Well, first off, I may get flamed for implying that Kazakhstan (a former Soviet Union republic, now part of CIS) is a third-world, less-than-developed country. Well, IMHO, it _is_ third-world when it comes to internet or any democracy-encouraging technology in general and it _is_ less-than-developed, because people in Kazakhstan have to pay an equivalent of US$1 per hour of connection time, while the average annual income after taxes is $1200.
In terms of overall Internet connectivity, Kazakhstan is ranked along with countries like Burma and some African countries, at the very bottom of the list. What's more, the government is very interested in NOT allowing people free access to the Internet and all the un-censored information that's on it. In particular the government is concerned with opposition sites, like Eurasia.org, based in neiboring Russia and at one point ordered the few tightly controlled ISPs to block requests for the eurasia.org.ru domain. And recently, again in an article on Eurasia.org, I found that the Kazakhstani government is sending a delegation to Burma to learn from Burmese experience of cencoring internet access with the presumed intent of implementing similar techniques in Kazakhstan.
Now, when I talk about Kazakhstani government, I usually mean the president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has a long history of rigging election, making adjustments to the constitution that will allow him to remain president for life, blocking the parliament from making changes in the constitution. He is also the 9th richest man in the world, and that in a country with rapidly decreasing population and GNP, not to mension the pitiful standard of living. Human rights activists are not happy with Kazakhstan, that's for sure.
What all of this translates into, is the fact that someone like me, a 24 year old man that doesn't come from a rich Kazakhstani family, first accesses the internet at the age of 23. (And I consider myself a computer geek, think about non-geeks in contrast). It also majority of people who have the internet access come from rich families, who in most cases are to some extent involved in the not very ethical accusition of wealth, and are not interested in openness of the opinion. That's why they seem to spend most of their time in chat rooms talking about sex...(my personal observation, from trying to find a good discussion board or chat room to talk with my former compatriots about Kazakhtani politics)
I'm a recent immigrant to the US from Kazakhstan (came here 1 year ago) and my parents and little brother are still there. I have a little of my own and my wife's writings on my web site about Kazakhstan, however, it's only marginally related to the topic at hand.
Anyway, now you know a little about Kazakhstan, even if you can't yet spell its name.
What about yourselves? Do you encourage your sisters and daughters to develop an interest in technology? Or do you plan to talk to them, but then notice that they are playing with dolls, instead of trucks, get disgusted and think they are a lost cause? Why do you alow society to make these educational decisions for you? Wouldn't you be an even happier person if your child shared your interests? Your only sibling sister was hacking away with you? You know, it's no big deal to get your son or brother interested in computers -- society sort of expects it anyway. Think how much more proud you would feel if it was your daughter, sister?
Of course, society would say "Oh, it must be so hard for her in math", people would try and persuade her to take up literature instead. Why? Because, these people would feel threatened by her. On the subconsious level, even women would feel like she's braver, stronger, smarter than them.
Did you, yourself, have to go through many psychological and social trials and tribulations before achieving your competence in computers? Did people point and laugh at you, call you names? Did people of the opposite sex consiously avoid you, showed no interest in you, because they knew that hanging out with you would mean ostracising themselves from their own social circle?
No. People expected you to be good at math. They constantly encouraged you to pursue your chosen career. They thought that a career in computers would let you make enough money to be an ideal breadwinner.
Was it hard for you to learn C++? Did it take you hours to figure out which port the mouse cable gets attached to? Or to find out that it's easier to change all the instances of your loop variable's name from 'i' to 'intI' using "find and replace" of your text editor?
No. It wasn't. Even if it was, you enjoyed every minute of it. So why do you think it would be hard er for another human being?
When you were in college did you avoid discussing politics or technology with women? Did you talk to them at all other than when trying to come on to them? Was the reason you chose CS the fact that you, on a subconsious level, wanted to establish your masculinity by choosing a traditionally male occupation? Were you afraid that other guys would think you are a sissy for studying art?
If there were any women in your CS class did you admire them for their intellect and courage, or did you look for every opportunity to ridicule the ocasional mistake they made in their code? If you think you were being competitive when you were doing that, do you believe they had an equal footing with you? Equal amount of support?
However imprecise it would be, it still should average to about right. Or a poll with options that suggest methods of changing the situation where knowledge workers are "underpaid" like that.
I wouldn't want to insist on raising the salary for knowledge workers, I'd rather pay more money to people who didn't have an opportunity to get good education. But a recognition of some sort would be quite welcome if only to boost morale.
Slashdot Mirror
Are they sure we will still have anything to put in our tanks by then? I'd rather see this money go on alternative fuel research.
In terms of overall Internet connectivity, Kazakhstan is ranked along with countries like Burma and some African countries, at the very bottom of the list. What's more, the government is very interested in NOT allowing people free access to the Internet and all the un-censored information that's on it. In particular the government is concerned with opposition sites, like Eurasia.org, based in neiboring Russia and at one point ordered the few tightly controlled ISPs to block requests for the eurasia.org.ru domain. And recently, again in an article on Eurasia.org, I found that the Kazakhstani government is sending a delegation to Burma to learn from Burmese experience of cencoring internet access with the presumed intent of implementing similar techniques in Kazakhstan.
Now, when I talk about Kazakhstani government, I usually mean the president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has a long history of rigging election, making adjustments to the constitution that will allow him to remain president for life, blocking the parliament from making changes in the constitution. He is also the 9th richest man in the world, and that in a country with rapidly decreasing population and GNP, not to mension the pitiful standard of living. Human rights activists are not happy with Kazakhstan, that's for sure.
What all of this translates into, is the fact that someone like me, a 24 year old man that doesn't come from a rich Kazakhstani family, first accesses the internet at the age of 23. (And I consider myself a computer geek, think about non-geeks in contrast). It also majority of people who have the internet access come from rich families, who in most cases are to some extent involved in the not very ethical accusition of wealth, and are not interested in openness of the opinion. That's why they seem to spend most of their time in chat rooms talking about sex...(my personal observation, from trying to find a good discussion board or chat room to talk with my former compatriots about Kazakhtani politics)
I'm a recent immigrant to the US from Kazakhstan (came here 1 year ago) and my parents and little brother are still there. I have a little of my own and my wife's writings on my web site about Kazakhstan, however, it's only marginally related to the topic at hand.
Anyway, now you know a little about Kazakhstan, even if you can't yet spell its name.
What about yourselves? Do you encourage your sisters and daughters to develop an interest in technology? Or do you plan to talk to them, but then notice that they are playing with dolls, instead of trucks, get disgusted and think they are a lost cause? Why do you alow society to make these educational decisions for you? Wouldn't you be an even happier person if your child shared your interests? Your only sibling sister was hacking away with you? You know, it's no big deal to get your son or brother interested in computers -- society sort of expects it anyway. Think how much more proud you would feel if it was your daughter, sister?
Of course, society would say "Oh, it must be so hard for her in math", people would try and persuade her to take up literature instead. Why? Because, these people would feel threatened by her. On the subconsious level, even women would feel like she's braver, stronger, smarter than them.
Did you, yourself, have to go through many psychological and social trials and tribulations before achieving your competence in computers? Did people point and laugh at you, call you names? Did people of the opposite sex consiously avoid you, showed no interest in you, because they knew that hanging out with you would mean ostracising themselves from their own social circle?
No. People expected you to be good at math. They constantly encouraged you to pursue your chosen career. They thought that a career in computers would let you make enough money to be an ideal breadwinner.
Was it hard for you to learn C++? Did it take you hours to figure out which port the mouse cable gets attached to? Or to find out that it's easier to change all the instances of your loop variable's name from 'i' to 'intI' using "find and replace" of your text editor?
No. It wasn't. Even if it was, you enjoyed every minute of it. So why do you think it would be hard er for another human being?
When you were in college did you avoid discussing politics or technology with women? Did you talk to them at all other than when trying to come on to them? Was the reason you chose CS the fact that you, on a subconsious level, wanted to establish your masculinity by choosing a traditionally male occupation? Were you afraid that other guys would think you are a sissy for studying art?
If there were any women in your CS class did you admire them for their intellect and courage, or did you look for every opportunity to ridicule the ocasional mistake they made in their code? If you think you were being competitive when you were doing that, do you believe they had an equal footing with you? Equal amount of support?
Do you realize now that women need your support?
However imprecise it would be, it still should average to about right. Or a poll with options that suggest methods of changing the situation where knowledge workers are "underpaid" like that.
I wouldn't want to insist on raising the salary for knowledge workers, I'd rather pay more money to people who didn't have an opportunity to get good education. But a recognition of some sort would be quite welcome if only to boost morale.