Mechanization vs Employment

To kind of piggy-back off of Tom's post wrt Amazon's mechanization of their processes, here is an interesting little video and explanation showing how the Amazon warehouses work.  This is an example of why the unemployment rate has stayed so stubbornly high.  Humans are being phased out of just about anything that involves physical movement and much that doesn't.  I see in my industry that the diy tax return preparation software is getting smarter and more user friendly every year. 

I always thought that if I did have to retire I would take my guitar and find a bar to play in every night and play for tips. Oh No!!!!  Computers do that too.  They even write their own songs.  AND they take requests.

Maybe I could become a plumber.  I had one out yesterday to replace the fill valve and flapper on two toilets and he charged me $120 in labor.  Which reminds me of the old joke where the lawyer has a plumber come out and do some work and when the plumber hands the lawyer his bill the lawyer gasps and says "I'm a lawyer and I don't make this much."  The plumber says "yeah, I didn't make that much when I was a lawyer either."  rim shot!

http://www.chonday.com/Videos/how-the-amazon-warehouse-works

Are Machines Better Than You?

This is exciting and scary.  Of course every science fiction novel ever tells us that this way leads to disaster.  But, what the heck, let's try it anyway.  Let's let machines make our decisions for us since they do it so much better.  What could go wrong?

http://www.fastcocreate.com/1682125/in-a-predictive-algorithmic-world-are-machines-better-than-you

website property

So Paypal and mastercard and others shut off wikileaks (good I think) and now all sorts of folks are attacking their sites because of that.

1. The government leaned on pp and mc to do that, right?

2. A website is something that is owned and is therefore property, right?
Is it not against the law to "attack" someone's website?

3 If not. Shouldn't it be?