Hydropower is our solution because we can, unlike e.g. solar energy which is (currently) infeasible for countries so far north. Other places the situation is reversed.

Energy can be stored in e.g. dams during low energy usage (use the excess power to pump water back up), which is perfect for countries that already have hydro power installations.

Scandinavia isn't going to solve the worlds energy problems, but we are actively trying to solve our own and we're setting an example in the process. We didn't have to go the renewable way, we could've gone all nuclear and coal and what not, but we chose renewable.

Attention should be focused on clean energy sources instead of living in a black and white world of "coal vs. nuclear", because it's possible to live in a world where the energy demand is met without using either.

In Norway nearly 100% of the electrical power used and produced is from renewable energy. The government of Sweden has started working on getting the country completely independent of oil (without building more nuclear power plants). Norway, England, Italy, the US and others have started to look into floating (deep water) offshore wind power as a future energy source.

Wake up and smell the coffee. Comparing nuclear to coal is fucking bullshit.

Latin and Greek?

Ahh come on, Swedish is your ticket into Scandinavia! Talk to Norwegians, Swedes and even Danes while letting them use their native tongue!

At my job during high school my boss was actually Finnish, but since he know Swedish he had no problem working here in Norway. At my current job we have a few Icelandic fellows who communicate very well in Norwegian (I believe they learn Danish as a second language in school over there).

So don't underestimate the usefulness of extra languages. I was taught German in high school, and I wish I paid more attention ...

Gah, I messed up the quote:

My point is that it's no wonder people aren't buying apps when they simple can't. But in October 2010 a lot of users across different countries were given access to buy apps, which should logically increase the app sale considerably in 2011 compared to 2010.

I can't see anyone else mentioning one important fact, so I'm wondering if people are not aware of it.

Emphasize mine. From http://www.eurodroid.com/2010/09/android-market-expands-paid-app-support-32-countries-may-now-buy-apps/ :

Emphasize mine. I live in Norway, and Android market sales here was effectively $0 until October 2010, because it wasn't available here until then.

So while Android might have the largest world wide user base, it clearly did not have the largest world wide app market user base. I think that pretty much explains the low numbers, and therefore I expect 2011 to bring a radical change for Android Market sales.

You bash on Ruby, but it's hard to understand why since you don't explain what's so bad about it. For example, could you please explain to me what's inconsistent in Ruby?

I don't remember where I read it, but I read somewhere that Ruby works as a "programming skill amplifier." As in, if you're a great programmer, Ruby allows you to write beautiful code, but if you're a poor programmer, Ruby will allow you to write the most hideous thing that your processor has ever seen.

And I agree. For better or worse, I think it's a testimony to the power that lies in the language.

If you use a forward slash instead of backward in the folder name, you might trick your mail client to arrange the mail in a tree structure. I noticed this with GMail in Evolution on Ubuntu.

YMMV.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/361307/october-06-2010/rawesome-foods-raid

Seriously, I cannot fathom why people are so hung up on this. It took me just two hours with the new button positions before my muscle memory had completely forgotten that they had ever existed anywhere else.

I just don't understand why people care. It such an unimportant detail, I wouldn't dream of thinking about it if it wasn't for the fact that people keep bringing it up over and over.

And we're supposed to be the smart guys. We're supposed to adapt to our reality, like evolution and "survival of the fittest" has taught us. Apparently we're all screwed, 'cause we can't adapt to some stupid buttons changing place in our computer interface. There's not even a disadvantage having it on the left side, it's just *change*. Just get over it all ready. We expect people to change their entire operating system and switch to Linux (or Mac or whatever) but we can't stand the fact that someone moved a couple of buttons from the right to the left side of the window decorations. That's ... great.

Anecdote: When I was getting my driving license, the car had three rear view mirrors: One for me, one for the tutor, and a third one that the tutor directed at my eyes (so she could tell if I was looking for traffic at an intersection etc. without moving her head). At one time the third mirror had been moved to the bottom of the wind shield, and I asked her why. "We loaned the car away to another tutor, and he moved the mirror because he didn't like the way we position it. I'm making a point by not moving it back: I don't care where it's placed, I can adapt, and so should he."

Anecdote #2: I do support on my Mom's Ubuntu installation, and she has never complained that they moved the buttons. (And she's your average grandmother.) This leads me to believe the average Joe doesn't care (or is better at adapting to change than us).

(This is obviously not directed at the parent poster, just a general rant.)

So basically they've painted themselves into a Microsoft corner and can't get out. (Although "writing drivers" sounds like complete bullshit.)

I do recommend they switch back to Windows, and then move to Apple products. It's a sure way of wasting even more money, if the current flip-flopping isn't doing it for them.

http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/russia-winter-time.html :

I totally agree, and I love the fact that Russia just "did it". Maybe other European countries won't be so scared if they can follow the lead instead of taking charge themselves so that we can finally end the nonsense.

Oh and by the way I live in Norway, were DST has a pretty strong effect on the sunlight. Just about every autumn the DST is discussed in the media, because people are so sick and tired of messing up their day rhythm. We don't care about the sunlight, we adapt, but changing the time is brutal on the sleep pattern.

I'm not so sure about that. The thing about China is that its citizens are "brainwashed" for lack of better terms. I think the majority is actually comfortable with the political situation.

An ex-coworker of mine had a Chinese wife, and I asked him if they ever talk about politics at home. He basically replied: "We don't talk about it much, but my understanding is that in China politics is a "non-issue." People generally think it's up to the government to handle any political issues, and seldom get involved with it personally."

Of course there is a democratic movement in China that wants free elections, but my impression is that they are in a strong minority... In other words, I don't think there's anything brewing underneath the surface, so any revolution is going to take a lot of time to emerge.

From this article a couple of days earlier http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/it-business/3261625/frustrations-mount-over-london-stock-exchange-data-interface-problems/ :

Emphasize mine. Looks to me like the exchange is getting the flack for a couple of amateurish (or saboteurish?) vendors.

I agree that the democratic system isn't working optimally (in general) and that it needs change, but changing the government is a pretty major task.

What I'm thinking is that it would be positive for the whole system if more people got involved (an interested population, in your words). Making it available to people by making it easy to participate encourages involvement.

E.g. in Norway we're considering home voting: Letting people vote in front of their computer during elections. (Yes there are multiple problems with it, but it's being considered.) The idea being that making it *that* easy to vote (you don't even need to raise your eyes from the laptop to vote) will increase the voting participation, which again will increase the political interest (especially amongst young people), benefiting democracy as a whole.

But it's not just ease and availability that I'm thinking about. We should use our minds to "help" the politicians write smart and better laws, reach out and discuss with politicians what the consequences of their laws really are, and effectively open up lobbying to the entire population.

I haven't put enough thought into it to come up with anything more tangible than that, but the point is that technology opens up lots of interesting possibilities that are explored in business, but rarely in government. Seeing how important the government actually is, that's something that I think should change.