Why do you carry cards in the first place? You will be able to pay everywhere with cash. Oh, wait, cards are convenient, aren't they? And with Visa and MasterCard on board, it's only a matter of time before all pos systems will be converted to accept NFC payments.
You must be American.
The democratic process as we know it is extremely vulnerable to a dictatorship of minorities. During election times, those on the ballot will try to please as many as possible. If there's a small but vocal minority opposing, say, an adjusted taxation system, those on the ballot would rather avoid hot topics like these, during election time.
Mr. Huitema is not a democracy-hater, he's a pragmatist.
Disclosure: I built the web environment for Varibel.
The 'hearing glasses' are most surely innovative, if not revolutionary. The revolution is not so much in the concept, because, indeed, hearing aids like this have existed for a while. What's different is the way the directional microphone works. The improvement in sound quality and the possibility of discerning between what is coming from the front and what from the side is, really, quite amazing.
This product has been researched since the eighties but, back then, the computing power required to filter out unwanted sounds required a room full of hardware. Now, all that computing power is in the arms of the glasses.
In fact, the Varibel apparently work so well, one of the younger users, who does not need glasses, doesn't care about having to wear glasses to use the hearing aid. To her, the huge advantage Varibel offers doesn't nearly match the annoyance of having to wear glasses as well.
Videobloggin will NOT be the next big thing.
It's too cumbersome. Too much work to get a videoblog up. Nice for geeks, too difficult for regular folks.
I started 30yearproject.com the day I turned 30, September last year. I planned on it being a photoblog, a photo a day.
It sort of worked, but decided it just wasn't interesting enough when I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.
Then again, when I spent four months in Zimbabwe this year, putting up a photo each day was difficult, but people were in fact interested to see what the world looked like 'down there'.
It has to be said, a full months' worth of pictures does look nice, but I've gone back to a regular blog-like opening page for more convenience.
THe authors of the article clearly are biased against IRV.
And whenever a 'scientific paper' invokes 'common sense' (as this article does, numerous times), alarm bells should start ringing in your head.
What IRV aims to achieve is to minimise dissatisfaction of voters with candidates. That it does.
IF that is your aim, THEN IRV is a good method.
IRV also doesn't bring you your slippers when you need them, therefore, is it not a good method?
Private email network.
If you only allow mail from people registered with Orkut, you can always trace who's spamming you, if they are, and throw them off Orkut.
Like one of the other posters on this thread, I have been to Ghana with GEEKCORPS and it was a blast. (my story)
The argument 'why give them IT, they need bread or medicince' makes some sense but not much. The whole point of teaching these people how to work with computers is teaching them how to be self sufficient and be able to compete. Sure, many need bread and water, but giving them bread and water will result in them needing more bread and water tomorrow. Teach them how to fish, don't give 'm the fish.
On another note, I find it exceptionally hard to volunteer, as a geek, for development work. Not UNV, not Habitat, not VSO or any of the other organizations I have spoken with seem to understand the sheer importance of IT both within and without their organization in relation to development work. All seem to be much more interested in people with educations in social sciences. Maybe understandable, but a pain for us geeks. And what's the added value of someone who is very passionate about supporting but maybe isn't a perfect match on a professional level?
Then there's the argument of donating instead of offering first hand help. *just* giving money (or medicines, or anything) doesn't help at all. Not in the long run. It should be all about teaching these people how to be self sufficient. And of course, if you decide to help people yourself you do need sponsoring.
So what should you do? If you're really interested, better the world by starting right at your front door. Be tolerant, be friendly, help people out where you can and try to make a difference. The change starts with you.
And of course, making that change in Burkina Faso or Nepal or Ecuador is just a tad more interesting.
Slashdot Mirror
Amazon doesn't allow for exports of your reviews. So once you start submitting, you're locked in.
Why do you carry cards in the first place? You will be able to pay everywhere with cash. Oh, wait, cards are convenient, aren't they? And with Visa and MasterCard on board, it's only a matter of time before all pos systems will be converted to accept NFC payments.
You must be American. The democratic process as we know it is extremely vulnerable to a dictatorship of minorities. During election times, those on the ballot will try to please as many as possible. If there's a small but vocal minority opposing, say, an adjusted taxation system, those on the ballot would rather avoid hot topics like these, during election time. Mr. Huitema is not a democracy-hater, he's a pragmatist.
Won't this also open the way to a tiered internet?
My last year's visit to show off: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=chernobyl&w=78303790%40N00
It took me two hours to come up with a quick visual proof to debunk the maths in this article.
Disclosure: I built the web environment for Varibel.
The 'hearing glasses' are most surely innovative, if not revolutionary. The revolution is not so much in the concept, because, indeed, hearing aids like this have existed for a while. What's different is the way the directional microphone works. The improvement in sound quality and the possibility of discerning between what is coming from the front and what from the side is, really, quite amazing.
This product has been researched since the eighties but, back then, the computing power required to filter out unwanted sounds required a room full of hardware. Now, all that computing power is in the arms of the glasses.
In fact, the Varibel apparently work so well, one of the younger users, who does not need glasses, doesn't care about having to wear glasses to use the hearing aid. To her, the huge advantage Varibel offers doesn't nearly match the annoyance of having to wear glasses as well.
WORLD domination!
Videobloggin will NOT be the next big thing. It's too cumbersome. Too much work to get a videoblog up. Nice for geeks, too difficult for regular folks.
This will NOT be good for the US or the world. You Americans. Where DOES that 50% hide which voted for Bush?
I started 30yearproject.com the day I turned 30, September last year. I planned on it being a photoblog, a photo a day.
It sort of worked, but decided it just wasn't interesting enough when I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary.
Then again, when I spent four months in Zimbabwe this year, putting up a photo each day was difficult, but people were in fact interested to see what the world looked like 'down there'.
It has to be said, a full months' worth of pictures does look nice, but I've gone back to a regular blog-like opening page for more convenience.
... Google? That's a search engine!
how how can it be abused by the sex industry?
THe authors of the article clearly are biased against IRV. And whenever a 'scientific paper' invokes 'common sense' (as this article does, numerous times), alarm bells should start ringing in your head. What IRV aims to achieve is to minimise dissatisfaction of voters with candidates. That it does. IF that is your aim, THEN IRV is a good method. IRV also doesn't bring you your slippers when you need them, therefore, is it not a good method?
Who said looking at Pr0n was safe?
Private email network. If you only allow mail from people registered with Orkut, you can always trace who's spamming you, if they are, and throw them off Orkut.
Many mixed replies on this topic.
Like one of the other posters on this thread, I have been to Ghana with GEEKCORPS and it was a blast. (my story)
The argument 'why give them IT, they need bread or medicince' makes some sense but not much. The whole point of teaching these people how to work with computers is teaching them how to be self sufficient and be able to compete. Sure, many need bread and water, but giving them bread and water will result in them needing more bread and water tomorrow. Teach them how to fish, don't give 'm the fish.
On another note, I find it exceptionally hard to volunteer, as a geek, for development work. Not UNV, not Habitat, not VSO or any of the other organizations I have spoken with seem to understand the sheer importance of IT both within and without their organization in relation to development work. All seem to be much more interested in people with educations in social sciences. Maybe understandable, but a pain for us geeks. And what's the added value of someone who is very passionate about supporting but maybe isn't a perfect match on a professional level?
Then there's the argument of donating instead of offering first hand help. *just* giving money (or medicines, or anything) doesn't help at all. Not in the long run. It should be all about teaching these people how to be self sufficient. And of course, if you decide to help people yourself you do need sponsoring.
So what should you do? If you're really interested, better the world by starting right at your front door. Be tolerant, be friendly, help people out where you can and try to make a difference. The change starts with you.
And of course, making that change in Burkina Faso or Nepal or Ecuador is just a tad more interesting.