I am technically from China as well (Hong Kong) as well, although I have never grown up in any "communist state" (whatever that means).
Most people criticing China's "human rights" problems don't stick to facts, but to proganda by the western media that is almost twenty years old. They like to believe that "my country is better than yours", despite the fact that this is becoming more and more doubtful.
Let me say this: nobody cares about people in China. All they care about is that "American values are better than Chinese values (and you should adopt them at whatever cost, even if it means that you overthrow your own government)". I mean, if anyone really takes a serious look at what actually happens in China, I'm sure they'll suddenly find that their dicks weren't as long as they previously thought.
PS: Of course, there are those who really do care. But those people typically tackle the issue realistically instead of suggesting an overthrow of the CCP or something to that effect.
Yeah, that's exactly the problem, "you don't think so".
There are stuff that don't get coverage in the media. Video tapes confiscated by the US army from reporters. News that is forbidden to be released in the press. And you call that freedom of the press?
And besides, the American people are happy in allowing their country to do the things that happened in Iraq. Nobody's trying to stop their government. That's why you can talk all you want. If you are really planning to overthrow the US government (and is becoming a serious threat), you can bet you'll have FBI agents looking for you in no time.
> So why do the people of the US care so much about lack of rights for the people > of China -- what about the Freedom of the Press and Due Process rights of Chinese > people in the US?
Actually, you could s/Chinese//. I'm sure the Chinese people in the USA aren't particularly ill-treated. At least I haven't heard of any stories to that conclusion.
I'm not an American, and I don't know enough of them to understand their thinking, but I'm always under the impression that they find it necessary to point out "human rights problems" abroad so they feel cozy and comfty at home knowing that there's a major nation out there that has "worse" human rights than that at home.
The fact that things are deteriorating in the USA, and things are getting better (arguably) in China is irrelevant of course.
I have a considerable amount of exposure to people in the PRC, and here is some good news for you: nobody there is seeing American companies as bearers of freedom. Nobody is expecting American companies to do that. People are expecting American companies to give them the worldly conveniences that people in America are enjoying right now.
But whatever is the case, you're definitely right on one point: Anything for that next dollar. And believe me, the people in China are like that too. More so.
"people will not adopt our style of government and our values unless they want to, they cannot be forced."
If only people who profess in "helping China" understood that. And for your information, most people in China had enough of "revolutions" for now, if you understand what I mean. And despite that I agree with you on the point I quoted above, I have reservations on the other points that you've raised (not that I think I really understand them though).
I technically live in the PRC, so take my post with a grain of salt.
Yes. You are right. Instead of whining on slashdot, maybe you should do something as well.
Like. Abolish capitalism, because capitalism is all about corporations making money as fast and as efficient as possible. Here's why: the "common goal" in capitalism is to make money. Nothing else, unless some other goals eventually make you money too.
I guess you need to learn some logic. Capitalism and "making people do the right things" are logically inconsistent.
Re:Am I the only one scared of this?
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I don't understand... why are targetted ads bad?
Google, like other "free" sites, survive mostly on advertisements. Advertisements are either targetted or they are not.
Normal ads are stuff that don't get users interested. As a result, the user gets annoyed (viagra!!), the advertisers gets little $, and thus more ads gets pushed through because the advertisers don't get the $.
OR, you can have targetted ads. Generally users have a greater chance of buying stuff on targetted ads, and so the advertisers get more $, and less ads are needed on each page to make a profit. And unless you have a small penis, you won't see viagra ads.
Keep in mind that there already is a kind of wiki-like "collaboration" within the academic circles. The only difference being that the circle is relatively small compared to a "wiki".
But then, more people working on it doesn't necessarily improve things. For one, you will expect a very bad noise to signal ratio, where there would be a bunch of smart ass ideas that have already been disproved decades ago, or ideas which are so obviously wrong that no academic would even think of writing a paper for.
Basically the whole thing is based on the assumption that "monkeys banging on typewriters will eventually produce all the works of shakespear". It works in theory, but remember that it takes either an infinite number of monkeys, or infinite time -- whereas you could find a group of talented people to do the same job more effectively.
Expect a dozen claims of "TSP solved in P time!" from this site within a month, and nothing more afterwards.
The legal definition of "intent" is different from common usage. In the law of contract, the court will interpret your "intention" from your actions (objective intention), and seldom by what you claim your intentions to be.
> No, you cant. Religion is the belief in in the supernatural. > Science only only concerns itself with demonstratable conjecture to describe > a natural phenomenon.
Does it happen to you that you've just shot yourself in the foot? According to you, science does not concern about "supernatural" phenomenon. So as long as your religion confines itself to the "supernatural", then science and relgion have no conflict whatsoever because they are concerned with different areas.
Not that your statement is generally false though, just that your argument that "two are concerned with different areas so they conflict!" is least convincing.
If the fear is that the govt will/may use the data to impose arbitrary laws on you, why tackle the access to data if you could (theoretically) tackle the LAWS instead?
The tools aren't *that* expensive. I don't live in the US, but here where it's about $5-$20 (USD) depending on quality. Shell out a bit of $ and you'll save a lot of fuss yourself, particularly if you're managing a network.
It's likely that the patent covers the general pagerank algorithm (or even just the idea of ranking sites based on how many other sites link to them, and their respective ranks, etc), without the actual parameters or tweaks (eg. if you have been linked from warez sites you take a penalty). It's very likely that Google tweaks the ranking system from time to time, or even rewrites the code for it (who knows?;-) and those tweaks won't show up in the (original) pagerank patent.
...if time is not an issue... Your assumption is fundamentally flawed, especially in business settings. Of course, you may choose to spend all your time tweaking your own machine, but that's only you.
Frankly I'd prefer all assembly language... Real men don't write asm, real men design chips that executes SQL in hardware!
You know what? Most of your points are valid against the USA too...
And by your argument, do you mean that the mere fact that 1. Others did something "wrong" (yet not worse than what you are doing yourself) 2. They are a threat to you
means that you are justified in sending over an army to kill the people?
> if they wanted help and needed help Let me just say one thing: most outsiders have no freaking clue when help is needed or NOT needed.
Imagine somebody in the USA calling for help to bring down the white house. Would you be pleased if afterwards China sent over their army to "help" the "innocent US citizens" by dropping a few bombs in Washington?
The fact is, some of the calls for "help" are no more than soliciting assistance to commit treason. And given Americans' (in particular) understanding of the East (people, culture, values, etc), I'd repeat this: most outsiders have no freaking clue when help is needed or NOT needed.
> The nation most able to accommodate Chinese immigrants is probably the US
> In the long term, the best option is to reform China's pratices.
Typical USA thinking -- We're the saviors of the world.
Get real. If a billion people migrated from China to the USA, it's going to be renamed the USC -- the United States of China. And I know you probably know it's not feasible either, but you should know that the mere thought of a possibility of a mass migration is totally absurd, and moreso that you think that the USA is any better at accomodating a billion people than any other country.
And what business does anybody else except the people in China have with its politics or policies? You know, the best option for the USA is to have the federal govt send me a billion bucks every year, because otherwise they'd have too much money to spend on secret surveillance, secret prisons, unauthorized investigation techniques and such. And you'd probably want the whole congress to do housekeeping for me. Then they won't ever be able to pass stupid laws again! Bingo!
Before you label me as a troll for trolling above, let me point out that's how absurd your ideas are. Yep, you will never understand how absurd your suggestions are to those who are even remotely knowledgable about what really is going on in China.
But then, the conventional Chinese wisdom is to avoid poking one's nose into other people's family matters. It's not only rude, it's usually a lose-lose too. So (at least for me), I've been puzzled at why people seem to be so passionately interested in the politics of China when they're not the single bit affliated with it? Perhaps it affects the world regarding its economic side, but these "internal" issues? And worse, although they seem to want to make it a better place, they are still absolutely clueless to the real situation, and naively think that China is simply a piece of land that could be molded to function like (in particular) the USA.
Excuse me for my flames, but if that is what is warranted to give you guys a more realistic view of what (at least some of) the Chinese people really think, I could sacrifice a few of my mod points for that.
Bullshit. The history of China is featured with massive nation-wide uprising every few centuries, somewhat on the order of a dozen times in recorded history.
The first nation wide uprising by *peasants* happened more than TWO THOUSAND YEARS ago. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty - Search for "revolt") Anybody who has even a slight understanding of Chinese history know that if there is widespread dissatisfaction with the government, the government WILL fall, no matter what opressive practices the government tries to do. Many emperors in recent dynasties tried to prevent uprising from the people by various dubious means, but they all failed -- and they are remembered in history for that.
In Chinese history these uprisings comprises hundreds of thousands of people, AT LEAST. Sometimes the army can be up to a million. It makes the so called "revolutions" in the west look like a weeny, disorganized party doesn't it?
By the way, if you put yourself into the Chinese authorities' shoes, you'll understand that there is no so called "unfree" press in China -- they are only suppressing things that are already not too popular. Imagine trying to suppress the will of billions of people, and enraging them... we're talking about the largest mob on the planet.
So read a bit of Chinese history. The western influence on the Chinese way of doing things, as I predict, will be neglegible on the grand scale of things.
Slashdot Mirror
> And you guys wonder why the stuff is censored.
And if you're still wondering why, I should add: It's just a "-1: Not True" mod.
Because that is simply not true.
Okay, I don't have any authoritative source to back my claims, but I dare you to show me any solid evidence of your claims.
And you guys wonder why the stuff is censored.
Yes.
I am technically from China as well (Hong Kong) as well, although I have never grown up in any "communist state" (whatever that means).
Most people criticing China's "human rights" problems don't stick to facts, but to proganda by the western media that is almost twenty years old. They like to believe that "my country is better than yours", despite the fact that this is becoming more and more doubtful.
Let me say this: nobody cares about people in China. All they care about is that "American values are better than Chinese values (and you should adopt them at whatever cost, even if it means that you overthrow your own government)". I mean, if anyone really takes a serious look at what actually happens in China, I'm sure they'll suddenly find that their dicks weren't as long as they previously thought.
PS: Of course, there are those who really do care. But those people typically tackle the issue realistically instead of suggesting an overthrow of the CCP or something to that effect.
Yeah, that's exactly the problem, "you don't think so".
There are stuff that don't get coverage in the media. Video tapes confiscated by the US army from reporters. News that is forbidden to be released in the press. And you call that freedom of the press?
And besides, the American people are happy in allowing their country to do the things that happened in Iraq. Nobody's trying to stop their government. That's why you can talk all you want. If you are really planning to overthrow the US government (and is becoming a serious threat), you can bet you'll have FBI agents looking for you in no time.
Disclaimer: IANAA (I am not an American)
> So why do the people of the US care so much about lack of rights for the people
> of China -- what about the Freedom of the Press and Due Process rights of Chinese
> people in the US?
Actually, you could s/Chinese//. I'm sure the Chinese people in the USA aren't particularly ill-treated. At least I haven't heard of any stories to that conclusion.
I'm not an American, and I don't know enough of them to understand their thinking, but I'm always under the impression that they find it necessary to point out "human rights problems" abroad so they feel cozy and comfty at home knowing that there's a major nation out there that has "worse" human rights than that at home.
The fact that things are deteriorating in the USA, and things are getting better (arguably) in China is irrelevant of course.
Ouch. Typical American ignorant arrogance.
I have a considerable amount of exposure to people in the PRC, and here is some good news for you: nobody there is seeing American companies as bearers of freedom. Nobody is expecting American companies to do that. People are expecting American companies to give them the worldly conveniences that people in America are enjoying right now.
But whatever is the case, you're definitely right on one point: Anything for that next dollar. And believe me, the people in China are like that too. More so.
I'd mod you up if I had the points.
"people will not adopt our style of government and our values unless they want to, they cannot be forced."
If only people who profess in "helping China" understood that. And for your information, most people in China had enough of "revolutions" for now, if you understand what I mean. And despite that I agree with you on the point I quoted above, I have reservations on the other points that you've raised (not that I think I really understand them though).
I technically live in the PRC, so take my post with a grain of salt.
Yes. You are right.
Instead of whining on slashdot, maybe you should do something as well.
Like. Abolish capitalism, because capitalism is all about corporations making money as fast and as efficient as possible. Here's why: the "common goal" in capitalism is to make money. Nothing else, unless some other goals eventually make you money too.
I guess you need to learn some logic. Capitalism and "making people do the right things" are logically inconsistent.
I don't understand... why are targetted ads bad?
Google, like other "free" sites, survive mostly on advertisements.
Advertisements are either targetted or they are not.
Normal ads are stuff that don't get users interested. As a result, the user gets annoyed (viagra!!), the advertisers gets little $, and thus more ads gets pushed through because the advertisers don't get the $.
OR, you can have targetted ads. Generally users have a greater chance of buying stuff on targetted ads, and so the advertisers get more $, and less ads are needed on each page to make a profit. And unless you have a small penis, you won't see viagra ads.
So how are targetted ads a bad thing in itself?
Keep in mind that there already is a kind of wiki-like "collaboration" within the academic circles. The only difference being that the circle is relatively small compared to a "wiki".
But then, more people working on it doesn't necessarily improve things. For one, you will expect a very bad noise to signal ratio, where there would be a bunch of smart ass ideas that have already been disproved decades ago, or ideas which are so obviously wrong that no academic would even think of writing a paper for.
Basically the whole thing is based on the assumption that "monkeys banging on typewriters will eventually produce all the works of shakespear". It works in theory, but remember that it takes either an infinite number of monkeys, or infinite time -- whereas you could find a group of talented people to do the same job more effectively.
Expect a dozen claims of "TSP solved in P time!" from this site within a month, and nothing more afterwards.
The legal definition of "intent" is different from common usage.
In the law of contract, the court will interpret your "intention" from your actions (objective intention), and seldom by what you claim your intentions to be.
I am not a laywer.
It's not the WM, it's the apps. What do you expect the user to do? Open a bunch of xterms? browsing the web using lynx/w3m?
Mozilla takes a crapload amount of memory. Even more so for OO.org.
And if you're going to run stuff like konqueror, abiword, koffice, or whatever, you've already loaded those bloated QT/KDElib/GTK/GNOME libraries.
> No, you cant. Religion is the belief in in the supernatural.
> Science only only concerns itself with demonstratable conjecture to describe
> a natural phenomenon.
Does it happen to you that you've just shot yourself in the foot? According to you, science does not concern about "supernatural" phenomenon. So as long as your religion confines itself to the "supernatural", then science and relgion have no conflict whatsoever because they are concerned with different areas.
Not that your statement is generally false though, just that your argument that "two are concerned with different areas so they conflict!" is least convincing.
I'll be modded down, but...
If the fear is that the govt will/may use the data to impose arbitrary laws on you, why tackle the access to data if you could (theoretically) tackle the LAWS instead?
The tools aren't *that* expensive. I don't live in the US, but here where it's about $5-$20 (USD) depending on quality. Shell out a bit of $ and you'll save a lot of fuss yourself, particularly if you're managing a network.
I was just pulling an example out of my ass. ;-p
Whoops
It's likely that the patent covers the general pagerank algorithm (or even just the idea of ranking sites based on how many other sites link to them, and their respective ranks, etc), without the actual parameters or tweaks (eg. if you have been linked from warez sites you take a penalty). It's very likely that Google tweaks the ranking system from time to time, or even rewrites the code for it (who knows? ;-) and those tweaks won't show up in the (original) pagerank patent.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.
That's what ACL's are for.
...if time is not an issue...
Your assumption is fundamentally flawed, especially in business settings.
Of course, you may choose to spend all your time tweaking your own machine, but that's only you.
Frankly I'd prefer all assembly language...
Real men don't write asm, real men design chips that executes SQL in hardware!
Linux Is Not UniX
I thought humans were pack hunters too...
You know what? Most of your points are valid against the USA too...
And by your argument, do you mean that the mere fact that
1. Others did something "wrong" (yet not worse than what you are doing yourself)
2. They are a threat to you
means that you are justified in sending over an army to kill the people?
No wonder the rest of the world hates the USA.
> if they wanted help and needed help
Let me just say one thing: most outsiders have no freaking clue when help is needed or NOT needed.
Imagine somebody in the USA calling for help to bring down the white house. Would you be pleased if afterwards China sent over their army to "help" the "innocent US citizens" by dropping a few bombs in Washington?
The fact is, some of the calls for "help" are no more than soliciting assistance to commit treason. And given Americans' (in particular) understanding of the East (people, culture, values, etc), I'd repeat this: most outsiders have no freaking clue when help is needed or NOT needed.
> The nation most able to accommodate Chinese immigrants is probably the US
> In the long term, the best option is to reform China's pratices.
Typical USA thinking -- We're the saviors of the world.
Get real. If a billion people migrated from China to the USA, it's going to be renamed the USC -- the United States of China. And I know you probably know it's not feasible either, but you should know that the mere thought of a possibility of a mass migration is totally absurd, and moreso that you think that the USA is any better at accomodating a billion people than any other country.
And what business does anybody else except the people in China have with its politics or policies? You know, the best option for the USA is to have the federal govt send me a billion bucks every year, because otherwise they'd have too much money to spend on secret surveillance, secret prisons, unauthorized investigation techniques and such. And you'd probably want the whole congress to do housekeeping for me. Then they won't ever be able to pass stupid laws again! Bingo!
Before you label me as a troll for trolling above, let me point out that's how absurd your ideas are. Yep, you will never understand how absurd your suggestions are to those who are even remotely knowledgable about what really is going on in China.
But then, the conventional Chinese wisdom is to avoid poking one's nose into other people's family matters. It's not only rude, it's usually a lose-lose too. So (at least for me), I've been puzzled at why people seem to be so passionately interested in the politics of China when they're not the single bit affliated with it? Perhaps it affects the world regarding its economic side, but these "internal" issues? And worse, although they seem to want to make it a better place, they are still absolutely clueless to the real situation, and naively think that China is simply a piece of land that could be molded to function like (in particular) the USA.
Excuse me for my flames, but if that is what is warranted to give you guys a more realistic view of what (at least some of) the Chinese people really think, I could sacrifice a few of my mod points for that.
Bullshit. The history of China is featured with massive nation-wide uprising every few centuries, somewhat on the order of a dozen times in recorded history.
The first nation wide uprising by *peasants* happened more than TWO THOUSAND YEARS ago. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty - Search for "revolt") Anybody who has even a slight understanding of Chinese history know that if there is widespread dissatisfaction with the government, the government WILL fall, no matter what opressive practices the government tries to do. Many emperors in recent dynasties tried to prevent uprising from the people by various dubious means, but they all failed -- and they are remembered in history for that.
In Chinese history these uprisings comprises hundreds of thousands of people, AT LEAST. Sometimes the army can be up to a million. It makes the so called "revolutions" in the west look like a weeny, disorganized party doesn't it?
By the way, if you put yourself into the Chinese authorities' shoes, you'll understand that there is no so called "unfree" press in China -- they are only suppressing things that are already not too popular. Imagine trying to suppress the will of billions of people, and enraging them... we're talking about the largest mob on the planet.
So read a bit of Chinese history. The western influence on the Chinese way of doing things, as I predict, will be neglegible on the grand scale of things.