As a volunteer for the Jhai Foundation myself (the Jhai Foundation is the organization trying to put this together), I know personally how important this is, and how it might help poor people living in these remote villages to help themselves.
A little background on Jhai: The Jhai Foundation was founded by Lee Thorn, a Vietnam War veteran who, during his service in the US Navy, loaded bombs onto bombers that devastated Laos. Some of that ordnance is still unexploded and lying around the Plain of Jars. Lee started the Jhai Foundation (which means, "hearts and minds working together" in Lao) in order to reconcile himself as well as his country with the people that the US formerly bombed. Lee works out of his basement coordinating over 100 volunteers on a shoestring budget. It is his passion and his life.
The point of this project is not simply to hook up the wealthy people in Laos. I doubt there are very many people there at all that could be considered very wealthy. It is also not to simply allow them to download porn or shop at the Gap. The main idea is to connect the people of Laos with each other and with the world. Here's an example. Let's say you are a rice farmer in a remote village in Laos. You have just harvested your latest rice crop, and are getting ready to take it to the market to sell. But, the market in town is two days away by horse drawn cart. You need to know if there is anyone there buying rice at that time, and if so, what the prices are. You might find that there is a glut of rice in that market at that time, but there is another village in the other direction that has a shortage. With a few keytrokes, you have saved yourself several days effort. Or, you may find that rice is not in demand anywhere nearby. In that case, you might decide to store the rice for later, or for your own consumption.
There are many, many, other uses for such a wireless network. Let's say that a boy in a remote village becomes ill. The hospital, which is very far away can be contacted and asked for advice. A doctor can be sent for, or medicine delivered.
And then there are all of the even harder to predict uses that a community may make of such a communications tool. When people can share information with each other, they become more efficient, and this improves their quality of life significantly. Also, children will obviously begin to use the computers and the network themselves and build it into something even more powerful, much as many of us here on/. have done with various other networks we participate in.
In addition, this is only one facet of what the Jhai Foundation does in Laos to help. They also deliver medical supplies, help to set up hospitals, dig wells, work to eliminate unexploded ordnance, and help farmers to raise crops and compete globally. The list goes on.
Yes, there are lots of other charitable organizations out there right now doing good work. It is never easy to know where to send donations (especially these days). But, Jhai is doing something in Laos that no one else is doing, that personally, I think is fascinating. The wireless, no-moving-parts, human-powered computer that Lee Felsentstein has contributed is definitely cool, even from a strictly techno point of view. But, it will also be fascinating to see if this tool can help the Laotian people to help themselves. Personally, I can't wait to see what they manage to accomplish with the network. The Laotian people have suffered so much in the past at the hands of governments like the United States. I am glad to have been a part of this effort.
For people who are really interested in donating, but are feeling the economic pinch, Jhai also has a program for selling Laotian coffee, in the Newman's Own fashion. The coffee is all grown by Laotian farmers, and all profits go towards the important work that Jhai is doing. You can buy the coffee online at: jhaicoffee.com
The excellent radio show, This American Life has an episode which features the Port Chicago disaster. The story involves the interview of five survivors of the blast. You can hear the Real Audio recording of the broadcast here.
You may be right, and I wouldn't be surprised if grocery stores know this, and exploit it intentionally. However, there are always market forces to enjoy. A supermarket that offers this service may become a more attractive place for people to shop, and draw customers away from the stores that refuse to adopt such technologies.
Personally, the reason that I go to the supermarket I go to are (in order of importance):
Quality of products and produce
Location
Price
Service (which would include things like the "smart cart" we are discussing.)
Having said that, for me, the smart cart is not on the top of the list, but would definitely have a slight attraction. Who knows? I guess we will see. I am sure some stores are bound to try it.
I am curious to know how many people on Slashdot have tried the whitelist approach. (Perhaps it could be a poll?) I have started to use it in the form of the Digiportal product, ChoicEmail. Like the Slate article indicates, it works using a whitelist, and people who contact me who are not on the whitelist are automatically sent a return email asking them to identify themselves. Since using it, I get zero spam.
At first I needed to watch carefully the log files to catch people whom I wanted to communicate with, but had inadvertantly not made it into my initial whitelist, but gradually, it took less maintenance, especially since it automatically adds outgoing emails to my whitelist.
The only real problem with it, is that occasionally, a client, business contact, or a friend will email me and will be surprised by the automatic response. But, I have tried to word the automated response to be as friendly as possible. Even so, some have joked, "Don't you want to hear from me?" However, being intelligent people, they always understand why I have implemented the system, and I can tell most are inspired to think about installing it themselves, as the problem with spam is so universal. So, that is the only real drawback - the potentially lost client or missed communication because the sender somehow feels offended by having to go through the hassle of asking you permission to send you email.
But, this is a cultural barrier, not a technological one. It is possible that this approach would become the standard. If it did, people would never feel offended that they were required to ask permission, since we would all be doing it, and this one slight drawback would be eliminated. I don't know what the future holds, but it is possible. And the interesting thing about it is - if this did become a universal standard method for processing email, there really would be no spam.
It's a big step up from Galactic Blockade Runner on the TRS-80. That game used only ASCII art for the game display. I wonder if anyone ever wrote an emulator for that one... I loved Adventure when it first came out. Superman was another fun similar game that came out on the Atari a lttle bit later.
It's all about context. Before this game, there really was nothing like it. I know it might be hard to imagine these days, but it's true.
If they were using it in a proposal to get funding, it definitely was not fair use. It doesn't matter if MIT is an educational or non-profit organization.
What is the energy efficiency ratio of a self-contained energy producing system found in an ICE compared to a system that produces the energy in a remote location, trasmits, stores it, and then uses it when needed? The thermal efficiency of a typical internal combustion engine is about 26%. Is there a way to get a comparable figure for the electric car, starting with the power plant, and including the transmission and storage of electricity?
I am not an engineer, and my opinion is based on my own readings. I had been under the impression that local production of energy in an internal combustion engine was a more efficient method, due to resistance in the electrical grid, and energy decay in the batteries.
Thanks for your insightful and constructive participation in the dialog. If you have a real critique of what I posted I would appreciate a polite response.
Another reason this is good is that we (here in the US) have all been paying for the development of these machines through our tax dollars. There is an interesting rant about this on CarTalk's website.
In addition, the batteries are insanely expensive. Each car produced is subsidized by the taxpayers to offset the costs of the batteries. From About.com: "Depending on the size of battery bank in the vehicle, it may cost between $20,000 and $60,000 for the batteries."
Not only that, but there is a lot of energy lost in moving the electricity from the plant to your car, and then also in storage in the batteries. It is much more efficient to create the energy in the car, when you need it. So, you are actually burning MORE fossils per mile with an electric car than with a standard internal combustion engine.
On the other hand, automobiles spread the pollutants all over the place, whereas at a plant, it is a little easier to control the output of pollutants, and there is a single, concentrated source.
re: nuclear:
Yes, and it is troubling that so many people tend to think that fossil fuel is cleaner and better than nuclear. I have at least five friends with cancer right now. I sometimes wonder how the current high cancer levels in our society correlates to the burning of fossil fuels. It seems that fossil fuels, in the way that we burn them now, are probably orders of magnitude more deadly than radioactive waste. The only problem is, since pollutants are so dispersed, it is very difficult to track their effects. At least with nuclear waste, you know where it is, and you can measure it.
Yes, give away as much as you can afford. Of course, within reason. This will vary depending on the resources of your company. But, your customers are smart, they will have a feel for how much sacrifice your company is making.
Build a community and partnership with your developers. Give them the steering wheel once in a while. Developing a killer support website, with as many resources as possible, plus, of course, very well supported forums is key.
Do as you are doing now: Listen.
Have patience.
Maybe even make the source code for the toolset open source? This one is debatable of course...
Thanks for the information James. Very interesting. So, if we expand the definition of "vision" to mean the entire system of eyeball, optic nerve, and brain processes, we could accurately say that we have 3D vision? If not, how would you define 3D vision?
Just an FYI on font copyrights. The US copyright office does not allow anyone to copyright a font. They are afraid that someone will try to use it to copyright the alphabet, so that whenever someone uses the letter "A", they will demand a royalty.
The way font copyrights work is that the the software that renders the font is copyrightable intellectual property. Or rather, the code that that makes up the Open Type or True Type version of Helvetica is copyrighted, but not Helvetica itself, as an image. So, it is perfectly OK to to reconstruct any previously designed font, including any in the MS library. Of course, this is easier said than done. A deep knowledge of fonts, their inner structures, and the way to configure them for use on computers is a high art, and takes years to master. Fonts that are not executed well, even copies of pre-existing fonts, will show their flaws fairly quickly, so I wouldn't worry too much about unskilled artisans producing bad versions. The cream will rise to the top. Besides, it is a good reason for anyone to introduce themselves to the world of typography.
"Anyone who would letterspace lower case would steal sheep." (Frederic Goudy)
I agree - I think things have gotten so bad, that it might not be practical to use algorithms to detect spam.
I am using a permission-based system like the Si20. It is called ChoiceMail and it is put out by DigiPortal.
If a spammer wants to send you email, they must first ask your permission. If it is a friend, you just give them the OK, and they are forever on your whitelist. I have been using this for about a month, and I too, get ZERO spam.
Slashdot Mirror
http://www.engr.wisc.edu/alumni/perspective/29.1/
The cool thing is the process seems to be green-house nuetral.
As a volunteer for the Jhai Foundation myself (the Jhai Foundation is the organization trying to put this together), I know personally how important this is, and how it might help poor people living in these remote villages to help themselves.
A little background on Jhai: The Jhai Foundation was founded by Lee Thorn, a Vietnam War veteran who, during his service in the US Navy, loaded bombs onto bombers that devastated Laos. Some of that ordnance is still unexploded and lying around the Plain of Jars. Lee started the Jhai Foundation (which means, "hearts and minds working together" in Lao) in order to reconcile himself as well as his country with the people that the US formerly bombed. Lee works out of his basement coordinating over 100 volunteers on a shoestring budget. It is his passion and his life.
The point of this project is not simply to hook up the wealthy people in Laos. I doubt there are very many people there at all that could be considered very wealthy. It is also not to simply allow them to download porn or shop at the Gap. The main idea is to connect the people of Laos with each other and with the world. Here's an example. Let's say you are a rice farmer in a remote village in Laos. You have just harvested your latest rice crop, and are getting ready to take it to the market to sell. But, the market in town is two days away by horse drawn cart. You need to know if there is anyone there buying rice at that time, and if so, what the prices are. You might find that there is a glut of rice in that market at that time, but there is another village in the other direction that has a shortage. With a few keytrokes, you have saved yourself several days effort. Or, you may find that rice is not in demand anywhere nearby. In that case, you might decide to store the rice for later, or for your own consumption.
There are many, many, other uses for such a wireless network. Let's say that a boy in a remote village becomes ill. The hospital, which is very far away can be contacted and asked for advice. A doctor can be sent for, or medicine delivered.
And then there are all of the even harder to predict uses that a community may make of such a communications tool. When people can share information with each other, they become more efficient, and this improves their quality of life significantly. Also, children will obviously begin to use the computers and the network themselves and build it into something even more powerful, much as many of us here on /. have done with various other networks we participate in.
In addition, this is only one facet of what the Jhai Foundation does in Laos to help. They also deliver medical supplies, help to set up hospitals, dig wells, work to eliminate unexploded ordnance, and help farmers to raise crops and compete globally. The list goes on.
Yes, there are lots of other charitable organizations out there right now doing good work. It is never easy to know where to send donations (especially these days). But, Jhai is doing something in Laos that no one else is doing, that personally, I think is fascinating. The wireless, no-moving-parts, human-powered computer that Lee Felsentstein has contributed is definitely cool, even from a strictly techno point of view. But, it will also be fascinating to see if this tool can help the Laotian people to help themselves. Personally, I can't wait to see what they manage to accomplish with the network. The Laotian people have suffered so much in the past at the hands of governments like the United States. I am glad to have been a part of this effort.
For people who are really interested in donating, but are feeling the economic pinch, Jhai also has a program for selling Laotian coffee, in the Newman's Own fashion. The coffee is all grown by Laotian farmers, and all profits go towards the important work that Jhai is doing. You can buy the coffee online at: jhaicoffee.com
The excellent radio show, This American Life has an episode which features the Port Chicago disaster. The story involves the interview of five survivors of the blast. You can hear the Real Audio recording of the broadcast here.
You may be right, and I wouldn't be surprised if grocery stores know this, and exploit it intentionally. However, there are always market forces to enjoy. A supermarket that offers this service may become a more attractive place for people to shop, and draw customers away from the stores that refuse to adopt such technologies.
Personally, the reason that I go to the supermarket I go to are (in order of importance):
Having said that, for me, the smart cart is not on the top of the list, but would definitely have a slight attraction. Who knows? I guess we will see. I am sure some stores are bound to try it.
I am curious to know how many people on Slashdot have tried the whitelist approach. (Perhaps it could be a poll?) I have started to use it in the form of the Digiportal product, ChoicEmail. Like the Slate article indicates, it works using a whitelist, and people who contact me who are not on the whitelist are automatically sent a return email asking them to identify themselves. Since using it, I get zero spam.
At first I needed to watch carefully the log files to catch people whom I wanted to communicate with, but had inadvertantly not made it into my initial whitelist, but gradually, it took less maintenance, especially since it automatically adds outgoing emails to my whitelist.
The only real problem with it, is that occasionally, a client, business contact, or a friend will email me and will be surprised by the automatic response. But, I have tried to word the automated response to be as friendly as possible. Even so, some have joked, "Don't you want to hear from me?" However, being intelligent people, they always understand why I have implemented the system, and I can tell most are inspired to think about installing it themselves, as the problem with spam is so universal. So, that is the only real drawback - the potentially lost client or missed communication because the sender somehow feels offended by having to go through the hassle of asking you permission to send you email.
But, this is a cultural barrier, not a technological one. It is possible that this approach would become the standard. If it did, people would never feel offended that they were required to ask permission, since we would all be doing it, and this one slight drawback would be eliminated. I don't know what the future holds, but it is possible. And the interesting thing about it is - if this did become a universal standard method for processing email, there really would be no spam.
It's a big step up from Galactic Blockade Runner on the TRS-80. That game used only ASCII art for the game display. I wonder if anyone ever wrote an emulator for that one... I loved Adventure when it first came out. Superman was another fun similar game that came out on the Atari a lttle bit later.
It's all about context. Before this game, there really was nothing like it. I know it might be hard to imagine these days, but it's true.
Whoops - I guess you can tell how old I am now!
Whatever happened to Sun's Jini? Wasn't Jini supposed to provide this kind of capability? Or am I remembering incorrectly...
I am not sure software (or information) yearns for anything. I think people yearn for software to be free. I think this is an important difference.
I read the letter of apology. It was interesting how the professor laid the blame on his daughter. I wonder how she feels about that?
If they were using it in a proposal to get funding, it definitely was not fair use. It doesn't matter if MIT is an educational or non-profit organization.
I'd rather be wrong than a coward any day.
Oh.
What is the energy efficiency ratio of a self-contained energy producing system found in an ICE compared to a system that produces the energy in a remote location, trasmits, stores it, and then uses it when needed? The thermal efficiency of a typical internal combustion engine is about 26%. Is there a way to get a comparable figure for the electric car, starting with the power plant, and including the transmission and storage of electricity?
I am not an engineer, and my opinion is based on my own readings. I had been under the impression that local production of energy in an internal combustion engine was a more efficient method, due to resistance in the electrical grid, and energy decay in the batteries.
Right here.
Thanks for your insightful and constructive participation in the dialog. If you have a real critique of what I posted I would appreciate a polite response.
Another reason this is good is that we (here in the US) have all been paying for the development of these machines through our tax dollars. There is an interesting rant about this on CarTalk's website.
In addition, the batteries are insanely expensive. Each car produced is subsidized by the taxpayers to offset the costs of the batteries. From About.com: "Depending on the size of battery bank in the vehicle, it may cost between $20,000 and $60,000 for the batteries."
On the other hand, automobiles spread the pollutants all over the place, whereas at a plant, it is a little easier to control the output of pollutants, and there is a single, concentrated source.
re: nuclear: Yes, and it is troubling that so many people tend to think that fossil fuel is cleaner and better than nuclear. I have at least five friends with cancer right now. I sometimes wonder how the current high cancer levels in our society correlates to the burning of fossil fuels. It seems that fossil fuels, in the way that we burn them now, are probably orders of magnitude more deadly than radioactive waste. The only problem is, since pollutants are so dispersed, it is very difficult to track their effects. At least with nuclear waste, you know where it is, and you can measure it.
Good luck!
Thanks for the information James. Very interesting. So, if we expand the definition of "vision" to mean the entire system of eyeball, optic nerve, and brain processes, we could accurately say that we have 3D vision? If not, how would you define 3D vision?
I already have 3D vision, don't you?
Just an FYI on font copyrights. The US copyright office does not allow anyone to copyright a font. They are afraid that someone will try to use it to copyright the alphabet, so that whenever someone uses the letter "A", they will demand a royalty.
The way font copyrights work is that the the software that renders the font is copyrightable intellectual property. Or rather, the code that that makes up the Open Type or True Type version of Helvetica is copyrighted, but not Helvetica itself, as an image. So, it is perfectly OK to to reconstruct any previously designed font, including any in the MS library. Of course, this is easier said than done. A deep knowledge of fonts, their inner structures, and the way to configure them for use on computers is a high art, and takes years to master. Fonts that are not executed well, even copies of pre-existing fonts, will show their flaws fairly quickly, so I wouldn't worry too much about unskilled artisans producing bad versions. The cream will rise to the top. Besides, it is a good reason for anyone to introduce themselves to the world of typography.
"Anyone who would letterspace lower case would steal sheep." (Frederic Goudy)
I agree - I think things have gotten so bad, that it might not be practical to use algorithms to detect spam. I am using a permission-based system like the Si20. It is called ChoiceMail and it is put out by DigiPortal. If a spammer wants to send you email, they must first ask your permission. If it is a friend, you just give them the OK, and they are forever on your whitelist. I have been using this for about a month, and I too, get ZERO spam.