My new tiny apartment

Sofa is actually grey. 

What smart homes might mean

This made me giggle

“I remember when you could only lose a chess game to a supercomputer.”

Are we ready for the post capitalism world?

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/17/postcapitalism-end-of-capitalism-begun?CMP=share_btn_fb

A brilliant article.

I disagree that people no longer need work.  They need it more than ever for their well being.

I offer two suggestions to make this post capitalism economy happen.

1. Technologists and technology companies need to be thinking more about how to integrate human capital with machine capital so that people can still participate in meaningful work
2. If information is the driver of this new economy then why accept the notion that information is free: able to be exploited to benefit those at the top of the food chain in technology companies like Google, Facebook etc.  It is time to assert property rights in information.  If you create it; you own it.  This is not intellectual property:  That can still apply to the creative application of the information.  I am talking about ownership of the basic data: your name, address, birth date, your consumer preferences, likes, dislikes, etc.  Once we acknowledge that data is property then it can be monetized presenting everyone with a stream of income and a means of re-distributing the immense wealth of the Google and the Facebook of this world.

Explanation of our Road Trip provided by Catherine

We flew from New York to Puerto Rico.Old San Juan is a UNESCO site with two old forts built by the Spanish to assist in protecting their valuable trade routes with the other Carribean countries.

We then drove from San Juan to the beach resort of Fajardo.  Spent two days there relaxing. The resort did not have a beach but it had a ferry shuttle service that went to a small island in the bay.  We did a bit of snorkelling and Cally saw a small reef shark.  We drove back to San Juan and flew to Miami and picked up a car.  As we had already had a beach resort holiday, we decided not to loiter about Miami and immediately set the GPS for Coco Beach near Cape Canaveral as our first stop.  The next day we went to the Kennedy Space Centre – the fulfilment of a dream for me.  They have the Space Shuttle Atlantis suspended in a gigantic room.  It was fab!

From there we travelled to Savannah in Georgia.  Old Savannah is a series of tranquil squares with Antebellum houses, live oaks and Spanish moss.

From there we drove to Charleston, South Carolina.  Fort Sumter was the place where the Civil War started and the South Carolinians where the first State to cede from the Union.  The USS Yorktown aircraft carrier which was decommissioned in 1970 is anchored just outside Charleston.  We could have spent two days there as the aircraft carrier is huge and there is a submarine and another ship to tour.  We then drove on to overnight at Myrtle Beach on the Atlantic Coast.  It is a popular beach resort in South Carolina – a bit like the Gold Coast with lots of bogans.  It was difficult to sleep with all the hoons roaring around the streets. 

The next day we decided to make a long straight run through North Carolina to Richmond Virginia.  We picked up some gorgeous peaches and some disgusting boiled peanuts (a Southern delicacy which I ended up dumping in the trash).

The Museum of the Confederacy has been built in the heart of Richmond next door to the house occupied by Jefferson Davis when he was President of the Confederacy.  We had a fascinating tour of the house lead by a retired African American sergeant major in the Marines.  Notwithstanding Davis’ views on slavery, the guide admired Davis and his many accomplishments.

The really disappointing aspect was that the University of Virginia was permitted by the Richmond City Council to build a hospital facility which now totally encloses the Davis “White House”. 

The Museum of the Confederacy was excellent (as most American museums are) and inspired us to take a detour to visit Lynchburg, Appomatox, Charlotteville and Fredericksburg.  Appomatox was the site where General Robert E Lee surrendered his Army of Virginia to General Ulysses S Grant thereby effectively ending the Civil War (the war dribbled on for some additional months as the other Confederate military commanders continued to make last ditch stands.)

We went to Monticello Plantation, the home of Thomas Jefferson and saw both sides of the man; the polyglot genius (author of the Declaration of Independence) and ruthless slave owner.

From Fredericksburg we travelled to Washington.  As it was our second visit we did not go mad looking at monuments and museums.  We did get to the Library of Congress which we had missed last time and the very disappointing Native American Museum.

We decided to bypass Philadelphia and check out Atlantic City.  What a seedy run down place it has become!  Online gambling and the legalisation of gambling in so many states as knocked the stuffing out of Atlantic City.  The Hilton and Revel casino hotel complexes on the Boardwalk are completely shut and the other casinos such as The Trump Taj Mahal are shabby and dilapidated.  There is nothing left on the Boardwalk that harks back to its glory days – just junky tourist shops selling crappy T-shirts and tchotchkes. The best bit was walking along the very nice white sand beach although a young girl almost drowned in the surf – thankfully she was rescued.

Holyoke Broadband Report published (co-author)

Press Release