How long would it take to transfer those books over a 54g connection? Couple of hours, tops? I'm astonished that you think there's going to be Internet connectivity at all, even with mesh networking it's extremely unlikely. The reason this thing comes with wind up/pullcord is because there isn't even likely to be reliable electricity. Books don't need electricity to be read, can be just pulled off a shelf to refer to, they last for decades, they don't break and cruicially, they aren't worth more than the sale price on the open market.
but really, I think the OLPC is a great idea I think it's wildly naive and almost certainly counterproductive.
And they still stand to make a (some small) profit? That leads me to believe -we- are being taken "quite" advantage of by vendors of music/movie players Never give a sucker an even break. Most people wouldn't know the value of something if it smacked them in the mouth with a sledge hammer.
More books. How cheaply can you print a book? $2? 50 books per child? More teachers. 6 months teacher's salary per child, or maybe a month per child most places. Better infrastructure. Better roads, better water, better sewerage, better electricity supply.
The problem is none of the things I've mentioned are sexy. Sure, there's a place for something like the OLPC, but it's in 10 years, once the basics have been mostly fixed, somewhere like America. Instead, governmental funds in very poor countries are going to be redirected to handing out laptops. I'm with Intel's FUD I also think they should hold off purchase, but for entirely different reasons.
WTF? Are you an astroturfer or something? This has to be one of the most boring product announcements ever made. I can only assume it's a paid advertisement, it's certainly not news.
What do you wanna do? Stick your head in the sand and pretend the world is perfect? No, what I do is I put my money where my mouth is and actually invest in the developing world.
Which only sounds infeasible for those who insist that the current system of "distributing" the world's wealth is in order. The world's wealth as an absolute value would actually be more than adequate for no single human being having to remain poor. Clearly you are 10 years old. Rather than relying on your idealistic model of how humans should behave, try observing how humans actually behave. I suggest you investigate human psychology and economics, which is simply human psychology applied to money.
Is that you can help people and make a bundle of money at the same time.
Instead of "investing" your money in a bank account at 1% below the rate of inflation, buy some unit trusts (funds in the US I think) which invest in the developing world. (It's good practice to diversify anyway) You'll get a 10-20% return and you'll be pushing money into these developing economies, increasing employment and ultimately improving working conditions.
Instead, efforts should go in the direction of installing world-wide minimum standards in both regards... What're you? 10 years old? Tell you what, lets make full employment compulsory while we're at it so that everyone in the world has a job and make the minimum wage $100/hour so that nobody in the world is poor. It would be just as successful.
It doesn't. Any random IP address added would have to have a valid.bank domain certificate. The hackers would have to compromise the OS and browser to bypass this, not just the hosts file. Certainly possible, but an order of magnitude harder.
DNS can be authenticated. Without a valid.bank domain certificate it isn't a valid domain and the browser would be correct to mention such. The only way to get a.bank certificate would be to have a real.bank domain.
It's an entirely different situation, a domain would only work until they were reported, i.e. the first time someone was ripped off. Then the domain would have to close and the phishers would be out $50,000. They would have to be very sure of returning more than $50k which means most phishing would stop.
The only problem I see with.bank is its ineffectiveness against one of the most common phishing URL formats, which uses the form of paypal.com.fakedomain.com. Chase.bank.omgphished.com would probably fool quite a few n00bs. Not a big problem. The browsers can help there. Those with half a brain will get it, those without are a lost cause anyway. You can't run the world on the basis that it has to be safe for the 5 Watt bulbs.
The $50,000 presumably isn't the only authentication mechanism. With a $50,000 registration fee it's possible to perform significant checks on the applicants.
Radio broadcasting is not a market. You're making the assumption that:
1: You have the natural right to have your words broadcast over other people's systems, be they newspapers or radio.
2: That the various media are not all in competition anyway. Web, newspaper, radio, TV etc are all in competition with each other, as well as within a particular techology.
Freedom of speech is the right to say what you think without being imprisoned, it isn't the right to require someone else to carry those words to their customers.
Slashdot Mirror
Ehm... How about... Not everyone is owned by Nortel?
Tada! Do I get a prize?
That Nortel people think Asterisk blows Nortel's equivalent products away.
Mr. Executive... Good call. I'm sure there will be a "bonus" winging it's way to your desk real soon now.
Food is too cheap because farmers get big subsidies.
Monbiot is an idiot.
That they are simply giving their customers what they want.
Y'know, Americans and all.
Seriously?
Compare with:
More books. How cheaply can you print a book? $2? 50 books per child?
More teachers. 6 months teacher's salary per child, or maybe a month per child most places.
Better infrastructure. Better roads, better water, better sewerage, better electricity supply.
The problem is none of the things I've mentioned are sexy. Sure, there's a place for something like the OLPC, but it's in 10 years, once the basics have been mostly fixed, somewhere like America. Instead, governmental funds in very poor countries are going to be redirected to handing out laptops. I'm with Intel's FUD I also think they should hold off purchase, but for entirely different reasons.
I'm starting a book.
How long will it take for these things to appear on eBay? OLPC or Classmate, doesn't matter.
Post your dates below:
WTF? Are you an astroturfer or something? This has to be one of the most boring product announcements ever made. I can only assume it's a paid advertisement, it's certainly not news.
Battery operated, carrying a camera and only the moving blades to hold it up. This thing will have a flight time of about 5 minutes.
Really? I'm so excited, I just can't hide it, I'm about to lose control and I think I like it.
Not.
Is that you can help people and make a bundle of money at the same time.
Instead of "investing" your money in a bank account at 1% below the rate of inflation, buy some unit trusts (funds in the US I think) which invest in the developing world. (It's good practice to diversify anyway) You'll get a 10-20% return and you'll be pushing money into these developing economies, increasing employment and ultimately improving working conditions.
But I'm getting paid to do this.
Oh... You mean I'm not?
So, they were given this ability by technology now it becomes a right? I rather think what technology giveth, technology taketh away.
Copyright only exists because technology made it relatively simple to replicate a work and sell it many times over.
It doesn't. Any random IP address added would have to have a valid .bank domain certificate. The hackers would have to compromise the OS and browser to bypass this, not just the hosts file. Certainly possible, but an order of magnitude harder.
DNS can be authenticated. Without a valid .bank domain certificate it isn't a valid domain and the browser would be correct to mention such. The only way to get a .bank certificate would be to have a real .bank domain.
It's an entirely different situation, a domain would only work until they were reported, i.e. the first time someone was ripped off. Then the domain would have to close and the phishers would be out $50,000. They would have to be very sure of returning more than $50k which means most phishing would stop.
The $50,000 presumably isn't the only authentication mechanism. With a $50,000 registration fee it's possible to perform significant checks on the applicants.
1: You have the natural right to have your words broadcast over other people's systems, be they newspapers or radio.
2: That the various media are not all in competition anyway. Web, newspaper, radio, TV etc are all in competition with each other, as well as within a particular techology.
Freedom of speech is the right to say what you think without being imprisoned, it isn't the right to require someone else to carry those words to their customers.