Airborne to a distance of 1 m or so, apparently. And oh, you want to wash your hands often; if you touch something infected, and then wipe your nose or mouth, you're infected.
Not to mention, of course, suggestions that cockroaches might spread the disease. Bear in mind though, that this comment was made by a Deputy Director of Health. Now, I don't know how they have out in Hong Kong, but my experience suggests that Directors of Health are usually civil servants with limited medical knowledge. Not that this should stop you from killing those 'roaches in your house, but on a scientific interest, I definitely would love to read this from a medical professional as well.
I'll ignore the last flame-bait-ing sentence, but I think it's quite apparent that the Chinese have fuddled with information. The first cases apparently came out in November in Guandong, but it appears to me that the first reports came only out of Hong Kong, which, unlike the mainland, has a thriving free media.
The Chinese government, apparently, is still under-reporting the number of people affected.
Now, it must be said that it's quite possible that the Chinese government might think it's doing the right thing in not disclosing completely, and certainly, it has apparently given the fullest co-operation to the WHO, but we can't avoid the fact that SARS infection rates have been under-reported and withheld from the outside world. Symptomatic, I'd say, of the oh-what-will-the-outside-world-think-about-us mentality that most governments in Asia, including India, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia to name a few, share. All these governments have, on earlier ocassions, done similar subterfuge, although not necessarily with respect to information on SARS.
I can't remember where I read this, but the most common form of influenza has a bigger mortality rate than SARS. In fact, the expert whose comments I was reading actually said that it will be impossible for SARS to ever reach influenza's mortality figures.
That said, you're right; Asia is scared stiff about SARS. You wont believe how spooky it was when *everyone* in the flight suddenly wore gloves and masks, the moment it landed in Singapore.
Everyone knows that good programming can only be taught using Scheme. Surely, kids can see the benefits of learning the statically scoped and properly tail-recursive dialect of the mother of all computer languages.
I said this before on/., but one of my favourite Microsoft ads was tacked on a subway window and had this as its punchline:-
Open windows for a better experience.
No, really.
Re:Not quite there yet
on
TiVo++ from India
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
While I agree largely with you, I'm more interested in the general trend of things. Earlier, in more socialist times, we used to have, say, a single government-controlled Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) developing a decrepit television box that showed more static than actual TV pictures. Now we have a whole lot of other startups in Bangalore, Hyderabad and other places actually innovating stuff.[1]
Yes, it's important to remain sceptical until technological innovation can be converted to actual wealth creation, but we're getting there. Pretty soon.
[1]- Ironical of course, that this thing has actually been developed in a government-linked laboratory.
Counterpoint:Singlish Singapore, like most former British colonies, has an education policy to teach its school-kids primarily in English. Curiously enough, it's produced a generation that needs a campaign to speak proper English and another campaign to speak Mandarin, the mother-tongue of more than 70% of Singaporeans. One naive, probably superficial, comment we'd make is that young Singaporeans are neither here nor there; they insist on mixing Mandarin grammar and Hokkien words to produce English sentences. The government, apparently, is so worried that Singapore might lose its "natural advantage", that it has a set of "approved" words to be used in locally-produced English-language television shows.
Clearly, it has been very difficult to teach and sustain a standard, uniform, international language for 30 years in a population of 4 million. Now consider the challenges involved in doing this for the entire world.
Let's face it; even if everyone learns and speaks in English, there will still be geographical differences in dialect. The differences will lead to new languages. Just as it has been happening over the last few millenia.
I've had similar problems; Amazon's reportoire, while large, isn't large enough to include international music. I'm afraid I can give you no easy solutions here, except for google and an insane trust in whatever music-selling website you might find.
Will help though if you can mention the specific genre you're looking for.
This raises Michael Crichton's epiphanic point about us living in an age of boredom. Can't find the link now, they've reorganised his home page, but we are living in an age where the topmost question on everyone's minds is not "where will I get the next meal" or "how can I help mankind" but "how can I pass the next hour without being bored". Attention spans are shortening, class presentations have to be entertaining, policy discussions need to be finished in 3 minutes or couch potatoes switch channels.
Yes, I agree; the only way, methinks, to save science from this dumbing down is by separating serious science from entertainment.
A very interesting point here, reminds me of an interview of a BBC science reporter I read sometime back. The reporter apparently was an Eng Lit major, so the interviewer asked her if she found it difficult to switch disciplines. Her answer was curious; she said yes, while in Eng Lit, you can get away by saying that, to paraphrase her example, John Keats had scrambled eggs for breakfast, in science, you'll need hard facts to prove that.
Will certainly help if more journalists (and indeed, readers) are aware of this distinction. (Of course, having said that, I must say that I've crossed the boundary myself a couple of times; one of my project reports was half in verse.:-D )
If you're doing it because it needs doing - the roads are falling apart, people are getting sick because the water supply is shit, et cetera - then it's pretty much a necessary evil. If, on the other hand, you're doing it to "stimulate" your economy, then it won't work - you'll get lots of shiny new infrastructure, but for the "stimulus" you get, you might as well have just put it in a big pile and burned it. FDR's alphabet-soup agencies didn't pull the US out of the Depression, World War II did
Very true. I remember reading somewhere about a massive expressway linking the two ends of the Tokyo Yokohama peninsula. The project is spectacular; half the expressway is on a suspension bridge (or something) and the other half is underground:- the bridge leads to a hole within the sea.
Slashdot Mirror
Airborne to a distance of 1 m or so, apparently. And oh, you want to wash your hands often; if you touch something infected, and then wipe your nose or mouth, you're infected.
Not to mention, of course, suggestions that cockroaches might spread the disease. Bear in mind though, that this comment was made by a Deputy Director of Health. Now, I don't know how they have out in Hong Kong, but my experience suggests that Directors of Health are usually civil servants with limited medical knowledge. Not that this should stop you from killing those 'roaches in your house, but on a scientific interest, I definitely would love to read this from a medical professional as well.
I'll ignore the last flame-bait-ing sentence, but I think it's quite apparent that the Chinese have fuddled with information. The first cases apparently came out in November in Guandong, but it appears to me that the first reports came only out of Hong Kong, which, unlike the mainland, has a thriving free media.
The Chinese government, apparently, is still under-reporting the number of people affected.
Now, it must be said that it's quite possible that the Chinese government might think it's doing the right thing in not disclosing completely, and certainly, it has apparently given the fullest co-operation to the WHO, but we can't avoid the fact that SARS infection rates have been under-reported and withheld from the outside world. Symptomatic, I'd say, of the oh-what-will-the-outside-world-think-about-us mentality that most governments in Asia, including India, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia to name a few, share. All these governments have, on earlier ocassions, done similar subterfuge, although not necessarily with respect to information on SARS.
I can't remember where I read this, but the most common form of influenza has a bigger mortality rate than SARS. In fact, the expert whose comments I was reading actually said that it will be impossible for SARS to ever reach influenza's mortality figures.
That said, you're right; Asia is scared stiff about SARS. You wont believe how spooky it was when *everyone* in the flight suddenly wore gloves and masks, the moment it landed in Singapore.
Nope, like I said, we stopped coding the moment we got the CD's. Which is to say, we eventually didn't apply to the competition.
That said, Barcelona is a great city and wish I was there. Next time, perhaps! :-D
... although we stopped coding after we got the CD's. :-D
Everyone knows that good programming can only be taught using Scheme. Surely, kids can see the benefits of learning the statically scoped and properly tail-recursive dialect of the mother of all computer languages.
Don't know if this is in duplicate, but here's the full text of the GSMA's reply.
Nice read, I might add, especially the bit about an American company installing a GSM network in (US-bombed) Afghanistan.
Yes, it seems to be. Hot off from a Singaporean linux mailing list:-
Oh wait; William, is that you? :-)
Sorry, Iraqis aren't the target market here. More like, shock-and-awe-capable.
I said this before on /., but one of my favourite Microsoft ads was tacked on a subway window and had this as its punchline:-
No, really.
While I agree largely with you, I'm more interested in the general trend of things. Earlier, in more socialist times, we used to have, say, a single government-controlled Electronic Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) developing a decrepit television box that showed more static than actual TV pictures. Now we have a whole lot of other startups in Bangalore, Hyderabad and other places actually innovating stuff.[1]
Yes, it's important to remain sceptical until technological innovation can be converted to actual wealth creation, but we're getting there. Pretty soon.
[1]- Ironical of course, that this thing has actually been developed in a government-linked laboratory.
ROFLMAO.
Sorry, had to say it.
Here's a Google search on Singlish. My personal favourite is the Coxford Singlish Dictionary.
Counterpoint: Singlish
Singapore, like most former British colonies, has an education policy to teach its school-kids primarily in English. Curiously enough, it's produced a generation that needs a campaign to speak proper English and another campaign to speak Mandarin, the mother-tongue of more than 70% of Singaporeans. One naive, probably superficial, comment we'd make is that young Singaporeans are neither here nor there; they insist on mixing Mandarin grammar and Hokkien words to produce English sentences. The government, apparently, is so worried that Singapore might lose its "natural advantage", that it has a set of "approved" words to be used in locally-produced English-language television shows.
Clearly, it has been very difficult to teach and sustain a standard, uniform, international language for 30 years in a population of 4 million. Now consider the challenges involved in doing this for the entire world.
Let's face it; even if everyone learns and speaks in English, there will still be geographical differences in dialect. The differences will lead to new languages. Just as it has been happening over the last few millenia.
"A witty saying proves nothing." --Voltaire.
:-|
You realise it was probably meant to be that way?
I remember reading about a stalker in Taiwan who did just that; he stuck up a cheap cam on his shoes and terrorised the subways. No Bluetooth though.
I've had similar problems; Amazon's reportoire, while large, isn't large enough to include international music. I'm afraid I can give you no easy solutions here, except for google and an insane trust in whatever music-selling website you might find.
Will help though if you can mention the specific genre you're looking for.
WAP? You need to update your buzzword dictionary buddy, everyone knows that SMS is the next big killer-app.
.. and here I am, thinking telephone conversations were Kafka-esque experiences to behold.
Oh wait, that was sex, and that too with that Woody Allen character.
Oh well, what's the difference? It's all mental masturbation anyway.
(Btw, great gig; better than mine)
Ten years? TEN years? Two years back, you couldn't have called for rickshaws in India using cellphones. Now you can.
This raises Michael Crichton's epiphanic point about us living in an age of boredom. Can't find the link now, they've reorganised his home page, but we are living in an age where the topmost question on everyone's minds is not "where will I get the next meal" or "how can I help mankind" but "how can I pass the next hour without being bored". Attention spans are shortening, class presentations have to be entertaining, policy discussions need to be finished in 3 minutes or couch potatoes switch channels.
Yes, I agree; the only way, methinks, to save science from this dumbing down is by separating serious science from entertainment.
A very interesting point here, reminds me of an interview of a BBC science reporter I read sometime back. The reporter apparently was an Eng Lit major, so the interviewer asked her if she found it difficult to switch disciplines. Her answer was curious; she said yes, while in Eng Lit, you can get away by saying that, to paraphrase her example, John Keats had scrambled eggs for breakfast, in science, you'll need hard facts to prove that.
Will certainly help if more journalists (and indeed, readers) are aware of this distinction. (Of course, having said that, I must say that I've crossed the boundary myself a couple of times; one of my project reports was half in verse. :-D )
Yup, I think we read the same National Geographic article. :-)
Very true. I remember reading somewhere about a massive expressway linking the two ends of the Tokyo Yokohama peninsula. The project is spectacular; half the expressway is on a suspension bridge (or something) and the other half is underground:- the bridge leads to a hole within the sea.
Only one problem:- hardly anyone uses it.