The Middle East imports lots of modern technology from the US and EU, but the Middle East does not fully understand modern science and engineering. The Middle East loves to consume modern technology, but the Middle East has nearly zero ability and/or desire to produce modern technology. The Middle East has lots of wealth from its oil-and-gas exports, but the Middle East is dominated by superstition, especially Islamic extremism. This makes the Middle East a critically important and difficult region to work with.
Europe and the US are relatively advanced nations with very high per-capita consumption rates and very high net-total consumption rates. However, Europe and the US lack the domestic resources to satisfy their domestic consumption. Thus, Europe and the US seek international resources. Europe and the US have a long history of using global invasions, proxy rebels, and proxy regimes to obtain natural resources worldwide. Europe and the US use moral pretexts (e.g, explosive liberation, humanitarian shootout, superiority of dumb-mock-crazy elections, anti-terrorism, “moderate” terrorists, and acceptably oppressive regime vs. unbearably oppressive regime) to justify these foreign interventions.
The ruling regimes in the Middle East, Europe, and US have no peaceful and realistic solutions for the aforementioned problems. Thus, they achieve their goals by resorting to violence (e.g., terrorism, air strikes, proxy rebels, proxy regimes, outlawing dissent, and eliminating alternative political movements), religious fanaticism or moral pretexts, inefficient one-size-fits-all solutions that are mandatory, etc. The oligarchy in each nation is surrounded by security teams, legal privileges, and luxury. The oligarchy rarely suffers the consequences of their double-standards and incompetence. The regular person has to bear these consequences.
Across America, dysfunctional black communities have a major problem with gang shootouts and gun crimes that are committed by individuals. However, the Black Lives Matter protesters prefer to blame non-black people. At Florida on 2016 July 25 early morning, early reports said one to three shooters (who are black) murdered 2 people and injured over a dozen people at a nightclub that was hosting a special event for both young adults and teenagers: “LCSO identifies 3 ‘persons of interest’ in Club Blu shooting” (http://www.winknews.com/2016/07/25/lcso-identifies-3-persons-of-interest-in-club-blu-shooting/). One of the injured people is only 12 years old. The nightclub’s special event catered towards black people.
Recall that a few weeks ago on 2016 June 12, Omar Mateen (a Muslim Middle-Easterner with severe mental problems) used his legally purchased guns to murder 49 people and injure 53 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Florida basically averaged one mass shooting per month.
Is the USA really going to average one mass-shooting per month or once every two months? The Constitution gives people firearms for self-defense, not for criminal actions and/or horrific incompetence. America needs more effective regulations on who should possess firearms, who should not have guns, and tracking these very dangerous weapons. America has a very expensive and elaborate legal system, but it’s very inefficient at preventing shooting crimes and accidents. Only people with at least decent training, mental stability, and moral integrity should operate a gun. Any large population will never have zero crimes and zero accidents involving guns, but the rate of gun-related crimes and accidents could be decreased.
Corporate-government crimes are harder to stop, because they involve the ruling class and their honorary servants: “Michigan names BP lobbyist as water quality Director” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeubPH0bbmM).
Then there are the top-secret lies upon lies. According to early and unconfirmed reports: Richard Gutjahr filmed the two terrorist attacks at Nice, France and at Munich, Germany. What are the odds of that? Allegedly, his wife is an Israeli intelligence officer, and this connection was censored by Wikipedia. See here: “BREAKING! Same Israeli photo-propagandist pre-positioned in Nice AND NOW MUNICH” (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/07/22/nice-munich/). This could be a repeat of the dancing Israelis who filmed the 9/11 terrorism. In other words, the manipulation of usefully idiotic terrorists to justify the expansion of the police state and continuation of foreign interventions.
Then there is the continuous portrayal of victims as terrorists and criminals as victims: “Palestinian Authority aims to sue Britain for 1917 Balfour Declaration to remove Arabs” (https://www.rt.com/uk/353336-palestine-sues-balfour-declaration/). Someone needs to inform the Palestinians that Zionist Western legal systems boast of superior justice, but, in reality, Zionist Western legal systems are a maze of double-standards. Thus, Israeli genocide and bigotry is glamorized, but Palestinian self-defense is illegal and evil. The Saudi regime’s clumsy and brutal invasion of Yemen is good, but Saddam’s Iraqi regime was evil for invading Kuwait. Libya’s Gaddafi regime was evil for annihilating rebels, but the Ukraine junta is good for slaughtering rebels. Etc.
According to the chump drones, Donald Trump (the frumpy-hair grump) and his latest gold-digging tramp will magically fix these problems. However, Baron Humph cannot even handle an honest and public discussion: “Reddit heavily moderates Trump’s ‘Ask Me Anything’ – this is the result” (https://www.rt.com/usa/353657-donald-trump-reddit-ama/). Reddit did everything possible to protect CEO Humpty-Dumpty from any severe criticisms and major debates, even though Dumb-old Dump boasts he is the master of brutal truths. In reality, he is a gigantic welfare queen. He works with central banksters to repeatedly socialize his losses and privatize his gains. Yet, he magically believes he is a great capitalist and a magnificent creator. Trump would make a great Pharaoh, but that’s so 2,000 BC.
I wonder if Trump truly understands architecture, building engineering, and building construction. Trump seems to be a businessman, which is a euphemism for a modern-day feudal-lord, moneychangers’ representative, close buddy of the central banksters, etc. I’m guessing he is like Steve Jobs. With his insider connections to the monetary cartel, he hires other people to do the science and engineering plus the construction labor, and then he takes most of the credit and profits. That’s the essence of feudalism.
Random thoughts of the week:
Sony plans to introduce the Playstation 4.5, 4K, or Neo in late 2016. Microsoft will probably release the Xbox Scorpio sometime in 2017. The Playstation Neo is a higher performance version of the Playstation 4. The Playstation Neo should be at least 2 times better than the Playstation 4. The Xbox Scorpio is a higher performance variant of the Xbox One, and it should around 4 times better than the original. The Playstation Neo should be 100% backwards compatible with the Playstation 4, and the same goes for the Xbox consoles.
The Playstation 4 and Xbox One first debuted in 2013 November. A home game console usually lasts 5 to 7 years, and then the next generation is released. Thus, the next-generation Playstation and Xbox should debut between 2018 November 2020 November.
Why is Sony and Microsoft planning to sell upgraded models of the current consoles in the near future? Sony and Microsoft could easily sell an all new generation in late 2018. People buy home game consoles, because they have a single standard hardware, only one operating system, highly compatible games, and an affordable price. In other words, a home game console offers a convenient buying experience and a convenient user experience. Adding partial upgrades to the current generation creates a less convenient experience.
I think Sony and Microsoft strongly believe now or the near future is a good opportunity for virtual-reality goggles and televisions with 4K to 8K resolutions. As of now, virtual-reality goggles finally deliver decent resolutions and good frame rates for a person’s central vision and peripheral vision (respectively, ~60 FPS and ~90 FPS). In addition, current CPUs, GPUs, and RAM have enough performance to handle virtual-reality games and 4K-resolution games with at least decent textures, 3D shapes, virtual physics, and frame rates. As of now, 1080p resolution is the standard for televisions and PC monitors, but this standard will be replaced by 4K and 8K resolutions in the near future.
According to some industry experts, the 4K to 8K resolutions could be the final resolution for our televisions and monitors. The 4K to 8K resolutions have enough tiny details for the vast majority of people’s needs. Higher resolutions will struggle with very difficult to notice diminishing-returns.
The current and original Playstation 4 and Xbox One lack the hardware capabilities to fully support modern virtual-reality goggles and the 4K resolution. Thus, the Playstation 4 and Xbox One need partial upgrades to handle modern virtual-reality goggles and the 4K resolution. These partial upgrades are the Playstation Neo and Xbox Scorpio.
Upgrades are usually a good thing, but people buy home game consoles for a convenient experience. Frequent upgrades are inconvenient. This is why some video gamers prefer the home game consoles, and other video gamers prefer gaming PCs.
A gaming PC offers a huge variety of new hardware and software every year. Thus, shopping for gaming PC components is a complex and long process. You need to check out the plentiful options out there, and select the ones you prefer. After you buy your gaming PC components, you need to put them together. Install the power supply into the desktop tower or case. Install the CPU to the motherboard. Install the CPU heat-sink and fan. Be frugal with the thermal paste between the CPU and its heat sink. The thermal paste is suppose to replace the air-to-metal contacts and NOT the metal-to-metal contacts. Install the motherboard into the desktop tower or desktop case.
Install the RAM and video card. Then install the hard drives, optical disc drives, data and power cables, etc. After the hardware components are correctly installed, you need to install the operating system, software drivers, and other programs. You could buy a gaming PC that’s completely built for you, but that option is more expensive than a self-made gaming PC. A good gaming PC that you built usually costs around $1,200 (without the monitor), which is a lot more than a home game console. For more or less $800, you could build a decent gaming PC (without the monitor). For approximately $2,000, you could build an excellent gaming PC (without the monitor). You could spend a lot more if you want a phenomenal gaming PC with 4 top-of-the-line GPUs.
The advantage of a gaming PC is that (1) you could pick the various components that you prefer whenever you want, (2) a gaming PC has vastly more practical and entertainment functions than a home game console, (3) a gaming PC is based on the x86 chip design, thus, a gaming PC has vastly superior backwards compatibility, and (4) a good gaming PC easily outperforms a home game console. In regard to backwards compatibility, today’s gaming PC could play games from the 1990s and possibly earlier (it depends on the software modifications). A home game console focuses on the current generation of games and offers very limited backwards compatibility with games from the previous generations.
In my opinion, Sony and Microsoft should not release partially upgraded editions of the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. I’m not unreasonably biased in favor of the current Playstation and Xbox. I only play PC games, and, even then, I’m extremely picky about the games I play. I have never owned a home game console. I knew people with home game consoles, but those devices never impressed me. I’m judging home game consoles as an outsider, so my judgement could be way off.
Home game consoles could compete against gaming PCs, because the former offers a vastly more convenient experience. If home-game-console customers are required to upgrade or are tempted to upgrade their home game consoles every 1 to 4 years, then that convenience is degraded.
The Playstation 4 and Xbox One first came out in 2013 November. The Playstation Neo should be released in 2016 November or December. The Xbox Scorpio should debut in 2017. Between 2018 November to 2020 November, the Playstation 5 and Xbox Two (or whatever) could be available. This schedule basically pressures home-game-console gamers to buy a new home-game-console every 1 to 4 years. I think the large majority of home-game-console gamers would dislike this fast buying schedule. Five to six years is the sweet spot. Seven years is a bit too long. Four years is a bit too fast.
If Sony releases the Playstation Neo in late 2016 and Microsoft releases the Xbox Scorpio in 2017, then (in my opinion) both corporations should delay the Playstation 5 and Xbox Two (or whatever) until late 2020. In my opinion, Sony and Microsoft should have canceled the Playstation Neo and Xbox Scorpio, and they should release the Playstation 5 and Xbox Two (or whatever) in late 2018. The Playstation 5 and Xbox Two (or whatever) should be more or less 10 times better than the previous generation.
Anyhow, I think both Sony and Microsoft justified their decisions by stating something like customers spend lots of money on their smartphone devices and services every year, and this could mean customers will spend more money on their home game consoles every few years. Most people do enjoy getting ripped off with overpriced smartphone gadgets and overpriced smartphone services. However, the market for smartphones and tablet PCs have been slowing down a lot. The market for smartphones and tablet PCs is currently saturated.
The same could be said about the market for video gamers. I doubt there are lots of video gamers who want a completely new or partially upgraded home game console every 3 to 4 years. In addition, the smart shoppers know this fast replacement plan is a ripoff. A new and GREATLY upgraded home-game-console for every 5 to 7 years is a convenient and fabulous value. A new and PARTIALLY upgraded home-game-console every 3 to 4 years is an inferior deal for consumers, and it starts entering the territory of gaming PCs.
I think the Playstation Neo and Xbox Scorpio will gradually replace the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, because video gamers favor better technology, but home-game-console gamers will have mixed feelings about this fast replacement schedule. In the long run, this fast replacement schedule might convince a large minority of home-game-console gamers to convert into the Master Race of PC gamers.