fractalnavel

[noise] * eh ?  what's that ?  wind, i guess.

[more noise, things dropping] oh, dang, a critter probably got in through the back porch screen. (i keep the door open)  better go check...

[looking for furry critter in the floor region as something swoops by my head] whoa - a wren !  two wrens !  oh bugger...

[chasing around in circles] cut it out, i'm trying to help you, stupid !  ok, maybe i'll open the front door [one bird exits, the other finds its way off the porch]

[much wren warbling between trees in the front & back.  i guess they've got a story to tell too.]

(yeah, the door is still open)

this one caught my eye:

Microsoft tries to breathe life into older PCs

TODAY'S TOP STORY
Microsoft is developing a new version of Windows, called "Eiger," that's targeted at customers who have older PCs but can't afford to upgrade their hardware. Eiger turns older PCs into a thin client that can run a few programs locally, including IE, Windows Media Player, and antivirus software.

so i ask again, don't we have enough already ?  and instead of a repackaged terminal server client, why not offer “windows classic” ?  there is really a stable useful set of functionality that hasn't changed and is not affected by improvements in hardware and software.  and this set probably represents 80-90% of actual usage rates.  what is all this extra crap that's living in my computer ?  and why do i have to change it all the time ?

a curse on henry ford.  after mass production came the question “now what?”.  features, that's what.  options.  new models. gratuitous changes.  sure, there have been real improvements in some areas, and improvements in others are still going strong.  but to get there, it seems the powers-that-be have decided that we need to keep chipping into the $$$ Corporate Entity Survival Fund ™ ® © $$$.

the global economy is driven by this nonsense.  which is weird because apparently enough residual real value is created to support other endeavors.  one might think that we could get even better results by funneling all those wasted resources into things of true value.  but our creativity doesn't work that way. 

nor does the marketing.  for example, look at mass media - films, television, music, newspapers, and even books.  they've so well managed to convince us that the same old shit is really something new that we're willing to pay for it over and over and over...  but the reality is that these industries are effectively moribund; it is only our illusions of them that exhibit any sort of dynamics. 

everywhere, there is scale-free self-similar infinite regress into our own navels.  or even darker holes.

what about working out a steady state economics for certain sectors ?  and even for contraction, versus expansion.  we can “choose” our growth patterns.  in some sense a return to the rates of change always existing before the current era would make a lot of sense, reserving purposeful use of resources towards 'noble' aims, all of which are just coming within our reach.  cures, exploration, elimination of poverty and other human ills.  in exchange for the next few generations of flat screen tv, or oversized underused homes.  truly intentional living, fully aware of the possibilities, dangers and responsibilities.

the 'current' (decades to few century) state of affairs is not sustainable.  nor are 'singularities' realizable.   this is a transient period with apparent pseudo-growth.  as the flows sort themsleves out, sure, there are some real short-term benefits to many (but not most) people.  but as the phase transition completes (and there is evidence this is already underway), something much darker will take its place.   unless we insist on the culturally mature path.

i don't see any signs of that.  do you ?