Four for Friday

(Link in meme-roll)

Q1 - Neighbor: Zillow.com recently released the results of its 3rd annual Neighbor Survey, and Nadya Suleman, Jon and Kate Gosselin, Sarah Palin, Richard and Mayumi Heene, and Kanye West were voted the least desirable neighbors of 2009. If you could choose to live next door to anyone alive today -- celebrity or otherwise -- who would you choose as your new next door neighbor?

Rachael Ray or any other nice person who can cook well. I'd be living in their dining room. ;-) Actually, Julia Child would have been a totally awesome neighbor all the way 'round!

Q2 - Financially Speaking: As we begin 2010, nearly half of Americans (47%) say their financial situation is worse now than it was a year ago, a new Zogby Interactive poll shows. Just 19% say their personal finances are better off now than they were a year ago and 33% say their finances are about the same. Looking ahead to the end of 2010, do you think you'll end the year in the same, better, or worse financially as compared to the end of 2009?

I anticipate it will be status quo. It's unlikely that Beast's new company will trim his department further as long as he keeps doing 100% of his projections, and I doubt I'll be fired from (or will quit) my job.

Q3 - Undecorate: When do you think people should take down their Christmas tree and holiday decorations... the day after Christmas, New Year's Eve Day, January 2nd, or whenever they darn well feel like it?

Inside stuff they can keep up as long as they want. Outside decor should probably come down ASAP, though around here that may be February or March at this rate because of the snow. Lights, y'know, I think they should stay up till it's not dark half the day. I like the lights (if they are done well--if they are shitty, TAKE 'EM DOWN! Or better yet, don't bother putting them up in the first place!)

Q4 - 2020: Nearly one-half of U.S. adults say it is likely that by 2020 there will be regular use of stem cells and cloning techniques to create human organs for transplant. Also, more than one-third say it is likely by 2020 that computer chips will be implanted in humans, robots will perform manual labor jobs, and virtual reality will be a staple of home entertainment. Only 28% think there will be a cure for cancer. What do you think about these findings?

Stem cells/cloning: I'm kind of hoping that this happens sooner so that Parkinson's can get a big slap-down. However, I'm less confident about it happening by 2020.
Implantation: I can see how this would be useful in certain respects, but I'm less than thrilled with some of the scarier possibilities (Orwellian aspects, I mean). Probably will happen before 2020, though.
Robots: We already have a robot vacuuming our floors. So, yeah, bring it on! 'Course, this has been predicted for decades, so I'm not betting on any timeline here.
Virtual reality: They have to deal with the whole motion sickness thing first, for me. Not likely by 2020.
Cancer: Not all cancers. Some. We already have a handle on a few of them. I'm more optimistic about this, especially when combined with the stem cell/cloning research.