BMC has waivers for those who cannot pay (and also, authors whose institutions are members needn't pay, and institutional membership is inexpensive -- far cheaper than journal subscriptions). Meanwhile, PLoS says that fees are waived for those who say they can't pay, no questions asked. These are the two biggest and most high-profile open-access publishers; I think others will have similar answers.
I never know whether to be amused or shocked at these news items. Many years Arthur C Clarke wrote (I'm quoting from memory) that the whole Biblical "earth is 6000 years old" movement is a plot to undermine America's strengths in geology and oil exploration. The next step is to declare that pi=3 (as clearly implied in more than one place in the bible); then Detroit would be forced to manufacture hexagonal wheels, etc...
When I read that I thought it was a satire but increasingly I think it really could happen. Especially when you combine it with the sharp downturn in foreign enrolment in US universities.
Ideally the blue states would join Canada and form the world's first nice-guy superpower. Who cares if some so-called science museum in Jesusland doesn't want to show a science documentary. Their loss.
Clarification (replying to myself...)
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I mean, there are more countries that play cricket at the top level than baseball.
That's 10 "Test-playing" countries (really only 8 good teams though), in case you were wondering.
And an order of magnitude more people who follow it.
And that's because one of them is India with a billion people.
A new name for "the rest of the world"?
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Canseco, for those who spent the last 15 years hidden under a rock, played major league baseball
I suppose that's American for "those who don't live in baseball-speaking countries"?
I mean, there are more countries that play cricket at the top level than baseball. And an order of magnitude more people who follow it.
If it's like the movie, why wouldn't the French like it? The only French-reference I remember there, the French win: that's the taunting Arthur et al get from the French guy in the castle ("You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms,
son of a silly person! Ah don' wanna talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal
food-trough wiper! Ah fart in your general direction! Your mother was a
hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!") And eventually they have to beat a hasty retreat when the French throw animals at them ("Fetchez la vache!").
I'm still proud of the fact that we support freedom of speech in some of the most extreme cases.
Yes, like white supremacist groups inciting their members to murder judges and their families?
We all value free speech but the rest of the world thinks the US takes free speech too far (and remember, the US doesn't have the best record for civil liberties for non-whites, or racial harmony, so preaching that free speech trumps everything else seems, well strange).
Not only that, but Bangalore -- and the south generally -- hasn't really dealt with terrorism, unlike Delhi which has had high security everywhere since the early 1980s at least. Most places in Bangalore (or Chennai or other southern cities) aren't equipped to deal with terrorist threats.
A financial website I use did not work with anything except IE: none of the buttons did anything when clicked on. I complained, twice, and actually got a reply both times saying "thanks for the feedback, we're passing it on to our web team." And now it does work in Firefox, and Konq too. Perhaps others complained too, but it looks like change is possible. (There are a couple other bugs with firefox that I'll tell them about.)
That FAQ entry has nothing to do with Linus. As others have pointed out, people like Linus (and RMS himself), who have already received other awards for their contributions, are not eligible.
I don't know how they decide that Theo or Guido or whoever is eligible (I'm sure they've received awards, though possibly of much less significance).
The role of the Academie Francaise is to prevent such transpositions, and instead use existing words to describe the phenomenon, or create a new one based on what the phenomenon actually is originally. A perfect example is the create of "courriel" instead of just incorporating "email" in the language.
That's a perfect example but not for the reasons you think. The academie francaise used to recommend "mél" (for "message electronique"), but nobody used that. Someone in Quebec (not France) thought of "courriel" instead, and that became quickly popular in France too. The Academie Francaise was following popular usage in recommending "courriel", not dictating it.
You're probably correct that Americans are less likely to travel to other countries (since the US is big enough that travelling within that country seems to satisfy most), but you made it sound like it was based on racism,
No I don't think I did. Unless you interpret "non-anglophone" as racism. Xenophobia, yes (as in, "fear of foreigners", not necessarily "hatred of foreigners").
Additionally, Britain has had strong ties with India for a very long time, whereas America has not. Thus, your example is probably skewed significantly from the norm.
I said most foreigners I see are continental Europeans. They have almost no historical ties with India, except for France (Pondicherry) and Portugal (Goa) -- but I run into plenty of French tourists rather far from Pondicherry, as well as Germans and Italians who have no historical links with India at all. If you go to a touristy town like Jaisalmer, there are actually a lot of guides who speak French and other European languages.
Whoa there. Caste-based discrimination was outlawed back in 1950 when independent India's new constitution was adopted (less than three years after independence) and has in fact nearly vanished in the cities (except in some things like marriage), though it persists in many rural areas. Now check out how long after independence the US persisted with slavery, how long after that the US failed to extend civil rights to blacks, how long after 1950 it took for the civil rights movement to have an impact, what the current state of racial relations is in the major cities of the US, leave alone the rural south. Then come back and comment on India's Dalits.
It is rather difficult, for instance, for a student from the USA to attend a major research university in Europe (much less Japan or China though the language problems are far more difficult).
In many cases the language issue is the main barrier. In France, for example, one has to write one's dissertation in French, except at some EU-run places. But European universities have plenty of foreign students all the same, Indian universities have long had a large student population from Iran and some African countries, and I recently met a German student doing her Ph.D. in China.
At the postdoctoral level it is even easier -- there is no dissertation requirement so the language barrier is much lower. I myself did a stint in France.
At the faculty level, there could be some preference for local candidates. However, in all these cases, the two main attractions of US universities are, and will continue to be for some time, quality of research and level of funding. Salaries and grants are far higher in the US, and that won't change soon, especially in the developing world.
Many Indians are willing to take a pay cut to return to India (especially since they know that living costs are extremely low, so in real terms the pay's not bad.) Many non-Indians will not be willing to do this.
I also have the feeling Americans (and English-speaking people generally) are intrinsically less willing to travel abroad, especially to non-anglophone countries. I run into hardly any English-speaking foreigners where I live in India, but there are several continental Europeans. This is also true in the major tourist resorts around here. The few English-speakers are typically Brits -- practically no Americans around.
However, since most places, India included, prize rote memorization as the best way to educate,
Rubbish. While US school boards are still arguing about whether to teach evolution in schools, US school students are being creamed in science and math competitions worldwide. Where the US scores is in university education, especially at the graduate level. As you go up the educational ladder in the better universities in the US, the proportion of foreigners steadily increases, exceeding 50% in many departments at the postdoc and faculty level. People are still going to the US for graduate study and postdoctoral work (though even there, reportedly numbers from Asia have fallen over 25% in the last year or two). What's changed is they're not hanging on in the US after that: they're going back home.
Similar one about Canada: with close historical links to three countries, Canada could have had American salaries, French cuisine and British culture. Instead they got French salaries, British cuisine and American culture.
On linux, so long as you're playing via/dev/dsp you can always grab the digital signal, for example via vsound. I wouldn't be surprised if that's possible with MacOS X too, or even Windows.
They are not (for the most part) crowded into dense polluted cities. They are spead out over rual areas with clean air, clean water, and blue skies.
Actually, the US is a good example of the rape of a continent. Apart from a few national parks, practically nothing remains of the original vegetation, forests and wildlife -- not even the buffalo. Reducing forest cover (worldwide) is part of the problem -- trees soak up CO2. Europe of course lost practically all its wooded areas long back, but it took a couple of millennia to do what the US did to a much larger land area in 200 years. Now the third world is following suit -- but awareness is more now. Forest cover is actually increasing in India in the last 10 years or so, and deforestation has decreased in other places though it's rampant elsewhere.
Anyway, all that is hardly the point. Americans see blue skies and think "no problem" -- no surprise -- half of them think the earth is flat. What the American public thinks should hardly be a criterion. Policy makers ought to be more responsible.
this treaty actually WORSEN the global warming effect
Why would the treaty worsen it? You're confusing two things -- particulate pollutants (which were responsible for global dimming, and which are now diminishing) and CO2 (which is responsible for global warming and is going up). The treaty is aimed at CO2, not at particulate pollutants -- not that anyone is arguing for increases in particulate pollutants.
This treaty is, has been, and will continue to be a joke.
It's a starting point. Much more needs to be done. But the US is not even willing to make a start. As of now, India and China combined emit about 14% of the world's CO2 (it was a lot lower when the treaty was being negotiated and India's share is still low), while the US all by itself emits 25%
Slashdot Mirror
What, Pinochet is now a bad guy in the US? What did he ever do to hurt the US?
BMC has waivers for those who cannot pay (and also, authors whose institutions are members needn't pay, and institutional membership is inexpensive -- far cheaper than journal subscriptions). Meanwhile, PLoS says that fees are waived for those who say they can't pay, no questions asked. These are the two biggest and most high-profile open-access publishers; I think others will have similar answers.
When I read that I thought it was a satire but increasingly I think it really could happen. Especially when you combine it with the sharp downturn in foreign enrolment in US universities.
Ideally the blue states would join Canada and form the world's first nice-guy superpower. Who cares if some so-called science museum in Jesusland doesn't want to show a science documentary. Their loss.
That's 10 "Test-playing" countries (really only 8 good teams though), in case you were wondering.
And an order of magnitude more people who follow it.
And that's because one of them is India with a billion people.
I suppose that's American for "those who don't live in baseball-speaking countries"?
I mean, there are more countries that play cricket at the top level than baseball. And an order of magnitude more people who follow it.
If it's like the movie, why wouldn't the French like it? The only French-reference I remember there, the French win: that's the taunting Arthur et al get from the French guy in the castle ("You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, son of a silly person! Ah don' wanna talk to you no more, you empty-headed animal food-trough wiper! Ah fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!") And eventually they have to beat a hasty retreat when the French throw animals at them ("Fetchez la vache!").
Yes, like white supremacist groups inciting their members to murder judges and their families?
We all value free speech but the rest of the world thinks the US takes free speech too far (and remember, the US doesn't have the best record for civil liberties for non-whites, or racial harmony, so preaching that free speech trumps everything else seems, well strange).
Not only that, but Bangalore -- and the south generally -- hasn't really dealt with terrorism, unlike Delhi which has had high security everywhere since the early 1980s at least. Most places in Bangalore (or Chennai or other southern cities) aren't equipped to deal with terrorist threats.
A financial website I use did not work with anything except IE: none of the buttons did anything when clicked on. I complained, twice, and actually got a reply both times saying "thanks for the feedback, we're passing it on to our web team." And now it does work in Firefox, and Konq too. Perhaps others complained too, but it looks like change is possible. (There are a couple other bugs with firefox that I'll tell them about.)
I don't know how they decide that Theo or Guido or whoever is eligible (I'm sure they've received awards, though possibly of much less significance).
I think many auto manufacturers will gladly take credit for wreckless driving.
That's a perfect example but not for the reasons you think. The academie francaise used to recommend "mél" (for "message electronique"), but nobody used that. Someone in Quebec (not France) thought of "courriel" instead, and that became quickly popular in France too. The Academie Francaise was following popular usage in recommending "courriel", not dictating it.
No I don't think I did. Unless you interpret "non-anglophone" as racism. Xenophobia, yes (as in, "fear of foreigners", not necessarily "hatred of foreigners").
Additionally, Britain has had strong ties with India for a very long time, whereas America has not. Thus, your example is probably skewed significantly from the norm.
I said most foreigners I see are continental Europeans. They have almost no historical ties with India, except for France (Pondicherry) and Portugal (Goa) -- but I run into plenty of French tourists rather far from Pondicherry, as well as Germans and Italians who have no historical links with India at all. If you go to a touristy town like Jaisalmer, there are actually a lot of guides who speak French and other European languages.
Whoa there. Caste-based discrimination was outlawed back in 1950 when independent India's new constitution was adopted (less than three years after independence) and has in fact nearly vanished in the cities (except in some things like marriage), though it persists in many rural areas. Now check out how long after independence the US persisted with slavery, how long after that the US failed to extend civil rights to blacks, how long after 1950 it took for the civil rights movement to have an impact, what the current state of racial relations is in the major cities of the US, leave alone the rural south. Then come back and comment on India's Dalits.
In many cases the language issue is the main barrier. In France, for example, one has to write one's dissertation in French, except at some EU-run places. But European universities have plenty of foreign students all the same, Indian universities have long had a large student population from Iran and some African countries, and I recently met a German student doing her Ph.D. in China.
At the postdoctoral level it is even easier -- there is no dissertation requirement so the language barrier is much lower. I myself did a stint in France.
At the faculty level, there could be some preference for local candidates. However, in all these cases, the two main attractions of US universities are, and will continue to be for some time, quality of research and level of funding. Salaries and grants are far higher in the US, and that won't change soon, especially in the developing world.
Many Indians are willing to take a pay cut to return to India (especially since they know that living costs are extremely low, so in real terms the pay's not bad.) Many non-Indians will not be willing to do this.
I also have the feeling Americans (and English-speaking people generally) are intrinsically less willing to travel abroad, especially to non-anglophone countries. I run into hardly any English-speaking foreigners where I live in India, but there are several continental Europeans. This is also true in the major tourist resorts around here. The few English-speakers are typically Brits -- practically no Americans around.
Rubbish. While US school boards are still arguing about whether to teach evolution in schools, US school students are being creamed in science and math competitions worldwide. Where the US scores is in university education, especially at the graduate level. As you go up the educational ladder in the better universities in the US, the proportion of foreigners steadily increases, exceeding 50% in many departments at the postdoc and faculty level. People are still going to the US for graduate study and postdoctoral work (though even there, reportedly numbers from Asia have fallen over 25% in the last year or two). What's changed is they're not hanging on in the US after that: they're going back home.
I'd say it's false advertising to call that muck "coffee".
Earlier today, I got "interesting" for this post. Well, I guess it's true and someone didn't know it, so....
Similar one about Canada: with close historical links to three countries, Canada could have had American salaries, French cuisine and British culture. Instead they got French salaries, British cuisine and American culture.
On linux, so long as you're playing via /dev/dsp you can always grab the digital signal, for example via vsound. I wouldn't be surprised if that's possible with MacOS X too, or even Windows.
Actually, the US is a good example of the rape of a continent. Apart from a few national parks, practically nothing remains of the original vegetation, forests and wildlife -- not even the buffalo. Reducing forest cover (worldwide) is part of the problem -- trees soak up CO2. Europe of course lost practically all its wooded areas long back, but it took a couple of millennia to do what the US did to a much larger land area in 200 years. Now the third world is following suit -- but awareness is more now. Forest cover is actually increasing in India in the last 10 years or so, and deforestation has decreased in other places though it's rampant elsewhere.
Anyway, all that is hardly the point. Americans see blue skies and think "no problem" -- no surprise -- half of them think the earth is flat. What the American public thinks should hardly be a criterion. Policy makers ought to be more responsible.
Why would the treaty worsen it? You're confusing two things -- particulate pollutants (which were responsible for global dimming, and which are now diminishing) and CO2 (which is responsible for global warming and is going up). The treaty is aimed at CO2, not at particulate pollutants -- not that anyone is arguing for increases in particulate pollutants.
It's a starting point. Much more needs to be done. But the US is not even willing to make a start. As of now, India and China combined emit about 14% of the world's CO2 (it was a lot lower when the treaty was being negotiated and India's share is still low), while the US all by itself emits 25%
That was NASA. This is the ESA. That's E as in Europe. They already use metric -- in fact, it was they who invented metric, over 200 years ago.
And if you're outside the US and Europe too, try Maporama...