"the only tragedy is that i didnt make friends with indians until i got to grad school. if i had known these folks as an undergrad i would have probably setup my own textbook importation raquette."
Its never too late to start....;)
But in all seriousness what are the legal implications of this? I would like to know both the Indian and US sides of the law especially because many of these cheaper editions (legally published by the Indian subsidiaries of foreign publishers) have a warning saying "This low-priced edition is printed specially for India, Thailand... and may not be sold elsewhere without the publishers consent".
Also I do know that the Indian government has a law by which it can order a publisher to make cheaper copies if required. Are these cheaper editions a result of it?
Whatever be the answer I surely am not complaining:)
I have always used Economy Asian Editions printed in India because the original American / European editions cost at least 10 times more. Happy shopping
Which company had the first affordable 64-bit desktop again? Sun, Apple, AMD??
Sorry all the 3 guesses are wrong. The correct answer is Digital Alpha. If you normalise the growth in technology and inflation, etc (my economics is rusty) then the Alpha 64 would win it hands down. It was 64bit when 32-bit computers were wearing diapers.
Present: Outsource it to India... hire 10 Indian PhDs and pocket the remaining $90.
After 2 years: 2 of the PhDs have discovered a new way to do signal processing and earn $10 million from it. While you have spent your $90 on a video game and beer:)
Disclaimer: My being Indian has not biased this response.
Just one fact i want to point out that India has not invaded another country in its last 1000 years of history.
Sure there are sporadic violent acts but they reflect the activities of a tiny but vocal minority of the entire population... no different than the skinheads in europe or white right-wing in america, etc.
The media in the west tends to show only those news from India which fit into the stereotypical western notion of its viewers and fails to even acknowledge the plight of the Indian people who have been suffering the burden of terrorism long before 9/11. If you want proof that India is still the land of Mahatma Gandhi look at how it has not gone and invaded another country inspite of extreme provocation. Unlike other countries which have done that on someones' whims and fancies....
Think about it.... maybe India should be the mascot of the peaceniks....
The problem with most of the people posting is that most of them have never been to India let alone know what are the problems of the people.
A solution can only be given if you know the problem well enough.
So bringing my Indian perspective, i would like to bring to notice to the other slashdotters that there a plenty of initiatives to bring the fruits of the IT revolution to the masses.
Check out e-choupal(some of the site is in Hindi) which aims to bridge the logistics gap between rural producers and markets. It is a run away success and the company which started it ITC is planning to roll it out in 10,000 villages.
Another innovative e-goverance project is Gyandoot (Messenger of Knowledge). This aims to bring the government closer to the people.
In all these cases low-cost PCs ($400 ones) not PDAs have proven to be useful.
These are just some examples where IT has been proven to be useful in the rural hinterland obviously much more needs to be done as there are over 700,000 villages in India.
The problem in India is often not the lack of resources (India today is one of the world's largest economies, one of the fastest growing, has one of the biggest reserves of over $86 billion) but mismanagement and corruption, and add to it restrictive trade practices of the West. It is then no wonder that most Indian farmers are stuck in the 18th century.
While researching for my paper most of the problems of the basic needs can be solved if the rural people have access to cheap and plentiful source of power- electricity. Ask any farmer what is the one thing they need which they can use to improve their lives almost all reply "electricity" - to run everything from water-pumps to computers. Even though now most of the Indian villages are electrified, the sad condition of the state-run electricity boards means that they get power only for a few hours if at all.
Off-grid community solutions like bio-gas have a lot of potential if implemented.
In conclusion PDAs may be cool to look at but the real need is for electricity.
My question is "If this Hole-in-the-wall" is so good why hasn't it been replicated elsewhere. The author is deriving all conclusions from 1 installation that too not in a village but in a slum in Delhi. In my opinion this nothing but a corporate gimmick.
If they want to do real work they should go to the rural hinterland and then think about developing a hole-in-the-wall there.
India has one of largest populations of both people and cattle in the world. So it is not a surprise that bio-gas is being extensively used as a fuel for cooking, lighting and electricity.
This technology has a tremendous potential for the third world and India has been exporting its know-how to others.
Slashdot Mirror
Its never too late to start.... ;)
But in all seriousness what are the legal implications of this? I would like to know both the Indian and US sides of the law especially because many of these cheaper editions (legally published by the Indian subsidiaries of foreign publishers) have a warning saying "This low-priced edition is printed specially for India, Thailand... and may not be sold elsewhere without the publishers consent".
Also I do know that the Indian government has a law by which it can order a publisher to make cheaper copies if required. Are these cheaper editions a result of it?
Whatever be the answer I surely am not complaining :)
When the DMCA people come to catch you ripping off CDs you can grab a bite to save yourself :)
hello all,
You can try First & Second. They claim to be India's biggest online book store and have a nice 72 hour shipping to the US.
Another one is Fabmart
I have always used Economy Asian Editions printed in India because the original American / European editions cost at least 10 times more. Happy shopping
I know the dark truth people are turning to computers just so that they can hide their hideous handwriting.
P.S: The Handwriting truth is out there... on the wall..
Very few people in the west have Jameth's objectivity and sensitivity. I extend my hand of friendship to you and more like you.
Sorry all the 3 guesses are wrong. The correct answer is Digital Alpha. If you normalise the growth in technology and inflation, etc (my economics is rusty) then the Alpha 64 would win it hands down. It was 64bit when 32-bit computers were wearing diapers.
After 2 years: 2 of the PhDs have discovered a new way to do signal processing and earn $10 million from it. While you have spent your $90 on a video game and beer :)
Disclaimer: My being Indian has not biased this response.
Just one fact i want to point out that India has not invaded another country in its last 1000 years of history. Sure there are sporadic violent acts but they reflect the activities of a tiny but vocal minority of the entire population... no different than the skinheads in europe or white right-wing in america, etc. The media in the west tends to show only those news from India which fit into the stereotypical western notion of its viewers and fails to even acknowledge the plight of the Indian people who have been suffering the burden of terrorism long before 9/11. If you want proof that India is still the land of Mahatma Gandhi look at how it has not gone and invaded another country inspite of extreme provocation. Unlike other countries which have done that on someones' whims and fancies.... Think about it.... maybe India should be the mascot of the peaceniks....
A solution can only be given if you know the problem well enough.
So bringing my Indian perspective, i would like to bring to notice to the other slashdotters that there a plenty of initiatives to bring the fruits of the IT revolution to the masses.
Check out e-choupal(some of the site is in Hindi) which aims to bridge the logistics gap between rural producers and markets. It is a run away success and the company which started it ITC is planning to roll it out in 10,000 villages. Another innovative e-goverance project is Gyandoot (Messenger of Knowledge). This aims to bring the government closer to the people. In all these cases low-cost PCs ($400 ones) not PDAs have proven to be useful.
These are just some examples where IT has been proven to be useful in the rural hinterland obviously much more needs to be done as there are over 700,000 villages in India.
The problem in India is often not the lack of resources (India today is one of the world's largest economies, one of the fastest growing, has one of the biggest reserves of over $86 billion) but mismanagement and corruption, and add to it restrictive trade practices of the West. It is then no wonder that most Indian farmers are stuck in the 18th century.
While researching for my paper most of the problems of the basic needs can be solved if the rural people have access to cheap and plentiful source of power- electricity. Ask any farmer what is the one thing they need which they can use to improve their lives almost all reply "electricity" - to run everything from water-pumps to computers. Even though now most of the Indian villages are electrified, the sad condition of the state-run electricity boards means that they get power only for a few hours if at all.
Off-grid community solutions like bio-gas have a lot of potential if implemented. In conclusion PDAs may be cool to look at but the real need is for electricity.
Looks like diamonds soon may not be a girl's best friend.
My question is "If this Hole-in-the-wall" is so good why hasn't it been replicated elsewhere. The author is deriving all conclusions from 1 installation that too not in a village but in a slum in Delhi. In my opinion this nothing but a corporate gimmick. If they want to do real work they should go to the rural hinterland and then think about developing a hole-in-the-wall there.
India has one of largest populations of both people and cattle in the world. So it is not a surprise that bio-gas is being extensively used as a fuel for cooking, lighting and electricity. This technology has a tremendous potential for the third world and India has been exporting its know-how to others.
Talking about performance... I wonder whether we will see another AMD PR number style rating scheme....