Cracked.com is not a research website, but a website which puts forward stuff in a witty way. How did you come to the conclusion that I thought that cracked was the researcher?
For example, in India hybrid varieties are mostly produced by govt funded universities. Farmers are free to re-use seed without fear or persecution from law.
I do not think many slashdotters would understand, that world over, resistance to bio engineered and gene modified plants is mostly due to business reasons. Or the "Monsato" model. Most GM food is owned by corporations. They sell you seed, and you grow the plants. Then you need to buy seed again the next year.... and so on. So as local less hardy varieties vanish, the corporation can set its own prices.
Traditionally, farmers buy seed just once, and then keep reusing in normal circumstances. GM model is trying to alter whats being done for many millenia.
Its more difficult than making old world studios embrace the internet.
So around all this, you have a whole slew of conspiracy theorists and wack jobs who basically add fuel to the fire.
So here is the opposition. In countries where farmers are a powerful vote bank(eg India), govt mostly does the GM corp kicking here and there. In the west, I guess, its the activists.
You could get in touch with the guys who run the telescope. http://www.iiap.res.in/iao/about.html Permits for foreigners are a little difficult to get otherwise.
That said, you can visit other places in ladakh region (Tso moriri/Pangong) which are 4000m+ and have equally amazing skies.
High altitude observatories are usually located at places with little light pollution, and clean air. I have made two trips to Hanle(4400m above MSL) For the first visit, we could not see stars as it was overcast(a rare event!) However, on the second visit, we did see an amazing sky. http://tanveer.smugmug.com/Travel/Ladakh-2010/Chushul-Hanle/IMG3746/906412622_rooft-XL.jpg
I am told there are some high altitude observatories in Andes mountains(4500m approx) 2600m above sea level is one of the lowest.
They are having good success in recent times in dealing with these pirates. Piracy was a big problem for India, as many of the ships registered in entire south and south east asia have a large contingent of India crew. So every time hijacking took place, a bunch of Indian nationals got caught in the crossfire. To fix this problem, the Navy has started patrolling the international waters, and they have sunk quite a few pirate ships!
That over the next 20 years, there will be no advances in technology leading to better efficiency and lower cost. Every tech when starts getting adopted is expensive. For example, could anyone afford a computer at home in 1960s?
As technology advances, and costs come down, solar will become more and more viable. So to dismiss a tech just because currently its not economically viable is basically foolhardy.
Glow plugs go off before you crank the engine. On most diesel cars, it few seconds of glow plug light, then glow plug turns off and then you crank the engine.
Glow plugs are there to preheat the cylinder block so that your air-fuel mixture does not become so cold after coming in contact with cylinder walls that it cannot ignite on compression. Once engine starts, glow plugs simply go off. So for the purpose of heating cylinder block even before you crank the engine, lasers will do a terrible job.
Linux on the desktop weepers forget what linux has achieved. It may not rule the desktop, but popularity of linux and open source model is the thing which has made open source software so popular on windows platform(eg firefox). So while linux may not have made inroads into the desktop, it has definitely shaped the desktop of today. Let me also tell you that most laptops in developing countries have windows because 1. Its preinstalled, and a DOS laptop costs just 50$ less in third world countries. Average cost of medium end laptop is 1000$. So 50$ more or less is not a very strong argument on cost basis 2. Most people who buy 50$ cheaper laptops often do it to install pirated MS_ware later. MS knows this and does not go after them. If it started doing so, linux will start making a lot more inroads.
So you are saying Telecommuting means employees save money, so its okay for the company to cut pay to allow to telecommute.
I totally agree by your logic. But then they should pay extra to employees who work from farther. For example not telecommuting for your colleague ranked same as you and at the same post in your company could be 12000$ extra. So you are okay with him getting 6000$ extra because he drives a SUV, or lives farther away?
A company should never pay an employee for his lifestyle. Pay and hikes should be paid on work performance. Not how an employee works or from where he works.
In India we have rarely got subsidised phones. Its primarily a GSM market. Only CDMA carriers were selling subsidised phones, as well as un subsidised phones. So I guess you cannot buy an unlocked GSM phone there. Why? Is this against the law? If not, and still you cannot buy, that means there is not enough demand in the market to buy unsubsidized phones. I guess if there is enough demand in the market to buy unsubsidised phones, somebody will sell them.
Now a LG optimus one costs 300$(max) in India, totally unclocked. Similar mid range android phones cost 250-350$
I guess in USA, you will get such a phone for 50$ if you sell your soul for a year right? Thats where lies the problem. People will not buy the same phone for 300$
Few geeks will but it does not make sense to import phones unless there is a large market. So its a case of no demand?
How much did the major games like COD/Crysis 2 cost 49$/59$? Sure, somebody will buy these in USA, but in a developing country like India? No way. 59*47= 2700 INR. So will I buy these games on steam? Nope. But will I pirate them? No again. I will walk into a store and buy a DVD for 800rs (999 is retail around 15% discount is common). EA has learnt this so have many other game companies. If they want to sell a game in India, or developing country, they have to price is reasonably.
Even MS does this to some extent.
Now come to RIAA etc., When the record lables used to sell CDs, they used to price them at around $10 for a CD. I think international prices were 15$ approx. Still it was quite high when you take into account Purchasing power Parity. Local labels got the drift, and sell CDs for 2$-3$ and piracy is not common.
But $1 a song in a third world country, its going to be a tough sell.
But then its the age of the internet. If they started selling cheaper games via online channels, people will start buying from local sites unless some kind of DRM is in place. For example EA has a india site offering same games for much cheaper as digital downloads!
Vodaphone does it for iPhone users in India too. If you have a smarphone, and want a 2.5GB GPRS (EDGE 2G) plan? Price = 199/month (4$ approx) If you have an iPhone? You need to buy iPhone GPRS plan which costs 450rs for 500MB/mo:)
So its like the carriers saying "We know you iPhone uses are dumbos who will pay extra for nothing.... so we will take your money, thank you!"
In the west concept of heated winters is accepted. But remember, there are still lots of towns in other parts of the world, for example, Himalayan India, where winter temp falls to -25 degree C. One town saw a low of -50 degree C. those places have very little electric supply in winters, and because its a cold desert, firewood is scarce. So they make do with blankets. In those areas there are some nomads who live outdoors in this weather, digging a pit, setting up a tent and using little firewood.
So you can survive -10 to -20 just with blankets very well
Seriously. Its the game which changed it all. Which actually brought physics and reality into the genre with a super story line. Sounds like a glaring omission.
What is a smart phone. For many its a mini laptop. But for 99% of users in the developing market its a phone 1. Which can surf the internet 2. Watch videos 3. GPS 4. Facebook/docs/gmail
In India we already have rebranded chinese phones for 6000 INR. These are unlocked, as concept of locked phones has not caught on in India. A bare bones phone(sms + phone + alarm) costs 1500 INR.
If you want a decent phone which can take a few bumps and yet run apps and surf the net, you have 8000-9000 INR "sportsphones".
2 years back this was unthinkable. 2 years from now, a 5000 INR phone will run apps and will run pdf and surf the net. OF course to play that new game, you will need the 15000 phone.
3 years back a mid range laptop was 1000$. IT can still run docs and surf the net. But today a 1000-1100$ laptop can run high end games.
Please read the article. A PIL (which is a Public Interest Litigation) is something any citizen can file. An organization filed a litigation in court to ban all advertisements related to astrology, feng shui and Vastu Shastra(Ancient practice of arcitechture which supposedly brings positive energy and makes inhabitants millionares). Court said it cannot ban them as they have been practiced in India for 4000 years.
A USA analogy? Lets say you file an application in court saying ban all church advertisements promising happiness salvation etc.,
That said in India even educated people sometimes sacrifice children to make their fate good etc,. etc., and many news channels have regular "informercials" on special "talismans" which can make you invincible from the vagaries of life. So this news isn't really shocking. Its just that even if the high court or the supreme court(highest court of the country) had said nothing, or said the opposite, it would have had no effect.
I forgot the authors name, probably it was an Asimov story? I am not sure. This story is set in the far future, where killing of animals has stopped, and you can have lab grown meat in every flavor (cow, lamb, chicken etc.,). One company with best flavors dominates the market, with many exotic animal flavor meat on sale.
However, a new company comes in with a meat that tastes the best, and the old leader starts losing sales. The owner decides to do some research, and then files a suit in the parliament.
The members of parliament want to shrug off the suit, but give him a hearing. He starts explaining with images of animals being killed that how their ancestors used to kill animals. Many MPs faint and squirm.
Then he goes farther back to history when he shows slides of cannibalism. the entire parliament erupts, with MPs vomiting and fainting at the very thought. They want to throw him out.
At the end of the story he reveals what he has found. the new company is producing meat which tastes like human flesh. Thats why its the tastiest meat. Anybody remember the story name or Author?
However, I store only JPEG. If your pics are in RAW format, how about Amazon? Lets see. for 250GB disk space it costs 25$ approx. Well its expensive all righ/month
This is the 21st century, and companies like smugmug do offer unlimited storage for your JPEG and videos for 50-60$/year However, if you have RAW files, then its kinda sucks. Not much hope.
Slashdot Mirror
Cracked.com is not a research website, but a website which puts forward stuff in a witty way. How did you come to the conclusion that I thought that cracked was the researcher?
the monkeysphere! :)
http://www.cracked.com/article_14990_what-monkeysphere.html
I guess, with twitter and fb, the monkeysphere is expanding, and you cannot cope with it unless the brain is modified
For example, in India hybrid varieties are mostly produced by govt funded universities.
Farmers are free to re-use seed without fear or persecution from law.
I do not think many slashdotters would understand, that world over, resistance to bio engineered and gene modified plants is mostly due to business reasons.
Or the "Monsato" model.
Most GM food is owned by corporations.
They sell you seed, and you grow the plants.
Then you need to buy seed again the next year.... and so on.
So as local less hardy varieties vanish, the corporation can set its own prices.
Traditionally, farmers buy seed just once, and then keep reusing in normal circumstances.
GM model is trying to alter whats being done for many millenia.
Its more difficult than making old world studios embrace the internet.
So around all this, you have a whole slew of conspiracy theorists and wack jobs who basically add fuel to the fire.
So here is the opposition.
In countries where farmers are a powerful vote bank(eg India), govt mostly does the GM corp kicking here and there.
In the west, I guess, its the activists.
You could get in touch with the guys who run the telescope.
http://www.iiap.res.in/iao/about.html
Permits for foreigners are a little difficult to get otherwise.
That said, you can visit other places in ladakh region (Tso moriri/Pangong) which are 4000m+ and have equally amazing skies.
Check out my http://tanveer.smugmug.com/Travel/Ladakh-2010 gallery, as well as 2009 gallery in the "Travel" section.
High altitude observatories are usually located at places with little light pollution, and clean air.
I have made two trips to Hanle(4400m above MSL)
For the first visit, we could not see stars as it was overcast(a rare event!)
However, on the second visit, we did see an amazing sky.
http://tanveer.smugmug.com/Travel/Ladakh-2010/Chushul-Hanle/IMG3746/906412622_rooft-XL.jpg
I am told there are some high altitude observatories in Andes mountains(4500m approx)
2600m above sea level is one of the lowest.
I think they should announce it on national TV that
Mr. X has an affair with Y, and you are forbidden to mention about the affair.
They are having good success in recent times in dealing with these pirates.
Piracy was a big problem for India, as many of the ships registered in entire south and south east asia have a large contingent of India crew. So every time hijacking took place, a bunch of Indian nationals got caught in the crossfire.
To fix this problem, the Navy has started patrolling the international waters, and they have sunk quite a few pirate ships!
That over the next 20 years, there will be no advances in technology leading to better efficiency and lower cost.
Every tech when starts getting adopted is expensive. For example, could anyone afford a computer at home in 1960s?
As technology advances, and costs come down, solar will become more and more viable. So to dismiss a tech just because currently its not economically viable is basically foolhardy.
Glow plugs go off before you crank the engine. On most diesel cars, it few seconds of glow plug light, then glow plug turns off and then you crank the engine.
Glow plugs are there to preheat the cylinder block so that your air-fuel mixture does not become so cold after coming in contact with cylinder walls that it cannot ignite on compression.
Once engine starts, glow plugs simply go off.
So for the purpose of heating cylinder block even before you crank the engine, lasers will do a terrible job.
ITs optional. You can go back to multi window mode if you like it that way!
From the page
"You won’t be forced to use it, if you don’t like single window! "
There : you have the best of both worlds
Linux on the desktop weepers forget what linux has achieved. It may not rule the desktop, but popularity of linux and open source model is the thing which has made open source software so popular on windows platform(eg firefox).
So while linux may not have made inroads into the desktop, it has definitely shaped the desktop of today.
Let me also tell you that most laptops in developing countries have windows because
1. Its preinstalled, and a DOS laptop costs just 50$ less in third world countries. Average cost of medium end laptop is 1000$. So 50$ more or less is not a very strong argument on cost basis
2. Most people who buy 50$ cheaper laptops often do it to install pirated MS_ware later. MS knows this and does not go after them. If it started doing so, linux will start making a lot more inroads.
So you are saying
Telecommuting means employees save money, so its okay for the company to cut pay to allow to telecommute.
I totally agree by your logic. But then they should pay extra to employees who work from farther. For example not telecommuting for your colleague ranked same as you and at the same post in your company could be 12000$ extra. So you are okay with him getting 6000$ extra because he drives a SUV, or lives farther away?
A company should never pay an employee for his lifestyle. Pay and hikes should be paid on work performance. Not how an employee works or from where he works.
In India we have rarely got subsidised phones. Its primarily a GSM market. Only CDMA carriers were selling subsidised phones, as well as un subsidised phones.
So I guess you cannot buy an unlocked GSM phone there. Why? Is this against the law? If not, and still you cannot buy, that means there is not enough demand in the market to buy unsubsidized phones.
I guess if there is enough demand in the market to buy unsubsidised phones, somebody will sell them.
Now a LG optimus one costs 300$(max) in India, totally unclocked. Similar mid range android phones cost 250-350$
I guess in USA, you will get such a phone for 50$ if you sell your soul for a year right? Thats where lies the problem. People will not buy the same phone for 300$
Few geeks will but it does not make sense to import phones unless there is a large market.
So its a case of no demand?
How much did the major games like COD/Crysis 2 cost 49$/59$?
Sure, somebody will buy these in USA, but in a developing country like India? No way. 59*47= 2700 INR.
So will I buy these games on steam? Nope.
But will I pirate them? No again. I will walk into a store and buy a DVD for 800rs (999 is retail around 15% discount is common).
EA has learnt this so have many other game companies. If they want to sell a game in India, or developing country, they have to price is reasonably.
Even MS does this to some extent.
Now come to RIAA etc., When the record lables used to sell CDs, they used to price them at around $10 for a CD. I think international prices were 15$ approx. Still it was quite high when you take into account Purchasing power Parity.
Local labels got the drift, and sell CDs for 2$-3$ and piracy is not common.
But $1 a song in a third world country, its going to be a tough sell.
But then its the age of the internet. If they started selling cheaper games via online channels, people will start buying from local sites unless some kind of DRM is in place. For example EA has a india site offering same games for much cheaper as digital downloads!
Vodaphone does it for iPhone users in India too. :)
If you have a smarphone, and want a 2.5GB GPRS (EDGE 2G) plan? Price = 199/month (4$ approx)
If you have an iPhone?
You need to buy iPhone GPRS plan which costs 450rs for 500MB/mo
So its like the carriers saying "We know you iPhone uses are dumbos who will pay extra for nothing.... so we will take your money, thank you!"
In the west concept of heated winters is accepted.
But remember, there are still lots of towns in other parts of the world, for example, Himalayan India, where winter temp falls to -25 degree C. One town saw a low of -50 degree C.
those places have very little electric supply in winters, and because its a cold desert, firewood is scarce. So they make do with blankets.
In those areas there are some nomads who live outdoors in this weather, digging a pit, setting up a tent and using little firewood.
So you can survive -10 to -20 just with blankets very well
Seriously.
Its the game which changed it all. Which actually brought physics and reality into the genre with a super story line. Sounds like a glaring omission.
Now thats a crysis
What is a smart phone. For many its a mini laptop.
But for 99% of users in the developing market its a phone
1. Which can surf the internet
2. Watch videos
3. GPS
4. Facebook/docs/gmail
In India we already have rebranded chinese phones for 6000 INR. These are unlocked, as concept of locked phones has not caught on in India.
A bare bones phone(sms + phone + alarm) costs 1500 INR.
If you want a decent phone which can take a few bumps and yet run apps and surf the net, you have 8000-9000 INR "sportsphones".
2 years back this was unthinkable.
2 years from now, a 5000 INR phone will run apps and will run pdf and surf the net.
OF course to play that new game, you will need the 15000 phone.
3 years back a mid range laptop was 1000$. IT can still run docs and surf the net.
But today a 1000-1100$ laptop can run high end games.
Please read the article.
A PIL (which is a Public Interest Litigation) is something any citizen can file.
An organization filed a litigation in court to ban all advertisements related to astrology, feng shui and Vastu Shastra(Ancient practice of arcitechture which supposedly brings positive energy and makes inhabitants millionares).
Court said it cannot ban them as they have been practiced in India for 4000 years.
A USA analogy?
Lets say you file an application in court saying ban all church advertisements promising happiness salvation etc.,
That said in India even educated people sometimes sacrifice children to make their fate good etc,. etc., and many news channels have regular "informercials" on special "talismans" which can make you invincible from the vagaries of life. So this news isn't really shocking. Its just that even if the high court or the supreme court(highest court of the country) had said nothing, or said the opposite, it would have had no effect.
I forgot the authors name, probably it was an Asimov story? I am not sure.
This story is set in the far future, where killing of animals has stopped, and you can have lab grown meat in every flavor (cow, lamb, chicken etc.,). One company with best flavors dominates the market, with many exotic animal flavor meat on sale.
However, a new company comes in with a meat that tastes the best, and the old leader starts losing sales.
The owner decides to do some research, and then files a suit in the parliament.
The members of parliament want to shrug off the suit, but give him a hearing.
He starts explaining with images of animals being killed that how their ancestors used to kill animals.
Many MPs faint and squirm.
Then he goes farther back to history when he shows slides of cannibalism. the entire parliament erupts, with MPs vomiting and fainting at the very thought. They want to throw him out.
At the end of the story he reveals what he has found. the new company is producing meat which tastes like human flesh. Thats why its the tastiest meat.
Anybody remember the story name or Author?
However, I store only JPEG. If your pics are in RAW format, how about Amazon?
Lets see. for 250GB disk space it costs 25$ approx. Well its expensive all righ/month
This is the 21st century, and companies like smugmug do offer unlimited storage for your JPEG and videos for 50-60$/year
However, if you have RAW files, then its kinda sucks. Not much hope.