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Emptybee


				

				

				
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joined 2022 September 05 17:06:37 UTC
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User ID: 643

Emptybee


				
				
				

				
0 followers   follows 0 users   joined 2022 September 05 17:06:37 UTC

					

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User ID: 643

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In knife vs. bat, knife wins by charging in—sacrificing their offhand arm as a shield—and stabbing the vitals. An experienced fighter can do all that. An inexperienced fighter? They'll dance around looking for an opening that lets them stab without getting hit themselves. But time is on the side of the person with the bat. Reach gives them far more openings; sooner or later one will pay off.

That wasn't a picture of Alf. I'm deeply disappointed.

It's hard to say, since it's been almost two decades since I read it. I do recall it was a slow burn. Also, I've never found Stirling to be as engaging as Gibson. But he is one of cyberpunk's definitive authors.

For the first, check out Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling.

"somewhere between 15% to 30% of plastics turn to ash when incinerated, which is far less efficient than coal."

My gut check says that this makes sense. We started using coal precisely because it burned so well. It does seem likely that plastic wouldn't burn nearly as thoroughly.

Testing...

Yeah, it blew me away when I first read it. So many of the WWII histories I've read painted the struggle as a near thing but, when the economics are laid bare, it's clear that, if the war dragged on, the Axis were doomed.

Is this the one you're thinking of: http://www.combinedfleet.com/economic.htm?

That's exactly how any new technology works. First, it's so expensive only the idle rich can afford to play with it. Then as more development occurs, funded by those same idle rich, it becomes cheap enough for the working rich. Then the middle class. Then, finally, for everyone.

To my mind, the biggest argument against "the rich keep it all to themselves"—aside from that never having happened with any other tech—is this: national borders. If Country A limits cognitive enhancement to its elites and Country B gives it to everyone, pretty soon Country A will be irrelevant.

I like the proposed changes for the blocking system. You're absolutely right about the Reddit version. Giving users the ability to exclude others from the conversation was a foolish design choice which has already been weaponized and I think will only get worse once more people figure out how it works.

A few possibilities occur:

  1. Pickpocketing takes a certain level of skill. If you're criminally inclined, strong arm robbery or purse snatching are much easier.

  2. Maybe it does occur, but isn't reported to police (either because people assume they just lost their wallet or the amount lost isn't worth the trouble).

  3. Maybe it's reported to police, but isn't considered newsworthy.