Category Archives: Technology and Society

Business, Economics, Health, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Technology and Society

By Any Other Name

17 Comments

OK, so what’s to keep someone, or multiple someones (competition!) from setting up off-shore gambling sites where, based on their age, gender, medical and family history, people can make bets on whether or not their annual medical expenses will exceed some selected amount? Currency controls?

The fact that the federal government would fight this is a stark testament to what a huge encroachment on liberty this monstrosity is.

Business, Economics, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Science And Society, Space, Technology and Society

No, Veronique

45 Comments

The moon is not Antarctica.

Many of the “rocks have rights” crowd would like it to be, though. One of the problems with the Outer Space Treaty was that it was modeled on the Antarctic Treaty.

[Update a few minutes later]

Oh, Paul, please:

With launch costs of thousands of dollars per pound (and unlikely to come down significantly for the foreseeable future)

They are likely to come down to hundreds, or tens of dollars per pound within a decade, now that we have some actual competition and innovation happening in the industry.

Business, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Technology and Society

The Loudness Wars

1 Comment

Are they finally over, thanks to Apple?

I noted in an email to someone the other day that, just as young people have no concept of what quality phone service sounds like, many of them have never heard good music, either, due to the overcompression and crummmy digitalization over the past few decades. I hope that the article is right, and that we can get back to a good listening experience soon.