tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5673441815180854503.post7064529704966108235..comments2023-09-10T09:54:59.309+01:00Comments on Screwtape Files: Cold Fusion (of sorts) is ready.Louis Cypherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07670126160101669248noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5673441815180854503.post-16033293206058418532011-11-01T02:23:01.233+00:002011-11-01T02:23:01.233+00:00The thing is it's out there. A supposedly work...The thing is it's out there. A supposedly working model of Megawatt capacity. It's bought a paid for and a completely independent evaluation should be available by Christmas. If it's real then it's a game changer. If it's not then the purchaser will be suing everyone involved.<br /><br />Bad because distance is no longer a barrier to entry except for food. What's left of the manufacturing jobs in the Western world will be gone but temporarily.<br /><br />Bad because the Dollar will be worthless. It's a Dollar/ Oil world right now. What could we possibly replace it with that's acceptable and useful to all nations especially those who make stuff. Hmmmm, it's not Gold but Silver. <br /> <br />Good because oil will no longer be the most coveted commodity on the planet. Maybe Nickel will be :) "So pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile boys smile". The troops will be on the next flight home. <br /><br />Things don't happen overnight and the knock on effect will be felt at a local level as well. <br /><br />Why would I want to pay say NJ $13,000 in property taxes when I can sell my house and head off to the middle of nowhere with my generator and pay next to nothing for a house and property taxes? I could do a little farming and maybe manufacture or just trade services with my neighbors for my necessities. I no longer have to worry about infrastructure except a road for delivery. Distance is no longer an issue of expense. <br /><br />If energy costs next to nothing I can set up shop anywhere in the country and economies of scale no longer matter as much. Small towns will be the norm not the exception in America. <br /><br />Water can be pulled from greater depths so irrigation is no longer an issue. Every where on the planet is now a viable place to live. Greenhouse could be up and running all year round.<br /><br />Throw in a little replicator tech and we have Gene Roddenberry's future. We are pretty close on that as well. The big stumbling block with alchemy and replicator tech in general is power. <br />A huge amount of issues to consider but it comes down to how cheap will the power produced be? Cheap enough that you don't consider it<br />as a cost of manufacture will be a game changer. <br /><br />Why would I buy that crappy plastic toy if I can make it at home using my 3D open source printer (available now)? <br />As that tech matures why would I buy anything from China? Why do I need dollars? <br /><br />It might be back to basics but in a good way.Louis Cypherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07670126160101669248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5673441815180854503.post-78194969666209531132011-11-01T01:20:51.045+00:002011-11-01T01:20:51.045+00:00Good? It would drop the price of gold to $100/oz. ...Good? It would drop the price of gold to $100/oz. :P<br /><br />I don't expect anything to come of this, but, in a sense, ithese kinds of potential developemnts do suggest why "quantitative easing" (or the more recent buzzword, "nominal GDP targeting") is better than "austerity" at this late point in our civilizational decline. Some technological deus ex machina can save us only with the former approach, which has the merit of <i>buying time.</i> Barring that, the middle class will be decimated whatever we do at this point, since we can safely assume, I think, that there will be no real <a href="http://exiledonline.com/mobile-execution-bus-fleets-the-solution-to-americas-banker-problem/" rel="nofollow">reform</a> when the foxes are guarding the coop.GM Jenkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09133132062816684129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5673441815180854503.post-4751865126717241962011-11-01T01:14:33.873+00:002011-11-01T01:14:33.873+00:00On surface, this sounds good!! The next question i...On surface, this sounds good!! The next question is how the US dollar/military/oil complex will react to the news. At a guess, we will only see this technology in widespread use once the oil companies are done draining the planet.<br /><br />in silver news, thanks to some of the discussion recently, this weekend I've figured out how to best represent the flows of bullion from the information in the database. Still a few more data challenges to jump over first, but getting closer every week.Warren Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00631403827559820571noreply@blogger.com