if Slashdot is so full of liberals, where are all these conservatives coming from who argue with the liberals all the time?
Keeping quiet so that they can abuse the moderation system by quashing dissent with the 'overrated' mod option without subjecting themselves to metamodding.
Can we dispense with the false analogies please? A dollar in India goes a lot further than it does in downtown San Francisco.
You could pick any country, pick a random amount of money, state the number of people earning less than it, and insist that all activities that are not directed at solving the more basic problems should be directed thereto. It's like the critics of the space program who think that money not spent sending Cassini to Saturn will benefit the poor of Chicago. It ain't gonna happen, the poor will always be with us. The middle class is as entitled to improvements in their lives as the rest of the country. In any case this is not a very expensive project. I really don't see what the problem is.
I'm just guessing here but, maybe laptops are more expensive? When you don't have a load of money to throw around you tend to go for the cheaper option, it's an occupational hazard that comes with not being a rich westerner who takes money for granted.
you have to wonder if the money might be better spent elsewhere
There was a guy lying on the street this morning by the freeway entrance. He'd slept on the sidewalk all night under a mound of brown-stained rags. People like that are all over San Francisco. Meanwhile, there's a big row over who's going to pay for the reconstruction of the eastern span of the Bay Bridge, and someone was getting a wirless network installed in his apartment somewhere else in the city. What will we do? Abandon all of human endeavour that does not get the poor off the streets and instantly eliminate poverty?
The mobility of a cycle rickshaw, which is light enough to cross muddy, potholed roads, ensures that the same computer and Internet connection can be used by people in several neighboring villages.... "The mobile platform is necessary to reduce cost of ownership because the resources are shared by a larger population. It is also necessary to push information to women and elderly people who can't travel outside their village," said Manoj Kumar, a project manager.
Only when it's benefiting Indians do the/. community suddenly ditch their love affair with any technology that's designed to cut the cost of sharing the knowledge for the benefit of the masses.
How do their wages compare with wages locally? I'm sure you'll agree that that's a much more interesting and relevant statistic. Studies show that foreign investment in the developing world drives local wages up, not down.
'Diatribe' my ass. The racial stereotypes are never hard to spot on/.
Programming jobs exported to Ireland? No problem. Programming jobs exported to India? A problem.
Technological development in Eastern Europe? Let's talk about the technology. Technological development in India? Let's jump to the conclusion that those people don't need technology because they're barely capable of feeding themselves [not true], to say nothing of understanding what a computer is or gaining any benefit from it [not true].
How come there's a direct corrolation on/. between getting the facts wrong about how useful technology is in a country and the darkness of the local skin colour?
If I was a poor dude in India, living on $1 per day with no water or electricity and possessing only a few clay pots....... [insert more stereotypes here]
And if I were a reasonably well-off person in India but with limited access to IT for myself or my kids, I'd think this is a great thing.
When oh when will the/. crew get it into their heads that the rest of the world is not living in filth, squalor and poverty? They have a middle class in India too you know! Jeez! I mean, which is it? Are the Indians robbing us of our god-given, high-skill programming jobs or are they living in mud-huts and unable to read or write? Make up your minds!
I asked. They'd like some housing, food, maybe some clothes and some medical help first.
Somehow, I don't think you asked at all, or read TFA.
So here we go again. "The people of [insert non-white foreign country here] need food and shelter before they start trying to earn money doing all the things that us smart white folks do.... blah blah blah [insert rest of half-baked/. mantra here]"
Here is the news. There is no famine underway in India right now. In India there is a middle class and there is also a demand for education. Oh, hang on a sec, TFA says "[the rickshaw] aims to use technology to improve education, health care and access to agricultural information in India's villages, where most of the country's 1.06 billion people live." Looks like this development is just what you're asking for. Just post again and remove the word 'first' from the end, then you've got it.
Re:I could care less about poor people in India
on
The Indian Info-Rickshaws
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Maybe it's just me but there seems to be a lot of articles about technology helping poor people in India yet most slashdotters could probably care less.
First of all, I think you mean "couldn't" care less.
Secondly:
Maybe it's just me...
You're absolutely correct. It is just you. If you're not interested in the article just because it's not about something more interesting (like Scott Peterson's latest hairstyle or the outcome of the six-hour finale of 'Who'll hook up with the mad axe murderer?') then I respectfully suggest that you move along. The majority of people on/. can speak for themselves thank you very much, and some of them are actually interested in what goes on beyond the shores of the US.
Well said. See my journal for an explanation of why/. is inundated with Flash-bashers. And stand by to be bombarded by open-source fundamentalist nit-pickers who will doubtless be able to pick holes in it.
Deregulation, privatisation, call it whatever you want. If you read my post you'd see that the point I was making was to read between the lines with this paper.
That's a very insightful post. It reminds me of something I saw in the Lancashire mining museum some years ago when the employers were proclaiming the health benefits of inhaling coal-dust. Apparently it 'prevented TB.' I kid you not. It always takes a while for the harmful effects of new technology or its implementation to become clear.
When I look around and see the sheer quantity of radiation that we're being bombarded with from mobile phones, mobile phone masts, power lines, terrestrial TV, digital TV, WiFi networks etc. plus the amount of carcinogens in exhaust fumes all around us it makes me wonder if it all adds up in some way that we're not yet aware of and if there's some connection with the number of people getting cancer. I fear that one day someone will do a study that will take into account ALL radiation sources and find that we've gotten a little carried away with the old spectrum.
The Economist recommends privatisation as a solution. Now what a surprise. Don't get me wrong, it's a great paper and I actually subscribe to it, but there are times when it gets into the realms of market fundamentalism, so you should always read between the lines. Some of their articles also read as if they belong in the Leader section, so thick do they lay it on with the opinions.
Nice of them to include this definition of 'Astroturfing' for the non USAian audience:
In American politics, the term 'astroturfing' is used to describe formal public relations projects which deliberately give the impression that they are spontaneous and populist reactions. The term is a play on the description of truly spontaneous or 'grassroots' efforts and the distinction between real grass and AstroTurf - the fake grass used in some indoor American football stadiums.
SMS texters have been getting the hang of typing out messages with one thumb and in many cases without even looking at the phone. Predictive texting has accelerated this process even further. And before the USAian audience tells me that only gays and Japanese schoolgirls use SMS, observe:
A thumb-numbing 111 million SMS messages were sent on all four main UK mobile networks between midnight 31 December and midnight 1 January..... Over 20 billion text messages were sent in 2003, a number which is expected to grow in 2004.
BBC News
Slashdot Mirror
Sorry, the 'overrated' mod that my post attracted is just a figment of my imagination. My mistake.
I smell the work of the GOP trying to get the geek vote.
You could pick any country, pick a random amount of money, state the number of people earning less than it, and insist that all activities that are not directed at solving the more basic problems should be directed thereto. It's like the critics of the space program who think that money not spent sending Cassini to Saturn will benefit the poor of Chicago. It ain't gonna happen, the poor will always be with us. The middle class is as entitled to improvements in their lives as the rest of the country. In any case this is not a very expensive project. I really don't see what the problem is.
Programming jobs exported to Ireland? No problem. Programming jobs exported to India? A problem.
Technological development in Eastern Europe? Let's talk about the technology. Technological development in India? Let's jump to the conclusion that those people don't need technology because they're barely capable of feeding themselves [not true], to say nothing of understanding what a computer is or gaining any benefit from it [not true].
How come there's a direct corrolation on /. between getting the facts wrong about how useful technology is in a country and the darkness of the local skin colour?
When oh when will the /. crew get it into their heads that the rest of the world is not living in filth, squalor and poverty? They have a middle class in India too you know! Jeez! I mean, which is it? Are the Indians robbing us of our god-given, high-skill programming jobs or are they living in mud-huts and unable to read or write? Make up your minds!
So here we go again. "The people of [insert non-white foreign country here] need food and shelter before they start trying to earn money doing all the things that us smart white folks do.... blah blah blah [insert rest of half-baked /. mantra here]"
Here is the news. There is no famine underway in India right now. In India there is a middle class and there is also a demand for education. Oh, hang on a sec, TFA says "[the rickshaw] aims to use technology to improve education, health care and access to agricultural information in India's villages, where most of the country's 1.06 billion people live." Looks like this development is just what you're asking for. Just post again and remove the word 'first' from the end, then you've got it.
'Poetical?' Sounds like a Bushism.
Secondly:
You're absolutely correct. It is just you. If you're not interested in the article just because it's not about something more interesting (like Scott Peterson's latest hairstyle or the outcome of the six-hour finale of 'Who'll hook up with the mad axe murderer?') then I respectfully suggest that you move along. The majority of people onWell said. See my journal for an explanation of why /. is inundated with Flash-bashers. And stand by to be bombarded by open-source fundamentalist nit-pickers who will doubtless be able to pick holes in it.
Deregulation, privatisation, call it whatever you want. If you read my post you'd see that the point I was making was to read between the lines with this paper.
will it be ready in time to get Count Dooku back to Coruscant?
When I look around and see the sheer quantity of radiation that we're being bombarded with from mobile phones, mobile phone masts, power lines, terrestrial TV, digital TV, WiFi networks etc. plus the amount of carcinogens in exhaust fumes all around us it makes me wonder if it all adds up in some way that we're not yet aware of and if there's some connection with the number of people getting cancer. I fear that one day someone will do a study that will take into account ALL radiation sources and find that we've gotten a little carried away with the old spectrum.
Huh? What's all this? Arbitrarily swapping words around and calling someone a fascist? Not very clever, is it?
The Economist recommends privatisation as a solution. Now what a surprise. Don't get me wrong, it's a great paper and I actually subscribe to it, but there are times when it gets into the realms of market fundamentalism, so you should always read between the lines. Some of their articles also read as if they belong in the Leader section, so thick do they lay it on with the opinions.
...that WAP rhymes with CRAP.
Fair enough.