In Ukraine showing thumbs up with your hand is considered obscene due to some vague reference to erected penis. I have been reprimanded for showing it by older Ukrainians. I think that younger people no longer care about this though.
Wikipedia also mentions that it is also offensive in Iran but I have no direct experience about it.
Sorry to disappoint you but Latvian payphones are disappearing too. There is no real need for them as even tourists can use cell phones. In fact, Latvia has very cheap prepaid plans. One can buy a SIM card for $2 practically from every newspaper stand and use that for calls and data. 3G coverage is practically everywhere and while it is not Wi-Fi speed, it is enough for all practical purposes of mobile use. You can use tethering as well. Or simply use 3G stick (modem).
Lattelecom still sells Wi-Fi access plans that can be used in coffee shops, gas stations and other establishments. But the price is no longer that cheap. Now it is $4 per day and $10 per month.
It is all about relative prosperity. You will be miserable if you make $10,000/y in the US while your neighbors make $100,000/y. Whereas if you lived in poor village in India you would be quite happy even with $5000/y.
The social issues in the UK are as much real as in India or elsewhere. Don't be mislead by absolute comparison between countries. The high unemployment and slums are very real and if nothing is done about this, it will turn very ugly.
The truth didn't come from the police. It came from IPCC which is the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The police initially said that Mark Duggan exchanged gun-fire. Actually they found Mark Duggan's gun hidden in his sock.
It is hard to say if it was the police miscommunication or an attempt to cover their mistakes but the incident was badly managed.
Well, when there are clouds it often rains and occasionally they produce thunder and lightning. I guess Amazon though that they can have clouds without worrying about their byproducts.
By social traditions and way of living Belarus is very similar to other European countries. They certainly has less dependence on cars as they have greater social equality and developed public transportation. But it is also a flat and boring piece of land.
Lukashenko period may indeed to turn out a blessing in disguise. Senseless privatization has destroyed the beauty of my country, Latvia. When I traveled around Europe, the best country for tourists was Slovenia because they didn't allow total privatization. Their state owned camping places and tourism infrastructure was well organized and efficient. In comparison, Austria was a big disappointment as many nice places were restricted with "Privat".
Of course, Latvian people want economic prosperity. They have introduced the most liberal economic policies among all western countries. We low taxes, flat tax income tax, little regulations etc. It also spectacularly failed to increase standard of living. It only created social inequality. It only benefited some companies who exploited cheap workforce for a while. In average the Belarus economy was growing at a faster rate despite having completely opposite policies.
It turns out the democratic countries requiring liberal economic policies were cheating. They all themselves gained wealth through protectionism in one way or another. You mentioned Finland which had a state controlled economy for a very long time.
There is a book I suggest reading to everyone: 23 Things They don't Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang.
I agree with you up to the point where you compare it with North Korea. It is not and you should know it. It is even better than China. Emotional feelings are not helping. It can only lead to another Bay of Pigs.
Provide a better alternative if you can. In reality it is hard, very hard. The USSR was discontinued because people wanted freedom but it destroyed the economy and created widespread unemployment and poverty. Next to Belarus is my country, Latvia, and people are leaving it in droves to better European countries even though Latvians have democracy. It has failed to ensure economic prosperity and the freedom alone is not enough.
It is easy for those who live in rich western countries that were developed with hard work of your forefathers and often with great social injustices like slavery or working conditions that were close to slavery. Belarus may have less political freedom but the life there isn't slavery.
While the Belarus people should demand more freedom, they should learn more diplomatic ways to achieve it. First, they should understand how politics work and why their current protests are just a waste of time.
There is a saying: Poverty is the cause of all vices. This is exemplified in India which is technically democracy but the extreme poverty only creates corruption and misery. You don't have to be obscenely rich but without decent standard of living you will not be free or safe.
You can criticize the US government without any issues in Belarus.:)
On the other hand, wikileaks activists have a lot of trouble in the US.
Discounting this, the US has more freedom but it still has very strict limits. I would say that Belarus people has as much freedom as China. Most people tolerate the current status in exchange of economy growth. Lukashenko will die or be forced out one day and then it is better to have country in order instead of ruins.
Estonia is that much better either. The standard of living is higher but not by much. GDP (PPP) of Estonia is $18,518 vs. $13,909 in Belarus.
Estonia is that much better either. The standard of living is higher but not by much. GDP (PPP) of Estonia is $18,518 vs. $13,909 in Belarus. Besides unemployment and emigration to better European countries in Estonia is much higher.
Of course, Belarus politically is backwards country and Lukashenko is a dictator but Belarus has considerable higher standard of living than Molodova ($3,082) and Ukraine ($6,656).
Passing the list to the FBI only increases the financial damage. Now FBI and sysadmins of different ISPs will spend countless hours tracking down these IP addresses, investigating, maybe even arresting some kids etc. without any tangible results. As if the FBI is not wasting enough of taxpayer money.
No, you didn't read the full story. Both Kirrily and Skud are his legal names. He just uses one mostly for government contacts and the other with friends and co-workers.
Nah, there isn't even the most remote possibility that the released documents will initiate any conflict. Thing about it, if script kiddies can download these documents, the really interested parties can get them as well. Most probably China, Iran etc. already have them. NATO might even act on assumption that they are no longer secrets. They are only hiding them from the general population of their own countries out of fear that it will expose their dirty laundry.
Wave was good for certain cases. At least the time when I used it for my projects with loose teams it was most productive cooperation ever. Either it was publishing of a book or planning a trip, it was much easier to do it on Wave. It is also true that some people were reluctant to use a new tool. But it is understandable as they were not geeks and were of a type who save a doc in Word and no longer can find it. When they were able to understood the principle of Wave, they used it extensively.
In fact, teaching others to use Wave was the easiest if compared with any other IT tools (like email etiquette etc.). Most of them already had gmail accounts so they started with a few clicks.
At the same time Wave was far from perfect. It was slow and integration with current email was lacking. I agree that Google made mistake by trying to put everything in it, instead of a simple tool that could be added more features later.
However, the speed of discarding Wave when it showed the problems is troubling. It might be the right decision but still it symbolizes that Google lacks commitment. They want quick and easy success and if it doesn't work immediately they quit. While it helps to discard dead-end ideas sooner than later, it may also prevent them from developing things that require more time to gain acceptance.
In fact, Google already does this. They do not need google.kz but they want it only to increase trust among Kazakh users.
Everybody can get.com domain but the rules for getting.kz domain are more restrictive. Apparently Kazakh government requires content on.kz sites to be stored in-country to be able to exert greater control. This can have both bad and good effects; the government can shut down opposition and it also helps to prosecute fraud. In other words,.kz is like a trusted zone on the internet where a local person can feel relatively safe doing business etc.
Now Google wants to use the high trust of a local.kz zone for their business interests without playing the rules that make.kz domain trusted. The point about restricting free speech is not really relevant as long as any citizen can go outside and visit any.com domain they want.
Censoring information will only make matters worse. The Soviets already tried this before the Internet and failed. Today if the government tries to shut down any controversial or even illegal web site, it becomes more popular due to Streisand effect.
And some Japanese have already committed suicide due to Fukushima nuclear accident. These deaths are direct result of nuclear power.
Actually it is 4000 and it is the lowest estimate. And it is only from cancer and does not include deaths from other factors. In fact, deaths from mental health deterioration with following alcohol and drug abuse due to Chernobyl accident are much higher, probably much more than 10000.
Some try to justify this by saying that impact on mental health is due to unjustified fear and paranoia from radiation. But statistics should still include these deaths in the total count nevertheless because otherwise these deaths wouldn't have happened. I hear reports that similarly relocated people in Japan is going through a lot of stress and pressure. Refugee children are ostracized at school and some elderly people have already committed suicides. I wonder if the suicide statistics will ever be analyzed in Japan after this disaster but they are surely to increase.
On the other hand, Russian space program is just a remnant of the Soviet accomplishments. So, it is a win of the Soviets in the space race even though it no longer exists.
Besides Russian free-market economy is not working well and a lot of people are poorer than in the USSR.
Regulation is not the same as planned conquer:) Also the control can be good or bad.
The Soviet Union was partially successful because of planned command economy. The USA was more successful for the same reason but their plans and control was better, more subtle and effective.
In computer terms you can compare this to brute force and refined algorithms. Brute force still requires systematic approach and given enough resources it can give good results. But optimized algorithms will win in most cases.
And were in the end decent enough to recognize they're broke; and dissolve the Union mostly peacefully... can we treat it as a given?
The Soviet Union failed exactly because Gorbachev introduced glastnost (openness) and perestroika (reforms). The irony is not that the USSR was economically successful country because it simply proves the point that the invisible hand will not make prosperity. The real irony is that attempts to introduce free market in the former Soviet republics created massive unemployment, inflation and poverty.
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In Ukraine showing thumbs up with your hand is considered obscene due to some vague reference to erected penis. I have been reprimanded for showing it by older Ukrainians. I think that younger people no longer care about this though.
Wikipedia also mentions that it is also offensive in Iran but I have no direct experience about it.
I don't think that these 1 Ls ($2) cards are available anymore.
Sorry to disappoint you but Latvian payphones are disappearing too. There is no real need for them as even tourists can use cell phones. In fact, Latvia has very cheap prepaid plans. One can buy a SIM card for $2 practically from every newspaper stand and use that for calls and data. 3G coverage is practically everywhere and while it is not Wi-Fi speed, it is enough for all practical purposes of mobile use. You can use tethering as well. Or simply use 3G stick (modem).
Lattelecom still sells Wi-Fi access plans that can be used in coffee shops, gas stations and other establishments. But the price is no longer that cheap. Now it is $4 per day and $10 per month.
It is all quite useless though. Past memories have been shown extremely unreliable while confidence of the false memories increases with years.
It is all about relative prosperity. You will be miserable if you make $10,000/y in the US while your neighbors make $100,000/y. Whereas if you lived in poor village in India you would be quite happy even with $5000/y.
The social issues in the UK are as much real as in India or elsewhere. Don't be mislead by absolute comparison between countries. The high unemployment and slums are very real and if nothing is done about this, it will turn very ugly.
The truth didn't come from the police. It came from IPCC which is the Independent Police Complaints Commission. The police initially said that Mark Duggan exchanged gun-fire. Actually they found Mark Duggan's gun hidden in his sock.
It is hard to say if it was the police miscommunication or an attempt to cover their mistakes but the incident was badly managed.
Well, when there are clouds it often rains and occasionally they produce thunder and lightning. I guess Amazon though that they can have clouds without worrying about their byproducts.
By social traditions and way of living Belarus is very similar to other European countries. They certainly has less dependence on cars as they have greater social equality and developed public transportation. But it is also a flat and boring piece of land.
Lukashenko period may indeed to turn out a blessing in disguise. Senseless privatization has destroyed the beauty of my country, Latvia. When I traveled around Europe, the best country for tourists was Slovenia because they didn't allow total privatization. Their state owned camping places and tourism infrastructure was well organized and efficient. In comparison, Austria was a big disappointment as many nice places were restricted with "Privat".
Of course, Latvian people want economic prosperity. They have introduced the most liberal economic policies among all western countries. We low taxes, flat tax income tax, little regulations etc. It also spectacularly failed to increase standard of living. It only created social inequality. It only benefited some companies who exploited cheap workforce for a while. In average the Belarus economy was growing at a faster rate despite having completely opposite policies.
It turns out the democratic countries requiring liberal economic policies were cheating. They all themselves gained wealth through protectionism in one way or another. You mentioned Finland which had a state controlled economy for a very long time.
There is a book I suggest reading to everyone: 23 Things They don't Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang.
I agree with you up to the point where you compare it with North Korea. It is not and you should know it. It is even better than China. Emotional feelings are not helping. It can only lead to another Bay of Pigs.
Provide a better alternative if you can. In reality it is hard, very hard. The USSR was discontinued because people wanted freedom but it destroyed the economy and created widespread unemployment and poverty. Next to Belarus is my country, Latvia, and people are leaving it in droves to better European countries even though Latvians have democracy. It has failed to ensure economic prosperity and the freedom alone is not enough.
It is easy for those who live in rich western countries that were developed with hard work of your forefathers and often with great social injustices like slavery or working conditions that were close to slavery. Belarus may have less political freedom but the life there isn't slavery.
While the Belarus people should demand more freedom, they should learn more diplomatic ways to achieve it. First, they should understand how politics work and why their current protests are just a waste of time.
There is a saying: Poverty is the cause of all vices. This is exemplified in India which is technically democracy but the extreme poverty only creates corruption and misery. You don't have to be obscenely rich but without decent standard of living you will not be free or safe.
You can criticize the US government without any issues in Belarus. :)
On the other hand, wikileaks activists have a lot of trouble in the US.
Discounting this, the US has more freedom but it still has very strict limits. I would say that Belarus people has as much freedom as China. Most people tolerate the current status in exchange of economy growth. Lukashenko will die or be forced out one day and then it is better to have country in order instead of ruins.
Estonia is that much better either. The standard of living is higher but not by much. GDP (PPP) of Estonia is $18,518 vs. $13,909 in Belarus.
Estonia is that much better either. The standard of living is higher but not by much. GDP (PPP) of Estonia is $18,518 vs. $13,909 in Belarus. Besides unemployment and emigration to better European countries in Estonia is much higher.
Of course, Belarus politically is backwards country and Lukashenko is a dictator but Belarus has considerable higher standard of living than Molodova ($3,082) and Ukraine ($6,656).
Passing the list to the FBI only increases the financial damage. Now FBI and sysadmins of different ISPs will spend countless hours tracking down these IP addresses, investigating, maybe even arresting some kids etc. without any tangible results. As if the FBI is not wasting enough of taxpayer money.
No, you didn't read the full story. Both Kirrily and Skud are his legal names. He just uses one mostly for government contacts and the other with friends and co-workers.
Nah, there isn't even the most remote possibility that the released documents will initiate any conflict. Thing about it, if script kiddies can download these documents, the really interested parties can get them as well. Most probably China, Iran etc. already have them. NATO might even act on assumption that they are no longer secrets. They are only hiding them from the general population of their own countries out of fear that it will expose their dirty laundry.
Wave was good for certain cases. At least the time when I used it for my projects with loose teams it was most productive cooperation ever. Either it was publishing of a book or planning a trip, it was much easier to do it on Wave. It is also true that some people were reluctant to use a new tool. But it is understandable as they were not geeks and were of a type who save a doc in Word and no longer can find it. When they were able to understood the principle of Wave, they used it extensively.
In fact, teaching others to use Wave was the easiest if compared with any other IT tools (like email etiquette etc.). Most of them already had gmail accounts so they started with a few clicks.
At the same time Wave was far from perfect. It was slow and integration with current email was lacking. I agree that Google made mistake by trying to put everything in it, instead of a simple tool that could be added more features later.
However, the speed of discarding Wave when it showed the problems is troubling. It might be the right decision but still it symbolizes that Google lacks commitment. They want quick and easy success and if it doesn't work immediately they quit. While it helps to discard dead-end ideas sooner than later, it may also prevent them from developing things that require more time to gain acceptance.
In fact, Google already does this. They do not need google.kz but they want it only to increase trust among Kazakh users.
Everybody can get .com domain but the rules for getting .kz domain are more restrictive. Apparently Kazakh government requires content on .kz sites to be stored in-country to be able to exert greater control. This can have both bad and good effects; the government can shut down opposition and it also helps to prosecute fraud. In other words, .kz is like a trusted zone on the internet where a local person can feel relatively safe doing business etc.
Now Google wants to use the high trust of a local .kz zone for their business interests without playing the rules that make .kz domain trusted. The point about restricting free speech is not really relevant as long as any citizen can go outside and visit any .com domain they want.
What is wrong with simply using something along the lines of http://www.google.com/kz/ [google.com] to customize results?
That's not even required. Google search results are already geo-customized even when using google.com. They are not very transparent about it though.
Censoring information will only make matters worse. The Soviets already tried this before the Internet and failed. Today if the government tries to shut down any controversial or even illegal web site, it becomes more popular due to Streisand effect.
And some Japanese have already committed suicide due to Fukushima nuclear accident. These deaths are direct result of nuclear power.
Actually it is 4000 and it is the lowest estimate. And it is only from cancer and does not include deaths from other factors. In fact, deaths from mental health deterioration with following alcohol and drug abuse due to Chernobyl accident are much higher, probably much more than 10000.
Some try to justify this by saying that impact on mental health is due to unjustified fear and paranoia from radiation. But statistics should still include these deaths in the total count nevertheless because otherwise these deaths wouldn't have happened. I hear reports that similarly relocated people in Japan is going through a lot of stress and pressure. Refugee children are ostracized at school and some elderly people have already committed suicides. I wonder if the suicide statistics will ever be analyzed in Japan after this disaster but they are surely to increase.
On the other hand, Russian space program is just a remnant of the Soviet accomplishments. So, it is a win of the Soviets in the space race even though it no longer exists.
Besides Russian free-market economy is not working well and a lot of people are poorer than in the USSR.
Regulation is not the same as planned conquer :) Also the control can be good or bad.
The Soviet Union was partially successful because of planned command economy. The USA was more successful for the same reason but their plans and control was better, more subtle and effective.
In computer terms you can compare this to brute force and refined algorithms. Brute force still requires systematic approach and given enough resources it can give good results. But optimized algorithms will win in most cases.
And were in the end decent enough to recognize they're broke; and dissolve the Union mostly peacefully... can we treat it as a given?
The Soviet Union failed exactly because Gorbachev introduced glastnost (openness) and perestroika (reforms). The irony is not that the USSR was economically successful country because it simply proves the point that the invisible hand will not make prosperity. The real irony is that attempts to introduce free market in the former Soviet republics created massive unemployment, inflation and poverty.