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It's time to build: a New World's Fair

cameronwiese.com

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Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#71

Post by jackson1442 »

camwiese wrote: post #36
lswainemoore wrote: post #24

Nitpicky/unsolicited UI feedback: I do a lot of double/triple clicking to highlight text as I read online (fidgeting, but also helps keep track of where I am). On your site, triple clicking unintentionally hits the twitter share button, which opens a new, unwanted window. Bit annoying. Medium does something similar, but they offset the button so you have to move cursor in between clicks to actually trigger the button…

Thank you — I pieced that feature together. Will tweak!

Might I suggest having a spot in the margin devoted to that button, placed either halfway down the paragraph or (if you have a really really long P or selection) halfway down the screen?

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#72

Post by markdown »

thepasswordis wrote: post #59
klenwell wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I didn't go, but the photos of the architecture from the different countries were beautiful. Apparently, the American pavilion was not among them: Now that the US Pavilion has been open for several days, its reviews, to be generous, are mixed. Visitors, after a two-hour wait, enjoy the upbeat attitude of the student “ambassadors” who greet them in Mandarin — but few are impressed by the three films that constitute…

The US seems to have largely decided that any amount of national pride is something to be ashamed of.

Ordinary people hang US flags off the front of their houses. In a bizarre indoctrination ritual, they make their kids pledge allegiance to the state from a young age. They think they're the greatest country in the world.

Have you taken a good look at your own country.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#73

Post by Animats »

The last really prophetic world's fair was New York, 1939. That's famous for GM's vision of the future of 1960, the original "Futurerama" . Freeways everywhere. RCA had television. AT&T let you make free long distance calls. All that stuff happened.

The 1964 World's Fair had another GM exhibit. Colonization of the Moon. Underwater cities. None of that happened.

What could we have in a World's Fair now that looks ahead? Colonization of Mars? Mars sucks as real estate. There may be research bases there someday, but as a self-sufficient area, it would be tougher than Antarctica or a continental shelf. Robots may some day be a thing, but they still don't work well in unstructured environments.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#74

Post by alex_young »

It’s not exactly the same, but Burning Man comes pretty close in a lot of ways.

If you haven’t been, there are thousands of art projects at a grand scale, things that take up blocks of space a piece, and they are built by artists from around the world, giving everyone a global perspective of what is possible.

I also love the idea of showcasing what is possible for a society. There is a true sense of community, immediacy, and collaboration where everyone there is an active participant.

There are dozens of smaller events with similar properties, likely one nearby.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#75

Post by namrog84 »

lswainemoore wrote: post #24

Nitpicky/unsolicited UI feedback: I do a lot of double/triple clicking to highlight text as I read online (fidgeting, but also helps keep track of where I am). On your site, triple clicking unintentionally hits the twitter share button, which opens a new, unwanted window. Bit annoying. Medium does something similar, but they offset the button so you have to move cursor in between clicks to actually trigger the button…

I do similar things constantly as well. It makes me not enjoy maybe "modern" apps and web apps. That think text highlighting is somehow a bad thing.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#76

Post by spacethrowaway1 »

purple-again wrote: post #60
minikites wrote: post #5

We as a species gave up trying to solve difficult problems and now we're only concerned with inflating asset prices to feel "wealthy". Smart engineers are working for HFT firms instead of NASA. We've equated "wealth" with "progress" and we're now discovering how hollow all these fake numbers are.

I’m a pretty smart guy, or at least I keep getting told that, and I work near HFTs in the finance world. I am also a huge space nerd thanks to a love for things like Star Trek and Star Wars in the 70’s 80’s. I would take a significant pay cut to work for NASA because that work would feel amazing compared to the grind I’ve been in. I am 100% confident I would not be hirable by NASA, confident enough in that assertion…

I have good news and bad news. The good news is you’re probably more hirable than you think. The bad news is it’s still just a job.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#78

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

poisonborz wrote: post #35

I admire the optimism and motivational tone of the article, but fairs and expos are a thing of the past. We don't need to build elaborate, carefully constructed single-use cities to showcase the scientific advances of the world. Those showcases happen day by day on the internet and mass media.

The annual CES convention is still popular. I see it as the modern equivalent of the world's fair, even if it is not quite the same and missing some aspects.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#79

Post by labster »

Fordec wrote: post #69
kratom_sandwich wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the argument is valid because it can be applied to nearly every event where people come together, including sporting events and concerts. But like with the Olympic Games, the World's Fair can serve as a catalyst for urban development projects. Also, the "science showcase" is a thing of the past, the BIE switched to "individual country showcase" a couple of years ago, which makes the whole thing a lot le…

I find this perplexing because the Olympic Games is notorious for draining an urban centers resources for years and the result being a bunch of infrastructure that the majority of the time just slowly decays due to the local community not having the same volume of population to fully utilize the utility. The handling of the 2016 games was an especially bad case. It's overall a nationalistic country level flex at the…

Speak for yourself. Los Angeles ran a profitable Olympics in 1984 and we look forward to doing so again in 2028. And nationalism is at a low ebb here, given our last four years fighting His Nibs on everything. It’s all about competition and entertainment for us. And infrastructure that can be reused for more entertainment.

Re: It's time to build: a New World's Fair

#80

Post by jhbadger »

nelsondev wrote: post #66
poisonborz wrote: post #35

I admire the optimism and motivational tone of the article, but fairs and expos are a thing of the past. We don't need to build elaborate, carefully constructed single-use cities to showcase the scientific advances of the world. Those showcases happen day by day on the internet and mass media.

Why bother showing up at the Olympics in person? We can just watch it on TV right? :p But to refute more directly, the unplanned interactions with other visitors, being able to talk directly with makers who built the things you’re seeing, the viral sense of wonder; all are good reasons to have it in-person.

The vast majority of people do just that. The small number of people who actually attend the Olympics in person are 1) journalists covering it 2) relatives of the athletes 3) people living near the venue who attend a few events out of curiosity and maybe have discounted tickets because of where they live 4) wealthy people who can afford the high cost of decent tickets with a clear view of the athletes.
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