Things that make you go "Hmmmm…"

[xilman]

And here I was, thinking satire was dead.

Asian Winter Games to be held in Trojena, Saudi Arabia in 2029

[Till]

Originally Posted by xilman

And here I was, thinking satire was dead.

Asian Winter Games to be held in Trojena, Saudi Arabia in 2029

And I thought that the football worldcup in Katar is ridiculous ;-)

[firejuggler]

north korea get into pop music.
thats ... strange and horrifiying

https://twitter.com/Benazdia/status/1581737376971620352

[Viliam Furik]

Originally Posted by firejuggler

north korea get into pop music.
thats ... strange and horrifiying

https://twitter.com/Benazdia/status/1581737376971620352

I suppose the song was composed by Kim Jong-Un when he was 3 years old.

[mart_r]

Originally Posted by Viliam Furik

I suppose the song was composed by Kim Jong-Un when he was 3 years old.

Well, it still sounds better than most of the contemporary "pop music"

[retina]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/w...kakao-ceo.html

Life in South Korea went askew this past weekend.

Millions of people had trouble getting in touch with one another. Many could not pay for everyday items at convenience stores or order food and groceries. Travelers were left stranded because they were not able to book taxis, depriving drivers of income.

So will they (and we) learn the lesson to stop relying on tech? Nah, of course not.

[PhilF]

Originally Posted by retina

So will they (and we) learn the lesson to stop relying on tech? Nah, of course not.

Oh gosh no. We have reached the point of no return. Technology got us to the point where we are now, supporting a world population of 8 billion with Mutual Assured Destruction patiently waiting in the wings. So at this point, more and better technology is the only thing that can save us.

That includes Javascript.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by PhilF

Oh gosh no. We have reached the point of no return. Technology got us to the point where we are now, supporting a world population of 8 billion with Mutual Assured Destruction patiently waiting in the wings. So at this point, more and better technology is the only thing that can save us.

Indeed, that point was reached decades ago.

A case could be made that steam power and mechanized industry was essential to support the global population by 1900. An almost incontrovertible case can be made for 1960 with the developments of electrical power generation and consumption, the Haber process, mechanized agriculture, the ICE, plastics, antibiotics, and much more.

[Dr Sardonicus]

October 17, 1978 saw the broadcast of the first installment of James Burke's series Connections, entitled The Trigger Effect. It featured the phrase "technology trap."

[kriesel]

First in a trilogy about what happens after an EMP attack on the US, sketches out numerous consequences of lack of electricity and functional vehicles that included sensitive semiconductors in their essential subsystems. Some of it is nonintuitive. Diabetics die due to spoilage and shortage of insulin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Second_After
I think it more likely that the technological implosion will be triggered by biotech plus hubris. There is now an 80% fatality rate (for lab mice) Covid19 strain developed at Boston University. That's considerably higher than Ebola's average 50% rate. https://wholistic.substack.com/p/80-...ton-university "The scientists also infected human cells with the hybrid variant and found it was five times more infectious than Omicron."
It's hard to run a hi-tech culture when 80% of the essential workers are dead. Some years back, AT&T had only 3 technicians capable of servicing T1 circuits in the state of Wisconsin, and 1 was about to retire.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by kriesel

<snip>
There is now an 80% fatality rate (for lab mice) Covid19 strain developed at Boston University. That's considerably higher than Ebola's average 50% rate. https://wholistic.substack.com/p/80-...ton-university "The scientists also infected human cells with the hybrid variant and found it was five times more infectious than Omicron."
<snip>

I was unable to find a link to the actual paper referenced either in the linked article, or in the stories run by a couple of media outlets.

I believe the stories refer to this preprint.