I was glad someone else mentioned the NSA museum. It's a fascinating place and it really isn't extremely well-known. I've been and I definately recommend it!
If the NSA truly does employ the most mathematicians in the world, then I would say it's Musuem would be a sure-fire attraction for a Geek Tour!
Actually, I was just about to post with the same idea (consequence of Godel's incompleteness theorum.)
When people were trying to solve Fermat's Last Theorem (essentially proving the grander Taniyama-Shimura Conjecture), I thought that people worried that Godel's incompleteness theorem could have applied and thus no solution was possible. (Simon Singh's book "Fermat's Engima" gave this impression.)
Likewise, my understanding is that Godel applies to any axiomatic system. Since our number theory is built with a finite number of axioms, it should apply.
A lot of Universities (like mine -- http://www.ursga.org/ ) have well established anime clubs which have been operating for years. We regularly show Laser Disc and DVD titles, and members from the community are welcome to join. I would suggest looking at places like this in your community! Simulation Gaming conferences are also a good hotbed of activity on this front.
The Controller was ludraciously complex, and yes the development support wasn't there -- but those are key ingredients of making a successful system. I have a terrific article from an old computing magazine talking about the failure of Halcyon, Phillips 3do, and other vintage "before-their-time" systems.
Also, let's not forgot the Atari handheld "Lynx" system. Some of the ports were pretty terrible, but the four player support preceeded GBA by awhile, eh??
I played my Atari 2600 three days ago. Atari 2600 emulation was the first emulation I ever followed, mainly because it took so long to get it working! Indeed.
I went to University in Ghana in 2001...
on
Ghana's Digital Dilemma
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I recently spent four months in Ghana attending the University of Ghana located in Accra. Since I have some experience there, I can personally attest to many of the claims that have put forth both in the article and in the responses.
First of all, the cost of things. One dollar is about 7000 cedi. Produce was between 500 and 1500 cedis, fresh bread was between 2000 and 5000 cedis, etc. The cost of living was much lower than what we know in the US. Furthermore, many families eat together so dividing income by each person is a bit misleading.
However, there is a distinct class divide. Upper Class Ghanaians (and foreigners -- mainly from Europe) dress, shop, and dine at different places. They can easily afford the Internet Cafes. At University, there were several internet hubs (at least six that I can recall), whose prices ranged from pre-paid ($1 for an hour), to Balme library which was much less (but you couldn't check your email.)
To catergorize the internet cafes as being out of reach of most Ghanaians is pretty extreme. My friends at school whether rich or poor could use it, if they chose to. Many had little interest in it.
I should take this time to point out that a significant amount of web-surfing is looking at pornography. At least at the University level. Furthermore, Ghanaians tended to get into large groups and surf together. I agree that it was usually the hostel Ghanaians (rich, prilivedged kids) who were surf daily, but a lot of Ghanaians would stop in at the cafes -- which were all located near the cafe/bars on campus.
Power Outages are awful, but not as frequent as in the past. Ideas for web-designing companies in Ghana are somewhat silly, because the market is so small. The post-college employment field is virtually barren, with only large European banks doing much of anything. This is a reason that many students attend school until they are 25-26-27 (but with new reform, A-level education is finishing sooner.)
Now, the comment about there only being 50 coders that were compotent was completely ludicrious. First of all, Kumasi is where the engineering school is so many of the more talented computer engineers would be there. I do not doubt that Accra is not a technologically enhanced city, but you have to realize the resources that do exist are largely being poured into private hotels and elaborate supermarkets (Max-Mart) which do not address the average Ghanaian.
Also, compared to Burkina Faso or dozens of surrounding Sub-Saharranian countries, the standard of living, low corruption rate (now that JJ is gone), and educational opportunities greatly surpass them. Ghanaians are probably wary of falling into the fate of Nigeria -- chaos.
I was interested in the part about Kufour in the article. I remember him visiting the Cadberry people when they came. Ghana and them have been working together for 100 years -- cocao crops, and whatnot. I like Kufour -- he brings a lot of hope in the Northern region with him.
Google is an incredibly popular and effective website. I'm curious about the amount of pressure you have to expand in order to "stay competitive" or "aptly serve consumer's needs". Is there any kind of a push to go the way of yahoo or amazon and try and include EVERYTHING on that simple page? As things evolve, do you really see Google staying the top engine in 3 to 5 years?
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Why does it just have to be one of those options? Why couldn't it be a combination of several?
I was glad someone else mentioned the NSA museum. It's a fascinating place and it really isn't extremely well-known. I've been and I definately recommend it! If the NSA truly does employ the most mathematicians in the world, then I would say it's Musuem would be a sure-fire attraction for a Geek Tour!
Actually, I was just about to post with the same idea (consequence of Godel's incompleteness theorum.)
When people were trying to solve Fermat's Last Theorem (essentially proving the grander Taniyama-Shimura Conjecture), I thought that people worried that Godel's incompleteness theorem could have applied and thus no solution was possible. (Simon Singh's book "Fermat's Engima" gave this impression.)
Likewise, my understanding is that Godel applies to any axiomatic system. Since our number theory is built with a finite number of axioms, it should apply.
A lot of Universities (like mine -- http://www.ursga.org/ ) have well established anime clubs which have been operating for years. We regularly show Laser Disc and DVD titles, and members from the community are welcome to join. I would suggest looking at places like this in your community! Simulation Gaming conferences are also a good hotbed of activity on this front.
The Controller was ludraciously complex, and yes the development support wasn't there -- but those are key ingredients of making a successful system. I have a terrific article from an old computing magazine talking about the failure of Halcyon, Phillips 3do, and other vintage "before-their-time" systems.
Also, let's not forgot the Atari handheld "Lynx" system. Some of the ports were pretty terrible, but the four player support preceeded GBA by awhile, eh??
I played my Atari 2600 three days ago. Atari 2600 emulation was the first emulation I ever followed, mainly because it took so long to get it working! Indeed.
I recently spent four months in Ghana attending the University of Ghana located in Accra. Since I have some experience there, I can personally attest to many of the claims that have put forth both in the article and in the responses.
First of all, the cost of things. One dollar is about 7000 cedi. Produce was between 500 and 1500 cedis, fresh bread was between 2000 and 5000 cedis, etc. The cost of living was much lower than what we know in the US. Furthermore, many families eat together so dividing income by each person is a bit misleading.
However, there is a distinct class divide. Upper Class Ghanaians (and foreigners -- mainly from Europe) dress, shop, and dine at different places. They can easily afford the Internet Cafes. At University, there were several internet hubs (at least six that I can recall), whose prices ranged from pre-paid ($1 for an hour), to Balme library which was much less (but you couldn't check your email.)
To catergorize the internet cafes as being out of reach of most Ghanaians is pretty extreme. My friends at school whether rich or poor could use it, if they chose to. Many had little interest in it.
I should take this time to point out that a significant amount of web-surfing is looking at pornography. At least at the University level. Furthermore, Ghanaians tended to get into large groups and surf together. I agree that it was usually the hostel Ghanaians (rich, prilivedged kids) who were surf daily, but a lot of Ghanaians would stop in at the cafes -- which were all located near the cafe/bars on campus.
Power Outages are awful, but not as frequent as in the past. Ideas for web-designing companies in Ghana are somewhat silly, because the market is so small. The post-college employment field is virtually barren, with only large European banks doing much of anything. This is a reason that many students attend school until they are 25-26-27 (but with new reform, A-level education is finishing sooner.)
Now, the comment about there only being 50 coders that were compotent was completely ludicrious. First of all, Kumasi is where the engineering school is so many of the more talented computer engineers would be there. I do not doubt that Accra is not a technologically enhanced city, but you have to realize the resources that do exist are largely being poured into private hotels and elaborate supermarkets (Max-Mart) which do not address the average Ghanaian.
Also, compared to Burkina Faso or dozens of surrounding Sub-Saharranian countries, the standard of living, low corruption rate (now that JJ is gone), and educational opportunities greatly surpass them. Ghanaians are probably wary of falling into the fate of Nigeria -- chaos.
I was interested in the part about Kufour in the article. I remember him visiting the Cadberry people when they came. Ghana and them have been working together for 100 years -- cocao crops, and whatnot. I like Kufour -- he brings a lot of hope in the Northern region with him.
Google is an incredibly popular and effective website. I'm curious about the amount of pressure you have to expand in order to "stay competitive" or "aptly serve consumer's needs". Is there any kind of a push to go the way of yahoo or amazon and try and include EVERYTHING on that simple page? As things evolve, do you really see Google staying the top engine in 3 to 5 years?