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Cake day: June 6th, 2023

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  • I always thought of the Culture as the Federation, but super-hardcore. In the Culture, individuals can just upload their mind to a new, undamaged body if they’re sufficiently injured that repair isn’t an option. Even just popping the head off is enough to revive someone if they don’t have a backup and can catch it in time. If the repairs will take a while, they can drop into a simulated reality to do something else while they wait. Some individuals get tired of living and decide to just end it – no backup. Others get tired of living and have themselves warehoused until something interesting happens somewhere down the line.

    But if they made Trek like that, I don’t think 80’s television audiences could have handled it. I’m not certain 21st century TV audiences are ready for that.




  • I seem to recall high end watches being a way to avoid carrying large amounts of cash across borders. Maybe even for money laundering (although that seems cumbersome).

    People can carry tens or hundreds of thousands across borders in their luggage as personal wardrobe accessories. Once they arrive at their destination, find a dealer who will buy a watch for cash and they have loads of local currency without paying bank transaction fees or getting government haircuts.

    Not that I think that’s what’s going on here, but it may be the media shining a spotlight on it for some reason.