Radios are quite normal in North Korea. They are sealed to specific ranges and checked every, I think, 3 months, to prevent people from listening to foreign media.
TV's are also prominent amongst the higher classes of the country. South Korean soap operas are apparently quite popular to watch illegally on imported DVD'
I like how *random hacker group X* is not accountable to anybody.
It offers possibilities for good and bad... all depending on the poltiical agenda of said group
Which only makes it even more incredibly sad that so many hacker groups go for a ridiculous Nationalist-with-a-big-N route.
Chinese, Iranian, Turkish, American, Argentinian, Chilean... fucling pathetic for a subculture that generally prides itself on non-alliance and independence.
Another interpretation could be that this move to hong kong allows the Chinese government to save face. They've been very public about their issues with google's operation in mainland China, while google is far from the biggest player in the market.
The idea of the censorship is not just to totally block access to certain information. Reminding people where the line is drawn (no matter how vaguely) by public shows of power is just as important. Chinese censorship, afaik, is more concerned with the broadcasting side of communication than with the receiving end. It's hard to prevent people from looking for information (see ToR / proxies etc).
It's easier to go after the source ('dissidents') and scare people into not spreading information. Going after google in the state newspaper and on tv etc. is also a way of communicating to the chinese people that 'our rules are still in place'.
Moving to Hong Kong might allow google to continue their service to China, while at the same time the Chinese government can say that it 'won' the discussion and reach its goal of reminding it's public (the Chinese population) about its position on freedom of information / opinion.
If it works out that way it's a pretty smart business move from google, allowing for a way out of the zero-sum game they were in.
So much for Europe being the new frontier for science.
Oh well, I suppose we can always turn the LHC into an expensive underground parking for the Genevans...
500 park jobs per day at a cheap 10dollars an hour... with luck we'll have our money back somewhere around the year 7010...
Because many online / network services won't work outside of IE.
At one of my temp jobs I had to work with a hotel management service that only ran on MS IE (v5, no less)... I had a good laugh when IE got fuxed up by some wonderful bonzibuddy toolbar variant thingy because one of my colleagues had managed to click one too many 'yes' buttons in popup windows.
Then I had to do all the administration by hand and couldn't access the billing system and didn't laugh anymore.
Of course, the day after it was fixed, somebody had installed the google toolbar as if nothing had ever happened./fail
My grandmother, who was going slightly deaf, recently had a very loud radio triggered beeper installed that went off everytime somebody rang the doorbell.
Turned out it worked on the same frequency as the neighbors DIY garage door system:
If he opened his garage, her alarm started ringing.
If somebody rang her doorbell, the neighbors garage door opened.
I changed the frequency for her, but I think I should have explored the pranking possibilities of that set up a bit more.
Seeing how computer-SAS wins partly because of their great food perks, I'm fairly certain army-SAS wouldn't be high on the list.
Some friends of mine are in the (dutch) army, one often in liaison functions, and try tasting foreign MRE's every chance they get.
They tell me British MRE's were some of the worst they ever tried, apart form some ex-soviet countries (pig fat? yum?). Not sure if the SAS ones are better, but I would suspect not.
Japanese and Korean rations are aparantly pretty good.
He is refusing the prizes as a protest against the lack of ethics in the mathematical community. In his mind he believes this demonstrates how he is totally committed to mathematics, and that only.
This is also why I skipped math classes in high school. I could have gotten straight A's... but you know, ethics, man.
Way back when, my highschool actively sponsored a Quake2 tournament in the computer lab during a competitive sports week, in which the maps were all based on the school and some models were based on teachers.
The costs of arming every ship to such a degree that it can protect itself from heavily armed pirates is also pretty high. There's a gazillion ships out there, and you don't know which one they'll hit. The average sailor is also not trained (and probably unwilling) to go into a firefight.
Regular arms are also not a good sollution to the problem. The pirates of course show up unannounced, get on board before anybody can even get their guns out, and take the crew hostage. Guns can't counter that threat effectively.
It might also set off an arms race. Ships arm themselves -> pirates get bigger guns. Nobody wants that.
3 different plug types that don't fit in every type?
What 'the Netherlands' are you living in? In fact, what Europe have you been living in? I understand British people have a hard time understanding Europe, what with their Europhobia and gereral 'island' mindset... but really? Mistaking standardized two-prong plugs for something else?
I've never encountered any other plug than the standardized "Schuko" "Type F" plugs in the Netherlands. You know, the type with two prongs (and sometimes a seperate grounding), which means you can use grounded or ungrounded plugs ons both grounded and ungrounded outlets.... you know,the types that accept any europlug?
Perhaps you've been using 80s-era belgian and french plugs here? Or you've been buying imported electronics?
This seems like a great way of laundering money...
1 - Sue yourself over some bullshit
2 - Pay outlandish fees to lawyer who's in on the deal (on both sides, of course, can't wait for him to object to himself in court)
3 - Make court battle drag on with continuously unearthed 'new evidence'
4 - Keep paying outlandish fees
5 - Settle case with yourself (including ridiculous settlement fee)
6 - Profit!
Or do even better: sue yourself over an issue that allows for tax deduction.
There are probably some details I'm overlooking here, but with some legal loopholery I'm sure this can work.
It is definitely great to see how so many ordinary people are aiding in this effort. It's pretty amazing to see how a wide variety of individuals are coming together to provide other people with the means to create a sense of information freedom.
People sometimes complain about the way in which people are disinterested in their power as democratic civilians... but this whole situation proves the opposite. So many people are providing help or at least vocal support to what's happening in Iran, and most of it is utterly disconnected from governmental systems.
Truly a civil society affair. Political scholars interested in discourse analysis and media studies are jumping up and down right now.
No other profession that I know of is attacked as we software developers are being attacked.
Fuggedahboutit.
You computer nerds got it easy. Me and my cousing Cesare are legitimate garbage disposal business professionals and not a week goes by without the Feds paying us a visit over some cooked up litigational issues.
How's an honest man to make a living disposing of chemical waste with these cacasodos all up in our business?
The problem with this is that N-Korea doesn't just have Kim Jong Il.
Actually, Kim Jong Il is the only thing standing between the world and N-Korea's military hard liners. This latest nuke test is to placate his own national military as much as it is to play nuclear brinkmanship on an international stage.
Kim wants to move his son into a position to follow him once he dies. He also wants to stay in power. To do this, he needs the military to back him. The military is hardcore. Thus, he gives the generals a bomb to toy around with.
Kim actually is the one certainty the world has in dealing with N-Korea. By now we know this guy, we can manage this whole mess with him in place (not solve it, but at least manage it). With Kim gone... who becomes the new leader? Some random admiral intent on chemically bombing Seoul and Tokyo?
Certainty is a great good in international politics, since uncertainty brings volatility and conflict.
This from the same country that lets corrupt corrupt, fraudulent Samsung and Hyundai bosses off with a warning and fines because imprisoning them 'would hurt the national economy'.
I can see somebody getting sent to jail over that...
Scrupleless lawyer-type: 'The suspect looked at pictures of naked underage girls, found with the search parameter Phuc... now if that is not an act of paedophilia, what is, dear jury?'
Old lady on jury: *gasp*
Soccer mom on jury: *faints*
*shocked murmur from public*
Slashdot Mirror
Radios are quite normal in North Korea. They are sealed to specific ranges and checked every, I think, 3 months, to prevent people from listening to foreign media.
TV's are also prominent amongst the higher classes of the country. South Korean soap operas are apparently quite popular to watch illegally on imported DVD'
I like how *random hacker group X* is not accountable to anybody.
It offers possibilities for good and bad... all depending on the poltiical agenda of said group
Which only makes it even more incredibly sad that so many hacker groups go for a ridiculous Nationalist-with-a-big-N route.
Chinese, Iranian, Turkish, American, Argentinian, Chilean... fucling pathetic for a subculture that generally prides itself on non-alliance and independence.
Another interpretation could be that this move to hong kong allows the Chinese government to save face. They've been very public about their issues with google's operation in mainland China, while google is far from the biggest player in the market.
The idea of the censorship is not just to totally block access to certain information. Reminding people where the line is drawn (no matter how vaguely) by public shows of power is just as important. Chinese censorship, afaik, is more concerned with the broadcasting side of communication than with the receiving end. It's hard to prevent people from looking for information (see ToR / proxies etc).
It's easier to go after the source ('dissidents') and scare people into not spreading information. Going after google in the state newspaper and on tv etc. is also a way of communicating to the chinese people that 'our rules are still in place'.
Moving to Hong Kong might allow google to continue their service to China, while at the same time the Chinese government can say that it 'won' the discussion and reach its goal of reminding it's public (the Chinese population) about its position on freedom of information / opinion.
If it works out that way it's a pretty smart business move from google, allowing for a way out of the zero-sum game they were in.
Science?! Screw science! You mean sports!
Become Lunar Boxing Heavy Weight Champion by punching an opponent into orbit!
Epic!
So much for Europe being the new frontier for science.
Oh well, I suppose we can always turn the LHC into an expensive underground parking for the Genevans...
500 park jobs per day at a cheap 10dollars an hour... with luck we'll have our money back somewhere around the year 7010...
WHY DO PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES STILL USE IE?
Because many online / network services won't work outside of IE. /fail
At one of my temp jobs I had to work with a hotel management service that only ran on MS IE (v5, no less)... I had a good laugh when IE got fuxed up by some wonderful bonzibuddy toolbar variant thingy because one of my colleagues had managed to click one too many 'yes' buttons in popup windows.
Then I had to do all the administration by hand and couldn't access the billing system and didn't laugh anymore.
Of course, the day after it was fixed, somebody had installed the google toolbar as if nothing had ever happened.
A redirected URL even. /suicide
My grandmother, who was going slightly deaf, recently had a very loud radio triggered beeper installed that went off everytime somebody rang the doorbell.
Turned out it worked on the same frequency as the neighbors DIY garage door system:
If he opened his garage, her alarm started ringing.
If somebody rang her doorbell, the neighbors garage door opened.
I changed the frequency for her, but I think I should have explored the pranking possibilities of that set up a bit more.
Seeing how computer-SAS wins partly because of their great food perks, I'm fairly certain army-SAS wouldn't be high on the list.
Some friends of mine are in the (dutch) army, one often in liaison functions, and try tasting foreign MRE's every chance they get.
They tell me British MRE's were some of the worst they ever tried, apart form some ex-soviet countries (pig fat? yum?). Not sure if the SAS ones are better, but I would suspect not.
Japanese and Korean rations are aparantly pretty good.
He is refusing the prizes as a protest against the lack of ethics in the mathematical community. In his mind he believes this demonstrates how he is totally committed to mathematics, and that only.
This is also why I skipped math classes in high school.
I could have gotten straight A's... but you know, ethics, man.
I can't wait for the 'LATTE MOCHA' fork.
Way back when, my highschool actively sponsored a Quake2 tournament in the computer lab during a competitive sports week, in which the maps were all based on the school and some models were based on teachers.
It was fun.
The costs of arming every ship to such a degree that it can protect itself from heavily armed pirates is also pretty high. There's a gazillion ships out there, and you don't know which one they'll hit. The average sailor is also not trained (and probably unwilling) to go into a firefight.
Regular arms are also not a good sollution to the problem. The pirates of course show up unannounced, get on board before anybody can even get their guns out, and take the crew hostage. Guns can't counter that threat effectively.
It might also set off an arms race. Ships arm themselves -> pirates get bigger guns. Nobody wants that.
3 different plug types that don't fit in every type?
What 'the Netherlands' are you living in? In fact, what Europe have you been living in? I understand British people have a hard time understanding Europe, what with their Europhobia and gereral 'island' mindset... but really? Mistaking standardized two-prong plugs for something else?
I've never encountered any other plug than the standardized "Schuko" "Type F" plugs in the Netherlands. You know, the type with two prongs (and sometimes a seperate grounding), which means you can use grounded or ungrounded plugs ons both grounded and ungrounded outlets.... you know,the types that accept any europlug?
Perhaps you've been using 80s-era belgian and french plugs here? Or you've been buying imported electronics?
Ack.That was me. Hate it when I forget to log in =___=
You're wrong. They're not just the Japanese. They're AT LEAST 'Japanese Reactionaries', but preferably 'Militarist Reactionary Confrontationist Japanese Ruling Forces', whose 'confrontational hysteria reveals their militarist disposition and ambition to swallow up the DPRK at any cost, without flinching even if they fail to do so'.
Following the KCNA is great fun.
How about a script that senses when somebody is drunk typing? Now THAT would be hella useful to lots of people, haha.
This seems like a great way of laundering money...
1 - Sue yourself over some bullshit
2 - Pay outlandish fees to lawyer who's in on the deal (on both sides, of course, can't wait for him to object to himself in court)
3 - Make court battle drag on with continuously unearthed 'new evidence'
4 - Keep paying outlandish fees
5 - Settle case with yourself (including ridiculous settlement fee)
6 - Profit!
Or do even better: sue yourself over an issue that allows for tax deduction.
There are probably some details I'm overlooking here, but with some legal loopholery I'm sure this can work.
It is definitely great to see how so many ordinary people are aiding in this effort. It's pretty amazing to see how a wide variety of individuals are coming together to provide other people with the means to create a sense of information freedom. People sometimes complain about the way in which people are disinterested in their power as democratic civilians... but this whole situation proves the opposite. So many people are providing help or at least vocal support to what's happening in Iran, and most of it is utterly disconnected from governmental systems. Truly a civil society affair. Political scholars interested in discourse analysis and media studies are jumping up and down right now.
I can't wait for the Chinese to start probing Uranus.
Harharhar.
No other profession that I know of is attacked as we software developers are being attacked.
Fuggedahboutit.
You computer nerds got it easy. Me and my cousing Cesare are legitimate garbage disposal business professionals and not a week goes by without the Feds paying us a visit over some cooked up litigational issues.
How's an honest man to make a living disposing of chemical waste with these cacasodos all up in our business?
The problem with this is that N-Korea doesn't just have Kim Jong Il.
Actually, Kim Jong Il is the only thing standing between the world and N-Korea's military hard liners. This latest nuke test is to placate his own national military as much as it is to play nuclear brinkmanship on an international stage.
Kim wants to move his son into a position to follow him once he dies. He also wants to stay in power. To do this, he needs the military to back him. The military is hardcore. Thus, he gives the generals a bomb to toy around with.
Kim actually is the one certainty the world has in dealing with N-Korea. By now we know this guy, we can manage this whole mess with him in place (not solve it, but at least manage it). With Kim gone... who becomes the new leader? Some random admiral intent on chemically bombing Seoul and Tokyo?
Certainty is a great good in international politics, since uncertainty brings volatility and conflict.
This from the same country that lets corrupt corrupt, fraudulent Samsung and Hyundai bosses off with a warning and fines because imprisoning them 'would hurt the national economy'.
The cake is a lie :(
I can see somebody getting sent to jail over that...
Scrupleless lawyer-type: 'The suspect looked at pictures of naked underage girls, found with the search parameter Phuc... now if that is not an act of paedophilia, what is, dear jury?'
Old lady on jury: *gasp*
Soccer mom on jury: *faints*
*shocked murmur from public*
3 minute deliberation ---> Guilty verdict