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Help Wire Remote Laos Villages
rODbegbie writes "Lee Felsenstein is appealing for donations to help provide Internet access to remote Laos villages. The New York Times considered the idea one of the best in 2002, but they need to raise $25,000 to get this in place before monsoon season. Donations can be made using Paypal (mention that it's for "Remote IT")."
Do they have lots of dinero to commit to global commerce? Or lots of programmers willing to work cheap?
Is this project at the behest of the villages or an outside person assuming only positive things will result? Cultures have been quickly torn apart by ideas which seemed positive to outside initiators.
This is just rediculous. Couldn't we focus on giving them something a little more practical like, you know, food, clean water, and medical supplies?
I'm just sick of the techno-fetishism that's taking the place of true humanitarian efforts and generosity. These people don't need cell phones and microwaves, they need basic living supplies. Let them establish some hygenic standards and bring the infant mortality rate down, and we can worry about convenience later. Never mind that the health effects of wireless networks have not yet been studied in great detail. For heaven's sake, we could be sending these people to their graves with invisible radiation!
The PayPal thing is just insult upon injury. I'll make my donations by check, thanks, so none of my money goes to line the pockets of some hokey e-business that can't even protect its own databases (and doesn't claim to!).
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
And of course ... more of my opinion on the post ...
Like I said to mandrake (a company) and many before on the slashdot donation network, NO ... the only thing that I donate to is things I can directly control. IE scholarships, trusts, etc. I wanna know who I'm benifiting not the well dressed president of the NON-PROFIT organization. I still can't believe the black-tie events I've been invited to in the name of "Charity" ... I love the fact that "feeding children" requires a fucking charity dinner ... how about this ... invite everyone to a charity dinner and then don't have one, make them see what it's like to be hungry.
As far as internet in Laos ... laughable ... I would really like to see the benifit of this ... not from the begging for money site too. Plus ... $25,000 because grants won't come in time ... pretty optimistic about those grants coming in.
You all really have money to burn after the holliday season? Why dontcha look at what's happening in your own backyard. Call your old college and tell them you want to start a scholarship (they won't mind really). Education is the key to it all, don't care what you say.
Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
I live in a large US city, 20,000 ft from the CO. My only option is dialup.
If I move to a grass hut in Laos, I get high speed wireless.
Yeah.....
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
The Peace Corps is the single most effective anti-terrorist technique used by humans in recorded history.
No, really. If you solve people's immediate problems, there is less cause for extremism. The cheapest, most effective way to end terrorism, is to make foreigners happier. If we can help some village in Laos better able to market it's goods, this could help you and I, sitting in our warm cozy chairs in the US of A.
Your ROI in Laos can be higher than your ROI in Kansas. This is enlightened self interest. Welcome to classical liberalism.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.