Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with global

US Kindle 2 in Europe

Busoni — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:15:03 -0800

In January, I'm leaving the US for Europe, where I'll be for the next six months, if not more. I want to buy an E-reader, so I can continue to read books in English, and also to save myself from lugging books back and forth. Given the circumstances, seems to me the best choice is to buy a Kindle 2 right now. Am I right? Some thoughts and questions:

I don't think I'll buy the DX, because it seems a lot of the features are disabled in Europe; if I'm wrong, let me know.

I don't suppose anyone's tried the native PDF conversion on the Kindle 2 (announced two days ago) already, and can tell me how it is?

Is there a difference between buying the Kindle here and buying it there? As far as I could make it, there's no actual physical difference between the two models, just a list of features that disappear. (I guess I won't be able to use the browser once I land in Europe?) In other words, there's no reason to pay extra cash to wait and order it from there, am I right?

Any reason I shouldn't buy a Kindle 2, right now? Should we expect new sales before January? Big, game-changing announcements? Ideally, I might have waited for a Kindle 3 or Apple announcement, or bought the Nook, but given my circumstances, it seems the Kindle 2 is a pretty good bet. Anyone care to contradict this?

How Do I Get My Website/Blog Out There?

goalyeehah — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:00:41 -0800

How can I expand my blog/website's reach. I launched my site last week and want to increase its reach around the planet ; ) What options do I have? I teach in the Los Angeles area and would like to begin doing workshops throughout the rest of the country and overseas. I'd like to use the website and blog as a means of increasing my visibility and building my network.

Psychotherapy? Psicoterapia? Psychothérapie? психотерапия?

Keter — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:50:35 -0800

With regards to psychotherapy, a common opinion I've noticed on MetaFilter is that Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is perceived as being the most efficient way to go, in addition to being one of the very few therapies likely to be reimbursed by health insurance. However, this may be coming from a largely American perspective. As such, I'm curious: What are some major features of psychotherapy in countries other than the United States? What are modes of therapy with which Americans might be familiar that are more popular elsewhere than they are in the US, and why are they more common in other places? Are there any psychotherapeutic traditions I as an American would be unlikely to have heard of or considered? Similarly, are there any therapeutic modalities that are distinctly American (or, in a less absolute sense, are more commonly found in the US or in Anglophone countries)? Within therapeutic modalities that might be familiar to us (CBT, psychodynamic, psychoanalytic), are there any schools or features of those modalities in other countries that may not be common in the United States? (For the last question, I have the general impression that French psychoanalysis is hella Lacanian, but have absolutely nothing of substance to back that up.)

On another train of thought: Who goes to get therapy—and who pays for it when they do? Are there places where psychotherapy is viewed with more or less stigma than it is in the United States?

I realize these are many, many questions, and I certainly don't expect to have all—or even most—of them answered. All-in-all, I'm just interested in learning more about how psychotherapy is perceived, researched, and practiced in places other than my home country... and why these psychotherapeutic landscapes may differ.

(For what it's worth, my own attempts to answer these questions have been rather fruitless, though I haven't the faintest of where to look. Some random searching on MeFi found me an interesting thread suggesting that psychoanalysis is really huge in Argentina. I also seem to recall an assertion I'll paraphrase as something like: "In France, psychoanalysis is therapy.")

Roses are red & violets are also red

selton — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:11:02 -0800

Does everyone categorise shades of colours in the same way? I'm interested in the way shades of colours are bundled together in different cultures/languages. An example: The logo above this question: Ask (green) Meta (blue) Filter (yellow).

Within the Google logo there are also blue, green and yellow (the "G"s, the "L" and the 2nd "o").

The blues, greens and yellows used aren't the same shades, but if I was asked "what colour is the Google L and what colour is Ask?", I'd have to say both are indeed green.

1. Would someone from any other culture say that the Google L is "x" and the Ask is "y" ?

2. Would someone from any other culture say that the 1st google "o" and the 2nd "o" are just a different shade of the same colour?

Is there more world hunger today or 200 years ago?

tnygard — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:10:48 -0800

Is there more world hunger today or 200 years ago, globally and in the USA? I am wondering if there is more world hunger today, or before the advent of modern agriculture. I am interested in this both globally and in the USA. It would be especially interesting to see how rates of hunger changed over time. So, for example, are there any estimates of how many people were hungry in 1800, 1850, 1900, 1950, and 2000? In addition to the raw numbers of people who are hungry, I am curious, given that there are so many more people now than in 1800, if we have more hungry people per capita. Does anyone have suggestions for researching this? Are there websites or books that have charted this issue? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

A pirate's life for me...

B-squared — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:08:20 -0800

I need an authoritative listing of the world's seaports (by country) or failing that, a list of the number of seaports by country. Exhaustive searching has only turned up inaccurate/incomplete lists and I can't seem to find one on the IMO website either. Any ideas?

Searching for the ideal climate

dougiedd — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:19:09 -0800

I am interested in searching for global locales based on weather: avg temperature, rainfall, days of sunshine etc. Can anyone recommend such a web site? Barring that, what websites are best to review these weather characteristics over time for a given locale?

Global Warming

Elsie — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:19:44 -0800

Are there any books in the global warming debate, written after 2006, that provide counter arguments to Bjorn Lomborg's views in Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming or Nigel Lawson's An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming? I am a lay person who needs to read a couple recent (post-2006 copyright) accessible, scientifically/economically respected, well-written, well-reasoned books from the point of view that humans-are-causing-global warming-and-must-reduce CO2 at all costs. Lomborg's and Lawson's books seem to make reasonable arguments on the other side, i.e. that the world is warmer, but not problematically so; humans can adapt; that huge sums of CO2 reduction trillions would be better spent solving problems of a warmer planet.

births, deaths and time

kalapierson — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:34:28 -0800

Are global birth and death rates roughly consistent over the course of a day/month/year? (Are there are any clear patterns of daily or seasonal spikes?) It looks like average global birth rate and death rate per minute, as measured in early 2009, are about 261 and 102 respectively. (Numbers based on my casual googling so far; I'll research more, but specific numbers aren't important here, just trends.)

I'm thinking about making an audio installation that would present this in sound (repeating sounds indicating births happening 261 times per minute, other sounds indicating deaths happening 102 times per minute), so people could experience those rates in a way other than just reading the stats.

Although this wouldn't necessarily affect the installation (because its main point would be driving home the ratio of one average rate to the other, not representing the patterns of fluctuation in either rate), I'm wondering whether I can correctly assume those rates are roughly consistent over time. In other words: do some times of day, and/or some times of the year, have significantly more births or more deaths worldwide than other times?

As a layperson just starting to think about this, I'm imagining some factors but guessing they wouldn't matter because the conditions that would make them happen affect only part of the globe (for the seasonal conditions) or only certain time zones (for the time-of-day conditions). However, some regions / time zones have way more population than others. (Possible example: starvation or malnutrition rates rising at the hottest times of the year in a region populous enough where that would matter... or mass casualties following seasonal or geological patterns.)

A Burning Question

greekphilosophy — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:39:00 -0800

I need a good collection of readings identifying major issues associated with energy production using biomass. Topic: Biomass use in energy production.
Goal: The formulation of an official policy concerning biomass energy for an environmental group.

You're an environmentalist and you have strong feelings about biomass, you want us to read [fill in the blank]. You are a developer or a corn farmer or an urban planner, and you want us to read [fill in the blank]. You are an indigenous person, and if the military junta in charge of your country allowed you access to literacy education, you would want us to read [fill in the blank].

Introductory readings are not necessary - this is for a crowd that is highly educated in environmental issues and already understands the basics of biomass. What we need are readings representing a variety of stakeholder interests. All publications are fair game - blogs, podcasts, articles, books, chapters, trade journals, haiku, medieval manuscripts. Extra points for anything having to do with urban waste management.

Global/International English Resources

tenaciousd — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:04:59 -0800

What tools are out there for globalizing/internationalizing English text? My company is writing training manuals in English that will eventually be used across the globe. We teach in English in about half the countries we serve. I want to make sure that the manuals avoid American English idioms, contractions, and whatever else I’m not thinking of.

The perfect solution would be a tool that scans word documents for non-global terms and highlights or reports them. The next-best thing would be a website or reference book that lists guidelines for internationally-friendly English.

Fifteen years ago I heard that we had ten years to turn the world around or it would be too late. When can I stop caring about the Environment?

Sully — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:37:04 -0800

In high school, I remember a teacher who taped some news show and showed it to us in class and it said that we had like, ten years to turn the planet around or global warming and our First World lifestyle where ten percent of the planet caused fifty percent of the emissions or something would push us past the point of no return. Anyway, my question is, have we passed it yet? When can I stop caring about the Environment? Is the planet finally, mercifully irretrievable?

It seems like every five years I see something on the news where it says we have only ten years left. How is this different than a doomsday cult that keeps revising when the End of the World is when the day comes and they are still there?

I am ready to stop recycling and re-using and reducing. I want to stop resenting The Environment for making me feel guilty when I live like a First Worlder, when some paper makes it into the trash, when I order in a Thai combo in its styrofoam container, when I throw away a computer monitor.

When can I say, "It's too late for us. Global Warming is a reality and it's here and there's nothing we can do to stop it... What a relief." And live my life, without having to be conscious about the choices I make with respect to how it impacts the Environment?

I know this is not politically correct.

Why are all the newspapers talking about libraries this weekend?

crazyray — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:26:11 -0800

Why is the (supposed) story about libraries and the recession seemingly spontaneously appearing in every single newspaper this week? I understand how wire services work, and how newspapers often "borrow" stories from one another, but why is it that suddenly every newspaper is running a story about how libraries are affected by the current economic situation? Each story seems to be sourced uniquely but written with similar storylines. Examples: 1 2 3 4 5

There are a lot more available on google, but almost all are dated in the past three days. This seems WAYYYYYY to coincidental to me. Is there a single PR agency at work here? Jessamyn, can you weigh in on this?

What are some good books on the history of Earth's climate?

AdamCSnider — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:14:51 -0800

I'm looking into global climate history. Is there a particularly good overview for this? I'm a layman interested in climate change in the Earth's history - not just within a human timeframe, but reaching back as far as the term "climate" can reasonably be applied.
I'm looking for books - although if you know documentaries or websites that deal with this I'd be glad for that info as well - including both those which give a good overview of Earth's climatic history and those which specialize in specific eras. Accessibility to someone without a Ph.D. in the field would also be a plus.

Eco-Friendly sites for Kids?

snap_dragon — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:28:59 -0800

I am trying to put together a list of environmental eco-friendly sites targeted from young children (kindergarten) to grades 3-4, and 4-6. Looking for anything interesting that has stats, games and so forth. Appreciate your time and input. I need a lot (30 plus...even if you give me one, that is a help)

New World Order, really?

brandnew — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:37:21 -0800

one world government? a bad idea? Assuming a few important things, what are the relative advantages or disadvantages of one world government over many small governments?

In practice this may be difficult to pull off, I know. But, let's assume that the government is a representational democracy, that there's a common set of human rights that can be agreed upon, and that somehow it'd be possible to remedy the economical / political / logistical issues.

Are there any other major reasons why this would be a bad idea? Or is it a great idea? On the surface it seems like it'd be wonderful - but I'm naive. I never have understood the concept of nationalism. Arbitrary national boundaries, especially among democracies, seem to be a huge waste of resources (tariffs, customs, security, military) with very little value. Show me my errors in thinking...

How many servers per country are there?

mhh5 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:06:09 -0800

How would you estimate the number of web servers that a country uses? According to Gartner and IDC, about 8-9 million servers are shipped in a year (2007) -- but how does that break down by country? One of the ways I'm thinking about measuring this.. is to use Netcraft's data for estimating the number of servers by country. Is there a better data source for something like this?

Netcraft doesn't really break down server shipments.. it measures servers that are in use already. but that's okay.. I'm just looking for a ballpark method to estimate this kind of thing.

Do chinese people get sick of eating chinese food?

Mesach — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:59:42 -0800

Do chinese people get sick of eating chinese food? This is not a slam against chinese food, as its one of my favorites, but more of a question of people, not just in china mind you, of a particular culture, food wise, getting tired of eating that same food all the time. I know growing up my tastes have been shaped by the plethora of food options that I had available to me, either at a restaurant, or through a cookbook. As such, I am unable to eat the same cuisine style more than 2 days in a row. Is the cookbook market as big in places like rural china? How about Africa or the Middle East(Dubai not withstanding). Now dont just come back and say that there is mcdonalds all over the place, I know that, I'm wondering about places where a variety of food is unknown.

Do you think they get sick of eating the same style cuisine all the time?

On a side note... what do people in china eat for breakfast, i know there are alot of restaurants out there that are not open for breakfast... i remember an Ethopian place in Los Angeles that was popular... did they serve breakfast? NO! what do they eat?

correct pronunciation of "Pogge"

verisimilitude — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:31:14 -0800

How do I pronounce POGGE? ...as in Thomas Winfried Menko Pogge.

I've heard various versions. Which is correct?

Social networking that doesn't rely on language

lhall — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:23:06 -0800

Niche social networking setup that relies on symbols/emoticons and pre-set phrases to communicate? I need to quickly set up a social network to connect a bunch of people all around the globe. There aren't really multi-lingual social networks, and the ones that do exist (Badoo, QuePasa) put a heavy emphasis on dating and aren't customizable.

Basically, I need a mix of Ning and Facebook, with the ability to sort people by the info they've entered (location, industry, etc). The reason those two systems won't work is that I don't want there to be a default language.

That's where the symbols or pre-set phrases come in - if I selected Greeting -> "Good morning!" it could display in the default language of the viewer, having been translated through the system. (Club Penguin has a similar phrase selection thing...in their case, it's to make convos safe for kids, but here it's an issue of spoken language.) Making sense so far?

Here are the needs the site needs to address:

- global coordination, everyone who signs up is pinpointed on a map and perhaps connected regionally (a la Facebook)

- expertise location, depending on the game community needs (sorted by ticking a checkbox, so it could be translatable to the viewer's default language?)

- statistics, who's playing where, what are their skills and expertise

- personal profiles and hanging out with the community at large (again like Facebook, just using a menu of symbols or pre-set words)

The catch with all of this is that I am not a programmer, although I can pull together resources as necessary...so, I really need advice. Are there any open source social network platforms available that would serve these needs? How would I go about making this thing a reality?

Looking for all the B. F. Skinner wannabe's.

sully75 — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 08:38:27 -0800

What are the most exciting developments that are actually functioning in ecology, sustainability and alternative technologies? The more specific the better! I'm interested in alternative technology, new technology and sustainability projects currently functioning (i.e. not theoretical, but actually working), anywhere in the US. I'm interested both in people who are going back to older ways of doing things (i.e. using draft animals to farm) and new technologies (maybe an algae field next to a power plant that will be used to make alternative fuels). I'm interested in both small, personal projects (some dudes wicked cool garden or masonry stove) and large or gigantic (power plants, large scale solar and wind projects, waves, etc)

This is research for a project I'm working on.

Any and all suggestions would be awesome.

Prepare for Peak Oil without looking like a nutjob?

UMDirector — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 07:01:12 -0800

Best way to mitigate effects of potential peak oil and global warming issues without looking like a nutjob? CYOA in a realistic manner? So I am trying to think of ways to cover my butt in case any Peak Oil or rapid Global Warming societal collapse issues come to pass. I tend to think society will figure out ways around much of this but it never hurts to prepare just in case...I wasn't too worried about Y2K but I did have about a weeks supplies just in case.

So what can I do to prepare but also benefit me in case nothing happens (for example I ate the food and drank the Y2K water)?

An example might be: Get one of those instant water heaters to lower your electrical costs in case the price of electricity goes way up...or get solar panels...or get the following camping books that would also serve you in case of complete societal breakdown...make sure your house has a fireplace...etc...

I should maybe note we are in the 'burbs south of Boston and will likely be having a home built in the next year so I will have a lot of options coming up to set up my life in the best way possible for such things....without my wife or friends thinking I am a nutjob!

Where does KDE 3.5.5 keep it's global icons?

baylink — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 13:53:17 -0800

How do you create system-wide desktop icons in KDE 3.5? I've just upgraded a client from SuSE 9.0 to OpenSUSE 10.2, and the directory in which I used to put appname.desktop files to make them show up on the desktop for all users, formerly

/etc/opt/kde3/share/apps/kdesktop/Desktop/

(which worked), now *appears* to be

/opt/kde3/share/apps/kdesktop/programs/

which (as you can infer from the fact that I am asking) does not.

I've done a fair amount of Googling this afternoon, but neither the SuSE nor the KDE doco really tells you all that much about the internals; it's one of KDE's major failings, from a deployment viewpoint.

Any KDE wizards out there who know the magic incantations I must mutter to make my desktops work?

novelfilter

spacefire — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:48:23 -0800

New Year resolution: write a novel this year. Need some resources -motivation. I have a full-time job, how can I make sure I write at least a page/day on average?
-information: the novel will be about the decline of civilization due to global warming and its effects, described through the main character's diary. As a long-time fan and reader of post-apocalyptic literature, I am pretty familiar with the topic of total collapse, but via catastrophic, quick events. I plan to describe a prolonged, agonizing collapse of basic services and disintegration of the social fabric under the threat of nature - the novel should span about two-three years.
-characterization: I want to make my character believable, I want him to evolve, and I want to flesh out the other characters in the novel with quick, striking descriptions that allow the reader to 'know' them without long expositions - remember, this is going to be an epistolar novel.

Best of Rest-of-World TV

Gyan — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:06:51 -0800

Which are the good/acclaimed live-action television shows from around the world outside of US/UK/Canada? In terms of quality scripted programming, I tend to only be aware of American & some British output with a sprinkling from elsewhere.

Surely, the rest of the world, especially continental Europe, Asia & Latin America must boast of some comedies and dramas (no soaps!) with good production values.

Language is not a barrier as long as a subtitled version is available. Just to keep it current, the show's original run should be within the last 10 years, but if something is very highly-regarded, do include it.