Criteria 1 is more complicated than you make it sound. Marketing isn't just about catering to people's personal interests, it is about creating them. I think you would be surprised how many of what you call personal interestes are actually created by marketing starting at a very young age. Can you really know what interests are your own original desires and which have been implanted there by years of exposure to marketing?
Also, what if there are 5 brands that all match your criteria?
Unmotivated? Materialistic consumerism got you down? Try Paxil today!
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I guess that depends on which Huxley book you are referring to. Seems to me that I would rather like an "Island" society. OF course, I wouldn't like it to end the way "Island" does, but you get the idea.
I am normally one to pooh pooh hydrogen as a solution, but you make a good case. I like hydrogen for small applications such as this. It is very easy to make on small scales and the energy loss due to inefficiencis is not significant given the small quantities involved. Of course, those inefficiencies could add up if hydroden is used for more and more devices, but that would have to play out. People might see their electricity bills getting a little high.
Surprisingly, Sony's answer, the smaller PS2 doesn't even have a hard drive. I guess this means they're not seriously pushing the PS2 as an entertainment appliance.
I wouldn't go as far as to say that it includes other people. Do you dream of what some guy across the city childern future is?
Yeah. Believe it or not, some people DO care about the welfare of others. I know I do. And no, that doesn't make me a communist.
To say that everyone should have a better future isn't the American Dream, its more, IMHO, of the Communist Dream.
The American Dream is that everyone should have the opportunity for a better life. The Communist Dream is for a classless society where people work in harmony.
Work on military products is normally kept domestic because it's not good for security to be dependent on services from another country. It's also not politically desirable, since weapons systems are "sold" through the pork they bring to various states.
But the military is a dead end, economically. It simply takes taxes and funnels it directly back to large defense contractors with no real socially useful product except tools of war and aggression. You say that our miiltary is only 6% of our GNP, but how much of our taxes? Look it up. The number is enormous compared to other industrialized nations.
I think our problems with education are less with resources than with our educational bureaucracy. Spending more money doesn't necessarily mean quality. Good management can bring quality to financially starved institutions. Our problem is bad management and only significant reform on the local level will fix it.
There are many, many schools that are terribly underfunded. And it isn't just the inner city schools either. We need to change the way they are funded. And yes, many of them do need more resources.
The sad fact is that we've become fat and lazy. I think there will come a time when we will simply have to relinquish our superpower status. Hopefully we can accept our new place in the world without resorting to increased violence. Then we can address our weaknesses and come back stronger than ever.
The thing that we can't outsource as readily is innovation. We basically need to change into a nation of inventors, since that's really the only position left. We need to constantly pump out new ideas, and take the credit for them while someone else implements said idea for cheap.
And we are losing on this front as well. One word: Japan. It comes down to the quality of basic education. The US has been behind for some time. It is about time we start feeling the long term effects. The US is no longer a big fish in a small pond. The pond is getting much, much larger and our weaknesses are starting to show.
I would recommend that you check out Tommy Franks' book American Soldier. Get to know military people a little better. They're not devils; they are people doing the best they can at a very difficult job. And over seventy percent of them are supporting George W Bush for re-election, because they believe what they're doing is right. I'm not asking for you to agree with them, but you should check out their side and understand that they are not cardboard cutout people.
I dont' mean to suggest that the people in the military are bad people. I have cousins and an Uncle serving in Iraq and Afganistan as we speak. I'm talking about the people who ordered them into battle when I say "hawks and war mongers."
If you're looking for domestic entry level programming that's going to stay here, I'd say the military's not a bad place to start; outsourcing is prevented by security considerations.
Security considerations, like what? Are terrorists causing outsourcing? I don't think so. Was Saddam taking our jobs? No.
And if your domestic improvements are various subsidies and added government fat, that will just ensure that we become less effective than ever.
Whatever it takes to imcrease the quality of basic education in this country, that is what I suggest. I can't see how adding fat the military is any better than adding it to government.
So how do we compete? I don't know, but I don't think cutting our military (which is only about 6% of GNP) is going to help. The root problem is our cost of living, and I have no idea how to lower it.
Only 6% of the GNP, but how much of our taxes? ANd how does that compare to other industrialized nations.
No, I'm pretty sure the source of the problem goes a lot deeper than that. The fact is that childhood education in the US has been substandard for a long time now. It is about right that we start feeling the long term effects now. If HR departments are doing what you say, I'd at least partially atribute it to poor education. Early education isn't just about reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is about dicipline and teaching kids to think for themselves.. how to solve problems and make decisions. Maybe I am a little biased living in the city of Chicago where public education is particularly bad, but still..
Software is different because it is "white collar." People who have these jobs are in a much better position to become upwardly mobile. They have education. They get real experience, become managers, and start their own businesses. The US is really falling behind.
I think you hit the nail right on the head except that I think the problem may go a little deeper. That is, junior programming is not the bottom rung. Look at the quality of public education in this country. It is almost impossible to find quality employees these days. People don't have the most basic skills. Most people in IT in the US are friekin' halfwits. I don't think outsourcing is just about money. I think in many cases you can get better employees overseas... more well rounded programmers..
Yeah, we still have great universities, but what percentage of the big universities are being filled by foreigners? (I don't mean "foreigners" in a racist sort of way). They learn here and take it home with them. Yeah, a lot of them stay, but a lot of them bring the education home.
Some of the first white colar jobs to go are programming because it is very easy to export. But once places like India get a large software industry going and have more experience, they will inevitably want to diversify into other industries. It is sad, but I think the US will cease to be a superpower in an economic and academic sense in the next few decades. We're just falling behind at an alarming rate. Our increased reliance on military might is a dead giveaway. My only hope is that we can get the hawks and war mongers out of office and make some real domestic improvements. I don't want the USA to maintain status by holding the rest of the world at gunpoint. That is not the country I have grown to love.
Think about it for a bit and you should come to realize it is foolish to say you can't be bought.
I think about this kind of stuff all the time.
A man tells me that kind of thing . . . I'm the type of person that will find a way to get him to do it for free. So while you claim (later on in the thread) that threats to friends and family is outside the scope of this discussion, in reality it is not. For the sake if those you love, it's about time you set a price for everything.
I'm sorry, I don't know what you are talking about. Are you threatening me?
How did I know you were going to quote Nietzsche? I can assure you, my sense of ethics is mine and mine alone. Nietzsche did not discourage morality as a whole, but rather the common, dogmatic morality such as one might find in the major religions. Nietzsche wanted to go beyond morality, not discard it. This is part of the "higher man."
Nietsche is very easily misunderstood. Do not let your misunderstanding of him draw you into the trap of solipsism and cynicism.
Yeah, i dunno. I guess you'd have to calculate if it is even worth it. Electricity is a much more valuable form of energy than a chemical fuel. You'd probably be better off using solar cells. Of course, that has cost problems too...
Threating me (or a loved one) with harm is a different story and is beyond the scope of this thread. It isn't sad that most people would succumb to threats. It is sad that some people would make threats in order that their will be done.
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Also, what if there are 5 brands that all match your criteria?
-matthew
Unmotivated? Materialistic consumerism got you down? Try Paxil today!
Disclamer: May cause abdominal discomfort, decreased sexual functioning. May steal your girlfriend and key your car. Paxil is not right for everyone. Ask your dealer^H^H^H^H^Hdoctor if Paxil is right for you.
Oh wait. You probably meant Thomas Huxley.. not Aldous Huxley. Yeah, a Huxleyan future would suck.
I guess that depends on which Huxley book you are referring to. Seems to me that I would rather like an "Island" society. OF course, I wouldn't like it to end the way "Island" does, but you get the idea.
-matthew
I am normally one to pooh pooh hydrogen as a solution, but you make a good case. I like hydrogen for small applications such as this. It is very easy to make on small scales and the energy loss due to inefficiencis is not significant given the small quantities involved. Of course, those inefficiencies could add up if hydroden is used for more and more devices, but that would have to play out. People might see their electricity bills getting a little high.
-matthew
Sony's answer is the PSX.
-matthew
Same with the Microsoft solution, AFAIK.
Yeah. Believe it or not, some people DO care about the welfare of others. I know I do. And no, that doesn't make me a communist.
To say that everyone should have a better future isn't the American Dream, its more, IMHO, of the Communist Dream.
The American Dream is that everyone should have the opportunity for a better life. The Communist Dream is for a classless society where people work in harmony.
-matthew
Don't all software EULA's basically say "use at your own risk?"
But the military is a dead end, economically. It simply takes taxes and funnels it directly back to large defense contractors with no real socially useful product except tools of war and aggression. You say that our miiltary is only 6% of our GNP, but how much of our taxes? Look it up. The number is enormous compared to other industrialized nations.
I think our problems with education are less with resources than with our educational bureaucracy. Spending more money doesn't necessarily mean quality. Good management can bring quality to financially starved institutions. Our problem is bad management and only significant reform on the local level will fix it.
There are many, many schools that are terribly underfunded. And it isn't just the inner city schools either. We need to change the way they are funded. And yes, many of them do need more resources.
-matthew -matthew
Indeed, we are far from being an enlightened society.
-matthew
The sad fact is that we've become fat and lazy. I think there will come a time when we will simply have to relinquish our superpower status. Hopefully we can accept our new place in the world without resorting to increased violence. Then we can address our weaknesses and come back stronger than ever.
And we are losing on this front as well. One word: Japan. It comes down to the quality of basic education. The US has been behind for some time. It is about time we start feeling the long term effects. The US is no longer a big fish in a small pond. The pond is getting much, much larger and our weaknesses are starting to show.
-matthew
I dont' mean to suggest that the people in the military are bad people. I have cousins and an Uncle serving in Iraq and Afganistan as we speak. I'm talking about the people who ordered them into battle when I say "hawks and war mongers."
If you're looking for domestic entry level programming that's going to stay here, I'd say the military's not a bad place to start; outsourcing is prevented by security considerations.
Security considerations, like what? Are terrorists causing outsourcing? I don't think so. Was Saddam taking our jobs? No.
And if your domestic improvements are various subsidies and added government fat, that will just ensure that we become less effective than ever.
Whatever it takes to imcrease the quality of basic education in this country, that is what I suggest. I can't see how adding fat the military is any better than adding it to government.
So how do we compete? I don't know, but I don't think cutting our military (which is only about 6% of GNP) is going to help. The root problem is our cost of living, and I have no idea how to lower it.
Only 6% of the GNP, but how much of our taxes? ANd how does that compare to other industrialized nations.
No, I'm pretty sure the source of the problem goes a lot deeper than that. The fact is that childhood education in the US has been substandard for a long time now. It is about right that we start feeling the long term effects now. If HR departments are doing what you say, I'd at least partially atribute it to poor education. Early education isn't just about reading, writing, and arithmetic. It is about dicipline and teaching kids to think for themselves.. how to solve problems and make decisions. Maybe I am a little biased living in the city of Chicago where public education is particularly bad, but still..
Software is different because it is "white collar." People who have these jobs are in a much better position to become upwardly mobile. They have education. They get real experience, become managers, and start their own businesses. The US is really falling behind.
Yeah, we still have great universities, but what percentage of the big universities are being filled by foreigners? (I don't mean "foreigners" in a racist sort of way). They learn here and take it home with them. Yeah, a lot of them stay, but a lot of them bring the education home.
Some of the first white colar jobs to go are programming because it is very easy to export. But once places like India get a large software industry going and have more experience, they will inevitably want to diversify into other industries. It is sad, but I think the US will cease to be a superpower in an economic and academic sense in the next few decades. We're just falling behind at an alarming rate. Our increased reliance on military might is a dead giveaway. My only hope is that we can get the hawks and war mongers out of office and make some real domestic improvements. I don't want the USA to maintain status by holding the rest of the world at gunpoint. That is not the country I have grown to love.
-matthew
I think about this kind of stuff all the time.
A man tells me that kind of thing . . . I'm the type of person that will find a way to get him to do it for free. So while you claim (later on in the thread) that threats to friends and family is outside the scope of this discussion, in reality it is not. For the sake if those you love, it's about time you set a price for everything.
I'm sorry, I don't know what you are talking about. Are you threatening me?
-matthew
Nietsche is very easily misunderstood. Do not let your misunderstanding of him draw you into the trap of solipsism and cynicism.
-matthew
Well, there is no shortage of CO2. Using the output from this special generator would seem quite unnecessary.
Only if you are in sales, advertising, or marketing.
Hint: It helps to work for a smaller company.
-matthew
You should be careful about projecting your own moral deficiencies onto others. They might just accept it.
Yeah, i dunno. I guess you'd have to calculate if it is even worth it. Electricity is a much more valuable form of energy than a chemical fuel. You'd probably be better off using solar cells. Of course, that has cost problems too...
Umm, you still need an energy source for that. It is not like CO2 is a rare commodity.
Threating me (or a loved one) with harm is a different story and is beyond the scope of this thread. It isn't sad that most people would succumb to threats. It is sad that some people would make threats in order that their will be done.