I use google streetview a lot, basically as a virtual tourist. I even put together my own little library - museum of my favorite places:
http://xweb123-001-site1.myasp...
but I talk to people and I'm shocked at how few(actually none) people are into using google streetview to explore. Although, there are whole web sites devoted to streetview pics of hookers and people urinating in the streets. Quite a few people say its somehow wrong to see the world through streetview and you should go there in person to see it for 'real'. Problem is I only have the budget to see a fraction of the world for 'real'. 90+ percent of the people I talk to only want to do facebook and Netflix on the internet. Maybe VR will take off but it will surprise me.

I agree with printing press. I think the modern era began with the printing press. it was the basis of both the Reformation and Scientific revolution. Before the printing press, ideas circulated so slowly it was looked a more as reference material. After the printing press ideas spread so quickly that ideas became a collaborative effort, almost a conversation between people that never met.

Personally I think climate change deniers should be referred to a 'climate change gamblers'. I guess its one way to approach life but not one that I'm very comfortable with.

Problem is the dolphins won't have anything to eat. Ecosystems have a lot of interdependencies.

I looked at the store in windows 8 and most of it was boring to scary (viruses). They need to get interesting app. ms office just isn't going to do it.

yeah, because you see you have an above average income and lifestyle and figure I know better that the average so I should be able to make all the spending decisions about my money. But the instant you hit the wall, you get long term disease, become permanently disabled in auto accident, or my fear get accidently shot by one of the gun nuts, you will be singing a different tune.

Actually, I should have used the subject to High Risk + Low Success = Wasted Money

Its interesting. I just noticed when I posted the third line stating with the sorry sounds like a run on sentence from the previous. Its kind of chilling when read like that.

This sounds tough, but how much of the high risk- low success operations being done contribute to the high cost of health care in the US? maybe in some of the high risk situations somebody needs to say no. sorry, but costs are out of control and we need some realistic assessments. On a similar note, its been some years since I've heard people say ' I don't care how much it costs, if it just saved one life it was worth it.'

Personally I shrug my shoulders over it. Population of Africa is growing so fast. Plus it the perfect location to feed Asia. Long term there will be no habitat for free ranging animals. OTOH, I don't mind that people are trying to stop poaching, it would be interesting to see how it plays out and its important to change peoples ethical outlook. But long term I wouldn't put money on big animals coming out a winner.

No more H1B visas from now on. Zero, is that careful enough?

ok, so starving people today is not a compelling example that food sharing doesn't happen, how about this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06...
Hoarding Nations Drive Food Costs Ever Higher

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...
Food hoarding by governments keen to keep prices low is pushing prices higher

http://www.scmp.com/business/c...
Memories of 2008 food crisis push Asian countries to hoard grain

trust me, if there is a world wide crisis that affects agriculture, things will change very quickly. A drought in California is regional, so people wouldn't get to excited about that. Also, food sharing doesn't work all that well right now. there are lots of people starving in different places the world. I tried to look up info on max exporters, US is number 1 and has in the past 60+ years been the only one that really affects international prices. France is listed as 2, but that's because of the high value wine, cheese they sell. Brazil and Argentina are emerging big exporters of basic food crops, and they are increasing fast, the limiting factor seems to be infrastructure to get crops from fields to ships. I grew up on a farm and read quite a bit about world food supply, its not nearly as elastic as you are saying.

My impression is this would be a world wide event. Kansas and other areas would be similarly bad off, its just they didn't have good information about what was going on there in 1815. Also, I wouldn't want to depend too much on 'sharing'. I suspect a lot of countries will go into hoarding mode.
Good News:, I did some further investigating. The Tambora volcano was a 10,000 year event on the VEI, Volcanic Eruptions Index.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Eruptive Volume: 100 km3 (20 cu mi)
Type: Ultra Plinian
Frequency: 10,000 years
Example; Tambora (1815)

Every so often I like to look over this list just so see what kinds of things can go wrong with the planet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

This one has always gotten my attention, I have heard about from multiple sources.
10 deadliest volcanic eruptions --1815 eruption of Mount Tambora-- 92,000 dead -- Year Without a Summer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

It just boggles my mind that there is a real potential for global disaster like this. I believe there is only a 40-90 day world wide food surplus available. I remember in the 1970s there were some discussions on the talking head shows about it. I think it was after Vietnam and the talking heads were scraping the barrel for things to get people excited about. A few economists said it was too big of a capital expenditure on something with a speculative return. But the possibility of an event is not 0... gives me something to ponder when I don't have anything else to worry about.