whats wrong, at least in the limited, local example of the USA. Since the beginning of the cold war (1946) There have been two things that have been incontravertable truth; first is that we where/(are?) this most powerfull nation on earth. Both militarily as well as economicaly the United States has been completely dominant. So much so that early on in the "game" the CIA needed to falsify intelligence reports to the president and congress inflating the size of the Soviet nuclear arsenal to prevent a complete demilitarization of the US. "I know he wants to take his family to disneyland but we can't let him, there are more important things to do like insure that his wealth is greater than that of his neighbors, ok, you tell him that he's losing money and I'll recommend that we drive to the job to make more..." says the driver to the accountant. And the rest is, as they say, history.
You see, it was obvious early on in the "game" that the USA was going to dominate the world. This was one of the main reasons for the Yalta conference. Internally there would have to have been a decision made that, in spite of the fact that the USA is ruled by a government "of the people, by the people and for the people..." the people simply could not be trusted with the awesome power and responsability of being not only the great bastion of freedom and democracy but the wealthiest, most powerfull nation on earth. I mean, come on! All the "people" want to do is have barbaque's and drink martini's in the sun light! (no doubt a comment made during a conversation taking place between several high level goverment and military officials while discussing this very subject...while at a barbeque drinking martini's....). The rational is perfect and inarguable. even if you did give a shit as to the fate of the world the idea of letting millions of ill informed voters make decisions of historical scope is ludicrious. Isn't it? I mean it was blatantly obvious that you couldn't have cared less about the fate of the human race, right? But wait, if that where true then why did you give the lives of thousands of your sons to save the huuman race from certain tyrrany and darkness? Ok, yes, before the war the US was isolationist but that is normal and ended once Pearl Harbor came along (so, if the accusation that the White House saw it coming and allowed to happen in order to awaken US public opinion and get us to save the world is true it makes more sense, right? I mean, yes, 3,000 or so died but look how many where saved? And they would have, in all likelyhood, died anyway as the war wasn't going to avoid us forever. Right? We are talking about Pearl Harbor by the way, just in case the casuality figure confused you with recent events). Even at that US public opinion has always been a function of the press, propoganda and politics so if we where isolationist its because we where encouraged to be so. So, where did this idea that we didn't give a shit come from? Maybe it was the justification that the driver, accountant and the lawyer used to rationalize thier decision. Either way, the problem is the same and, apparently didn't begin with WWII. You (individually and collectively) are not in the drivers seat. Thats a funny thing considering that this is supposed to be the worlds bastion of freedom and the home of the "rugged individuallist" no? Where we ever in the "drivers seat" At what point (!) did the king become the crown? And what, if anything does this have to do with the "crisis of meaning" and alledged coming collapse of the human races "will to live"?
What if you moved into a neighborhood and not only where all of your neighbors stinking rich but asked you to handle thier money for them? What would you do? Duh! You would take the job and finially get your break! Your not a thief, right? Your a good person and you would want to insure that thier money was safe. From them. They did ask you to handle it for them, right? And doesn't that mean that they can't handle it themselves? So if A. is true and B. is true then wouldn't it be the responsable thing to do? Power corrupts. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. More to the Point (!!), Power over others corrupts and absolute power over others corrupts absolutely. You see, the United States of America was the result of a dream. It was the dream not of Americans but of lots of different people that didn't come from America ('cus there weren't no 'Merica then...). The dream was to end forever the tyranny of the powerfull over the lives of individuals and give the human race a chance to assert itself and move out of moms house and stretch its wings and find out what it can do, on its own. Who it is and What if anything is its purpose in the "grand skeme of things". I guess that things haven't worked out so well, huh? And who are the "powerfull", the "tyrannts" anyway? In the light of this little diatribe it would seem that they are those of us that just don't believe in us (read themselves), and aren't gonna let us offin' the farm just yet. We won the victory over the forces of darkness and tyranny. And lost the war. And here we are getting fatter (diabetes), older (the greying of generational population) and dumber (the viral spread of technology) while the driver, accountant and lawyer do......
So, uh, what are they doing anyway?
Saturday, May 06, 2006
To make a point...
Ok, the last post was a little sweeping and absolutist. I'll step it down a little. It could be said that the United States is the nation that is farthest forward in time of all the nations of the world. While it is more readily spoken that the US is "the most technologically advanced, or that we are the wealthiest, or the most advanced politically these things, while individually true to one degree or another they are inadequate to accurately describe the position of the US with regard to world history and the evolution of the human race.
the analogy to time is better. It captures the "spiritual" essence of the nature of human advancement and the role of the US in this process until now. With the dawn of the technological age (that being the primary lead we have upon the rest of the world) the nations the the earth have begun to close the gap. One the reasons is that America is failing socially, culturally and morally. Greed has supplanted the work ethic that was at one time world famous. (Alexis de touquiville idolized it his book...) morality has been replaced by the shame filled adherence to the forms of moral superiority and the loud intolerance of others. (the other symptom of moral decline is the obsession with sex) Our identity, mission and purpose has been supplanted by personal arrogance and entitlement and collective hubris.
There is clearly something wrong, but what that is is far less clear. Maybe. The problem is spiritual. In the aftermath of WWII the United States was tasked with the responsibility of guarding democracy against the forces of tyranny. We possessed a clear moral imperative that defined us morally, politically and socially. It gave us both a national as well as individual identity. For forty years from 1947 to 1987 we where the bastion that protected the free world. Then, we won. And the decay was rapid indeed. While it is an over simplification to make the above statement without volumes of qualifiers and analysis I'm equally sure that the fall of the roman empire was just as detailed and ambiguous. The facts are in evidence and the decline is apparent. What is less obvious is why. And that is the reason for the over simplification, we are the wealthiest nation on earth. We are far and away the most powerful military power. So what is declining? And why?
Friday, May 05, 2006
The point
For millennia we have clung to the rock of religion, mythology and the occult to fill in the empty place deep within all of us where the answer to the above question is supposed to live. We have fought wars over which of our beliefs where the "right" one. We have sacrificed our lives, the lives of our children and whole civilizations in the quest to convince all of us that this or that answer was the "right" answer. The terrifyingly rapid spread of technology has, like the harsh dawn of a clear sun, begun to show all of us that we where wrong. All of us. All the struggle and sacrifice seem to have been for naught as we stand upon the empty plain of history naked in the light of reality. Each of us is desperate for meaning. Meaning for our own lives. Yet, we can not fill in the blank within ourselves unless we fill in the deeper hole within where the answer to the question, "why are WE here?" is found. I have spend my lifetime holding on to the quest for truth as the meaning that I cling to for the strength to continue. But I look forward and see a grey misted tomorrow, I see uncertainty.
I am certain of this, it is the lack of meaning that is eating us up. No one of us can continue without meaning. In the past the struggle to establish "Our" truth was the meaning that sustained us. The truth of democracy, God (one and sundry forms), science and the mystery itself. But now the light of our new found universal perception is dissolving all of our notions and making them small and foolish. For those of you that are offended by this image, take heart, the human beings capacity for self-delusion appears to be infinite. But be warned, the light of reality is 1 degree greater. Whether now, tomorrow or in 100 years we will all be force to see the truth, that we have no idea who or what we are. And more painfully, Why we are.
I truly believe that unless we find the answer to this question we can not continue. I have seen futures in which humanity simply fades away leaving no mark of itself, no catastrophe, no blazing moment, we simply stop. We no longer remember and we stop, we cast ourselves forward into indifference and dissipate in the mist of time. I have seen futures where we destroy ourselves with increasing self hatred and self loathing. Our souls are eaten by our person shame at our uselessness and we race backward, running from the empty future. There is a third vision. One that came to me only briefly at the beginning of my journey. One in which we become...But that was probably my own personal version of hope.
No amount of war, spasm or science can prove a lie to be true. Reality is inviolable and incontrovertible. No matter how true or correct some thought or idea or other may be upon its own merits it can only form a part of the greater whole. And without context is a small piece of a vast jigsaw puzzle, the only one we have and with no place to go. Yes Buddhism, Occult, Christianity or Darwinianism may be your personal answer but only to your personal question. It leaves the deeper question unanswered and therefore, is without merit. For the deeper question is the deepest emptiness within you. No matter what noise you fill yourself with, there is a hollow echo at the bottom of your self that is the, as yet unanswered question, "Why are we?". And though you may go to your grave certain of "Your" answer I know in my heart that the last thing you will see is the unanswered question in the eyes of those you leave behind.
No, we can not continue unless we know the truth. Much has been made of gerontology of late and the question of eternal life is on the agenda. I have an Idea. I believe that the key to eternal life is having a reason to exist, a reason to be. Not just your own personal reason, your children or Your work, but a larger reason. I once spent time in a McDonald's restaurant asking people if they would take a pill that would grant them immortality, no one said yes. Do you really thing that we are here to turn stone into cars? Or to produce ever more plastic trinkets? While the medical profession is certainly noble, it doesn't count as it is only the correction of that which shouldn't be wrong in the first place and the maintenance of life without purpose, save to find that purpose. Our purpose.
Perhaps in addition to tearing away from our eyes the scales that have blinded us technology will also give us the sight to see the answer. But I doubt it. That answer lies in the depth of the human soul and no machine can ever resolve that image.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Point=pointless
Forgive the misspellings in the last post, the spell-checker was a bit off. We are connected to everybody on the planet and have nothing to say. We have infinite capability and nothing to do. There is a crisis of meaninglessness. Tech nology seems to be sweeping us to cliff where we have no choise but to realize that there really is no point to not only consnsciouusness but existance itself.
We don't do anything.
We don't serve any purpose.
We have no point.
Now what?
Monday, May 01, 2006
The benefits of technology
In a review of history, the history of the latter half of the twenty century, we can see the vast benefits that technology has had on society, economy, and people. The previous statement is so loaded with sarcasms that eve I'm a little ashamed. There is an epidemic of obesity. An epidemic mind you, not my words but the amass. One third of our children have been approached by a pedophilia on the internet for the purposes of cybersex (that statement is confusing in the extreme). A similar number have had "virtual" sexual contact with either those of their own age group or others. Their is currently, a battle in the supreme court regarding child pornography in the matter of digitally enhanced adults that are made to appear as though they are younger. There is another battle regarding the ownership of words themselves, music and evev parts of music. Our health is failing in general with an epidemic of (AMA's words) diabetics and worse, psychological disorders. Well, at least we've experienced the greatest economic expansion in history, right? Well, sort of. While there is a vastly greater amount of value in the economic system most of it is "virtual" being stock capital, trillions of it. And the rest, well almost all of that is debt. Home ownership is at an all time high. Average equity is at an all time low. We are heating up the planet with the half a billion or so motorized vehicles that are running and stressing the land with the 6.5 billion hungry mouths. The volume of communication taking place has increased 1000 fold. The amount of knowledge being communicated has dropped to zero (I don't consider math to be knowledge as humans can be knowledgeable without it). No person in your life is more than a keystroke away, or a cell phone call. Yet you can go months without saying a thing because of "a lack of time" , truth is you have nothing to say, there's nothing to talk about in spite of the sheer mass of people and events taking place every day. See what I mean?
Hey have you called "tech support" lately? These are the most likely scenarios:
A) you get an Asian on the phone who, while he speaks impeccable English, can not even begin to comprehend what you are saying. He desperately struggles to clarify what you are complaining about (while making jokes about the superbly...) and after 30 minutes of suicide class agony cheerfully and politely explains that there is nothing that he can do for you as either
1) you caused the problem
2) the problem isn't covered
3) the problem was caused by someone else's software/hardware/service and you should call them (which starts the cycle all over again....uh red pill or blue?)
B) you are greeted by a telephone the telephone askes to you explain why you are calling, who you are and if you are authorized to call. "press 1 to continue in urdu...press 2 to continue in swahili...(15 minutes later...)...press 73 to continue in english..." afterwords there are more menu's "speak or say yes" or "press the letter Q on your phone", it goes on and on, your eye's begin to bleed, you start to cry and scream. then a tech gets on the phone (Finially!) and ...politely explains that there is nothing that he can do for you as either
1) you caused the problem
2) the problem isn't covered
3) the problem was caused by someone elses software/hardware/service and you should call them (which starts the cycle all over again....uh red pill ,blue pill or lead pill?)
C) it spite of the best efforts of the system to drive you to dispar and suicide you manage to survive it all (I have heard credible stories of this happening) and prove that the problem is real and thier responsability and: they tell you that they know about it and are working on it and would be happy to contact you when a fix is released, at which point you phone cuts off as you are on voip and the latest snotwads hit "fuck me whit you skull" prerelease that you 13 y/o daughter downloaded from limewire releases its viral payload and eats your computer (which hosts the voip app) and causes your ISP to blacklist your connection, for security reasons. which causes you to have to go to a neighbors house to ......
call tech support.
am I the only one that is getting the impression that this whole technology thing isn't working out they way we thought it would? please try to remember that the very first thing that the modern world wroght is the atom bomb and the cold war. are you getting it yet?
Saturday, April 29, 2006
So where do we go from here
Billions of cell phones...
A billion internet users...
Billions of cars...
I have a client that has the phone closet from hell. Systems and wiring that go back to the 50's and interconnects that can not be traced. This is not The exception, it is the rule. Extrapolate that to the internet with the hyper-complexity that already exists in the curcits of the "providers" and is it any wonnder that AI doesn't exist? If it doesn't, it will, and soon. And the most frightening part is that it will be in the image of its creator.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Technopagans and Technoshamans
While I have not made a study of this subject, I posess some degree of tangential familiarity. (I have not posted in some time by reason of income,, the need for...but my mind has continued so forgive the apparent discontinuity). I have, for some time subscribed to an e-zine called ctheory and would like to call your attention to the fact that just 10 years ago most of you reading this would not be as you had no connection with, involvement with, or awareness of, the internet and technology. 5 years prior to that and the WWW didn't exist. Am I the only one that is shocked and compelled by the fact that in just 15 years technology has not only become the center of society, economy and communication but is now becoming the focus of religion and philosophy too?
I think that this renders the efforts of Law firms to control fundamental patents, telecommunications companies to control access to, and software companies the means of enabling the internet and technology in general in a much more drastic light.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Ubiquitous universal access
"May you live in interesting times..." so goes the old Irish curse. We've been cursed. We have commited the sin of pandora, or at least some of us have. Perhaps it was our leaders for allowing to many too build too much, perhaps it was the corporate overlords for blindly persuing profit, power and preemminence. Perhads it was all of us for harboring secrect fantasies of unlinited access to pornography, gambling, political voice os money. The simple fact is that we opened pandoras box and let everything out. Music will be free and available to all, at a price. Knowledge will be free and accessible to all, but at a price. Universal access to all for all at a price. You see, once the competitive engine is running for long enough it begins to become "Market driven". I remember getting involved with a company that marketed a unit in competition to the "WebTV". While it turned out to be a scam it was interesting trying to sell internet access to the americian public in 1997. The was a benign suspicion regarding the internet and computers in general. That was nine years ago. Now dell is advertising a $299 computer and 60% of americian homes have high speed internet access. Remember VCR's? Remember when the finially came DOWN to $299? Now their so cheap that there no longer worth selling. This is where we are at now.
The future is blooming like a geometric virus. Fuelcells are racing at us with the promise of week long batteries for the laptops that are going to be outmoded by UMPC's (Ultra Mobile Personal Computers). The unit I'm on right now, the cingular 8125, is pretty much a complete, if cramped solution being my telephone (two line), and my personal computer (somewhat limited but fully functional). There is also the rapidly approching dawn of WiMax the ultra-broadband cellular data solution and the spreading vines of Verizon's FIOS network. Within 3 years you will have a smallish portfolio thinner than the one that you carry now that will be your tv, your phone, and your computer. It will be persistantly connected to the internet by a T3 class data cellular data connection and the battery will need to be charged once a week, if at all. The market forces will drive the price of existing laptop computers to below $300 and desktops even less in the mean time. After that, who knows. It can't be stopped now, its market driven. So what will happen to us? In the lurid and unbearable light of information acccess our children are totally sexually conscious. Teen girls have cyber sex with 34 year old lawyers knowingly. Religion is fragmenting. Family is desolving. Myths are dying. This all due to the internet, version 1.0, imagine the effect of internet 2.0.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Warp 7 and no toilet paper...
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Sunday April 09, @07:41 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/09/0333234
This is a link to an article that speaks of "the first nanotechnology lawsuit...". I wasn't aware that we where using nanotechnology much less screwing up. Actually it would seem that its an infomercial type product gone awry But if this early in the game we are seeing problems on the road to profit just imagine what the headlines will read like in 2020...
This is a product of simple irresponsability and lack of judgement. I fear that one of the hallmarks of humanities entry into the tech age is the collapse of character, sacrifice and responsibility that the struggle to survive forged in us. Religio.n codified this necessity into a systen of training and inheritance that insured that future generations would have their share of leadership. This is why the religious are more fanatical and religion is dying. The plague of Juvenality maybe the greatest threat to the future of humanity that we will ever face.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
The future continued...
...Eschatology is the study of the end of the world. or the study of
theories about the end of the world. I am sitting here watching a
television show about the antichrist.How moch of.our worldview, our
psychological makeup is a function of christian theology? Or
christian eschatology? what is going to happen when the majority of
the world abandons this mythology in favor of reality? We are beyond
future sbock.
--
Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel...
(Bedouin Axiom)
the future...
the future seems to have tumbled out of the boxand spilled on the
floor. It is a human future indeed, as every day I encounted the fear
and sense of deminishment that grips every day people in the face of
technology. We face a future that is unstable. Note, I didn't say
"uncertain", I said unstable. the difference being that we can no
longer count on our automatic grace. Not that we are in a position to
face the truth but if truth be told we all know that there is nothing
awaiting us in the mist of tomorrow but the results of our own
actions, or lack thereof. No judgement, no redemptiom, only the blank
page. If humanity fails to choose a future, one will be choosen for
us.
--
Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel...
(Bedouin Axiom)
Sunday, April 02, 2006
a quick post
camera, a video camera, a windows pc, a cellular telephone and has a
keyboard (fairly usable) and connects to the internet via a nearly DSL
class connection that is always on. This would be an example of the
kind of thing that I have been on about.
--
Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel...
(Bedouin Axiom)
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Open Source Economics 101
OSE 101
XYZ Computing
- sells Laptop computers
- units manufactured in china
- company charges Cost plus Operating Expenses (including payroll)
- no profit
- no stock
- employee's get paid
- suppliers get paid
- customers get laptops at lowest possible cost
Assuming the current cost of a laptop at 6 to 800 USD (lowend), and based on a standard profit model (assuming that the mfg charges normal cost) the new retail price would be 400 to 600 USD. if the mfg is at minimum cost as well the retail would then be 200 to 350. the result would be that far greater numbers of laptops would be sold providing for greater business opportunities in aftermarket, support and the activities created by the users of the units. this is not a foriegn or new concept. Give away the unit and stimulate the market activities associated with its use. Linux has pioneered this model in the software market with success. money would be made by the employee's involved in the MFG process, the suppliers, and the users (in the form of savings and new opportunities.) there would be no profit associated with the "Corporation" (an abstract entity) or "Shareholders" non-performing capital-based individual that "neither sow nor reap" Employee-Owned company models have been successfull but only rarely in a capital intensive economic environment. but it has happened. 85% of the wealth in the United States is owned by 15% of the population and 15% of the wealth is owned by the remaining 85%. Yet the real value of the US economy is base on the activities of the bottom 85%. that is upside dowm. imagine the value of the US economy if the situation where reversed. Or at least partially shifted to a 50%/%50 ratio. it would be a consumer boom time and the market would be very active. not the stock market, the supermarket. trickle-up for a change. is that really such a bizarre idea?
Monday, March 27, 2006
OET -- Rural Community Technologies
Presentation
made before the World Radio Conference on Rural Wireless Broadband using wireless LAN Technologies 8/19/03 "
So, According to the information (a preciously rare commodity on the internet...) in the presentation on this FCC site there will be 20 million wireless routers installed in user sites by 2007. That's 20 million hot spots. There are an estimated 1.5 billion (Yeah, that's a "B") active cell phones in the world with over 200 million in the USA. The hottest industry segments are those that relate to anything wireless. Verizon is currently rolling out its FIOS Fiber data lines to all of its customers at a feverish pace. That's a whole lot of internet happening. The latest hot item is "Mesh Networking" while certainly not new it has been popularized by Mr. Negroponte's $99 laptop. And not to forget the latest cellular move, "wimax", Cellular broadband. Does anyone remember 10 years ago when the internet didn't exist?
Let us imagine 5 years hence: there are 50 million US homes with wireless broadband hotspots in operation (60 to 70 million is more likely). There are 300 million cellphones 50% or more capable of data communications and wireless LAN data. 50% of cell towers are WiMax capable. Oh, and at least 20 to 25% of home-based wireless routers are WiMax or extended range/speed capable. With the USA being 3.7 million Sq Miles that means that we will have 20 to 40 hot spots per Sq Mile with 100 mobile data access points per Sq Mile. That should be just enough to provide the total coverage Mesh Networking system. And that doesn't' even take into account the number of wireless laptops, PC's and other devices. By what means do the telcos think that they are going to control access? The same way the RIAA is controlling internet music? That worked out real well, no?
Hybrid cars are selling well. Increasing press coverage of, and the increasing acceptance of, Global Warming is beginning to cause a ground swell in the atrophied alternative energy market. This will not go away. The foundation of alternative energy is FREE. That means that soon (5 years?) millions of US households will be receiving free energy. What has this to do with wireless mesh networking? Why Linux of course. Linux is based on the Open Source Model. Its free to all. That doesn't mean that there's no money in it, just that if you charge for it you have to give the code away with it so that others can change it an use it themselves or give what they make away free. Open Source Software. Open Source Internet. Open Source Energy.
How about Open Source Economy? Free Internet, free energy, free software are forming the conceptual basis for the idea of an Open Source Economic Model, or OSEM. This would be the extension of the Open Source concept into the general economic system. By giving away the basic means of economic participation the economy is stimulated from the bottom up. Gee, wouldn't that be "Trickle Up" theory? Energy, Information and technology are the three biggest elements in modern society. The more people that participate, the more $$$ there is being created to fuel the growth of the general economic environment.
10 years ago the Internet didn't exist. 10 years from now we could find ourselves living in a country where Internet access, the software technology that runs it and energy itself are free to all. Or at least the means by which they are enabled. You buy the machine and run it free. You can't control the human race. That has been proven by history over and over again. Perhaps its time for the Lords of Industry to stop fighting the truth and learn to profit from it.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Slashdot | FCC Backs a Tiered Internet
FCC Backs a Tiered Internet
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday March 23, @10:36AMfrom the more-money dept.
Going to be extorted writes ""FCC Chief Kevin Martin yesterday gave his support to AT&T and other telcos who want to be able to limit bandwidth to sites like Google, unless those sites pay extortion fees. Martin made it clear in a speech yesterday that he supports such a a "tiered" Internet." Could this be the end of internet innovation?"
ok, I was going to devote this post to the effect of the capital oligarchy and the technological feudalism that is pandemic in America. I was going to follow up on the the phrase "Open Source Society". I was going to point out that in other parts of the world mobile phones and mobile phone services are far less costly and that there are phones that are NOT imported or sold in the USA because they are too cheap. I was going to make the case that telecommunications is the last bastion of the Old Guard, the "legacy agenda" of feudal ownership and the control of population through the control of resources (in this case, communications and the internet). then I stumbled accross this link....so I guess I did. Imagine a world where the channels of information are freed up and business is done the old fashion way. The current stranglehold on internet and data access is akin to owning the streets and the town and extorting from the shopkeepers to open in the morning and from the customers to walk there and shop. It is crippling business NOT enabling it. Pyramid Economic Theory, Quantum Consciousness, multi-dimensional space/time, these are little more than humans reaching out for a larger universe to live in. Yearning to escape the walled, feudal village and run free and find out just whets out there. Remember that next time you consider Linux. Funny, Huh?
Thursday, March 23, 2006
www.centos.org - The Community ENTerprise Operating System
CentOS stands for "Community ENTerprise Operating System. The goal is "Our purpose is to provide stable Linux solutions for organizations and individuals who do not need strong commercial support to achieve successful operation." essentially an enterprise level Open Source OS. Interestingly enough one of the key technologys is the self updating feature. As members of the CentOS community produce updates (as I understand it), the OS will self update, Not patch.
* easy maintenance
* self hosting distribution (one that can build on itself)
* suitability for long term use in production environments
* friendly environment for users and package maintainers
* long-term support of the core
* active development
* community infrastructure
* open management
* open business model
* commercial support - offered by partner vendors
It would appear that we are moving (in spite of the Corporate over-masters) toward an open source Social model. I say this in light of Ebay's purchase of Skype, AOL's purchase of ICQ and the latest news...Yahoo's announcement of the release of a VOIP service intended to undercut skype. we're talking long distance @ 0.02 per minute or less and incoming calls for 29.95 per year or 2.99 a month. the last strangle hold is the cell phone companies control of mobile connectivity...