SaBo7Ge
join:2003-03-12
US | What to make of it
Considering all the slow days and weird topics that pop up on ocassion I'm kinda unsure whether to call this one a joke or real.. |
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bistro777
Donuts-Is There Anything They Can't Do?
Premium
join:2002-02-07
Englewood, CO | An inspiring story...
...thanks, BBR
"No man made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." - - Edmund Burke |
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Ryan F
Take Back The Web
Premium
join:2002-10-18
Alexandria, VA | Laonux?
Behold the power of open source. |
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mrherzog
join:2001-05-06
Coquitlam, BC | Sun Spots
I hope they haven't forgotten the special UPS for when them solar flares roar. Wouldn't want their sun powered pc's to fail. |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| reply to Ryan F
Re: Laonux?
Indeed! |
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sorne guy
@milwwi.ameritech | reply to mrherzog
Re: Sun Spots
they always have son power
make your kid pedal so you can get that email |
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Hangmn
Don't Fight It...It's Inevitable
Premium
join:2000-04-08
Philadelphia, PA
| Hmmmm Suspect.....
Let's see...introduce technology to a third world country.
Let them get proficient.
Future off-shoring site?
I'd say this is an investment to futher deplete AMERICAN tech jobs. If I had to sow/reap daily to feed my family and someone then offered me a 9k a year job in the support industry I think I would hop right on board.
Call me paranoid but I DO NOT see this as philanthropic, rather as a farming of future cheap tech labor. |
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sorne guy
@milwwi.ameritech | or new places to spam from
maybe they'll do it for us in return after all our jobs leave and we become subsistence farmers |
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cbrigante2
Cubs 20??
Premium
join:2002-11-22
North Aurora, IL
| Pedal Power
It's only a matter of time before Bill Gates and his wife offer free Windows pcs to run on pedal power as well. There are 4 steps you can take to protect your pc.
1. Install a firewall
2. Install a anti-virus program
3. Install all critical windows updates
4. STOP PEDDLING!!!! |
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elias
Premium,VIP
join:2000-07-24
Miami, FL
clubs:  |  Waste of Time & Money
I think it's ridiculous that they will have wifi, broadband, and computers before running water and electricity.
-- Elias |
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nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD | good thing....
...they don't have Verizon, or they still wouldn't have an internet connection. And of course, verizon would have sued to stop the current service from being provided, claiming it as "unfair, subsidized competition".;) |
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bistro777
Donuts-Is There Anything They Can't Do?
Premium
join:2002-02-07
Englewood, CO
| reply to Hangmn
Re: Hmmmm Suspect.....
I always ready your posts with interest, but today I must disagree with your sentiments. (Or “sediments” if you’ve been drinking red wine today.) 
C’mon – we’re talking about the Plain of Jars in Laos, an area we once bombed back into the Stone Age. You surely don't mean we should keep them there, right? If unexposed to 21st century basics like email or the Web - or, by extension, education, communication and commerce - what kind of message are we sending? And where should we draw the line - maybe stop 'em at electicity or indoor plumbing?
The Jhai Foundation is involved in much more than pedal-driven WiFi - - things such as medical supplies, medical training, children's schools and education, and sanitation in a region where Jhai claims the budget for local hospitals is $.50/person/year.
Should Laos' next generation be denied hope because they one day may compete with Americans in a global economy? W. Clement Stone wrote “Hope is the magic ingredient.” Should we take away theirs?
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - - Margaret Mead |
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outspoken72
An Irish Jayhawk
Premium
join:2000-10-03
| put it in order
must be a bitch to play Counter-Strike on that network!!!
but seriously....wi-fi before a sewer system or a school system...or sanitary living conditions...
if this dude wants to reconcile his Kharma debt...
send food...clothing...some lumber...
nice priorities. |
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sorne guy
@milwwi.ameritech | reply to bistro777
Re: Hmmmm Suspect.....
most of their "next generation" lives here in the USA
there is still a standing invitation for the rest to come here, and they can have all the electricity and plumbing they can handle |
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blueeyesm
join:2003-09-05
Waterloo, ON
 ·Rogers Hi-Speed
| reply to mrherzog
Re: Sun Spots
said by mrherzog  :
I hope they haven't forgotten the special UPS for when them solar flares roar. Wouldn't want their sun powered pc's to fail.
That's ok - they'll just use Sun microcomputers .. heheh... and SunOS....
 |
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blueeyesm
join:2003-09-05
Waterloo, ON | reply to outspoken72
Re: put it in order
I agree - 'karmic debt' my eye. |
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bistro777
Donuts-Is There Anything They Can't Do?
Premium
join:2002-02-07
Englewood, CO
| reply to sorne guy
Re: Hmmmm Suspect.....
Well, there are still some left that haven’t yet “disappeared in the killing fields” or been wiped-out by chemical (gas) attacks for supporting the US during the Viet Nam War: But out of a estimated 3,000,000 prewar Hmong population less than 200,000 made it to safety.
Laos' 2003 population = 5.9 million; per capita income = $320. And Laotians ranks about 25th on the “US immigration” chart" – approx. 171k - or less than 1% of the US population.
Following the Vietnam War, certain individuals from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos were paroled into the United States and have remained in an indefinite immigration status since. (Hmong and Laotian refugees who supported the US during the Viet Nam war were eligible to become citizens of the US without onerous requirements, but this eleibility expired in 2001.) Subsequently, Section 586 of Public Law 106-429, Adjustment of Status for Certain Nationals of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, provided for permanent immigration benefits to 5,000 eligible individuals from those three countries.
More than you wanted/needed to know, I’m sure, but escaping from Laos and making one’s way to the US is a bit harder than from, say, Cuba – and look how few of them make it over these days…
Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. |
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outspoken72
An Irish Jayhawk
Premium
join:2000-10-03 | reply to blueeyesm
Re: put it in order
freaking bleeding heart liberals. you did your J-O-B. |
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Hangmn
Don't Fight It...It's Inevitable
Premium
join:2000-04-08
Philadelphia, PA
1 edit | reply to bistro777
Re: Hmmmm Suspect.....
A true global economy would imply wage and labor standards. Of which there are none. How can we "compete" if my job sells over seas for a dollar a day? I am not about excluding anyone, I am however about protecting my home, my family, my job and my interests. I have a responsibility to myself and my HOMELAND first. If a country's warlords squander world help to futher themselves and their people suffer because of it how is that my or any other American's problem?
Oh and if you want to see poverty up close and personal? Take a tour of the Apalachian mountains. |
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russotto
join:2000-10-05
Collegeville, PA
| Da Big Picture
You guys are all missing the real benefits of this thing. They're trying to attract civic-minded volunteers from the US and other well-off countries, right?
Recruiter: How would you like to spend a few months in Cambodia and Laos, building power plants, water purification systems, dams, and the like?
Prospect: Sounds very noble, but isn't living there a little primitive. No running water, right?
Recruiter: Well, no.
Prospect: No air conditioning
Recruiter: Nope.
Prospect: And no TV
Recruiter: Definitely not.
Prospect: Phones?
Recruiter: Sorry.
Prospect: No text messaging.
Recruiter: No.
Prospect: So I'm going to be living in a foreign country, where I don't know the language, completely cut off from the rest of the world, without power or running water?
Recruiter: Well, not quite. You'll still have email.
Prospect: Oh, that's different! Sign me up! |
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