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[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

yeah... there's a small amount of basic facts one needs to be able to construct logical thoughts or find their way around. We're a hunter-gatherer species - our brains are tuned for this sort of thing. Most societies have an expectation of a minimum set of General Knowledge and it isn't looking good in the US at least.

"Where do I live?" ... is really the question those California students were implicitly asked and they failed. I, on the other hand fail when asked about, say, Chinese provinces or today's version of the Baltic states. I still accidentally say "Soviet Union" and "Czechoslovakia". However... people in the US *should* be able to this well at least: http://xkcd.com/850/ (done by real Americans though obviously in a select minority).

The problem with youth today is that we are remembering the more recent, popular and less long term stuff so we can converse with our peers. There is nothing wrong with that, but given how fast information changes today, these recent-popular-less-long-term stuff are just going to make us look like fools in the far future.

What is worse is that "general knowledge" is being degraded and derided as a "need not know because it isn't related to our line of work"; there isn't an incentive to read and know anymore.

There's also this: http://xkcd.com/503/

However... with the recent illumination that ~20% of the US and Russian populations think the Sun goes around the Earth (geocentric model)..... we're doomed, I say.

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Eh. That means 80% don't. It's better than it was a few centuries ago.

Well guess what, with the attitude towards knowledge like that, it is a cause for history to repeat itself :

Internet-music firm Pandora files for IPO

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Pandora Media Inc., which provides an online service to match music lovers with new options to match their tastes, on Friday filed papers to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering of stock.

Pandora, which says it has “pioneered a new form of radio,” offers an Internet service that creates playlists of songs based on user feedback. The Oakland, Calif.-based company said it now has more than 80 million registered users, compared to just over 20 million at the end of 2009, and “a more than 50% share of all Internet radio listening time among the top 20 stations and networks in the United States.”

Pandora is based on the Music Genome Project, which deconstructs songs according to different attributes, using the analysis of music experts and computer algorithms.

The Music Genome Project now contains more than 800,000 songs from more than 80,000 artists, according to Pandora.

Pandora makes its service available via mobile-phone apps and electronic devices, and it has formed partnerships with car makers including Ford Motor Co. (F 16.38, +0.43, +2.70%) to integrate the service into car sound systems.

The Pandora service is made available free of charge to users, and the company said it generates revenue “primarily from advertising.”

For the nine months ended in October of last year, Pandora saw a net loss of $328,000, compared to a loss of $18.6 million in the same period during the prior year.

The company had $90.1 million in revenue during the first nine months of 2010, compared to $31.4 million in the same period during the prior year. Advertising accounted for roughly 86% of its revenue in the first nine months of 2010, while subscription services and other sources accounted for 13.6%.

Meanwhile the number of listener hours on the service rose to 2.6 billion, from 1.4 billion. Pandora had $40.8 million in cash and equivalents as of the end of October 2010.

Pandora said it will use proceeds of the IPO to pay dividends on preferred stock, and for general purposes and possible investments and acquisitions.

As of Jan. 31, Pandora said it had 295 employees.

I was right. Web 2.0 bubble. Now the signs are starting to show, how many have actually seen it?

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Vexx

However... with the recent illumination that ~20% of the US and Russian populations think the Sun goes around the Earth (geocentric model)..... we're doomed, I say.

If they got any power...
Wondering who much time before the GOP start making pub toward that spectrum of the electors.

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

The problem with youth today is that we are remembering the more recent, popular and less long term stuff so we can converse with our peers. There is nothing wrong with that, but given how fast information changes today, these recent-popular-less-long-term stuff are just going to make us look like fools in the far future.

What is worse is that "general knowledge" is being degraded and derided as a "need not know because it isn't related to our line of work"; there isn't an incentive to read and know anymore.





Well guess what, with the attitude towards knowledge like that, it is a cause for history to repeat itself :

Internet-music firm Pandora files for IPO

What does my lack of alarmism have to do with the web 2.0 bubble?

We are, in fact, progressing. We just aren't as far as we'd like. Big deal.

[flying ^]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

I was right. Web 2.0 bubble. Now the signs are starting to show, how many have actually seen it?

it's not gonna be as bad as web 1.0... right?

and i can't imagine sites like facebook going kaput. I haven't jumped thje facebook wagon craze but most of my friends did.


btw, does Stage6.com count as web 2.0? I used to stream&download hi-quality anime and other shows as early as 2006 using my lowly Pentium 700mhz Celeron. I don't even think youtube circa 2011 surpassed stage6 quality imo.

[ganbaru]

Tehran will bar opposition rally (again)
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...71B2IY20110212

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by flying ^

it's not gonna be as bad as web 1.0... right?

and i can't imagine sites like facebook going kaput. I haven't jumped thje facebook wagon craze but most of my friends did.


btw, does Stage6.com count as web 2.0? I used to stream&download hi-quality anime and other shows as early as 2006 using my lowly Pentium 700mhz Celeron. I don't even think youtube circa 2011 surpassed stage6 quality imo.

It should be. If you take a look at history's crashes (read the book the Elliot Wave Principle by Robert Precter for the graphs), everytime there is a downturn, the dip goes below the previous one. This is due to inflation, leverage and overextension.

Basically the dotcom bubble is simply webowners wrangling to to set up their site space as businesses, but the thing is that the only thing they offer are nothing more than advertising space. Using the concept of supply and demand, the increase in the supply of available and monitored webspace that outshoots demand will result in a fall in prices. So the average revenue falls below average total cost, resulting in many companies suffering losses.

This in turn, leads to the companies shutting down, and the thing is, not all the investors get their money back because whatever that is left will always go to creditors first, then preferred stockholders, then common shareholders (investors). As less firms are still in business, supply decreases and prices go back to normal profits.

What the heck, google for "firm and industry diagram". I think they will explain better than I do.

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

What does my lack of alarmism have to do with the web 2.0 bubble?

We are, in fact, progressing. We just aren't as far as we'd like. Big deal.

I am just quoting the fact that when there is a new technology hype, there are always greedy people who come in to give things monetary value. Then there are the hopefuls who come into the stock market to hope and make some fast cash.

From the concept of finite money supply, this results in the money flowing towards that particular sector, resulting in high prices AND inflation at the same time.

In a sense, we are progressing. But definitely not in mental functionality.

[Anh_Minh]

I'm still not sure what you're getting at. Or rather, how you got there from my remark that 80% of the population of US or Russia don't, in fact, subscribe to the geocentric model.

My point was that there's always been a sizable portion of the population that was ignorant. We've managed in spite of it. And now? Well, more people know how to read than even a century ago. So what if they use that ability to read tabloids rather than geography textbooks? It's still a progress.

And yes, there's still a sucker born every minute. It doesn't spell "doom", but "business as usual".

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

I'm still not sure what you're getting at. Or rather, how you got there from my remark that 80% of the population of US or Russia don't, in fact, subscribe to the geocentric model.

My point was that there's always been a sizable portion of the population that was ignorant. We've managed in spite of it. And now? Well, more people know how to read than even a century ago. So what if they use that ability to read tabloids rather than geography textbooks? It's still a progress.

And yes, there's still a sucker born every minute. It doesn't spell "doom", but "business as usual".

Hmm. I was actually subscribing to the fact that "majority wins", and the stupid always control and downtrod the sensible.

As population increases, the number of sucks still increase. And that is what is going to doom us all one day, rather than "business as usual". And being sensible doesn't mean that one will not get caught in the crossfire between two factions of self-serving stupids.

[Ithekro]

I was in that Dot.gone times. Lost my job in 2000 because the company folded rather than having to quit or get fired.

[JMvS]

Swiss voters stick to their gun tradition

Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga says Switzerland remains a safe country despite the rejection of a proposal to restrict access to firearms.

Just over 56 per cent of voters on Sunday threw out a proposal by an alliance of non-governmental groups and centre-left parties to ban army-issue firearms from the home and set up a central arms register in a bid to curb gun violence.

[...]

The outcome of Sunday's nationwide ballot showed considerable differences between the different language regions and between urban and rural regions.

“Conservative and rural regions in German-speaking Switzerland together with Italian-speaking Ticino outvoted French-speaking western Switzerland,” said political scientist Claude Longchamp on public television.

Only six out of 26 cantons, notably in the west of the country and in urban regions including Geneva, Zurich and Basel approved the anti-gun initiative.

Geneva recorded a yes majority of about 61 per cent. However, rural cantons, particularly in central and eastern Switzerland, voted up to 72 per cent against.

Turnout was comparatively high with 49 per cent.

I must say I am quite relieved about this result.

[Ithekro]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41564012...ideastn_africa

Seems Libya's leader is worried after teh whole revolt in Egypt. Call for peacful Palestinian protest on Isreali borders seems like a distraction rather than a call for something real.

Related news: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41562603...ideastn_africa

The instability in Egypt holds off peace talks and election for Palestine until people figure out what kind of governement Egypt will have. However Palestine is due to become a country in September regardless of outcome.

[SaintessHeart]

This is bloody retarded :

Malaysia warns Muslims of Valentine's Day 'trap'

Malaysia has stepped up a campaign to stop Muslims celebrating Valentine's Day - labelling it a "trap" that could encourage immoral behaviour.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Monday's celebration of romantic love was "not suitable" for Muslims.

Several Malaysian states are planning to carry out checks on hotels to stop young couples having premarital sex.

The anti-Valentine's Day campaign by the country's Islamic authorities goes back to a fatwa issued in 2005.

Leaflets have been distributed to Muslim university students urging them to avoid Monday's celebration.

The government-run Department of Islamic Development, which handles religious policies, has launched a publicity campaign called "Mind the Valentine's Day Trap".

Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, the department's chief, told state media: "In reality, as well as historically, the celebration of Valentine's Day is synonymous with vice activities.

"Islam would reject anything, even from the Eastern culture, if it contravenes the Islamic teachings."

He said Islam had never rejected positive things from the West, noting that it had embraced Mother's and Father's Day.

But not all Malaysian Muslims agree with the campaign, with some saying Valentine's Day is harmless.

Other faiths are not affected by the boycott in a country where Muslims make up nearly two-thirds of the 28 million population.

Celebrating public holidays increase consumer index and boosts the economy through domestic consumption.

With the country close to running a sovereign debt, shouldn't the government at least do something to their economy?

[Decagon]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

This is bloody retarded :

Malaysia warns Muslims of Valentine's Day 'trap'



Celebrating public holidays increase consumer index and boosts the economy through domestic consumption.

With the country close to running a sovereign debt, shouldn't the government at least do something to their economy?

To be fair, the people who intended to go to hotels will probably go regardless, and various outlets the government is paying to spread this PSA will probably get a mid-winter boost.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Decagon

To be fair, the people who intended to go to hotels will probably go regardless, and various outlets the government is paying to spread this PSA will probably get a mid-winter boost.

I am more inclined to think they will cross the causeway, do their deeds, then go back the next day.

Well.....so much for the Web business bubble again :

Zynga in $250 million fundraising talks: WSJ

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Zynga Inc. is in talks that could lead to the social-gaming firm raising around $250 million in new funds, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Any such deal could value the firm at between $7 billion and $9 billion, according to the report. A decision to raise fresh funding may not be made for weeks and might not happen, the report added.

And here is an interesting take on the issue by 2 commentors :

Funny how they come to these valuations.

Why does zygna need any more capital? They claim to be profitable in a fast growing, high margin business.

So the founders and early investors can cash out.

Oh well,

[ganbaru]

Italian women protest over Berlusconi sex scandal
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNew...71C0QX20110213

That's to wondering how he managed to get elected, owning a big part of the media did help thought...

[MitsubishiZero]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

This is bloody retarded :

Malaysia warns Muslims of Valentine's Day 'trap'



Celebrating public holidays increase consumer index and boosts the economy through domestic consumption.

With the country close to running a sovereign debt, shouldn't the government at least do something to their economy?

The power of religion, and the tragedy of religion.

It's nice I am not in any of those kinds of puddles.

[Simon]

China overtakes Japan as world's second-biggest economy

Putting things in perspective though, the article says per-capita GDP in Japan is still nines time that of China.


EDIT: slowpoke.jpg

[ganbaru]

New York police accuse graffiti artist of stabbing rampage that kills four
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1905322/

[Tom Bombadil]

Originally Posted by Simon

China overtakes Japan as world's second-biggest economy

Putting things in perspective though, the article says per-capita GDP in Japan is still nines time that of China.

Which is what really matters from a person's point of view.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

New York police accuse graffiti artist of stabbing rampage that kills four
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1905322/

"Graffiti artist" is misleading. A better description for the guy is "psycho stalker drug user." This was big news in NYC during the weekend, and from what I've read this guy stalked a girl he may or may not have had a one-night-stand with, has a shrine to her in his drug den, killed her and her mother, killed some guy while jacking his car, ran over an old guy, and then stabbed another while running from the cops on the subway. No need to say he was "accused" of anything, because he was caught redhanded.