steamer25

nmarcel wrote:



Anybody knows if that kind of technology exists today, at least as a protoype? I mean...  somenthing like a beyond-flash memory. Where are the links/articles about them?

Try a search for 'PRAM' or phase-change RAM.

http://www.samsung.com/PressCenter/PressRelease/PressRelease.asp?seq=20060911_0000286481

In terms of sheer economy (bytes/$), electronic memory isn't going to overtake magnetic memory for quite some time. However, PRAM promises to be comparable in speed and durability to system RAM but non-volatile (persistent) like flash RAM and supposedly even more scalable (currently you can get 16G flash drives).

Charles wrote:

Well, how exactly has support for CSS standards improved in IE7? Let's find out, shall we.

Your 'shall we' should have a question mark. [6]

Unfortuneatly, poverty IS natural. To be more precise, it's an aspect of human nature. By default, people are lazy at best and downright destructive at their worst (see Cain, Nero, The Crusades, slavery/racism, Hitler, Stalin, Hussein, etc., etc.). Given this fact, it's no wonder there are many people in the world who live in poverty.

This is not to say that there is no hope for mankind. Things like technology are evidence of this hope (technology = applied knowledge = productivity = prosperity = order). Rather, I'm just pointing out the difference between how things should (in the philosophical sense of the word) be and how they are.

In fact, from my brief exposure to microfinance, I'm inclined to say that it seems like a very reasonable approach to the problem. It holds people accountable and invites them to join the prosperous in being productive. This is part of the kind of encouragement and motivation that is required to overcome human nature. To add another cliché, it's a hand up rather than a hand out.