Re: dot com 2.0

Orange Blooded [2693]

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yeah, this is the problem

Jul 1, 2022, 12:21 PM

I've been hearing the same thing. I'm familiar with metaverse stuff and am kind of into it from the perspective of a Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash pov. It's kind of a sci-fi geeks dream come true on a certain level, so I can appreciate what attracts people to the space. I've been researching it on and off since 2016, have read all the relevant white, beige, and mauve papers.

The part I don't like is what you've just pointed out, that a significant amount of our intellectual energy is disappearing into this virtual space, trapped by the ironic motivation that it wishes to escape reality. It's unfortunately very esoteric, not really relevant to the day to day survival of the vast majority of human beings. Gaming culture has sucked the life out of the brains of millions of young people, allows them to waste away in frivolity, a distraction from the misery of their daily lives that for some conspiracy of evolution, destiny and fate doesn't match with the Gianluca Vacchi's of the world.

For that reason, I don't think it is sustainable, and I worry that the vast number of people who are engaged in it are starting to deal with a severe wake up call. They need to remove the goggles and to remember what the real world values in order to put food on the table and a roof over their heads, because this metaverse stuff will quickly become a luxury in the current economic climate.

In general, a lot of loose money creates flights of fancy. Architects don't really need VR to do good design, and I can see how a lot of it is motivated by value-engineered bean counters. I'd even argue that a lot of this tech has caused architecture to kind of revisit the Brutalist movement, especially BIM. About every new building going up in the southeast has a kind of brown block, minecraft look, totally vanilla, non-inspiring, just blah. Bim Block Buildings.

Anyway, hardcore reality of recession will inject some pain where it didn't exist before, because we've put the cart way before the horse. Especially the metaverse stuff. When the money evaporates, society returns to the ground, and values the companies that make the real things that the world depends on. Not the phoney ####.

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Anyone can use the Unreal Engine for free, but if you make revenue by creating a product and selling it, you owe Epic a royalty. They make plenty of $$ from the UE.

RTP may not be LA or Tokyo, but Epic can get whoever they want and do pretty much anything they want in the AR/VR space.

I don't know Sweeney's personal political stance, but even billionaire's can easily be guilted over to the dark (dem) side. Maybe even easier than commoners because money is meaningless to them. Maybe it was Mark and not the entire Epic team that moved from Toronto, but I know Mark pretty well from way back. He is also a fairly recent investor in Virginia International Raceway (VIR) and, of course, owns a garage full of supercars.

Microsoft has significant ambitions in the "metaverse" concept. MS and Google are working towards a complete 3D model of the entire globe - all buildings and human-made structures in all cities in all countries. It will be (they think) the backbone or infrastructure on which all types of software will run. I have insider knowledge on this stuff. These technologies play into the mission of NGA - national geospatial intelligence agency - they do all the maps for DoD.

Microsoft is using its IVAS program to create underlying technologies to support both the Army program and its commercial ambitions. IVAS is another example of the dumbing down of government. A few Army generals were sold a bright shiny object that has been a vacuum sucking up Army $ and significantly underperforming. The Generals were hoping throwing billions at a problem and hiring Microsoft would just "work out." But it ain't. IVAS will never function at night like it was supposed to. Old fashioned tube-based night vision goggles significantly outperform digital cameras and IVAS. I've worn them both - plus IVAS pumps out extraneous light (revealing soldier locations) that NVGs avoid.

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-new-futuristic-ivas-goggles/

We finally have photos showing what the Army’s high-tech goggles can do

Here's what the Army wants the next generation of soldiers to see on the battlefield with its advanced, futuristic IVAS display

Climate change ripples showing

Some frens of mine visited Tahoe, Napa, and SanFran

dot com 2.0

yeah, this is the problem

I just re-read that in my best "Old Man Smithers" voice

dot com 2.0 - Over-valuation bubbles - tulip bulb frenzy

Not familiar with Dutch history, but I think Mises got it right and

Re: Not familiar with Dutch history, but I think Mises got it right and

Re: Climate change ripples showing

I forgot those guys were NC natives.***

Re: I forgot those guys were NC natives.***

Definitely going to see more of this.

Re: Definitely going to see more of this.

Companies are moving to NC because of

Re: Companies are moving to NC because of

Re: Companies are moving to NC because of

Re: Billionaire 'land grabs' = less affordable housing

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