Comment Re:Why wouldn't they? (Score 1) 242
old guard also does always happen.
s/does/does not/
Speaking of lame...
Comment Re:Why wouldn't they? (Score 1) 242
But it is also boring and lame.
I agree that it's boring and lame. If Singapore is the logical conclusion to Chinese affluence, we can probably be assured of Yet Another American Century.
I merely was stating that the argument that prosperity -> democracy does not always happen, and that democracy -> a sharp and unpleasant end for the old guard also does always happen.
Comment Re:Why wouldn't they? (Score 4, Interesting) 242
It won't last though. There's a generation of children being born who will take economic prosperity for granted. It's the nature of humanity, and by that same token they'll want more than just that. With economic power in their hands they'll want political power, and that's when the government will be in trouble.
Maybe, maybe not.
Taiwan went from single-party (and single-family) rule to a full-fledged democracy in the course of about 15 years. The old farts who had been running (and robbing) the country were quietly retired and a generation which was willing to allow more political pluralism were seated in their place. This happened with a lot of protests, legislative fistfights, and more than a few cracked heads on the street, but it did not involve putting the heads of the Old Guard up on a post in the process.
On the other side, Singapore has become wildly prosperous, with no sign of democracy or pluralism anywhere in sight. The People's Action Party (read: Senior Minister Harry Lee and his son Lee Hsien Loong) still run everything. It's a weird place. It's clean, it's modern. People go in, people go out. If living in the Lees's Disneyland pisses you off, you're free to go to Australia, or the US, or wherever you like. Everyone knows the rules, and nobody rocks the boat.
Comment Question: what business are you in? (Score 1, Redundant) 379
Several people have pointed out variations on this, but we'll try again:
Apple sells hardware. To a certain extent, they sell content. I don't know how much the App Store or iTunes makes for them. Maybe a substantial amount. Hardware is their cash cow. Open source the software, and both pillars of their model are lost.
Microsoft sells software. That's self-evident.
OSS companies are generally in the business of selling professional services. i.e., we'll give you the operating system. We will sell you what amounts to a support contract for a small fee per workstation. If you want to integrate it, or make it do clever things, we have people who do that by the hour for a reasonable fee. If you're giving away software running on servers in the back room of a large company, there's good money to be made using that model. If you're selling $200 iPhones? ehhhh, not so much.
Submission + - Gates Foundation donates to Aboriginal communities (smh.com.au)
Aussie Osbourne writes: As the (Australian) Federal Government's spending commitments in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities soared to more than $1 billion yesterday, the former richest man in the world was backing another solution to indigenous economic deprivation: computers.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated US$1.22 million ($1.46 million) to the Northern Territory Library, to extend a program that provides computers for communities and helps them to build skills and preserve their culture.
The Sydney morning herald article, all text from the article is on this page, (except for the photo caption and weird title).
The foundation said the Libraries and Knowledge Centres program "opens up a world of information and knowledge that can help improve people's lives".
"Computers and the internet are powerful tools that offer unprecedented access to information of all kinds, and provide opportunities for people to improve their social and economic well-being," said Martha Choe, the director of the foundation's Global Libraries initiative.
Many of the NT Library's computers provide the only internet connection within a radius of hundreds of kilometres in remote communities where services such as telephones, schools, bookshops and post offices are limited.They have introduced the modern wonders of online news and banking, email and up-to-the-minute footy scores.
The NT Library is also building the Our Story database, where communities archive digital recordings of photographs, songs, dances, art and oral histories.
The Greens senator Kerry Nettle said the donation was an example of meaningful philanthropy.
"Corporate social responsibility needs to mean more than sponsoring sports carnivals. New forms of marketing to communities that lack basic services cannot be dressed up as corporate social responsibility."
Some of the funding will be used to meet the strict new reporting requirements on all public computers in the Territory's indigenous communities.
Under the Federal Government's intervention, the person responsible for a computer has to record details of all users. They can be charged with an offence if they do not make it clear to users that the computers cannot be used to send or access communications that are "slanderous, libellous or defamatory", "offensive or obscene" or "abusive".
Joel Gibson Indigenous Affairs Reporter
September 19, 2007
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated US$1.22 million ($1.46 million) to the Northern Territory Library, to extend a program that provides computers for communities and helps them to build skills and preserve their culture.
The Sydney morning herald article, all text from the article is on this page, (except for the photo caption and weird title).
The foundation said the Libraries and Knowledge Centres program "opens up a world of information and knowledge that can help improve people's lives".
"Computers and the internet are powerful tools that offer unprecedented access to information of all kinds, and provide opportunities for people to improve their social and economic well-being," said Martha Choe, the director of the foundation's Global Libraries initiative.
Many of the NT Library's computers provide the only internet connection within a radius of hundreds of kilometres in remote communities where services such as telephones, schools, bookshops and post offices are limited.They have introduced the modern wonders of online news and banking, email and up-to-the-minute footy scores.
The NT Library is also building the Our Story database, where communities archive digital recordings of photographs, songs, dances, art and oral histories.
The Greens senator Kerry Nettle said the donation was an example of meaningful philanthropy.
"Corporate social responsibility needs to mean more than sponsoring sports carnivals. New forms of marketing to communities that lack basic services cannot be dressed up as corporate social responsibility."
Some of the funding will be used to meet the strict new reporting requirements on all public computers in the Territory's indigenous communities.
Under the Federal Government's intervention, the person responsible for a computer has to record details of all users. They can be charged with an offence if they do not make it clear to users that the computers cannot be used to send or access communications that are "slanderous, libellous or defamatory", "offensive or obscene" or "abusive".
Joel Gibson Indigenous Affairs Reporter
September 19, 2007
