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| 2005/8/15-17 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Computer/Rants] UID:39123 Activity:high |
8/15 India's IT companies emulating Toyota to combine low cost and
talent with discipline, quality and continuous improvements.
Man, you guys are deadmeat.
http://yahoo.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_34/b3948443.htm
\_ "Think of any job that can be done remotely, by computer or
telephone, and you're looking at a job that can be done by an
Indian" and therein lies the crux of the problem. How long do you
think these guys are going to want to do the backoffice out-of-sight
shit work? They'll start outsourcing the outsourcing to China.
And at some point you're going to get enough local demand there for
consulting know-how to absorb all their cheap excess capacity. At
the same time, you'll see companies in other parts of the world go
for competitive advantage through knowledge of their local markets.
I'm not weeping, nor am I worried. -John
\_ that's just your wishful thinking. the answer to the question
"How long ...." is there are 1.4 billion indians, pakistanis
and bengali.
\_ Yes, and another 1.x billion Chinese, and another uncounted
hundreds of millions of Indonesians, Malaysians, Thais and
other smart, educated and ambitious folks. So? It's a
peculiar sort of arrogance to assume that these people will
all be happily living in mud hovels while they evolve
economically. Power to them. Likewise, the more advanced
local economies become, the more demand you'll see there for
goods and services of the sort that American and European
firms were happily providing to each other for decades. Go
join a union or something, the rest of us will be working to
adapt and compete with these guys on increasingly equal terms.
It's called "progress". -John
\_ This reminds me of Hong Kong. While virtually all textile
and electronic industries, once the dominant driving forces
of its economy, have relocated to the nearby SE China,
people in Hong still managed to survive somehow. What do
people do to make a living these days?
people in Hong Kong still managed to survive somehow. How
do people make a living these days?
\_ err ... it's much easier for a hong konger to go
start a business or go work in shen zhen, etc., then for
your american worker to go work in bangalore. the
relationship between hong kong and its south china
hinterland is very different from that between US and
India / China. another example is taiwan where the
starting salary for university graduates has been
dropping, and unemployment rates rising, while the
rich business men of taiwan are doing well in china.
\_ When it gets down to it -- talking trade balances here --
once we've brain-drained all our technology into other
countries, once things have evened out, they're making
cars in Bolivia and microwave ovens in Tadzhikistan and
selling them here -- once our edge in natural resources
has been made irrelevant by giant Hong Kong ships and
dirigibles that can ship North Dakota all the way to New
Zealand for a nickel -- once the Invisible Hand has taken
all those historical inequities and smeared them out into
a broad global layer of what a Pakistani brickmaker would
consider to be prosperity -- y'know what? There's only
four things we do better than anyone else:
music
movies
microcode (software)
high-speed pizza delivery
And I guess all the Hong Kongers are into banking or
similar now. Remember that all the Guangzhouers or what-
ever they're called also want the shiny cars. -John
\_ John, I never would have guessed you were a
Stephenson fanboy.
\_ Language barriers will still be an isssue with many of
\_ language barriors will still be an isssue with many of
the outsourcing efforts.
\_ really? check out the trade statistics with US among
the more advanced countries of asia. "progress"? sure.
american capital, know-how and expertise flowing freely
to china and india most certainly will help them progress,
and help the rich capital owners in the US prosper.
big loser? american workers, who are getting screwed in
so many different ways.
\_ So what do you suggest?
\_ Apparently not. "barriers".
\_ I suggest a career change.
\_ I work for the government. My work is not
outsourceable.
\_ thanks for sharing.
on a national basis, globalization meant
that the corporate response to the
opening of china and india is simply to
move operations there. the burden thus
falls entirely on US workers to adapt.
there is little incentive for US corporations
to change in terms of investing in
automation, R&D, worker training and
education, etc. In fact there may even
be less of an inventive than before since
they can just obtain their labor source
from china and india, abundantly. thus
US workers would receive little help
from US corporations. this would be
different if capital does not flow as
freely and US corporations and workers
must compete as a unit. Is this a
case where government provided
incentives are called for? in the form
of incentives for corporations to invest
in the US on R&D, workers training,
equipment, etc., and perhaps also more
direct government help with education and
training of US workers? these would
help mitigate the transition, without
stifling free market and competition, and
are done by countries in asia and elsewhere.
\_ Part of the problem is not just that
corporations are moving abroad without any
penalty (which they should be free to do) but
that they're being stupidly subsidized while
doing so. A good start would be to encourage
SMEs by reducing regulatory and tax burden
on small companies, so people don't feel
beholden to large outfits for jobs. -John |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Science/GlobalWarming, Science/Battery] UID:39124 Activity:moderate |
8/15 Hack you prius w/ extra batteries to get ~ 80 mpg:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/08/wip_modified_hy.php
\_ Similarly to the 110mpg claims, these are specious; the car
with these mods is even less efficient than the stock Prius.
You just don't see it as "per gallon" because you're getting
energy off the grid, but that power comes from somewhere. -tom
\_ "off" -> "from"
\_ peon
\_ Yeah, it's kind of silly. If you never engage the IC engine does
that mean it's "infinity miles per gallon"? Still, it'd a nice
idea to extend a hybrid to behave like a pure electric until the
juice is nearly gone and then kick in the gas. Of course here in
CA where we only burn natural gas for electricity...
\_ Another argument for nukular power...
\_ No. Only 45% of electricity in CA comes from natural gas.
\_ No, only 45% of electricity in CA comes from natural gas.
http://www.pge.com/customer_service/bill_inserts/2005/july.html
Scroll to the bottom.
\_ Wow, an actual informative post on motd. Thanks for
correcting my misconception.
\_ What did you think CA was doing with their nuclear
power plants and hydro-electric dams?
my ride'. WORD." power plants and hydro-electric dams?
\_ I was unaware of any working nuclear plants in CA.
I'd forgotten about hydro because I was thinking about
what were were burning for fuel.
\_ Diablo Canyon pics
http://www.zimfamilycockers.com/DiabloCanyon.html
\_ Am I reading this right? They're planing on going
from 2% nuclear last year to 23% nuclear this year?
What? How does that work?
\_ You're reading it wrong. The right column is for the
whole state (in 2004), while the left column is for PG&E
only (in 2005).
\_ Ah, ok.
\_ This is an excel spreadsheet of all the power plants in CA:
http://www.energy.ca.gov/database/index.html#powerplants
\_ Terrorists could use this info! Oh wait, I forgot that
terrorists can only use public info if, by sheer
coincidence, hiding that same info might allow some
large corporation to hide something.
\_ Yes, the 80mpg figures is meaningless. But let's get around the
meaningless figures and look at the facts that the silly writing
is obscuring. The article says "The extra batteries let Gremban
drive for 20 miles with a 50-50 mix of gas and electricity." So
*maybe* it means the extra batteries increases the range by 10
*maybe* it means the extra batteries extends the range by 10
miles. The small text in the picture says the (extra?) batteries
cost as little as a quarter to charge. So maybe it means 10
miles per $0.25, or 100 miles per $2.50. From a pure cost-to-
consumer's point of view, this is much better than a stock Prius
considering that gas is around $2.50/gal these days.
considering that gas is around $2.50/gal these days. I hope Mr
Gembam, being an engineer, knows that he need to present the data
in a clearer way that the author did.
\_ It is not necessarily true that the power to recharge the
batteries is coming from the power grid. He could have a
solar setup at his house that lets him charge the batteries
for the prius every night.
\_ Solar? at night???
\_ Solar systems charge batteries during the day so that
the energy can be used at any time (even night). The
batteries charging at his house during the day need not be
the ones charging in the car at night. |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Science/Biology] UID:39125 Activity:moderate |
8/15 One more player in the ID debate.
"Harvard to Investigate Origins of Life":
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050815/ap_on_sc/harvard_evolution
\_ It's probably a good idea. Someone needs to peel away the polemic
of ID and clearly highlight the evidence for or against evolution.
I think most people who distrust evolution do so because they don't
understand it. -emarkp
\_ The best evidence against evolution is the Second Coming of
Christ, unaided human levitation, reading of minds, or the
demonstration of anything else which a credible scientist would
classify as supernatural.
\_ Classification of something as 'supernatural' follows the
same pattern as classification of something as 'requiring
intelligence.' -- ilyas
\_ Someone levitate! Please! Use your own psychic energy!
\_ ilyas, tell us about the stars.
\_ Any sufficiently developed theory has evidence against it, but
the confirming evidence is greater. Just because there may be
points of evidence contradicting evolution doesn't mean I
advocate tossing it out or not teaching it in schools. And
the things you list don't necessarily contradict evolution.
I'm mostly interested in any postulated mechanism in which an
organism with X genes can evolve to have X+n genes. -emarkp
\_ Nah, I was just talking about the most direct path.
All it takes is just one levitating person, or one person
who can predict card sequences without cheating, and
that's the game!
To answer your last comment, bacterial resistance to
antibiotics via plasmids. PLEASE don't tell me: "I
meant mammals!"
\_ I didn't mean mammals--I'm not trying to trap anyone,
I'm genuinely interested in the research. A quick
google search doesn't help me understand how that's a
proof of what I'm looking for. Specifically, I'm not as
interested in speciation as I am in how an organism can
have more genes (not just different ones) than its
parents. Can you point me to a specific URL? -emarkp
\_ Does this help?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_resistant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmid
If you really want to learn, buy Biology by
Campbell and Reece, 7th Ed.
\_ not how, but existence proof: every down's syndrome
child of non-down's syndrome parents. or have i mixed
that up?
\_ No, you've go it right. Every Down's syndrome
child's got an extra chromosome. Incidentally
also showing that most mutations are BAD.
\_ For a perfectly normal (and more extreme) version,
see 'the haploid/diploid life cycle.' -- ilyas
\_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_duplication
\- this book is very good:
http://csua.org/u/d28 |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Politics/Domestic/911] UID:39126 Activity:low |
8/15 For the Able Danger pusher a few days ago...
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_08/006908.php
\_ This is the first I've seen about the source for the story. I wish
I'd known it was that shaky from the get go.
\_ I actually saw this first, even the right is getting
suspicious:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/05_08_14_corner-archive.asp#072960
\_ Only Democrats have credibility problems.
\_ It seems that there are 2 separate questions. One question is
whether the 9/11 commission reasonably ignore the Able Danger
information. The above links argue that it was reasonable. A
second question is whether Able Danger did have intelligence on
Atta and the Brooklyn cell. I'd hate for the 2nd question to be
ignored in our rush to discredit Weldon.
information. The above links argue that it was reasonable, since
the commission was not presented with information that highlighted
Atta. A second question is whether Able Danger did have
intelligence on Atta and the Brooklyn cell. I'd hate for the 2nd
question to be ignored in our rush to discredit Weldon. |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:39127 Activity:moderate |
8/15 On the off chance that someone might know, are there any notebooks
appropriate for infantry (riflemen) about to be sent off to Iraq?
My younger brother is going there in three weeks and says without a
laptop he's bored out of his mind. I told him there were no warranties
that covered accidental and/or battlefield damage outside the U.S.,
as far as I knew. Any suggestions? I recommended this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834115195
with the idea that if it breaks or gets stolen, I can just mail him
a second one, since it's only $600. Thanks!
Yes, I did think about Toughbooks, but the Army-approved ones are $3K+.
Yes, you can have fun when off-duty:
http://csua.org/u/d1e link:tinyurl.com/bwouh
\_ Why not have him take a laptop? Everyone there seems to have
one to watch DVDs on and stuff and the Internet cafes are
popular. It doesn't have to be any sort of special hardware.
Anything is fine.
\_ It doesn't have to be any sort of special hardware. Anything is
fine. Buy for him just as if he was going off to college.
\_ I wonder if the stock $600 laptop will survive desert heat
conditions.
\_ Do the Toughbooks use 54xx parts instead of 74xx?
\_ Are you talking discreet logic? I'd be shocked if they used
any.
\_ Would you prefer their logic was unabashed?
\_ Send a laptop cooling pad as well.
\_ It'd be an interesting experiment if nothing else. The
thermal coefficient between case and pcb is probably dismal.
\_ I'm expecting he'll be leaving his notebook on-base, like in
the photo. It's probably air-conditioned.
\_ The photo has a prominent air conditionar near the light, so
there ya go.
\_ I'd be more worried about sand than heat. Send a really large
ziplock as well.
\_ just make sure to not put batter in with computer or
if chance it turns on your computer will heat up
\_ As others said, he'd leave it at base and it will be fine there.
\_ probably better off waiting. He can see what others over there are
using. He might also get good discounts on these things from the PX.
\_ Or perhaps a 800yd laser rangefinder monoc with NV and plenty of
batteries? Or a nice red dot scope if he doesn't have one already.
\_ Get a red/green dot one. Easier to spot in different lighting
scenarios. |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Industry/Jobs] UID:39128 Activity:kinda low |
8/15 Job Market temperature check:
\_ 103.2! Get the market some tylenol, stat!
\_ So natural gas is liquified, but nitrogen is still in the
gaseous state. Not so hot. Or did you mean Fahrenheit?
\_ Degree Celsius.
\_ does that equate to several offers in a few weeks?
\_ That equates to saying absolutely nothing
\_ Definitely warming up, but more like a zombie crawling out
of the grave than anything too zippy. |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Transportation/Airplane] UID:39129 Activity:nil |
8/15 1-year-old terror suspect stopped from boarding a plane. All hail DHS!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050815/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/no_fly_babies
\_ This is even better than the time they gave the full on search
treatment to Ray Charles. |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Uncategorized] UID:39130 Activity:nil |
8/15 In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_X it reads "...... Malcolm's funeral in Harlem on February 27, 1965 at the Faith Temple Church of God in Christ". Why was Malcom X's funeral held in a church instead of a mosque? Thx. \_ If this is genuinely bugging you, I will ask a friend of mine who teaches AA history at UCSD. But you have to email me so I can know who to send the reply to. -ausman |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/Korea] UID:39131 Activity:low |
8/15 Japanese^H^H^H^H^H^H^HFrench people are weird.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050815/ap_on_fe_st/france_pig_squealers
\-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kancho
\_ Yucks.
\_ This is pretty common in Korea, it's called ddong-chim there,
which translates to "poop-needle." (Amusingly, in Korea,
Kancho is a tasty chocolate ball candy.) -jrleek
\_ What's worse, is that you see 5 year olds doing it to
adults out of nowhere. |
| 2005/8/15-17 [Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:39132 Activity:nil |
8/15 300 HP Hybrid:
http://www.autoblog.com/entry/1234000263054348
"Mad props to these [high school] kids for giving a new meaning to
pimpin' my ride' WORD."
\_ 0-60 under 4 sec, 50mpg! |