Not Keeping it Simple, Stupid!

This seems a bit out of touch with reality. It has always been possible to divide the world between the active developer and the passive user, if that is a particular division one finds useful, even back when technology consisted of fire and wheels. Once upon a time, we called the innovators "wizards". Now we call them "hackers". Unless I really missed the ball, one of the first phenomena experienced by Apple upon introducing the iPhone was a plethora of hacks by those unwilling to accept the role of "passive user".

Governments are going to continue to try to figure out how to regulate the Internet and derive revenue therefrom, because that is what governments do. These efforts will be constantly thwarted by hackers, because that is what hackers do. Technology does not create couch potatoes- society creates couch potatoes...

Well said sir! James

Happy new year Cwarner,

I have to correct your last sentence. I can agree with you about that technology doesn't create couch potatoes. But the next, I have to add: Society, we are creating the opportunities to certain people to create things like i-Pode, cellular. This cellular is a telephone, a photographer, an e-mailer, a text messager, and I can add many other functions. My question is why this combo affair? I have a cellular for the telephone purpose only! I asked for it. I don't believe in "all-in-one" tricks. Like us, we can make two things at the same time, isn't it? When we have money we create some thiefs. Is the same like we are hungry and we have a cook who will satisfy our needs. Practically as a "cause-and-effect" situation, you know? When we use the computer as a communication tool between two individuals, we have probably no hackers around. They have nothing to hack! But when we have 5 or 10 credit cards in use, two or three bank accounts, we need someone watch us what we do with those things. We create one and we add the second. Alone, life is just trouble! We need someone to criticize, push down, or eliminate. I stay alive and wait for an answer, Gil.

This is a good example of why I call artificial intelligence "Artificial Arrogance and Incompetence."

We like our computers to do dull repetitive tasks and never miss a beat. That works great! However, giving them the right to make decisions also implies that we give them the human right to make mistakes!!!

"Hal?"

"Yes, Dave."

"Why are we heading for that mountain?"

"What mountain, Dave?"

Hello Vermin!

I don't use any i-Machine. The only gadget I have is a cell-phone for personal and business communications without regular wire-phone or land-phone, except the last at work. All other, and mostly the i-Pode or similar music producing and ear plogging machines make people not thinking, and when man don't think he/she cannot create. This produces three advantages. First, the producer of the machine don't need to create a new machine, more advantageous or totally new. The second, the person plogged to the machine cannot create any new machine because he/she don't want to loose what is in hand already. Third, the producer of the machine want to exploite the profitability of its innovation to the maximum, and they don't have to create a new machine which is costing money again without guarantee of success. It's the same in many industry. I work for over fifty years in the paint industry and nobody abandonned oil-based or alkyd semi-gloss. It's stupide to pay high insurance, having explosion-proof equipment, maintain a fire-risk, and unhealthy working environment. No one government imposes to DIY and house painting professionals to use waterborne coatings. One of my friend, paint producer, he tells me all the time: "During I can by a drum of solvent I will make solvent conataining paints." It' so easy for the government to order to not make any paint based on solvent. It eliminates many health and environmental problems. Imagine, each gallon of alkyd paint cotains at least 50% by volume a solvent or more. This simply transfer responsibility of fire and health hazards to the user.

This non-action of authorities and abusive or excessive use of new machines maintain people in more ignorance. You are right, education is stambling or just cannot produces better than before with more equipment and more knowledge how to transfer knowledge and knowhow from one person to many another. I enjoyed to talk to you, Gil.

Hi

Give everybody play-stations of the 9th or 20ieth generation and only a small minority will not use these until the brains are empty forever.

This is one of the causes of sociological and subsequent economical and political breakdown.

Panem et circensis was this called in antique Rome, they survived for some more centuries because there were wild "barbaric" tribes to refresh the population.

In Europe there is a dramatic loss in scholar knowledge and skills especially in boys that is strongly correlated with playing time used for computer games.

The last of the dinosaur uttered : I don't worry about the future, soon this all will be history!

RHABE

Primitive is beautiful!

Hello Rhabe!

You see the decline or negative progress of education because the games, where are the parents of those children? The parents are blind? What these parents want out of the future generation, their children? The science goes and nobody will be in science pretty soon. Or, we have stupids and poors, and rich and knowledgeable individuals? Personally, I never played any games, including card game offered in every computer. I have other things to think and do. If the dammage is so important, why we don't eliminate by legislations?

So, how could we return our children onto the right track? We have to create a new game to explain what one game do and another can do? It's difficult but everything has a solution.

I ask one to that problem. No games, thanks, Gil.

Hi Gil,

this is exactly my feeling too.

And you can add any other "responsible" group: politicians, journalists, religious, teaching...

But I feel like re-iterating Kassandra's warnings.

Only a very small minority will hear and see.

So what to do?

May be the Atlantic civilisation will have dark times again.

But where is the place and culture to save what we achieved.

Arabian scientists and philosophers filled the gap after breakdown of western Rome and declaring science and thinking as devils work in Byzantinic Rome. And Europe learned 500 years later to start again from them.

There is no stability analysis that is evaluating the stability of cultures, Jared Diamond did some writing but only for very specialised and small communities.

RHABE

To Rhabe and others!

The responsible groups like you mentioned, politicians, journalists, religious, teaching, and other dominating and money making organizations never help the public who put them in the dominating position. We all are dreamers! We have to do by ourselves everything like in business. You do or someone else will do because the customer is there and want to pay for it. Everyone hear what's happening with our children but everyone wait for someone else to do the job to change or eliminate what is there.

I don't see any Atlantic or Eurasian civilisation. Every individual has something to do first for itself and after for another person like wife, child or other relatives, and finally for the society. Nobody cares about what could happen in the other side of the Earth. Look around you and you see that everyone is for itself, nobody cares about you or me. The culture is what you practice and accepted by your environment. I am not use philosophy, I observe, see, and learn from it.

I teached to my four children what, how, and when to things after my best knowledge at that time. To day, I could teach better but this is not anymore the problem, and I cannot influence those same children with my today's ideas. This is eveolution and keep that way. Please, let me know your opinion about this notes. All the best from Gil.

You state EXACTLY why there are unions in the first place!!! In the early decades of the 20th Century, employers/business owners held all the cards and they played them hard! For example, no limits for shifts, no sick leave, no time off, no over-time, child labor, ...the list goes on.

The treatment of workers was governed by pure greed. When the Labor movement finely happened, it was a long and difficult struggle. Workers were killed, people got black-listed, Police here in San Francisco rode down demonstrators - man and woman alike, and 10,000 Wobblies were rounded up and sent via cattle car to concentration camps in Utah.

Today, we somehow think that we live in a more enlightened society that would never treat workers of any class like they did in the past. However, get rid of labor unions (those that are left), and someday it could all go back to the way it was. Heck, after the child labor laws were passed, they were ultimately repealed by Hoover! Do you get my point?

The reason why labor had to fight was for the exact reason you state - either you look after yourselves or someone will look after your welfare for you, and you're not going to like either their motives or their methods.

Hello Vermin!

I never accepted that someone else look after me. I, personally, do what is necessary to be fed, healthy, have an enjoyable work, and happy. If I cannot supply all these for myself stop to live. Nobody can and/or want to supply all these few things to me, so I need to go and get myself, and forget the world around you for help. I am retired, and in Canada the pension is just OK to not die. I need to work but I work what is enjoyable and not being slave of someone else. I am not looking for millions of dollars, just enough to pay all bills and get something for later.

Concerning the union? I never was unionized and people around me refused union when I directed and supervised them. They, the workers, have decent working conditions, reasonable pay, and practically everyone accepted those conditions for years without complaining. They follow the standard operating procedures by the lettres and that way I was responsible for errors or deviations. Union is over because they cannot be productive in the highly competitive world. Look the automobile industry. No one American company, mainly the "Big Three", want to produce cars anymore. Within a few years, Toyota, Nissan, or another Japanese will produce for them and they take care about selling, financing, and servicing those cars. Business need profits! So, let them do it, and everyone will be happy!

All the best, Gil.

Yes, business needs profit, but when you speak of the forming of the unions, you're talking about a time when business owner felt absolutely no need to provide anything - including a safe working environment. If you want, you can look up the tardegy of the young women that were trapped in a sweat-shop in New York, around the turn of the century. The place was a fire trap; and the inevitable finally happened. That incident caused major legislation regarding work place safety, but not after about three hundred young women were burned to death.

It's hard to describe the working conditions, the lack of opportunities, and the cruel and almost god-like power that the business owners wielded over their employees. You have to study the plight of the Irish at the hands of the English land owners. You have to read about the mill towns in the 1930's. You have to read about the plight of migratory workers during the great depression. Without understanding that part of the world, you'll have no idea about what I'm talking about.

In those days, it was IMPOSSIBLE for the average worker to stand up for themselves. Either you played by the boss' rules or you and your family starved. Don't you understand that the main reason for unions in those days was a single man could do nothing, however, if they were brought together in large numbers, then they had at least some power to act. And what were they getting shot for and their heads busted for? They didn't want to take businesses away from business owners, all they wanted was to be treated like human beings, and not like indentured servants.

Today, what opportunities you have, in some direct or indirect way you owe to the early labor movement. It's easy for a normal many to stand up and say "I'm strong!" during prosperous times. Big talk is cheap. However, if the balance of wealth in both our countries ever reaches a critical tipping point, we may all find ourselves working for the man once again.

Yeah, why don't you ask workers in a Chinese gulag why they don't stand up for themselves?!

Hello Vermin!

You are absolutely right,in the past when the industrial revolution started and until the WW II, it was necessary to force business owners to accept the fact that employees produce the profits and they need to be participant. The exploitation of workig people existed from ages and continue to harm in the future. Why? Because greed is human and stupid obediance is rampant among people.

However, today's economy, global selling and buying create exploitation again but for short duration. You mention Chinese, low salary, hard and excessively working people, they will get up rapidly. Their economy is in evolution from the late 80s. Today, already made progress and every Chinese make more money than before to get a better life but still not at our level. To get to our level of their standard of life, they need to accept to work as they do today. I was there and see young, between 18 to 25 years old girls working 10 to 12 hours a day, 6 days if not seven a week. In 1997 a maintenance mechanician in a manufacture made 4,000 yuan per year, and the last year he made over 22,000. I understand price of everything is changing but this is improvement, and they are millions like that. No union, practically no benefits for the future but they have a better life than 10 years ago. No more starvation! No more physical inforcement! They get faster to our level because they have a target which was made by us.

Today, union is an expenses for the company without possibility to improve productivity which is the most important in our working society. Look the actual problem we have in Canada with GM and the union. The business direct GM to do what they need to do, close when there is no more profit. Also, GM want to sell the plant to one of the Japanese counterpart and do business to make profit. If the Oshawa plant stay open and GM don't make profit, GM will take money out of a profitable plant to transfer to Oshawa. The other union group will be furious. You see that business is making profits. Gil wish you a happy weekend!

Hi Gil and Vermin,

"We all are dreamers!"

I fear you are right.

Here in Germany everybody agrees that the state and the government is responsible for education, school is free of payment highschool too and some universities have a small fee (2000€/year).

But the government fails in maintaining the mean level of most pupils having an adequate school exam to enter a useful profession without big difficulties.

This was the situation in 50ies and 60ies but changed dramatically since 20 or so years. Since now 20 years around 20% of pupils have no school exam at all.

The state is unable and unwilling to manage courses in language so that the very many children from Russian, Arabic, Turkish and also Portuguese origin no longer speak their mother language and did not learn German. (I estimate that may be 50% of all are in this situation).

Making this situation worse is the situation of many German children also not learning the language as the mothers often no longer talk to their children and the fathers absent or non-existing. The TV with no real language is telling the "reality": teletubbies and similar.

You are in a very lucky situation having been able to teach your children most of the necessities. Some are here in a similar situation but most have difficulties and will not get an adequate support.

So these live - as most of their parents - from the welfare system - very generous here , no problem to have some side-jobs, the system is misused by many. This situation will result in a big crisis - sooner or later.

Worst part of this situation is the situation of the children of these non-working people: they do not learn how to learn, how to work but they learn how to cheat the system and live without doing any useful work. This is growing worse and worse and will not end until a really big crisis.

The unions had a share in establishing this system of welfare and its permanent augmentation. And in undermining the prosperous situation of our industry in the 60ies and 70ties with huge salary increases that were not at all justified by increases in productivity. They did not see and they will not see the new global situation of production moving to cheaper places.

Some politicians did learn but the majority of them is not willing to support necessary actions.

What is missing in our political and education system is a good mixture of "survival of the fittest" and help for the non-fit persons to reach fitness (again).

In contrast to your opinion I see a common Atlantic civilisation, that is naturally thinning at the rims. Competition as a positive action and the common understanding of cheating and fraud as malpractice are among the pillars. Maybe these are relics of our Christian heritage.

Competition among states was the basis of European importance and power. (See Jared Diamond: Guns, Germs and Steel). This changed as too many emigrated to the US and other New World locations.(driven by governments, wars and starvation). And with changing warfare Europe blew up most of its wealth in WW1 and WW2.

So I see a big crisis coming, the sooner the better as a crisis may generate the pressure that is necessary for real reforms. Today we have a European community that is unable to act and unable to reach a consent on necessary reforms. None of the governments have defined goals for their countries: what do we want to achieve within 1, 3, 10, 30 years.

Do you have an idea if survival of states and civilisations (long term) is a. self evident in a global world, or b. is possible if conditions are favorable or c, is unlikely, or d. is impossible? (Survival in this sense is in my thinking is equivalent to a place within the first 20% if education and creativity is a measure.)

RHABE

Hi Rhabe!

The last paragraph concentrate your ideas. My answer to those questions are the following: Forget the state and the civilization. Every human needs to provide for itself a place in the global world and supply the best conditions to survive, and survive as being the fittest. Also, everything is possible but need human courage and calculated actions to execute what must be done. I am never was pessimist, I see the future in colour and enjoyable but I am certain that many of us will have hard time to eat or do what they want.

Look around you. Most of people refuse to change, and when you stay what you were sometimes ago, you have to pay the price for your inactivity. I don't ask government to pay for practically nothing. During the last 25 years I visited the doctor's office in very few occasions. When you know that doctor don't help, I can tell when they help. In Toronto, SARS killed people only in hospitals. Today, we have other germs related deaths by thousands per year only in hospitals. Most of the time, when you go healthy in a hospital, you have 99% of chances you come out being sick of something from that hospital. Nobody acts, nobody wants to do something about but government expenses growing and growing.

Conclusion: Do what you think is good for you and let others to do the same. I don't want to change people. I change myself for adaptation or by necessities. Let me know what is better for me to do to get better and happier I can be! All the best from, Gil.

Dear Gil Becker,

in my mind there are some categories of possible crisis, some easily survivable some not:

light: as now, rising gas and other energy prizes 100% in 5 years (almost everybody will survive but some will have a hard time),

medium: energy and food up 100%/1year without compensation by authorities: many will not be able to compensate (as you state, most people refuse to change), they will exhaust their credit allowances and then a few will learn the rest will find themselves begging and starving.

severe: localised war, big volcano eruption, big meteorite hitting a vulnerable place, severe widespread illness, more than one crop missing by bad weather, energetic particles and rays from nova or supernova or similar sources: survivable only for maybe 50% of all because most cannot move or pay to reach a secure place. Breakdown of a major part of global companies because some of their suppliers are no longer existing.

very severe: nuclear war, Yellowstone-volcano erupting, new ice-age, new pest killing 50% and disabling for some time 100%, slowly disabled skills until only a few can really solve complex problems: civilisation will experience a widespread breakdown .

The world has seen any (most) of these in history. So what will happen next?

You can prepare against foreseeable dangers that are likely but not against rare accidents/incidents that are either not realistic in our lifetime (volcano, meteorite, ....) or that are common but not avoidable (car accidents).

So against which dangers do you prepare? and how?

In my first answer I did not think about these dangers nor about personal risks but about the probability that our education system will fail to bring up to an adequate level most of the young generation and thus rot the fundamentals of our technology, of our wealth and survivability. And I suppose that we will have the same situation like many states in history that failed by a bunch of different reasons:

Ancient Egypt by spending regularly a big percentage for priests and military and at the first bigger agricultural crisis (some years drought) failed to quickly adopt to a poorer situation. State and community broke down completely (around the year 2000BC) and it took 200 years to recover to a new good situation. The invaders that came next (with the just invented weapons of steel instead of bronze) caused only a medium crisis, taking over but letting intact the local government. Next big crisis, explosion of 30km diameter Santorin volcano, Greece caused total breakdown of the Minoan culture and partial in Egypt.

Roman empire broke down by many reasons, historians do not agree, but clearly the Italian population was either rich or wealthy or lazy and unwilling but fed by the state and the provinces. So the first big challenge after early German tribes taking over the Limes and part of the provinces (why no longer able to defend?) was the Huns crossing the Alps and menacing Rome until Rome paid yearly for a non-attack agreement, and later the Gothic people found almost no military defense at conquering Rome and there was nobody willing or able to re-erect a government. The local military commanders waiting for orders and money from the central government waited three months and then ordered themselves and their troops to go home. The early Germans from across the Rhine watched and took the opportunity to plunder everything valuable, burn the cities and devastate the rests. Nobody was able to erect a new local kingdom!

So I fear that we are near a point of no return: the parents not being able to teach their children (not all but many), same for teachers, same for many others...

The next big breakdown will affect the whole world as it is now not really possible to live with local simple supply only.

Any smaller crisis is not really a threat but may help tom pave the way to real reforms.

Concerning the personal situation I agree totally with the medical view you explained, the situation is worse than imaginable.

I was aware of this situation as my mother was a children's doctor by education and my father a chemist who worked in pharmaceutics and I have ample examples. I had to learn that this is not at all enough and since now 6 years I first look what I can read at pubmed.gov if I plan to go to consult a doctor. And I follow partially the guidelines of Barry Sears given in his book: The Omega-Rx-Zone.

There is an unprecedented tendency for young people to emigrate and this is an indicator of a coming change. In 86 one (below 1%) of my students was going west (to the US), in 96 nearly 5% wanted but only 2-3 % succeeded, now nearly 10 to 20% want to go, typically to the US, Canada and Australia, only a few to Asia and also Russia.

Let this be enough for today, late now and tomorrow a visit to an ever interesting exhibition is on my and my wifes plan (100,000 years sex):

http://www.gdke-rlp.de/GemDaten/Download/Info-02-2008_RS.pdf

RHABE

Hello Rhabe!

Please, tell your young people: Never emmigrate in direction of East, it conducts to unhappiness and difficult times. History tells you.

Second, the new technology only put together people, more closely, and communications are easier than before. However, we do the same, love or kill each other, do the same stupid and exact things than before, except, we get the answers more rapidly and the surprises are hitting us faster than before. Good or bad! Just one thing, in math, I am not a math person, I just use simple maths to get what I need. We have ten numbers like before and we use them as we used before. The number of Mendeleiev Table stay the same and our body is made with the same few, and we have the same other few around us. So, nothing is changed to much, except we produce speed in everything by hoping to get some advantages. The results are not looking very good. We have disparities, probably bigger than before.

Again, simplify things around you for your personal use and you will be happier and most importantly, healthier, so you can enjoy this speedy world little bit more long time. Let speedy people do what they want without get their influence on you and your life. I am not your father but I can talk like he could tell you some good advises, Gil.

Happy New Year Rhabe,

You describe very well the future of humanity.

We have big changes to accept and this is very hard for many. Like you mentionned, energy and food will be less in the future than today, and much more expensive. In the modern life we create two kinds of people, rich at minoirity and poor as being the majority. For example, in Togo just a few from the government can afford to buy good food. The rest of the population need to eat something other, less valuable for the body. In North-America, for example, we can drive and supply gasoline to a few thousand of SUV cars but again many countries on Earth cannot afford to pay for energy to run a smaller car. Bicycle become more popular and people will get slimmer again. This is good! This situation will arrive to us rapidly and we have to change. You know that change is difficult to accept and more harder to do!

Also, we have to think: What's happening when we have a natural disaster like in Haiti? Can we respond better or the same way to all necessary duties? Physical and psychological problems can be limited or not?

I think I need to stop because I become negative, which is not my character. However, we have to see realities because we already have New Orleans, the tzunamie in Asia, flood killing people in Europe, we have California at the see-side, the North "ice" is melting in Canada, and I can continue. The nature changes around us a big way but we just want to stay the same without any change. This will be difficult, Gil.

Hi Gil,

I had some time where I could not look to CR4, so a little bit late:

I agree totally to your replies except some minor judgements:

Never go East? Much of the Russian development over centuries was driven by French and German immigrants. The bad side came up only with Hitler and Stalin.

Early Russia was a foundation of Viking people going southeast.

So: if we go out to find better conditions we have to face the possibility that we may not succeed and may die by natural or artificial problems.

The Helvetians moved as a tribe in early Cesar's time through the region that is now known as Helvetia or Switzerland. Cesar slaughtered 200,000 of 250,000.

So the remaining ones did not have the chance to move further, they settled and their successors are still living from Southern Germany to Switzerland.

Good or bad? If they had stayed in their original settlements (unknown but far in the North) all would have died - no more enough food.

With moving to new frontiers: bad for the victims, bad for the companions but not too bad for the children and further generations.

The "realities" you state are in my thinking only minor problems in the complete story. For the victims: very bad. But in long-term: no problem.

Big problems will arise if: the next ice-age, a new and major pest to any of the worlds most needed food (rice, wheat, corn, potatoes...), a super-volcano blow (Yellowstone), the overdue big earthquake on Canada's west coast (any 300 years!), the next bacteria or virus that will be able to cross the animal-human barrier ...

But despite all these likely problems your motto: simplify is valid all the time.

The problem I have is only: there are so many interesting problems (including my professional field of precision engineering and measurement) that I cannot decide which to postpone. (Including the machines that I want to bring to life again).

So in principle I agree totally, in reality I have big problems.

The best to you

RHABE

.

Hi Rhabe,

No! Don't tell me that you have big problems. You have no problems at all. Do simply the following: If someone else ask you to do or say something, and if you are able to tell the correct answer, tell or do it immediately. If you don't know. Shut-up or do nothing! This is the way you become without troubles or problems. Let other people have the solutions to problems. Don't involve yourself in something out of your reaches or knowledge. Most of the time, we have others problem, not ours.

Concerning eastern immigration? This is my opinion. I went to West, I went to East. Believe me, I really prefer West. Why? At 18 I escaped from communist country to France. It was an East to West move. I was able to speak a reasonable French within 6 months, and have a chance to go to university paid by my company I worked for. They were very generous and big thanks to them! My next move was to West again, to Canada. I have no regret about it. Both occasions the change was minimal and I was able to accept and adapt myself to people, their habits and customs, including the climate.

At mid-fiftys, I went to China for a complete year to work. I have practically no difficulties to eat, play ping-pong, and be alone in this country. The difficulties started when I wanted to tell something to somebody. One, people speak Cantonese and the books are written in Mandarine. The next trouble is that the translater never translate really the whole conversation as supposed to be. Also, discover that the tap water is undrinkable, so you buy French "Contrexeville", bottled water to drink. Tap water can come out coloured and containing solid matters and you cannot see through a glass of it. Same, the water in the Lee river, close to Guang Zhou (Canton) and Hong Kong. Pollution is the following. This is a Torontonian who describe it. Here, in my town in Canada, we have blue sky every day but we complain about pollution. There, in China, in many towns, you cannot see 50 metres, the air is hazy so much that you cannot see the top of most buildings, and sometime coloured to yellowish shade with other colours at certain places. I don't talk about the odour, which is mixed with gasoline, the near manufacturers' odour and more. One time, I visited a company for my work, and hidenly I smelled "Muriatic Acid", raw material, in the air. This odour came from the company I supposed to visit, which was located at 200 metres from a school for youngs, before 14. This company has a lead tank, around 5,000 imperial gallons, filled completely with HCl, only covered with a sheet of plastic and maintained in place by a few metal tubes. The temperature was this day: 35 to 40*C. They ask me, precisely the question: How they can keep the acid, they absolutely need, without dispersing the smell, polluting and eventually killing people around. All this odours and chemicals in the air, you cry because irritate your eyes. Look Chinese come to North-America, their eyes blink constantly like nervousness. Concerning the acid, I suggested to buy 3 closed plastic tanks of 2,500 gallon each, designed support and how to fill and take off. They did everything within 3 weeks because the government wanted or menaced to close the company if they are not changing the level of pollution.

Si-An, the old capital of China with over 4 milliom people, in the North is the same. At a hotel, at the 18th floor I was living in white and heavy cloud. I never see the street or trees during the 3 days I was there. My wife, Chinese, ask me to leave because she cannot see, outside she cried all day, the pollution irritated her eyes.

The next difficulties for me was the language. My age don't give me the opportunity to learn easily and rapidly the "pu tong hua" or Mandarine. You have to remember the strocks, you need to know the signification of it, and you need to know how to pronounce it. Try it! I prefer to marry a Chinese girl, I did it, and use as translater. No more communication problems. We are in Canada without any pollution, but still I boil tap water, despite I am in Canada, for at least 5 minutes.

Conclusion, with three difficulties, pollution, water, and the languge, I strongly recommend to move to West. You will be safe! These events were the decision makers for me to go in that direction. I am a three langual (speaking, writing, and reading) Canadian and a happy mover to West. Have a happy and problem-free day, Gil.

As a creator/inventor, I would have to utterly disagree. Todays technology assists us so much it is like having major short cuts made available INSTANTLY. Stuff that I used to spend weeks, months and even years researching and developing only to find it didn't work, or another way was already proven, I can now find in a minute or two. I now do not have to create new materials here in Australia as I can find them in seconds in France, the US or China. I can find new stuff I knew nothing about, research it, make a decision about it, all in under a day. Prior to this Techno Revolution I did spend 15 years to get one invention to patent readiness whereas today I have two that will take me maybe a year from scratch. The difference is that dramatic.

Simply put, the better the technology available, the better the creators get, Oh and faster too.

Hi Guest!

Please, forget the new and modern technology. We are not better with than without it. Look around you, and you will discover that most of the modernities are giving nothing to us, except make lots of money for a few many. The salad grows the same way today as thousands of years ago. We eat the samething during those years. It's exact or not? Let me know, please! One thing is changed. We have people like in Africa, they developed people from the same crop to dominate them, the new colonizators. They are locals, they know how to do, and people, the majority follow them in local wars and other exterminations.

I live in a town which is safe from most of natural disastors and other calamities like you mentioned about volcanoes and floods or sicknesses. I was in the Penninsula Hotel in Hong Kong where was initiated the SARS. I never got it. I eat what I choose and never what someone wants to give me. I am extremely simple, and the simplicity gives you opportunities to succeed all around the Earth.

Life is simple too. You have to eat, so eat as healthy as possible by choosing the good food and not what MacDo want to give you. Drink what is healthy for you and not what someone else put in bottles for you and others. Do what you can enjoy and don't let dominators to do what they want. Sleep with someone your choice or alone to rest because you need some of that too. Also, choose your environment and people around you. You can tell me that nothing, nobody, and nowhere is safe but all the time you can help yourself by choosing better than many of us.

Smile and be happier than you are yesterday, Gil.

Hi Guest,

Sorry! I reread your comments about changes, rapidity, and advantages of the new style of life and for sure the new technologies, which revolutionize our life.

First, changes are very hard to order to human, to people. Why we want to disturb the well established things and actions? Also, how many time your close parents, wife or friends told you that your new invention is risky and no one will buy it. Remember Guestetner's opinion at IBM about the personal computer of Wozniack. Markulla understood and made possible Apple.

However, I agree with you that computer gives us information by tones and rapidly but we still cut trees to make more copy than before. Companies hired people to handle paper from one desk to another. Look, hospitals have dressed people with at least one file folder at hand.

The large part of food we eat is food with lots of chemicals to help the stuff survival in fridges for months before we eat by walking somewhere, in the kitchen, the street, the car, streetscar, or in the subway. I agree with you, people eat an apple or an orange time to time but the next meal will be heated up in the microwave or oven and eaten within 5 minutes because we have no more time in 24 hours than 50 or 100 years ago. Everything is fast! And, we need some anti acid-reflux remedy, one or two pills and we jump to the next thing to do.

When I came to Canada, 45 years ago, life was much slower and quiet. I get up, eat my breakfast, went to work, stopped to eat at half time, worked again, end went home kiss my wife and children, eat again and talk about not very important things, watch little bit the "BLACK-AND-WHITE TV" or help solve children's school problems, and the day was practically over.

Today, I get up, shower, take my vitamines and eat half of a litre of fruit mix, take clothes, and ready for bus, subway, bus, and bus again before my breakfast, you know the digestion. It takes me one hour 15 to 30 minutes five or six times a week. I don't take a car because the trafic is worsth with an accident on the highways. And, I can read the newspaper, free newspapers in Toronto.

After breakfast I walk for half "km" to my shop. Work, today I was on the Internet for more than an hour. Eat what I cooked two days ago and return to work til 5 or 6.

Return home within 1 and half hour later kiss my second wife if she is at home, eat, walk with her or alone around the buildings for 30 minutes or so, watch news on TV and read for 1 to 2 hours before visit the bed for a good rest.

Me too, I found new ideas and things every day. I learn too. I innovate, not so sure or not very often. First, I want to find someone with a problem, and after that, I think about the solution. Elaborate, create, verify, and communicate or deliver the solution, and collect money. My principle in business: Every solution must be as a revenue. No innovation for nothing. I am not a millionair because the supplied solutions are solving daily problems but insure a small revenue, this is the important. No! No! These solutions are not miracles, just help people to arrive to satisfaction in their life. You understand, simple suggestions but considered innovative ideas because no one else can supply to the person at that moment who pays me the revenue I talk. No! No "techno revolution" like you mentionned. With those big ideas I will become billionair and I will be not writing this response to your techno revolutionary creation/innovation systems. Believe me. No! I am not stupid, just normal like we have a few billions on Earth.

There is no change or very little. All changes are replacing something else from the past. 45 years ago, my wife never worked outside for a revenue, she stayed at home to do what a wife supposed to do, and she was excellent. Today, every wife needs to work for survival. Yes! Survival! If the wife doesn't work, no house, no appartment or condo, and a small car with high cost insurance or take the bus like me. I take because I am retired and don't want to drive home to work to home. I only drive from shop to customers and back to shop.

I remember, a quart of milk was 10 cents, 8 or 9 cent the next day, and same for a loaf of bread. The cartoon of cigarets around $2.50, today, you pay more than $50. I stop to smoke when the cartoon's price was close to $3.40, $3.38 exactly in the early 70s.

Today, we buy $2,000 to %,000 TVs and open it from 6:30 the morning to 11:30 or later the night. I still have an 18" TV, open for 10 to 12 hours a week. My first car in Canada was just over $2,000 with all taxes, brand new Chevy/Biscayne. At that time, I never told the pump attendant: give me $5 of gasoline, just filled up! Today, most of people don't have enough money in their pocket to pay a full tank, isn't it? Ah, credit cards! My deposit for the first house was $500, and $28 monthly payments for 25 years with some less 3% or something interest. Was a good time, Guest! Yes, we get some changes. The price of my first house (around 1056 ft2 two level) was around $28,000 in Montreal, today, or rather 2 years ago, it was sold for $210,000.

This is the change, without any "Techno Revolution"!

Also, I cannot find solutions in one or two minutes because those solutions are known by many other people, so there are no innovations and no one wants to pay for it. What is fast, talking about ideas, performances, and results, absolutely nithing. Everything is time consuming!

45 years ago, I have friends and we lived well and were together very often. Today, and I am honest, I lost more than half of my friends. Yes, they are in the cemetery. This is a big change, and I am not alone. This is a huge difference. What's the reason of this situation. I know: We all have health, social, psychological, personal, and other problems. But, I can only handle mine. That's all!

This is my observations before and after the "techno Revolution". I hope I was not too depressive but you can complain to me or someone else. By now, Gil.