At the mercy of randoms? I'm not sure. With a valuation this high, marketing is a piece of cake. Also, once widespread adoption has been maintained, the network is taken hostage and/or is too unwilling to jump boat (see: Facebook with the greater mid-older generation). One shouldn't make the decision, in my opinion, to refrain from investing in certain stocks-type however fragile, especially because of the volatile nature of it that enables it to surprise the market. Also, insider information is valuable in the right hands and is always a possibility.
That's an alarming threat, but I doubt all (read: any) nations would be able to agree not to burn their fossil fuels. Those sea animals are facing grim future, and no human will care until the tuna fish cans' prices inflate as a result of extinction.
That's really interesting... the intricate substance transformations that allow for great cooking skills. Will keep note to use that trick sometime.
Seems like this method would work for most fatty meat pieces in a similar fashion. Gotta ask though, does the fat visibly separate from the water or does it all just blend together to produce a mixture of freshly liquidated fat and plain water?
"Sensible magic" is human-dependant and is subject to change with our perception of the applied sciences in our lives. Superman can fly? humans can also fly with the right tools. Superman can hear things from miles away? humans can also hear things from miles away. Superman can set matter ablaze by eminating x-rays from his eye blobs? at some point we might all have our own little x-ray gadget. I find your point about fiction not often explaining the mechanics involved in its plot to be mostly valid, however -- and linking it back to our reality -- when new technology arrives to the end consumers it is very seldom described minutely and would tend to go as far as to say "It uses X technology" and be done with it. There is disconnection between the processes of technology advancements and the crowd, with probably the patent industry to be blamed for it. We probably could, but the extent of how interesting it would end up be is also a crucial selling point in books and films. I only know about a handful of documentary films that have been able to capture my attention with their description of the workings of reality impacting, so-called "magical" innovations (again, related to our time in the history and the way we define magic). Revolution OS, Linux/Software history documentary film Into the Future 01 - Transport, describes battery and electric charging ideas Just off the top of my head. And though I present a small data point of published media describing technology, I find myself able to logically extrapolate the (low) popularity of these as opposed to some other, non-descriptive films showcasing magic without presenting the mechanics behind it or why it should logically work (Many cartoons in popular media, and big-budget movies in the cinema). Can we describe some sort of immensely-powerful reality warping that would still make sense to us who don't live in the fictional world?
This post takes me back a few years into my late teens. As a citizen of the digital age I had, since I can consciously remember myself, been always enamored with the vast, intricate revelations that had been consistently crawling their way into my personal browser. This gave me the perception that anybody can show the world his own passion. Though the right definition of passion I would not be exposed to until much later on in my life, I believe this perception had not been incorrect. It's just that the more people exposed to the internet as we know it, the more the actors of the economy invest in ways to centralize their approved communication channels (websites they control) and it's becoming harder for internet users unfamiliar with its scattered origin to reveal the hidden gems that made the internet so much more than just news aggregators, image boards, online commerce and porn. However, I find some aspects of this mature and saturated internet to be remarkably awesome, namely:
The Open-Source Software movement, as well as the Free Software movement are both thriving with an all-time-high-and-rising global popularity and products.
More and more developers are able to spawn their ideas into life with the help of a dedicated community from all around the world. But after birth, each idea has to stand on its own and have time and effort invested in it since this is a constantly changing world full of new ideas and therefore, is a survival-of-the-fittest style reality.
Through my current perspective this is a lot like the incorporated world where businesses open and close each day and struggle is inevitable and requires vigilant dedication. Excuse me if I'm drifting too far away but my take from my own revelations that have to do with this post is that it's extremely hard to succeed on your own when you compete against the entire mature internet and the only things that can still sometimes work at drawing attention to an individual on the internet is innovation and consistency. Blog content producer? you gotta make sure your content is top-notch and that your targeted audience knows about your existence. Software developer? you gotta show that your product/tool/service/etc. is truly useful for what it's meant to do and other people would find it valuable. Music artist? you have to make something truly unique and hope to reach ears of people who appreciate it. It's tough, but that's how it has to be and not everybody can eat the creamy pie that is mainstream internet value appreciation.