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Comment Re:OLD news (Score 5, Insightful) 183

You're absolutely right. I live in Mozambique and people in the DEEP bush (read: rural areas) who live in houses made of mud or grass have cell phones are able to do simple banking even on old candy bar phones. Here in the capitol of Maputo, in the last year, smart phone and tablet use has exploded. Mozambique has 3 cell networks that offer 3G connectivity and one is talking up their 4G transition for next year. I think the intuition of the touch screen is being proven here as people who were raised without running water or power are able to pick up and use a smartphone while the same person struggles to a comical degree trying to understand and use with any semblance of efficacy a laptop or desktop PC.

Oh... Mozambique is the 3rd least developed country IN THE WORLD according to the UNDP
So yeah, this Les Cotrell is just a guy wanting to sound smart by explaining things about Africa to people who know nothing about Africa. This happened long ago.

Comment Do Away With This Disease? (Score 5, Insightful) 209

It's definitely something to be celebrated that we're nearing the mark of a viable vaccine. Unfortunately, the hardest hit areas by Malaria are not places where vaccine distribution is

Easy
Affordable by those who need it
I would love to see this vaccine become a reality but I'm not very hopeful that this would have a price tag that many African nations could afford to give out to their populations for free or, if not free, the pennies the average citizen could afford. Mozambique, where I live and work, is VERY hard hit by Malaria but it's rural areas are very poor and the medicine distribution points in the CITIES struggle to keep vaccines refrigerated and properly handled. There is much development to be done in many of the nations who see high death rates from Malaria before we can use phrases like "allow us to do away with this disease". I do hope to see the disease done away with but let's not assume that with the development of the vaccine that that victory is imminent.

Comment Re:Seems counter-intuitive (Score 5, Interesting) 132

Posting from Mozambique:

You don't know how right you are. This is REMARKABLY stupid and dangerous. The countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are developing and with development comes all the growing pains, not least of which is very very corrupt police. Police in South Africa and elsewhere on this continent can be very vindictive and outright murderous when upset about people disrespecting their authority. A few months ago a teenager from Mozambique was dragged to death behind a South African police car because the police who "randomly" stopped him felt disrespected. If the people on these lists know about this hack and their names being made public there is a very real and justified fear they now permanently live in. If they don't know about this hack (a bit more likely in a developing country with a not-so-exposed-to-the-internet underclass) they may be blissfully unaware of the danger they are in but that does not change the its depth.

Whoever released this info has very real blood on their hands. I don't give a damn about the title "Anonymous", the script kiddies who released this info are accessories to the horrible vindictive violence that will assuredly come, and the potential of the loss of life for many of the names released.

The stupidity of this move cannot be overstated. Be ashamed of yourselves "Anonymous". Be ashamed for your lack of disciplining your own.

Submission + - Jolla Announces 1st Meego/Android-App Device Available Year End 2013

x_IamSpartacus_x writes: Jolla, the Finnish company that continued Nokia’s work on the MeeGo mobile platform, announced details of its first smartphone on Monday. Availability for the Jolla device is expected by year end and can be pre-ordered now; the phone will be priced at no more than €399 (US $512.26).
The Jolla hardware looks similar to that of Nokia’s Lumia, with a clean, button-less front face that houses the 4.5-inch touchcscreen.The phone will use a dual-core processor and support 4G LTE in some regions. Internal storage tops out at 16 GB, but can be expanded via microSD card. The phone also includes an 8 megapixel rear camera with auto focus.
The phone is also “Android app compliant” which, in a move similar to that of BlackBerry, can help with available apps at launch.
The Military

Navy To Deploy Lasers On Ship In 2014 402

Velcroman1 writes "The Pentagon has plans to deploy its first ever ship-mounted laser next year, a disruptive, cutting-edge weapon capable of obliterating small boats and unmanned aerial vehicles with a blast of infrared energy. Navy officials announced Monday that in early 2014, a solid-state laser prototype will be mounted to the fantail of the USS Ponce and sent to the 5th fleet region in the Middle East for real-world experience. 'It operates much like a blowtorch ... with an unlimited magazine,' one official said."

Submission + - Epic nerd showdown: Hobbit vs Snow White

An anonymous reader writes: As part of the 2013 edition of the MTV Movie Awards, the network announced a new category Best Hero — with the popular vote decided by the counting of hashtagged tweets and Instagram photos. The category has lately devolved into a showdown between Tolkien geeks trying to #VoteBilbo and Kirsten Stewart fans barracking for #VoteSnowWhite. Even some of the Lord of the Rings stars have joined in the campaigning. At the time of writing, Snow White leads by some 13k votes, and one site has gone so far as to create a real time tracker that logs the comparative number of votes per minute and graphs the total votes count.

Submission + - Fake Twitter Followers Becomes Multimillion Dollar Business (nytimes.com)

RougeFemme writes: There are more than two dozen companies that sell fake Twitter accounts. Those that sell them claim to make up to one million dollars per week. Two Italian security researchers estimate that there are as many as 20 million fake Twitter follower accounts. It's very difficult to tell the different between fake and real Twitter accounts. "Some fake accounts look even better than real accounts do.” Software exists that can create up to 100,000 Twitter accounts in 5 days.

Comment Re:Clueless (Score 1) 550

OP Here.
Holy hell, that's a lot of assumptions about me! It's really not offensive and it kinda makes me laugh and I guess my submission doesn't really describe my entire situation so I can't really blame you. I would probably tend to agree with you about most cases of people who live overseas, especially doing NGO work.
An honest, "Thank you" for caring about my marriage and family.
I may be flattering myself but I really think my marriage is awesome. My wife and I love each other immensely and we support each other quite a bit in the work we do.
My basic situation is this: Work situation aside, we have our kids in bed by about 7:30 or 8 each night and after that we have very few entertainment options. We don't do this every single night but we often find ourselves watching a movie or TV show on DVD together. This works well and I have no complaints, it's just that our DVD collection has been watched enough that we are both looking for new entertainment options when we want to wind down together in the evenings. I'm just looking for ideas for how to spend 4-8 hours per week with my wife and engage her in what I find to be a rewarding and entertaining pastime; computer gaming. I have almost completely stopped computer gaming after getting married and it wasn't a hard decision to make. I gladly left those games behind when we got married and I don't begrudge the sacrifice at all. I'm not addicted to anything, she's not looking for more attention from me, I just want to do something new with her and I thought the Slashdot community might be a resource for finding out.

Comment Re:Why game? (Score 4, Interesting) 550

Submitter here.
Yes, it is very weird. I don't really hang out with other expats who have that mentality. I live here and I'm happy to be here. It's my home, my kids were born here, they are citizens of this country and I don't want to create an American bubble around myself and my family. I'm actually a missionary and, let me assure you, I spend a LOT of time with the culture I'm in. I'm not trying to avoid spending time with Mozambicans. I'm trying to find an interactive activity I can do with my wife in the evenings after our kids go down. We don't have many board games, we can't go out (they kids are asleep in the house) and we are often sitting around without many options for evening entertainment except movies or TV shows on DVD. I want to invite her to join something I really enjoy doing (computer gaming) and find a lot of value in. It's nothing to do with avoiding local culture or neglecting my kids (as other posters have assumed).

Comment Re:Why game? (Score 1) 550

OP Here.
I am often out exploring Mozambique. It's not about that. I am looking for something my wife and I can do in the evenings together (2 or 3 times per week) instead of watching something from our drying up movie collection. It wouldn't interfere with time with my kids, they are sleeping by 8:00 PM and we can't go out after that with them down in the house. I just want something I can spend 4-8 hours per week on with my wife in the evenings after 8 PM.

Comment Re:Let Me Explain (Score 2) 550

OP here.
What I guess I didn't explain in the summary is that I DON'T game anymore since being married (and especially since having the kids). What I DO do is have 2 or 3 nights per week where my wife and I watch a movie or TV show on DVD together. I'm currently out of fresh movies and shows so that's why I'm looking for a game we can spend 4-8 hours per week on. Nothing addicted, nothing excessive, nothing even while the kids are awake (I have 3 under 3 and they go to bed by 7:30-8:00 PM). Just something to do to have fun in the evenings with my wife. Is there anything (besides things like Minecraft) that we could both enjoy together?

Submission + - How do I get my spouse to start gaming with me?

x_IamSpartacus_x writes: I’ve been a gamer for a long time (started on Nibbles in MS-DOS) and enjoy pretty much any good game. I can enjoy side-scrolling relics (original Prince of Persia, Win 95), to modern MMORPGs (stopped playing my 85 lvl Mage on WoW just recently, read on to see why), to a good sports game (Madden series are a blast) and many more. I’ve been married for 4 years now and have hardly touched my games since being married and starting having kids. My wife and I are Americans but live overseas and have little access to new movies/entertainment and, from experience, I know that a good game can provide much more entertainment than a good movie. My question is, what are good ways/good games that I can use to get my wife into computer gaming? We both have good laptops that I’d love to get her interested in using to do co-op or combative games with me. Because of my long experience, gaming comes naturally to me and so even on a game I haven’t played I would probably be much better than she. Is there a game or idea that would take away the embarrassing factor for her of being much worse than I am while still being enjoyable and worth spending a lot of time on with me? Do any other Slashdotters struggle getting their spouse to game with them?

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Ethics of working for data collecting company

An anonymous reader writes: What do Slashdot readers think of the ethics of a data collecting company? For the past few years I have worked for a supermarket part-time, scanning loyalty cards with each transaction. But ever since I have started working there it has really bothered me. Data leach companies like Datalogix are becoming more prominent, as is "Big Data". The supermarket has been doing it for years, but has started to push it hard by interrogating workers who don't scan enough cards and giving exclusive discounts to card holders.

Am I a part of the overall problem when I ask customers for their loyalty cards, and help the supermarket track shoppers' transactions? Should I move, or is this outside of my control?

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