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Demon-Haunted World

locusmag.com

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Re: Demon-Haunted World

#61

Post by SolarNet »

cr0sh wrote: post #51
iak8god wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every year a shocking number of people die from illness caused by air pollution [1]. While it might be difficult or impossible to put a head count on "Dieselgate," the increased emissions certainly killed some. [1] http://news.mit.edu/2013/study-air-pollution-causes-200000-e...

If you go down that route, you farting contributed methane to the atmosphere, increasing global warming and thus contributed to killing someone somewhere. So are we going to start banning the passing of gas at the dinner table?

The problem is that it cheated the air quality standards society has set. Our government (regardless of how representative) decided on an amount of acceptable illnesses (regardless on whether you agree with it or not) due to industry in general, and transport in specific, and the company cheated it. The implicit social contract assigns the government the responsibility for deaths due to societal issues like this, once a company violates the law, they have broken that contract hence, they are no longer protected by the government's shouldering of the burden. They killed people.

Re: Demon-Haunted World

#62

Post by gotbeans »

cr0sh wrote: post #51
iak8god wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every year a shocking number of people die from illness caused by air pollution [1]. While it might be difficult or impossible to put a head count on "Dieselgate," the increased emissions certainly killed some. [1] http://news.mit.edu/2013/study-air-pollution-causes-200000-e...

If you go down that route, you farting contributed methane to the atmosphere, increasing global warming and thus contributed to killing someone somewhere. So are we going to start banning the passing of gas at the dinner table?

Why are you totally obviating the ridiculously huge scale difference, and therefore impact, of the two mesures in your comparison?

Re: Demon-Haunted World

#63

Post by meric »

cpeterso wrote: post #42
zaroth wrote: post #17

Why do our phones, which certainly felt damn snappy the day we bought them, inevitablely seem to slow down to the point of unusability after a couple dozen months? Even after a factory reset and installing no apps at all... I know it didn't take that long to open/close the built in apps when I bought that iPhone 4, 5, 5s... The only thing I can think of is the flash drive is slowing down as it wears. Or, the CPU cloc…

My iPhone 6 used to be snappy, but now takes almost 10 seconds to just open an app. Perhaps new OS updates are not as well-optimized for older iPhones as they are for the latest version. Ars Technica's Android 8.0 deep-dive has some interesting charts showing Android device performance deteriorating over time: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/09/android-8-0-oreo-tho...

My iPhone 6 is still snappy but the battery barely lasts 2 hours. I'm half way to work and it's at 29%.

Re: Demon-Haunted World

#64

Post by emerongi »

bmurphy1976 wrote: post #46
leggomylibro wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get this; everyone says it, but I've never seen it in smartphones. Laptops, sure, but Windows really DOES accumulate a lot of cruft, and OSX's updates never seem to improve performance. Smartphones, though? The only slowdown I've noticed is when the battery starts to go. And then you can usually tell; the device gets hot as the battery pushes up against all the ESR it's accumulated, the CPU steps back a bit..…

I've experienced slow-downs with both iOS and Android devices. They almost always corresponded with newer versions of operating system and all the extra functionality that came with the upgrade. The apps are also evolving. Compare Facebook today to what it was two or three years ago. The app does a ton more and all that extra functionality doesn't come for free. I suspect one of the primary reasons they broke messeng…

I still have the original Nexus 7 and it's unbelievable how unusable it has become. I use a slim ROM of KitKat (the Android version it came with) and it's still so freaking sluggish. I only use it for watching videos now, it's unbearable for anything interactive.

It used to be quite nice with the slim ROMs, but at this point nothing has helped to get it back to run like it used to. 4years of light use (99% of time sitting idle).

Re: Demon-Haunted World

#65

Post by SmooL »

bmurphy1976 wrote: post #46
leggomylibro wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get this; everyone says it, but I've never seen it in smartphones. Laptops, sure, but Windows really DOES accumulate a lot of cruft, and OSX's updates never seem to improve performance. Smartphones, though? The only slowdown I've noticed is when the battery starts to go. And then you can usually tell; the device gets hot as the battery pushes up against all the ESR it's accumulated, the CPU steps back a bit..…

I've experienced slow-downs with both iOS and Android devices. They almost always corresponded with newer versions of operating system and all the extra functionality that came with the upgrade. The apps are also evolving. Compare Facebook today to what it was two or three years ago. The app does a ton more and all that extra functionality doesn't come for free. I suspect one of the primary reasons they broke messeng…

Just a note on messenger - they actually separate the two purposely. They know Facebook is 'dying' with the new generation, and are pushing messenger more. To that end, they are purposely separating the two, so as to seem as two separate entities. They don't wants Facebooks old legacy to bring down the new flashy messenger.

Re: Demon-Haunted World

#66

Post by spitfire »

zackmorris wrote: post #52

Startup idea: Form a company that explores new markets in legal liabilities. It could bring lawsuits with little risk where the payoff could be billions of dollars. Off the top of my head: * Research whether channels were engineered into smartphones to allow water to leak in (since they have no moving parts and should self-evidently be watertight). * Find the planned-obsolescence parts in things like car doors that w…

> Form a company that explores new markets in legal liabilities. It could bring lawsuits with little risk where the payoff could be billions of dollars.

Sort of like a patent troll, but for good? I do like it.

Re: Demon-Haunted World

#67

Post by astrodust »

adrianratnapala wrote: post #7

Hmm, I suspect the article is not really news to the people who frequent sites like this, and perhaps not even to the readership of a science-fiction mag like locus. But I would like a nice readable article like that to appear in more mainstream publications. It should make a good story, being both true and sensationalist and important at the same time.

It's nice seeing a Doctorow article that isn't full of hyperbole and hypotheticals. This one seems pretty grounded and reasonable.

Re: Demon-Haunted World

#68

Post by astrodust »

iak8god wrote: post #45
MrZongle2 wrote: post #39

FTA: "Dieselgate killed people" What's the source for this claim?

Every year a shocking number of people die from illness caused by air pollution [1]. While it might be difficult or impossible to put a head count on "Dieselgate," the increased emissions certainly killed some. [1] http://news.mit.edu/2013/study-air-pollution-causes-200000-e...

Yeah, if it 0.01% kills a million people, then that's statistically some people being dead.

Re: Demon-Haunted World

#69

Post by StanislavPetrov »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #4

Counterpoint: software such as thermostats that control our energy consumption or phones that lock themselves while you're driving are better if people can't consume in a responsible manner. Is it nanny-state? Yes, but maybe some people need a nanny.

Even if some people need a nanny, they don't need a greedy, amoral nanny motivated entirely by perceived short term profits.

Re: Demon-Haunted World

#70

Post by bmurphy1976 »

SmooL wrote: post #65
bmurphy1976 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've experienced slow-downs with both iOS and Android devices. They almost always corresponded with newer versions of operating system and all the extra functionality that came with the upgrade. The apps are also evolving. Compare Facebook today to what it was two or three years ago. The app does a ton more and all that extra functionality doesn't come for free. I suspect one of the primary reasons they broke messeng…

Just a note on messenger - they actually separate the two purposely. They know Facebook is 'dying' with the new generation, and are pushing messenger more. To that end, they are purposely separating the two, so as to seem as two separate entities. They don't wants Facebooks old legacy to bring down the new flashy messenger.

I'm pretty sure it's all of the above and many more things that contributed to the decision. It's never just one thing.
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