should be called "rain". Why make up a name when we have a perfectly good one in wide use?

Or an all-terrain construction vehicle that can float:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I've been to camping events where insufficiently supported shade tarps become impromptu ponds. Just prop up the edges with poles and they become rain collectors.

Disney is now using "Steamboat Willie" as a trademark, rather than a copyrighted cartoon. He appears in the studio intro in recent Disney films. Trademarks never expire as long as they are in use.

Big box stores killed off the mom and pop places because they were open more hours. Online shopping further improved availability.

Some items, like fresh food and clothing, are still better shopped for in person. In my case I prefer to buy tools in person because there is a big difference between quality and junk tools that is hard to tell on a screen.

Yes, I still eat lunch, but at my desk in my home office. In my previous job I had to go to the company cafeteria or, more often, out to lunch because the cafeteria food was mediocre. So I can do one-hand tasks like reading email while eating at my desk.

Including getting ready for work and commuting time, my work effort was more like 10 hours per workday. After accounting for time and money wasted on unnecessary things, my productivity went way up. The economy also benefited from reduced wear and tear of my vehicles. Auto expenses could then be directed to other parts of the economy, generally improving efficiency.

Technically, farm tractors were "mechanization", the replacement of muscles with machines for power. Humans were still needed for "control", deciding how the farm equipment gets used.

"Smart tools" are ones that use automation, robotics, software and AI. They replace the human control function at some level. When Windows and other software do an auto-update without your involvement, that human update task has been replaced.

Eventually humans will be limited to managers/overseers - only giving orders and deciding what needs to be done, but not directly controlling tools and machines to get things done.

Look up the Atlanta Beltline. They are building a strip of park around the city on old railroad rights of way. The project is also buying up blighted property nearby and offering it to developers with strings attached as far as density, walkability, etc. People want to live near the amenities, so it is working out well.

I expect urban centers will adapt over time to add more residential and less office. For example, hotels can convert single rooms to suites and rent them out long-term. Overhead would drop as they don't need as much hotel staff to clean rooms every day.

Office to residential conversions are harder because the plumbing is laid out differently, and they may not have enough parking for residents.

In Atlanta we are already seeing more mixed-use development. That puts residential, office, and retail on the same land parcel, typically with green space and often near transit hubs.

Dead property will eventually get torn down and repurposed. The dead mall a town over from me was converted to warehouses and a film/TV studio. Other dead/dying malls are being converted to the mixed-use I mentioned.

Corporations can be non-profits. Set rent equal to out-of-pocket expenses (mortgage interest, property taxes, etc.) but require residents to buy equity shares equal to the monthly build-up of property equity.

My power company offers community solar. That is where you lease a block of panels are in a large solar farm, and get credited whatever they produce against the kWh on your residential meter. This works for tenants, and home-owners whose house faces the wrong way or is shaded by trees. It is also a month-to-month lease, and there is no setup fee.

The real world doesn't care what you believe. Grab a live electrical wire and you will die. The people who understand reality will have an advantage over those who don't. I made good money off of Bitcoin in the early days because it was obviously a speculative bubble like so many before (dotcoms, tulips, etc.). That is orthogonal to the value of the underlying asset. There was a real estate bubble and crash in the 2000's, but real estate still has value.

But people are prone to herd behavior and sometimes bid stuff up way above (or below) its value. I sold out of Bitcoin completely by early 2018 and moved on to other things.

It had the benefit of 500 years of progress over the older book.

Q-Cells is building a 6GW/year supply chain in the US state of Georgia. Everything from raw silicon to finished panels. A few other panel factories are getting built, and First Solar has had them in the US for a number of years. The US will be mostly self-sufficient in panel production in 2-3 years.