I am in Xinyang, dirrectly West from Shanghai and South of Beijing; I am at the intersect point. In this town they cost about 7RMB (which is a lot closer to $1USD than it is to.25); however, I have had a 100% failure rate. So, I go to Xian or Zhenzhou for DVDs instead (and I am able to visit my daughter, who works near Xian when I go there).
I Xian I have found that they, generally, cost about $1-1.25 USD (7-9RMB). With this I have seen about a 40-50% failure rate in the DVDs. Keep in mind that th eentire economy is on a different scale. When you look at the economy in terms of work hours, they cost about the same as they do in the US. Imported, ligitimate, DVDs sold at US prices would just be too expensive.
It doesn't need to end up that way at all. It could be easily set to only install MS software. I can think of a lot of reasons that the Slashdot crowd (myself included) would not like this; however, consider, the vendor would have total control over the device from the hardware to every piece of software on it. It would take a total moron to not be able to make a device like that completely stable. There would no longer be significant driver issues. It simple terms, this would be an ideal home computer for most users.
People who want a general purpose computer, to run specialized and industrial applications, would still be able to purchase a general purpose computer. The only people that would face significant problems with viruses would be people who insist on modding their boxes. The idea of providing a complete systems solution is distasteful to some but provides MS with opportunities for profit ands control that expands beyond what they have today.
Instead of trying to make a stronger wriststrap, Nintendo should be shipping the things without a wriststrap and a warning aginst any attempt to strap the controller to the user. The repair should be a bulliton to remove the wriststrap immediatly with an offer to replace the defective controller (one with a wriststrap) with an improved one (one without a wriststrap) to anyone who feels that they cannot safely remove the wriststrap by themselves.
Yes, this would be a less fun device; however, it should (IANAL) remove the liability. This is where we have come, we no longer design devices around function, or even real safety, we design them around potential liability.
I think it is definitly twenty and probably thirty years too late. For all intents and purposes, the oldtimer frat mentality has already killed amateur radio.
For those who wnat to point at opperating nodes or numbers of licensed (not active) hams and claim that it is still vidrant and alive, I say to look at the number curve, not the numbers. In addition to looking at the enumbers, read Bowling Alone to have a firm grasp on what they mean.
If you take about 100 pictures, usually 1 of them is worthwhile. Although having someone that can get it right with 1-5 shots is better."
This is generally my approach for taking pictures that I intend to have placed in the newspaper. I go where news is going to happen then I take several hundred (or at least it seems that way). After I have done this I will, generally, have one or two that are worth submiting. I can assure you that these are not taken with a phone camera.
As far as the issue of accuracy and creditibility of blogs, the answer I give my students is simple. Tell the truth of what you see and only what you see. If your are expressing what you feel then be sure to state that it is what you feel.
If you get something wrong in your blog it is much easer to deal with than it is in print; no, you dont shut down the blog and start a new one, or just hope that no one notices. You can appologize and make a correction (not an edit!). This does nothing but to enhanse your creditibility.
I have to admit that my current blog is more of a travelog and is filled with a lot of snapshots . I also have to eventually move it to a proper account. www.myspace.com/robert_crawford However, it does express my observations (mostly, this one is just keeping family and friends up to date with my life, as are most blogs). In the interests of accuracy, I will also state that I teach english, philosophy, and logic (a subset of philosophy), not journalism.
Sorry, not a few thousand years. I recomend that you look at this book "One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw" by Witold Rybczynski.# ISBN: 0684867303 ISBN-13: 9780684867304 # Format: Paperback, 176pp # Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
In it, the author finds the first use of a screw, as a fastener, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is on a piece of 15th-century armor. It is true, screws have been used a devices as far back as the 2nd century B.C., where a the water screw represents perhaps the first human creation of a helix. However, the screws use as a fastener is much more recent than that and mass produced screws, suitable for construction and manufacturing, are very recent indeed.
Yep, and this line of thinking left me unable to work in the computer industry and almost left me entirely unemployable. The most technical jobs I got were working on copiers and some temporary instalation work. The facts are that employers want four years of experince working on program XYZ, they do not care if you have a firm understanding of how programs similar to XYZ function.
For that matter, I can now not even work as a copier repairman, in the part of the US that I live in, due to the "gentlemans agreement," that no company will hire someone who has left a similar job in the same area and the "no-rehire" policies (I made the mistake of leaving to take a job as a net admin at a company that was in the process of crashing and burning). It is made clear that the reasons for these policies is to keep people from leaving.
Oh, I did build crystal radio sets, and I started before computers had mice. I did go to college and finished my degree, and I have never broken 30K in a year and generally do much worse. No mater what the advisors tell you, there is no certain path to success. Luck has more to do with it than anything else.
My disagreemant comes from the basic assumption that concern and interest in solving third world problems is a fixed quanity. I think that even if the article is entirely correct (a debatable point)in its claims about the project, it is still wrong.
It is wrong because it fails to take into account that the project may have (and probably has) sparked an increased awareness of the issues facing the third world and served to increase the number of people working to address these issues. So, even if the $100 laptops do end up serving as lights in some peoples homes (Hell, in the U.S. I use my laptop for light when the power goes out), the project, as a whole, may bring us closer to solutions for some of the worlds problems.
[I will not use any of my observations from China as examples because I have been, so often, reminded that I am entirely ignorant of China and that my understanding of my observations is entirely flawed]
I live in China. First off, 50 cents an hour is not considered good pay. A teacher will make anywhere from 800 to 1500 RMB per month. 1 RMB =~ 7.97 USD. That having been said, I regularly see PC games for sale between 10 and 12 RMB. This is not just in some covert shops, this is in major supermarkets. It is widly recognized that the software is pirated. However, that dos show the price that people are willing to pay
I tend to feel that the software pirating issue will never be solved here untill something is done about DVD regional encoding. If you purchase a ligitimate DVD (and I have many) it is a real toss-up if you will be able to play it due to regional encoding (what plays on my laptop may not play in my classroom, or on a friends DVD player). However, if I purchase a pirate copy, that has the region codes removed, it will play where ever I want to play it. The need for DVDs' to be pirate copies in order to be sure that they will play is keeping the entire counterfit media culture afloat.
Solve the DVD problem and there may eventually be a market for software (so long as it is pricesd in the market [what people are able and willing to pay]). Untill the DVD problem is solved, the market place for counterfit media will continue to thrive and siftware will be available in that market.
Not recognizing small children as human is not necessarly a bad thing for a dog; it comes down to training. A, confirmed, story has to do with the babysitter for my wife, when she was a small child, in Germany.
A, not suprisingly, German Shepherd had been trained to watch the children. The children wers able to play in a grass area. However, if they crawled toward the street, or anywhere they were not supposed to be, the dog would gently grab their clothing and drag them gack to the play area. It would also let the attendant know if one of them needed to be changed.
Before you write this off as being cruel to the children, they were able to play together instead of being isolated, like so many children are; it reduced the cost of day care by reducing the number of human attendants, and it provided the children with a guardian who paid constant attention and whose mind never wandered.
I do agree though, do not suprise people with an animal; even if it is your own ("guess what kidss! I got a dog" as the kids shy away in horror of the wolf-looking creature that is now in the house). Further, the bad thing about kittens is that they become cats, the bag thing about dogs is that at some time in their lives, they have to be puppies.
Total agreement, I almost always have my Fuji A500 in my pocket. It is very hard to call yourself a photographer and miss the once in a lifetime shots because you did not bring a camera or do not have a backup when the main fails.
Sure, bio diesel, when it is available and doesn't cost much more, I say why not. It reduces (by some absurdly small amount, say the value of one round of ammunition) our dependence on foreign oil. This is a good thing, we should be treating energy independence as the national security issue that it is.
hybrid electric cars
Nope, they do not suit my needs. Hybred electric cars work best in constant stop and go urban driving. For the type if driving that I do they provide no benefit. However, yes, I did check before deciding not to jump.
solar panels
You got me on this one, not for my house, conventional energy suppliers are just to efficient, reliable, and cheap for this to make sense (I would like to see greater use of Nuclear energy instead of oil and coal). In addition, money spent on solar panels can be better put into conservation. However, I do use them in places that I would, otherwise, be using a generator, like at a base camp. They also provide the benefit of being quiet.
expensive raw grains (and an electric grinder)
Nope, I am just, plain, too cheap for that kind of stuff. The companies that manufacture that kind of boutique food often praise them selves about how environmentally friendly they are. However, I often wonder of the entire end-to-end (seed-stock to table)is really that much better due to the inefficiencies of small-lot production
hemp necklaces
You missed again. I have never fallen for the whole pro-legalization movement (and if you think, or intend to tell me, that the hemp product craze has nothing to do with legalizing pot then you have been smoking too much or think that I have been smoking too much)
cow-leather & cork tree bark sandals
Okay, you got me with this one... sort of... the straps of my sandals (at the moment I happen to not be wearing them, if it matters, I am wearing boots) are made of cow-leather (what else do you make them out of?) the soles are some kind of rubber, so it was a half hit. I purchased a good pair at Costco about four or five years ago and they have held up pretty well. Prior to that I purchased about three pairs of cheap ones at Wal-Mart(yes, I have confessed and paid penance)that only lasted a couple of months each. The better ones really were less expensive when the useful life of the product is factored in.
... sounds like you're a victim of rampant consumerism. The Mo-Jones advertising crowd is pulling your strings like a puppet with a checkbook.
I have no doubt that there are places that I can still reduce my consumerism. For some reason I was looking at my wristwatch. It is an example, I purchased a decent quality self winder. Now I do not need to keep replacing batteries for the thing. But really, we it so hard to remember to wind a watch every day or so...
As far as Ma-Jones, I do not read it. There is too much political stuff in it and it irritates me, it is possible to be concerned about conservation and the environment without buying into the whole far-left agenda. Besides, I look at the price of magazines and put them back. If I want to read one I will make and evening at the library (no TV leaves time to ride my bicycle to the library in the evenings) and read the magazines there.
"we have a gigantic media circus that works by making sure everyone is too afraid to not watch the news (or read the newspaper) that will make you "famous" if you play into their fears; this strategy has existed for decades with the world being on the "brink of destruction" whether the threat was from Nuclear Weapons or Global Warming. Rational voices are usually silenced in flavor of more radical messages to increase ratings and readership.
You forgot the coming ice age. This is the reason that some of the older people have trouble taking the global warming issue too seriously. When I was younger the big threat was the next ice age (that was going to be upon us within our lifetimes).
After that one, it is hard to get too worked up over the 'NEXT BIG SCARE' (tm). It is the 'ole fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me, reaction that you see.
All that having been said, I do think that the evidence seems to be tipping the scale toward the possibility of a slight warming trend; of course it may just be the weight of the reports on it that is tipping the scale. I have made some changes in my life that are similar to what is recommended as a 'sustainable lifestyle'; however, this was not because of some ecological scare. It has been a reaction to 'consumeristic crap' (tm). The best solution (and one that would not be popular with the Slashdot crowd) is simply to consider before any purchase: is it of a quality that it will not need to be replaced soon, is it something I really need or is it something that is being pushed on me by advertising or peer pressure, is it something I will use for a long time (if it is a one time use then rental or co-op is a better solution) the key word here is utility, and, is there something that meets the demands of quality and utility that is already on the market as used? That way there is no need to cause the environmental harm in manufacturing it a second time.
Of course, the automobile is a very good example. Depending on the automobile anywhere from one third to over half of it's life time pollution is caused in its manufacturing. SO the first question is if a person really needs one. I would argue that most people who live in urban areas (which is, admittedly, not everyone) do not need one. Financially, they would be better off using a bicycle, public transportation, and renting a car (a form of co-op) when they have a need for one. However, if there is a strong need then the purchase of a quality used (I do not hesitate to recommend Mercedes diesels, that way one can run bio-diesel, and yes, I own one, or a ford diesel if a PU truck is what is needed) vehicle that will give a decade or more of utility over some piece'o'crap that will be sold once the payments are over.
I only use vehicles because it is one obvious example; there are many places that people can apply the principle of purchasing only what they need and purchasing it to last. It is as simple as asking some simple questions in your heart before you make a purchase. This lifestyle requires a large amount of willpower and internal strength. A person choosing this lifestyle will have to be able to resist the bombardment of pressure from peers and advertisers. However, it is a lifestyle that help the individual financially and serve to reduce the worlds, potential, looming environmental crisis (like the landfill and water quality problems, which we can document).
It seems that most of the people here on slashdot agree with the American premise that a person with poor credit should not be able to get a job. Use the saps at this company as an example, they were stupid enough to take this job; they deserve to spend the rest of thier lives flipping burgers.
I do not agree with this mindset. However, it seems to be the American way, Social Darwinism at near it's worst.
As you can see, I am in Xinyang, which is much smaller than Beijing. For where I am I believe what I said holds true. I have tried many ways to communicate the concept of gaming console. I have gone so far as to show pictures of them and to use my Gameboy in the explanation. At heast where I am they have no real concept of them.
In this case I think that the line, "and the reports that piracy is running rampant in countries like China," is totally out of line. While there is a problem with PC unlicensed software, I do not believe that there is one for the Xbox.
I have, in the past, mentioned seeing PC software being sold at very low prices, this doed not hold true for Xbox sostware. The reason for this is simple. Not only in comparison is there little Xbox software, I have seen no Xbox software, at all, in China. I do look in the electronic shops, and there is no software or consoles.
I have asked over 250 college students about where I can get gaming consoles and software and not only do they have no idea where to go for them, they have no idea, or concept, of what a gaming console is. There is simply no market penetration whatsoever. This makes sence considering that the middle-school and high school students live in school dormatories (at least the ones whose school finances make them potential buyers of game consoles) and do not have unregulated access to televisions.
I this case, I think the scare mongering about software theft in China is just FUD.
Re:The MSX was undoubtedly a computer
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Consoles M.I.A.
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Before I had a Commodore 64, which had a cartridge slot, I had a Radio Shack Color Computer (an okay computer that came with great manuals) there were several cartridge program modules for it. I remember having a spreadsheet program that was on one of the cartridges, then the data was saved on a casette tape.
One of th ecartradges I used most often on the C64 was a programang language extension. It added a lot of commands that made programing for the C64 a lot easer.
It seems that they would have an even bigger liability problem if they created the impression that they did check for known sex offenders.
If they were to create this impression (that they did check for known sex offenders) and then, for whatever reason, the script failed to identify one, in a case where a crime did later occur, they could very easly be found to be liable. The liability would not be that the contact happened. The liability would be in creating the impression that they check
Although IANAL, It seems rather obvious that they are better off not writing the script and saying, honestly, that their software will not make that kind of a check. The statement is true so long as their software really does not have the script built into it.
At this point I wonder of wired magazine has taken on any liability by publishing a script that may produce false negatives (or positives).
I fully understand your point. Of course, we only remember when the system fails. Having worked in a Power Sub-Station, I can tell you that it works nearly all of the time. The likely hood of a grid failure is significantly less than the likelyhood of a single generation plant failure. With no grid then all that is supplied by that single point of generation will go down when it does, with a grid there is a very small problity that a failure will become widespread.
There are good arguements for both approaches. however, my desire was to kill a discussion that was becoming heated and well on the way to becoming unpolite. By having a point of national pride fresh in my mind, from the original slashdot article, I was able to steer the conversation from dangerious ground.
"I was at a dinner tonight where one of my colegues was irritating our Chinese guests by making comments about the lack of a power grid in China, the chinese gentleman was getting rather defensive. I remembered this article and mentioned it is a positive light. It seems that he was very aware of, and proud of, the test. It saved the dinner party. So, this, even if it might not be a great scientific advance, was usefull to me."
I do find it interesting that while, here in China, evryone heard aboutt eh successfull test; no one seems to have heard about this correction. It seems to be, very much, a mational pride building thing. It comes as no supprise, looking in retrospect, that the initial report was released a week before the national week of celebration (the first week of October).
This is not a criticism of China. All people hear reports and news and twist it to meet what they want/hope/expect it to say. I was hoping it would be true, However, I doubted that it was. It was still a usefull thing to drop at a dinner to make the Chinese feel better.
I was at a dinner tonight where one of my colegues was irritating our Chinese guests by making comments about the lack of a power grid in China, the chinese gentleman was getting rather defensive. I remembered this articl and mentioned it is a positive light. It seems that he was very aware of, and proud of, the test. It saved the dinner party. So, this, even if it might not be a great scientific advance, was usefull to me.
I suspect that you may be disapointed. It is a journal about my experinces in coming to, And working in, China. The key point is that they are my experinces; not some rehash of someone elses. As such, I feel emiently qualified to comment on them.
I think that one of the problems that bloggers have is that they try to be more than they are. As you said, many bloggers, who think of thenselves as journalists, are nothing more than parrots. Some like to comment on things that they have no real depth of understanding in
It is th eones that like to comment on thisge at they have no depth of understanding in that polute the entire blog concept. They create the ompression that the entire blog phenomin is nothing more than ignorant people spouting off. They also create the noise that the informed people get lost in. For each blog written by a person with real knowledge there are so many ignorant ones that the information gets lost in the flood.
If people would just be honest about their limitations, and the limitations of their expertise on the topic that they are writing about, the whole system would have a much better chance of being accepted a creditable. As it is, we have freshmen art majors (nothing aginst art majors, my wife was an art major) trying to pontificat on evrything form Global Warming, Global Politics, and Global Econonomics, to the reason the his girlfriends hair looks funny when she dies it orange. There is just no creditibality. In my blog, I make it clear, it is a reflection of my observations (here I will pimp my blog http://www.myspace.com/robert_crawford ). I am not saying that I am the know it all of blogs. I accept that most of you can do better. All I am saying that it is my observations. If prople would just be more honest aboutt the real limitations of thier blog, the respect would come.
Slashdot Mirror
I am in Xinyang, dirrectly West from Shanghai and South of Beijing; I am at the intersect point. In this town they cost about 7RMB (which is a lot closer to $1USD than it is to .25); however, I have had a 100% failure rate. So, I go to Xian or Zhenzhou for DVDs instead (and I am able to visit my daughter, who works near Xian when I go there).
I Xian I have found that they, generally, cost about $1-1.25 USD (7-9RMB). With this I have seen about a 40-50% failure rate in the DVDs. Keep in mind that th eentire economy is on a different scale. When you look at the economy in terms of work hours, they cost about the same as they do in the US. Imported, ligitimate, DVDs sold at US prices would just be too expensive.
People who want a general purpose computer, to run specialized and industrial applications, would still be able to purchase a general purpose computer. The only people that would face significant problems with viruses would be people who insist on modding their boxes. The idea of providing a complete systems solution is distasteful to some but provides MS with opportunities for profit ands control that expands beyond what they have today.
Yes, this would be a less fun device; however, it should (IANAL) remove the liability. This is where we have come, we no longer design devices around function, or even real safety, we design them around potential liability.
For those who wnat to point at opperating nodes or numbers of licensed (not active) hams and claim that it is still vidrant and alive, I say to look at the number curve, not the numbers. In addition to looking at the enumbers, read Bowling Alone to have a firm grasp on what they mean.
Quite simply, this came too late.
KD6EVH
This is generally my approach for taking pictures that I intend to have placed in the newspaper. I go where news is going to happen then I take several hundred (or at least it seems that way). After I have done this I will, generally, have one or two that are worth submiting. I can assure you that these are not taken with a phone camera.
As far as the issue of accuracy and creditibility of blogs, the answer I give my students is simple. Tell the truth of what you see and only what you see. If your are expressing what you feel then be sure to state that it is what you feel.
If you get something wrong in your blog it is much easer to deal with than it is in print; no, you dont shut down the blog and start a new one, or just hope that no one notices. You can appologize and make a correction (not an edit!). This does nothing but to enhanse your creditibility.
I have to admit that my current blog is more of a travelog and is filled with a lot of snapshots . I also have to eventually move it to a proper account. www.myspace.com/robert_crawford However, it does express my observations (mostly, this one is just keeping family and friends up to date with my life, as are most blogs). In the interests of accuracy, I will also state that I teach english, philosophy, and logic (a subset of philosophy), not journalism.
In it, the author finds the first use of a screw, as a fastener, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is on a piece of 15th-century armor. It is true, screws have been used a devices as far back as the 2nd century B.C., where a the water screw represents perhaps the first human creation of a helix. However, the screws use as a fastener is much more recent than that and mass produced screws, suitable for construction and manufacturing, are very recent indeed.
For that matter, I can now not even work as a copier repairman, in the part of the US that I live in, due to the "gentlemans agreement," that no company will hire someone who has left a similar job in the same area and the "no-rehire" policies (I made the mistake of leaving to take a job as a net admin at a company that was in the process of crashing and burning). It is made clear that the reasons for these policies is to keep people from leaving.
Oh, I did build crystal radio sets, and I started before computers had mice. I did go to college and finished my degree, and I have never broken 30K in a year and generally do much worse. No mater what the advisors tell you, there is no certain path to success. Luck has more to do with it than anything else.
It is wrong because it fails to take into account that the project may have (and probably has) sparked an increased awareness of the issues facing the third world and served to increase the number of people working to address these issues. So, even if the $100 laptops do end up serving as lights in some peoples homes (Hell, in the U.S. I use my laptop for light when the power goes out), the project, as a whole, may bring us closer to solutions for some of the worlds problems.
[I will not use any of my observations from China as examples because I have been, so often, reminded that I am entirely ignorant of China and that my understanding of my observations is entirely flawed]
Yep, I had it backward. It is still more than 50 cents an hour.
I tend to feel that the software pirating issue will never be solved here untill something is done about DVD regional encoding. If you purchase a ligitimate DVD (and I have many) it is a real toss-up if you will be able to play it due to regional encoding (what plays on my laptop may not play in my classroom, or on a friends DVD player). However, if I purchase a pirate copy, that has the region codes removed, it will play where ever I want to play it. The need for DVDs' to be pirate copies in order to be sure that they will play is keeping the entire counterfit media culture afloat.
Solve the DVD problem and there may eventually be a market for software (so long as it is pricesd in the market [what people are able and willing to pay]). Untill the DVD problem is solved, the market place for counterfit media will continue to thrive and siftware will be available in that market.
A, not suprisingly, German Shepherd had been trained to watch the children. The children wers able to play in a grass area. However, if they crawled toward the street, or anywhere they were not supposed to be, the dog would gently grab their clothing and drag them gack to the play area. It would also let the attendant know if one of them needed to be changed.
Before you write this off as being cruel to the children, they were able to play together instead of being isolated, like so many children are; it reduced the cost of day care by reducing the number of human attendants, and it provided the children with a guardian who paid constant attention and whose mind never wandered.
I do agree though, do not suprise people with an animal; even if it is your own ("guess what kidss! I got a dog" as the kids shy away in horror of the wolf-looking creature that is now in the house). Further, the bad thing about kittens is that they become cats, the bag thing about dogs is that at some time in their lives, they have to be puppies.
Total agreement, I almost always have my Fuji A500 in my pocket. It is very hard to call yourself a photographer and miss the once in a lifetime shots because you did not bring a camera or do not have a backup when the main fails.
Sure, bio diesel, when it is available and doesn't cost much more, I say why not. It reduces (by some absurdly small amount, say the value of one round of ammunition) our dependence on foreign oil. This is a good thing, we should be treating energy independence as the national security issue that it is.
hybrid electric cars
Nope, they do not suit my needs. Hybred electric cars work best in constant stop and go urban driving. For the type if driving that I do they provide no benefit. However, yes, I did check before deciding not to jump.
solar panels
You got me on this one, not for my house, conventional energy suppliers are just to efficient, reliable, and cheap for this to make sense (I would like to see greater use of Nuclear energy instead of oil and coal). In addition, money spent on solar panels can be better put into conservation. However, I do use them in places that I would, otherwise, be using a generator, like at a base camp. They also provide the benefit of being quiet.
expensive raw grains (and an electric grinder)
Nope, I am just, plain, too cheap for that kind of stuff. The companies that manufacture that kind of boutique food often praise them selves about how environmentally friendly they are. However, I often wonder of the entire end-to-end (seed-stock to table)is really that much better due to the inefficiencies of small-lot production
hemp necklaces
You missed again. I have never fallen for the whole pro-legalization movement (and if you think, or intend to tell me, that the hemp product craze has nothing to do with legalizing pot then you have been smoking too much or think that I have been smoking too much)
cow-leather & cork tree bark sandals
Okay, you got me with this one... sort of... the straps of my sandals (at the moment I happen to not be wearing them, if it matters, I am wearing boots) are made of cow-leather (what else do you make them out of?) the soles are some kind of rubber, so it was a half hit. I purchased a good pair at Costco about four or five years ago and they have held up pretty well. Prior to that I purchased about three pairs of cheap ones at Wal-Mart(yes, I have confessed and paid penance)that only lasted a couple of months each. The better ones really were less expensive when the useful life of the product is factored in.
I have no doubt that there are places that I can still reduce my consumerism. For some reason I was looking at my wristwatch. It is an example, I purchased a decent quality self winder. Now I do not need to keep replacing batteries for the thing. But really, we it so hard to remember to wind a watch every day or so...
As far as Ma-Jones, I do not read it. There is too much political stuff in it and it irritates me, it is possible to be concerned about conservation and the environment without buying into the whole far-left agenda. Besides, I look at the price of magazines and put them back. If I want to read one I will make and evening at the library (no TV leaves time to ride my bicycle to the library in the evenings) and read the magazines there.
You forgot the coming ice age. This is the reason that some of the older people have trouble taking the global warming issue too seriously. When I was younger the big threat was the next ice age (that was going to be upon us within our lifetimes).
After that one, it is hard to get too worked up over the 'NEXT BIG SCARE' (tm). It is the 'ole fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me, reaction that you see.
All that having been said, I do think that the evidence seems to be tipping the scale toward the possibility of a slight warming trend; of course it may just be the weight of the reports on it that is tipping the scale. I have made some changes in my life that are similar to what is recommended as a 'sustainable lifestyle'; however, this was not because of some ecological scare. It has been a reaction to 'consumeristic crap' (tm). The best solution (and one that would not be popular with the Slashdot crowd) is simply to consider before any purchase: is it of a quality that it will not need to be replaced soon, is it something I really need or is it something that is being pushed on me by advertising or peer pressure, is it something I will use for a long time (if it is a one time use then rental or co-op is a better solution) the key word here is utility, and, is there something that meets the demands of quality and utility that is already on the market as used? That way there is no need to cause the environmental harm in manufacturing it a second time.
Of course, the automobile is a very good example. Depending on the automobile anywhere from one third to over half of it's life time pollution is caused in its manufacturing. SO the first question is if a person really needs one. I would argue that most people who live in urban areas (which is, admittedly, not everyone) do not need one. Financially, they would be better off using a bicycle, public transportation, and renting a car (a form of co-op) when they have a need for one. However, if there is a strong need then the purchase of a quality used (I do not hesitate to recommend Mercedes diesels, that way one can run bio-diesel, and yes, I own one, or a ford diesel if a PU truck is what is needed) vehicle that will give a decade or more of utility over some piece'o'crap that will be sold once the payments are over.
I only use vehicles because it is one obvious example; there are many places that people can apply the principle of purchasing only what they need and purchasing it to last. It is as simple as asking some simple questions in your heart before you make a purchase. This lifestyle requires a large amount of willpower and internal strength. A person choosing this lifestyle will have to be able to resist the bombardment of pressure from peers and advertisers. However, it is a lifestyle that help the individual financially and serve to reduce the worlds, potential, looming environmental crisis (like the landfill and water quality problems, which we can document).
Sorry, I had no intention to go into sermon mode.
I do not agree with this mindset. However, it seems to be the American way, Social Darwinism at near it's worst.
As you can see, I am in Xinyang, which is much smaller than Beijing. For where I am I believe what I said holds true. I have tried many ways to communicate the concept of gaming console. I have gone so far as to show pictures of them and to use my Gameboy in the explanation. At heast where I am they have no real concept of them.
I have, in the past, mentioned seeing PC software being sold at very low prices, this doed not hold true for Xbox sostware. The reason for this is simple. Not only in comparison is there little Xbox software, I have seen no Xbox software, at all, in China. I do look in the electronic shops, and there is no software or consoles.
I have asked over 250 college students about where I can get gaming consoles and software and not only do they have no idea where to go for them, they have no idea, or concept, of what a gaming console is. There is simply no market penetration whatsoever. This makes sence considering that the middle-school and high school students live in school dormatories (at least the ones whose school finances make them potential buyers of game consoles) and do not have unregulated access to televisions.
I this case, I think the scare mongering about software theft in China is just FUD.
Before I had a Commodore 64, which had a cartridge slot, I had a Radio Shack Color Computer (an okay computer that came with great manuals) there were several cartridge program modules for it. I remember having a spreadsheet program that was on one of the cartridges, then the data was saved on a casette tape. One of th ecartradges I used most often on the C64 was a programang language extension. It added a lot of commands that made programing for the C64 a lot easer.
If they were to create this impression (that they did check for known sex offenders) and then, for whatever reason, the script failed to identify one, in a case where a crime did later occur, they could very easly be found to be liable. The liability would not be that the contact happened. The liability would be in creating the impression that they check
Although IANAL, It seems rather obvious that they are better off not writing the script and saying, honestly, that their software will not make that kind of a check. The statement is true so long as their software really does not have the script built into it.
At this point I wonder of wired magazine has taken on any liability by publishing a script that may produce false negatives (or positives).
There are good arguements for both approaches. however, my desire was to kill a discussion that was becoming heated and well on the way to becoming unpolite. By having a point of national pride fresh in my mind, from the original slashdot article, I was able to steer the conversation from dangerious ground.
"I was at a dinner tonight where one of my colegues was irritating our Chinese guests by making comments about the lack of a power grid in China, the chinese gentleman was getting rather defensive. I remembered this article and mentioned it is a positive light. It seems that he was very aware of, and proud of, the test. It saved the dinner party. So, this, even if it might not be a great scientific advance, was usefull to me."
I do find it interesting that while, here in China, evryone heard aboutt eh successfull test; no one seems to have heard about this correction. It seems to be, very much, a mational pride building thing. It comes as no supprise, looking in retrospect, that the initial report was released a week before the national week of celebration (the first week of October).
This is not a criticism of China. All people hear reports and news and twist it to meet what they want/hope/expect it to say. I was hoping it would be true, However, I doubted that it was. It was still a usefull thing to drop at a dinner to make the Chinese feel better.
I was at a dinner tonight where one of my colegues was irritating our Chinese guests by making comments about the lack of a power grid in China, the chinese gentleman was getting rather defensive. I remembered this articl and mentioned it is a positive light. It seems that he was very aware of, and proud of, the test. It saved the dinner party. So, this, even if it might not be a great scientific advance, was usefull to me.
I suspect that you may be disapointed. It is a journal about my experinces in coming to, And working in, China. The key point is that they are my experinces; not some rehash of someone elses. As such, I feel emiently qualified to comment on them.
It is th eones that like to comment on thisge at they have no depth of understanding in that polute the entire blog concept. They create the ompression that the entire blog phenomin is nothing more than ignorant people spouting off. They also create the noise that the informed people get lost in. For each blog written by a person with real knowledge there are so many ignorant ones that the information gets lost in the flood.
If people would just be honest about their limitations, and the limitations of their expertise on the topic that they are writing about, the whole system would have a much better chance of being accepted a creditable. As it is, we have freshmen art majors (nothing aginst art majors, my wife was an art major) trying to pontificat on evrything form Global Warming, Global Politics, and Global Econonomics, to the reason the his girlfriends hair looks funny when she dies it orange. There is just no creditibality. In my blog, I make it clear, it is a reflection of my observations (here I will pimp my blog http://www.myspace.com/robert_crawford ). I am not saying that I am the know it all of blogs. I accept that most of you can do better. All I am saying that it is my observations. If prople would just be more honest aboutt the real limitations of thier blog, the respect would come.