IT Cutbacks For 2012 London Olympics 190
Slatterz writes "The IT backbone for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is to be cut. According to the Games' chief integrator, Michele Hyron of Atos Origin, each section of the computing infrastructure will be made more efficient in order to minimise redundant equipment and hopefully reduce energy consumption. Unlike the Beijing Games, the results will be relayed via the public wireless network which will be available in the Olympic Park — this means cutting out the 2,500 results terminals. The team of workers will deliver more than 1,000 servers, 10,000 PCs and 4,000 printers."
Good (Score:4, Insightful)
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Well done London, fucking ingenious.
In other news...Recession cuts back Olympics Games (Score:5, Funny)
Now instead of an International sporting competition in London, 3 guys from Yorkshire will come down and play rock, paper, scissors. To save face 1000 rounds of RPS will be played, and for each one a different combination of paper hats with different national flags printed on them will be worn by the 3 guys. The IOC is requesting donations as paper hats and printing costs money, as does travel to and from Yorkshire.
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Now instead of an International sporting competition in London, 3 guys from Yorkshire will come down and play rock, paper, scissors...
Sounds somewhat dangerous [glennz.com] to me.
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URL or it didn't happen.
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Of course! (Score:5, Funny)
According to Monty Python (Meaning of Life); Yorkshire is "The Third World", so this only makes sence that they would make cutbacks.
Personally I think it's courageous of the IOC to grant these impoverished and lower class of civilized existence a chance to exist within the glorious umbrella that the IOC bequeaths.
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Ignore parent. I make pudding this evening anyway.
Mmmmhhh... Yorkshire pudding is people... tasty people...
</creepy>
Unfortunate wording (Score:5, Funny)
"The IT backbone for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games is to be cut"
Ouch.
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It's probably quite accurate wording. Unfortunately the government have failed to realise (yet again) that when you cut the backbone of anything you leave it paralysed.
Wankers, the lot of them!
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well most government employees don't have a backbone so they have no personal experience to draw from when you cut it.
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You don't paralyse the Olympics by removing all sorts of expensive crap that will be thrown in the skip two weeks later. And how are the government 'wankers' for trying to save tax-payers' money?
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The government _are_ wankers. If they wanted to save taxpayers' money (which in itself is unthinkable) they could have not bid for the stupid olympics in the first place.
This won't reduce energy consumption one Wh (Score:2)
It sounds like a wonderful plan, reducing energy consumption. After all, we really need to get a grasp on Co2 emissions with all the global warming and stuff.
But unless humans get their wifi implants before 2012 this will just move the cost of the energy consumption to different parties.
This won't reduce fat intake. (Score:4, Funny)
"But unless humans get their wifi implants before 2012 this will just move the cost of the energy consumption to different parties."
Like cellphones?
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Like cellphones?
Hmmm maybe I misunderstood TFA... but I had the impression it was mostly about the tens of thousands of people *working* there, covering news and stuff. They won't be using cellphones all day to get their info, but stick a couple of extra notebooks and a terminal or two in their equipment.
If it's about the general public getting some results cellphones can go a long way.
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Overall it's some smart cost cutting
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Re:This won't reduce energy consumption one Wh (Score:4, Interesting)
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I'm no expert on the Olympics, but don't they occur every 4 years?
Maybe they could solve their efficiency problems by not buying new shit every time? Hard to imagine it sees very much wear and tear when it's being used 2 weeks every 4 years.
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Well, it does get used millions of times during those two weeks. I'd say that there would be a fair amount of wear and tear, given the number of visitors.
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Surely it depends on the work you are doing on your terminal. There are lots of things that don't work well on thin clients, and if your business is using those things you are gonna take a productivity nosedive.
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Energy consumption reduction not needed (Score:2)
Yeah, all that global warming stuff that we are all still so concerned about, when the latest evidence says it isn't happening. Like NASA having to retract all their numbers and their claim that this October was the warmest on record (it was actually the 70th warmest, or 44th coolest). Or NASA also having to admit that they screwed up on the whole 1998
As an East Londoner... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:As an East Londoner... (Score:5, Informative)
May I apologise in advance for the state of the London 2012 Olympics? I have absolutely no faith in the Government bringing this in on time, or on budget.
You certainly may - apology accepted.
In other new, one of the first Olympic venues for 2012 games opens today, ahead of schedule and under budget:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7753734.stm [bbc.co.uk]
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The costs for the London 2012 Olympics have already spiraled to 2 or 3 time the original budget. Actually this was the case already 6 months ago BEFORE the credit crunch started to bit.
That said, they might open most venues in time ... just WAY over budget.
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Why do you think VAT was cut to 15% - that'll shave a lot off the costs at a stroke! Hey presto, nearer budget!
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Wouldn't the credit crunch/recession reduce the cost of the project, with companies and staff prepared to work for less money?
Venue Ready. The Roads are not (Score:2, Interesting)
The Venue may be ready, but the transport links are no-where near ready. So they've got a venue but no-one will be able to get there. The Motorway (Freeway) ends 40miles from the Venue. Where the motorway ends there is a steep hill that has two lanes. HGV (Semi Trucks) crawl up at about 30mph. Even now in summer it take 10 - 15 minutes to travel 3 miles.
From about 30 Miles area from the venue is a mixture of narrow twisty single carriageway road with roundabouts (traffic circles) and dual carriageway. They
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The ironing is delicious.
But it isn't in London! (Score:2)
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In other new, one of the first Olympic venues for 2012 games opens today, ahead of schedule and under budget:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7753734.stm [bbc.co.uk]
That's "the sea". It's been there quite some time.
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No need to apologise. I live in Canada where we're still hoping to complete the Olympic Stadium in time for the 1976 Olympics.
Craplympics (Score:5, Insightful)
The team of workers will deliver more than 1,000 servers, 10,000 PCs and 4,000 printers.
It always makes my blood boil to see how much money is funneled into sporting events such as the olympics without flinching, while at the same time public research, schools, etc..., people of real value to society, have to cry and beg for resources...
Sorry. You just don't understand money or politics (Score:5, Insightful)
It always makes my blood boil to see how much money is funneled into sporting events such as the olympics without flinching, while at the same time public research, schools, etc..., people of real value to society, have to cry and beg for resources...
You see, money is created from nothing. There is an infinite supply of money, it however doesn't grow on trees, someone has to go to the laborious task of typing the numbers into a computer. Or writing them into a book.
Bankers can get as much money as they like, they just pay the politicians a little bit up front and the politicians pay them back... Well, we're well into the trillions now.
Re:Sorry. You just don't understand money or polit (Score:5, Interesting)
No, money is created from something. What bankers do that makes money insubstantial is called leverage. A typical leverage structure in a functional economy is 10:1, where there is 10 times as much money issued on loan as there is in actual existence. Sounds crazy, but it works.
The current economic fiasco is due largely to excessive leverage, just like the crash of 1929. Currently, American banks that have either collapsed or are begging for bail-outs were leveraged over 100:1.
The shit hasn't quite hit the fan in Europe yet. Most major European banks are leveraged far more than 100:1, most notably German banks that exceed 400:1. So when European banks start to go tits up (and they will), keep in mind there is no treasury for the Euro. The only bailout funds are from individual countries, who are no doubt going to care more about themselves than an economic union that failed to protect them. So imagine changing currencies in the middle of the greatest economic crisis in 80 years. Think that's a good thing, or bad?
German bank leverage (Score:2)
german bank leverage [efinancialnews.com]
QUOTE :
The critical question analysts will be seeking answers to this week is how much progress Deutsche Bank has made in cutting its leverage, which at 40 times under US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, means it is the most highly leveraged wholesale bank in Europe. It has set a leverage target of 30 times.
assuming a standard practice of 1:10 in the US, that would place t
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Where 40 times = lent out 40 for every 1, under US GAAP.
But I'm not an accountant or banker.
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Wait a second...
You mean that George Bush was controlling the banks in Germany too!!?!?
I guess this goes deeper than I had thought.
Well, at least the Americans can rest easy. They almost elected a Socialist who advocates an increase in crime via a gun ban, and wants to punish business for being profitable so that he can funnel the money into social programs to reward those who don't want to work.
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Money can be created, but wealth can not.
If you print twice as many Euros, then the price of milk will double from 2 Euros to 4 Euros. You haven't gained anything. You're still stuck at the same amount of wealth as you had before.
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ORLY? If you have a pile of iron ore and sand, and I have the equivalent weight as a BMW, which of us is more wealthy? We should tell all manufacturing workers not to show up, since they're clearly not achieving anything.
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I'd say that *I'm* more wealthy because I have an investment in natural resources. I can later sell that investment when iron ore becomes scarce & retire on the proceeds. All you have is an expensive toy that will turn to rust in 20-or-so years and be worth only $1000 (if you're lucky; my mom's 1987 BMW is only worth $500).
Wealth can be created, but not through the printing of money (as the great-grandparent claimed). Wealth is created through (a) more efficient processes, like using machines to bui
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like using machines to build a pyramid instead of slaves
Machines can build slaves? Cool!
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The ones controlling the printing end up richer than the ones holding money that's worth less and less everyday. That's often good enough wealth "creation" for the Printers.
That's why it is very important to the USA that most countries in the world use US dollars for buying/selling oil, borrowing and lending money and other trade (grain, flour, DRAM, sugar etc).
That way lots of countries end up h
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If we start with 10 euros each (20 total in the world), but I control the Euro printing press and I print 20 more euros for myself (40 total in the world), I end up richer than you.
Assuming the world has the same wealth as before, your wealth has been transferred to me.
I'm not stuck with the same amount of wealth as I had before.
The price of milk may double from 2 to 4.
But you go from being able to buy 5 units of milk, to being able to only buy 2.5 unit
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I have to agree with that comment (except for schools; until such time as they concentrate on knowledge rather than stripping the individuality and ability to think from our children and forcing them to all look the same, they can take their own chances). That, and the bloody "Arts Council" which has leeched the lottery fund dry, yet we still have homeless people on the streets and people living in poverty. One "Angel of the North" (which looks like a rusty satellite has crashed near Newcastle, doing Â
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As somebody currently living in a hostel, perhaps I can give you some insight.
The council is paying 164 GBP per WEEK, and ontop of that I have to make my own contributions of 30 GBP per week, bringing the total to 194 per week that goes straight to the hostel owner.
Basic facilities are provided (bathrooms, kitchens.. but no washer/dryer or cooking utensils) along with cleaning once or twice a week by the live-in management (who are paid 500 GBP per week).
There are close to 20 people (all paying around the s
Political tension (Score:2)
Trust me...The amount of political tension that is quelled as a result of friendly competition is well worth the cost. It's so sad that last Olympics was so politically charged. China's opening ceremony was a little much though.
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You think that was unusual? Most every Olympic event makes tensions WORSE not better. When Athens held the games, you heard people insulting the Greeks as "poor and backwards farmers". When Atlanta held the games it was about how the "Americans sold out to corporations" which most of us found incredibly insulting; even the president of the IOC did a back-handed insult by refusing to say our games were good.
The Seoul games were marred by the constant threat of Communist North Korea, Barcelona was overshad
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Thanks for the correction.
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the Olympics is a great way for coca cola to advertise. They don't get that opportunity with stuff like schools and research.
yes, its fucking disgraceful, and the Olympics should be cancelled. Let some other gullible country blow its money on a glorified sports day for world leaders.
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On the contrary, British schools, as well as other public services have been showered with cash over the last decade. The problem is, the increased funding hasn't actually led to any increase in standards, quite the reverse in fact.
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the asshole who took some BS social studies degree
That would be "some BA social studies degree". :)
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Whoosh! :)
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In the UK it doesn't really work like that. Universities don't make money off of sports and don't really give out scholarships based on sporting ability. In other words, the government don't like giving out money to *anybody*, no matter what you're good at.
The UK government has a terrible record for IT projects. I imagine that this one will have some problems and yes, without a backup it's going to be fun to watch.
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The olympics encourage people to take up sports and get fit
Anything to back up that claim, it seems very unlikely. If it is true, what about the strain that sports related injuries would place on the NHS?
They promote tourism
Agreed, they promote tourism - to London, the place where most tourists go and only a small proportion actually get out and look at the rest of the country.
It's developing an area of London that has been run down for decade
Fine, but I suspect that what this run down area really needs isn't unused stadia. Other cities have used the Olympics as a way of improving infrastructure (e.g. Athens built a new cross-city public transport s
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In the United States a study was performed that showed metropolitan city-states (Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, et cetera) paid the most in taxes, and the rural farmland states (Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, et cetera) receive more money in government handouts than any other region.
Isn't it possible the same is true in the UK where London, being a financial capital, actually spends MORE money than it receives, and it's the rural "north" that gets the most money in government handouts? I suspect if a study was
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Something I will never understand is why poor people congregate inside cities. If I were in that situation, I'd search for a suburban job at MCdonalds or Walmart or something similar, and then move out of the city and into an apartment within walking distance of my new job. I would not continue living in the squalor of the city.
My next step would be to "move up" to a factory job or management job. To continue sitting in a city slum like a couch potato makes no sense.
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The whole country will benefit. There's nowhere in the UK that's more than a day's driving or a 1 hour plane journey away from London. Besides, Londoners are paying the vast majority of the costs, why the hell shouldn't they benefit? Were Londoners whining when Manchester got the commonwealth games (which were paid for by the whole country with no council tax rises). Besides, tax from tourism in London benefits
Re:Craplympics (Score:5, Insightful)
>>>The olympics encourage people to take up sports and get fit.
Since the Olympics were installed people are MORE fat than ever, not less. The Olympics have done nothing of what you claim.
>>>They promote tourism.
Not really. Most of the cities that sponsored the Olympics are still deep in debt. There are a few exceptions like Atlanta which was mostly paid by corporations, but then there are others like Toronto who, even thirty years later, are still in debt. Tourism does not make-up for the huge expense of throwing this "huge sports party" known as the Olympics.
>>>you can pump as much money as you want into schools and research and it tends to dissapear into a black hole.
The fact that we are both sitting here with college degrees, and now contributing back to society with our respective design expertise, belies that claim. Schools contribute for the simple reason that people walk into kindergarten going "duh" and they come out with the ability to read, write, and do basic math (or go onto college).
That's better than what sponsorship of Olympic-level sport produces (a broken worn-out body in most cases & a way to sell Fruit Loops in national advertising).
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Ah, you're clearly from the future, can you tell me what the year 2012 is like? I assume the world didn't end...
>>The fact that we are both sitting here with college degrees, and now contributing back to society with our respective design expertise, belies that claim. Schools contribute for the simple reason that people walk into kindergarten going "duh" and they come
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The Olympics started in 1896. Since that time people have become LESS physically fit, not better, therefore the claim that the Olympics encourages people to be "more active" has been proven false.
As for investing dollars in athletes, let's consider the cash of ice skater Sasha Cohen. In addition to private donations, millions of taxpayer dollars have also been invested in her training. And what was the final result of that training? A 20-something woman who has retired from her sport ("past her prime")
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Toronto might be in debt, but when did we have the Olympics here and how did I manage to miss it?
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Of course, the Stanley Cup parade was at least as big an event here in Toronto as the Olympics could ever hope to be, so perhaps the budget for the parade went overboard.
US Schools Behind (Score:2)
"Schools contribute for the simple reason that people walk into kindergarten going "duh" and they come out with the ability to read, write, and do basic math (or go onto college)"
I knew the schools in the US were behind, but I didn't know it was this bad!
We can hardly get this kind of results from high school graduates, much less kids completing kindergarten!
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Since the Olympics were installed people are MORE fat than ever, not less. The Olympics have done nothing of what you claim.
We could blame people being fat on cars, radio, telephones, or really anything invented around the turn of the century. Picking one factor and attributing all of the effect to it is disingenuous.
there are others like Toronto who, even thirty years later, are still in debt.
As a Torontonian, I can assure you we have never hosted the Olympics. Perhaps you meant Montreal [wikipedia.org]?
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that last paragraph is hilarious. the Olympic budget has already tripled.
If people want more of us to take up sports, run some ad campaigns, they would be less than 1% of the Olympic cost.
Or better still, regulate our food better so we don't all eat junk crap and have an obesity problem that means we all need to take up sports in the first place.
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"regulate our food"? What the hell is wrong with you? Are you six? If you don't want to eat something, don't eat it. If you don't have any self-control then check yourself into an addiction clinic. Please don't suggest that this already utterly invasive, privacy-destroying hydra of a government start regulating what the rest of us can eat.
I work hard, and pay my taxes. If I want to come home and eat twenty chocolate bars, that I bought with the dregs of my salary that the government have left me with,
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cool. You don't mind if we remove regulation on what meat is fit for human consumption then? And you think its fine if people put asbestos and arsenic in food if it makes it taste better?
You realise dog food is cheaper than beefburgers right? just think of the profit margins!
Don't be silly, of course you need regulation of what companies can put in food. Are you some kind of ron-paul libertarian freak?
What are you? six?
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Nice straw man.
You say you want the government to regulate what you can eat.
I say I don't want to be regulated.
You say that I am therefore in favour of eating arsenic-laced, asbestos-wrapped dog food.
For the hard of thinking then: regulating what goes in food is not the same as regulating what foods are available. Further, if a company wanted to sell "NEW: CRUNCHY BURGERS WITH ADDED DOG FOOD, ARSENIC AND ASBESTOS", as long as it says it in big letters on the bag I should be allowed to eat it if I want. I do
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oh dear. I bet you are the sort of fruitcake that thinks everyone should have the right to own machineguns and keep them in their homes too?
I'm glad people like you stay in the USA.
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I always thought it was fun to compare my grades to other students. We also compared our "rankings" every quarter to see who was in the Top 10, who was in the Top 20, and so on. If the local news can take 5 minutes a day to report the results of high school sports, surely they can set aside a minute or two to report on the Top scholars.
"The following students were named on the honor roll, with John Smith and Jill Doe holding the number one and two spots. Congratulations! Keep up the good work."
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Yes, enjoyment is a part of life, but as always, the balance is the key.
When a country spends around $20 billion (with a "b") on a single sporting event, one has to question whether the balance is right, or whether, somewhere along the way, we've lost the ability to prioritize social goals appropriately.
Just to put that sum into perspective, it is roughly two hundred times greater than the highest estimated amount of money required to immunize every child in Africa against malaria, which kills one child abo
Redundancy is for pussies (Score:2, Informative)
Backup? I don' NEED no steenking backup!
Rant (Score:4, Interesting)
Londoners go on about how London subsidises the rest of the country, but this has actually always translated as "controls the banking system and so rips off your profit and claims it as its own". This has just gone massively pear shaped...so now the Government wants the rest of the country to pay for the Olympics through general taxes.
Don't get me wrong, I am an expat Londoner. But the mismanagement of London, where some of the most deprived areas of the country are next to some of the richest, and people earning £1 million a year try to avoid paying their cleaners even minimum wages, is truly horrible. I'm glad to live in a much more egalitarian part of the country where we don't have the resulting crime and drug problems.
GB cannot really afford the Olympics, which has become completely bloated owing to the ludicrous over promotion of the IOC. We should either tell the IOC to go deflate itself and run a Games that London can afford, or let Beijing have it a second time, thus helping them to pay for all those facilities. I favour the first option...in which case this should only be the start and there should be rigorous pruning of excess. Beginning with replacing Tessa Jowell and Sebastian Coe with Second Life avatars who won't be able to spend lots of public money on entertaining corrupt functionaries.
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In the United States a study was performed that showed metropolitan states (Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, et cetera) paid the most in taxes, and the rural farmland states (Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, et cetera) receive more money in government handouts than any other region.
Isn't it possible the same is true in the UK where London, being a financial capital, actually spends MORE money than it receives, and it's the rural "north" that gets the most money in government handouts? I suspect if a study was perfor
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On the other hand, London controls the government, the media, and the financial system, allowing them to keep the North poor and reliant on handouts. Note how northern manufacturing and mining were deliberately destroyed by the government, yet banks get bailout after bailout. Note the strong-pound policy, to boost the City and wreck northern factories which depend on exports. The same factories crippled by regulation whilst the City does whatever they like while Gordon Brown kisses their feet. And all this
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>>>You are absolutely right, it does. It's universally true that urban areas are net contributers.
I don't think you understood my point. In the U.S. study it showed that urban areas paid more tax dollars than they received. In other words, the money was flowing from the metropolitan states to the rural farming states in the form of subsidies.
If the London situation was examined closely, I suspect the same would be true... i.e. London and its nearby suburbs are paying more taxes than receiving, be
It's you that is economically confused (Score:2)
Cities are net contributors to the generation of money and services, especially as in much of the world manufacturing activity is concentrated in cities. But in terms of water, food, and energy they are net consumers and in terms of environmental damage they are net contributors. The result is that cities attempt to dominate their surroundings becaus
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Let me simplify things: According to the U.S. study I keep referencing, the metropolitan state of Maryland pays (for example) 100 million in taxes. That same state receives 50 million in government services and monetary handouts.
Meanwhile the rural state of Nebraska pays, say, 1 million in taxes, and they receive 50 million in government services/subsidies. In effect you have a redistribution of cash from the urban states to the rural states.
I have not seen any studies for England, but I suspect a simila
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>>>London's problem is that its reliance on banking makes it parasitic, and when the banking system goes tits up it's rason d'etre goes with it
At least it's not as bad-off as poor Iceland.
>>>we have the picture of trainers produced for a couple of dollars in the 3rd world and sold for a hundred.
What's a "trainer"? In the U.S. most things that are made for cheap in Asia also sell for cheap in Walmart. Just this morning I got a printer for $20. The markup on that item, once you take into
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You get so many large areas that are underdeveloped because the north whines so much when there are developments in London that no politician wants to start projects.
We're one of the few countries where people seem ashamed and angry at the prospect of having a capital city we can be proud of. Could you imagine France letting Paris
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What's the point in being proud of a capital city when it was only made successful at the expense of the rest of the country? I doubt the French would be to happy if the French version of Thatcher destroyed Lille's economy to boost Paris. Thatcher deliberately destroyed the North's economy whilst simultaneously pumping up the City, is it any wonder London is so rich, and why everyone else is so bitter about it?
Open Source (Score:2)
Probably won't happen - the Olympics is about money, lots of it; also about puffing politicians pride - the sports stars are a means to an end but not the most important people.
But will they be using WEP . . . ? (Score:2)
. . . well, it doesn't matter. By 2012, the aircrack-ng boys will have WPA cracked.
Youse guys are gonna be *awed* by the number of golds that I win!
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Then they will use WPA2 using AES like the rest of us concerned about security. I doubt AES will be cracked anytime soon if ever except through brute force techniques. BTW, you can use rainbow tables on WPA2. Just don't use short passwords or generic SSIDs(salted with the SSID). Either would make you immune to rainbow table cracks.
4000 printers for 10000 pcs?! (Score:3, Insightful)
That's nearly 1 printer for every 2 people. Here we have a team of 25 sharing a printer, and there's rarely a queue. How many trees are they intending to cut down?
It is the nature of sports reporting. (Score:2)
If you need some print out to support your journalistic work you can't wait for other people, maybe trying to report about the same event as you are.
If you are a few minutes late in your work very often that may mean it is no longer relevant.
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Then why is it being printed?
So they can courier it across the city... post it in the mail... send it via carrier pidgeon etc.
Doesn't hold water, sorry.
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in other news (Score:5, Interesting)
Still, as long as he's popular
I worked the distances out using 1 car = 3 metres long. If some of those were trucks, then the line gets longer, and most cars are longer than 3m anyway.
Yes this is relevant to the Olympics. Efficient transportation is kind of essential at large events.
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There's no doubt efficient transportation is necessary in general not just for large events but I'm not clear on what that has to do with the congestion charge.
Not being a Londoner I don't know the ins and outs of the scheme but unless all the money gained in revenue is being spent on more tube lines or wider roads and not on merely running the congestion charge scheme I can't see how it will deliver more efficient transportation.
Bad, yet good also (Score:3, Interesting)
While cutting back is probably a bad idea, because the Olympics are hard enough to pull off even without cutbacks, part of me cheers because the Olympics is SO WASTEFUL and its good to see a little less waste. Billions of dollars to build a bunch of temporary facilities and showpieces that will have to be maintained at vast expense and eventually destroyed or converted to something else. And then it happens again in 4 years.
Though it would suck for everyone else, I sort of think the Olympics should just go around the same few venues and actually MAKE USE of the already built facilities.
Could be a good thing too. (Score:2)
What happends more often then not is a way to ambitios IT Infrastruct goal. Which ends up costing more money and not working well, while a simpler approach works better for what needs to be accomplished, and saves money. Anyone who has install SAS will know what I mean.
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LOL
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agreed 100%. I wish we had never got this glorified sports day / coca cola marketing conference.