Fictionary of the future

OpenBSD finally installed on my Sparc with not too much hassle. If you are considering the sparc64 platform be warned that it has spotty driver support for some of the PCI cards and be sure to repartition the boot disk even if the partition utility says it's happy with everything from the formerly solaris labelled disk. Even as a still-in-kinda-beta operating system on sparc64 it does so many things right including the pkg_add ports utility. It is also a treat to run something other than Solaris on a sun4u box for a change.

In spite of my loathing of aptly named Faith Popcorn [ mostly air and nutrient free ], I picked up a copy of Dictionary of the Future this weekend. While most of the book is filled with Junk English, marketspeak and blatant pandering to her Boomer generation there are a few words that have promise;

• Elderotica - erotica for senior citizens. [ I thought erotica was 'ageless' ]
• Abzyme - enzymes that have certain properties of antibodies.
• Genetocracy - the new genetic aristocracy; see also genetrification.
• Free-Range Children - 21st century kids who are raised in the spirit of an earlier era. [ I have no idea what in the hell she means but it's making me hungry :) ]
• Fight Chat - family counselors will soon discover the internet as marriage therapy for feuding couples and have them fight via IM or IRC. [ Yeah, if you can't communicate in person the internet via IRC will make it MUCH better! The first rule of about Fight Chat is that we don't talk about Fight Chat! ]
• National Parent Permits - A movement will emerge to assure [sic] that parents are prepared, educated and capable of bringing up healthy and productive children. Major manufacturers and service providers will give discounts and special benefits to those with permits. [ Not a bad idea but I suspect she's never been in a room full of parents and mentioned this idea...she's still alive. ]
• Telesprawl - Urban sprawl created by telecommuting workers.
• Permalance - the merger of permanent and freelance in the new economy.
• CoHo - short for corporate home office.
• Groligarchy - describes the concentration of agriculture and food-production power in the hands of a few agribusiness giants; see also foodopoly.
• Karaoke Managers - a style of lip-synch management where you mouth the buzzwords and platitudes of your superiors.
• Bachelor Herds - in societies where wealthy older men are allowed to acquire young new wives, the result is herds of angry young single men.
• Authethnic - Cultural expressions of all kinds that are unadulterated and unmodified by the American homogenization process.
• BABOONS - baby boomer. no savings. [ brilliant word :) ]
• Wired to Failure - the unintended result of Internet access in the majority of American Classroom; see also Empty Luggage Syndrome.
• IMB - A coming acronym for "I mean business". When consumers choose the most industrial-strength option when a far more modest solution will do.
• Orthorexia - an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy and avoiding even the slightest bit of fat, preservatives or salt.
• Camoflanguage - language that seeks to hide rather than illuminate.
• Sarchasm - the gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the recipient who doesn't get it.
• Unobtanium - a combination of 'unobtainable' and 'titanium'. [ cute ]
• Burn - your available cash.
• Stegotext - ordinary looking text carrying encoded information.
• Netlag - dissociation that comes from spending so much time on-line that we expect the rest of life to keep pace.
• Wristicuffs - fighting via email.
• BuySexuals - describes those who cross-shop at status stores and Wal-Mart.
• Infophobia - a psychological problem marked by the fear of being uninformed.
• Carcoon - cars are becoming cocoons of their own.
• SHUV - an accident caused by a SUV.