Excellent point, I wish I had mod points. I don't think people understand that foreign workers are often more vulnerable than they were at home. They're isolated from family, financially dependent on their employer, and trapped in a society that's alien and frightening to them.

And what if they do leave? Assuming their immigration status allows them to quit and seek assistance, they could take refuge in a shelter for a while and possibly scrap together food and rent if they're lucky enough to find a minimum wage job. Sadly, dealing with the abuse and staying put may be their best option.

I lived in a small town on the Jersey shore and the tourist industry was controlled by organized crime. There were things like pizza shops that stayed in business without customers, suspicious fires, business owners being "encouraged" to sell, etc. Each summer an army of Mexican workers would appear out of thin air to staff the restaurants, hotels, and beaches. I figured it made sense with New York City near and the promise of work.

A few years ago, it came to light that the local mob was working with Mexican mobs to traffic in seasonal workers across the state. They were working for next to nothing, usually tricked or coerced into service by Mexican criminals.

Like you said, it was revolting. A lot of them were teenagers or young families with kids. It was a very small town, but we never saw them in school or playing outside. Police found homes with 70+ people crammed in every room. They were apparently told to stay out of sight and spent months with young children shut inside day and night.

I set the root password when I first installed Ubuntu. I recently installed on a new laptop and decided to go the sudo route. It was surprisingly easy to get used to and it forced me to think about permissions and groups more. I might update the root password at some point, but I applaud Ubuntu's decision to leave it unset by default.

The actual number is not that interesting, but if they used the same methodology 18 months ago, it suggests there has been significant (albeit relative) growth. I was hoping the article would offer some insight, but if the VP of OEM can't explain it, we can assume Ubuntu laptop and device sales aren't the reason :) The increase is consistent with my observations though. Ubuntu has developed a positive reputation among casual PC users. Former Mac and Windows users I know get very excited about the Software Center. "If I need something I just pick it from a list, click a button, and it's done. Nothing to download and it's completely free." Ok, it's just automating the download and organizing/limiting your choices, but to an everyday computer user it seems like a free online software store.

"Shock Doctrine" is proof that US economic policy is neither pretty or altruistic, assuming you buy into it. To me, her argument is borderline conspiracy theory at worst and a collection of philosophical musings at best.

The US may no longer be the land of opportunity, but it has been the source of a lot of opportunity. Don't get me wrong, the US has not been the lone source of innovation in the world. But for everything bad associated with "free market" ideology, off-shoring, tax shelters, etc., there is an American notion of freedom underlying internationalization. There have been moments of backlash, greed, and economic setbacks, but in general, the US has championed economic development and cooperation.

It's not always pretty or altruistic, but give people a foothold in the global economy and their quality of life, rights, and social mobility improve. Improvement has been slow in China and Russia, but there has been positive change. Africa doesn't need military intervention, charities, documentaries, whatever... they need sustainable industries. Foreign companies strip mining or pumping oil will never foster a middle class, technology, manufacturing, or research will.

You're in luck, there are tons of options. Use online courses, cheap textbooks (look for teacher editions), and community college courses.

If you were an AP student in high school and enjoy math, you'll do fine the second time around in college. I had to work a lot harder at calculus than I expected during my first undergrad degree. Five years later I returned for another degree and found it much easier and more enjoyable. Suffer through Calc I, II, III, they're basically computation. The fun comes with applied calculus, linear algebra, and finite topics.

It may not be as annoying as Microsoft's animated "clippy," but the smiling little light bulb that pops up in OpenOffice gave me flashbacks of Office 2003. It automatically closes after a few seconds, but given the backlash "clippy" caused, a cheery cartoon character offering advice seems like an odd choice. And I've had it pop up a few times after disabling the option, if that continues I may soon hate "bulby" as much as "clippy."

That reminds me of the quote in Bad Santa, after sticking up for the little fat kid...

I beat the shit out of some kids today. But it was for a purpose. It made me feel good about myself. It was like I did something constructive with my life or something, I dunno, like I accomplished something.

Kids torment other kids because they get away with it. If an adult grabbed one of these "mean girls" by the hair and told her to cut the crap this girl may have had some hope. Good for you.

There are 3D dark matter maps out there. This map provides some context for someone on Earth.

In this case, the white, cyan, and green regions are closer to Earth than those indicated in orange and red.

The image doesn't really help me visualize the concept, but it attracted me to the article. That's probably the intent of these kind of images, grab people's attention and explain the findings when they want to know what the hell they're looking at.

I thought the same thing, but a virtual instance may still be susceptible to things like key logging. The embedded OS wouldn't have to be Windows, it could still be a read-only Linux distribution like the Live CD.

If they solve the privacy concerns, CCR is the next obstacle they need to clear. They can use CCR and offer it as an option, but HL7, X12, and NCPDP are a must for hospitals, insurers, and pharmacies. They're transactional, but that's how health care organizations communicate.

In fact, Google should focus on coordinating and aggregating transactions, it could revolutionize the industry. Coordination of benefits between insurers would reduce paperwork and speed up payment. Services that don't generate claims (paid out of pocket, provided by a non-profit, etc.) wouldn't be missing like they often are in insurers' systems today. Fraud and abuse would be much easier to spot.

The challenge has been organizing and correlating the data. Google may be the perfect company to solve that problem.

It helps Nintendo because every school-age kid has a DS. They're familiar with the system and interface, so basic typing and computer skills aren't a prerequisite for the software. The platform seems perfect for class use, and it's low cost and easy to support. Like you said, every kid has one. A model for schools would open a whole new market for the DS.

The FAQ says the International competition offers fewer options, "Note that at the IOI only C, C++ and Pascal are permitted." If you're only considering the AOI, Python seems likes the most efficient, portable approach.

That's the problem with class action suits. These people spent about $10 to get in touch with old friends and didn't get what they paid for. Even if they wanted to pursue a full refund the terms of the settlement probably prevent it.

I didn't see the details, but I suspect they have the option of taking the $3 or receiving the credit if they fail to respond. I'm sure most people will never see the letter or not bother to collect the three bucks. I received a similar settlement from BlockBuster a few years ago and just tossed it in the garbage.