Robots Working For Us

Over the past year or so, I’ve grown more and more obsessed on the topic of robots replacing humans in the workforce.
I found a handful of links recently.
From Marcus Wohlsen at Wired:

The redefinition of work itself is one of the most intriguing possibilities imagined in a recent Pew Research report on the future of robots and jobs. Certainly, the prospect of a robot-powered, post-scarcity future of mandatory mass leisure feels like a far-off scenario, and an edge case even then. In the present, ensuring that everyone has enough often seems harder for humans to accomplish than producing enough in the first place. But assuming a future that looks more like Star Trek than Blade Runner, a lot of people could end up with a lot more time on their hands. In that case, robots won’t just be taking our jobs; they’ll be forcing us to confront a major existential dilemma: if we didn’t have to work anymore, what would we do?
The New York Times also has an article reporting on the Pew Research Report.
Tyler Cowen also has a good, short post on his views:
1. The law of comparative advantage has not been repealed. Machines take away some jobs and create others, while producing more output overall.
2. That said, some particular kinds of machines increase the relative return to skilled labor. If the new jobs require working with computers, and working with computers effectively is hard, reemploying lower-skilled workers at good wages may be difficult.
If you think robots can’t replace creative jobs, you’re being short-sighted.
It’s all just a matter of time.

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Career

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Weekly Exhaust Ep. 12: Ella Toma Mi Azucar

This week Michael and Bryan discuss club soda, f!cked up Aussie films, Harry Dean Stanton, cigars, pedo van characteristics, driving lessons, aBetterQueue.com, Netflix and various other crappy movies that were inflicted upon Bryan. The episode opens with the exhaust from a 1968 Dodge Charger.
Weekly Exhaust Episode 12

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Podcast

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Global Warming

Bryan fires off a global warming SCUD over at Missile Test :

My lack of concern for global warming has nothing to do with denialism. I am not a crackpot or a right wing nutjob who believes that global warming is a political issue, and not a real issue. Global warming is real, it is happening now, and it will only get worse. But, my pessimistic nature leads me to believe we will deserve every single bad effect of a warming planet, and all because we, in particular Americans, are responsible for it. We have had decades to combat global warming and have done little. We have been unable to muster the will to tackle this multi-generational problem and by the time we will, it will be too late.

I attack the United States as the primary contributor to global warming, but that places the blame equally on all of us, and that is just not so. A single person can do some things to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, such as using public transport, driving fuel-efficient vehicles, and limiting use of electrical appliances. But, the big changes that are necessary to combat global warming have to come from government, in the form of new legislation and regulations.
All actions have consequences, but some consequences are more serious than others.

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Nature

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Pushy Scumbag Carriers

Brad Reed at BGR:

It’s something we’ve long suspected but now we finally have the proof we need: Your wireless carrier wants to push you to buy a Samsung smartphone over an iPhone. Kantar Worldpanel has just released a new study (PDF) confirming reports that we’ve long heard about carriers trying to steer their customers away from the iPhone and toward rival devices — most prominently, Samsung’s.
No shit. Mobile carriers and cable companies are run by scumbags.
Let’s continue:
Why, exactly, are carriers doing this? It’s not exactly a conspiracy so much as it’s rational self-interest. The iPhone carries a very high subsidy cost for carriers, who are concerned about Apple racking up too much market power. After all, if the iPhone becomes more popular than it already is, then it gives Apple leverage to push for even stronger carrier subsidies.

This is exacerbated by the fact that iPhone customers are the most fanatically loyal smartphone users around — once they’ve been converted they don’t even think of trying other devices.
This last part is the key: “This is exacerbated by the fact that iPhone customers are the most fanatically loyal smartphone users around”.
This isn’t as correct as it should be. Apple sold 1-2 million iPhones in 2007. They sold over 35 million iPhones in Q3 2014.
It’s not only that iPhone customers are loyal: Apple continues to gain more and more loyal users each quarter of each year. There’s a good chance the person you’re pointing at and calling an “Apple fanoi” or an “Apple fanatic” wasn’t one 6 months or a year ago. This is despite the efforts of scumbag carriers trying to convince you to buy phones you don’t want.
As Steve Jobs once said, “Let the consumers vote with their wallets.”

Categories:

Human Experience

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Indies Rule

As much as I love Macworld, I have to say that the one indispensable website in our community is Daring Fireball — an indie website.

As cool as Twitter is, its early success in our community was due entirely to Twitterrific. And it took The Iconfactory to come up with the word “tweet” and the bird logo for Twitter.

It took Loren Brichter to invent pull-to-refresh in Tweetie.

It took Marco Arment to invent the entire read-later category with Instapaper.
Amen.
via Bombtune

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Community

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Disintegrating


From Studio Oefner

The Disintegrating series representing a staggering amount of work- has been created from hundreds not to say thousands of shots. Each car has been dismantled completely, from the body shell to the smallest screws, then photographed piece by piece in a specific position to obtain the illusion of an exploding car.
Fuck. Me.

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Vehicle

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Not a Good Idea

From the NY Daily News:

Tech giant Microsoft is in negotiations to open its first ever New York City retail store on Fifth Ave., sources told the Daily News.

The deal, at 677 Fifth Ave. near 53rd St., would give Microsoft a splashy presence on the top retail corridor in the country and put it just a stone’s throw from its biggest rival Apple’s iconic glass cube store.
Not a good idea.
Remember, Microsoft is the very antithesis of strategy.
Repeat after me: Microsoft: Software, Services, Enterprise. Microsoft: Software, Services, Enterprise.

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Business

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Know When to Fold ‘Em

That new focus on Microsoft as a productivity company could spell the end for projects like Surface Mini, or even the larger ARM-based versions of Surface. Calculations by Computerworld suggest that Microsoft has lost $1.7 billion on Surface hardware, including the $900 million write-off for the Surface RT last year. That’s a huge loss for something Nadella describes as an effort to “stimulate more demand for the entire Windows ecosystem.” Microsoft has thrown similar amounts of cash at Xbox over the years, but the Xbox 360 sales have proven there’s demand for Microsoft’s games consoles.
—Tom Warren, The Verge
Microsoft has lost $1.7 billion on Surface hardware. Well done!
I’m trying to remember if Apple ever lost money on the iPad?
Oh that’s right, they never did.

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Business

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Weekly Exhaust Ep. 11: We’re Not F!%king Cicadas

This week Michael and Bryan discuss diesel engines, dream cars, Countaches, the smells of burning clutches & burning brakes, farming ancestors, perplexed Baby Boomers, Millennials, Gen Xers, ignorant SF artists, The New York Times endorsing weed, poppy seeds, cordless phones and space travel. The episode opens with the exhaust from a ’70s Mercedes 220D (diesel).
Weekly Exhaust Episode 11

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Podcast

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Meanwhile, back in the States…

From Cassandra Khaw at the Verge:

The wreckage of a drone has been found outside of a maximum security prison in South Carolina, according to Reuters. It is believed to have been used in an attempt to smuggle phones, marijuana, and tobacco into the Lee Correctional Institution. The discovery precipitated an investigation that would later lead to the arrest of 28-year-old Brenton Lee Doyle and a search for a second suspect.
Welcome to the future.

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Technology

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