I Want You to Know

New God

How about a short film about surveillance and redemption?

Team 80

Another year, another lap for these folks...

Annually, they race a hundred year old motorcycle from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The Cannonball, the race is called.


They post up daily reports.
The ride, the rain, the overnight hotel parking lot engine rebuilds, the friends made, the fun had...

If'n you want, you can find them over here.

Boat Elevator

Still a bit busy around here...

But I found this video of a boat elevator rather interesting.
Are boat elevators a thing?
I guess they are.

This thing lifts 3000 ton boats 110ish meters.

Seriously, look at the scale compared to that building on the right...

Busy

Busy week here.

Here is a new Red Fang song for ya...

Casual Acquaintences

TED Tree Talk

How about a TED Talk about talking trees?

Really.

Zumwalt

So, I guess this 4.5 billion dollar super boat was here, last week.

Tours and everything?


I heard about it from a newspaper, on the other side of the continent.



I guess it is a stealth boat.
That's probably why nobody here knew to cover it...

Special Time

You're In Danger

Use caution around tapirs.

Robot Overlords

Robot overlords, you ask?
What is this all about?


Well, it's about an interview over at the Atlantic, on the subject of automation's advances and the impact that might have on society.  Ryan Avent is the interviewee, writer of books and columns and rather clever based on what writing of his I have come across.

The conversation starts on the advent of technology in our lives, specifically work places, and how that could impact some pretty base parts of our society...
And goes from there.
The looming Technical Revolution as an evolution of the Industrial one.

Here is a snippet, for you to consider-

I think this transformative revolution will create an abundance of labor. It will create enormous growth in [the supply of workers and machines], automating a lot of industries and boosting productivity. When you have this glut of workers, it plays havoc with existing institutions.

I think we are headed for a really important era in economic history. The Industrial Revolution is a pretty good guide of what that will look like. There will have to be a societal negotiation for how to share the gains from growth. That process will be long and drawn out. It will involve intense ideological conflict, and history suggests that a lot will go wrong.

Worth a read, if there is a chance your job could be performed by a computer program or a robot.
If you don't think that is a possibility, maybe you should read it anyway...

I am not convinced the robot overlords are upon us, presently.
Their roots are already taking hold, maybe...

If robot overlords have roots or dream of electric sheep.

Link here.

Slow

Read about Slow TV here.

Seriously

This hit me so hard, yesterday...
It nearly knocked me over.

Papi

Yeah, so baseball season is winding down.

That means just a few more chances to see David Ortiz play.
The proximity to Bean Town has me thinking about that.

For a guy who is rarely on the field, Ortiz is a special player to watch.
A craftsman, professional.
Dude crushes baseball for a living.

Anyway, The Atlantic has a nice article on the guy.
A summary of his career, his place in history.

A generation of baseball fans has watched him in the biggest moments, in the most important games, late at night and late in the season. He helped his team break an 86-year title drought and then, nine years later, win its third in short succession, with a galvanizing speech to a wounded city in between. Whenever he has stepped on the field, he’s given a sometimes stodgy game a sense of uncut fun, of release from ceremony.

Here is a link to it, if you are down for some baseball reading...