I also think that right now we're in a phase of growth, without financial speculation.
Then you're aren't paying close enough attention to who is driving this 'illusion' of growth. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase are underwriters for the FB IPO (and likely its farce of a valuation) who all have access to 0% interest loans for their respective speculative practices. And now with the Zynga illegal early sell-off ordeal going unabated its really setting the tone for what you can expect from it, too.
Like I said, its either you aren't paying close enough attention or you simply do not know what financial speculation is... much less the obvious machinations (HFT) they use to create them in the first place.
In summary fiat (the illusion of money) and its very nature introduces a layer of indirection [sic] into the system which can mean that growth is slow even when technological conditions promote in some sectors.
Corrected that for you, the consequences of what you have described can only come as a consequence of abandoning the principle of Money in exchange of its illusion (fiat currencies) which enable massive credit expansions.
Also the term you are looking for is malinvestment to describe this practice in a market--it isn't 'indirection' to those who VASTLY profit from it. Think about the large asset and wealth confiscation that has taken place as a result of the mortgage crisis in the US and EU.
I was intrigued when I read the title, I was wishing that some progress was being made to bring a low-cost competitor to the bigwig e-merchants (like paypal), one incorporating bitcoin, was being brought into the mainstream. But after reading this:
Under the plan, game makers will offer their users a chance to voluntarily install a program that makes their idle computing resources available for use by CoinLab, in exchange for in-game virtual goods and points.
I'm disappointed that their collective focus is on something so... pointless. More so when you take into account that the limited capital for such a possibility in the Market has been so misused for another comp-share scheme. This, at the very least, could have gone FAR to introduce competing currencies into the masses' psyche.
This could have vastly exceeded their projects potential profits if they truly considered the demographics that comprise the so-called 'Black/Grey' Market(s) money--who frankly don't give a damn about branding--who are in need of just that; instead they have settled/targeted on:
Vessenes estimates that the average gamer will generate 50 cents to $2 per day for the game companies by making that computing power available, working out to more than $15 per gamer per month.
Agreed, to an extent. But I believe this is more a cultural deviation rather than a spontaneous cognitive divergence as alluded to in the abstract.
When I speak in Japanese (as a non-Japanese and non-native speaker) I tend to exercise the cultural custom of 'kukiyomi' when in the presence of certain circles; this was instilled socially as I grew up around the Japanese culture via hobbies, then friends and external relationships. Its something that as a Westerner, of Western European ethnicity, I was not exposed to at home or any other cultural avenues so I tend to omit doing so when speaking in my native tongue(s) as my family and friends can attest.
Oh they do, just not in the way that's beneficial to mankind, case in point: FDA and Monsanto, The ever-present revolving door between political office and Corporate boardrooms in practice.
They in turn position themselves to approve and legally hold patent seeds in order to monopolize agriculture and acquisition the competition by land seizures.
You can keep your vile 'meat,' I won't consume it for the same reasons I wouldn't eat a skin graft--which is essentially what this is. (Simplified overview: isolated tissue grown in the presence of certain growth factors and culture medium.)
For all of you thinking this is a 'Greener' or a 'less morally taxing' way to consume meat think again; many cultures used in bio-tech contain animal byproducts like blood to maintain and first create viable cell cultures/libraries which require extensive man-hours and expensive equipment that require constant energy use.
Found in the comment section; SiriusCybernetics:
As someone who has done a great deal of tissue culture in the past, I would say even if the finite number of replications problem is solved (you could just grow HeLa cells - cancer cells that divide indefinitely) a much bigger problem is cost. Most mammalian cells are grown in media using FBS, Fetal Bovine Serum, which is around U.S. $1,000/liter. Non-serum media is only about U.S. $400/liter. Feed the cells twice daily with that until you have your 3,000 pellets of cells and you will have one hell of an expensive miniature steak on your plate, $10,000+/pound before labor and processing. It can be done, but nature does it so much better. And yes, Fetal Bovine Serum is what it sounds like, serum squashed out of cattle fetuses. How that works out as better for the animal world escapes me somehow.
Private livestock husbandry, by contrast, is exponentially greater at achieving both aims as it coincides and is regulated by a living and breathing ecosystem found in Nature. The same goes for animal cloning, its far beyond my mind to find reason in the practice other than to create a greater financial black hole (often tax funded) and call it 'progress.'
How many will be swept by nationalist fervor when the NIH successfully fund the creation of the first batch of 'Dolly Steaks'?
Legalese is the underlying factor in both, while SOPA clearly denoted its intention to target the biggest players in so called IP battles clear, CISPA still tries to achieve the same (State sponsored and enforced Corporate protectionism) using less defined, broad and wide spread powers.
Consider that protest has now been classified as a low level form of 'terrorism' according to the DHS. How easy will it become for someone who is sharing a leaked rip of the next upcoming 'blockbuster' a cyber criminal? (It will likely be an issue raised by all the proponents of SOPA and PIPA whose IP/Hollywood lobbyists are wine-dining as we speak.)
You make the deadly assumption that they intend to enforce the letter of the Law as its 'clearly defined,' and nothing more. You also clearly neglect just how tightly bound Corporate and State alliances are, I would argue they are one in the same, you do realize that insider trading is legal for Congress/Senate members, right?
Cost risk benefit... potential losses are made on the initial release but greater media attention and PR is placed upon the product itself to in turn increase the demand for future sales. In lieu of 'not having an Apple Store but wanting to generate significant buzz' solution.
Its a longer term-view (hampered mainly by stifling manufacturing) and a risky one considering the fragility of this industry where the 'faster gun' is made not in years in a factory but in months by enthusiasts/developers in their spare time, But who knows maybe their strategy only intended for this PR stunt to occur enough times to build up enough interest and then miraculously begin to take orders on a 'newly-arrived' supply.
I might buy one second-hand... if it comes up locally. I don't need a media center, but it was geared to be a stepping stone for programming, right?
Furthermore, by the time its known to be a bubble by the masses its already too late. Competition becomes greater, risk rises exponentially.
This tech boom will harshly coincide with the ongoing currency crisis' around the World. It has certainly been one to watch. In my view this has the potential to be a real 1930's boom-bust cycle given how many industries are tied to the business model.
If you're really evil... er 'smart' you'll rake up the assets of the failures during the bust cycle at fire sale prices. That of course means having made better decision than others during said mania, which in my view is away from the tech boom altogether--ideally a diverse position in which you still supply a side of the industry. Or at the very least one in which you let others take the risks or facilitate a way out of the boom before the bust.
I really wish hackers, tech people would dedicate more resources and time on projects like TOR rather than trying find a way to shave off a few milliseconds to find a solution to refreshing a twitter feed which discusses the details of what donuts someone 'famous' decided not to have this morning and the subsequent rant of said decision.
I only wish I possessed the time, ability and knowledge to do it myself.
I doubt its even that, and I question the due diligence of the People at said Hedge Fund as Groupon has been using shadow banking and nefarious accounting to hide massive loses since its inception.
There is no accurate way to place a (positive) estimate/valuation of the operation or its profitability, personally I doubt they even have operating capital since it took that dive earlier this month. It looked to me like the tail end of a significant short selling position finally came to fruition by insiders who got in early.
Your nose doesn't lie. MU was supposed to have one of the biggest IPOs before it was raided. And given that the minds that conspire to 'make the Market' are fixated on this new tech bubble its quite likely that this isn't over.
That said, I'm currently involved in a Kickstarter project in Design and it occurred to me that since the tech-side seems to draw in the most attention/funding these days--not true when I opened my project/account--, isn't confining this platform to the US counter-productive? Thus stagnating the progress of current or potentially new viable innovations.
If anyone is interested I'm seriously considering open to accepting applications for potential tech projects within Europe, S. America and Asia that want but are unable to use KS, provided they meet certain criteria, for a nominal fee in an opportunity to advance this avenue before Grinda and his ilk clone it throughout the World. Its my free Market solution to ensure that Kickstarter remains the crowd sourcing platform of choice.
If you know anyone in need of such a service tell them to post their email/link here and we can get in touch to get the ball rolling. No promises made, of course, but I think its a short-term solution to the current geographical issue.
Perhaps in detail, but they both constitute classic Ponzi schemes. Convoluted valuation(s)/promise of returns only to find yourself trapped with a worthless 'investment' when the core of the operating capital has been pilfered by its biggest players.
Goldman Sachs is the underwriter (and reason enough to scoff its initial valuation and then spike in price) of the IPO in question, hence the pump and dump; JP Morgan was taking a billion in fees for services rendered while Madoff laundered his money there.
I think the term you're looking for is Ponzi scheme. Much like Bernie Made-off... err Madoff operated. Or perhaps more recently: Groupon. A classic pump and dump, take a look at the charts.
Your 'train analogy' is merely painting a glib picture of what is clearly insider trading by the likes of Goldman Sachs in a different, albeit obvious, guise.
Where are you from? I've been thinking about setting up a third-party service to do just that in fact, but given my involvement in other investments the liability issue is concerning--mainly fraud and tax. I would seriously consider running through the numbers and viability of certain projects if I was made an executive partner and held a permanent accountant/consultant position for the life of the project and negotiate the terms and fees for my service accordingly.
But then I guess the allure of 'staying indie' that KS affords goes out the window, doesn't?
Tell you what, pitch the idea on HN update this thread with the links and gauge the Market; lets keep in touch. (I have an account and an open non-tech project on KS in the popular section under Design as we speak.)
No promises made, of course, and the matter is strictly discretionary on my end (I'm not going to even consider working with the relative of an alleged lost Nigerian monarch); but I'm intrigued enough to see what an idea I had in the back of mind may look like in practice.
Just as a side note: there are also further rules on KS that you aren't made aware of until you submit your project and it has been approved for the second time prior to launching. I could discuss them with you if you do the leg work mentioned above.
Then you're aren't paying close enough attention to who is driving this 'illusion' of growth. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase are underwriters for the FB IPO (and likely its farce of a valuation) who all have access to 0% interest loans for their respective speculative practices. And now with the Zynga illegal early sell-off ordeal going unabated its really setting the tone for what you can expect from it, too.
Like I said, its either you aren't paying close enough attention or you simply do not know what financial speculation is... much less the obvious machinations (HFT) they use to create them in the first place.
In summary fiat (the illusion of money) and its very nature introduces a layer of indirection [sic] into the system which can mean that growth is slow even when technological conditions promote in some sectors.
Corrected that for you, the consequences of what you have described can only come as a consequence of abandoning the principle of Money in exchange of its illusion (fiat currencies) which enable massive credit expansions.
Also the term you are looking for is malinvestment to describe this practice in a market--it isn't 'indirection' to those who VASTLY profit from it. Think about the large asset and wealth confiscation that has taken place as a result of the mortgage crisis in the US and EU.
It's different this time.
Ha! It always is.