Infact the fact that Norway did NOT turn out just either the Gulf (uber rich crazy) or Nigeria (uber rich corrupt) is a miracle that can be laid at the hands of... an Iraqi.
I suggest everybody read this [1] FT article. Psst Canadians, (especially Albertans) you might want to pay special attention.
Don't worry though, the King will dole out yet another "bonus" just like last time, when the Arab spring was at it's height.
(For the curious, I *have* lived in Saudi, and man it's weird. Not the shithole you expect, nor the heaven you would believe, just... weird.)
If your country has a rickshaw[1], it can have the airpod.
Both have similar cons; noisy death traps[2] with limited speed, range and capacity. Yet if somehow the rickshaws are in business, they the air car can make sense too[*]. Infact I would actually prefer a rickshaw that runs on air, since it wouldn't pollute everywhere it went!
If Tata will have any sense, the first thing they will do is strip that car of it's european body and crap that system into a typical indian rickshaw, and market it (and price it!) as *that*. Fuel points will prop up on their own (no really, where there is an opportunity to earn or save a rupee, there are a bazillion of us South Asians willing to take advantage of it).
[*]: That's assuming the achievable speed range and capacity are at least 80% of those advertised in the video, I wouldn't blame them for *some* exaggeration in quoting the maximum achievable range, but it should at least match the autorickshaw, which already has modest specs. Also, we don't fear high pressure gas tanks, we routinely ride those around here in the form of CNG car tanks (albeit at 200 bar, IIRC) so it's match made in heaven as far as I am concerned.:P
Sometimes phrases, in addition to literal meaning (denotation), also carry a certain connotation, which is often left out in translation.
I presume this was the case here; from what I have read over the blogosphere, "little people" does not carry the same demeaning context in swedish, that you would infer in english.
That's what happens when you translate phrases and idioms from your native tongue directly on to a foreign tongue.
Reminds me of the Finnish Vp of Nokia, who said something about pissing in pants. The finnish phrase he had translated was meant to convey the fact that you can not select temporary benefit that would lead to even worse problems later on.
Nobody got that on, and was one (of the many) nails that lead to his being denied to CEO seat that now Elop has.
Both the US parties (Dem and Rep) need major schisms to break their stronghold, and thus usher in change, may be accompanied by a more democratic electoral system then FPTP.
I recently submitted a story in this issue, Apparently, NYPD's secret dept has been racially profiling people simply for grumbling in Urdu, or visiting a lebanese cafe:
Although the survey results may point to a dire situation, the reality on the ground is more complicated. Evolutionary biology is included in the high-school curricula of many Muslim countries. In fact, science foundations of 14 Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, and Egypt, recently signed a statement by the Interacademy Panel (IAP, a global network of science academies), in support of the teaching of evolution, including human evolution. In general, however, biology (as is true for all other subjects) is often taught in a highly religious environment.
For example, in Pakistan, where there is no separation of state and religion, the goal of the national biology curriculum for grades 9 to 12 is to “enable the students to appreciate that Allah is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe”, and the textbooks include the relevant Koranic verses on the origin and creation of life. Biology textbooks in Pakistan contain a chapter on evolution, and evolutionary theory is presented as a fact of science. Nevertheless, the epigraph for the evolution chapter in the 12th grade biology textbook is the Koranic verse, “And He is Who had produced you from a single being” (6:98). Apart from this epigraph, there are no religious references about creation or evolution in the remaining chapter or in suggested questions at the end. Although evolutionary theory is presented as a fact, the IAP statement notwithstanding, human evolution is missing from these textbooks. The follow-up chapters to evolution, instead, emphasize the practical aspects of biology such as health, environment, and biotechnology.
Asghar and Alters recently interviewed 18 science schoolteachersin Pakistani schools located in Karachi and Lahore and found that all favored using religious explanations about the creation of life, but most presented both scientific and religious perspectives while teaching biological evolution. Most (14 out of 18) accepted, or at least held as possible, the evolution of organisms; but at the same time, 15 out of 18 rejected human evolution. All agreed that there is no contradiction between Islam and science.
Also, relevant, that in Uni (biology majors, doctors etc), where this matters, every one studies evolution without fuss. No one gives a damn, frankly.
Personally, I think that, as long as a physicist uses and teaches g=9.8N (or whatever the hell it was, I had a horrible phy teacher, never made me like that subject), I couldn't give a hoot whether he doesn't believe the *theory* of gravity. Same for evolution.
But I fear many christian religious organisation tell their islamic brethren, "hey we have this in common, support us!" and they, being totally ignorant of the subject, follow like blind sheep, which is really ironic, considering that it's contrary to their *own* religious text, which is comfortable with evolution!
---- *Though frankly, that could be because our mullahs haven't come within a mile** of a biology textbook. As long as the islamic textbooks, and social studies textbooks (and the language textbooks...) are favourable to their random variables, they couldn't give a damn. Physics for heathens only:p ---- **That in turn is also an exaggeration, contrary to popular belief, there exist (many!) madressah that prepare their students for both regular board exams and religious board exams*** (I imagine they must have massive workload!) but usually, science is just an exam to cram, sadly investment is not made (Tough frankly that true of all schools, secular or religious) to impart proper knowledge. Once exams are over, as with all crammed stuff, the knowledge tends to fade. But I personally know people that started off in madressahs, passed both regular and religious board exams, and went on to study regular subjects in regular universities (though mostly that liberal art BA stuff, as far as my acquaintances are concerned, so I don't know their attitude about bio) ---- ***Wow, footnote fever! Anyway, yeah, we have religious boards, but they are very vigorous, and actually test their students on various aspects of Islamic law, arabic etc. Students who pass these exams are quite knowledgeable and frankly far less extremist in thought. They are usually mild mannered. The problem comes with madressahs that are *not* affiliated with these boards, and just cram their students with whatever the head mullah feels like. These are the ones who create extremists, since their syllabus is based on "I said so, so it must be true" and mix all sorts of frankly non-islamic cultural crap. Our glorious dictator Musharraf, during his early "I can fix this!" years, tried to insist all madressah join the boards, but it failed. So yeah, there you have it.
But seriously, in this era of re-discovering and correctly honouring scientists for their hard-work and genius (like Alan Turing is now rightly getting, for example) why is Tesla still languishing? I mean, either, way, it was god-damn American* guy who made the light bulb, who cares which one it was? I think the US govt should buck up and admit they dun goofed, just like the Uk govt did with Turing.
I got a spare plank of wood left over from some cabinet work in the kitchen, square-ish in size and a bit bigger than my back, and plopped it right between me and my cushion. I can adjust it to a vaguely upright position(good for typing), or reclining according to my mood(browsing, watching videos etc), and I am sure my back is mostly straight rather than curving in to the cushion and going all humped.
Oh, and I got a smaller cushion for my neck/head. Make sure their is no neck strain, or it's all pointless.
Alternatively, read this BBC article, they recommend a 120-135 degree angle for a chair:
I read that once Nikola Tesla almost broke up the earth with his earthquake machine, but he managed to stop it. (seriously who the fuck makes a friggin' earthquake machine?)
Then again, I also read that he had a way of getting free electricity from the clouds or whatever, so I am not sure....
No Electricity AND No coverage! yet Kenyans[1] in those out ward places still use mobile phones, and are better off with them.
****
First, the logistics. The farmers send a boy to the nearest city with electricity and coverage, on a bicycle carrying all their cellphones. He leaves them to charge at one of the various charges stations that have popped up there, which ask for a few cents per charge.
Then the boy can reply to any SMS as per instruction. Also, he carries out M-Pesa[2] transactions and reloads them on their behalf.
He comes back at the end of the day, cellphones charged and loaded, and full of new SMS, which the farmers can read and create replies for.
And then it's a fresh new day, and boy sets off again....
****
Secondly, the reasons. Basically, the cellphone has become combination of a telegram and wallet.
The SMS acts as a telegram, farmer can communicate with market dealers in big cities far more quickly and easily, then they could have if they had to rely on older means, which meant trudging all the over multiple forms of transportation, often just for a minor piece of information.
The other is the mobile wallet. While you folk in the west have been quibbling over how to slice the pie (and we in the east are just to damn stupid to care) Africans just said "Fuck this!", went ahead and created a true, and *simple* mobile wallet solution. Now farmers can send and receive money far more quickly and easily.
The best part of the article[2]:
The growth of the service forced formal banking institutions to take note of the new venture. In December 2008, a group of banks reportedly lobbied the Kenyan finance minister to audit M-Pesa, in an effort to at least slow the growth of the service. This ploy failed, as the audit found that the service was robust.[15]
Ha! In your face suckers! Now try charging 150 to send a 100! (true story, banks here ask a minimum 150 for a bank draft:( )
****
So, in reply to the common refrain of "WAHHH NO ELECTRICITY", I humbly propose that where there is a will, there is a way to find that power source.
I am under no presumption that this is *not* merely and election ploy, or that there won't be massive corruption.
However, if even if one poor soul gets a dumbphone, and that phone saves him the regular commute to a bigger city just to hear "SEND 150 CRATES BY TUESDAY", I think that would a be a job well done
****
If you wish to know more please read this article and watch the videos there in:
Lest I be accused of being a Nokia shill, I merely linking because this happens to be a nice collective resource on this issue; you can benefit just as well on a Samsung dumb phone.
Also, IIRC, Chinese crap-phones were selling by the bucket-loads there, since if all you need them is for SMS, they are very cost affective.
**** ****
[1]:Not limited to Kenyans of course, this is becoming popular all over Africa and other regions with poor communication.
Ah curses, I would have liked that ability too, often you want to browse a question paper and solution together, on a computer you can just switch tabs, I think it becomes a lot more cumbersome on an ebook reader.
Nevertheless, thank you for your recommendation. Am I correct in believing the DX is the only reader in it's size category? A pity no one explored that market.
Isn't that old and possibly unsupported? Also, are you recommending it due to its large screen, or because of its ease of readability (page turn, text flow etc)?
As long as we are on the topic of ebooks, anybody know of a good ebook reader for *PDF*? A lot technical stuff that I have is in the form of PDFs, and I was wondering if any body had a good experience reading those on ebook reader.
(E-ink based ebook readers, btw, not one of those Tablet-Reader combos like Nook Colour or iPad or whatever)
Sasayaki! Damn, meeting you here of all places! I knew that name sounded familiar. How is your book sale going?
----
I remember reading about his book on TvTropes[1], and he offered his book free for a day. The problem was, it was not available for my region, according to Amazon's rules. So yeah, even if I *do* want to do something legally, I can't do it!
I don't know if the facts and figures match, but I personally feel most of the piracy happens in the developing countries, who simply *can't* get the item! (Don't consider torrents only, due to lack of reliable internet, most pirated stuff is downloaded once, and then burned onto CDs en masse, which are then sold at cost) Frankly, people here are happy with crappy vga cam rips, some thing hollywood could just let out for free and gain much more revenue on ads.
YMMV, but I feel that if you *have* created a global network, let it *remain* a global network.
Yes, but he has entire board over him, including ex-nokian CEOs and finnish politicians, for oversight, were they asleep? Elop's stance can be guessed, but why did the entire board suddenly change their stance?
Okay, I know bashing Elop is lame, but still, I can't help it, after he became CEO, everything linux or even remotely so is getting canned, shoved or otherwise neglected.
Slashdot Mirror
Nobody said Saudi was Norway :p
Infact the fact that Norway did NOT turn out just either the Gulf (uber rich crazy) or Nigeria (uber rich corrupt) is a miracle that can be laid at the hands of... an Iraqi.
I suggest everybody read this [1] FT article. Psst Canadians, (especially Albertans) you might want to pay special attention.
Don't worry though, the King will dole out yet another "bonus" just like last time, when the Arab spring was at it's height.
(For the curious, I *have* lived in Saudi, and man it's weird. Not the shithole you expect, nor the heaven you would believe, just... weird.)
[1]: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/99680a04-92a0-11de-b63b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz24jiNjYKn
If your country has a rickshaw[1], it can have the airpod.
Both have similar cons; noisy death traps[2] with limited speed, range and capacity. Yet if somehow the rickshaws are in business, they the air car can make sense too[*]. Infact I would actually prefer a rickshaw that runs on air, since it wouldn't pollute everywhere it went!
If Tata will have any sense, the first thing they will do is strip that car of it's european body and crap that system into a typical indian rickshaw, and market it (and price it!) as *that*. Fuel points will prop up on their own (no really, where there is an opportunity to earn or save a rupee, there are a bazillion of us South Asians willing to take advantage of it).
[*]: That's assuming the achievable speed range and capacity are at least 80% of those advertised in the video, I wouldn't blame them for *some* exaggeration in quoting the maximum achievable range, but it should at least match the autorickshaw, which already has modest specs. Also, we don't fear high pressure gas tanks, we routinely ride those around here in the form of CNG car tanks (albeit at 200 bar, IIRC) so it's match made in heaven as far as I am concerned. :P
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_rickshaw
[2]: Just look at them:
http://images.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=679&q=auto+rickshaw&oq=auto+rickshaw&gs_l=img.3..0l10.2380.8441.0.9500.13.9.0.4.4.0.277.1480.4j1j4.9.0...0.0...1ac.MVX6QrmUXGA
You mean like Slashdot? :p
Sometimes phrases, in addition to literal meaning (denotation), also carry a certain connotation, which is often left out in translation.
I presume this was the case here; from what I have read over the blogosphere, "little people" does not carry the same demeaning context in swedish, that you would infer in english.
That's what happens when you translate phrases and idioms from your native tongue directly on to a foreign tongue.
Reminds me of the Finnish Vp of Nokia, who said something about pissing in pants. The finnish phrase he had translated was meant to convey the fact that you can not select temporary benefit that would lead to even worse problems later on.
Nobody got that on, and was one (of the many) nails that lead to his being denied to CEO seat that now Elop has.
Both the US parties (Dem and Rep) need major schisms to break their stronghold, and thus usher in change, may be accompanied by a more democratic electoral system then FPTP.
I recently submitted a story in this issue, Apparently, NYPD's secret dept has been racially profiling people simply for grumbling in Urdu, or visiting a lebanese cafe:
http://slashdot.org/submission/2220419/nypd-official-muslim-spying-by-secret-unit-generated-no-leads-terrorism-cases
No, it sounds like an Iranian name. (Esfahan is a city in Iran, and that surname is quite popular)
Are you perhaps referring to this video by Hank Green?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh6lkv1udb0
Is there any proof of people dead due to wikileaks?
Also, that link contains a PDF on this issue, I am going to quote the relevant bit:
http://helios.hampshire.edu/~sahCS/Hameed-Science-Creationism.pdf
Teaching of Evolution
Although the survey results may point to a dire situation, the reality on the ground is more complicated. Evolutionary biology is included in the high-school curricula of many Muslim countries. In fact, science foundations of 14 Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, and Egypt, recently signed a statement by the Interacademy Panel (IAP, a global network of science academies), in support of the teaching of evolution, including human evolution. In general, however, biology (as is true for all other subjects) is often taught in a highly religious environment.
For example, in Pakistan, where there is no separation of state and religion, the goal of the national biology curriculum for grades 9 to 12 is to “enable the students to appreciate that Allah is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe”, and the textbooks include the relevant Koranic verses on the origin and creation of life. Biology textbooks in Pakistan contain a chapter on evolution, and evolutionary theory is presented as a fact of science. Nevertheless, the epigraph for the evolution chapter in the 12th grade biology textbook is the Koranic verse, “And He is Who had produced you from a
single being” (6:98). Apart from this epigraph, there are no religious references about creation or evolution in the remaining chapter or in suggested questions at the end. Although evolutionary theory is presented as a fact, the IAP statement notwithstanding, human evolution is missing from these textbooks. The follow-up chapters to evolution, instead, emphasize the practical aspects of biology such as health, environment, and biotechnology.
Asghar and Alters recently interviewed 18 science schoolteachersin Pakistani schools located in Karachi and Lahore and
found that all favored using religious explanations about the creation of life, but most presented both scientific and religious perspectives while teaching biological evolution. Most (14 out of 18) accepted, or at least held as possible, the evolution of organisms; but at the same time, 15 out of 18 rejected human evolution. All agreed that there is no contradiction between Islam and science.
Also, relevant, that in Uni (biology majors, doctors etc), where this matters, every one studies evolution without fuss. No one gives a damn, frankly.
Personally, I think that, as long as a physicist uses and teaches g=9.8N (or whatever the hell it was, I had a horrible phy teacher, never made me like that subject), I couldn't give a hoot whether he doesn't believe the *theory* of gravity. Same for evolution.
No Mullah ever objected to a biology test with evolution on it, it's a non issue here* ;p
Here is an interesting link I found on this topic, after some quick Google-fu:
http://www.irtiqa-blog.com/2009/01/creationist-mess-in-texas-and-evolution.html
But I fear many christian religious organisation tell their islamic brethren, "hey we have this in common, support us!" and they, being totally ignorant of the subject, follow like blind sheep, which is really ironic, considering that it's contrary to their *own* religious text, which is comfortable with evolution!
---- :p
*Though frankly, that could be because our mullahs haven't come within a mile** of a biology textbook. As long as the islamic textbooks, and social studies textbooks (and the language textbooks...) are favourable to their random variables, they couldn't give a damn. Physics for heathens only
----
**That in turn is also an exaggeration, contrary to popular belief, there exist (many!) madressah that prepare their students for both regular board exams and religious board exams*** (I imagine they must have massive workload!) but usually, science is just an exam to cram, sadly investment is not made (Tough frankly that true of all schools, secular or religious) to impart proper knowledge. Once exams are over, as with all crammed stuff, the knowledge tends to fade.
But I personally know people that started off in madressahs, passed both regular and religious board exams, and went on to study regular subjects in regular universities (though mostly that liberal art BA stuff, as far as my acquaintances are concerned, so I don't know their attitude about bio)
----
***Wow, footnote fever! Anyway, yeah, we have religious boards, but they are very vigorous, and actually test their students on various aspects of Islamic law, arabic etc. Students who pass these exams are quite knowledgeable and frankly far less extremist in thought. They are usually mild mannered.
The problem comes with madressahs that are *not* affiliated with these boards, and just cram their students with whatever the head mullah feels like. These are the ones who create extremists, since their syllabus is based on "I said so, so it must be true" and mix all sorts of frankly non-islamic cultural crap.
Our glorious dictator Musharraf, during his early "I can fix this!" years, tried to insist all madressah join the boards, but it failed. So yeah, there you have it.
More Info here :p
http://plus.google.com/blergasdf1234thimbleturdorgasm99meatpoopypoopxv9donkeypie
But seriously, in this era of re-discovering and correctly honouring scientists for their hard-work and genius (like Alan Turing is now rightly getting, for example) why is Tesla still languishing? I mean, either, way, it was god-damn American* guy who made the light bulb, who cares which one it was? I think the US govt should buck up and admit they dun goofed, just like the Uk govt did with Turing.
*Wikipedia says he was an american citizen
So reddit is the new Netcraft? :P
That's what I did.
I got a spare plank of wood left over from some cabinet work in the kitchen, square-ish in size and a bit bigger than my back, and plopped it right between me and my cushion. I can adjust it to a vaguely upright position(good for typing), or reclining according to my mood(browsing, watching videos etc), and I am sure my back is mostly straight rather than curving in to the cushion and going all humped.
Oh, and I got a smaller cushion for my neck/head. Make sure their is no neck strain, or it's all pointless.
Alternatively, read this BBC article, they recommend a 120-135 degree angle for a chair:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6187080.stm
There is always React OS :p
I read that once Nikola Tesla almost broke up the earth with his earthquake machine, but he managed to stop it. (seriously who the fuck makes a friggin' earthquake machine?)
Then again, I also read that he had a way of getting free electricity from the clouds or whatever, so I am not sure....
What's the deal with him anyway?
No Electricity AND No coverage! yet Kenyans[1] in those out ward places still use mobile phones, and are better off with them.
****
First, the logistics. The farmers send a boy to the nearest city with electricity and coverage, on a bicycle carrying all their cellphones. He leaves them to charge at one of the various charges stations that have popped up there, which ask for a few cents per charge.
Then the boy can reply to any SMS as per instruction. Also, he carries out M-Pesa[2] transactions and reloads them on their behalf.
He comes back at the end of the day, cellphones charged and loaded, and full of new SMS, which the farmers can read and create replies for.
And then it's a fresh new day, and boy sets off again....
****
Secondly, the reasons. Basically, the cellphone has become combination of a telegram and wallet.
The SMS acts as a telegram, farmer can communicate with market dealers in big cities far more quickly and easily, then they could have if they had to rely on older means, which meant trudging all the over multiple forms of transportation, often just for a minor piece of information.
The other is the mobile wallet. While you folk in the west have been quibbling over how to slice the pie (and we in the east are just to damn stupid to care) Africans just said "Fuck this!", went ahead and created a true, and *simple* mobile wallet solution. Now farmers can send and receive money far more quickly and easily.
The best part of the article[2]:
Ha! In your face suckers! Now try charging 150 to send a 100! (true story, banks here ask a minimum 150 for a bank draft :( )
****
So, in reply to the common refrain of "WAHHH NO ELECTRICITY", I humbly propose that where there is a will, there is a way to find that power source.
I am under no presumption that this is *not* merely and election ploy, or that there won't be massive corruption.
However, if even if one poor soul gets a dumbphone, and that phone saves him the regular commute to a bigger city just to hear "SEND 150 CRATES BY TUESDAY", I think that would a be a job well done
****
If you wish to know more please read this article and watch the videos there in:
http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/02/02/eyes-on-africa-videos-12/
http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/02/03/eyes-on-africa-videos-22/
Lest I be accused of being a Nokia shill, I merely linking because this happens to be a nice collective resource on this issue; you can benefit just as well on a Samsung dumb phone.
Also, IIRC, Chinese crap-phones were selling by the bucket-loads there, since if all you need them is for SMS, they are very cost affective.
****
****
[1]:Not limited to Kenyans of course, this is becoming popular all over Africa and other regions with poor communication.
[2]: "a mobile-phone based money transfer service"; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa
Ah curses, I would have liked that ability too, often you want to browse a question paper and solution together, on a computer you can just switch tabs, I think it becomes a lot more cumbersome on an ebook reader.
Nevertheless, thank you for your recommendation. Am I correct in believing the DX is the only reader in it's size category? A pity no one explored that market.
Isn't that old and possibly unsupported?
Also, are you recommending it due to its large screen, or because of its ease of readability (page turn, text flow etc)?
As long as we are on the topic of ebooks, anybody know of a good ebook reader for *PDF*? A lot technical stuff that I have is in the form of PDFs, and I was wondering if any body had a good experience reading those on ebook reader.
(E-ink based ebook readers, btw, not one of those Tablet-Reader combos like Nook Colour or iPad or whatever)
Sasayaki! Damn, meeting you here of all places! I knew that name sounded familiar. How is your book sale going?
----
I remember reading about his book on TvTropes[1], and he offered his book free for a day. The problem was, it was not available for my region, according to Amazon's rules. So yeah, even if I *do* want to do something legally, I can't do it!
I don't know if the facts and figures match, but I personally feel most of the piracy happens in the developing countries, who simply *can't* get the item! (Don't consider torrents only, due to lack of reliable internet, most pirated stuff is downloaded once, and then burned onto CDs en masse, which are then sold at cost) Frankly, people here are happy with crappy vga cam rips, some thing hollywood could just let out for free and gain much more revenue on ads.
YMMV, but I feel that if you *have* created a global network, let it *remain* a global network.
[1]: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13261689090A06160200
Elop is one guy, there is an entire board over him, they are not ex-MS, they have no excuse...
Yes, but he has entire board over him, including ex-nokian CEOs and finnish politicians, for oversight, were they asleep? Elop's stance can be guessed, but why did the entire board suddenly change their stance?
Okay, I know bashing Elop is lame, but still, I can't help it, after he became CEO, everything linux or even remotely so is getting canned, shoved or otherwise neglected.
I am sad Elop, why you hate open source? :(