Out of Pod Experience

Politics: Obama keeps the WH in the US.

War: US gets it on with Iran and N Korea.

Technology: The cordless extension cord is invented.

Dec 21: Big ass asteroid wipes out the earth.

What are your predictions?

The usual, expect it to be an average year.

Worse than last, but better than the next.

If Obama gets elected, I don't think we'll get involved with those two. Too much debt already, we can't afford another war.

As for my predictions, I predict that I WILL **** ON A HOOKER.

What did I just type? I'm a little hazy...

War with Iran seems very likely.

I cannot accept that it is coincidence that we are completely surrounding Iran and filling our media with topics relevant to Iran. WMD's for example are a hot topic thanks to the events in Iraq. Regardless of if they were found there or not the world watches Iran's nuclear program with that in mind.

War may need a catalyst. A new president that is well liked may feel he can roll his support with him into a new war. Another mistake by Iran making the world worry. The catalyst, whatever it is, will determine the time table and it is possible it will happen as early as this year.






Advertising 'bubble' may burst.

A great deal of money is spent on advertising, but at ground level every normal person knows advertising has limits. Hearing about something new or at a reduced price may make us buy it but only because it's of interest. No matter how much money Pepsi spends at the super bowl we know about it and we like it or we don't. Online this picture worsens dramatically. Insane amounts of money are transferred between people based on terrible measurements like 'clicks' and 'views' which most certainly will not result in significantly increased sales.

Further, advertisers have terrible strategies to cope with losing money. In every example where advertising slips, it enters a downward spiral and becomes annoying and may harm sales. Ads that pop up, overlay, make noise or play videos. Billboards in stupid places. Commercials being repeated too often. Junk mail volume reaching absurdity.

It's all money going down the drain that the advertising industry lives off of like a parasite and it can't last forever.






Media companies will gain strength online in the priacy/copyrights situation.

By making deals with online distributors like iTunes and Netflix and by moving up time tables for release in those places as well as increasing prices, they have destroyed many key arguments, but have also played the game well by leaving BAD arguments standing.

First it creates a much stronger link for their financial arguments by making piracy a direct competitor for their dollar with their product in the same market.

Second "I wouldn't pirate if it was available online." was a phrase I heard very often in the past few years, but has now turned to articles arguing prices or ability to change formats instead of availability. The shortsighted view these as new or insightful arguments but it's just a symptom of losing ground and it invites the companies to take more ground using existing technology. Games for example release with CD-Keys. If movies did the same they could be accepted to redeem a movie you own on one account per digital distributor. Not that I predict exactly that will happen, but I think things are so bad with formats and availability that it'd be easy for them to make small changes and concessions to posture themselves as supportive and progressive.

The reaction to SOPA was very interesting to see. While many people understood to some degree that it was bad and that it gave companies too much control, a secondary topic showed up and did not go unnoticed by SOPA advocates. That topic was moderation of forums and content on a site a person or company operates.

People seem to feel moderation and accountability should not be theirs for their own site and that is a very weak position to hold. There is a very strong legal precedent for civil liability. Leaving your car running and unattended is not a perfect example but I choose it because it's very commonly known that criminal activity is considered -at least in part- the fault of someone who made it possible. I expect the 'free internet' to lose ground here as individuals force the hand of legislators by creating the need for more legislation as they refuse to take responsibility for anything themselves.

As more and more sites are held accountable for copyrighted works being traded or linked on them and their defenses and arguments self destruct by trying to defend pirating media and that it's not their job to stop piracy on their sites, real rights advocacy groups will start to look like villains instead of victims, or at least like they are protecting the guilty rather than the innocent and things will get very bad online starting this year.

Euro goes bye-bye? Perhaps a global systemic financial collapse? Hope not...the latter that is...

my predictions for this year are: more births than deaths, and humanity's average IQ dropping yet even more.

Nope. Or alternatively, it begs the question "why would he move it elsewhere?"

personally think and hope sopa is not passed
if it is **** will go down.

Smart phones will be able to sense eye movement to play games or look through contacts

some next gen consoles will come out or be announced

video games on the whole will continue the downward slope of fun/dollar ratio

first fusion reactor might be tested in the next few years

This could very well be the year pot becomes legal for recreation use in California.

either america will continue to wane as a super power or radical movements will put the country back on track

the price of Gold will continue to increase

dec 21 2012 solar flare knocks out electronics on earth

Tomorrow: I eat a sandwich.

I've been told I'm psychic.

oil supplies aren't that small actually.

it will be considerably harder to extract them, of course, but the oil price rise will make some of the more expensive extraction processes viable.