a better question is "how many countries have been ravaged by civil war?"
This is quite correct - I did actually note that most African nations have had a civil war or colonial uprising at some point.
I agree with you when you say that it is a bleak picture, I'll be the first to agree, I was really just objecting to the sweeping statement that is so often made - that all of Africa is engaged in barbaric war and there is no hope at all. I apologise if I sounded a bit evangelical about it.
I made the comment you are talking about, about there being several in and around Durban. As far as I know there is only one in Durban at the moment. What I meant was that there are several around the country, in various malls and university campuses.
I would imagine Mark Shuttleworth would be delighted to have one in every campus (high school and university) on the planet. Hell, one in every shopping mall would be great.
I would further imagine that the design and software of such a thing would be gladly provided to any organisation willing to do this in their own country - know of anyone?
Mark Shuttleworth and this foundation are yet another entry on a list of reasons to feel good to be South African...
The maintenance (both physical and software), the design and I would imagine the insurance is paid for by the Shuttleworth Foundation, with a volunteer (or several) near each location to ensure all is well. The Shuttleworth Foundation has the backing of Mark Shuttleworth (who doesn't struggle for funds) to keep going, which also pays for the hardware. The fundingis in place and will continue to be in place.
Here in South Africa, toasters have been placed in a few shopping malls and university campuses. I would imagine that will continue - they are in public.
This is not a pipe dream at all - it shows every sign of being successful.
You can't surf and download from the toaster - it's effectively a PC in a box with a touch screen and a CD burner slot. You put your blank into the slot and use the touch screen to select from a list of distros and other OSS CD/DVD material that have been preloaded onto the toaster by the Shuttleworth Foundation's people. It burns it for you and voila.
One has recently been installed at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in Durban, South Africa (where I live). It looks good and works well - each toaster has a local maintainer in the area who keeps the loaded distros up to date etc.
They are also placed in a few shopping malls and other universities - there are about 10 or so at the moment, if I remember correctly.
The only drawback at the moment is the need to supply your own blank CD's, but even in South Africa, those have become very cheap.
If a South African poster gets a story from a South African source, I think he's quite justified in leaving the Rand value in there. The story had a dollar value as well, after all.
There are some of us who don't live in the US and to whom other currencies are relevant (although, I'll admit that few of us know what the Rand is, let alone what it's currently worth)
Looking back over my post, I realise I didn't say what I meant to at all - oops:-(.
All I was really saying is to point out to the people who are saying that Nintendo is doing much better than Microsoft or Sony because Nintendo has a profit and the others don't, is that the others don't have to. Nintendo must turn a profit or die, which is why a report of drops in profit to Nintendo are potentially more worrying in the long term for Nintendo than reports of losses are for Microsoft or Sony.
Where do you get this ridiculous statistic? I live in South Africa myself (not related to the topic, just to establish I do have some (limited) local knowledge).
There are 49 countries in Africa. Several (possibly even most) have had a civil war or an armed uprising against colonial rule at some point in their history. Many of those countries have been relatively peaceful for decades though (peaceful != democratic or uncorrupt, which is not what I'm trying to say. I'm not saying that all African nations are corrupt despotic hellholes either, before I get accused of that).
To think off the top of my head, Sudan, Rwanda, the DRC and Cote d'Ivoire are the only countries I can come up with who have had genocides recently (in my living memory - 80's and 90's).
Certainly Africa has problems, including many nations still at war internally or with each other, but to say that most African countries have a recent history of genocide is both inaccurate and damaging - it paints an even bleaker picture than the admittedly less-than-rosy international image of this beautiful continent.
P.S. All info in this post comes from my memory, since I couldn't find much data from a quick googling that wouldn't require more sorting than I was willing to put in.
This is sloppy reporting indeed - it makes Nintendo's situation look much more dire than it probably is.
However, as has been pointed out in several places in this discussion, Nintendo is unlike Sony and Microsoft in that the other two have several other profitable divisions from which to cover the losses of their games division. Nintendo does not. So, while it's true that Sony and Microsoft's game divisions are losing money, the company's overall are not. Nintendo's game division is Nintendo, so a drop in profit for Nintendo in terms of games is far more serious (for Nintendo at least).
I live in South Africa myself, so I can't really recommend any good books on the country, never having had to have read one that gives a visitor's perspective:-)
I can however give you two URL's: the SA Tourism Department's portal to the country : http://www.southafrica.net/ and a privately run website which I know little about but appears to have a fair amount of factual data about SA, at least after a cursory examination: http://www.southafrica.com/
Incidentally, there are plenty of poor white people (although many more black ones) in SA, and plenty of middle-income to filthy rich black, indian and coloured people in SA too. That all white people in SA are filthy rich is just not true, and never has been.
Nope you're not alone. I'm with you, so that's two of us at least:-)
I even find myself preferring my first-person shooters to be single-player at times - I prefer relying on myself alone against the hordes of hideous monsters. Indeed, in multi-player play I still prefer to play with my friends against the evil monsters than against bunches of other human beings. At least the monsters don't speak that hideous "leet"...
It is a publication of the Christian Science movement. Here's a link to the group (or at least to a church affiliated with them). The Christian Science Monitor can be found at this link, but they certainly are not exclusively devoted to Christian Science, and indeed often have articles of good value on many aspects of the world, society, technology and life in general.
Note that I am not a Christian Scientist myself. I can assure you though that the Christian Science Monitor is not published by the Vatican or the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury:)
only enough times to answer the first few people who took my original comment incorrectly. No-one is ever going to mod them up, so they'll be invisible to most users anyhow.
Oops, I seem to have made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually.
I hope that casts a slightly different light on my comment - I wasn't saying the universe was created in 6 days, just that I hold to the belief that it was caused to come into being (with no reference to the method).
Oops, I seem to have made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually.
I hope that casts a slightly different light on my comment - I wasn't saying the universe was created in 6 days, just that I hold to the belief that it was caused to come into being (with no reference to the method). I'm actually with you here.
I agree entirely with you, I'm in favour of point 2 as well. I made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually.
Oops, I seem to have made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually. I don't believe the world is 6000 years old etc.
I hope that casts a slightly different light on my comment - I wasn't saying the universe was created in 6 days, just that I hold to the belief that it was caused to come into being (with no reference to the method).
I was going to mention exactly this, as a cover for me foolishly using the term "Creationism". I find that the best kind of theory as well - I didn't mean to imply that I believe everything just came into being in a puff of white smoke.
Oops, I seem to have made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually.
I hope that casts a slightly different light on my comment - I wasn't saying the universe was created in 6 days, just that I hold to the belief that it was caused to come into being (with no reference to the method).
I was raised as a Catholic and am still a firm believer in creationism. I have no intention of starting a discussion about the religious issues here though. I am not a nut-job (at least, I don't think so) and I am not out to convince the world by the sword that my beliefs are right.
You don't think that labelling anyone who may have faith in a higher power (whether or not you agree with them) as a whacko is just a trifle intolerant? It really pains me to hear people immediately dismiss anyone (like myself) who holds to a set of religious beliefs. I cannot accept the notion that the entire sturcture of the universe down to the interaction of molecules we can't even detect properly all came about by accident. I don't think you are crazy because you can.
Many Christian people are tolerant of others and will quite happily do their own thing in peace without harming or affecting anyone who does not hold to their beliefs. How does that make us nut-jobs?
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So, I assume this device will be watching these patients vital signs?
I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself...
a better question is "how many countries have been ravaged by civil war?"
:(
This is quite correct - I did actually note that most African nations have had a civil war or colonial uprising at some point.
I agree with you when you say that it is a bleak picture, I'll be the first to agree, I was really just objecting to the sweeping statement that is so often made - that all of Africa is engaged in barbaric war and there is no hope at all. I apologise if I sounded a bit evangelical about it.
Also, I did forget Burundi - oops
I made the comment you are talking about, about there being several in and around Durban. As far as I know there is only one in Durban at the moment. What I meant was that there are several around the country, in various malls and university campuses.
Poorly worded from me there, I'm afraid.
I would imagine Mark Shuttleworth would be delighted to have one in every campus (high school and university) on the planet. Hell, one in every shopping mall would be great.
I would further imagine that the design and software of such a thing would be gladly provided to any organisation willing to do this in their own country - know of anyone?
Mark Shuttleworth and this foundation are yet another entry on a list of reasons to feel good to be South African...
The maintenance (both physical and software), the design and I would imagine the insurance is paid for by the Shuttleworth Foundation, with a volunteer (or several) near each location to ensure all is well. The Shuttleworth Foundation has the backing of Mark Shuttleworth (who doesn't struggle for funds) to keep going, which also pays for the hardware. The fundingis in place and will continue to be in place.
Here in South Africa, toasters have been placed in a few shopping malls and university campuses. I would imagine that will continue - they are in public.
This is not a pipe dream at all - it shows every sign of being successful.
You can't surf and download from the toaster - it's effectively a PC in a box with a touch screen and a CD burner slot. You put your blank into the slot and use the touch screen to select from a list of distros and other OSS CD/DVD material that have been preloaded onto the toaster by the Shuttleworth Foundation's people. It burns it for you and voila.
One has recently been installed at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in Durban, South Africa (where I live). It looks good and works well - each toaster has a local maintainer in the area who keeps the loaded distros up to date etc.
They are also placed in a few shopping malls and other universities - there are about 10 or so at the moment, if I remember correctly.
The only drawback at the moment is the need to supply your own blank CD's, but even in South Africa, those have become very cheap.
If a South African poster gets a story from a South African source, I think he's quite justified in leaving the Rand value in there. The story had a dollar value as well, after all.
There are some of us who don't live in the US and to whom other currencies are relevant (although, I'll admit that few of us know what the Rand is, let alone what it's currently worth)
Looking back over my post, I realise I didn't say what I meant to at all - oops :-(.
All I was really saying is to point out to the people who are saying that Nintendo is doing much better than Microsoft or Sony because Nintendo has a profit and the others don't, is that the others don't have to. Nintendo must turn a profit or die, which is why a report of drops in profit to Nintendo are potentially more worrying in the long term for Nintendo than reports of losses are for Microsoft or Sony.
Where do you get this ridiculous statistic? I live in South Africa myself (not related to the topic, just to establish I do have some (limited) local knowledge).
There are 49 countries in Africa. Several (possibly even most) have had a civil war or an armed uprising against colonial rule at some point in their history. Many of those countries have been relatively peaceful for decades though (peaceful != democratic or uncorrupt, which is not what I'm trying to say. I'm not saying that all African nations are corrupt despotic hellholes either, before I get accused of that).
To think off the top of my head, Sudan, Rwanda, the DRC and Cote d'Ivoire are the only countries I can come up with who have had genocides recently (in my living memory - 80's and 90's).
Certainly Africa has problems, including many nations still at war internally or with each other, but to say that most African countries have a recent history of genocide is both inaccurate and damaging - it paints an even bleaker picture than the admittedly less-than-rosy international image of this beautiful continent.
P.S. All info in this post comes from my memory, since I couldn't find much data from a quick googling that wouldn't require more sorting than I was willing to put in.
This is sloppy reporting indeed - it makes Nintendo's situation look much more dire than it probably is.
However, as has been pointed out in several places in this discussion, Nintendo is unlike Sony and Microsoft in that the other two have several other profitable divisions from which to cover the losses of their games division. Nintendo does not. So, while it's true that Sony and Microsoft's game divisions are losing money, the company's overall are not. Nintendo's game division is Nintendo, so a drop in profit for Nintendo in terms of games is far more serious (for Nintendo at least).
From the summary:
"Cory Doctorow is posting over at Boing Boing about some technology that he apparently saw this weekend at London's Open Tech conference."
So, yes, at least one person did...
All these posts, and no-one has said anything about the word "Offical" yet?
OK, I'll take a stab then:
- I think the "ic" was put in by accident.
OR
- from Bill Gates' point of view, there can be only one "I" in the OS world.
That's the best I've got I'm afraid - my caffeine levels are definitely too low...
Vista means "view" in English - such as "The vista from the top of the hill was breath-taking".
How MS plan to relate it to the OS, I have no idea...
I live in South Africa myself, so I can't really recommend any good books on the country, never having had to have read one that gives a visitor's perspective :-)
I can however give you two URL's: the SA Tourism Department's portal to the country : http://www.southafrica.net/ and a privately run website which I know little about but appears to have a fair amount of factual data about SA, at least after a cursory examination: http://www.southafrica.com/
Incidentally, there are plenty of poor white people (although many more black ones) in SA, and plenty of middle-income to filthy rich black, indian and coloured people in SA too. That all white people in SA are filthy rich is just not true, and never has been.
I even find myself preferring my first-person shooters to be single-player at times - I prefer relying on myself alone against the hordes of hideous monsters. Indeed, in multi-player play I still prefer to play with my friends against the evil monsters than against bunches of other human beings. At least the monsters don't speak that hideous "leet"...
It is a publication of the Christian Science movement. Here's a link to the group (or at least to a church affiliated with them). The Christian Science Monitor can be found at this link, but they certainly are not exclusively devoted to Christian Science, and indeed often have articles of good value on many aspects of the world, society, technology and life in general.
:)
Note that I am not a Christian Scientist myself. I can assure you though that the Christian Science Monitor is not published by the Vatican or the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury
only enough times to answer the first few people who took my original comment incorrectly. No-one is ever going to mod them up, so they'll be invisible to most users anyhow.
Oops, I seem to have made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually.
I hope that casts a slightly different light on my comment - I wasn't saying the universe was created in 6 days, just that I hold to the belief that it was caused to come into being (with no reference to the method).
Oops, I seem to have made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually.
I hope that casts a slightly different light on my comment - I wasn't saying the universe was created in 6 days, just that I hold to the belief that it was caused to come into being (with no reference to the method). I'm actually with you here.
I agree entirely with you, I'm in favour of point 2 as well. I made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually.
I hold to your 2nd option, not to the 1st.
Oops, I seem to have made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually. I don't believe the world is 6000 years old etc.
I hope that casts a slightly different light on my comment - I wasn't saying the universe was created in 6 days, just that I hold to the belief that it was caused to come into being (with no reference to the method).
I was going to mention exactly this, as a cover for me foolishly using the term "Creationism". I find that the best kind of theory as well - I didn't mean to imply that I believe everything just came into being in a puff of white smoke.
I agree entirely with you.
Oops, I seem to have made a mistake in using the term "Creationism" - I only meant that I believe that there is a higher power who had a hand in causing everything that is to be. I didn't mean to imply that I think the Bible is literally accurate, word-for-word - I don't actually.
I hope that casts a slightly different light on my comment - I wasn't saying the universe was created in 6 days, just that I hold to the belief that it was caused to come into being (with no reference to the method).
I was raised as a Catholic and am still a firm believer in creationism. I have no intention of starting a discussion about the religious issues here though. I am not a nut-job (at least, I don't think so) and I am not out to convince the world by the sword that my beliefs are right.
You don't think that labelling anyone who may have faith in a higher power (whether or not you agree with them) as a whacko is just a trifle intolerant? It really pains me to hear people immediately dismiss anyone (like myself) who holds to a set of religious beliefs. I cannot accept the notion that the entire sturcture of the universe down to the interaction of molecules we can't even detect properly all came about by accident. I don't think you are crazy because you can.
Many Christian people are tolerant of others and will quite happily do their own thing in peace without harming or affecting anyone who does not hold to their beliefs. How does that make us nut-jobs?
Not to rain on your parade or anything, but flautist is a perfectly good synonym for flutist.
Seriously though, a music playing ring does seem pretty bling-bling. An ancient cow-herders song is unlikely to impress the ladies though...