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Comment: Re:Make it easier to hire people? (Score 1) 622

by canadian_right (#48643819) Attached to: What Happens To Society When Robots Replace Workers?

In the long term we should WANT to eliminate jobs. If robots can do all the work then great, that frees people up to do what they want instead of what they have to do.

Capitalism is going to end when automation is producing everything. Some sort of socialism is going to be the dominant economic system - this trend can be seen in most of the 1st world already. Even in the USA where the "free market" seems to be worshiped there is a growing number of people who see that helping out people is more important than accumulating wealth.

Comment: Re:It's hard to take this article seriously (Score 1) 622

by canadian_right (#48643785) Attached to: What Happens To Society When Robots Replace Workers?

Today's tech still requires people, but it is obvious that improvements in automation and related computer technologies are reducing the number of people required to produce the things we need. This trend will accelerate over the coming decades. The current economic system isn't going to work well when no one, or even very few people, need to work.

A good first step would be to move to a 4 day work week. The 5 day work week was only adopted nationally in the USA in 1940. The 4 day work week is something all the first world nations should do at the same time.

The next steps will involve a gradual shift to a system that most people would see as a mixed capitalist/socialist economy with socialism becoming the dominant factor over a number of years. This trend has started in many countries, with the USA being a notable exception.

If governments and the rich and powerful try to cling to what will become untenable systems then there will be revolution. If governments make changes like the 4 day work week, minimum income, etc... then the transition will be much more peaceful.

These changes can't be stopped. Society and the economy will have to change as technology improves production and eliminates jobs.

This is all a GOOD thing. People will get to do what they want. Most people, given the chance, do want to do useful constructive, or creative things. They want the respect of other people. I expect the percentage of people that sit on the couch and watch tv will be quite small. And even if it isn't it won't matter!


by canadian_right (#48393243) Attached to: The Downside to Low Gas Prices

You have to look at the issues, and the pros and cons individually.

Austerity is terrible.
Depends on what you think is more important: preventing a recession from becoming a depression, or minimizing government spending, taxes, and government debt. I agree that generally governments should only be spending what they collect in taxes, but in exceptional circumstances, like a financial melt down, it IS a good idea to have the government spending to prop up the economy until things get better. Generally less expensive than having the economy completely tank and have to deal with a depression. Some people seem to think all the government can is screw up, when in fact good government does many thing correct and right.

Obama deserves a vacation.
I haven't been following his work habits closely enough to have a strong opinion, but any hard working person deserves a vacation. Americans really should consider mandating more legally required vacation. You end up with much more productive workers.

Sympathy for the IRA
I don't think so.

How cheap and free Parking Screws up Cities
It brings more cars to the city, clogging up traffic, and making more people chose to drive instead of using transit. On the other hand, if you don't have enough parking you can keep people away from city business. I like the idea of fairly expensive day time parking when its mainly commuters who work and likely can take transit (assuming a well run city with real transit) and cheaper parking in the evenings to promote night life, social life, and shopping / dining. Bring the city to life in the evening.

Not all opinions you don't like are automatically propaganda. There can be good reasons to hold and value diverse opinions.

Comment: Re: here we go (Score 1) 834

by canadian_right (#48361565) Attached to: How To End Online Harassment

Funny how these men who have had "evolution shaped us for doing the violent, risky work in a world" don't harass women who are with men who might punch them in the face. Maybe something in their brains lets them override these base impulses, some sort of higher function. Could it be that men have brains that are more complex than a rutting cat?

We all have brains that can over ride these base instincts, and men should behave with courtesy at all times - not just when they think they will be called out.

Comment: Re: here we go (Score 1) 834

by canadian_right (#48361487) Attached to: How To End Online Harassment

You are not sure women get harassed more than men? Why not? Ignoring tempests in a teapot like gamer gate, there is lots, and lots, and lots of evidence that women are harassed more than men at work, in public, online, and even in the home. Even in so called civilized places like Europe and Canada women have to deal with being harassed, stalked, and assaulted (mainly by men) much more than men face these same issues. Yes, men can be harassed. Yes, men face some discrimination in child custody cases, but by and large it is a man's world. And I have not yet mentioned any Muslim countries were women are second class citizens by law and very entrenched custom.

Women asking be treated the same as men, with respect and equal before the law is not harassing men. Asking for equality is not taking anything from men.

I'm a white male living in a multicultural society that was over 60% white 40 years ago and is now about 40% white. I've been the victim of discrimination exactly once, it was comparatively minor, and had no real or lasting effect on my life. I don't think I know ANY woman who haven't had to deal with worse experiences on an at least weekly basis, and truly horrible behavior at least once a year. There is a great deal of room for improvement on the way men treat women. Admitting this doesn't make me less of a man, or imply all men are horrible. Admitting this is the a good step, among many, that will make our society better.

Comment: Re: Welcome! (Score 1) 139

The conviction can not be any stupider as it was the stupidest case ever brought to trail - stupid even for Italy's notoriously fickle justice system.


They said, rightly,that the recent "swarm" of small quakes did not increase the risk of a big quake. They never said there was no risk. The area has a a higher than normal risk for quakes which was never denied. Government officials did want to shut up a technician that was predicting a big quake due to radon reading - a method that has been discredited - to prevent unnecessary alarm. If you live in an earthquake zone you have to accept there is going to be a big one eventually, and you have to accept to one can predict when.

The conviction was a travesty. You might as well convict them of not predicting every heart attack that was going to occur in the city for the next year, even with everyone's medical records.

They caused no harm. An unpredictable natural event did that no one could predict. "Swarms" of smaller quakes happens in that area regularly and the last big quake was in 1706.

It is a very well established legal principal that you don't hold people responsible for things they have NO control over!

Comment: Re:I sure don't fit the profile (Score 2) 447

by canadian_right (#48132007) Attached to: Statisticians Uncover What Makes For a Stable Marriage

I know a couple like you, met at a bar, married two weeks later, been happy ever since. I many more couples who were divorced after a year who did one of the following: dated less than a year, had more than 200 people at the wedding (more people = more expensive), or eloped.

People vary a lot. Relationships vary a lot, but there do seem to be trends that help form long lasting marriages: date at least two years, don't live together before the marriage, have a nice wedding, have a honeymoon, and DO discuss all the important stuff before getting married (kids, money, sex).

Comment: Re:outsource your wedding (Score 1) 447

by canadian_right (#48131897) Attached to: Statisticians Uncover What Makes For a Stable Marriage

If you keep the guest list small, say 50 people, choose a reasonable venue, don't hire photographers,videographers, etc... splurge a bit on food, and play music from that good friends collection on a half decent sound system you can easily do a very nice wedding under $10,000. /you can rent wedding dresses, just like tuxes. Diamonds are just shiny rocks, go with a more reasonably priced stone. You won't have 200 guests, but you will have a nice wedding.

Comment: Re:Bullshit. (Score 1) 342

by canadian_right (#48064031) Attached to: Blame Tech Diversity On Culture, Not Pipeline

What I got from this story is that the USA has terrible labour laws, and that some small companies have very low levels of diversity among their employees. From an outsiders point of view the USA has a very strange culture that puts companies and the abstract idea of the "free market" on pedestals while doing the bare minimum to help out regular people.

The USA is the last 1st world country to implement universal health-care, and you did it in the most strangely bone-headed manner that guarantees that large insurance companies continue to profit from human suffering. Single-payer is cheaper, more efficient, and proven to work. The USA is the only 1st world country without federally mandated annual vacation time for full-time workers. Your so called "right to work" laws are just union busting, and your politicians take great glee in taxing the middle class, berating the poor, and handing out tax breaks and other largess to the rich and hug companies. And your middle class keeps on voting for these clowns.

The USA is no longer a model of freedom, human rights,or progressive policies. I hope one day the electorate comes to its senses and starts voting for people who want to pass laws and policies that help people - not profit.

Comment: Re:Fiat can crash (Score 3, Funny) 753

by canadian_right (#47448221) Attached to: Predicting a Future Free of Dollar Bills

Yes, you had the only one. And it took a very unusual series of events for you to get a reliable Fiat.

It was a rare Wednesday that was also a National holiday. The regular crews were all off, and the temps were called in, but it was a Wednesday not a Friday so the temps weren't drunk. Being not drunk they remembered that they had played cards last night with the crew of a Saudi Royals yacht. This crew was all nubile Japanese girls who were taking a holiday from their work building Camries. The Fiat boys convinced them to take their shifts, and behold - the one ever reliable Fiat was built from 1969 through 1988.

Comment: Re:Does anyone oppose this? tsarkon reports (Score 2) 155

by canadian_right (#47443403) Attached to: Fighting Climate Change With Trade

You are making stuff up. We know the Jurassic was much warmer, being tropical or sub-tropical over most of the world. We think the sea level was much higher. There is no evidence of ice at either pole. Pangaea was starting to break up.

We have no reliable measurements of either O2 or C02 in the Jurassic.

The point you seem to be missing is that the climate change we are experiencing now is happening MUCH faster than any in the past, and we are causing it. Yes, life will go on, but it will disrupt millions of people if we do nothing about it. I'm not sure why so many people think the short term profits of large energy companies are more important than the general welfare of millions of people.

Comment: Re:Apparently dedication = autism (Score 5, Insightful) 608

by canadian_right (#47414729) Attached to: Normal Humans Effectively Excluded From Developing Software

Generally when people say autistic, they don't mean a mildly afflicted, high functioning person, but someone who never speaks, rocks in a corner, and screams if their normal routine is changed. You DON'T have to be autistic, or be anywhere on the autistic spectrum to be a great programmer.

Like becoming good, even excellent, at anything it requires hard work, dedication, and practice. Any normal person can do it. Programming, and I've been doing it since an assembler was a real cool tool, can be mastered by normal people. Sure, I've seen a few odd balls in the field, but no more so than in other fields.

As far as making programming easy for the masses: that is fine for little toy systems, but if you want a large system built, you want properly trained professionals working on it.

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