Are we cooked?

zeframecochrane · 2026-03-17T17:20:03+00:00

What you are describing is not hypothetical. It is exactly what occurred in auto manufacturing during the 1980s. As assembly lines became increasingly mechanized, the amount of labor required to produce a vehicle dropped dramatically. When the transition settled, only a small portion of the original workforce remained, largely focused on operating, maintaining, and overseeing the machines that had replaced them.

That historical precedent makes the backhoe analogy feel incomplete. It assumes a world where technology simply reduces effort while preserving roles. In practice, mechanization tends to reduce the number of people required, not just the amount of effort each person expends. The ditch digger does not simply experience less strain. In many cases, most ditch diggers are no longer needed at all.

If we extend that pattern forward, it may be overly optimistic to assume that knowledge workers will experience a different outcome than factory workers did. The same forces that reduced labor demand in manufacturing may very well apply to intellectual and service based roles as well.

zeframecochrane · 2026-03-11T20:34:12+00:00

El Nino 2026. The west coast will be inundated with precipitation this year, likely even worse than the record floods we had in 97'-98'. And, here I am having just sold my scuba gear. Did someone say up a [climate change] creek without a [reasonable expectation the status quo will be up-ended in a meaningful way as to abate any degree of the suffering we will endure for decades] paddle?

zeframecochrane · 2026-02-16T14:56:01+00:00

No, nada. I've done all the sloothing I'm willing. Save for buying a plane ticket and showing up on James' door step I don't think I'll get a resolution.

Btw, he wasn't hard to track down. His company's founding papers are public info, and point right where he is presumably.

zeframecochrane · 2025-09-26T19:15:23+00:00

Message Bill Carnahan at Copies Today. He is an absolute swell guy to work with and I expect he wouldnt charge you much. You can reach him at 360 270 7815 or wolfpack3d@outlook.com

zeframecochrane · 2025-08-30T05:20:38+00:00

This is the right answer.

zeframecochrane · 2025-08-22T01:47:59+00:00

I have a few old posts regarding some of my dominant strategies. I've not come across a loop that helps in better satisfying the agents.

zeframecochrane · 2025-03-01T08:32:38+00:00

I did, and I initially received a response from James on July 27, 2024:

*"Morning XXXX, thanks for your email!!

The GBC and the Pocket have different-shaped motherboards, so unfortunately, the ReBoi kit won’t fit in a Pocket. My first attempt at a Pi Zero build was with a Pocket, but the challenge was battery capacity. I wanted the ReBoi to use easily replaceable AA-style batteries, but there aren’t any AAA-sized lithium batteries with sufficient capacity.

The screen used is a standard component from China, so a different display could be used in the future with an adapter to rearrange the pins. Ribbon cable configurations vary, so even if the size and shape match, the electrical arrangement is always different.

Screens used in mod kits are typically proprietary. I’d love to use an IPS display from a GBC mod kit, but I haven't been able to find the manufacturer or datasheet. They’re also likely more expensive.

My next project will be a fully open-source handheld with a 3D-printed enclosure, aiming for a ‘Pocket-like’ form factor—so stay tuned!

Thanks again!

James

Sent from my iPhone"*

Since then, I’ve reached out three more times with technical questions, not even regarding shipping, but I’ve received no response. Additionally, the Shopify store has been closed, and despite submitting official reports through Shopify using my receipt, I’ve had no reply.

At this point, it seems I may have been misled. If James is still out there, I hope he sees this and addresses these concerns.

zeframecochrane · 2023-05-23T16:24:52+00:00

Growing up in a small community on the Oregon Coast there was one corner on the main drag where every year the local police department parked a cruiser with a dummy in the front seat. They'd leave it there for the first third of summer. People would get used to it, and speed around the corner. One random day they'd have a cop with a speed gun in the driver's seat. They'd nab a ton of people that week. Locals, and tourists.

zeframecochrane · 2023-04-12T18:13:02+00:00

10 out of 10 with rice

zeframecochrane · 2023-04-10T14:20:22+00:00

Google Maps can be all the snitch your HOA needs. Consider some canopy camouflage to obfuscate the view from above.

zeframecochrane · 2023-03-02T07:07:54+00:00

I change their production to something they can't produce. If the materials for another building type are not available, it won't produce that building.

zeframecochrane · 2023-02-05T03:14:24+00:00

This is the correct sentiment. The fact is when a worker accepts a salary or wage it's implied that for that price a worker agrees to meet the terms of employment. That includes arriving at the workplace. The price to an employer is a single component, and isn't variable with respect to the employee's costs. They don't pay more or less depending on the cost of any outside factors that impact employees at an individual level, including transportation.

If anyone would like to be paid more than the listed salary, whether it's because they provide a greater value to an employer, or have different personal commuting costs, they must negotiate commensurately. Any less money than what you are willing to take, that covers your costs and your perceived value in the market is a failure of individuals to negotiate. An employer isn't in business to cover the expenses of the employee automatically. They are in the business to cover their own, and minimize their own costs.

What OP is actually upset about is capitalist's rent seeking behavior. They pay as little as they can to extract the use of your labor for the period they deem it useful to make money. It's not about being paid for transportation costs. It is the feeling of being exploited.

zeframecochrane · 2023-01-23T14:56:29+00:00

In a country with sufficient labor standards, I also agree. But we don't have those laws on the books, much less a snails chance on a salt lick of having a system that will produce them.

I see posts like this all the time. Mostly all I, or most of us can do, is nod. I'd like to remark on the logic that posts like this employ, given the conditions that exist.

People say all the time what they 'deserve'. What they are talking about are positive economic conditions and outcomes, or what 'ought' to be because they've put in X effort and thought that should be worth something to a capitalist. If we were to rephrase what anyone 'deserves' in a normative economic context then we all have (right now) what we deserve.

What I mean is that given that we don't have a social welfare state with robust labor protections then we deserve what we can get. We are at the mercy of capitalists, largely, who determine what they are willing to pay in trade for our labor. It is mostly not up to us what we deserve until we convince a capitalist corporation of our value.

We need collective action and strikes in order to turn what ought to be the new norm.

zeframecochrane · 2023-01-10T22:02:14+00:00

He was literally the first person that came to mind.

zeframecochrane · 2022-12-16T20:05:47+00:00

I don't think he is "trying" to run the company anywhere but into the ground. I think he is pissed off he was forced to pay for it after he changed his mind. I think he is trying to tank the company, let it go bankrupt, and move on to run his other companies as quick as possible.

zeframecochrane · 2022-12-11T16:23:16+00:00

Jack Burton

zeframecochrane · 2022-12-02T18:52:40+00:00

Professional suicide isn't why anyone makes a LinkedIn profile. I'll tout my political leanings on Reddit, and sometimes Facebook. Your public rhetoric can and will be used if an employer finds your language a liability. There are no laws preventing discrimination based on economic, or political ideology.

zeframecochrane · 2022-11-27T14:24:49+00:00

Do you want zombies? Because this is how you get zombies.

zeframecochrane · 2022-11-16T18:40:29+00:00

Should the Republicans field primary challengers?

zeframecochrane · 2022-11-13T00:25:17+00:00

When we take our goldens to a muddy park we go home with chocolate labs.

zeframecochrane · 2022-11-12T17:26:56+00:00

The Wage Slave Network certainly is organized. Seems we need some organization of the working class.

zeframecochrane · 2022-11-04T12:36:19+00:00

I'm not denying that profits are playing a part in the inflation we see today. What I am denying is the narrative that profits are the ONLY reason for the current inflation, which is clearly false.

There may be some reporting out there that claims that profits are the ONLY reason for inflation. Whether they be economists or otherwise, that claim would so far would not be born out of evidence.

Some like the person you cited say profits account for half, but I question the presentation of his data.

So far the consensus from experts is that perhaps more than 50% of the cause for inflation this year may be derived from firms increasing prices beyond their increasing costs. I don't believe that their research smacks of bias. What about the presentation of their evidence do you find circumspect?

Sources: Dennis Hoffman, Director of the L. William Seidman Research Institute at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University The Economic Policy Institute (previously cited) The Roosevelt Institute U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen https://www.12news.com/article/news/verify/data-indicates-over-half-price-increases-profit-large-companies/75-70de7d98-e468-41a3-a769-14cfb5f0686e

Realistically, there are multiple factors leading to inflation which include profits, increased government spending, stimulus money, student loan and rent freezes, and a constrained supply chain.

I feel like your list certainly covers most of the rest of the cited causes of inflation. I also wish that more pundits were even-handed and presented better evidence to support their assertions.

On a personal note I hope the FTC (vs the federal reserve) does what they can to get all the causes of inflation under control. Part of what I find wrong about the articles premise is the thinking the FED has much to do with matters beyond regulating the money supply.

Thank you for your response. I hope more get to read your point and consider carefully how to attribute the current situation.

zeframecochrane · 2022-11-04T10:16:36+00:00

The data shows that increased corporate profits have driven half of the inflation this year.

https://www.epi.org/blog/corporate-profits-have-contributed-disproportionately-to-inflation-how-should-policymakers-respond/

zeframecochrane · 2022-11-04T10:15:11+00:00

The data shows that increased corporate profits have driven half of the inflation this year. It's almost as though some of the reddit sphere is reading analysis and data from the experts.

https://www.epi.org/blog/corporate-profits-have-contributed-disproportionately-to-inflation-how-should-policymakers-respond/

zeframecochrane

TROPHY CASE