Well, the Raspberry Pi computer officially went on sale today, at 0600 GMT. Customers in the UK and Western Europe had to get up early for the launch; customers in the USA had to stay up late. It was a good time to do the launch: had they done it during business hours on either continent, they would have brought the entire worldwide Internet crashing down around them. As it is, three sites - their own, and two commercial ones - were completely overwhelmed and froze solid for the better part of an hour, and the computer sold out completely in less than a minute.
I think that the good folks at the Raspberry Pi Foundation underestimated both the demand and the enthusiasm for this product. They had some idea what would hit them: they were smart enough to sign up a couple of distributors with worldwide reach to manufacture and distribute the RasPi. But so many people wanted one of the first batch of 10,000 units that they crashed the Raspberry Pi Foundation's .org and .com servers, and they nearly crashed the servers at Premier Farnell and RS Components. I don't know about RS Components, but Farnell has an international presence, doing business as Newark on this side of the Pond, and as Element 14 on both sides of the Pond, and even the Element 14 webpage was having trouble.
According to the @RaspberryPi Twitter feed, Farnell sold out of their units in about one minute, and RS Components refuses to ship their units overseas.
While I am disappointed that I didn't get one of the first 10,000 units, I am pleased that the launch was so overwhelmingly successful. If the RPi Foundation had as much capital behind it as, say, Apple or Microsoft, and the manpower to match them, even if only for 24 hours, the launch would have gone more smoothly. But they're a small nonprofit organization, trying to do this on a shoestring budget.
By this time tomorrow, they'll have a bustling community of 10,000 users, with thousands more trying to get in. Let's hope that Farnell and RS get tooled up quickly, and that the Foundation recovers quickly from the shock and gets moving again.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
The best "Out of Office" autoreply I've ever seen
You know how you can set your email to autoreply if you're going to be gone for a while? Well, this one made me smile. I'll bet it does the same for you:
I will be away from school (getting married!) until February 26th. As such, I will be in a state of marital bliss and will not be responding to e-mails. I will respond to you as soon as I return to reality. Best, Lori Dxxxx (Stxxxxxx!)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
J.K. Rowling is writing again - for grown-ups, this time
Without releasing any details other than the name of its publisher (Little, Brown in both the USA and Britain), J.K. Rowling announced today that she has written another book. This novel is aimed at a more adult audience.
As I said, she has not divulged the title, genre, storyline, or release date. She has said that it will be available in both paper and electronic forms.
I guess this announcement answers that question.
As I said, she has not divulged the title, genre, storyline, or release date. She has said that it will be available in both paper and electronic forms.
I guess this announcement answers that question.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Raspberry Pi: drooling in anticipation
Well, the 10,000 units of the Raspberry Pi Model B's first run are now in the hands of the testers. That means that we should be seeing a notice of sale in the next few days. The excitement is building over at http://www.raspberrypi.org/ and elsewhere.
And rightfully so. For the nerds among us, the recommended OS for the RasPi will be a remix of Fedora Linux. There are already several other OSes out there, also ready to go. I suggest you buy a handful of Sandisk 2 GB SD cards and put a different OS on each.
Just imagine: all the power of Linux, OpenGL, HDMI, and 10/100baseT, in a $35 package.
And rightfully so. For the nerds among us, the recommended OS for the RasPi will be a remix of Fedora Linux. There are already several other OSes out there, also ready to go. I suggest you buy a handful of Sandisk 2 GB SD cards and put a different OS on each.
Just imagine: all the power of Linux, OpenGL, HDMI, and 10/100baseT, in a $35 package.
On Giving Away Children in Marriage
I have five children. Three of them are now married.
The first marriage was that of my second child, my first daughter. She married rather young by today's standards. She married a great guy, and we had a reception in a large pavilion on his parents' acreage, in the foothills of the Rockies, and as the sun went down the pavilion glowed with the light of thousands of white Christmas lights. I am told that I danced with my daughter once during the night, but I don't remember that. I do remember that I ran around being a gracious host and enjoying the company of friends and family, and not eating or drinking much. At the end of the night, after the bride and groom had driven away and our helpers were starting to clean up, I sat down at a table all by myself in the semi-dark and quietly worked my way through one piece of chocolate cake.
People have told me that that was one of the saddest things they have ever seen. I believe them. She had been gone less than an hour, and my heart already hurt from missing her.
The second marriage was that of my oldest son, who had endured six miserable years and deserved some happiness. His bride had endured a miserable life and she deserved some happiness, too. Her family either couldn't afford or wouldn't pay for the reception, so we put it on ourselves and paid for the entire thing. I did the gracious host thing again, as did my sweet wife, my son and his bride. At the end of the night, after they left in a stretch limousine filled with pizza and root beer, and our helpers were starting to clean up, I took my sweet wife on the dance floor. The sound system was already packed up and put away. We slow-danced for a long time to the music in our minds, glad to have each other to cling to.
The third marriage, ironically, was once again that of my oldest son. The story is too long to tell here, but his first shot at "happily ever after" was neither "happily" nor "ever after," but after a couple of years he met another girl. He and she were both doing okay financially, so they put on their own party, on the shores of Pensacola Bay. We were their guests, for the most part, and they had a fun time hosting their families and their friends as we celebrated "happily ever after" again. I did my part by looking good in a tux and toasting the bride and groom with "scomps." I can't remember what we did after their party, but I think it involved more partying with family and relatives. We didn't have to clean up anything.
And that takes us to this weekend, when my third child, my middle daughter, married the love of her life, at age 28. As I watched her work the room on Saturday night, I admired the gracious and confident woman that she is. I broke down during the daddy-daughter dance, stopped dancing and just hugged her, whispering words of love in her ear and getting my tears in her hair. But we were surrounded with good friends and good family from Wednesday through Sunday. With the festivities came a distinct euphoria that I was not aware of until this morning, when I finally came down from it. I had been feeling great all weekend long, like everything was right in the world. This morning, on my way to work, I felt a heavy sadness. It was so bad that I had to stop at Dazbog Coffee to pick up a cup of comfort food: their amazing hot chocolate with a double shot of cinnamon, and cream on the top.
We have two more to go: one, our fourth child and youngest daughter in less than three months, and number five, our youngest son. He's off the market for two years, and I won't try to predict what happens after that.
(Parenthetical note: We have dozens of adopted children. One of them is a girl who became as close to us as one of our real daughters. In fact, she came this close to becoming a daughter-in-law. That got short-circuited, though, as she met the real love of her life. Her love for us, and our place in her life, were made clear when she invited us to participate in all of her wedding festivities alongside her real parents. I won't pretend to be equal to her real father, who is a close friend of mine, but I will admit to having felt the same strange emotions that I have felt as I have given my other children away.)
The first marriage was that of my second child, my first daughter. She married rather young by today's standards. She married a great guy, and we had a reception in a large pavilion on his parents' acreage, in the foothills of the Rockies, and as the sun went down the pavilion glowed with the light of thousands of white Christmas lights. I am told that I danced with my daughter once during the night, but I don't remember that. I do remember that I ran around being a gracious host and enjoying the company of friends and family, and not eating or drinking much. At the end of the night, after the bride and groom had driven away and our helpers were starting to clean up, I sat down at a table all by myself in the semi-dark and quietly worked my way through one piece of chocolate cake.
People have told me that that was one of the saddest things they have ever seen. I believe them. She had been gone less than an hour, and my heart already hurt from missing her.
The second marriage was that of my oldest son, who had endured six miserable years and deserved some happiness. His bride had endured a miserable life and she deserved some happiness, too. Her family either couldn't afford or wouldn't pay for the reception, so we put it on ourselves and paid for the entire thing. I did the gracious host thing again, as did my sweet wife, my son and his bride. At the end of the night, after they left in a stretch limousine filled with pizza and root beer, and our helpers were starting to clean up, I took my sweet wife on the dance floor. The sound system was already packed up and put away. We slow-danced for a long time to the music in our minds, glad to have each other to cling to.
The third marriage, ironically, was once again that of my oldest son. The story is too long to tell here, but his first shot at "happily ever after" was neither "happily" nor "ever after," but after a couple of years he met another girl. He and she were both doing okay financially, so they put on their own party, on the shores of Pensacola Bay. We were their guests, for the most part, and they had a fun time hosting their families and their friends as we celebrated "happily ever after" again. I did my part by looking good in a tux and toasting the bride and groom with "scomps." I can't remember what we did after their party, but I think it involved more partying with family and relatives. We didn't have to clean up anything.
And that takes us to this weekend, when my third child, my middle daughter, married the love of her life, at age 28. As I watched her work the room on Saturday night, I admired the gracious and confident woman that she is. I broke down during the daddy-daughter dance, stopped dancing and just hugged her, whispering words of love in her ear and getting my tears in her hair. But we were surrounded with good friends and good family from Wednesday through Sunday. With the festivities came a distinct euphoria that I was not aware of until this morning, when I finally came down from it. I had been feeling great all weekend long, like everything was right in the world. This morning, on my way to work, I felt a heavy sadness. It was so bad that I had to stop at Dazbog Coffee to pick up a cup of comfort food: their amazing hot chocolate with a double shot of cinnamon, and cream on the top.
We have two more to go: one, our fourth child and youngest daughter in less than three months, and number five, our youngest son. He's off the market for two years, and I won't try to predict what happens after that.
(Parenthetical note: We have dozens of adopted children. One of them is a girl who became as close to us as one of our real daughters. In fact, she came this close to becoming a daughter-in-law. That got short-circuited, though, as she met the real love of her life. Her love for us, and our place in her life, were made clear when she invited us to participate in all of her wedding festivities alongside her real parents. I won't pretend to be equal to her real father, who is a close friend of mine, but I will admit to having felt the same strange emotions that I have felt as I have given my other children away.)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Valentine's Day: also made in China
St. Valentine's Day was invented in Rome in 496 A.D. Fifteen centuries and 18 years later, it is Made in China.
Hallmark cards are an American institution. Look on the back of the Hallmark Valentine's Day cards this year: Made in China. Find a mainstream (not niche) competitor's card and look in the back: also Made in China.
Next to the cards are the stuffed animals. Look at the tags: every one of them is made in China.
Just below the cards are the fun little Valentine's Day games. These used to be printed in Cincinnati, or New York, or Seattle. This year? Every one of them is printed in China.
Now look at the fancy boxes of candy. All of them, even the venerable Italian brand, Ferrero Rocher, say "Made in China" on the label.
Even the holiday-priced jewelry and wristwatches you might buy for a Valentine's Day gift are all Made in China.
The only way to give your sweetheart something for Valentine's Day that is not Made in China is to make it yourself. This assumes, of course, that you don't live in China.
Hallmark cards are an American institution. Look on the back of the Hallmark Valentine's Day cards this year: Made in China. Find a mainstream (not niche) competitor's card and look in the back: also Made in China.
Next to the cards are the stuffed animals. Look at the tags: every one of them is made in China.
Just below the cards are the fun little Valentine's Day games. These used to be printed in Cincinnati, or New York, or Seattle. This year? Every one of them is printed in China.
Now look at the fancy boxes of candy. All of them, even the venerable Italian brand, Ferrero Rocher, say "Made in China" on the label.
Even the holiday-priced jewelry and wristwatches you might buy for a Valentine's Day gift are all Made in China.
The only way to give your sweetheart something for Valentine's Day that is not Made in China is to make it yourself. This assumes, of course, that you don't live in China.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
They'll always be my students
My sweet wife and I spent two full hours on Friday night, listening to one of my former math students play her cello and a bit of piano. It was a concert worth writing home about.
The Calvary Church in a nearby town has a concert series it calls "Offerings." Recognizing the abundance of skilled musicians in their congregation, the pastor created this concert series several years ago. It gives each artist a chance to showcase their talents, and to make an offering to the Lord commensurate with the talents He has given them. The concerts are free to the public; there's not even a hint of a request of a donation. In fact, there's nobody to collect your money, not even a coffee can with a slot in the lid.
One young member of the congregation, whom we'll call "Emily" to pick a random name, is a senior at a local High School, and the principal cellist in the town's Youth Symphony. I first met Emily when she was in my 7th grade advanced math class. She was a quiet girl with a shy smile, the kind who excelled in all her classes and hoped nobody would notice. But she did have a lot of self-confidence. That came partly from playing cello, and partly from having good parents. (Kinda like some other cellists and musicians I know.)
This was Emily's Offerings concert, and it could also have been her senior recital. She had chosen 20 works for cello, and for two hours she regaled us with cello music and commentary. They weren't all solos. She did some duets with her violin teacher from when she was a little girl, with her cello teacher, and with a friend who played piano and had done his own Offerings concert earlier in the year. She played some Acoustic Eidolon pieces with a very talented guitarist, and she accompanied a vocal trio in a pretty praise-and-worship song.
Like some of you, she had started on piano back when she was a very little girl, but had quit piano to do something else and in later years quietly resumed piano on her own. So in the middle of all the cello music, she sat down at the piano twice, once to play a song from the second "Twilight" movie, and once to play one from "Pearl Harbor."
I would name some of the other pieces she played, but most of my readers wouldn't recognize the names. You would recognize the music, though - she did a couple of famous classical cello pieces. And she didn't just play music. She injected feeling and emotion into it, so that we didn't just hear it. We felt it.
In her introduction, Emily said that she was really nervous and didn't like public speaking. You wouldn't have known it from her delivery. She was poised and articulate. She had memorized all of the music she was going to play, and she had memorized everything she was going to say. Her delivery was not flawless, naturally, but it was genuine. The language she used was not flowery; it was simple, straightforward, and sweet.
She played the first half in blue jeans, and during the intermission she changed into a formal gown. She was obviously having fun playing, as she would trade grins with her partners and with the audience of almost 200 people.
In one of her narrative sections, she acknowledged her musical talent and the opportunities it had given her, and then she said, "I know my talent is a gift from God, and I give Him all the honor and glory."
After graduation, Emily will go to college, to pursue her lifelong dream of being a nurse. She will be taking her cello with her. She has spent six years living a good life, choosing the right and working hard to excel. It meant a lot to me that she wanted me to be there, and it meant a lot to her that I showed up. I'm very blessed to have been a part of her life, and to be counted among her friends.
The Calvary Church in a nearby town has a concert series it calls "Offerings." Recognizing the abundance of skilled musicians in their congregation, the pastor created this concert series several years ago. It gives each artist a chance to showcase their talents, and to make an offering to the Lord commensurate with the talents He has given them. The concerts are free to the public; there's not even a hint of a request of a donation. In fact, there's nobody to collect your money, not even a coffee can with a slot in the lid.
One young member of the congregation, whom we'll call "Emily" to pick a random name, is a senior at a local High School, and the principal cellist in the town's Youth Symphony. I first met Emily when she was in my 7th grade advanced math class. She was a quiet girl with a shy smile, the kind who excelled in all her classes and hoped nobody would notice. But she did have a lot of self-confidence. That came partly from playing cello, and partly from having good parents. (Kinda like some other cellists and musicians I know.)
This was Emily's Offerings concert, and it could also have been her senior recital. She had chosen 20 works for cello, and for two hours she regaled us with cello music and commentary. They weren't all solos. She did some duets with her violin teacher from when she was a little girl, with her cello teacher, and with a friend who played piano and had done his own Offerings concert earlier in the year. She played some Acoustic Eidolon pieces with a very talented guitarist, and she accompanied a vocal trio in a pretty praise-and-worship song.
Like some of you, she had started on piano back when she was a very little girl, but had quit piano to do something else and in later years quietly resumed piano on her own. So in the middle of all the cello music, she sat down at the piano twice, once to play a song from the second "Twilight" movie, and once to play one from "Pearl Harbor."
I would name some of the other pieces she played, but most of my readers wouldn't recognize the names. You would recognize the music, though - she did a couple of famous classical cello pieces. And she didn't just play music. She injected feeling and emotion into it, so that we didn't just hear it. We felt it.
In her introduction, Emily said that she was really nervous and didn't like public speaking. You wouldn't have known it from her delivery. She was poised and articulate. She had memorized all of the music she was going to play, and she had memorized everything she was going to say. Her delivery was not flawless, naturally, but it was genuine. The language she used was not flowery; it was simple, straightforward, and sweet.
She played the first half in blue jeans, and during the intermission she changed into a formal gown. She was obviously having fun playing, as she would trade grins with her partners and with the audience of almost 200 people.
In one of her narrative sections, she acknowledged her musical talent and the opportunities it had given her, and then she said, "I know my talent is a gift from God, and I give Him all the honor and glory."
After graduation, Emily will go to college, to pursue her lifelong dream of being a nurse. She will be taking her cello with her. She has spent six years living a good life, choosing the right and working hard to excel. It meant a lot to me that she wanted me to be there, and it meant a lot to her that I showed up. I'm very blessed to have been a part of her life, and to be counted among her friends.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
About apples, raspberry pies, and Italian kings
We had a raspberry bush at our house in Oregon. It started as a single slip, taken from a wild bush and transplanted into our backyard. It loved the wet weather, and it grew rapidly. Over the years, it expanded to take over an entire side of the backyard fence, even crawling under the fence and coming up on the other side. If we had let it, it would have taken over the entire backyard.
I'm not complaining. It bore lots and lots of delicious fruit, most of which was eaten right there at the bush.
The Raspberry Pi was stuck in my head all night long. I couldn't stop thinking about it. (I still want one, by the way.)
I can see the RasPi becoming the Next Big Thing. It's starting out as a bare-bones educational computer, sold at no profit. The entity making and selling it, the Raspberry Pi Foundation, is determined to keep it that way. But I can imagine it becoming more popular than anybody expected, and selling hundreds of thousands - maybe millions.
Eventually, the Foundation will find it profitable to put a version of it in a case, dress it up, and sell it for a hundred dollars or more. The profit from this version will enable them to drop the educational price, thereby offering it to even more teachers and students than before.
Then they will find it even more profitable to license the technology to other manufacturers. This will cause the commercial RasPi platform to expand like my raspberry bush. It will also cause the platform to fragment, like the IBM PC did, which may or may not be a Bad Thing. But on the other end, since they are a non-profit entity, the gobs of money they make from the licensing deals will allow the Foundation to lower the price on the educational model even more, making it even more accessible.
Okay, that's my vision, not theirs. In a way, RasPi is similar to early Apple Computer. Remember the Apple II? (Actually, most of you don't. Tch. Kids.) Well, the Raspberry Pi is also named after a fruit, and the capitalized Greek letter Π looks a lot like the Roman numeral II. Like the RasPi, the Apple II was a hobbyist's computer whose popularity turned the computing world upside-down and laid the foundation for both the Macintosh and the IBM PC. I look for something similar to happen with the RasPi. If they weren't a private foundation, I'd buy a slice of the company. As it stands, all I can give them is praise and publicity. Oh - and my business.
There's another single-board computer out there, also taking the world by storm. Arduino began in 2005 as an educational computer, for students to use with their design and control projects (robotics, for instance). According to Wikipedia, in May 2011 there were 300,000 Arduinos in the wild. However, Arduino and the RasPi are distinctly different. The RasPi is meant to replace the desktop (or laptop) computer, with keyboard, display, and mass storage device(s). Arduino is a microcontroller, meant to control robots, giant billboards, 3D printers, coffee makers - you get the picture. They don't compete - if anything, they coexist.
You can connect an Arduino-equipped appliance to a RasPi computer. In fact, in the near future, you will be able to program an Arduino board from a RasPi board. Now that's cool.
The Apple II moved successfully from the hobbyist and educational worlds to the Real World, and opened the way for others to follow. Arduino moved quietly and successfully from the educational and hobbyist worlds to the Real World. Arduinos are everywhere, but you probably don't know it. The Raspberry Pi will do the same thing. I don't expect it to displace the Mac/Windows/BigLinux boxes, but it will definitely claim its place on the stage.
I'm not complaining. It bore lots and lots of delicious fruit, most of which was eaten right there at the bush.
The Raspberry Pi was stuck in my head all night long. I couldn't stop thinking about it. (I still want one, by the way.)
I can see the RasPi becoming the Next Big Thing. It's starting out as a bare-bones educational computer, sold at no profit. The entity making and selling it, the Raspberry Pi Foundation, is determined to keep it that way. But I can imagine it becoming more popular than anybody expected, and selling hundreds of thousands - maybe millions.
Eventually, the Foundation will find it profitable to put a version of it in a case, dress it up, and sell it for a hundred dollars or more. The profit from this version will enable them to drop the educational price, thereby offering it to even more teachers and students than before.
Then they will find it even more profitable to license the technology to other manufacturers. This will cause the commercial RasPi platform to expand like my raspberry bush. It will also cause the platform to fragment, like the IBM PC did, which may or may not be a Bad Thing. But on the other end, since they are a non-profit entity, the gobs of money they make from the licensing deals will allow the Foundation to lower the price on the educational model even more, making it even more accessible.
Okay, that's my vision, not theirs. In a way, RasPi is similar to early Apple Computer. Remember the Apple II? (Actually, most of you don't. Tch. Kids.) Well, the Raspberry Pi is also named after a fruit, and the capitalized Greek letter Π looks a lot like the Roman numeral II. Like the RasPi, the Apple II was a hobbyist's computer whose popularity turned the computing world upside-down and laid the foundation for both the Macintosh and the IBM PC. I look for something similar to happen with the RasPi. If they weren't a private foundation, I'd buy a slice of the company. As it stands, all I can give them is praise and publicity. Oh - and my business.
There's another single-board computer out there, also taking the world by storm. Arduino began in 2005 as an educational computer, for students to use with their design and control projects (robotics, for instance). According to Wikipedia, in May 2011 there were 300,000 Arduinos in the wild. However, Arduino and the RasPi are distinctly different. The RasPi is meant to replace the desktop (or laptop) computer, with keyboard, display, and mass storage device(s). Arduino is a microcontroller, meant to control robots, giant billboards, 3D printers, coffee makers - you get the picture. They don't compete - if anything, they coexist.
You can connect an Arduino-equipped appliance to a RasPi computer. In fact, in the near future, you will be able to program an Arduino board from a RasPi board. Now that's cool.
The Apple II moved successfully from the hobbyist and educational worlds to the Real World, and opened the way for others to follow. Arduino moved quietly and successfully from the educational and hobbyist worlds to the Real World. Arduinos are everywhere, but you probably don't know it. The Raspberry Pi will do the same thing. I don't expect it to displace the Mac/Windows/BigLinux boxes, but it will definitely claim its place on the stage.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Get a whole computer for US$35. Yes, really!
Have you heard about the $35 computer? It's for real, and I want one.
Actually, the $35 Raspberry Pi Model B is still vaporware, but the $25 Model A is selling RIGHT NOW. The Model B won't be vaporware for long. The first production run of Model B is expected to ship this month, and at 10,000 units, it will sell out fast.I want one.
The Raspberry Pi computer is the brainchild of Eben Upton, a former professor at Cambridge University in the UK. In 2006, Upton and several of his colleagues had noticed that the skill level of incoming Computer Science students had been falling gradually over the years. As they puzzled over what to do about it, they came up with the idea of a credit-card-sized computer, which could be sold cheaply enough that literally any student could afford it. The hardware would be simple enough that anybody could learn to program it.
They decided that the project should be managed, and the computer should be sold, by a nonprofit corporation. This would help them to keep costs down and to keep focused on the original objective. The result: the Raspberry Pi Foundation, led by Upton, and their product, the Raspberry Pi computer.
This is an awesome piece of hardware. Unfortunately, it's not for everybody. Keep your Macs and your PCs; this may not be the computer for you. While it has Ethernet and HDMI capability, it does not have a hard disk drive. (But you can attach a USB hard disk drive!) It's not even in a case yet! (I'm gonna build a case for it out of Legos. Or maybe popsicle sticks.) It will not run Windows, Mac OS X, or Android. It will not run any commercial software (yet). It runs Linux.
I want one.
Want to know more? Read an article about Raspberry Pi at Yahoo! News. Then go straight to the project's own website.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Don't get me wrong about China
Please don't think that I'm anti-China.
I did write an article exposing the Beijing Olympics for their dishonesty, and held them up as a symbol for everything that's wrong with China.
I did write an article warning about the new economic bubble that is China, a bubble whose eventual bursting will spell catastrophe for the entire world.
I did write about the Chinese government's attempted bullying related to the Dalai Lama's visit to Washington D.C.
There's a lot that is good about China. Without a doubt, many of its woes come from trying to handle the largest population in the world. India, with the world's second-largest population, has its own set of problems. And the United States, coming in a distant third, is not without its share of problems either, and I haven't been shy about writing about them. (The U.S., that is. I don't know enough about India to write intelligently about that country.)
However, having acknowledged those arguments, I see that the rest of the world is selling its soul to China, becoming dependent on China for so many economic advantages - and the Chinese nation is ignoring its future, or perhaps flushing its future down the river, in a mad attempt to take over the world.
It's not a good thing for anybody. As I've said before, it's driven by greed - both inside China and out. It's a complicated problem, and not easy to fix. It's so complicated that entire books have been (hastily) written about the subject, and I'm not even going to try to explain or analyze it here. But take my word for it: it's a bad thing, and one day the entire civilized world have cause to regret it.
I did write an article exposing the Beijing Olympics for their dishonesty, and held them up as a symbol for everything that's wrong with China.
I did write an article warning about the new economic bubble that is China, a bubble whose eventual bursting will spell catastrophe for the entire world.
I did write about the Chinese government's attempted bullying related to the Dalai Lama's visit to Washington D.C.
There's a lot that is good about China. Without a doubt, many of its woes come from trying to handle the largest population in the world. India, with the world's second-largest population, has its own set of problems. And the United States, coming in a distant third, is not without its share of problems either, and I haven't been shy about writing about them. (The U.S., that is. I don't know enough about India to write intelligently about that country.)
However, having acknowledged those arguments, I see that the rest of the world is selling its soul to China, becoming dependent on China for so many economic advantages - and the Chinese nation is ignoring its future, or perhaps flushing its future down the river, in a mad attempt to take over the world.
It's not a good thing for anybody. As I've said before, it's driven by greed - both inside China and out. It's a complicated problem, and not easy to fix. It's so complicated that entire books have been (hastily) written about the subject, and I'm not even going to try to explain or analyze it here. But take my word for it: it's a bad thing, and one day the entire civilized world have cause to regret it.
Is anything NOT made in China?
I intend to research this for myself, but I thought I'd ask here first.
Recent news articles have exposed the terrible, sometimes fatal, working conditions imposed on workers who assemble Apple's iPhones and iPads in China. These articles have implicated Foxconn and many other Apple contractors in China, who pay their workers horribly, force them to endure long hours working in dangerous and unhealthy conditions, and more or less treat them as disposable supplies, like paper towels.
Apple has yet to respond in a way acceptable to socially conscious consumers; however, Apple's products have enough going for them that consumers are still buying them. That may change, if Apple does not quickly show some sense of social responsibility. You read it here first, folks. But that's not the main thrust of this article.
Apple is not the only company to find itself in this predicament, with a popular and competitively priced product line, completely dependent on China for its manufacture. As I have said before, you cannot buy a small kitchen appliance right now that is not made in China. After this weekend, I will add that you cannot buy a men's suit for under $500.00 that is not made in China. Can you buy a flat-screen television that is not made in China? How about a smartphone?
Let's focus on smartphones for a minute. The largest (and maybe the only) viable competitor to the iOS smartphone right now is the Android smartphone. Two of the largest makers of Android-based smartphones are Samsung and LG, followed by Motorola, HTC, and the rest of the gang. Here's a serious question: Which Android-based smartphones are NOT made in China?
Samsung and LG are Korean labels. A South Korean businessman recently told me that iPhones make up 26% of the South Korean smartphone market, while Android phones make up the other 74%, with the majority of those Android phones being Samsung. Are Samsung smartphones made in Korea? What about LG smartphones? Searching for the word "China" in their Wikipedia entries comes up with zero.
(Another big unanswered question: Can we assume correctly that working conditions in Korea are better than they are in China?)
And what about Nokia? Well, Nokia is a Finnish label. That's right, one of the most reliable names in the cellular phone business is headquartered in the tiny (but very advanced!) country of Finland. According to Wikipedia, two of Nokia's nine manufacturing facilities are in China. But Nokia phones don't run Android. They still run Symbian, though some ran Linux for a bit and they're all slated to run MS Phone 7 starting in late 2011.
One of Nokia's subsidiaries is a relatively unknown company called Vertu. Vertu makes "luxury" smartphones by hand, out of the finest materials, in its factory in England. The screen is a thin sheet of clear, transparent, single-crystal sapphire. Each key is individually machined from a chunk of sapphire. All of the apps are custom-written, and they run on Symbian. Okay, so this one counts as "not made in China," but you won't find very many Vertu phones on the street. They start at about US$5000.
Does that leave Samsung and LG as the only smartphone choices for the socially responsible consumer? (And, as it turns out, for the environmentally responsible consumer - both manufacturers have been recognized for their environment-friendly practices.)
LET'S BROADEN THE DISCUSSION: What about children's toys? Printed books? Flat-screen televisions? Stereos and home entertainment systems (even the ones with Japanese names)? Computer hardware? Dishes and cutlery? Automotive parts? Automotive accessories? Hand tools? Power tools? What can we buy today that is not made in China?
Please hit the Comment link and add to the discussion. Don't be scared off by the Captcha thingy or my comment-moderation policy. If you're not a spammer or a Net loon, your comment will be posted within a few hours.
Recent news articles have exposed the terrible, sometimes fatal, working conditions imposed on workers who assemble Apple's iPhones and iPads in China. These articles have implicated Foxconn and many other Apple contractors in China, who pay their workers horribly, force them to endure long hours working in dangerous and unhealthy conditions, and more or less treat them as disposable supplies, like paper towels.
Apple has yet to respond in a way acceptable to socially conscious consumers; however, Apple's products have enough going for them that consumers are still buying them. That may change, if Apple does not quickly show some sense of social responsibility. You read it here first, folks. But that's not the main thrust of this article.
Apple is not the only company to find itself in this predicament, with a popular and competitively priced product line, completely dependent on China for its manufacture. As I have said before, you cannot buy a small kitchen appliance right now that is not made in China. After this weekend, I will add that you cannot buy a men's suit for under $500.00 that is not made in China. Can you buy a flat-screen television that is not made in China? How about a smartphone?
Let's focus on smartphones for a minute. The largest (and maybe the only) viable competitor to the iOS smartphone right now is the Android smartphone. Two of the largest makers of Android-based smartphones are Samsung and LG, followed by Motorola, HTC, and the rest of the gang. Here's a serious question: Which Android-based smartphones are NOT made in China?
Samsung and LG are Korean labels. A South Korean businessman recently told me that iPhones make up 26% of the South Korean smartphone market, while Android phones make up the other 74%, with the majority of those Android phones being Samsung. Are Samsung smartphones made in Korea? What about LG smartphones? Searching for the word "China" in their Wikipedia entries comes up with zero.
(Another big unanswered question: Can we assume correctly that working conditions in Korea are better than they are in China?)
And what about Nokia? Well, Nokia is a Finnish label. That's right, one of the most reliable names in the cellular phone business is headquartered in the tiny (but very advanced!) country of Finland. According to Wikipedia, two of Nokia's nine manufacturing facilities are in China. But Nokia phones don't run Android. They still run Symbian, though some ran Linux for a bit and they're all slated to run MS Phone 7 starting in late 2011.
One of Nokia's subsidiaries is a relatively unknown company called Vertu. Vertu makes "luxury" smartphones by hand, out of the finest materials, in its factory in England. The screen is a thin sheet of clear, transparent, single-crystal sapphire. Each key is individually machined from a chunk of sapphire. All of the apps are custom-written, and they run on Symbian. Okay, so this one counts as "not made in China," but you won't find very many Vertu phones on the street. They start at about US$5000.
Does that leave Samsung and LG as the only smartphone choices for the socially responsible consumer? (And, as it turns out, for the environmentally responsible consumer - both manufacturers have been recognized for their environment-friendly practices.)
LET'S BROADEN THE DISCUSSION: What about children's toys? Printed books? Flat-screen televisions? Stereos and home entertainment systems (even the ones with Japanese names)? Computer hardware? Dishes and cutlery? Automotive parts? Automotive accessories? Hand tools? Power tools? What can we buy today that is not made in China?
Please hit the Comment link and add to the discussion. Don't be scared off by the Captcha thingy or my comment-moderation policy. If you're not a spammer or a Net loon, your comment will be posted within a few hours.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Flight Simulator Plus: Proof by repeated assertion
If you want to find out the truth about Flight Simulator Plus, you may be tempted to search Google using the search terms "Flight Simulator Plus scam". What you will end up with is hundreds of search-engine-optimized webpages proclaiming that FSP is not a scam. This is what's known as "proof by repeated assertion" - the idea that if you say something often enough, it becomes accepted as truth, even if it really isn't. Politicians and their parrots use this logical fallacy all the time.
Look closely at some of the webpages pointed to by your search. They all use the same language, often the same bullet points, and even the same poor English. That points to one of two possibilities: either one person wrote a template and all these people are copying it, or THE SAME PERSON (OR SMALL TEAM) WROTE ALL THESE WEBPAGES. I've written about this before.
A hundred webpages proclaiming that it's not a scam doesn't legitimize it. It's still a scam, and it always will be.
For the gentle, honest, rational truth, start here: http://wiki.flightgear.org/Flight_Simulator_Plus .
p.s. My reporting tools tell me that the purveyors of Flight Simulator Plus (or whatever it's called this week) have been reading these articles about their "product" at Zyzmog Galactic HQ.
Look closely at some of the webpages pointed to by your search. They all use the same language, often the same bullet points, and even the same poor English. That points to one of two possibilities: either one person wrote a template and all these people are copying it, or THE SAME PERSON (OR SMALL TEAM) WROTE ALL THESE WEBPAGES. I've written about this before.
A hundred webpages proclaiming that it's not a scam doesn't legitimize it. It's still a scam, and it always will be.
For the gentle, honest, rational truth, start here: http://wiki.flightgear.org/Flight_Simulator_Plus .
p.s. My reporting tools tell me that the purveyors of Flight Simulator Plus (or whatever it's called this week) have been reading these articles about their "product" at Zyzmog Galactic HQ.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Flight Simulator Plus: Don't Waste Your Money
Don't fall for the scam that is Flight Simulator Plus.
Flight Simulator Plus is just ProFlightSimulator in a new dress - identical to the old dress, except that the tags have been cut out of the collar and new tags sewn in.
And it's still a SCAM.
The scammers are learning, though: the webpage http://www.flightsimulatorplus.org isn't three miles long like its predecessors, full of breathless Ron-Popeil-worthy prose. It's much shorter, and includes a few photos and videos.
(Ah, but the original three-mile-long page is still there, along with sock puppet "Huge Miller." ("Huge"? What kind of name is that?) You can see it by clicking on the "Discount" link on the FSP main page. It's fun reading. Just don't take any of it seriously.)
I haven't watched the videos. But the photos? Six of them say they're copyrighted by FSP:
- One is a photo of a real Boeing 747, taking off into a real sunset.
- One is a photo of a real sunset under the wing of a real airliner, taken from about row 34, back in the cheap seats.
- One is a photo of three real F-18s, taken from the deck of a real aircraft carrier.
- One is either a screen shot of a WWII fighter simulation game, not FSP, or the picture from the box the WWII fighter sim game came in.
- Two are views of runways, one on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They're clearly taken from Google Maps, Google Earth, or Mapquest, and not from any flight simulator.
While the photo taken from the cheap seats could be a legitimate photo owned by the purveyors of FSP, I think that FSP ripped off all six photos from somewhere else, and their copyright notice is bogus.
The other photos are all screenshots from FlightGear, X Plane, or MS Flight Simulator X, and have been previously posted on the Web. If you do an image search for "FlightGear," you will find every one of them - and more. The FSP guys just ripped them off.
The program itself is a rip-off. FSP is a blatant copy of the free (and really, really good) flight simulator, FlightGear. Independent research has shown that they took all the FlightGear source code, and a lot of the copyrighted add-ons, edited them to try to hide the original authorship, repackaged the lot, and are selling it as their own work.
And they will rip you off, too. People who have bought it and then tried to return it under the warranty policy, have told their tales of woe here on Zyzmog Galactic HQ, the FlightGear forums, and elsewhere.
("They" remain carefully hidden, though. This version of the scam has no identifying information on the website at all. If that doesn't raise a red flag for you, the buyer, then you deserve to get scammed. NEVER buy anything online from a seller who isn't willing to reveal his or her true identity and contact information.)
Don't reward the scammers. Read everything that Zyzmog Galactic HQ has to say about this scam. Then go over to the FlightGear website, and download and enjoy The Real Thing. Or, if you can't stand to get something this good for free, and you're itching to spend real money, then buy XPlane or Microsoft Flight Simulator X instead. Both are very good, commercial flight simulators, and worth every penny. If you insist on buying FSP, then we'll be reading your regrets, here or on the FlightGear forums, in a little while.
But Flight Simulator Plus is a scam. Get it?
Postscript: You will find a lot of pages on the Web, insisting that FSP is not a scam. Go ahead and read a few of them. You will discover that they're all written by sock puppets, and most of them are poorly written. You will also find a lot of bogus "reviews" of FSP. They're all written by the same person (or persons), and posted under different names and using different URLs. For a scammer, URLs are cheap and disposable.
Postscript 2: I'm tickled that this article and its sequel are getting so many hits. I'm rather amused that so many of the hits come from Australia and New Zealand, whence the scam originates.
Flight Simulator Plus is just ProFlightSimulator in a new dress - identical to the old dress, except that the tags have been cut out of the collar and new tags sewn in.
And it's still a SCAM.
The scammers are learning, though: the webpage http://www.flightsimulatorplus.org isn't three miles long like its predecessors, full of breathless Ron-Popeil-worthy prose. It's much shorter, and includes a few photos and videos.
(Ah, but the original three-mile-long page is still there, along with sock puppet "Huge Miller." ("Huge"? What kind of name is that?) You can see it by clicking on the "Discount" link on the FSP main page. It's fun reading. Just don't take any of it seriously.)
I haven't watched the videos. But the photos? Six of them say they're copyrighted by FSP:
- One is a photo of a real Boeing 747, taking off into a real sunset.
- One is a photo of a real sunset under the wing of a real airliner, taken from about row 34, back in the cheap seats.
- One is a photo of three real F-18s, taken from the deck of a real aircraft carrier.
- One is either a screen shot of a WWII fighter simulation game, not FSP, or the picture from the box the WWII fighter sim game came in.
- Two are views of runways, one on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They're clearly taken from Google Maps, Google Earth, or Mapquest, and not from any flight simulator.
While the photo taken from the cheap seats could be a legitimate photo owned by the purveyors of FSP, I think that FSP ripped off all six photos from somewhere else, and their copyright notice is bogus.
The other photos are all screenshots from FlightGear, X Plane, or MS Flight Simulator X, and have been previously posted on the Web. If you do an image search for "FlightGear," you will find every one of them - and more. The FSP guys just ripped them off.
The program itself is a rip-off. FSP is a blatant copy of the free (and really, really good) flight simulator, FlightGear. Independent research has shown that they took all the FlightGear source code, and a lot of the copyrighted add-ons, edited them to try to hide the original authorship, repackaged the lot, and are selling it as their own work.
And they will rip you off, too. People who have bought it and then tried to return it under the warranty policy, have told their tales of woe here on Zyzmog Galactic HQ, the FlightGear forums, and elsewhere.
("They" remain carefully hidden, though. This version of the scam has no identifying information on the website at all. If that doesn't raise a red flag for you, the buyer, then you deserve to get scammed. NEVER buy anything online from a seller who isn't willing to reveal his or her true identity and contact information.)
Don't reward the scammers. Read everything that Zyzmog Galactic HQ has to say about this scam. Then go over to the FlightGear website, and download and enjoy The Real Thing. Or, if you can't stand to get something this good for free, and you're itching to spend real money, then buy XPlane or Microsoft Flight Simulator X instead. Both are very good, commercial flight simulators, and worth every penny. If you insist on buying FSP, then we'll be reading your regrets, here or on the FlightGear forums, in a little while.
But Flight Simulator Plus is a scam. Get it?
Postscript: You will find a lot of pages on the Web, insisting that FSP is not a scam. Go ahead and read a few of them. You will discover that they're all written by sock puppets, and most of them are poorly written. You will also find a lot of bogus "reviews" of FSP. They're all written by the same person (or persons), and posted under different names and using different URLs. For a scammer, URLs are cheap and disposable.
Postscript 2: I'm tickled that this article and its sequel are getting so many hits. I'm rather amused that so many of the hits come from Australia and New Zealand, whence the scam originates.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Word peeve: "Fraught"
"Fraught" is another perfectly good word that's being horribly abused.
Classical literature is full of "fraught." You may recall reading phrases which described a situation, person, or thing as:
- fraught with danger
- fraught with portent
- fraught with misgivings
- fraught with significance
Notice that, in classical literature, the object is always "fraught with something." It's never just "fraught." Twentieth-century journalists who dared to use this word followed the rule, and made sure that something that was fraught, was fraught with something else.
Now, in the 21st century, we find bloggers and amateur journalists (and pseudo-experts getting their fifteen minutes of fame on Headline News) using "fraught" all by itself, with no modifiers. That's wrong, and here's why.
"Fraught" is another way of saying "freighted." Think of loading a cargo ship or a train. Suitable synonyms for "fraught" or "freighted" are:
- "packed"
- "weighed down"
- "loaded"
- "laden"
- "full of" (for "fraught with")
That next-to-last one, "laden," is a good one. It's a snooty version of "loaded," just like "fraught" is a snooty version of "freighted."
If you want to use "fraught" in a sentence, then write it down, and then mentally substitute the word "loaded" and reread the sentence. If it sounds okay, then I guess you can use "fraught." On the other hand, if it sounds okay, why not just erase "fraught" and use "loaded?" Or "laden," if you want to sound snooty.
UPDATE: No, don't use "loaded." "Loaded" has a secondary meaning which could accidentally legitimize "fraught." Instead, substitute "full" for "fraught." "Full" does a better job of exposing misuse of "fraught."
And do you think I should rewrite that second paragraph to say that "classical literature is fraught with 'fraught'"?
UPDATE THE SECOND: I am aware that the dictionary gives a definition for standalone fraught as "marked by or causing distress," to which I say "pah." You can find a better word to use than "fraught." Leave "fraught" for the same lawyers that say "egregious."
Classical literature is full of "fraught." You may recall reading phrases which described a situation, person, or thing as:
- fraught with danger
- fraught with portent
- fraught with misgivings
- fraught with significance
Notice that, in classical literature, the object is always "fraught with something." It's never just "fraught." Twentieth-century journalists who dared to use this word followed the rule, and made sure that something that was fraught, was fraught with something else.
Now, in the 21st century, we find bloggers and amateur journalists (and pseudo-experts getting their fifteen minutes of fame on Headline News) using "fraught" all by itself, with no modifiers. That's wrong, and here's why.
"Fraught" is another way of saying "freighted." Think of loading a cargo ship or a train. Suitable synonyms for "fraught" or "freighted" are:
- "packed"
- "weighed down"
- "loaded"
- "laden"
- "full of" (for "fraught with")
That next-to-last one, "laden," is a good one. It's a snooty version of "loaded," just like "fraught" is a snooty version of "freighted."
If you want to use "fraught" in a sentence, then write it down, and then mentally substitute the word "loaded" and reread the sentence. If it sounds okay, then I guess you can use "fraught." On the other hand, if it sounds okay, why not just erase "fraught" and use "loaded?" Or "laden," if you want to sound snooty.
UPDATE: No, don't use "loaded." "Loaded" has a secondary meaning which could accidentally legitimize "fraught." Instead, substitute "full" for "fraught." "Full" does a better job of exposing misuse of "fraught."
And do you think I should rewrite that second paragraph to say that "classical literature is fraught with 'fraught'"?
UPDATE THE SECOND: I am aware that the dictionary gives a definition for standalone fraught as "marked by or causing distress," to which I say "pah." You can find a better word to use than "fraught." Leave "fraught" for the same lawyers that say "egregious."
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