TECHNOLOGY: Roadblock to the maturation of the information economy; it’s Gooferment

Thursday, June 23, 2011

http://www.salon.com/books/history/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/06/14/lind_information_technology

TOPIC: History
TUESDAY, JUN 14, 2011 07:01 ET
WAR ROOM
We need a New Deal for information technology
BY MICHAEL LIND

*** begin quote ***

America’s attention is focused on the faltering recovery from the Great Recession. But we cannot neglect another question: Where are we in the long-term technology cycle?

In the mid-20th cenIn the mid-20th century, the economist Joseph Schumpeter observed that technological innovation is not a continuous process, but tends to be concentrated in bursts of economy-transforming change. Within the industrial epoch that began in Britain in the 18th century and continues today, historians have discerned three or four or five successive industrial revolutions, driven by “general purpose technologies” like the steam engine, electricity, automobiles and airplanes, and information technology.

*** and ***

The evolution of a transformative technology can be retarded or accelerated by public policy. In particular, government policy can remove roadblocks on the path to the new technology’s implementation. These can take two forms: infrastructural roadblocks and social roadblocks.

*** and ***

Today’s universities and hospitals are the equivalents of neighborhoods hosting numerous individual blacksmiths working independently. They need to be replaced by higher education factories and health (not sickness) factories. Tasks done today by a few highly paid, credentialed elite professionals and an army of low-paid lecturers and health aides should be broken down, analyzed and reassigned to the moderately paid, middle-class Ed workers and Med workers of tomorrow. This may require a combination of capital deepening (the use of new technology) and deskilling (a moderately educated, moderately paid nurse with high-tech equipment may be a better diagnostician than today’s highly educated, richly remunerated M.D.)

*** and ***

Finally, we can promote “universal capitalism” by increasing ownership of income-generating assets, like shares in growing corporations, although the disastrous experience with 401K’s shows that any such programs must limit risk. Some combination of these reforms will probably be necessary to remove low wages as a social roadblock to the maturation of the information economy.

*** end quote ***

Michael Lind is Policy Director of the Economic Growth Program at the New America Foundation and is the author of “The Next American Nation: The New Nationalism and the Fourth American Revolution.” More: Michael Lind

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imho

The last thing we need is more Gooferment.

Part of the reason for the mess that “we” are in is the continued interference by Gooferment into the “free market”.

And, he wants the Gooferment to lead us into the “Promised Land”.

My personal connection with the Gooferment and “technology” is my cousin, who was a happy elevator operator, and me at AT&T. The elevator operator was thrown out of work by the minimum wage law. I was a casualty, along with Bell Labs and a lot of good folks, by Judge Green and divestiture.

Without Gooferment, people would just lead their lives. Instead, the “plantation masters” use Gooferment force to channel us like the cows in the stockyards.

Argh!

No thanks.

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MEMORIES: Dolls?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Our Girl took special delight in telling the tale of “the dolls”. When she was growing up, she shared a bedroom with her much (much, her words, not mine) older sister. During the winter, she liked the window open for fresh air. (I can vouch for that. There was only one time when the window had to be closed. You can guess when that was. Noise might travel.)

Her sister liked to arrange her doll on the windowsill. When Our Girl wanted the window open, she’d open it. Gravity might take over. And the dolls would be in the alley. Jack would retrieve them and Peg would administer ‘discipline’. When Our Girl was particularly POed, she’d just hide the dolls, open the window, and let the fun begin. Jack would search … unfruitfully. Peg would ‘discipline’ doubly. And, Our Girl enjoyed every minute of it.

I swear she got a bigger kick out of telling that story than doing the ‘evil deed’.

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FUN: No, it’s not an adventure, it’s a mistake!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0801608/quotes

Memorable quotes for “How I Met Your Mother” Milk (2006)

*** begin quote ***

Ted: No, it’s not an adventure, it’s a mistake!

Lily: OK, yes it’s a mistake. I know it’s a mistake, but there are certain things in life where you know it’s a mistake but you don’t really know it’s a mistake because the only way to really know it’s a mistake is to make the mistake and look back and say ‘yep, that was a mistake.’ So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake, because then you’d go your whole life not knowing if something is a mistake or not. And dammit, I’ve made no mistakes! I’ve done all of this; my life, my relationship, my career, mistake-free. Does any of this make sense to you?

Ted: I dunno, you said mistake a lot.

*** end quote ***

nm0004989.jpg

When you wake up from a four decade dream, you ask: “Was it a mistake?”.

Did I steal a life time of joy and stuff all 8 decades of joy into 4?

No mistake.

A mistake is putting ketchup on your hot dog or mustard on your hamburger. (There are some acts that are just unnatural!)

Unfortunately, life has no VCR. Can’t rewind it and do it over. Like the movie Groundhog Day, with Bull Murray figuring out how to win the girl’s heart.

Sometimes the Universe sets it up for you. Sometimes you have to make it rain?

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RANT: Education ROI

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

http://www.ricedelman.com/cs/pressroom/pressroom_detail?pressrelease.id=2443

Sending Your Kid Off to College?
For Immediate Release
June 18, 2011
Calculate the return on your investment before picking a school

*** begin quote ***

If your daughter wants to major in education at Brown University, she needs to know that the mid-career median pay for people with a degree in education is $54,900, according to PayScale.com — just $2,570 more than one year of tuition, fees, and room and board at Brown. With a starting salary of $35,100, she’ll have to work more than six years just to make back the $220,000 she’s likely to spend on that education, not to mention the income she lost while pursuing her education.

Compare that with a major in chemical engineering at Brown. The starting salary is $64,800 and the midcareer median pay is $108,000. It will take about 3.5 years of work to equal the cost of tuition. By comparison, Penn State’s degree costs $160,000 and thus takes fewer than 2.5 years of work. When you do the math with your child, you both may avoid overspending on a degree.

*** end quote ***

ROI on college has to be shopped for. My alma mater, Manhattan College (http://manhattan.edu) is in the top 100 on any list I’ve seen. Never seen it higher than #13. As with most stats, the devil is in the details. The children are going to have hard lives. imho. And, also imho, the Gooferment Skrules are not giving them the dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom) or the sppe (i.e., skills, policies, procedures, experiences) to succeed in the future. I bet that most parents have bigger problems on their minds. Unfortunately, if the parents don’t “enrich” their children’s education, then they won’t be happy with the outcome.

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MONEY: THE gold standard; the only standard

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

http://dumpdc.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/what-the-gold-standard-is/

What the Gold Standard Is
courtesy The Lehrman Institute

*** begin quote ***

The classical gold standard is simple and it works.

*** and ***

The classical gold standard does not mean that we will be carting around gold pieces in a purse like the nobles of Merrie Old England. We will still carry around currency, use bank accounts, checks, and credit cards. The classical gold standard simply means that you can, for any reason or no reason at all, cause your paper dollars and bank deposits to be exchanged for an equal value of gold dollars. That legal option keeps the currency honest, and valuable, causing no long term inflation or deflation, not least because the government is bound by the same law of convertability.

*** and ***

The classical gold standard works.

*** end quote ***

I don’t know might be kinda have gold coins like our great grandparents used.

The key thing that the “gold standard” IS is a restraint on the number of “dollars”, francs, yen, or rubles that the Gooferments can print.

Then, every piece of paper has value. Not as intrinsic as a gold coin, but by what it can be exchanged for.

Simple!

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POLITICAL: Marriage; Gooferment MYOB

Monday, June 20, 2011

http://lewrockwell.com/mcmaken/mcmaken135.html

Privatize Marriage Now
Reviewed by Ryan McMaken

*** begin quote ***

The state hates it when property changes hands without being taxed and regulated, so the state set its sights on marriage centuries ago. Over time civil governments inserted themselves more and more into the religious institutions of marriage. This was helped along by the Reformation and by defenders of government-controlled marriage like King Henry VIII of England. As nation-states consolidated their monopolies on all law and over all institutions in society, the state finally displaced religious institutions as the final arbiter on marriage.

*** and ***

What they should be arguing for is the removal of civil governments from the marriage bond altogether. Couples who wish to marry should approach their religious authorities about it. Then, if they wish they can join into some kind of civil union, which is just a contract. People who wish to have a civil union but no marriage may enter into that arrangement, and those who wish for a marriage with no civil union should be able to do that as well. Marriage, properly understood, should be considered off limits from government meddling. People are welcome to contract, but if the “defenders” of marriage had done their jobs right, there would be no confusion today about what is marriage and what is a government-approved contractual union.

Unfortunately, though, when Conservatives and Christian Right types bemoan the loss of so-called “traditional” marriage yet agitate for more government control of the institution, they really have only themselves to blame since they’re therefore accepting the proposition that government has the legitimate authority to regulate and control marriage. The power to regulate marriage is the power to destroy it.

*** end quote ***

How could we let Gooferment take over and run our lives?

And, by pushing the Church out of marriage, we weaken the one institution that can make marriages stronger. Just as true charity requires a personal involvement, so to any marriage would be bolstered by a Church community.

Argh!

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http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/89927.html

*** begin quote ***

At the heart of it all, predictably, is the urge to control the lives of others. White people might marry black people! Horror of horrors. Therefore, the state must get involved. No doubt these arguments in favor of more government meddling were made with an overlying patina of “freedom.” Just as the modern anti-immigration crowd today argues that we must destroy freedom in order to save it, the old racist proponents of government marriage likely argued that we must abolish freedom in marriage or the “Negro agitatuhs” and their dusky-skinned allies will destroy freedom. Conservative “logic” at its best.

*** end quote ***

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JOBSEARCH: SFYG (updated formula)

Monday, June 20, 2011

Once again fine tuning the SFYG formula based on input and discussions.

(1) Reduce it to 5 ± 2.

(2) Put action verbs into the points.

(3) Try to make it relevant.

Here it is.

Success for your generation is:

(1) develop ruthless financial discipline — no bad debt — no credit cards like Dave Ramsey says;

(2) create a life long interest in learning — pick up a degree along the way — they can’t take it away from you;

(3) get a NON-OFFSHORABLE white collar job in order to save big bux;

(4) learn a blue collar skill for hard times — never saw a poor plumber;

(5) make one or more internet based businesses where your store is always open from a free time hobby that generates income; (6) build a large well-maintained network of people who can and will “help” you — it’s not numbers on Facebook or LinkedIn — it’s real people who connected with your needs; and

(7) find your soulmate. The boy or girl who rocks your socks, is a better person than you are, and makes you a better person. You might be able to make it without one, but it’ll be much harder. May well be impossible. Marry ’em and forsake all others. Have lots of children; if you can’t, “borrow” everyone else’s. They are your legacy.

Even if you disagree with my formula, you have to have your own. Whatever it is, have one. Of course, you can share yours, argue with mine, or just ignore the whole thing.

Donna Nobis Pacem

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FUN: The platform

Sunday, June 19, 2011

http://youtu.be/QK3Eo9cScEQ

Ahh, you have to laff! We know there’s very little diff between politicians. But the ability to laff sets us apart. Most politicians are full of <synonym for excrement>, but every once in a while, one of them is funny.

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RANT: Interesting Muslim attitude?

Sunday, June 19, 2011

http://bigpeace.com/amutarjim/2011/06/12/egyptian-shaykh-when-i-want-a-sex-slave-
i-just-go-to-the-market-and-choose-the-woman-like-and-purchase-her/

Egyptian Shaykh: ‘When I Want A Sex Slave, I Just Go To The Market And Choose The Woman Like And Purchase Her’
Posted by Al Mutarjim Jun 12th 2011 at 8:14 am

*** begin quote ***

Do you understand what I’m saying? Spoils, slaves, and prisoners are only to be taken in war between Muslims and infidels. Muslims in the past conquered, invaded, and took over countries. This is agreed to by all scholars–there is no disagreement on this from any of them, from the smallest to the largest, on the issue of taking spoils and prisoners. The prisoners and spoils are distributed among the fighters, which includes men, women, children, wealth, and so on.

When a slave market is erected, which is a market in which are sold slaves and sex-slaves, which are called in the Qur’an by the name milk al-yamin, “that which your right hands possess” [Qur’an 4:24]. This is a verse from the Qur’an which is still in force, and has not been abrogated. The milk al-yamin are the sex-slaves. You go to the market, look at the sex-slave, and buy her. She becomes like your wife, (but) she doesn’t need a (marriage) contract or a divorce like a free woman, nor does she need a wali. All scholars agree on this point–there is no disagreement from any of them.

*** end quote ***

One has to wonder how ½ the population of these countries put up with this slavery?

Women need to stand up for their rights.

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TECHNOLOGY: iCloud; no silver lining?

Saturday, June 18, 2011

http://technorati.com/technology/article/why-the-icloud-wont-be-my  

Why the iCloud Won’t be My Cloud
Author: Stephen Lee
Published: June 16, 2011 at 5:29 pm

*** begin quote ***

Talk of “cloud computing” and “cloud services” has been in the air for years, but (despite the remaining ambiguity in the minds of consumers) recent developments have garnered a little more of the consumer electronics limelight for this burgeoning technology.

*** end quote ***

While the jury is still out, I’m beginning to have a lot of concerns:

(1) Control

Apple’s stuff is aligned with Apple’s interest not just mine. Look at how it can dump stuff and change stuff willy nilly. The big argument against ANY “cloud service” is that you, the end User and PAYING Customer, can’t depend upon it staying the same.

(2) Music

Apple is at peace with the RIAA. That’s a concern! All this “service” on any music you have? And, of course, it would never report pirates to the Empire. Can’t you see the “possibilities”? (I envision subpoenas to ISPs coordinated by “iSnoop” to prove that someone bit torrent in a particular music file followed by “service” of lawsuits.)

<<to be continued>>

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http://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/06/19/1434211/Will-Capped-Data-Plans-Kill-the-Cloud

*** begin quote ***

With the introduction of its Chromebook, Google is betting big on the Cloud. As is Apple, with its iCloud initiative. So too are Netflix and Skype. Unfortunately, their very existence is threatened by data-capping carriers, who have set a course to make sure that the network is NOT the computer.

*** end quote ***

(3) Unlimited / Ubiquitous Connectivity

Clearly the assumption is as much as you want from where ever you are. Not necessarily a good assumption. Or an inexpensive one.

# – # – # – # – # 2011-Jun-19 @ 14:26

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