The difference is, 'poor' American people/communities DO have access to very inexpensive computers. If they want them.
City and public school adult education classes, corporate and personal cast-offs for hardware, very low cost ($7-$10 monthly) internet access, public libraries for totally free access.
Developing nations lack many of these.
I've personally given away/sold very cheaply about 15 or 20 of our old corporate castoffs and my old personal machines. Right now I have a short stack of Dell Latitude laptops (PII/300) looking for good local homes. I emphasize 'good', because I know for a fact that at least a couple of the boxes I've given away have subsequently been sold/traded for bag of weed.
Because there are poor/hungry people in the US should we cut off all food and nutritional aid to foreigners?
Why is this 'worrying'? Planning for a maintenance mission can start before Discovery launches. And the actual mission does depend on return to operational status of the shuttle. But there's no reason they can't get a lot of mission planning done now.
They live in a vacuum? They have no friends or relatives? I understand your point, but there are vey, very few in the western world who can't find someone to ask where to get an inexpensive PC.
Because cheap computers are in abundance in the US. You want cheaper than the $200 Walmart box? Go to eBay, and plug in PII. $69 Dell and Compaq PII/300 laptops. $25 PIII/550 desktops. A Compaq PIII/1.0ghz currently bidding at $57. Hell, that is faster than MY main PC was until a few months ago.
Cheap PC's are very easy to get in the US, if you want one. And if you want the free option, the local library usually has one.
Right. And as I said, the next option would have to be 'free'. A $200 machine here in the states is already 'low cost'.
Meanwhile, thousands of perfectly serviceable PC's are literally thrown out every year by companies in the states. Let's use those.
Then we get into what the machines in the article are to be used for. Company desktop replacments, networked to a central server. Not standalone home use.
Why are these cheap entry-level systems always targeted at the "Third World", rather than poor people here in the US?
Because the barrier to entry really isn't much of a barrier in the US. Dell sells a $300 machine, Walmart a $200 one. If you can't save up for that $200 Walmart box, you can't save up for the $100 one either. The only other option would be 'free'.
I've had Netflix for a couple of years, and decided to try BB for a couple of months, and switch if it were 'better'.
Netflix is better on turnaround time, selection, availability.
Blockbuster is better on price, and 2 free instore rentals per month.
I'm dropping Blockbuster.
I went to cancel BB once already, and they acknowledged the poor selection and availability. They gave me a free month. Still going to cancel at the end of the free.
True, they do [not] provide the same level of service. But either regulation to provide 911, or regulation to inform/disclaim customers about the 911 limitations is probably needed. Without regulation, we wouldn't have universal 911 on the regular landlines. Bell and the subsequent Baby Bells would have screwed it up badly, if we had it at all.
Vonage, TimeWarner, Cox all provide pretty good info about their 911 connectivity and its limitations. Other 'phone companies' might not.
Vonage offers some connectivity into 911. Other 'phone companies' might not. And might not tell you they don't.
911 is so ingrained in society that people expect a 'phone' to be 911 capable. It's not even a question anymore. If you're going to advertise yourself as a 'phone company', then do that. Be a phone company. With all it entails.
No, this looks like a rule that says, "If you're going to act like a phone company, and provide 'phone services', you have to provide similar emergency services as a phone company."
If it walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, it damn well better taste like a duck.
[your boss] "Ok, Jeff. Since Congress is now allowing many more H1-B's, you have a choice. Either take a $25k pay cut, or I'll hire someone who will work for $25k less than you. You know I don't like outsourcing overseas after that last fiasco. But all these new pseudo immigrant kids are hungry for your job. Convince me I should keep you, instead of hiring 2 others."
Oh please. My existence is not defined by you or anyone else being able to call me 24/7. I value my privacy.
I used to know people who would be pissed off if I did not drop what I was doing and immediately run to answer the phone. They have either learned to leave a message or email, or they cease to be friends.
Frankly, expecting someone to be on call 24/7 is downright rude.
My upcoming workplace is one of those where cell phones (and cameras and PDAs, etc) are banned, and I relish the thought!
Years ago I worked at an internal corporate help desk, and I saw way too many people spending way too much time doing wack-ass shit in Excel when they could have used Access and done it all with a single SELECT statement.
The problem there is Access is part of Office Pro, Excel comes with basic Office.
Excel as part of an overall app can be quite powerful. Data stored in some more stable backend, excel to do the caculations, output elsewhere.
There ARE issues with the A380 that do need to be addressed.
Here is a pdf outlining some of these, and a list of potential airports. This doc says maybe $2.3Billion is needed to upgrade the 40 airports that responded to their survey.
Width/length, it's not a lot bigger than a 747. But dumping that many passengers into a terminal all at once is a factor that needs to be handled.
Obviously. But monitoring current system parameters in a computer crash/error may be just as important to microsoft as monitoring system parameters in an aircraft crash is to the FAA and Boeing/Airbus.
I'm not defending ms on doing this, but it's not hard to see why they would want to do this.
Slashdot Mirror
City and public school adult education classes, corporate and personal cast-offs for hardware, very low cost ($7-$10 monthly) internet access, public libraries for totally free access.
Developing nations lack many of these.
I've personally given away/sold very cheaply about 15 or 20 of our old corporate castoffs and my old personal machines. Right now I have a short stack of Dell Latitude laptops (PII/300) looking for good local homes. I emphasize 'good', because I know for a fact that at least a couple of the boxes I've given away have subsequently been sold/traded for bag of weed.
Because there are poor/hungry people in the US should we cut off all food and nutritional aid to foreigners?
Why is this 'worrying'? Planning for a maintenance mission can start before Discovery launches. And the actual mission does depend on return to operational status of the shuttle. But there's no reason they can't get a lot of mission planning done now.
It might be a little tough to take Amtrak or Greyhound to go fix Hubble.
Oh, and $60? I went and looked at a couple of these to check the actual shipping price.
$25
$35
$18.80
Free shipping with $45 Buy-it-now.
They live in a vacuum? They have no friends or relatives? I understand your point, but there are vey, very few in the western world who can't find someone to ask where to get an inexpensive PC.
$25 PIII/550 desktops.
A Compaq PIII/1.0ghz currently bidding at $57. Hell, that is faster than MY main PC was until a few months ago.
Cheap PC's are very easy to get in the US, if you want one. And if you want the free option, the local library usually has one.
Meanwhile, thousands of perfectly serviceable PC's are literally thrown out every year by companies in the states. Let's use those.
Then we get into what the machines in the article are to be used for. Company desktop replacments, networked to a central server. Not standalone home use.
Because the barrier to entry really isn't much of a barrier in the US. Dell sells a $300 machine, Walmart a $200 one. If you can't save up for that $200 Walmart box, you can't save up for the $100 one either. The only other option would be 'free'.
They come with the sticky stuff already applied.
And after working on various USAF fllightlines all over the world for 16 years, I still say your friend was pulling your leg.
Blockbuster is better on price, and 2 free instore rentals per month.
I'm dropping Blockbuster.
I went to cancel BB once already, and they acknowledged the poor selection and availability. They gave me a free month. Still going to cancel at the end of the free.
Nuking the site from orbit is not the only option.
And your friend was pulling your leg.
Vonage - The Broadband Phone Company"
True, they do [not] provide the same level of service. But either regulation to provide 911, or regulation to inform/disclaim customers about the 911 limitations is probably needed. Without regulation, we wouldn't have universal 911 on the regular landlines. Bell and the subsequent Baby Bells would have screwed it up badly, if we had it at all.
Vonage, TimeWarner, Cox all provide pretty good info about their 911 connectivity and its limitations. Other 'phone companies' might not.
911 is so ingrained in society that people expect a 'phone' to be 911 capable. It's not even a question anymore. If you're going to advertise yourself as a 'phone company', then do that. Be a phone company. With all it entails.
If it walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, it damn well better taste like a duck.
E911 will fix that cell-phone problem.
If Dvorak is talking it up as the next great thing, Skype is sure to die. How often is this dude right?
Immigration? Yes. Uncontrolled immigration? No.
I used to know people who would be pissed off if I did not drop what I was doing and immediately run to answer the phone. They have either learned to leave a message or email, or they cease to be friends.
Frankly, expecting someone to be on call 24/7 is downright rude.
My upcoming workplace is one of those where cell phones (and cameras and PDAs, etc) are banned, and I relish the thought!
The problem there is Access is part of Office Pro, Excel comes with basic Office.
Excel as part of an overall app can be quite powerful. Data stored in some more stable backend, excel to do the caculations, output elsewhere.
Here is a pdf outlining some of these, and a list of potential airports. This doc says maybe $2.3Billion is needed to upgrade the 40 airports that responded to their survey.
Width/length, it's not a lot bigger than a 747. But dumping that many passengers into a terminal all at once is a factor that needs to be handled.
What reason do they give? "We don't ship to APO/FPO" is a common 'excuse'.
Who is it and what are you trying to buy?
Let's let Firefox celebrate this one without worrying that it might not be the 'perfect' benchmark.
I'm not defending ms on doing this, but it's not hard to see why they would want to do this.