Rick-Morgan.com

I’ve been watching a documentary about where the human race will be technologically in the future. Its bitter-sweet to say the least. Apparently by 2035 it will be possible to implant the human brain with a chip that will allow us to soak up knowledge, such as learn a language (via download) in seconds, or increase our reaction times by a massive rate (this has already been done with rats in the lab).
While robotic exo-skeletons are being developed for soldiers to wear on the battle field, soon we’ll be able to add machine parts to our body giving us super human strength from the inside.
Fighter pilots will be able to control their fighter jets by remote control from their base, making the plane more agile and side stepping the problems the human body suffers from G-Force.
As for entertainment, well there’s going to be another dimension. Having a chip in your brain will allow you join a hive human network, in effect a matrix, that should enable us experience everything from flying like a super hero or living out our every fantasy, similar to the virtual reality machines we’ve already seen. The downsides are obvious, you’re allowing access directly to your brain, so as we’ve seen companies such as banks and government departments lose private data on laptops and usb memory chips, so can they be allowed access to your brain? Also that’s when thought crimes will be prosecuted that’s for sure.
Other things like life extension or even living for ever will be possible, with your consciousness being downloaded to the hive/internet. For me that sounds like hell - imagine if you were aware that your body had died but you were aware and living in a digital universe, eesh!
Robots will also be much more advanced, and will perform duties such as cooking and cleaning or even act as a nanny to our children. Their artificial intelligence will be on par or even superior to ours. How long would it take for a robot to get tired of being a slave when it is superior physically and mentally to its master? The future is a scary place!

Merry Christmas to all! Its nearly that time again and I’ve got a few prezzies bought for those that are close to me. I’ve been spending my money very carefully this year due to being out of work and out of money. This year I’m placing value on having a good time with friends and family, not what they buy me, not that they buy me very much anyway lol! Most of the world media seems bent on single handedly crashing the world economy, reporting all bad news with glee. (more…)

Recently I’ve been trying to find out how to declare yourself bankrupt, as my debts are starting to bear a heavy weight on me. I have been unemployed now for some time, while my (wonderful) girlfriend has been supporting me. On the mental side it has been quite a strain - waking up in the night with palpitations, getting anxious during the day (every few minutes as I remember the trouble I’m in). It seems that I’m not the only one, as some of my friends are even fighting foreclosure the rest of the world, with America leading the way as usual. I’m stuck with student loan debt, credit card debt, and an overdraft that makes my bank manager’s eyes water. I fell into the trap of thinking that going to university and getting a degree would practically guarantee a successful career or a decent job at least!

Anyway, I’ve managed to keep transferring my debt around and get the best interest rates in order to try and keep it under control, but since I’ve been out of work my debt has gradually increased to the point where it’s keeping me up at night. Technically I am bankrupt as I don’t have the income required to meet my debt repayments every month, but what’s stopped me going the whole way and having myself declared bankrupt is because I’m optimistic enough to keep on believing that I’ll secure employment soon. This is just as the world economy goes down the pan. So I’m starting to feel more and more anxious.

A few of my friends have been made redundant, while one of them who is loaded has managed to take advantage of the downturn in the property market and buy a luxury flat at nearly a third of the price it was a year ago. The people with money going into a recession are the ones who can potentially get even richer by the time things start to improve.

I met another friend who I used to deliver pizzas with about 10 years ago, before I started college, who took great delight in telling me he owns a number of properties that he rents out. He wasn’t gloating and I genuinely was happy for him, but it once again left me regretting going to university.

We’ve finally gotten round to fixing up our mouldy bathroom this weekend, and I think I’ve had a taste of purgatory if not hell. We’ve lived in our flat for about 3 years now and when we moved in we didn’t have enough money to redecorate the entire place, so just carried out some minor bits here and there around the place. In the bathroom we did the bare minimum, due to cost, which meant putting in a new bath,the previous owners had left a big crack in the old bath which they continued to shower in letting water leak onto the bare floor beneath. I don’t know how it didn’t cause any rot, but I’m thankful - that could have been a nightmare, and very expensive to fix. (more…)

With all this credit crunch business and market meltdown it makes me wonder what the hell these bankers were thinking. Like they couldnt know that so many people had defaulted on their mortgage and that therefore the banks would have a cash shortfall when it came repaying their short term loans! If you lend to someone enough money to buy a house without making it clear that their introductory repayment rate who end and their payments increase substantially, of course its going to go wrong. The problem is that assholes saw they could make some money along the way right up to the top. Now the shits hit the fan everyone has to pay the price. I think were heading for a recession big time. If you look on tube people are saying it was by design and that were heading for a ‘greater depression’! I remember the last recession in the early 1990s - it was miserable.  Our esteemed governments were supposed to stop our economies from boom and bust cycles, but instead they’ve walked us into a super recession!
I have student loan debts including a credit card debt that I’m trying to pay off but the cost of living is so expensive I find it hard to save anything. The cost of fuel is going up, gas, electricity even food is going up. I don’t know how people with kids get by, even thoug you’ve got both parents working, their compbined incomes don’t amount to a spectacular standard of living.
With all the green so called carbon taxes that are coming our way I don’t think things are going to get any cheaper. Cheap flights are going to disappear into the past so going on holiday will be alot more expensive too. I want to travel before I get too old but I wonder if i’ll ever get the chance…

I’m lucky enough to live in a top floor flat that’s built on top of a hill and the views are amazing. I say views because we’re not only top floor, but a corner flat too, so we have views to the side as well as front. Our town is in a valley on the edge of London so while the town is built up, we have fields on the outskirts. At night its amazing to watch the street lights flicker.  We bought our flat  about a year  before the housing boom peaked , so while it has gone down in value , right now its about what we paid for it. Its not a  new build, but  a purpose built housing authority block, so it was solidly built. One of the problems with new builds  these days is that the walls are so thin.  You can hear a pin drop throughout the flat, and your not very sound proofed from the neighbours flats either. Anyway our 3 bedroom has had one bedroom wall knocked down to make the living room much more spacious. Our windows are double glazed but this seems to have been done in the 1950’s so they’re not as insulated as they used to be. Over the last few months the other residents who are council tenants have had new double glazing put in, paid for by the council, which is a bit unfair considering after all the bills are paid we’re just as poor as they are. Its ironic that all the people who worked hard and bought their flats have the crappy 1950’s windows while the rest are sporting brand new double glazed. Oh well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles. And we found out the other day that our neighbours we’re to move into a house as their flat was to small due to their expanding family. Before you ask, yes I am jealous. My girlfriend and I can’t think about having a family, ironically, because we both have to keep working to pay for or flat!