Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

AI Rapidly Replacing Labor – Workers

Artificial intelligence is already taking jobs from human workers, but according to renowned computer scientist Geoffrey Hinton, the real disruption may only be getting started. In a weekend interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Hinton predicted that AI systems will make significant leaps in 2026, gaining capabilities that could allow them to replace an even […]

Just Learn to Code

Sometimes, even a seasonally-adjusted picture from FRED is worth a thousand words. In three years–three good economic years–the number of Software Developer jobs listed on Indeed has fallen just over 70%. If there were ten jobs listed three years ago, there are almost three listed now. Note that most of the drop was before all […]

Our relationship of work, technology and life

I stumbled upon this article riding home yesterday. It is a pod cast called: On the Media. I catch it at times on my local NPR. Some very intriguing discussions are presented. This one is very timely considering the great dropout in the work force. Or, “resignation” as it is being called. It caught my […]

Competition from China reduced Innovation in the US

Via Tyler Cowen, here is a piece by David Autor, David Dorn, Gordon Hanson, Gary P. Pisano and Pian Shu. Cowen quoted the most important part, so let me follow his lead: The central finding of our regression analysis is that firms whose industries were exposed to a greater surge of Chinese import competition from […]

Academia.edu Coding Fail

I was going to write a post called “Barack Obama Fellates the Shark, then Wonders Why It Bites Off His Lower Half,” but decided instead to go for comedy instead of pointing out that the 2014 midterms are going to make 2010 look like the peak of LibDem activism. Academia.edu is “a place to share […]

Many types of tech, not just robots

by Mike Kimel Many types of tech – not just robots – have been affecting and are going to affect the service sector. When someone develops an inexpensive sign you can stick on top of television sets, racks of clothes, or appliances that will change itself whenever someone in the headquarters decides to change the price of the product, […]

Tech Bleg

Trying to upgrade an iMac from 10.4.11 to something in the 10.6.x range, but can’t seem to find any way to transition to 10.5.x (which is, apparently, required before 10.6.4 can be installed). Apple presents files, but no instructions. Anyone done this? Or should I just keep treating 10.4.11 as something like Windows Vista–an OS […]

The Case is Made Clearly

The only time I personally owned MSFT stock was just after Thomas Penfield Jackson’s second break-up ruling, when there might have been an upside. I sold it shortly after the Appeals Court nixed the only good idea—breakup—in favor of “let them pay a fine to be determined, and let them dawdle long enough that the […]