jterce

Especially considering the author, that is a wonderfully heartwarming story.

It does depend on the type of business--for most it seems to make more sense to just buy.

But the example given--Photoshop--retails for $699. So that's more like 20 months to break even.

Not rare at all.

Seems more likely. If I'm happy I think I'm less likely to be googling happiness.

Absolutely. The effect is the same, the former is just a bit more efficient.

Sure, but I wonder who you think will pay for these "social services" after we retire if not our kids.

Not at all. The analogy was completed with the reference to cooking at the end. If you are not willing to cook for yourself and have no one to cook for you, you cannot avoid going to a restaurant. You'll die of starvation! If, however, you are willing to cook for yourself, as with work, your options are nearly limitless.

A couple of issues...

First, your CEO, it's true, did not likely put financial risk on the line to take the position obtained. But the CEO's 40x salary was put in place by the elected representatives of those who did put financial risk on the line--stockholders. If they see that salary as a good investment based on their risk why should they not be allowed to make that investment?

Secondly, your point on coercion. Yes, you can certainly argue that the engineer was "forced" at some level to take a job, and thus some salary. But in a world living with people you will never be free of all influences or coercion. Similarly if a company wants to build a product it is "forced" to hire employees and thus reach an agreement on salary. This too, by your line of reasoning, is a form of coercion.

Right, but if that trust was valid then you could likewise count on them not allowing an employer, or any third party.

Totally geeking out on this at the moment. This is absolutely awesome!! The only thing I would say is that you might consider adding an additional simple interface (like a mobile interface) for the less savy viewer. I think the ability to visualize the forecast is really powerful, I'm just picturing my mom looking at this and seeing too many options.

Options are great for us data geeks, but a very simple city forecast page that harnessed your forecast visualization technique could be great for a much wider audience as well.

I think I'm glad we're still in the stone ages. I would break that list up into two distinct categories, the first of which I would define as positive (beautiful?) aspects of being human.

Being Human, positive

---------------------

I age.

I sleep.

I will die.

I walk places.

I educate my child.

I think for my computer.

I put effort into exercise.

I make purchase decisions.

I make investment decisions.

I meet people by happenstance.

I don’t always know when people are lying.

=====================

Problems / Annoyances, negative (fix these)

---------------------

I typed this post.

I waste resources.

I still drive my car.

I plug my computer in.

I know a foreign language.

I know people with diseases.

I contemplate my family’s safety.

I traveled to universities and work.

I carry things - keys, cash and cards.

I eat bad food because it tastes better.

I need to get my medical reports "faxed".

I know people with mental health problems.

I sit for 6 hours on a flight and write posts like this.

I breathe polluted air, drink impure water and eat contaminated food.

I just want to add another voice to this. Really, reading this, you sound very much like my parents. I'm a 21-year-old home school and now college alumnus and I've been thinking some of these same things.

It's not that my parents gave completely free reign, it just that rather than actively directing everything, they backed off somewhat and left a lot of direction up to me. It's not that there weren't rules, it's just that the rules were reasonable and reasonably explained. Of course there were disagreements and children being childish, but there was also respect of their authority, which I think is something horribly lacking in kids today.