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Whither America's Technological Edge?
baldass_newbie asks: "Ben Stein wrote an editorial titled, 'How to Ruin American Enterprise'. To me, technological innovation is a big outward sign of a successful economy. Sometimes it appears like the U.S. is losing its edge in technology. Well, I was wondering what the Slashdot community at large thinks is wrong (or right) with the U.S. and technological innovation?" The article deals less with technology and more with the society on which said innovation is based, and the problems that may bring it down around our collective ears. Give the article a read, and share your thoughts on whether or not you think it's an accurate assessment on the current and future situation of America's technological advantage.
Looking at Russia, and the rest of the former Soviet Union, we can see that technical ability and an educated society does not necessarily mean a thriving economy. Though, I strongly feel that they will rebound stringer than ever because of those two things.
ALL YOUR BASES BELONG TO US
They why does the Mexican goverment provide text books to Mexican that say that Mexico should have the Southern USA as part of Mexico?
"Fox's five-year plan calls for building a larger consular presence in the United States, and this is already in operation. In U.S. areas with large Hispanic (including illegal) populations, the Mexican consul donates to the local public schools the same textbooks that are used in every elementary school in Mexico, grades 1 through 6.
The books, written in Spanish and including all academic subjects, teach that America "stole" the southwest from Mexico and that Mexico is entitled to take it back. The Mexican government considers these textbooks a symbol of Mexican national pride, guarantees a set to every Mexican child, and makes it a crime for anyone to sell them. "
You know what? I'm not putting away $15,000 a year for my son's college tuition for nothing.
You know what? I could afford that but my parents never could have. I'm glad the issue never came up. Higher education is a basic right.
"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them." -- George H. W. Bush
Who invented the first semiconductor device?
- Who started the computer industry?
Actually the Manchester machine which was a direct descendent of the machines Turing built during the war was the first real computer.
- Who invented nuclear power?
I tend to think that the Canadians deserve rather more credit for actually designing CANDU a nuclear system that was fail safe in fact, rather than the light water design that was only fail safe by assertion leading to three mile island and Chernobyl.
- Who put human beings on the moon and then brought them back safely 6 times
Would have been more impressive if you had sent Strom Thurmond to the moon and left the racist biggot there together with his Klan friends rather than let his disciple be senate majority leader while delivering coded messages about his KKK sympathies through his great friends in the CCC he claims afterwards not to have met...
If we wanted to get nasty we could ask who invented seggregation, the dimpled chad, the corn dog, Enron/Harken/Haliburton accounting etc.
The problem with lists of 'firsts' is that they all depend on exactly when you decide to claim that the thing is done. Do you count the Internet (yea uncle sam!) or the Web (those plucky Europeans!) ? And the media in each country thoughtfully concentrates only on their local claims so the fact that most technologies are actually developed using research from many countries rather the architypal single lone inventor.
Invention says nothing about industrial application of technology. The UK has over the past 50 years invented tons of stuff that has only been made commercial in the US or Japan.
The more salient issue would be whether the US is going to actually be allowed to participate fully in life sciences which is likely to be the cutting edge of technology for some time. The way things look today between the idiotic patent laws and the idiot in the Whitehouse there are not that many people who give the US much of a chance in that field.
Looking for an Information Security student project suggestion?
Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
- Samuel
The secret to enjoying Slashdot is to realize that it should not be taken too seriously.
"Welcome to my list of rivals, asshole"
Why is it that stating a FACT can get people so upset? So much for debate, just put them on your foes list so you do not have to be exposed to ideas you do not like.
Someone pointed out that, yes, we stole the land from México during the Mexico-American war of the mid-1800s (we also slaughtered children that were defending the castle in Chapultepec). Your reply, in this context, was "Spoils of war is not stealing". The expression "Spoils of war" implies that it was just and right for us to take the land from México. Saying "...is not stealing" supports this idea that it was morally right.
Now, if, by making this statement, you were saying besides "Of course it was OK for the United States to take half of México's land", you write and understand English differently than I do.
You have the right to have the opinion that the US's forced annexation of Mexican land is just, but your opinion is a minority opinion, and one that is extremely disrespectful of both Mexican people and Chicanos on this side of the border. It is the equivalent of telling people on Slashdot that programmers who write GPL code are a bunch of losers who can't write code people would want to pay for.
Also, the Americans of the time did not feel taking the Mexican land was just. This is why we gave México so much money in the Gadison purchase.
Until you learn to respect other people's feelings more, and learn to respect the Mexican people and the Mexican culture, you will continue to act in a manner which will make people who are either Latino or have an interest in Latino culture think you are a pubic hair.
Do I make myself clear?
- Sam (who used to have similar problems with not having empathy when I took anti-depressent medication, so I can see why this person honestly can not see how incredibly rude and disrespectful they are acting)
The secret to enjoying Slashdot is to realize that it should not be taken too seriously.
You can, however, send them to a fundamentalist workbook "school", where their faith won't be troubled by learning about biology or geology or physics.
I went to a catholic high school. Not all of the students were catholic. There was no pressure to be catholic. We learned about Biology (including evolution and AP level courses. I got a 5 on the exam.), geology, and physics. We also learned alot about various religions (not just Christian religions) that would not have been allowed to be taught in a public school. In fact, public schools help parents decide their children's religious beliefs by shielding them from other options, while the religous school I went to actually gave the students enough information do decide for themselves which religion (if any) was right for them. The only other significant differences between the catholic school I went to and the public high school were that the teachers actually took interest in every student, the standards for grading were higher, 95% of the students went on to college, we had to follow a dress code, and they didn't teach us about birth control (that's what parents are for anyway). The school met state curriculum requirements, and was ranked in the top 10% of schools in the state. I don't doubt that there are religously affiliated schools out there that have an adgenda other than giving their students a first rate education, but they're not all like that.
Oh, by the way, the tuition was $4800 per year. The school recieved no funding from the church. All the money came from tuition and alumni donations.
Now, if a private school can run so well on such a tight budget, why can't public schools do the same with twice as much? (Hint: think unions)