Having gone through multiple health care systems from 100% private to 100% public, let me say that you will not get a cheaper rate from private health care because it is not in their interest.
1) To have a free market is to make money (not saying this is bad), but reality is that you can't make money with health care. Fixing a broken bone can be made profitable because it is a known science. Fixing a disease is not profitable and costs quite a bit of money. In your proposal where people "save" the money, ha! Diseases are a loss!
2) In a private system there still would be paperwork. Paperwork exists to create accountability! In a private system people will want accountability.
As much as I like free markets, health care and free market do not go together. Healthcare is a societal issue because health care from a profitability factor is a money looser. Healthcare is not like a car insurance. With a car you can try and avoid an accident, you can stop speeding. Accidents do happen, but there are ways to reduce them. Car accidents are human errors! Diseases on the other happen and there is nothing we can do to avoid them. They are a fact of life. You can diet, excercise, and lead a healthy lifestyle, but you can still be hit with cancer or some other disease! You can try to avoid them, but they will always hit you!
Patents seem to have backfired, but I would debate the point that copyrights have backfired. If you are saying that the RIAA is draconian with its copyright. Fine so be it, I wont argue with that. DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM the RIAA. I am amazed at how people like sheep continue buying records, etc. These days there is more than enough choice. The problem is that one has get off their butt and find that choice.
The problem with patents is that one entity controls access to the source. Whereas copyright controls access to the interpretation of the source. Don't like the interpretation? Get another source, as copyright allows that, but not patents. I would even say with copyright we have an industry in books, music, art, whatever you can think of.
My wife is about as Quebec as Quebec gets. Her family on both sides of the three has been in Quebec for about 350 years. And in the region for about 150 years! Yet my wife has adapted and moved forward.
>Maybe you resent us because you think we hate you.
Ehhh.... well having lived in a very French Quebec areas, yeah they do hate English Canadians. When I was dating my wife I played pool in a room of French Canadians. About a third could speak English. Do you think they spoke to me in English? NOT A CHANCE! I ignored it and learned to speak French. Once I could speak French semi-fluently they would speak English to me. Go figure, eh! However, living in Europe I am thankful for what they did as French is good to have...
The problem as I see it with Quebec is that heritage is good, but it is not an means to an ends...
Ok dude... Just because the English tried to eradicate the French 300 years ago does not mean everybody is out to get you! I have lived in Quebec, married a Quebecer, and now live in Europe, in a small country that has managed to live quite well with four languages (Switzerland).
The Quebec people need to take a downer! And Quebecers need to realize that the union they seek a'la EU would actually take away rights that they have now. The EU looks like a rag-tag bunch of countries, but in fact there are many common laws and rights. You just don't hear about it. If you want to know about the EU common laws ask a Brit and they will cry you a river of regulations.
Now about being outnumbered and being flooded. Oh give me a break that is an overused argument. In Europe there are countries that have less people than Quebec (Luxembourg) and yet have no problem in keep their culture and identity.
The problem that I see with Quebec is that they have a chip on their shoulder and keep feeling sorry for themselves. They need to get over it. For example, we all know how the French of France are "Vive la France". Yet when there is a stop sign in France it says... STOP... What does a stop sign say in Quebec? Hmmm, could it be stop? No that would be too easy. It says Arret, which is stop in French. Right there you see that Quebec has a chip on its shoulder.
I hope you realize that the reason why "WE" were nice to you is because you are a t'horist's with money! You see Quebec don't care about t'horist's, I know I am married to one. I am sure you would not say the same thing if you actually LIVED here...
Would you say the same thing, if I told you that it meant the GPL became unenforceable? It would mean people could take Open Source and do whatever they want with it. They could tweak it, modify it and then sell it. Of course because copyright did not exist it would mean the binary could be copied. But wait, what if we used DRM to control access? Hmmm....
You think the Chinese company is not making a profit? And you would rather give management and CEO an excuse for their ten's of millions of dollars income? Remember that many of of these CEO's and managers increase profitability by charging the same darn price, firing the people who make it locally, and outsource to China!
Recently I had to buy a microwave. I saw two microwaves that were of interest to me. One was from Whirlpool and the other a no-name brand from China. The Chinese was 2/3 of the price of Whirlpool. I looked at both and asked what the difference was. The salesperson pointed out one was from a Chinese manufacturer and the other from Whirlpool. I looked closely at where the Whirlpool was made. Guess what, China!
I am willing to pay a premium for those devices made in my country, even if only assembly. However, I am under no circumstances willing to subsidize the efforts of management that fires tens-of-thousands of people in a bid to increase share-holder-value.
Being a German who speaks three languages let me say that there is plenty wrong with the German language. Any text that I write in English is about 25% longer in German.
It is not that German cannot be improved upon. I have seen a few books written in a popular style (eg Gabor Steingart) that is similar to English. When German is written in a popular style it is shorter and much easier to read and digest.
About the der, die, das, well that is gender like another poster said and my wife struggles with it all the time. Is there a logic? About as much logic as there is in English or French... It makes sense to the native speakers who were born in the language, but baffles those who have to learn the language.
It is a completely identical machine, HD size and speed, Screen, RAM, Graphic RAM. What I noticed with respect to pricing is that Apple charges a premium for their extras, and a premium for their extended warranty. Put all of that together and you get a 1/3 premium. I went through this when I wanted to buy a new Apple. I ended up with the Dell because I could not justify the extras.
1) Regarding the 60% premium well not really... For example I have a G4 notebook. I doubt I would get a 60% for my 2 year old.
2) About better quality parts? http://www.devspace.com/?p=167 is a comparison of *identically* configured notebooks. The Apple has a 1/3 premium. It is not insignificant, and that is why I moved away from Apple. I cannot justify the premium, nor do I want to. Additionally, I have had three Dells with no problem. I bought my Apple and in the first year the motherboard needed to be replaced. Granted Apple did it for free, but the point is that Apple needed to replace it. With respect to quality I find (having gone through a dozen notebooks in the past decade) every company has good ones and lemons.
3) Stability? Well OSX, Linux, and Windows these days are all plagued by the same bugs (not viri). For example network stalling, USB device plug in and plug out, and so on. Whoever says that one is more stable than the other is spreading FUD! My experience is that they are equal.
I do like OSX, but what REALLY bothers me is the price premium that I cannot justify. I think if anything that will stop Apple from getting above a certain marketshare.
4) It is not 48 hours up-to-speed for OSX. Like yourself I was pretty fast up to speed. But then again I am assuming both of us are computer power users. My sister who switched from Windows to OSX required a few weeks. The problem that she found in OSX is that it is nice and friendly, but it does not do not things like Windows. She was not knocking OSX, just that it required some extra time to figure out. Having said that, my sister is quite happy with OSX and finds it "cleaner".
No kidding! Like yourself I have been very careful about exposing my PC and (touch wood) have not been hit by a virus for about the same amount of time as yourself. I just bought a brand new Dell and I can't believe the garbage that is installed. It took me an hour just to uninstall and delete the garbage software I did not want! The hackers are not the problem (ok they are), but software companies are just as much of a problem.
This article reminds me of German. You have a sentence and about 3/4 of the sentence is a build up to the end of the sentence. Sort of like saying "The answer is 2*34-28+2, 42", instead of saying, "The answer is 42". This is why I labor trying to read any German book!!
Considering I wrote a book entitled Ajax Patterns and Best Practices the mistake made by many is the fact that Ajax is not about extending the current Web paradigm. Ajax when done properly includes REST, Web Services and a decoupled architectured. This means the client is not dependent on the server and vice versa. Granted the client makes Web Service calls, but the client does not know the technology used to implement the Web Service.
What makes me laugh about many vendors in contrast to the community is that they simply don't get it. Microsoft and co think Ajax is a "style" of programming by extending and locking the client to the server. This is plain simply wrong, wrong, wrong!
Now to address to your questions:
1) First Ajax does not require XML, but relies on the Permutations pattern. The Permutations pattern is a REST style web service that says the content sent and received by the client and server depends on the needs of the client. That might be JavaScript, XML, bitmap images or even HTML.
2) Coding a front end in JavaScript is not a problem. Coding everything with JavaScript is a problem. Just like coding everything with Java is a problem. Writing a good Ajax applications means creating a client that calls a server using Web Services.
3) To address your problem you use the Infinite Data pattern that uses callbacks that sends data to the client as it received.
Again, part of the problem is that many are considering Ajax as an extension of the current Web Paradigm. Ajax is not that. Ajax is a SOA client that makes Web Service calls. Granted I will give you that companies like Microsoft confuse the issue by creating stuff that completely breaks REST, and Ajax design concepts.
If you want more information feel free to check out my site http://www.devspace.com/ as I have some prototype implementations of the Ajax and REST patterns that I was talking about (inc source), and look at the Ajax QA. And if you have any further questions just send me an email and I will be more than happy to answer your questions.
Exactly... Living in Switzerland Google Earth, or Maps is a toy compared to map.search.ch. For those that live in Switzerland it is absolutely indispensible. You can figure out the latest public transportation schedules, parking lot count, restaurants, etc, etc...
I agree with you wrt to other media such as movies. Where I would disagree is pop music, I think more appropriate would be rap. Again, I am not saying "video games = shooting spree", but I do think the attitude among many that video games have NO effect is wrong!
I would say movies give the ideas, video games let you live out the ideas virtually, and then well the next step is... Not for everybody I say, but for some...
Sorry to break your bubble here dude, but welcome to the rest of the world! How many young people do you think own houses in Japan? Here in Europe the minority owns their own houses. What is happening in the US is what has been happening in the rest of the world. Too little space too many people. Simple capitalism of supply and demand!
I am not going to say "video game = go on killing spree". However, what I am going to say is that when I went to high school in early to late 80's the idea of gun violence did not cross our mind. I do realize that not all high schools are equal and that some gun violence did exist.
However, what disturbs me about many youth is that they do not think twice about getting a hand gun. I grew up in the country or cottage country to be exact and guns were common things. Though guns were used to go hunting for bear, deer or moose. I can't remember anybody in my circle in friends saying, "Hey look at this hand gun". It was more like, "Hey did you see the bear I shot!"
What I want to say is that I think we should consider the message we are saying with shooter and violent games. I am not so sure it is totally innocent!
Western countries like to meddle. Name the country (England, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, etc) and they meddled. However, to use your example of meddling think South America! The West constantly meddles in South America! Yet do we see them burning down embassies? How about terrorist attacks? Considering how much we meddle in South America I am surprised not more has occured.
Even though many in South America have an axe to grind with the US, they still buy the jeans, computers, and hamburgers! I think there is an attitude difference!
"I am a computer programmer. I make computing devices do what I want. I will use any tool at my disposal, to hell with my employer's proposed "beneficial" restrictions."
This is why we have we mess that we have now! If you were an engineer and machinist you would be screaming bloody murder! About 20 years ago the car industry had the problem where they had 20,000 parts that were unique to a car. When a new model was introduced there were 20,000 more parts unique to the car! All of these unique parts were wrecking havoc on car design, and maintenance.
If any of you remember the K-Car from Chrysler it was the first attempt in the car industry to share parts (Oh the horror!;) ). It worked and brought Chrysler back from the brink. From that point the car industry understood standardization needs to happen. Now we even see standardization of major parts across car manufacturers. And yes standardizing on one screwdriver is part of it!
As much as I would like to agree with you, I think he has a case for one reason...
In the early days headphones sat on the side of your head and let in other noise. However, with the IPod ear buds fit 100% percent into your ear. This means you get music and only music. I saw a news article in German that said because the ear buds fit tightly and do not let other noise in you are subject to the noise of the ear buds.
The short and curly of it. Even if you put the noise level REALLY low you could get hearing impaired...
The problem I see in this entire strategy is that it is missing the point.
1) Cellphones require power, the 100$ computer can be crank powered. Don't underestimate the power of the crank. In fact I would buy such notebook if it meant I could read my ebooks whenever wherever! 2) The Microsoft idea requires infrastructure (cell phone, TV, and keyboard). The 100$ computer is an all in one that automatically networks. Here is a question. How many people actually exchange files using a cellphone? very few. How many people exchange files using wireless networking? 3) As much as we would like to say everyone everywhere will have a cell phone that is just plain ignorant. While in Europe there is nearly 100% coverage, vast places have other problems. Ask somebody who lives in the plains if they can get cell phone coverage or DSL? 4) The 100$ computer is more akin to Steve Jobs (simplicity elegance) than Bill Gates (complexity features). The idea with the 100$ computer is to do the expected things rather well.
What gets me with this Microsoft strategy is that it seems to be a knee jerk "me-too". If Microsoft really wanted to help, then they would fire Bill Gates and let Bill with his wife Belinda work in their foundation 100%. Frankly, I see more help coming from that direction than his "cheap cell phone" idea.
Is this an undermining of copyright? I think not. In the article the following paragraph says it all.
"Legal music downloading sites such as Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes have French-language sites, as do major music companies such as Vivendi Universal SA. Last night's amendment would allow someone having bought a song from one of those sites to share it with family or friends."
I still think that general peer to peer networks a'la Kaaza would be in hot water. What I think the law is trying to get at is the stopping of the draconian DRM law that takes away fair use. Many of the online music shops have music that only certain computers can run. This law addon says, "Hey you bought, you can share it like you would a CD among family and friends".
Slashdot Mirror
Having gone through multiple health care systems from 100% private to 100% public, let me say that you will not get a cheaper rate from private health care because it is not in their interest.
1) To have a free market is to make money (not saying this is bad), but reality is that you can't make money with health care. Fixing a broken bone can be made profitable because it is a known science. Fixing a disease is not profitable and costs quite a bit of money. In your proposal where people "save" the money, ha! Diseases are a loss!
2) In a private system there still would be paperwork. Paperwork exists to create accountability! In a private system people will want accountability.
As much as I like free markets, health care and free market do not go together. Healthcare is a societal issue because health care from a profitability factor is a money looser. Healthcare is not like a car insurance. With a car you can try and avoid an accident, you can stop speeding. Accidents do happen, but there are ways to reduce them. Car accidents are human errors! Diseases on the other happen and there is nothing we can do to avoid them. They are a fact of life. You can diet, excercise, and lead a healthy lifestyle, but you can still be hit with cancer or some other disease! You can try to avoid them, but they will always hit you!
Patents seem to have backfired, but I would debate the point that copyrights have backfired. If you are saying that the RIAA is draconian with its copyright. Fine so be it, I wont argue with that. DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM the RIAA. I am amazed at how people like sheep continue buying records, etc. These days there is more than enough choice. The problem is that one has get off their butt and find that choice.
The problem with patents is that one entity controls access to the source. Whereas copyright controls access to the interpretation of the source. Don't like the interpretation? Get another source, as copyright allows that, but not patents. I would even say with copyright we have an industry in books, music, art, whatever you can think of.
thats funny....
My wife is about as Quebec as Quebec gets. Her family on both sides of the three has been in Quebec for about 350 years. And in the region for about 150 years! Yet my wife has adapted and moved forward.
>Maybe you resent us because you think we hate you.
Ehhh.... well having lived in a very French Quebec areas, yeah they do hate English Canadians. When I was dating my wife I played pool in a room of French Canadians. About a third could speak English. Do you think they spoke to me in English? NOT A CHANCE! I ignored it and learned to speak French. Once I could speak French semi-fluently they would speak English to me. Go figure, eh! However, living in Europe I am thankful for what they did as French is good to have...
The problem as I see it with Quebec is that heritage is good, but it is not an means to an ends...
Ok dude... Just because the English tried to eradicate the French 300 years ago does not mean everybody is out to get you! I have lived in Quebec, married a Quebecer, and now live in Europe, in a small country that has managed to live quite well with four languages (Switzerland).
... STOP ... What does a stop sign say in Quebec? Hmmm, could it be stop? No that would be too easy. It says Arret, which is stop in French. Right there you see that Quebec has a chip on its shoulder.
The Quebec people need to take a downer! And Quebecers need to realize that the union they seek a'la EU would actually take away rights that they have now. The EU looks like a rag-tag bunch of countries, but in fact there are many common laws and rights. You just don't hear about it. If you want to know about the EU common laws ask a Brit and they will cry you a river of regulations.
Now about being outnumbered and being flooded. Oh give me a break that is an overused argument. In Europe there are countries that have less people than Quebec (Luxembourg) and yet have no problem in keep their culture and identity.
The problem that I see with Quebec is that they have a chip on their shoulder and keep feeling sorry for themselves. They need to get over it. For example, we all know how the French of France are "Vive la France". Yet when there is a stop sign in France it says
I hope you realize that the reason why "WE" were nice to you is because you are a t'horist's with money! You see Quebec don't care about t'horist's, I know I am married to one. I am sure you would not say the same thing if you actually LIVED here...
Would you say the same thing, if I told you that it meant the GPL became unenforceable? It would mean people could take Open Source and do whatever they want with it. They could tweak it, modify it and then sell it. Of course because copyright did not exist it would mean the binary could be copied. But wait, what if we used DRM to control access? Hmmm....
Oh give me a break...
You think the Chinese company is not making a profit? And you would rather give management and CEO an excuse for their ten's of millions of dollars income? Remember that many of of these CEO's and managers increase profitability by charging the same darn price, firing the people who make it locally, and outsource to China!
Recently I had to buy a microwave. I saw two microwaves that were of interest to me. One was from Whirlpool and the other a no-name brand from China. The Chinese was 2/3 of the price of Whirlpool. I looked at both and asked what the difference was. The salesperson pointed out one was from a Chinese manufacturer and the other from Whirlpool. I looked closely at where the Whirlpool was made. Guess what, China!
I am willing to pay a premium for those devices made in my country, even if only assembly. However, I am under no circumstances willing to subsidize the efforts of management that fires tens-of-thousands of people in a bid to increase share-holder-value.
Being a German who speaks three languages let me say that there is plenty wrong with the German language. Any text that I write in English is about 25% longer in German.
It is not that German cannot be improved upon. I have seen a few books written in a popular style (eg Gabor Steingart) that is similar to English. When German is written in a popular style it is shorter and much easier to read and digest.
About the der, die, das, well that is gender like another poster said and my wife struggles with it all the time. Is there a logic? About as much logic as there is in English or French... It makes sense to the native speakers who were born in the language, but baffles those who have to learn the language.
Thanks that is a great little utility...
How about the following as I pointed out in an earlier posting, http://www.devspace.com/?p=167.
It is a completely identical machine, HD size and speed, Screen, RAM, Graphic RAM. What I noticed with respect to pricing is that Apple charges a premium for their extras, and a premium for their extended warranty. Put all of that together and you get a 1/3 premium. I went through this when I wanted to buy a new Apple. I ended up with the Dell because I could not justify the extras.
1) Regarding the 60% premium well not really... For example I have a G4 notebook. I doubt I would get a 60% for my 2 year old.
2) About better quality parts? http://www.devspace.com/?p=167 is a comparison of *identically* configured notebooks. The Apple has a 1/3 premium. It is not insignificant, and that is why I moved away from Apple. I cannot justify the premium, nor do I want to. Additionally, I have had three Dells with no problem. I bought my Apple and in the first year the motherboard needed to be replaced. Granted Apple did it for free, but the point is that Apple needed to replace it. With respect to quality I find (having gone through a dozen notebooks in the past decade) every company has good ones and lemons.
3) Stability? Well OSX, Linux, and Windows these days are all plagued by the same bugs (not viri). For example network stalling, USB device plug in and plug out, and so on. Whoever says that one is more stable than the other is spreading FUD! My experience is that they are equal.
I do like OSX, but what REALLY bothers me is the price premium that I cannot justify. I think if anything that will stop Apple from getting above a certain marketshare.
4) It is not 48 hours up-to-speed for OSX. Like yourself I was pretty fast up to speed. But then again I am assuming both of us are computer power users. My sister who switched from Windows to OSX required a few weeks. The problem that she found in OSX is that it is nice and friendly, but it does not do not things like Windows. She was not knocking OSX, just that it required some extra time to figure out. Having said that, my sister is quite happy with OSX and finds it "cleaner".
No kidding! Like yourself I have been very careful about exposing my PC and (touch wood) have not been hit by a virus for about the same amount of time as yourself. I just bought a brand new Dell and I can't believe the garbage that is installed. It took me an hour just to uninstall and delete the garbage software I did not want! The hackers are not the problem (ok they are), but software companies are just as much of a problem.
This article reminds me of German. You have a sentence and about 3/4 of the sentence is a build up to the end of the sentence. Sort of like saying "The answer is 2*34-28+2, 42", instead of saying, "The answer is 42". This is why I labor trying to read any German book!!
Considering I wrote a book entitled Ajax Patterns and Best Practices the mistake made by many is the fact that Ajax is not about extending the current Web paradigm. Ajax when done properly includes REST, Web Services and a decoupled architectured. This means the client is not dependent on the server and vice versa. Granted the client makes Web Service calls, but the client does not know the technology used to implement the Web Service.
What makes me laugh about many vendors in contrast to the community is that they simply don't get it. Microsoft and co think Ajax is a "style" of programming by extending and locking the client to the server. This is plain simply wrong, wrong, wrong!
Now to address to your questions:
1) First Ajax does not require XML, but relies on the Permutations pattern. The Permutations pattern is a REST style web service that says the content sent and received by the client and server depends on the needs of the client. That might be JavaScript, XML, bitmap images or even HTML.
2) Coding a front end in JavaScript is not a problem. Coding everything with JavaScript is a problem. Just like coding everything with Java is a problem. Writing a good Ajax applications means creating a client that calls a server using Web Services.
3) To address your problem you use the Infinite Data pattern that uses callbacks that sends data to the client as it received.
Again, part of the problem is that many are considering Ajax as an extension of the current Web Paradigm. Ajax is not that. Ajax is a SOA client that makes Web Service calls. Granted I will give you that companies like Microsoft confuse the issue by creating stuff that completely breaks REST, and Ajax design concepts.
If you want more information feel free to check out my site http://www.devspace.com/ as I have some prototype implementations of the Ajax and REST patterns that I was talking about (inc source), and look at the Ajax QA. And if you have any further questions just send me an email and I will be more than happy to answer your questions.
Exactly... Living in Switzerland Google Earth, or Maps is a toy compared to map.search.ch. For those that live in Switzerland it is absolutely indispensible. You can figure out the latest public transportation schedules, parking lot count, restaurants, etc, etc...
I agree with you wrt to other media such as movies. Where I would disagree is pop music, I think more appropriate would be rap. Again, I am not saying "video games = shooting spree", but I do think the attitude among many that video games have NO effect is wrong!
I would say movies give the ideas, video games let you live out the ideas virtually, and then well the next step is... Not for everybody I say, but for some...
Sorry to break your bubble here dude, but welcome to the rest of the world! How many young people do you think own houses in Japan? Here in Europe the minority owns their own houses. What is happening in the US is what has been happening in the rest of the world. Too little space too many people. Simple capitalism of supply and demand!
I am not going to say "video game = go on killing spree". However, what I am going to say is that when I went to high school in early to late 80's the idea of gun violence did not cross our mind. I do realize that not all high schools are equal and that some gun violence did exist.
However, what disturbs me about many youth is that they do not think twice about getting a hand gun. I grew up in the country or cottage country to be exact and guns were common things. Though guns were used to go hunting for bear, deer or moose. I can't remember anybody in my circle in friends saying, "Hey look at this hand gun". It was more like, "Hey did you see the bear I shot!"
What I want to say is that I think we should consider the message we are saying with shooter and violent games. I am not so sure it is totally innocent!
Western countries like to meddle. Name the country (England, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, etc) and they meddled. However, to use your example of meddling think South America! The West constantly meddles in South America! Yet do we see them burning down embassies? How about terrorist attacks? Considering how much we meddle in South America I am surprised not more has occured.
Even though many in South America have an axe to grind with the US, they still buy the jeans, computers, and hamburgers! I think there is an attitude difference!
"I am a computer programmer. I make computing devices do what I want. I will use any tool at my disposal, to hell with my employer's proposed "beneficial" restrictions."
;) ). It worked and brought Chrysler back from the brink. From that point the car industry understood standardization needs to happen. Now we even see standardization of major parts across car manufacturers. And yes standardizing on one screwdriver is part of it!
This is why we have we mess that we have now! If you were an engineer and machinist you would be screaming bloody murder! About 20 years ago the car industry had the problem where they had 20,000 parts that were unique to a car. When a new model was introduced there were 20,000 more parts unique to the car! All of these unique parts were wrecking havoc on car design, and maintenance.
If any of you remember the K-Car from Chrysler it was the first attempt in the car industry to share parts (Oh the horror!
As much as I would like to agree with you, I think he has a case for one reason...
In the early days headphones sat on the side of your head and let in other noise. However, with the IPod ear buds fit 100% percent into your ear. This means you get music and only music. I saw a news article in German that said because the ear buds fit tightly and do not let other noise in you are subject to the noise of the ear buds.
The short and curly of it. Even if you put the noise level REALLY low you could get hearing impaired...
The problem I see in this entire strategy is that it is missing the point.
1) Cellphones require power, the 100$ computer can be crank powered. Don't underestimate the power of the crank. In fact I would buy such notebook if it meant I could read my ebooks whenever wherever!
2) The Microsoft idea requires infrastructure (cell phone, TV, and keyboard). The 100$ computer is an all in one that automatically networks. Here is a question. How many people actually exchange files using a cellphone? very few. How many people exchange files using wireless networking?
3) As much as we would like to say everyone everywhere will have a cell phone that is just plain ignorant. While in Europe there is nearly 100% coverage, vast places have other problems. Ask somebody who lives in the plains if they can get cell phone coverage or DSL?
4) The 100$ computer is more akin to Steve Jobs (simplicity elegance) than Bill Gates (complexity features). The idea with the 100$ computer is to do the expected things rather well.
What gets me with this Microsoft strategy is that it seems to be a knee jerk "me-too". If Microsoft really wanted to help, then they would fire Bill Gates and let Bill with his wife Belinda work in their foundation 100%. Frankly, I see more help coming from that direction than his "cheap cell phone" idea.
Is this an undermining of copyright? I think not. In the article the following paragraph says it all.
"Legal music downloading sites such as Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes have French-language sites, as do major music companies such as Vivendi Universal SA. Last night's amendment would allow someone having bought a song from one of those sites to share it with family or friends."
I still think that general peer to peer networks a'la Kaaza would be in hot water. What I think the law is trying to get at is the stopping of the draconian DRM law that takes away fair use. Many of the online music shops have music that only certain computers can run. This law addon says, "Hey you bought, you can share it like you would a CD among family and friends".
Why not? Of course I would not add it all to Science. But there is nothing wrong with teaching what each faith thinks on the creation of life.