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Kumara Republic

Mon, 14 Jun 2021 16:47:10 +1200

Speaking of art, I used the tightest COVID levels to revisit a long-neglected hobby of mine. It's online for the world to see at DeviantArt and Renderosity:

https://www.deviantart.com/deepred6502
https://www.renderosity.com/rr/mod/gallery/?uid=64652

Kumara Republic

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 18:38:41 +1300

Apologies for the thread necro, but I’ve finally found the time to post an epilogue. The issues I wrote about in August 2017 are still very much relevant, despite an electoral reprieve both here and overseas.

The good news: in the middle of last year, I graduated from web dev…

Kumara Republic

Sun, 23 Sep 2018 17:11:26 +1200

Also, I missed this one:

Artificial intelligence: ‘Homo sapiens will be split into a handful of gods and the rest of us’

__Robotisation has reduced the number of working hours needed to make things; but at the same time as workers have been laid off from production lines, new jobs…

Kumara Republic

Sun, 23 Sep 2018 16:52:05 +1200

Further wisdom from "recovering neo-liberal" Joseph Stiglitz on automation:

Joseph Stiglitz on artificial intelligence: 'We’re going towards a more divided society'

Kumara Republic

Wed, 05 Sep 2018 03:23:08 +1200

__ New Zealand ranks in the bottom third of the OECD for spending on what are known as active labour market policies – government interventions to help people into meaningful new work. The organisation's report last year said Work and Income focuses largely on people receiving benefits, which only includes…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 23 Apr 2018 07:03:20 +1200

It’s long overdue for a movie adaptation
Apparently Alan Arkin had a go at a screenplay for it...

Kumara Republic

Sun, 22 Apr 2018 22:21:55 +1200

Fun fact: Kurt Vonnegut wrote about these topics in the novel "Player Piano" in 1952. Yes, the same year Helsinki held the Summer Olympics.

It's long overdue for a movie adaptation, although player pianos are a bit obsolete these days. They've been replaced with autoplay streaming media, so when someone…

Kumara Republic

Sat, 21 Apr 2018 18:40:39 +1200

Ann Pettifor, one of the few who correctly predicted the Great Recession, further reinforces what I wrote to begin with.

RNZ Sunday Morning – Economist Ann Pettifor: 'The public are not stupid'

Kumara Republic

Mon, 26 Mar 2018 21:38:22 +1300

Full transcript now available:

RNZ Insight: Is NZ Ready for Artificial Intelligence?

Kumara Republic

Sun, 25 Mar 2018 00:58:24 +1300

No, new tech in itself doesn’t cause job losses. Rentier statists (such as Peter Thiel) that own and control most of the new tech do.

RNZ Insight: New tech won’t cause mass job losses in NZ – study

__Automation and artificial intelligence **may not cause the mass unemployment that is…

John Farrell

Sat, 24 Mar 2018 17:00:15 +1300

Ah, LSD....

Kumara Republic

Thu, 15 Mar 2018 11:43:57 +1300

In light of Stephen Hawking's passing, here's a response by him from a Reddit AMA session from 2 years ago:

__I'm rather late to the question-asking party, but I'll ask anyway and hope. Have you thought about the possibility of technological unemployment, where we develop automated processes that ultimately cause…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 30 Oct 2017 17:14:00 +1300

The Economist finally acknowledges that elephant-curve globalisation has fomented Brexitrump-ist nativist-protectionist populism. As for solutions, it still seems hamstrung by a classical liberal world-view. In any case it seems the best way forward is to rescue distressed workers (offering financial aid to adapt & retool) rather than distressed companies (bailouts with…

Joe Wylie

Thu, 28 Sep 2017 09:13:45 +1300

They could have been makeing small things out of silicon by now.

Like, teeny-weeny versions of these?

Katharine Moody

Wed, 27 Sep 2017 21:03:16 +1300

I may have used one of those, as part of a Scout Jamboree somewhere, but beige plastic thing with handles, all smooth-ish plastic and I can't remember any of the details.

I was employed by Polycorp (a subsidiary of Progeni) to sell them. Yep, big beige plastic cover (screen, board,…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 28 Aug 2017 13:16:11 +1200

One other aspect I didn't mention in my original post: when bailouts are inevitable, there's a visible difference in approach between the Anglo-Saxon model and the Nordic model. Long story short, Anglo-Saxon economies tend to bail out distressed corporations with no guarantee of ROI – think British Leyland, GM, and…

Kumara Republic

Sat, 26 Aug 2017 20:41:06 +1200

It seemed less hackable than the C64 I had somehow managed to acquire ($1000 was a lot of money back then).

At that time the hacker community was ham radio based for the most part (unless you wanted to do TV with the Christians). I got some valuable help from…

Moz

Fri, 18 Aug 2017 12:18:11 +1200

The kind of polytech that helped produce the Poly-1?

I may have used one of those, as part of a Scout Jamboree somewhere, but beige plastic thing with handles, all smooth-ish plastic and I can't remember any of the details. It seemed less hackable than the C64 I had somehow…

Kumara Republic

Fri, 18 Aug 2017 11:14:12 +1200

Polytech used to be great, you'd pay $50 for six months of weekly evening classes in a workshop where you could generally work on your own vaguely-related project under expert supervision).

The kind of polytech that helped produce the Poly-1? The Wikipedia entry for it is courtesy of yours truly.…

Moz

Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:45:29 +1200

I'd build a huge workshop where people could...

There are "maker spaces" around Aotearoa, as well as other community workshops. If you're a man there's the men's shed movement, there are often similar things that are more inclusive if you search. Search is cheap now we have the internet, what…

Hilary Stace

Thu, 17 Aug 2017 13:07:58 +1200

Jacinda Ardern says that metalwork was one of her favourite subjects at school. Perhaps she could incorporate your idea into her agenda. It would fit into their policies for education, night classes, employment and mental health.
But we need a network of such workshops around NZ, not just one.

Prudence

Thu, 17 Aug 2017 00:28:17 +1200

What a fantastic read. Thank you.
If I had a million dollars or more, I'd build a huge workshop where people could build things and repair things, fitted out with awesome woodworking, metal working, and automotive machinery. Community owned and managed, with paid tutors for those who need them.
What…

Hans Versluys

Wed, 16 Aug 2017 23:01:21 +1200

Thanks for the interesting read. It also brings home the urgent need for UBI to allow everybody to figure out at their own pace what they want out of life, without the massive stress of "sink-or-swim" bearing down on you.

Lisa Black

Wed, 16 Aug 2017 20:35:24 +1200

That was a good read. Thanks.

Hilary Stace

Wed, 16 Aug 2017 15:48:07 +1200

I really hope that Specialisterne sets up in NZ. I've been a fan of the idea since hearing Thorkil Sonne speak about it many years ago. It wouldn't suit my family, but could provide real employment opportunities for many.

Russell Brown

Wed, 16 Aug 2017 15:24:12 +1200

Thanks KR. This is fascinating – and helpful to me. I do a lot of thinking about my sons, education and work.

Public Address

Wed, 16 Aug 2017 15:24:12 +1200

Discussion from blog post.