Next time you have to wait for your bullet train because some high schooler couldn't take the pressure of his or her exams, think about what all that extra schooling can do.
I agree, most Americans could use more schooling, but not the way it's practiced throughout Asia, with tests as early as middle school that can essentially determine the rest of your life.
Also, much of the extra schooling is geared towards test prep, IE here's the fact, now memorize it for the test. Next. For geography this is great, but can stifle innovation. I think it was an article in the Economist a few years back that talked about how Asian schools produce higher marks on science and math tests, but the vast majority of Nobel Prizes for Math and Science go to (North) Americans and Europeans, where there may be less in class time, but independent thinking is encouraged in the classroom.
Oh, Japanese McDonalds do rock the socks off of American McDonalds, same can be said for Chinese McDonalds.
* (like Halliburton and the GOP... remember fascism means corporatism - if Bush had some charisma and intelligence, he could be Hitler...thankfully he's a bit of an idiot),
Because we all know that the Democrats political coffers are as clean as a virgin's honeypot. I think corporate influence on American politics has gone too far as well, but there is plenty of corporate money being accepted on both sides of the aisle.
I would hardly call China a practicing communist state. On the political side of things, the oppressive nature of the system can still be seen, but on the economics side, they've abandon just about every communist ideal. They've privatized much of their industry (save steel production), product pricing for commodities has seen major reform (ie, market sets the price) and consumerism is running rampant.
I'm not going to claim that China plays by the rules all the time, but neither does the U.S., France, Britain, etc. There is fairness in the relationship though between the U.S. China does cheap manufacturing well and it's benefiting them. The U.S. innovates in the tech field well, and we benefit. India codes well, and they benefit. Simply because one country does something better doesn't mean they are playing unfairly. When countries stick to what they do best, they benefit more.
One more thing, as the others have pointed out, it used to be the textile jobs leaving that was going to be the downfall of our economy. Well, the economy still grows even with very few textile jobs here in the U.S. The world economy is not a pie of a set size. It can grow, just not necessarily in areas consistent with your skill set.
My understanding of the speed difference is that FireWire is a smarter technology that has more processing power built in. As such, it can maintain a higher transfer rate more consistently. Whereas USB is dumb and needs to talk with the processor to work, as such, if there are other processes running while transferring, USB will slow down. Of course, I just read that on/., so it's probably wrong;-)
It would be bad for Apple to license OS X. The real profit for Apple is on the hardware side. Sure they could make some extra change by licensing the system to Linux distros, but that would cannibalize hardware sales because cheap bastards like me would buy cheaper hardware and install Linux OS X. As it stands now, I simply have to save more money before I can upgrade. I'm sure Apple likes it that way. Plus, part of the great thing about the Mac OS is that it knows what to expect from the hardware because Apple puts it together themselves. Maybe licensing would have been a good idea in 1984, but not today.
I despise Microsoft, but I can imagine any number of things that might have to go through Media Player, or use it's core technology anyway. If OS X shipped without Quicktime,multimedia previews in the finder wouldn't work, games wouldn't launch, etc. Maybe the solution would be for Microsoft to license Quicktime as the default media framework on Windows. They get the requisite functionality and can yell loudly about the fact that a core technology to modern consumer operating systems, is from a direct competitor. Average user won't know the difference, and Microsoft will lose no nothing.
I don't agree that PayPal should be freezing accounts so liberally, but they do need some better control and tracking. Last year about this time I had a transfer in my account from somebody I didn't know. The amount? $2,000. I could have withdrawn the money immediately and let PayPal figure it out. Instead, I e-mailed both the sender and PayPal. Neither e-mailed me back, but the money was gone in 5 or 6 days. I wasn't peeved with the mistake, they happen in real banks too, but I was peeved that I e-mailed PayPal about something that could have gotten ugly had I been cut from a lesser moral fabric, and they didn't even acknowledge they received the e-mail. Not even an auto response. I didn't even want a thank-you, just wanted to know it was being taken care of. But I digress
That's interesting. I know that when I lived in Sweden and walked to the bus stop about a mile or so from my house, each song would start in a given space of 10 or 20 feet each time (if I started the tape from the beginning when I left my house). I had 15 tapes I listened to regularly and by the time my year was up, I knew almost exactly when each song would be playing on the walk. In fact, every time I hear Everclear's "Daughter of Mine" I think of a sharp turn in the path because that song always played then.
As far as the grandparent goes, this study may not be of great use for your average Joe, but there is something to be said for pure research on a topic that interests you. Academia should not be about strictly practical things. While I make no promises, I bet some of the most important leaps forward in tech were discovered because a researcher was trying to do something unrelated but happened across something brilliant.
In Sweden, any alcohol in the system while driving is an offense. Two things need to change here it the U.S. We need to change our attitudes so that getting sloshed and having somebody else drive home (via bus, cab, friend) has no stigma. In my host family in Sweden and others, the parents would drive to the city. Get hammered and take a cab or bus home, pick up their car the next day. Here in America, people are convinced that they can drive drunk. Not sure why this is, or how to change it, but it needs to be changed.
Also, we need better public transit. I know in my hometown the only transport is car, not even an expensive cab. It is limiting, but again, not sure how that will change given the spread out and massive nature of this country.
Personally, I don't drive for an hour after having one drink, and never drive if I've had more. I'm pretty big so one drink after one hour is almost non-existent in the blood stream. I think the legal limit should be one drink in the bloodstream.
I take it you didn't follow the link. The company name is Lindows.com, product is Lindows OS. FYI, I haven't lived at home since I was 16, and my parents basement is disgusting to boot. But I digress.
You are correct, Olds sounds nothing like Ford. However, Microsoft sounds nothing like Lindows.com (that's their official company name). So we are comparing Microsoft Windows to Lindows.com LindowsOS. If you get confused by that, you better go back to kindergarten.
Not sure if you're calling me a Linux fanboy, but be assured, I am not. I tinker with Linux when I'm really bored, but am a Mac guy myself, and as a partial owner of the company, I say go ahead make some Bapple computers. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that anybody can use common (English words in this case, as all involved are American companies) words and claim some kind of exclusive right to use them.
It's similar to the ruling against Apple Computer when Apple Music (the Beatles people) sued them when they put sound in their computers. Apple Music won and Apple Computer had to pay some money. Really stupid.
Think about this. Olds Motor Company was founded in 1897. Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903. Using YOUR logic, Olds has legal recourse to sue Ford. They both build cars, both use motor in their names. I think Ford owes Olds (no GM) a whole lot of money, er, in a sane world, maybe not.
I could be wrong, and perhaps like the Lindows marketing people I'm too lazy to do some research, but didn't Lindows win its case in the U.S? I seem to remember reading that here on Slashdot, but I could be wrong. If I find the article I'll repost.
I'd say that Lindows has perfect authority to use that name. How can a company use a common word like Windows and then expect other companies not to play off that common word, in more creative ways. If Microsoft had called their operating system Microsoft Cantim, and the Lindows people were called Bantim, then I can understand. Both are original words and one is clearly designed to copy another original work for profit. Just don't use a common word and expect exclusivity.
Yeah, it turns out that their last attack was prevented because the iBook they were using to control the missiles had a bad logic board and pooped out on them. They were going to use the PowerBook, but they were using it to cook their goat on.
Agreed, this guy seems to be downloading a lot, but he should know what his limits are, so he can adjust his downloading accordingly.
It's similar to the old e-Music which claimed unlimited legal MP3 downloads. In reality, they had a case-by-case limit that was about 5,000 mp3s a month. That limit was actually an educated guess by users based on stories on the messageboards. There was no e-Music stated policy. This made people angry. Then they came up with a stated limit of 2,000 mp3s a month. The limit was lower, but people seemed to appreciate the fact that while there was a limit it was published. Of course, this is all moot as the service has moved to only 40 or 60 Dl's a month. Boo. I kind of miss it.
Anyway, point is, I think average users understand that limits are needed but they MUST be published and known to users.
I'll always buy Nintendo, Zelda, plain and simple. Truth be told, liked Sonic as a mascot more than Mario, but now I've got the best of both worlds. The day Nintendo stops making hardware is the day I stop playing video games. Kind of like the day that Apple stops making computers is the day I stop using computers (granted, I've been slowly learning Linux, just in case;-) )
I'm no economist, and I would agree that your assertion that a pure capitalist system would shun IP laws (i.e. capitalists want it to be totally laissez-faire). However, in reality any capitalist is in the game to maximize profits. If I pour millions of RMB into research and development for a new product, I'm not going to be able to maximize my profit if my competitiors can steal/reverse engineer/etc my product with impunity. SO, I decide it's not my effort to enter the market.
Drug companies are a prime example of this. Most of the biggens are American companies (I know their are exceptions) but that's because we have some of the most restrictive laws on IP/copyright/patent protection. Companies know their property will be protected long enough so that they can make their money back and then some. This makes drugs more expensive in the U.S. because generics are unable to enter the system as soon as in other countries. I don't totally agree with the system, but that's how it works out.
So, no IP laws may prevent competitors from entering a market that are simply hoping to capitalize on another's work, but they do encourage one facet of the capitalist system, profit maximization.
I was a China Studies major in college, and lived in Beijing for a semester. In the spring of 2001, you would have had a hard time convincing me that a majority of the people played by IP laws. Pirated DVD shops, pirated software shops, knock off/factory defect clothing shops, etc, everywhere. I have read that the government has cracked down a great deal, in Beijing anyway. Some friends went back in 2002 and said there were fewer shops selling pirated goods. So things probably are changing.
The problem is that the arbitrary nature in which China has been ruled with since 1949, ie whats good today is bad tomorrow and the opposite, has meant that many in China simply choose to ignore the government. Hey, if my government were Communist I'd ignore it too. However, this poses a problem for China's economy because respect for laws and lack of court system that can effectively deal with those that ignore IP laws and signed contracts means some potential business partners get screwed and leave the market. Ultimately, China does have similar IP laws on the books as developed nations, but no effective way of enforcing them. Mod me down for being a bit off topic, but that's how the cookie crumbles.
Keep this in mind, the TGV and other high speed networks have impeccable safety records because they were built over anything in it's way. They typically use overpasses rather than underpasses (i.e. nothing falling onto tracks from above) and never have grade crossings. Grade crossings are where many accidents happen when a train hits a car on the track. I bet many accidents in the UK are not caused by the tracks, but things on the tracks, that however is just pure conjecture on my part.
I don't think you could tax foreign workers working in foreign countries even if they worked from American firms. However, you could probably tax the U.S. corporation for it's foreign payroll. Of course, I"m not a lawyer or an accountant.
Slashdot Mirror
Next time you have to wait for your bullet train because some high schooler couldn't take the pressure of his or her exams, think about what all that extra schooling can do.
I agree, most Americans could use more schooling, but not the way it's practiced throughout Asia, with tests as early as middle school that can essentially determine the rest of your life.
Also, much of the extra schooling is geared towards test prep, IE here's the fact, now memorize it for the test. Next. For geography this is great, but can stifle innovation. I think it was an article in the Economist a few years back that talked about how Asian schools produce higher marks on science and math tests, but the vast majority of Nobel Prizes for Math and Science go to (North) Americans and Europeans, where there may be less in class time, but independent thinking is encouraged in the classroom.
Oh, Japanese McDonalds do rock the socks off of American McDonalds, same can be said for Chinese McDonalds.
* (like Halliburton and the GOP... remember fascism means corporatism - if Bush had some charisma and intelligence, he could be Hitler...thankfully he's a bit of an idiot),
Because we all know that the Democrats political coffers are as clean as a virgin's honeypot. I think corporate influence on American politics has gone too far as well, but there is plenty of corporate money being accepted on both sides of the aisle.
I would hardly call China a practicing communist state. On the political side of things, the oppressive nature of the system can still be seen, but on the economics side, they've abandon just about every communist ideal. They've privatized much of their industry (save steel production), product pricing for commodities has seen major reform (ie, market sets the price) and consumerism is running rampant.
I'm not going to claim that China plays by the rules all the time, but neither does the U.S., France, Britain, etc. There is fairness in the relationship though between the U.S. China does cheap manufacturing well and it's benefiting them. The U.S. innovates in the tech field well, and we benefit. India codes well, and they benefit. Simply because one country does something better doesn't mean they are playing unfairly. When countries stick to what they do best, they benefit more.
One more thing, as the others have pointed out, it used to be the textile jobs leaving that was going to be the downfall of our economy. Well, the economy still grows even with very few textile jobs here in the U.S. The world economy is not a pie of a set size. It can grow, just not necessarily in areas consistent with your skill set.
My understanding of the speed difference is that FireWire is a smarter technology that has more processing power built in. As such, it can maintain a higher transfer rate more consistently. Whereas USB is dumb and needs to talk with the processor to work, as such, if there are other processes running while transferring, USB will slow down. Of course, I just read that on /., so it's probably wrong ;-)
It would be bad for Apple to license OS X. The real profit for Apple is on the hardware side. Sure they could make some extra change by licensing the system to Linux distros, but that would cannibalize hardware sales because cheap bastards like me would buy cheaper hardware and install Linux OS X. As it stands now, I simply have to save more money before I can upgrade. I'm sure Apple likes it that way. Plus, part of the great thing about the Mac OS is that it knows what to expect from the hardware because Apple puts it together themselves. Maybe licensing would have been a good idea in 1984, but not today.
I despise Microsoft, but I can imagine any number of things that might have to go through Media Player, or use it's core technology anyway. If OS X shipped without Quicktime ,multimedia previews in the finder wouldn't work, games wouldn't launch, etc. Maybe the solution would be for Microsoft to license Quicktime as the default media framework on Windows. They get the requisite functionality and can yell loudly about the fact that a core technology to modern consumer operating systems, is from a direct competitor. Average user won't know the difference, and Microsoft will lose no nothing.
And if you sell the wife and kids you could have a happy retirement.
I don't agree that PayPal should be freezing accounts so liberally, but they do need some better control and tracking. Last year about this time I had a transfer in my account from somebody I didn't know. The amount? $2,000. I could have withdrawn the money immediately and let PayPal figure it out. Instead, I e-mailed both the sender and PayPal. Neither e-mailed me back, but the money was gone in 5 or 6 days. I wasn't peeved with the mistake, they happen in real banks too, but I was peeved that I e-mailed PayPal about something that could have gotten ugly had I been cut from a lesser moral fabric, and they didn't even acknowledge they received the e-mail. Not even an auto response. I didn't even want a thank-you, just wanted to know it was being taken care of. But I digress
That's interesting. I know that when I lived in Sweden and walked to the bus stop about a mile or so from my house, each song would start in a given space of 10 or 20 feet each time (if I started the tape from the beginning when I left my house). I had 15 tapes I listened to regularly and by the time my year was up, I knew almost exactly when each song would be playing on the walk. In fact, every time I hear Everclear's "Daughter of Mine" I think of a sharp turn in the path because that song always played then.
As far as the grandparent goes, this study may not be of great use for your average Joe, but there is something to be said for pure research on a topic that interests you. Academia should not be about strictly practical things. While I make no promises, I bet some of the most important leaps forward in tech were discovered because a researcher was trying to do something unrelated but happened across something brilliant.
Good leaders also realize when a situation needs to be remedied even if those he's leading do not.
In Sweden, any alcohol in the system while driving is an offense. Two things need to change here it the U.S. We need to change our attitudes so that getting sloshed and having somebody else drive home (via bus, cab, friend) has no stigma. In my host family in Sweden and others, the parents would drive to the city. Get hammered and take a cab or bus home, pick up their car the next day. Here in America, people are convinced that they can drive drunk. Not sure why this is, or how to change it, but it needs to be changed.
Also, we need better public transit. I know in my hometown the only transport is car, not even an expensive cab. It is limiting, but again, not sure how that will change given the spread out and massive nature of this country.
Personally, I don't drive for an hour after having one drink, and never drive if I've had more. I'm pretty big so one drink after one hour is almost non-existent in the blood stream. I think the legal limit should be one drink in the bloodstream.
Is that like what they did in "Office Space"?
The spyware removal tools I use regularly are my Mac iBook G4 running OS X.3
There will always be English teaching jobs in Japan. Go there, get paid enough to party it up, meet lots of loose, extremely hot women.
Uh oh, there goes my good karma. It happens.
I take it you didn't follow the link. The company name is Lindows.com, product is Lindows OS. FYI, I haven't lived at home since I was 16, and my parents basement is disgusting to boot. But I digress.
You are correct, Olds sounds nothing like Ford. However, Microsoft sounds nothing like Lindows.com (that's their official company name). So we are comparing Microsoft Windows to Lindows.com LindowsOS. If you get confused by that, you better go back to kindergarten.
Not sure if you're calling me a Linux fanboy, but be assured, I am not. I tinker with Linux when I'm really bored, but am a Mac guy myself, and as a partial owner of the company, I say go ahead make some Bapple computers. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that anybody can use common (English words in this case, as all involved are American companies) words and claim some kind of exclusive right to use them.
It's similar to the ruling against Apple Computer when Apple Music (the Beatles people) sued them when they put sound in their computers. Apple Music won and Apple Computer had to pay some money. Really stupid.
Think about this. Olds Motor Company was founded in 1897. Ford Motor Company was founded in 1903. Using YOUR logic, Olds has legal recourse to sue Ford. They both build cars, both use motor in their names. I think Ford owes Olds (no GM) a whole lot of money, er, in a sane world, maybe not.
I could be wrong, and perhaps like the Lindows marketing people I'm too lazy to do some research, but didn't Lindows win its case in the U.S? I seem to remember reading that here on Slashdot, but I could be wrong. If I find the article I'll repost.
I'd say that Lindows has perfect authority to use that name. How can a company use a common word like Windows and then expect other companies not to play off that common word, in more creative ways. If Microsoft had called their operating system Microsoft Cantim, and the Lindows people were called Bantim, then I can understand. Both are original words and one is clearly designed to copy another original work for profit. Just don't use a common word and expect exclusivity.
Yeah, it turns out that their last attack was prevented because the iBook they were using to control the missiles had a bad logic board and pooped out on them. They were going to use the PowerBook, but they were using it to cook their goat on.
*This isn't flamebait. I'm an Apple shareholder.
Agreed, this guy seems to be downloading a lot, but he should know what his limits are, so he can adjust his downloading accordingly.
It's similar to the old e-Music which claimed unlimited legal MP3 downloads. In reality, they had a case-by-case limit that was about 5,000 mp3s a month. That limit was actually an educated guess by users based on stories on the messageboards. There was no e-Music stated policy. This made people angry. Then they came up with a stated limit of 2,000 mp3s a month. The limit was lower, but people seemed to appreciate the fact that while there was a limit it was published. Of course, this is all moot as the service has moved to only 40 or 60 Dl's a month. Boo. I kind of miss it.
Anyway, point is, I think average users understand that limits are needed but they MUST be published and known to users.
I'll always buy Nintendo, Zelda, plain and simple. Truth be told, liked Sonic as a mascot more than Mario, but now I've got the best of both worlds. The day Nintendo stops making hardware is the day I stop playing video games. Kind of like the day that Apple stops making computers is the day I stop using computers (granted, I've been slowly learning Linux, just in case ;-) )
I'm no economist, and I would agree that your assertion that a pure capitalist system would shun IP laws (i.e. capitalists want it to be totally laissez-faire). However, in reality any capitalist is in the game to maximize profits. If I pour millions of RMB into research and development for a new product, I'm not going to be able to maximize my profit if my competitiors can steal/reverse engineer/etc my product with impunity. SO, I decide it's not my effort to enter the market.
Drug companies are a prime example of this. Most of the biggens are American companies (I know their are exceptions) but that's because we have some of the most restrictive laws on IP/copyright/patent protection. Companies know their property will be protected long enough so that they can make their money back and then some. This makes drugs more expensive in the U.S. because generics are unable to enter the system as soon as in other countries. I don't totally agree with the system, but that's how it works out.
So, no IP laws may prevent competitors from entering a market that are simply hoping to capitalize on another's work, but they do encourage one facet of the capitalist system, profit maximization.
I was a China Studies major in college, and lived in Beijing for a semester. In the spring of 2001, you would have had a hard time convincing me that a majority of the people played by IP laws. Pirated DVD shops, pirated software shops, knock off/factory defect clothing shops, etc, everywhere. I have read that the government has cracked down a great deal, in Beijing anyway. Some friends went back in 2002 and said there were fewer shops selling pirated goods. So things probably are changing.
The problem is that the arbitrary nature in which China has been ruled with since 1949, ie whats good today is bad tomorrow and the opposite, has meant that many in China simply choose to ignore the government. Hey, if my government were Communist I'd ignore it too. However, this poses a problem for China's economy because respect for laws and lack of court system that can effectively deal with those that ignore IP laws and signed contracts means some potential business partners get screwed and leave the market. Ultimately, China does have similar IP laws on the books as developed nations, but no effective way of enforcing them. Mod me down for being a bit off topic, but that's how the cookie crumbles.
Keep this in mind, the TGV and other high speed networks have impeccable safety records because they were built over anything in it's way. They typically use overpasses rather than underpasses (i.e. nothing falling onto tracks from above) and never have grade crossings. Grade crossings are where many accidents happen when a train hits a car on the track. I bet many accidents in the UK are not caused by the tracks, but things on the tracks, that however is just pure conjecture on my part.
I don't think you could tax foreign workers working in foreign countries even if they worked from American firms. However, you could probably tax the U.S. corporation for it's foreign payroll. Of course, I"m not a lawyer or an accountant.