Not American, nor a doc, but my dad is, and way back in the 90's, he spent a few months in a university hospital somewhere in north east US. We were once having a discussion on rising healthcare costs, when he told me this startling fact: I understand that representatives from insurance companies regularly accompany doctors in their daily rounds, and often freely dispense with medical advice to the doctors ("Are you sure Johnny Patient requires those vitamins, doc?")
No, it's not just that the US system is borked; it has been borked for several years now. That you have the world's best researchers and one of the finest insurance-driven healthcare systems in the world should be a matter of serious concern for any American, but heck, your country, your troubles. What really gets my goat is that it's being pushed as a model for countries with less-than-adequate healthcare systems. But that's not here nor there, is it.
If you're a woman in Iran and wear lipstick, the religious police can very well wipe it off your face using cotton-swabs with blades in them. Yes, I've been to Iran; stayed there for a while, in fact. The Religious Police are a bunch of lawfully-sanctioned thugs set to enforce their hukm (will, law, power) on others.
I haven't been to the US, but this morality police you speak of, you were only being metaphorical weren't you.
On which country on the earth these are totally free actions?
In no country I know would simply signing up for a meaningless social networking site involve a criminalization check. It's not just the fact that speech is censored that is outrageous; it is that the website itself seems to provide a list to the authorities concerned.
That's not specific to China, they just want to control it, which is fine.
While there are possibly some countries that regulate free-speech, there are very few that murder their own citizens for expressing a contrarian viewpoint. In either case, MySpace.cn is unique in appearing to have a filtering mechanism at signup itself.
Every country have their own regulations to protect their own sensitivity to a matter.
Perhaps you'd like to take a look at China's very own constitution then? To quote,
Article 35. Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration.
Mark my words: the Chinese government is on a power-trip. This has nothing to do with the unity of the People's Republic of China or slights against the centuries-old (and let's face it, awe-inspiring) Chinese civilization.
(Full disclosure: Not from China, but many of my friends are.)
Math is less about using calculus in 'daily life' (although you can argue that you do; compound interest, for one) and more about learning reasoning skills necessary for critical thinking. Euclidean geometry won't necessarily make you a better architect (although it's a great advantage), but it'll help your mind train in the process of logical reasoning.
"Finally, the complexity of these drivers is simply astounding. Diercks claimed that each of the six drivers that NVIDIA has to develop for Windows Vista is roughly 20 million lines of code long; about as much code as Windows NT 4!
That's fairly interesting; anybody has any idea on what the size of nVidia drivers are? I can't remember how many MB NT4 took in its default installation, but it'll be interesting to see if the new drivers are of the same size.
I once had a very passionate debate with a friend of Turkish origin on the Illiad. She kept on insisting the author's name should be spelt Omar, and that he was Turkish.
Don't get me wrong, I _love_ Turkish culture and have a great amount of respect for Turkish traditions (and am still friends with that girl; will drop by her place when I'm in Istanbul), but it takes quite a bit of false history to change the ethnicity of a classical Greek poet. The current generation is, of course, worldy-wise and mostly open to ideas, but nationalistic propaganda does sadly exist to a large degree in contemporary Turkish discourse, and it is time the Turkish people recognize it.
That said, I have to admit here that I sneaked in a very funny joke about this statue I saw at Vimanmek before the tour-guide came over to me with that I-know-what-you-did-but-I'll-ignore-it-this-one-ti me-if-you-promise-not-to-do-it-again look that my algebra teacher used to give me when I played truant in sixth standard. Apparently, the dude I was joking about was Rama V, and he's actually bigger than the current guy (who, truth be told, sounds like an extremely fun person; apparently, he's covered a few jazz albums in his day).
Anyway, Thailand rocks, Khao San Road rocks absolutely.
First of all, it's all become a huge scam now; most of the H1-B's are now being filled by bodyshops and such.
Second, because there are only a limited number of visas to go around, there are many who would apply for a H1-B "just in case" (via the bodyshop route). So it's becoming more of a good-to-have credential that you can show to a potential employer, rather than a legal necessity for working in the US.
Third, quotas are absolutely stupid and, politics apart, I don't see a single good reason for the US to persist with it. Singapore, a much smaller country and reputedly more authoritarian, has mostly done away with quotas; you can now waltz in to the city-state with a call-letter in hand, and your application will be processed in a day at the maximum.
The rest of the world is opening itself up; just as for capital and goods, restrictions on free movement of labour are fast withering away in this part of the world. It is the US that still persists with an arcane immigration control system. I mean, really, I was shocked two days back when a friend told me you need a lawyer to process your immigration status update in the US. Here in Singapore, all I needed was a morning at the Immigration Control Authority to process my permanent residency.
You read the article wrong. India is NOT in the fourth place, Finland is. India went down _by_ four places. To wit:
India was four positions down on last year to 44th, suffering from weak infrastructure and a very low level of individual usage of personal computers and the internet.
The WEF has been accused of, and is guilty of, many things, but not of being a "USA-hating jerk-off organization". There is absolutely no conspiracy out here to bring the US down.
I'm not American, and happen to have no real political loyalties to any American organization, but here's how I'm reading it all:
The police was subverted for a Republican convention. Specifically, it was subverted to spy on groups with "anti-Bush" activities. To quote,
"Activists are showing a well-organized network made up of anti-Bush sentiment; the mixing of music and political rhetoric indicates sophisticated organizing skills with a specific agenda," said the report, dated Oct. 9, 2003. "Police departments in above listed areas have been contacted regarding this event."
Law-abiding groups opposed to _Bush_ (not 'US', not 'Republicans', but "Bush") were spied upon. This is political-spying, pure and simple; absolutely no way you can spin this out of the Republicans.
Someone mentions the French and then the next thing you know someone responds with a surrender joke.
Bullies are cowards. For instance, if there's an attack on a military convoy, they scramble:-
"We took food for them in 60-feet long trucks. But once inside the army camps, we were held captive at gunpoint by American soldiers and not allowed to leave. Their treatment was horrible.
"As far as their bravery is concerned, the less said the better. When a convoy was attacked, the escort vehicles would simply speed off in different directions and leave the hapless truck drivers to fend for themselves," he said.
Me? I wouldn't like to ascribe this to a national spirit or anything. I still think the United States is a great nation, that its core ideals are rock-solid. Just a few kids out of high school gone ashtray.
The problem is when the rest of the population starts to believe in this braggadocio.
as the Revolutionary Guard in Iran would attack a woman walking around in a halter top.
I take it, sir, that you know someone who walked around in Iran in a halter top, and was attacked by the Religious Police there? No? Then please stop comparing tech discussions with situations you have no idea about.
I was given a design spec yesterday at 9PM and was asked to comment on whether the specs can be built in a week or so. My answer then wasn't yes, or no, but "I need more time to think".
In short, there's already a fix for pizza-delivered laws and it's called 'abstaining'. Or at least, such a provision exists in Westminister-style democracies.
MSIDC isn't based in Bangalore, but in Hyderabad, some 600 km away.
As for 'preventing' hiring of highly-paid American citizens, I'm glad you think only American citizens should have the oppurtunity to be hired by Microsoft and such companies. At least you're clear about your xenophobia.
Here's a thought: the US is not the only market that MS operates under.
Three questions: 1) Would it be the wrong decision?
Yes. Hiring is all about trust; just because someone's doing something good now, doesn't mean he'll do it well forever.
2) Would your confidence on their product (Ubuntu) be diminished?
The current flavour of Ubuntu, no. But given that Canonical seemed so easily misled, I will have concerns about Ubuntu's long-term viability and the processes that support.
3) Would it make front page on Slashdot?
If the guy is caught lying to a news-collation exercise ('big' blog, magazine, news portal whatever), it would absolutely make it to the front page. In fact, we would have lively threads as this, where folks like you would be trying to support Canonical.:-)
Fact: Wikipedia has had an ethics breach. Wales' handling so far hasn't been up to par.
In online fora such as this and Wikipedia, a 'troll' is generally a person who misrepresents facts in order to extract a certain reaction, usually a serious response, from someone, thus finding humour in the very real intensity mismatch. By misrepresenting facts about himself to New Yorker, I'm arguing that Essjay was, in fact, trying to get a reaction from the so-called mainstream media, and thus, has become a troll himself.
That he says he started doing this in order to avoid trolls only highlights the irony of the whole situation.
The last link was the most interesting. He seems to be saying that all that he did was to put up a fake persona to ward off trolls. I can never condone misinformation, whether it is on a Wikia-profile or to the New Yorker, but surely, in just 'playing' the part to the mainstream media as well, he has in fact, become a troll?
Ramanujan is the only person I've ever considered as an idol. That book is the reason. I've been to countless places after I first read the book; I still carry my dog-ear-ed copy wherever I go.
In fact, I think I'll re-re-read it again tonight; always good to look back on your heroes' stories and see where you are since you first read about them. (Not far away, I'm afraid, in my case).
Ramanujan's family was NOT poor. His father was among the first rung of urban middle-class professionals, who've just moved from their villages as (colonial) India's cities started expanding, finding employment as a minor clerk somewhere. His mother was very educated, and often sang in the local temple, thus earning some petty, but useful, cash in the process.
They weren't well-off, but they weren't poor either. Ramanujan had no absolutely pressure whatsoever to find an actual job while he was sitting in the verandah of his Sarangapani Street house, and writing his fantastical proofs in that mystical notebook of his. (In fact, he got married while he was jobless, a prospect that is unimaginable even in still-arranged-marriage-friendly contemporary India).
Slashdot Mirror
Not American, nor a doc, but my dad is, and way back in the 90's, he spent a few months in a university hospital somewhere in north east US. We were once having a discussion on rising healthcare costs, when he told me this startling fact: I understand that representatives from insurance companies regularly accompany doctors in their daily rounds, and often freely dispense with medical advice to the doctors ("Are you sure Johnny Patient requires those vitamins, doc?")
No, it's not just that the US system is borked; it has been borked for several years now. That you have the world's best researchers and one of the finest insurance-driven healthcare systems in the world should be a matter of serious concern for any American, but heck, your country, your troubles. What really gets my goat is that it's being pushed as a model for countries with less-than-adequate healthcare systems. But that's not here nor there, is it.
If you're a woman in Iran and wear lipstick, the religious police can very well wipe it off your face using cotton-swabs with blades in them. Yes, I've been to Iran; stayed there for a while, in fact. The Religious Police are a bunch of lawfully-sanctioned thugs set to enforce their hukm (will, law, power) on others.
I haven't been to the US, but this morality police you speak of, you were only being metaphorical weren't you.
In no country I know would simply signing up for a meaningless social networking site involve a criminalization check. It's not just the fact that speech is censored that is outrageous; it is that the website itself seems to provide a list to the authorities concerned.
While there are possibly some countries that regulate free-speech, there are very few that murder their own citizens for expressing a contrarian viewpoint. In either case, MySpace.cn is unique in appearing to have a filtering mechanism at signup itself.
Perhaps you'd like to take a look at China's very own constitution then? To quote,
Mark my words: the Chinese government is on a power-trip. This has nothing to do with the unity of the People's Republic of China or slights against the centuries-old (and let's face it, awe-inspiring) Chinese civilization.
(Full disclosure: Not from China, but many of my friends are.)
Math is less about using calculus in 'daily life' (although you can argue that you do; compound interest, for one) and more about learning reasoning skills necessary for critical thinking. Euclidean geometry won't necessarily make you a better architect (although it's a great advantage), but it'll help your mind train in the process of logical reasoning.
That is why math is important.
Interesting comment, but one major nitpick: heart attack has reached epidemic proportions in India.
India is the only country in the world to use satellites for agricultural research. (National Geographic, June/July 1997, if you'd like a reference)
Andamanese?
That's fairly interesting; anybody has any idea on what the size of nVidia drivers are? I can't remember how many MB NT4 took in its default installation, but it'll be interesting to see if the new drivers are of the same size.
I once had a very passionate debate with a friend of Turkish origin on the Illiad. She kept on insisting the author's name should be spelt Omar, and that he was Turkish.
Don't get me wrong, I _love_ Turkish culture and have a great amount of respect for Turkish traditions (and am still friends with that girl; will drop by her place when I'm in Istanbul), but it takes quite a bit of false history to change the ethnicity of a classical Greek poet. The current generation is, of course, worldy-wise and mostly open to ideas, but nationalistic propaganda does sadly exist to a large degree in contemporary Turkish discourse, and it is time the Turkish people recognize it.
That said, I have to admit here that I sneaked in a very funny joke about this statue I saw at Vimanmek before the tour-guide came over to me with that I-know-what-you-did-but-I'll-ignore-it-this-one-ti me-if-you-promise-not-to-do-it-again look that my algebra teacher used to give me when I played truant in sixth standard. Apparently, the dude I was joking about was Rama V, and he's actually bigger than the current guy (who, truth be told, sounds like an extremely fun person; apparently, he's covered a few jazz albums in his day).
Anyway, Thailand rocks, Khao San Road rocks absolutely.
First of all, it's all become a huge scam now; most of the H1-B's are now being filled by bodyshops and such.
Second, because there are only a limited number of visas to go around, there are many who would apply for a H1-B "just in case" (via the bodyshop route). So it's becoming more of a good-to-have credential that you can show to a potential employer, rather than a legal necessity for working in the US.
Third, quotas are absolutely stupid and, politics apart, I don't see a single good reason for the US to persist with it. Singapore, a much smaller country and reputedly more authoritarian, has mostly done away with quotas; you can now waltz in to the city-state with a call-letter in hand, and your application will be processed in a day at the maximum.
The rest of the world is opening itself up; just as for capital and goods, restrictions on free movement of labour are fast withering away in this part of the world. It is the US that still persists with an arcane immigration control system. I mean, really, I was shocked two days back when a friend told me you need a lawyer to process your immigration status update in the US. Here in Singapore, all I needed was a morning at the Immigration Control Authority to process my permanent residency.
You read the article wrong. India is NOT in the fourth place, Finland is. India went down _by_ four places. To wit:
The WEF has been accused of, and is guilty of, many things, but not of being a "USA-hating jerk-off organization". There is absolutely no conspiracy out here to bring the US down.
Rather, 'spin Republicans out of this'. Bloody dyslexia.
I'm not American, and happen to have no real political loyalties to any American organization, but here's how I'm reading it all:
The police was subverted for a Republican convention. Specifically, it was subverted to spy on groups with "anti-Bush" activities. To quote,
Law-abiding groups opposed to _Bush_ (not 'US', not 'Republicans', but "Bush") were spied upon. This is political-spying, pure and simple; absolutely no way you can spin this out of the Republicans.
Bullies are cowards. For instance, if there's an attack on a military convoy, they scramble:-
Me? I wouldn't like to ascribe this to a national spirit or anything. I still think the United States is a great nation, that its core ideals are rock-solid. Just a few kids out of high school gone ashtray.
The problem is when the rest of the population starts to believe in this braggadocio.
Answered on their blog.
I take it, sir, that you know someone who walked around in Iran in a halter top, and was attacked by the Religious Police there? No? Then please stop comparing tech discussions with situations you have no idea about.
I was given a design spec yesterday at 9PM and was asked to comment on whether the specs can be built in a week or so. My answer then wasn't yes, or no, but "I need more time to think".
In short, there's already a fix for pizza-delivered laws and it's called 'abstaining'. Or at least, such a provision exists in Westminister-style democracies.
MSIDC isn't based in Bangalore, but in Hyderabad, some 600 km away.
As for 'preventing' hiring of highly-paid American citizens, I'm glad you think only American citizens should have the oppurtunity to be hired by Microsoft and such companies. At least you're clear about your xenophobia.
Here's a thought: the US is not the only market that MS operates under.
Yes. Hiring is all about trust; just because someone's doing something good now, doesn't mean he'll do it well forever.
The current flavour of Ubuntu, no. But given that Canonical seemed so easily misled, I will have concerns about Ubuntu's long-term viability and the processes that support.
If the guy is caught lying to a news-collation exercise ('big' blog, magazine, news portal whatever), it would absolutely make it to the front page. In fact, we would have lively threads as this, where folks like you would be trying to support Canonical. :-)
Fact: Wikipedia has had an ethics breach. Wales' handling so far hasn't been up to par.
In online fora such as this and Wikipedia, a 'troll' is generally a person who misrepresents facts in order to extract a certain reaction, usually a serious response, from someone, thus finding humour in the very real intensity mismatch. By misrepresenting facts about himself to New Yorker, I'm arguing that Essjay was, in fact, trying to get a reaction from the so-called mainstream media, and thus, has become a troll himself.
That he says he started doing this in order to avoid trolls only highlights the irony of the whole situation.
The last link was the most interesting. He seems to be saying that all that he did was to put up a fake persona to ward off trolls. I can never condone misinformation, whether it is on a Wikia-profile or to the New Yorker, but surely, in just 'playing' the part to the mainstream media as well, he has in fact, become a troll?
I think you've sold me to it. Where do I sign up?
Ramanujan is the only person I've ever considered as an idol. That book is the reason. I've been to countless places after I first read the book; I still carry my dog-ear-ed copy wherever I go.
In fact, I think I'll re-re-read it again tonight; always good to look back on your heroes' stories and see where you are since you first read about them. (Not far away, I'm afraid, in my case).
Ramanujan's family was NOT poor. His father was among the first rung of urban middle-class professionals, who've just moved from their villages as (colonial) India's cities started expanding, finding employment as a minor clerk somewhere. His mother was very educated, and often sang in the local temple, thus earning some petty, but useful, cash in the process.
They weren't well-off, but they weren't poor either. Ramanujan had no absolutely pressure whatsoever to find an actual job while he was sitting in the verandah of his Sarangapani Street house, and writing his fantastical proofs in that mystical notebook of his. (In fact, he got married while he was jobless, a prospect that is unimaginable even in still-arranged-marriage-friendly contemporary India).