That is what it became because everyone has been so short-sighted. Information like this is about all we have left and unfortunately too many people are with you and just don't see or care about how truly important the concept itself is. Everyone has become so numb to handing over freedom after freedom that no one cares. A damn shame.
I get that, but when you are putting out important shit it will have an impact regardless and playing the same games is just silly. Also if there were a more steady stream it already has been shown that people will take the info and distill it down and post the relevant info or key highlights for those that want to be more passive. The information itself is powerful and important.
Microsoft truly believes they can force something long enough and people will just give in. Maybe years ago they could, now people will just go elsewhere. I'm an IT professional that has been in the game since Windows 3.1/Dos 6.22, the ribbon does nothing well or make life easier for pros or users. It isn't an improvement in usability. I refuse to believe they have done usability studies with real users and can defend the ribbon or the use in something like this. I watch people struggle with it daily on both ends of the spectrum.
Why not actually innovate. Forget trying to out-Apple Apple, forget trying to push the ribbon, in fact... forget everything and start fresh. It blows my mind that there are still certain windows and features that are *from* Windows 95/98 IN the newest OSes... give up, admit defeat and start fresh. They almost had something with the Courier, get some fresh non-MS talent and go in a new direction.
That Wikileaks is far too important to keep as it is and as it has been run. It needs to be fully decentralized and immediate, no delays, no central control, no waiting for slow news days, etc. A truly decentralized and secure system with checks and balances and that is it.
Now there is so much confusion and doubt. Is this an agent, is there an agenda, is this a real breach or manufactured, etc? Wikileaks is simply doing the same thing that news organizations and governments do at this point and it serves no purpose... in fact it hurts the entire cause. I have been saying this same thing for years any time Wikileaks comes up in the news and it is almost universally met with negativity and people claiming Wikileaks is perfect the way it is. It isn't and we are toying with something very important and crucial to all of us, true freedom and information.
I love travelling to countries with plastic notes. No worries about getting them wet (if you are at a beach, etc.) No tearing issues, they last longer... and they can be made from partial or fully recycled plastic. I would even be OK with coins eventually being modified to some sort of cheaper substance. I think we have all moved away from the days of needing to think our currency itself has value or importance. Hell, most of us use a small plastic rectangle for almost everything everyday.
Re:Reminds Me of Something the Sony CEO Said ...
on
Has iTunes Been Hacked?
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· Score: 4, Insightful
I've worked in IT security for a long time and for banks... The sheer number of unreported hacks at banks and at retail stores would blow your mind. People mistakenly get angry at the hackers (which is how the media has trained most everyone to think) when in reality it is almost always gross negligence on the hack-ee side and they deserve the ire.
I'm a security guy and I think they are doing a great service for everyone... companies house a lot of very personal and private information and it is so common that they do not protect it or nowhere near to the level they should because they either do not fund it since they see no value in protecting it properly or they have short staffed their security/IT dept. so much that they can't have proper security. No matter what, burying you head in the sand or hoping they go away is the WORST possible option. They are no malicious unlike the real hackers stealing data every single minute of every day.
Sorry, but I have to call shenanigans. I also have been a longtime power user and system designer since the 8086 and I have had a number of viruses in that time. A number of them were unavoidable since there were no OS or antivirus defs when they hit and required no action on the user side (careful or not). Also, Google Image search is a major source of malware/attacks currently, again with no warning or real interaction on the user side.
I don't care how careful you or anyone is, if you use a Windows OS and you use the computer for any real or varied tasks daily, you have had a virus or malware infection. Shit, there have been viruses in boxed legit software...
Re:not just a reboot, also a new distribution mode
on
DC Reboots Universe
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· Score: 1
I'm now 31, I used to be heavily into comics then took a long hiatus... just in the past month or two I've fell hard for a number of titles again. But, I was never into the superheroes and tights type stuff, I liked the grittier and more artistic books. Templesmith, McFarlane, Ashley Wood, etc. I also rarely read ongoing series in favor of smaller mini-series and TPBs.
The DC reboot is cool, and it may entice me to pick up a few titles I would have otherwise passed but often reboots fail. They try to start anew but toss in too many inside bits and bobs for the long-time reader too. That puts me off. I think comics in general should stick to say 12 issues per story arc. Then they wouldn't alienate people that don't want to jump in at issue #345 or try to find/read all the missed ones. (that's me). I think it would lead to tighter storytelling and keep things fresher. That's just my opinion on it. They could still have a handful of ongoings for those fans too if they wanted.
Well, seeing as how I worked for the US side of one of Japan's most well-known (and loved) train mfrs... I may know the reality of the situation here in the US. And even from your own post, notice how you had to go back to the 1800s? Ever notice how our infrastructure is STILL in the 1800s? It may come as a surprise but wooden railroad ties are not the bee's knees of technology an haven't been for quite a long damn time. It is one of the main reasons why we can't have any sort of high-speed rail here.Nah, everything is perfectly fine with our system... just keep telling yourself that.
Actually it highlights a massive flaw in our Capitalist model... if this were to be done by private industry it would never happen because they would need to directly turn a profit, the other associated benefits and profits would not be factored into it at all and it would never get off the ground (bad pun intended).
I've been in IT since 386/486 days and it has been a steady decline ever since. I work for a global company and I'm one of only two network admins *total*. In fact the entire corporate IT staff is eight including the helpdesk and server admins. However, we have 6 managers including the CIO. That is almost a manager per person and the managers are not technical. IT depts have become so lean and skimpy but those at the top manage to cling to their titles and positions even to the detriment of everything else.
24/7 on-call, skeleton crews, over-worked, micromanaged, little to no respect for knowledge or professionalism, travel, and insane demands. The field itself is broken and is only going to get much worse with companies now dropping CIOs and making IT the bitches of each dept. directly... and those are Fortune 500 companies making these moves. I've honestly reached the end of my career in this field and after I leave my current position I plan on changing paths completely... not that much else is any better right now.
It's only a matter of time before BRIC has decimated the US and we are in for some rough days ahead. Hopefully it will force a reset on a lot of broken systems and policies.
I've been a Network Admin/specialist for over 8 years and now at a Sr. level with a large global company. Honestly, you are not ready or equipped no matter what you buy hardware or book-wise. The reason is that Networking relates to almost nothing except if you had previous telephony experience. There is a lot to learn to even crawl, WAY before test labs and equipment. My suggestion would be to start with Network+/A+ to get some background in general hardware and networking. Then do your CCNA and probably starting with the easy track. At that point you will have touched some gear and have some idea of what you are doing, that is also a solid 6 month or so commitment alone. IMO, though, I would probably steer clear of Cisco for the actual products and possibly go with HP (cheaper and life support) switches. I have used Alcatel, Juniper, Cisco, and even Dell depending on the needs and fit.
Here is the next part of the issues though... security, addressing, VLANs, port bonding/aggregation for VMs, and even cursory knowledge of troubleshooting, punchdown tools, cabling standards, local code, etc. You WILL get most of this horribly wrong. You will have massive amounts of downtime, you will have angry users, you will have catastrophic cockups... all of these things can become very complex very fast.
Honestly, my suggestion would be to get more into the systems side if you have the interest and slowly learn networking. If you believe you truly love networking, you will be certain if/when you pass net+ and CCNA... or you will realize you have no interest or passion for it and have some good knowledge under your belt to work on the systems side.
They are mutually exclusive, and I also never said I was for "artificial scarcity of network addresses." I'm saying intelligently allocate what we do have and come up with a better system overall... IPv6 is not a panacea. There's a reason it is less than 1% after 15 *years*.
I used to, now I work in a global corporate setting. And, as I said I do know the basics and the common caveats but I know it is not even on the near horizon for mine or many companies. I will definitely read up and study carefully the case studies and post-mortems of early adopters and especially any with similar needs and designs as mine. Thanks though!
Again, personal and corporate are two different animals. Changing over my/your home router or PCs to support IPv6 is one thing, trying to convince and initiate change in a global corp is another entirely. Unless there are zero costs and multiple gains, I don't see any corp. chomping at the bit... even tech companies and ISPs so the average corp. is surely not.
I think everyone is missing what I am actually saying. I am not ignorant to IPv6. I have been in IT and networking since the 486/Win 3.11 days... I didn't make it this long by ignoring new technology wantonly and being a moron. What I am saying is that I am not so well versed in it that I would be at a level of comfort as I am with current IPv4, and that I also don't believe it will catch on in corporations due to the costs and changes/additions required. At least not in short order. I don't think a lot of people genuinely know all of the interactions and requirements/incompatabilities to be at that level since it is not widely used in many very large-scale environments of different needs.
Look how long it has been the Next Big Thing and how poor the uptake is, exactly as TFA states. I'll happily get to that level once it even seems remotely probable that it is going to take over. I still see that as years away, if ever. I honestly believe we will see an entirely new implementation before IPv6 takes over 100% if ever.
Absolutely, and I have been looking into it for some time now, not just sitting with thumb in orifice... but it also is not a pressing issue and does not appear to be anytime soon so I also can't waste time and energy on something that may or may not happen or happen as expected. I could see military going this route, but I don't see companies going easily since many have barely began to accept all of the costs and BS that got foisted on them with SOX and the like. I've been around the game long enough to know what will catch fire and what will smolder, and right now IPv6 is *still* barely smoldering. I've got a fuckton of fires though.
It's not that you are missing anything, and it's not even the area you are talking about that is the main problem... it is corporations. (isn't it always:) Through greed, inefficient use, and myriad other issues *that* is where the bulk of the waste is. ISPs could definitely run like any global or even national company does with a private address space and NATing. I'd say 75% of users would never care or know the difference, the other 25% would gladly pay a few dollars to have an actual address. I'd much rather pay for something like that than artificial bandwidth restrictions and bullshit like that.
Smartphones/wifi devices are a pain in the ass network-wise in general, but there is almost *zero* reason NAT would not be perfect here. People aren't hosting content on them and they are basically Internet viewers as it is. Give yourself a bit more credit!
I'm a network admin and I honestly don't know enough about it to be proficient or even comfortable. I, along with many in my position, are so swamped and overwhelmed in day-to-day operations that there is no chance of learning enough about it to be able to undertake the kinds of overhauls and ripple effects it would bring. I'd love to get some training and utilize it if there were some gains to be had without needing to replace massive amounts of gear or reorganizing/restructuring things... I just don't see it happening.
Your sig is accurate, and honestly I don't care what you believe or if you agree with me or the tons of other economists that feel similarly... you know better. We shall see soon enough, that will be the most definitive answer.
Keemun/Qi Men can be an expensive tea. For instance, for my highest end I'd be at around $72-ish for 200g but it is one of the finest produced. One of the ways you can tell quality in this is that at that quality you could literally brew it for 20 minutes and it would never get bitter. With Keemun price isn't the big determining factor, but what flavor you like in it. Some are floral almost rose-like (that would be the one I mentioned above that is very expensive). Some are fruity and a little floral (these are much cheaper at about $35 for 200g) and some are sweet and very bold, also around $35 for 200g. I also have access to some award winning Xian Zhen which is more like $100 for 200g it is almost pure fruity in nature.
If you have any interest, feel free to contact me via my blog in my sig and I can see what I can do for you. I offer smaller amounts 50g, 100g too which are cheaper. And I'm not self-promoting, I actually use almost all of the profits to help give back to charities I created in the regions my tea is from and most often for the families and children of the tea workers. I just like helping and helping to bring people truly amazing tea because too often people are getting taken for a ride.
I hadn't worded it the best but I meant as Africa gains the cheap labor jobs and begins to develop or even approach a middle-class as India and China are now and Brazil is on it's way. Russia is the wildcard and will surely glom on and ride what it can, if it succeeds that is another. That is a massive draw on resources and many rare and fairly rare substances are already spiking now.
I certainly am not saying China taking over is a positive, it isn't, in fact it is scary but we are heading in that direction no matter how slowly or quickly it actually comes to fruition. What I would love to see is a withdrawl from "globalization" and get back to national business and economies... I don't see it happening, but I'd love to see it. I see nothing but war as a possible outcome and the US is not going to want to give up power without a fight any way they can. China is already working on information/cyber warfare and has been pretty blatant about their moves. Any way you slice it, BRIC is the alliance to watch and fear... whomever else goes in that direction only tips the scales more and I just don't see America's role or even place in it. Either we join and try to mitigate it, which I think we could for a short while but not long term, or we rebel and try to amass enough support to keep things semi-stable.
I am not trying to be all doom and gloom and these are extremes, but some version or part of this version is going to play out. How much and when are the unknowns, but simply believeing it won't happen or have no impact on the average person is folly IMO.
No, I agree with you. BUT, to think it will not impact the "ordinary citizen" (which is my actual concern, not business and certainly not the job I am at now which I have philosophical issues with) is not correct. The "ordinary citizen" is where the pain will be felt. A global company and executives can roam freely and simply follow the money, an individual cannot. Once you have three (BIC) middle classes coming up, where are all of the resources going to come from? With a devalued dollar and declining growth why would resources go to say the US or even to many EU countries? Then Africa begins to enter the picture. How can this be sustainable? It will lead to scarcity and very clear lines being drawn and alliances forged, the US will be the kind of chubby kid picked in the middle for a game of kickball... not dead last, but not first either. People cite the US as #1 in manufacturing but I don't see that as realistic or sustainable either. The US as a whole is not as sustainable as say an EU country.
Again this is all so very complex, not one of us here can hope to even cover it all with the broadest of brush. We need to look at artificial constructs like the stock market, and the need for high percentage growth, and ever upward stock prices and executive pay. This seems like a positive until the company is run into the ground in the name of greed and money and then the fat rats jump ship and begin anew... it is what we have done to our government and we are going to approach that point where we run it into the ground and the people most affected will be the ordinary citizen.
I, personally, hate big business, and the corporatization of our country in the name of capitalism. I dislike the US as being the bully on the block. I hate war, and if the company I am with didn't also make almost every other thing possible I would never stay (surgery, cars, microprocessors, etc.). I only invest so that I can free myself from the grind and system as soon as possible, not to make millions, but to just live simply and on my terms. I'm actually for the Swedish concept of "Loggom" which basically translates to "enough" that each and every person should have enough. Not flawed government systems, but a standardized enough. A small apartment, a set ration of food and basic necessities, some basic childcare, and basic but comprehensive healthcare. For some this would be enough and they would be happy and instead of a drain on the system would have to make due with this and this alone, drop all other programs. For many they will want to achieve and surpass this. For many more this is the kind of safety net they would never have coming from a poor or bad background and would allow them to take a risk and bring something new to the table without fear of ruining their life or falling into debt they could never get out of. I have found that this would save a tremendous amount of money all around and increase quality of life for everyone. It would spur growth and development and also foster more creative pursuits and innovation.
Slashdot Mirror
That is what it became because everyone has been so short-sighted. Information like this is about all we have left and unfortunately too many people are with you and just don't see or care about how truly important the concept itself is. Everyone has become so numb to handing over freedom after freedom that no one cares. A damn shame.
I get that, but when you are putting out important shit it will have an impact regardless and playing the same games is just silly. Also if there were a more steady stream it already has been shown that people will take the info and distill it down and post the relevant info or key highlights for those that want to be more passive. The information itself is powerful and important.
Microsoft truly believes they can force something long enough and people will just give in. Maybe years ago they could, now people will just go elsewhere. I'm an IT professional that has been in the game since Windows 3.1/Dos 6.22, the ribbon does nothing well or make life easier for pros or users. It isn't an improvement in usability. I refuse to believe they have done usability studies with real users and can defend the ribbon or the use in something like this. I watch people struggle with it daily on both ends of the spectrum.
Why not actually innovate. Forget trying to out-Apple Apple, forget trying to push the ribbon, in fact... forget everything and start fresh. It blows my mind that there are still certain windows and features that are *from* Windows 95/98 IN the newest OSes... give up, admit defeat and start fresh. They almost had something with the Courier, get some fresh non-MS talent and go in a new direction.
That Wikileaks is far too important to keep as it is and as it has been run. It needs to be fully decentralized and immediate, no delays, no central control, no waiting for slow news days, etc. A truly decentralized and secure system with checks and balances and that is it.
Now there is so much confusion and doubt. Is this an agent, is there an agenda, is this a real breach or manufactured, etc? Wikileaks is simply doing the same thing that news organizations and governments do at this point and it serves no purpose... in fact it hurts the entire cause. I have been saying this same thing for years any time Wikileaks comes up in the news and it is almost universally met with negativity and people claiming Wikileaks is perfect the way it is. It isn't and we are toying with something very important and crucial to all of us, true freedom and information.
I love travelling to countries with plastic notes. No worries about getting them wet (if you are at a beach, etc.) No tearing issues, they last longer... and they can be made from partial or fully recycled plastic. I would even be OK with coins eventually being modified to some sort of cheaper substance. I think we have all moved away from the days of needing to think our currency itself has value or importance. Hell, most of us use a small plastic rectangle for almost everything everyday.
I've worked in IT security for a long time and for banks... The sheer number of unreported hacks at banks and at retail stores would blow your mind. People mistakenly get angry at the hackers (which is how the media has trained most everyone to think) when in reality it is almost always gross negligence on the hack-ee side and they deserve the ire.
I'm a security guy and I think they are doing a great service for everyone... companies house a lot of very personal and private information and it is so common that they do not protect it or nowhere near to the level they should because they either do not fund it since they see no value in protecting it properly or they have short staffed their security/IT dept. so much that they can't have proper security. No matter what, burying you head in the sand or hoping they go away is the WORST possible option. They are no malicious unlike the real hackers stealing data every single minute of every day.
Sorry, but I have to call shenanigans. I also have been a longtime power user and system designer since the 8086 and I have had a number of viruses in that time. A number of them were unavoidable since there were no OS or antivirus defs when they hit and required no action on the user side (careful or not). Also, Google Image search is a major source of malware/attacks currently, again with no warning or real interaction on the user side.
I don't care how careful you or anyone is, if you use a Windows OS and you use the computer for any real or varied tasks daily, you have had a virus or malware infection. Shit, there have been viruses in boxed legit software...
I'm now 31, I used to be heavily into comics then took a long hiatus... just in the past month or two I've fell hard for a number of titles again. But, I was never into the superheroes and tights type stuff, I liked the grittier and more artistic books. Templesmith, McFarlane, Ashley Wood, etc. I also rarely read ongoing series in favor of smaller mini-series and TPBs.
The DC reboot is cool, and it may entice me to pick up a few titles I would have otherwise passed but often reboots fail. They try to start anew but toss in too many inside bits and bobs for the long-time reader too. That puts me off. I think comics in general should stick to say 12 issues per story arc. Then they wouldn't alienate people that don't want to jump in at issue #345 or try to find/read all the missed ones. (that's me). I think it would lead to tighter storytelling and keep things fresher. That's just my opinion on it. They could still have a handful of ongoings for those fans too if they wanted.
Well, seeing as how I worked for the US side of one of Japan's most well-known (and loved) train mfrs... I may know the reality of the situation here in the US. And even from your own post, notice how you had to go back to the 1800s? Ever notice how our infrastructure is STILL in the 1800s? It may come as a surprise but wooden railroad ties are not the bee's knees of technology an haven't been for quite a long damn time. It is one of the main reasons why we can't have any sort of high-speed rail here.Nah, everything is perfectly fine with our system... just keep telling yourself that.
Actually it highlights a massive flaw in our Capitalist model... if this were to be done by private industry it would never happen because they would need to directly turn a profit, the other associated benefits and profits would not be factored into it at all and it would never get off the ground (bad pun intended).
I've been in IT since 386/486 days and it has been a steady decline ever since. I work for a global company and I'm one of only two network admins *total*. In fact the entire corporate IT staff is eight including the helpdesk and server admins. However, we have 6 managers including the CIO. That is almost a manager per person and the managers are not technical. IT depts have become so lean and skimpy but those at the top manage to cling to their titles and positions even to the detriment of everything else.
24/7 on-call, skeleton crews, over-worked, micromanaged, little to no respect for knowledge or professionalism, travel, and insane demands. The field itself is broken and is only going to get much worse with companies now dropping CIOs and making IT the bitches of each dept. directly... and those are Fortune 500 companies making these moves. I've honestly reached the end of my career in this field and after I leave my current position I plan on changing paths completely... not that much else is any better right now.
It's only a matter of time before BRIC has decimated the US and we are in for some rough days ahead. Hopefully it will force a reset on a lot of broken systems and policies.
I've been a Network Admin/specialist for over 8 years and now at a Sr. level with a large global company. Honestly, you are not ready or equipped no matter what you buy hardware or book-wise. The reason is that Networking relates to almost nothing except if you had previous telephony experience. There is a lot to learn to even crawl, WAY before test labs and equipment. My suggestion would be to start with Network+/A+ to get some background in general hardware and networking. Then do your CCNA and probably starting with the easy track. At that point you will have touched some gear and have some idea of what you are doing, that is also a solid 6 month or so commitment alone. IMO, though, I would probably steer clear of Cisco for the actual products and possibly go with HP (cheaper and life support) switches. I have used Alcatel, Juniper, Cisco, and even Dell depending on the needs and fit.
Here is the next part of the issues though... security, addressing, VLANs, port bonding/aggregation for VMs, and even cursory knowledge of troubleshooting, punchdown tools, cabling standards, local code, etc. You WILL get most of this horribly wrong. You will have massive amounts of downtime, you will have angry users, you will have catastrophic cockups... all of these things can become very complex very fast.
Honestly, my suggestion would be to get more into the systems side if you have the interest and slowly learn networking. If you believe you truly love networking, you will be certain if/when you pass net+ and CCNA... or you will realize you have no interest or passion for it and have some good knowledge under your belt to work on the systems side.
They are mutually exclusive, and I also never said I was for "artificial scarcity of network addresses." I'm saying intelligently allocate what we do have and come up with a better system overall... IPv6 is not a panacea. There's a reason it is less than 1% after 15 *years*.
I used to, now I work in a global corporate setting. And, as I said I do know the basics and the common caveats but I know it is not even on the near horizon for mine or many companies. I will definitely read up and study carefully the case studies and post-mortems of early adopters and especially any with similar needs and designs as mine. Thanks though!
Again, personal and corporate are two different animals. Changing over my/your home router or PCs to support IPv6 is one thing, trying to convince and initiate change in a global corp is another entirely. Unless there are zero costs and multiple gains, I don't see any corp. chomping at the bit... even tech companies and ISPs so the average corp. is surely not.
I think everyone is missing what I am actually saying. I am not ignorant to IPv6. I have been in IT and networking since the 486/Win 3.11 days... I didn't make it this long by ignoring new technology wantonly and being a moron. What I am saying is that I am not so well versed in it that I would be at a level of comfort as I am with current IPv4, and that I also don't believe it will catch on in corporations due to the costs and changes/additions required. At least not in short order. I don't think a lot of people genuinely know all of the interactions and requirements/incompatabilities to be at that level since it is not widely used in many very large-scale environments of different needs.
Look how long it has been the Next Big Thing and how poor the uptake is, exactly as TFA states. I'll happily get to that level once it even seems remotely probable that it is going to take over. I still see that as years away, if ever. I honestly believe we will see an entirely new implementation before IPv6 takes over 100% if ever.
Absolutely, and I have been looking into it for some time now, not just sitting with thumb in orifice... but it also is not a pressing issue and does not appear to be anytime soon so I also can't waste time and energy on something that may or may not happen or happen as expected. I could see military going this route, but I don't see companies going easily since many have barely began to accept all of the costs and BS that got foisted on them with SOX and the like. I've been around the game long enough to know what will catch fire and what will smolder, and right now IPv6 is *still* barely smoldering. I've got a fuckton of fires though.
It's not that you are missing anything, and it's not even the area you are talking about that is the main problem... it is corporations. (isn't it always :) Through greed, inefficient use, and myriad other issues *that* is where the bulk of the waste is. ISPs could definitely run like any global or even national company does with a private address space and NATing. I'd say 75% of users would never care or know the difference, the other 25% would gladly pay a few dollars to have an actual address. I'd much rather pay for something like that than artificial bandwidth restrictions and bullshit like that.
Smartphones/wifi devices are a pain in the ass network-wise in general, but there is almost *zero* reason NAT would not be perfect here. People aren't hosting content on them and they are basically Internet viewers as it is. Give yourself a bit more credit!
I'm a network admin and I honestly don't know enough about it to be proficient or even comfortable. I, along with many in my position, are so swamped and overwhelmed in day-to-day operations that there is no chance of learning enough about it to be able to undertake the kinds of overhauls and ripple effects it would bring. I'd love to get some training and utilize it if there were some gains to be had without needing to replace massive amounts of gear or reorganizing/restructuring things... I just don't see it happening.
Your sig is accurate, and honestly I don't care what you believe or if you agree with me or the tons of other economists that feel similarly... you know better. We shall see soon enough, that will be the most definitive answer.
If you want to blow your mind try to find Arya pearls. I prefer Margaret's Hope muscatel DJs, that have a muscat grapey notes
Keemun/Qi Men can be an expensive tea. For instance, for my highest end I'd be at around $72-ish for 200g but it is one of the finest produced. One of the ways you can tell quality in this is that at that quality you could literally brew it for 20 minutes and it would never get bitter. With Keemun price isn't the big determining factor, but what flavor you like in it. Some are floral almost rose-like (that would be the one I mentioned above that is very expensive). Some are fruity and a little floral (these are much cheaper at about $35 for 200g) and some are sweet and very bold, also around $35 for 200g. I also have access to some award winning Xian Zhen which is more like $100 for 200g it is almost pure fruity in nature.
If you have any interest, feel free to contact me via my blog in my sig and I can see what I can do for you. I offer smaller amounts 50g, 100g too which are cheaper. And I'm not self-promoting, I actually use almost all of the profits to help give back to charities I created in the regions my tea is from and most often for the families and children of the tea workers. I just like helping and helping to bring people truly amazing tea because too often people are getting taken for a ride.
I hadn't worded it the best but I meant as Africa gains the cheap labor jobs and begins to develop or even approach a middle-class as India and China are now and Brazil is on it's way. Russia is the wildcard and will surely glom on and ride what it can, if it succeeds that is another. That is a massive draw on resources and many rare and fairly rare substances are already spiking now.
I certainly am not saying China taking over is a positive, it isn't, in fact it is scary but we are heading in that direction no matter how slowly or quickly it actually comes to fruition. What I would love to see is a withdrawl from "globalization" and get back to national business and economies... I don't see it happening, but I'd love to see it. I see nothing but war as a possible outcome and the US is not going to want to give up power without a fight any way they can. China is already working on information/cyber warfare and has been pretty blatant about their moves. Any way you slice it, BRIC is the alliance to watch and fear... whomever else goes in that direction only tips the scales more and I just don't see America's role or even place in it. Either we join and try to mitigate it, which I think we could for a short while but not long term, or we rebel and try to amass enough support to keep things semi-stable.
I am not trying to be all doom and gloom and these are extremes, but some version or part of this version is going to play out. How much and when are the unknowns, but simply believeing it won't happen or have no impact on the average person is folly IMO.
No, I agree with you. BUT, to think it will not impact the "ordinary citizen" (which is my actual concern, not business and certainly not the job I am at now which I have philosophical issues with) is not correct. The "ordinary citizen" is where the pain will be felt. A global company and executives can roam freely and simply follow the money, an individual cannot. Once you have three (BIC) middle classes coming up, where are all of the resources going to come from? With a devalued dollar and declining growth why would resources go to say the US or even to many EU countries? Then Africa begins to enter the picture. How can this be sustainable? It will lead to scarcity and very clear lines being drawn and alliances forged, the US will be the kind of chubby kid picked in the middle for a game of kickball... not dead last, but not first either. People cite the US as #1 in manufacturing but I don't see that as realistic or sustainable either. The US as a whole is not as sustainable as say an EU country.
Again this is all so very complex, not one of us here can hope to even cover it all with the broadest of brush. We need to look at artificial constructs like the stock market, and the need for high percentage growth, and ever upward stock prices and executive pay. This seems like a positive until the company is run into the ground in the name of greed and money and then the fat rats jump ship and begin anew... it is what we have done to our government and we are going to approach that point where we run it into the ground and the people most affected will be the ordinary citizen.
I, personally, hate big business, and the corporatization of our country in the name of capitalism. I dislike the US as being the bully on the block. I hate war, and if the company I am with didn't also make almost every other thing possible I would never stay (surgery, cars, microprocessors, etc.). I only invest so that I can free myself from the grind and system as soon as possible, not to make millions, but to just live simply and on my terms. I'm actually for the Swedish concept of "Loggom" which basically translates to "enough" that each and every person should have enough. Not flawed government systems, but a standardized enough. A small apartment, a set ration of food and basic necessities, some basic childcare, and basic but comprehensive healthcare. For some this would be enough and they would be happy and instead of a drain on the system would have to make due with this and this alone, drop all other programs. For many they will want to achieve and surpass this. For many more this is the kind of safety net they would never have coming from a poor or bad background and would allow them to take a risk and bring something new to the table without fear of ruining their life or falling into debt they could never get out of. I have found that this would save a tremendous amount of money all around and increase quality of life for everyone. It would spur growth and development and also foster more creative pursuits and innovation.