Anything as a Service

Anything as a Service – A Cure for Consumerism

Economy, Futurology,

We live in the age of hyper-consumerism. Companies are desperate to convert as much raw material as possible into anything that can be purchased. The machine has been perfected to the point where even leftover byproducts from any production cycle can be fed back into another production line to manufacture something somebody would buy. Sometimes this includes using unhealthy materials, both for us and for the environment. But it doesn’t matter as long as it turns a profit. The machine has to keep producing something, anything, just please, buy it. This is wrecking our ecosystem and is woefully unsustainable.

Awareness regarding the bleak future we might be creating for ourselves after drowning our planet in toxic trash is increasing. However, most people still buy products built to last a very short time because there are no alternatives. And even when certain products could last longer, companies have gotten very good at fooling their followers that fashion doesn’t apply only to clothes, but to everything else as well. Now-a-days, many people willingly throw away perfectly operational devices just to jump on the latest model.

But a new economic model is becoming increasingly popular – the monthly payment for a certain service, sometimes metered based on how much a person has used the service. At the moment, this is particularly successful in the digital space (media streaming, software, data and bandwidth, games). Let’s see what a generalized version of this system could mean to our economy and ecosystem in the coming decades. I call it “anything as a service”. The term is already used for software, but in this case, it is truly anything.

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The Spectre of Meltdown

The Spectre of Meltdown

Technology, ,

Security vulnerabilities are a dime a dozen now-a-days. But, when a couple of months ago we learned about Spectre and Meltdown, it finally started to dawn on people just how insecure all our “high tech” really is. We’re using hole-ridden, bug-infested products.

I don’t know if the constant deluge of security exploits has resulted from the challenges that arise from working with highly complex technology or is caused by some sort of surveillance conspiracy. What’s certain is that this shows just how weak our technology is and how easily it can be overcome.

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U2 - Songs Of Innocence

U2 – The Troubles (feat. Lykke Li)

Weekly Song

It’s a band that needs no introduction. U2 has written history. So instead of going with one of their classics, I’ve chosen to feature one of their newer songs. I have a soft spot for duets and this one is pretty damn sweet as far as duets go.

Accompanied by soft instrumentals, Lykke and Bono’s voices grow closer and closer together, developing into a intricate and passionate performance. They also have some witty lyrics to go through. All the while, the orchestra shines from under the percussion and sparse use of guitar. It’s what I’ll call “a beautiful moving-on song”.

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Homo Sapiens Neanderthal

Neanderthals Were More Alike Us Than We Think

Science,

During the past year we’ve learned a lot about our closest primate relatives, the Neanderthals. For example we discovered the fact that they had long childhoods, which is an indicator of intelligence (in the sense that childhood is time allowed for the brain to mature). We also learned about their social habits, most interestingly the fact that they seemed to have intimate, consensual relationships with members of Homo Sapiens (the two species co-existed on Earth for a long period of time).

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Mosh - Monarchy

Mosh – McQueen

Weekly Song,

What a delicious, murderous beat(ing) this song delivers. It plows right through from start to finish. There isn’t much that can resist the tenacity of the buzz-saw synths that leap at us from all sides.

Perhaps if I hadn’t seen the video for the song I wouldn’t have described it as “murderous”. The twisted creation is inspired by an urban legend about “The Cleaner”, a guy who is called to dispose of evidence. It’s a video I can’t really recommend watching.

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The Worship Of Mammon

The Survival Instinct and the Rules of the Human Game

Society, , ,

Irrespective of us having free will or not, at least a part of our mind is taking decisions based on a very deeply rooted program. That program is our instinct and, like for all other species, its job is to ensure our survival. Instinct is both necessary and ruthless.

In the same time, we’re living in a society that reaches for higher moral grounds through the evolution of ethics and empathy. Our need for moral progress is probably also an evolutionary trait, ensuring social progress, which is a necessity of our survival as a species. We have gotten this far not only because we are skilled individuals, but also because we’ve found ways to work together through the direst of circumstances. However, the evolution of our society is sometimes in conflict with the instinct of the individual.

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Inside the Romanian Sex-Cam Industry

Inside the Romanian Sex-Cam Industry

Society,

After the recent revelations about the way pornography influences our society, here’s another sobering piece, this time about the sex-cam industry, the fastest-growing sector of the global pornography business. In Romania, thousands of women work as “cam-girls” from studios and from home.

Let me be clear: it’s not shameful to have a job, and this job is less demeaning to women compared to other jobs in the pornographic industry. But from an ethical perspective, it’s a highly debatable topic. Often, it’s one step away from abuse and in general it tip-toes on the edge of the knife between legal and social inequality.

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