There’s something racist about that.
Who? You?
I said something, not someone.
What’s racist about it then?
Detroiters aren’t already human. New Jersians on the other hand.
This is already a thing in certain countries like Japan. Not a left/wing wing fringe issue either.
They have lifelike, AI sex dolls one can screw. I don’t like the idea of it, however you need to remember what kind of demographic we are looking at re who buys these items. Very rich people trying to make a joke OR very lonely men / women.
The technology present in Japan required to manufacture one of these dolls is astounding. Full service prostitution isn’t legal in Japan like it is in most of Europe, Australia etc. A prostitute can’t continually hold a conversation day in, day out either as they’re on the clock.
Japan must be the loneliest country in the world. People rent “families” to come spend the holidays with them and call them grandma, dad, or other kinship terms. They’ll rent people to come cuddle with them, just for some contact with another human being.
I’m sure that happens in other countries as well but it’s always Japan that I hear about.
On closer analysis, however, the probability of a fortified bunker actually protecting its occupants from the reality of, well, reality, is very slim. For one, the closed ecosystems of underground facilities are preposterously brittle. For example, an indoor, sealed hydroponic garden is vulnerable to contamination. Vertical farms with moisture sensors and computer-controlled irrigation systems look great in business plans and on the rooftops of Bay Area startups; when a palette of topsoil or a row of crops goes wrong, it can simply be pulled and replaced. The hermetically sealed apocalypse “grow room” doesn’t allow for such do-overs.
Just the known unknowns are enough to dash any reasonable hope of survival. But this doesn’t seem to stop wealthy preppers from trying. The New York Times reported that real estate agents specialising in private islands were overwhelmed with inquiries during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prospective clients were even asking about whether there was enough land to do some agriculture in addition to installing a helicopter landing pad. But while a private island may be a good place to wait out a temporary plague, turning it into a self-sufficient, defensible ocean fortress is harder than it sounds. Small islands are utterly dependent on air and sea deliveries for basic staples. Solar panels and water filtration equipment need to be replaced and serviced at regular intervals. The billionaires who reside in such locales are more, not less, dependent on complex supply chains than those of us embedded in industrial civilisation.
Man, anyone else love unintended consequences?
The best part of the article:
Finally, the CEO of a brokerage house explained that he had nearly completed building his own underground bunker system, and asked: “How do I maintain authority over my security force after the event?” The event. That was their euphemism for the environmental collapse, social unrest, nuclear explosion, solar storm, unstoppable virus, or malicious computer hack that takes everything down.
This single question occupied us for the rest of the hour. They knew armed guards would be required to protect their compounds from raiders as well as angry mobs. One had already secured a dozen Navy Seals to make their way to his compound if he gave them the right cue. But how would he pay the guards once even his crypto was worthless? What would stop the guards from eventually choosing their own leader?
The billionaires considered using special combination locks on the food supply that only they knew. Or making guards wear disciplinary collars of some kind in return for their survival. Or maybe building robots to serve as guards and workers – if that technology could be developed “in time”.
That’s when you know you are officially old. Saw this the other day and ignored it. The waitress (older than me) was happy to bring me a menu and actually look and speak with me.
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Those ziosk things (tablet you can pay your bill on) have some utility to the customer. I don’t mind those things. I think the QR code menus are disliked by almost everyone. I recently went out with gym buddies and wives / girlfriends. The place had the QR code, and even my youngest gym buddy and his girlfriend (they are about 25) said they didn’t like them.
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Won’t use 'em. Now get off my lawn!
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I love that movie. I hope to be as crotchety as Clint when I reach that age (if I reach that age).
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The biggest issue with these is that many of the restaurants have terrible cell signal where I live.
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