"I was rather suprised to see Kenny Rogers have a number one song in the UK charts "
I hear ya, I'm always surprised to see Kenny Rogers have a number one song anywhere.
I'm going to disagree on the oil change advice as being "Based on nothing more than folk lore and a profit motive". And I have anecdotal evidence. At one time I owned both a Honda Civic and Chevy Blazer. The Honda did not receive the same care (oil changes were a lot less frequent) as the Chevy. Guess what, the engine blew in the Honda after 100,000 miles and 10 years. The Chevy was still running after 160,000 miles and 15 years on the same engine. Maybe every 2 to 3k miles for oil changes are a bit much, but I wouldn't got much longer than that (the current recommendation on the new car is 6k miles).
People here might be forced to buy new TVs when the FCC forces broadcasters to transmit in high definition only (Thanks FCC. I had some money saved up, and I was feeling guilty about it.)
That's a definite possiblity, but I've been having some interesting conversations about the whole 'forced conversion' to digital. It will be nearly impossible to make millions of people go out and purchase a new TV overnight just because the FCC says everything has to be digital. I know I'll go without TV if that's the case. And maybe millions of other people will too. Hey that sounds like a good thing. Oh wait, we'll all just go to watching stuff on our cell phones, computers, ipods, etc. etc. etc... sigh.
It might not be a HUGE deal to techies, but it's a HUGE perception deal to a lot of other folks. If the company begins to be seen has having bugs and security flaws, then the general public may begin to perceive the company as offering buggy products. Although that hasn't stopped people from using IE (but that's another story).
If timezone and accent is all that American programmers have to offer, we are in serious trouble.
I hear what you're saying on this one and there are some programmers that can only offer that (I've worked with them!). But it goes both ways, right. Not all Indian programmers are exceptional just as not all American programmers are exceptional. But I'd rather pay 80% less for a bad programmer somewhere else than a bad one in the same time zone. What I see happening is that Americans have moved up the project pipeline to where they interface with the customer now and provide details and guidance back to the India developers.
You had me until Illinois. You've never been to Illinois I take it...:-). Seriously though, what's the 3 sided tree formations comment mean? I've never heard that about Illinois, flat yeah mostly, not all though. And you forgot that rural Illinois is pretty darn similiar to southern red neck hick areas where everybody drinks (insert crappy beer name here), has a gun rack for their gun rack, listens to both country and western, and talks with a twang. So they can be offended by the southern stereotypes too (although without a high school education, it might be difficult to figure out that it's a joke). I can say this because I grew up there.
I've been telecommuting in the Chicago area for over a year now. Sure the company has been able to save costs on office space and the related overhead with that space. But it has been passed on to employees working at home, now I pay for additional water, sewage, heating... That aside, it's a pretty decent gig working out of the house 3 days a week and 2 in the office. It's more difficult to interface and build the network of coworkers, find out what projects are going on, etc. So I do look forward to going into the office (occasionaly:-). And the cost of living is lower, although I'm not far enough away from the city to see a huge difference. The travel times do cut into my personal time (3+ hours a day). I would go back to the 15 minute commute I had a year ago if given the opportunity though. Just not in the cards right now, sigh.
Not to mention the fact that any questions that pop-up while the over night shift is working take about 24 hours to resolve JUST FROM A LOGISTICS STANDPOINT, if you're lucky and the answers are perfect and don't require any follow up answers. Yeap, been there...actually stuck in that reality right now. My advice, shift all your target dates ahead by about 1/3 of the estimated hours.
There seem to be many posts claiming IRC is dead and useless. So what are the next mediums that will power technology for another 10 or 20 years? I see some references to google and yahoo, usenet, and web boards, what else? Where are nerds hanging out now? Wait, don't post it here, it will become instantly useless...:-)
Nope, not implying that at all. I'm curious how it got to this point. I would like to believe the committee looked into current technologies at that time to see if something similiar was already being developed by someone and then invite those parties to participate in the design. And if a patent holder of something that gets 'invented' by someone else, be it committee or an individual, I would hope they would attempt to enforce the patent in a timely fashion, i.e. when the holder finds out someone is attempting to use the idea or design as their own. Which in this case would be several years ago! Has this company just waited until it needs the cash flow (as other posters have implied)? I'm not familiar with the JPEG story. How does this relate to this story?
We now approach the segment of history where greed runs amok! (laugh it's funny)
Interestingly enough wkikpedia lists Tim Bray as a co-inventor of XML. And it sounds like XML was developed by a working group supported by a 150-member Interest group. So how did this company get their patent hooks into XML (or think they can)?
The original reply wasn't meant to be flamebait (maybe a bit). I was asking an honest question. Underhanded, maybe, but dishonorable? In what way? Since I live the in US, I don't know what it is like to have to accept the DMCA to not recieve tariffs. I have to accept it as part of living in the US. But I'm trying to figure out what this means:
What has the US done to hinder your online experience as a non-citizen?
The reply was:
Enforse your DMCA laws on us by use of trade blackmail? I assumed this person was asking a rhetorical question and meant his country had to accept the DMCA laws to use the Internet. Is that what it means? I had never heard of that specifically happening.
As for His songs. His licensed property. His fucking right.
, no, I disagree. Depends on the license. If the license says "you can't play this on a computer", then too bad but it's against the law to play it on a computer. For whatever reason someone decided they don't want it played on a computer. Maybe they hate computers, I don't know. Don't buy if you don't like the terms. They are not "His songs." They are the songs of the artist and the company if the artist has chose to work with a company.
Sorry for the flamebait, but want I am really trying to get at is the question of a country being forced to "create these laws, or we will enforce trade tarrifs on your countries most popular exports". Or is it more of if you, the country, want to use our resource, the Internet, then you must accept our the laws of our choosing? I ask because I really don't know, not flamebait (but the first one was a pretty good one:-)
Enforse your DMCA laws on us by use of trade blackmail?
Are you upset because you can't download copies of your favorite songs for free? Or use copyrighted material any way you wish without permission from the author? Just checking...
Just because you see a poor kid on tv with some hotline number doesn't mean these issues aren't being addressed.
Absolutely correct. I've been involved with or know of many projects to refurbish and deliver computers and technology to the DR, one of the poorest if not poorest nation in the western hemisphere, and to local Chicago areas that are under resourced, ghettos, slums, whatever you want to call them. All computers and services are usually provided free of charge.
But for every one of these stories, there are many others where food has not been delivered to those who need it. And what about helping people in Cuba for example? What about China? Didn't they just make the news for censoring content coming across the Internet? It's just not as easy as saying "Laptops for $100 + a grassroots effort to distribute = better education for kids in Brazil". For many governments keeping control of the nation means keeping many people uneducated (not saying any of the mentioned countries do that just that it happens).
And the part that really scares me is the idea is that governments will pay roughly $100 for the laptops and will distribute them for free to students. Anytime government becomes involved chances for corruption or mismanagement go up. Just look at what the government did for New Orleans. Maybe I'm cynical of government involvement because I lived too close to Chicago for too long!
I believe part of the solution is that developed nations have to come along side under-developed nations, partner with them to educate people, provide resources and help out. It can't be "here's a free hand-out" now get better type of attitude. You have to been involved for the long run.
Let me finish this by saying, I hope this works. If only one child benefits from these it should be considered successful. That one child can end up changing the world!
these MIT kids saw that there is obviously a problem with distributing computers and knowledge, so what better way to solve that problem, then by actually doing something about it..
This isn't actually going to fix the problem of distributing computers, maybe knowledge, but not computers. The first shipment of these to a developing nation will likely be seized by 1. unknown "government official" and then resold on the black market, 2. unknow local warlord, then see 1., 3. Seized by government as subversive materials, then see 1. Or distributed to local families which are then typically robbed by local gangs controlled by one of the 3 above.
Yes, it's cynical view. And I do applaud the actions to help, but there's more to the problem of poverty. There are no easy answers, like a 100$ laptop, to solve world hunger / poverty.
It's a cool computer and great idea to supply the developing countries children with them.
That aside, as earlier posters noted why not just help feed them? The current food supplies are enough to feed the entire world and people are still starving (food supplies are increasingly becoming a problem though). So how will making these low-cost computers available to developing countries be any easier than making food available? How will they "fix" the supply chain problem?
Also, did they take in to account the cost to assemble these things? Is it 100$ for parts or parts and labor? If it's made in a developed nation the cost will probably double. Why don't they have them assembled in the developing nations? That way they can provide jobs and computers to families.
Again, great idea, but I'm suspicious of the reality to delivery upon this idea.
Strangely enough I found this link while cleaning out old email from 3 months ago >> http://ned.ucam.org/%7Esdh31/misc/destroy.html. Why wait for global warming when there are plenty of other ways destory earth...
Slashdot Mirror
France didn't actually surrender to something (not yet at least)!
"I was rather suprised to see Kenny Rogers have a number one song in the UK charts "
I hear ya, I'm always surprised to see Kenny Rogers have a number one song anywhere.
Basic is reported as "So 80s".
I'm going to disagree on the oil change advice as being "Based on nothing more than folk lore and a profit motive". And I have anecdotal evidence. At one time I owned both a Honda Civic and Chevy Blazer. The Honda did not receive the same care (oil changes were a lot less frequent) as the Chevy. Guess what, the engine blew in the Honda after 100,000 miles and 10 years. The Chevy was still running after 160,000 miles and 15 years on the same engine. Maybe every 2 to 3k miles for oil changes are a bit much, but I wouldn't got much longer than that (the current recommendation on the new car is 6k miles).
People here might be forced to buy new TVs when the FCC forces broadcasters to transmit in high definition only (Thanks FCC. I had some money saved up, and I was feeling guilty about it.)
That's a definite possiblity, but I've been having some interesting conversations about the whole 'forced conversion' to digital. It will be nearly impossible to make millions of people go out and purchase a new TV overnight just because the FCC says everything has to be digital. I know I'll go without TV if that's the case. And maybe millions of other people will too. Hey that sounds like a good thing. Oh wait, we'll all just go to watching stuff on our cell phones, computers, ipods, etc. etc. etc... sigh.
Hmmmmmm...sounds vaguely familiar. You didn't go to college anywhere in Illinois did you? :-)
I wish I could remember going through college. I must have though, because I have a diploma.
Sounds like somebody has a case of the Mondays!
It might not be a HUGE deal to techies, but it's a HUGE perception deal to a lot of other folks. If the company begins to be seen has having bugs and security flaws, then the general public may begin to perceive the company as offering buggy products. Although that hasn't stopped people from using IE (but that's another story).
I stand by my previous comments, tre paragraph.
If timezone and accent is all that American programmers have to offer, we are in serious trouble.
I hear what you're saying on this one and there are some programmers that can only offer that (I've worked with them!). But it goes both ways, right. Not all Indian programmers are exceptional just as not all American programmers are exceptional. But I'd rather pay 80% less for a bad programmer somewhere else than a bad one in the same time zone. What I see happening is that Americans have moved up the project pipeline to where they interface with the customer now and provide details and guidance back to the India developers.
You had me until Illinois. You've never been to Illinois I take it... :-). Seriously though, what's the 3 sided tree formations comment mean? I've never heard that about Illinois, flat yeah mostly, not all though. And you forgot that rural Illinois is pretty darn similiar to southern red neck hick areas where everybody drinks (insert crappy beer name here), has a gun rack for their gun rack, listens to both country and western, and talks with a twang. So they can be offended by the southern stereotypes too (although without a high school education, it might be difficult to figure out that it's a joke). I can say this because I grew up there.
I've been telecommuting in the Chicago area for over a year now. Sure the company has been able to save costs on office space and the related overhead with that space. But it has been passed on to employees working at home, now I pay for additional water, sewage, heating... That aside, it's a pretty decent gig working out of the house 3 days a week and 2 in the office. It's more difficult to interface and build the network of coworkers, find out what projects are going on, etc. So I do look forward to going into the office (occasionaly :-). And the cost of living is lower, although I'm not far enough away from the city to see a huge difference. The travel times do cut into my personal time (3+ hours a day). I would go back to the 15 minute commute I had a year ago if given the opportunity though. Just not in the cards right now, sigh.
Not to mention the fact that any questions that pop-up while the over night shift is working take about 24 hours to resolve JUST FROM A LOGISTICS STANDPOINT, if you're lucky and the answers are perfect and don't require any follow up answers. Yeap, been there...actually stuck in that reality right now. My advice, shift all your target dates ahead by about 1/3 of the estimated hours.
There seem to be many posts claiming IRC is dead and useless. So what are the next mediums that will power technology for another 10 or 20 years? I see some references to google and yahoo, usenet, and web boards, what else? Where are nerds hanging out now? Wait, don't post it here, it will become instantly useless... :-)
Nope, not implying that at all. I'm curious how it got to this point. I would like to believe the committee looked into current technologies at that time to see if something similiar was already being developed by someone and then invite those parties to participate in the design. And if a patent holder of something that gets 'invented' by someone else, be it committee or an individual, I would hope they would attempt to enforce the patent in a timely fashion, i.e. when the holder finds out someone is attempting to use the idea or design as their own. Which in this case would be several years ago! Has this company just waited until it needs the cash flow (as other posters have implied)?
I'm not familiar with the JPEG story. How does this relate to this story?
We now approach the segment of history where greed runs amok! (laugh it's funny)
Interestingly enough wkikpedia lists Tim Bray as a co-inventor of XML. And it sounds like XML was developed by a working group supported by a 150-member Interest group. So how did this company get their patent hooks into XML (or think they can)?
The original reply wasn't meant to be flamebait (maybe a bit). I was asking an honest question. Underhanded, maybe, but dishonorable? In what way? Since I live the in US, I don't know what it is like to have to accept the DMCA to not recieve tariffs. I have to accept it as part of living in the US.
But I'm trying to figure out what this means: What has the US done to hinder your online experience as a non-citizen?
The reply was: Enforse your DMCA laws on us by use of trade blackmail?
I assumed this person was asking a rhetorical question and meant his country had to accept the DMCA laws to use the Internet. Is that what it means? I had never heard of that specifically happening.
As for His songs. His licensed property. His fucking right. , no, I disagree. Depends on the license. If the license says "you can't play this on a computer", then too bad but it's against the law to play it on a computer. For whatever reason someone decided they don't want it played on a computer. Maybe they hate computers, I don't know. Don't buy if you don't like the terms. They are not "His songs." They are the songs of the artist and the company if the artist has chose to work with a company.
Sorry for the flamebait, but want I am really trying to get at is the question of a country being forced to "create these laws, or we will enforce trade tarrifs on your countries most popular exports". Or is it more of if you, the country, want to use our resource, the Internet, then you must accept our the laws of our choosing? I ask because I really don't know, not flamebait (but the first one was a pretty good one :-)
Enforse your DMCA laws on us by use of trade blackmail?
Are you upset because you can't download copies of your favorite songs for free? Or use copyrighted material any way you wish without permission from the author? Just checking...
Just because you see a poor kid on tv with some hotline number doesn't mean these issues aren't being addressed.
Absolutely correct. I've been involved with or know of many projects to refurbish and deliver computers and technology to the DR, one of the poorest if not poorest nation in the western hemisphere, and to local Chicago areas that are under resourced, ghettos, slums, whatever you want to call them. All computers and services are usually provided free of charge.
But for every one of these stories, there are many others where food has not been delivered to those who need it. And what about helping people in Cuba for example? What about China? Didn't they just make the news for censoring content coming across the Internet? It's just not as easy as saying "Laptops for $100 + a grassroots effort to distribute = better education for kids in Brazil". For many governments keeping control of the nation means keeping many people uneducated (not saying any of the mentioned countries do that just that it happens).
And the part that really scares me is the idea is that governments will pay roughly $100 for the laptops and will distribute them for free to students. Anytime government becomes involved chances for corruption or mismanagement go up. Just look at what the government did for New Orleans. Maybe I'm cynical of government involvement because I lived too close to Chicago for too long!
I believe part of the solution is that developed nations have to come along side under-developed nations, partner with them to educate people, provide resources and help out. It can't be "here's a free hand-out" now get better type of attitude. You have to been involved for the long run.
Let me finish this by saying, I hope this works. If only one child benefits from these it should be considered successful. That one child can end up changing the world!
these MIT kids saw that there is obviously a problem with distributing computers and knowledge, so what better way to solve that problem, then by actually doing something about it..
This isn't actually going to fix the problem of distributing computers, maybe knowledge, but not computers. The first shipment of these to a developing nation will likely be seized by 1. unknown "government official" and then resold on the black market, 2. unknow local warlord, then see 1., 3. Seized by government as subversive materials, then see 1. Or distributed to local families which are then typically robbed by local gangs controlled by one of the 3 above.
Yes, it's cynical view. And I do applaud the actions to help, but there's more to the problem of poverty. There are no easy answers, like a 100$ laptop, to solve world hunger / poverty.
It's a cool computer and great idea to supply the developing countries children with them.
That aside, as earlier posters noted why not just help feed them? The current food supplies are enough to feed the entire world and people are still starving (food supplies are increasingly becoming a problem though). So how will making these low-cost computers available to developing countries be any easier than making food available? How will they "fix" the supply chain problem?
Also, did they take in to account the cost to assemble these things? Is it 100$ for parts or parts and labor? If it's made in a developed nation the cost will probably double. Why don't they have them assembled in the developing nations? That way they can provide jobs and computers to families.
Again, great idea, but I'm suspicious of the reality to delivery upon this idea.
Here's an interesting atlas by the U.N. One Planet, Many People. Check out the urban areas chapter. Is it me or does it look like Moscow is shrinking?
Strangely enough I found this link while cleaning out old email from 3 months ago >> http://ned.ucam.org/%7Esdh31/misc/destroy.html. Why wait for global warming when there are plenty of other ways destory earth...