5126
DnD Central / Re: Internet Connection (St.poll #3)
When they drop you there, for how long do they keep it so until you get the speed up again without asking?
128kbps? Well, at least it's better than the 64kbps to which they drop mine.
Messages
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Messages - ersi
5127
DnD Central / Re: Maps-Maps-Maps! ?
Wow!..
So? That's what you needed?
Btw, on my smartphone I have the version of Google Maps that enables saving for offline. I stopped updating stuff in the phone at the right time. Want to buy? LG P500
5128
Browsers & Technology / Re: XP after XP
I've never heard of a lifetime warranty on hardware?It was a paid thing.
I have a separate "terms" and a "club card".
Is it your lifetime or the netbook's lifetime?
Seriously, the warranty makes no sense. It's only understandable if there was no way to make the purchase without the unnecessary warranty.
The fact remains that Windows doesn't have a very long life cycle on such a machine and is doomed to be replaced. You can make it dual-boot to keep Windows for sentimental or whatever reasons, but this means you have to be more careful when installing Linux.
5129
Browsers & Technology / Re: The best versions of Opera and Firefox probably came out in 2009 at the latest
Is Seamonkey still being worked on?
You can follow the project news http://www.seamonkey-project.org/news-atom
The rate of releases appears to roughly match the rate of Firefox releases, even though Seamonkey still keeps to the old version numbering. The Mozilla engine in Seamonkey is up-to-date. The head developer shows no signs of relenting.
5130
DnD Central / Re: Maps-Maps-Maps! ?
In any case, I misinterpreted the OP. Turns out I have no idea what the question is.Yes, ok, thanks, but I prefer physical maps to those "contour" ones you've shown.
No, we didn't misinterpret. It's just that the traps of Russian Engrish are tough. "Physical map" means geological map, with heights and depths and such, good for trekking. He still means a software solution. The best bet is the satellite view of Google Earth or equivalent.
This whole issue is not a debate but a software/web resource question. It belongs properly to the software board, if I may be so pedantic today.
5131
DnD Central / Re: Maps-Maps-Maps! ?
For me, search for Great Britain led to this link http://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/62149If you're not aware of it, check http://www.openstreetmap.org/There's no Great Britain there at all!
It's all there. Not as slick and slippery as in Google Maps, but it's there.
5132
DnD Central / Re: Maps-Maps-Maps! ?
As to uptodate navigation apps, what's wrong with Google Maps or Bing Maps that should come out of the box on all or nearly all mobile devices? Don't they do the job just about anywhere?
I have a small collection of maps and atlases myself, unfortunately none really historical, except some reprints of old maps. Sometimes I admire this site http://www.davidrumsey.com/ Most of my collection consists of modern maps of places I visited or planned to visit, ordinary tourist leftovers.
I know about the Openstreetmap too. I have never installed a Google Earth. Instead I have installed Marble http://marble.kde.org/maps.php It includes Openstreetmap in addition to other goodies.
5133
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
Anyway, are you saying that the Ukraine would be part of e.g. Riga's** hinterland or that it's more likely the grain came from Poland?
* That'd roughly be from the 16th century onward.
** I realize that's Latvia.
If you talk about 16th century and prior, then we (Estonia and Latvia) were a colony/province of Germany/Sweden. Consequently, expect us to be exploited in every nasty way. However, from 16th to 18th century we had a near-constant period of wars, so at times during this era we'd either be exploited to starvation or nothing would be exported because there's nothing to export and it was not safe.
From 18th century onwards, we (Estonia and Latvia) were a province of Russia. Consequently, as long as Russia lacked a safe port/passage in the Black Sea, South Russian/Ukrainian grain would very likely be exported through Estonian and Latvian ports, including Riga. In this sense the whole Russian empire was our hinterland. The Baltic provinces, particularly Finland, represented a kind of civilised West in miniature within the borders of Russian empire.
5134
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
Estonia and Latvia have always been fish exporters, not importers. Well, we import salmon, so call us fish traders. But grain trade should be negligible, at least from here in your direction.Frenzie describes a very intensive farming environment, something that my country is experiencing only in the few most recent decades.
I find that somewhat surprising. If memory doesn't betray me, for many centuries we were exporting primarily herring and cheese to the neighborhood of Latvia and Estonia in exchange for large quantities of grain.
And weren't the vast Eastern European grain fields instrumental in Hitler's autarky plans?
That be Ukraine. Ukraine's connection with the Baltic Sea is historically limited and tangential.
You know, you can make a stark contrast between Netherlands and Belgium. Please understand that ethnic, cultural, linguistic, historical, geological, environmental, etc. differences in the expanse between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea are even bigger.
5135
DnD Central / Re: The Problem with Buddhism
I find it absolutely common, not to say trivial, that any human ideology displays a near-infinite spectrum of colours internally. Still, externally, it can be contrasted with other ideologies. As long as distinguishable, it's having an impact and receiving influences. As soon as no longer distinguishable, it can be said to have either become standard or assimilated into the mainstream.
These metamorphoses reflect the nature of the human mind itself, but if the people feel certain continuity in this, the ideology has succeeded in a very important task, providing cohesion. It becomes a tradition.
Of course I maintain that Buddhism is religion. I also maintain that religion or spirituality contains a philosophy. Every religion is expressible as a philosophy, a world view. The religious or spiritual philosophy would be a theology, if it's about the relationship of gods and humans; about why we exist, not merely about that we evidently exist; about suffering and liberation, not merely speculations about the wrong and right way, if there are those. And inasmuch as the right way can be followed, either by means of rituals or other disciplines, spirituality has its aspect of science too. Practical science is a way of life.
Buddhism has all that. In addition, it also has interesting history. Despite Siddhartha's alleged anti-asceticism by the time of enlightenment, a disciple of his founded monasticism organised around elaborate rituals and formalised hierarchies, which is a regular feature in several important Buddhist cultures, such as Tibetan, Thai, and Vietnamese. Apparently Siddhartha himself invented sermoning to congregations, and possibly also proselytising.
According to some historians, the first Buddhist empire - India under Ashoka - send apostles in every direction, which should account for Buddhism everywhere around India, as far as Mongolia and Japan. However, over centuries, the original Vedic religion steadily regained ground from Buddhism in India, where it's now a negligible minority sect.
So, you can find everything in it you want, and this is how it should be. It's not religion otherwise. But next time I will write what is missing in it for me.
5136
DnD Central / Re: The Death Penalty
Irreversible? You mean keep the death penalty, but along with each such judgement also execute the judges?
I'm against the death penalty under any circumstances. The major problem with it is that people have been executed who were later found to have been innocent.
Exactly. We cannot rule out errors, human or not, therefore no punishment should be irreversible.
5137
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
Says the guy who prefers cities in any case. Seriously.
Farmers cannot be called "nature-driven people", they are cultivating the land, causing less 'nature' rather than more. You could make the case that hunter-gatherers are nature-driven people, but they have been a tiny minority for millennia.
Frenzie describes a very intensive farming environment, something that my country is experiencing only in the few most recent decades. Until this decade, we always had massive forests. According to some conjecture, part of the reason why Estonia and Finland were colonised was deforestation in Europe, but by that time the people here were already Viking-style herders and farmers. So, farmers and forest can survive side by side, if human needs are managed moderately.
It's not easy to put these things in English, because it's a foreign language to all of us. Of course farmers mould landscape, but there are degrees to it. Cityscape is not really landscape any more; it's more like moonscape. In comparison, farmscape is still close enough to human-less nature. Even though by "nature" I never meant human-less nature, but allowed for an acceptable degree of human landscape-shaping.
According to some sociologist (I can name him if you want), there can be distinguished these kinds of national temperaments corresponding to life environment:
- Forest people
- Mountain people
- Sea people
- Grassland people
Considering our current topic, we can add city people. Now, Jax, which kind of these people is or is not nature driven? All people mould their environment to some extent, but which kind of people absolutely depend on concretely non-natural environment, if this indeed be a particular distinct temperament?
These temperaments are not necessarily tied to ethnicity, even though the author spoke about them this way. They can be considered individual psychological preferences, so feel free to identify your own.
Now, to talk about farming as non-natural as if this were an argument to favour urbanisation, this is also rather Orwellian...
5138
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
As to employment, I disagree with that too. People can work within their own farms, officially unemployed, but having the happiest of lives. No statistics can reflect this, never did, never will. In fact, the projection that rural lifestyle will recede, indicates that nature-driven people - which to me means everyone worth to be called human - will become unhappier.
Brainwashing and doublespeak remain forever condemnable, even when people willingly delude themselves and each other.
5139
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
It is expounded in the paragraph, as well as the report itself:Yes, the unemployed in the West appear to be more wealthy and better educated. I still strongly disagree they are individually more empowered as a result. The forced use of new communications is not empowering anyone either. The wide population of video game addicts is not indicative of empowerment...Quotepoverty reduction, growth of the global middle class, greater educational attainment, widespread use of new communications and manufacturing technologies, and health-care advances
All of these are real, and easy to document. The growth of a global middle class is indeed a megatrend (though I dislike that word, well blame Naisbitt).
As the world goes on, everything makes less sense. This is crucially due to increasing use of Orwellian language, which is an undeniable megatrend.
5140
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
Individual Empowerment: Where did they detect this? A megatrend no less??!! Depends on their definition, I suppose. If loosening employment laws, enabling mass layoffs, is the definition of individual empowerment, then I have to agree.
Diffusion of Power: Multipolar world? If anything, the world has been clearly unipolar since the end of the Cold War. Without any gamechanger, this is how it will remain in 2030 too.
Etc. The text of some ordinary net commentators is more insightful than the report of this panel of experts.
5141
Browsers & Technology / Re: General Unix/Linux Thread
Canaima is Venezuelan national OS, a Debian modified to suit the institutions and the people of the country. Or so the website says.
Somebody mentioned a national OS of China. Here about this one too https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylin_%28operating_system%29
5142
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
I'd like very much to find an equivalent study that compares 1850 and the present. Then, and only then, I'll have any optimism.
I tend to suspect that the current picture in Europe may turn out to be surprisingly bright. This due to the fact that European industries have turned to ravage the rest of the world. I.e. the situation at home looks optimistic, but deceptively so. Nobody is going to give a detailed and balanced report on this. The interested parties are keen to undermine any objectivity in such data.
5143
Forum Administration / Re: Attracting new members
And I take it that the answer to some kind of blogging pages is no.
Not as a general feature, no. I might (possibly, maybe) be able to accommodate a few individuals if they'd really like to use thedndsanctuary.eu/ersi, but not as a means of attracting people.
Nah, I don't want to be individually accommodated. I really meant it as a means of attracting people in general - with features that I'd personally appreciate. Maybe my idea will sound more attractive at some other time...
Btw, keeping the size at 1GB sounds like a lot of maintenance work, but looks like you already have the tools at hand. I'm not at the device where I could measure the size of my personal email correspondence, but I'm sure it's 1GB at least. Sure, sound and video file attachments account for some weight lately...
5144
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
Did you know that archeology is mostly digging up what people of old, even pre-industrial times, dumped?
I fail to see why you would construe the meaning of the word the way you did. Except to disagree just for the sake of disagreement.
You seem to be quite insistent that in a time when all they threw away was food waste, broken pots, and the like, while metal was properly recycled, said dump sites were a better place to look for metals than mines.
If metals were properly recycled back then, archeologists would not be finding metal objects, glass, etc. from ancient ages. True, those objects were not dumped at garbage heaps the way they are now. In those times, such objects were lost either accidentally or in disasters. Still, buried treasures from old times are non-different from current industrial dumping sites given how you presented your argument: You can mine them for metals and minerals easier than mines. (Incidentally, this illustrates my general view that waste in large scale is a recent phenomenon, while recycling has, in contrast, been largely forgotten and is only being relearned - poorly.)
Also, the way I am talking about this stems from my view towards wealth and money in general: Money (gems and precious metals in old times) is just a detour to the primary needs, which are food and clothes. So, even though this must seem exaggerated to you, I tend to regard gems and precious metals as "dump" already before they are dumped. That's what I meant by "dumped".
Cognitive dissonance, sorry about it, but happens every day.
5145
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
No. Ever since dumping began. Dumping anything, produced in whatever manner.Common sense says this was so all along.
Even before anything was mined at all?
Considering that dumping is post-industrial revolution, I fail to see any significant disagreement.
Did you know that archeology is mostly digging up what people of old, even pre-industrial times, dumped?
I fail to see why you would construe the meaning of the word the way you did. Except to disagree just for the sake of disagreement.
Btw, I agree with your views on reforestation. Forest catches up on desolate ground amazingly fast and cultured forest can also turn into real forest in a matter of a few decades. I have seen it happen. And yes, reforestation would be the solution. However, it would be a solution if it would be actually done. The actual trend in the world is increasing deforestation, particularly visible around the equator - and those forests don't catch up as fast by themselves the way temperate forests do, so I have been told.
As it is, all those so-called solutions would be a means to decelerate the destruction - which is happening only if you believe the hype - rather than repairing and healing nature, which would be the actual solution.
5146
Forum Administration / Re: Attracting new members
1GB is quite a lot.
How much is it? Can you put up a graph in stats how far from 1GB we are?
And I take it that the answer to some kind of blogging pages is no.
5147
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
No. Ever since dumping began. Dumping anything, produced in whatever manner.Common sense says this was so all along.
Even before anything was mined at all?
Waste is only waste for humans when a certain purpose has been served. Production is molding matter for a certain purpose.
Both before production and after dumping, the matter is the same for nature's purposes, but structured differently. Nature would have it in the structure that is there before production, people would have it for a certain purpose, but in the process they screw up the structure.
The relocation of elements which changes the structure of matter in nature is the ecological concern. Waste per se isn't a concern, but waste in certain places and in certain quantities is the concern.
These days waste is found in such quantities that it is basically everywhere. To simplify, there's something wrong with everything. This due to the fact that production has boosted up massively.
Production produces waste. Waste management and recycling hasn't kept up in the same proportion. We have mass production but no mass recycling. Even if we did generate recycling on massive scales, this also would have to be done in the right way. Not in name only, not as another lucrative business for some, not as a populist political victory, but the right way from nature's point of view.
Ecological conscience has arisen only very recently, during the latter half of the last century. Medieval people were far more conscientious in what they produced - it's as if they knew that production inevitably produces waste - and they recycled more conscientiously, because everything man-made was expensive. This is how waste sort of managed itself in those times, whereas now it doesn't.
We have to regain this conscientiousness again, but the quantities of waste and absolutely ruthless ways of production have gotten out of hand a long time ago. This is why I don't share Jax's optimism. I don't see recycling and ecological awareness anywhere near the proportions where it should be in order to make the world sustainable for future humanity. Importantly, I don't see the highups display any concern for the situation, but they are crucial in this.
I share Belfrager's sentiment.
5148
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
We've already reached the point where garbage heaps are probably better mines for many metals than, um, mines.
Common sense says this was so all along. Facts say we recycle less than ever before during history. There's no organised mining of waste. Only the homeless do it, or try to - there are fences to prevent them.
5149
Forum Administration / Re: Attracting new members
If we intend to expand, then I just got an idea. I personally am missing a blogging platform. I would go to Blogspot or Wordpress (and very likely I will), but why not give this place a chance?
Specifically, I miss a simple interface to enter plain text, mark some of it as code or pre, and hit publish. I tried to make a blog post at Vivaldi, and over there it's way too advanced. Plain text with some intended code here and there gets ruthlessly HTMLised beyond repair. I hate that wysiwyg interface with a source-code view button that demands a complicated browser to work with and in the end you still don't know what you will get.
I suggest a blogging platform with a web interface non-different from what we have at the forums. Just like at good old My Opera. This would certainly make me even more productive here, we would be able to reach 1 GB faster and declare our goals accomplished sooner.
5150
DnD Central / Re: The world in 2030
Different from what? If you imply that when the biggies of the world (United States, China, EU, Japan, and India) become radically ecological all of a sudden, then nature might be saved, I agree. And to me this is exactly the question of ecological future for me. Without this turn, there will be no hope. The critical point has been reached and small steps towards the deceleration of destruction will be too small.You must be heavily a city person. You think when the worst stench and dirt from the cities is reducing, that the world is doing okay?
Far from it. We might well be fucked if we (or perhaps more to the point, the Americans and the Chinese) don't change things around significantly. That's an entirely different question.
So, regrowth of forests at your place is not a national phenomenon. Deforestation over here is a wider regional phenomenon. In the Soviet era, forests covered reportedly 70% of Estonia's surface. Now it's reportedly 45%. The reports may be beautified, which makes the situation worse. Finns and Swedes have pretty much depleted their own forests for paper production and gone to ravage Northern Russia. In Russia the nature reserves have not been set up yet to the extent they have in the Nordic countries. I have no reason to believe that Canada's forests are doing much better.I was born and grew up deep in the countryside. I have had little phases here and there, but basically I live at the same spot where I was born. The forests have been drastically reduced here in the past 20 years.
So did I. The forests there have drastically increased over the past century, and I'm not talking production forests. Of course, that's not a global or even national phenomenon.
Different from what? From pollution? From depletion of resources? Looks like the same unresolved/unresolvable ecological concerns to me.
The Pacific has been largely fished empty by industrial fishing boats. Jellyfish are overtaking the seas, and the amount of trash out there is humongous. Still a different question.