NYTimes: Two Sides to Labor in China

From The New York Times:

NEWS ANALYSIS: Two Sides to Labor in China

A shortage of workers is a big factor in the long shifts and workweeks that manufacturers have used to meet production quotas, all while forcing higher wages.

http://nyti.ms/GYL7TY

"But many workers also want long hours. The Fair Labor Association's survey of Foxconn workers found that 48 percent said their hours were reasonable and another 34 percent said they actually wanted even more hours. Only 18 percent said their hours were too long.

In interviews with The New York Times over the last several years, workers at other factories in southeastern China have frequently said that they wanted long hours because they were young, had little to do during free time in their factory dormitories and were eager to make as much money as quickly as possible so as to return to their home villages.

When China imposed its current laws limiting overtime four years ago, the regulations set off considerable complaints from workers and companies alike. There is a limit of three hours a day of overtime and six days of work a week. 

The minimum wage in Shenzhen, where Foxconn has the bulk of its 1.2 million employees, has gone from 635 renminbi a month in 2005 to 1,500 renminbi now.

The minimum wage in 2005 was worth about $80 a month at the exchange rate then. Today's minimum wage is worth about $240 a month."

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The most interesting guy on the Internet

Neil Degrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and Director of the Hayden Planetarium, does THREE IAMA's on Reddit: he is my hero. Read and be amazed.

Http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/mateq/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ask_me_anything/

Http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ngd5e/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ask_me_anything/

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/qccer/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ask_me_anything/

Be a survivor

The Kobayashi Maru scenario: "there is no correct resolution, it is a test of character."

For some reason this seems to be very applicable to my life right now.

Right up there with AFGO: Another frickin growth opportunity.

Reddit, if countries were people who would be dating? : AskReddit (warning: attachments contain profanity)

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/qt9bl/reddit_if_countries_were_people_who_would_be/

Reddit has some of the most interesting content on the Internet. People post pictures, jokes, questions, and stories. What happens next in the comments is a smorgasbord of puns, memes, trolls, obscenities, more obscenities, links to pictures/videos of God knows what (I warned you not to click), and also some of the funniest, most genuine and intelligent discussions I've ever read.

Top Posts gets thousands of comments. Commenters skew male and teenaged so there are many sex, penis, and masturbation jokes. But as with anything on the Internet, you've got to sift a lot of chaff to find the grain.

I love the IAMA's (I Am A police officer, ask me anything. I am a self made millionaire, ask me anything. I had a near death experience, ask me anything. I am Zach Braff (from Scrubs), ask me anything).

Reddit/earthporn has the most amazing pictures of places around the planet.

Reddit/askreddit once had a guy, newly divorced with a 4 year old daughter, ask how to style kids hair. It got 100's of responses. Easy styles for school days, how often to wash hair, what kind of brush to use, what kind of hairbands to use, good kids shampoo,...

Reddit/firstworldproblems: "red lights don't last long enough to send a txt message" "I have 5000 songs on my ipod but I'm bored with all of them"

Reddit/todayilearned : "today I learned Andrew Zimmern of Food Channel's Bizarre Foods was homeless at one time and battled drug addiction" He went on to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) about it

One post asked "have you ever had an experience that you could not explain." if only half of those replies were true, it would make anyone a believer in paranormal experiences.

I could go on but instead I'll just say that my favorite Reddit app for Android is Reddit News Free. For WebOS, RedIt.

Enjoy your new addiction...

Who is the Route 29 Batman? This guy. - Rosenwald, Md. - The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/rosenwald-md/post/who-is-the-route-29-batman-this-guy/2012/03/28/gIQA8nPjgS_blog.html

"Batman began visiting Baltimore area hospitals in 2001, sometimes with his now teenage son Brandon playing Robin. Once other hospitals and charities heard about his car and his cape, Batman was put on superhero speed dial for children's causes around the region. He visits sick kids at least couple times a month, sometimes more often. He visits schools, too, to talk about bullying. He does not do birthday parties.

His superhero work is limited to doing good deeds, part of a maturation process in his own life. In his earlier years, he acknowledges that he sometimes displayed an unsuperhero-like temper and got into occasional trouble with the law for fights and other confrontations. Putting on the Batman uniform changes and steadies him.

"Eventually, it sinks in and you become him," Batman told me. "It feels like I have a responsibility that's beyond a normal person. And that responsibility is to be there for the kids, to be strong for them, and to make them smile as much as I can." He understands that might sound corny, but he doesn't care."

Is it legal to pin and repin other's images on Pinterest? Answer appears to be No

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-28/tech/31106641_1_repinning-copyright-entire-image

"She browsed Pinterest's Terms of Use section. In it she found Pinterest's members are solely responsible for what they pin and repin. They must have explicit permission from the owner to post everything.

Says Pinterest 's Terms of Use:

"YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE, APPLICATION, SERVICES AND SITE CONTENT REMAINS WITH YOU." "

Shutter sound hell

I seem to have one of those phones where the shutter sound cannot be turned off without rooting. (Samsung Galaxy Note)

I turned off all the sound settings. I even tried SystemMute, and that does not silence the camera.

The "silentcam" apps suck (have low ratings).

None of the highly ranked camera apps can override this (Camera360, Camera Zoom FX, etc).

No, I'm not a rooter.

Sigh.

New camera app?

In the search for a camera app that I can turn the shutter sound off in, and that is quick and has a nice UI, I ran across Camera360 Ultimate. You do have to explicitly save the photo after you take it. The photo effects are fun and are easy to choose from the row at the bottom. Also, check out the "scenes", the ones with the hand holding up a B&W sketch overlay are pretty cool.

But... I still can't turn the shutter sound off. The only way to do it is turn off ALL the system sounds. Which is lame.

http://www.androidauthority.com/top-5-best-android-camera-apps-for-snapping-photos-15979/

The Secret Life of Bees | Science & Nature | Smithsonian Magazine

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Secret-Life-of-Bees.html

" Our brains need a way to avoid stalemates. Like the decaying dances of honeybees, a coalition starts to get weaker if it doesn't get a continual supply of signals from the eyes. As a result, it doesn't get locked early into the wrong choice. Just as honeybees use a quorum, our brain waits until one coalition hits a threshold and then makes a decision."
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The Oldest Ice Age Cave - MissouriLife.com

http://www.missourilife.com/articles/the-oldest-ice-age-cave

"The 2,000-foot-long Riverbluff Cave has been sealed for at least 55,000 years, giving researchers an opportunity to study this prehistoric cave. Some of the discoveries include:

turtle shells of extinct species
a 660,000-year-old wooly or meridian or new species of mammoth
a juvenile mammoth
a giant 3-foot-long armadillo
a 350-pound ice-age pig
a 700-pound American lion
2-foot-long claw marks from a short-faced bear (the largest bear that ever lived, standing six feet tall on all fours, and stretching 10 feet in length)
25 beds where the bears hibernated

No human habitation of the cave has been found. The cave was sealed at least 55,000 years ago, maybe longer, and there is no evidence of humans in the area until 15,000 years ago."
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Indiana tornado 2012: Angel Babcock, 2, found ALIVE 10 miles from home in Salem | Mail Online

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2109540/Indiana-tornado-2012-Angel-Babcock-2-ALIVE-10-miles-home-Salem.html

Dozens of Amazing pictures of the destruction.

Bank Of America Didn't Learn Its Lesson, Might Be Instituting Checking Fee - The Consumerist

http://consumerist.com/2012/03/bank-of-america-didnt-learn-its-lesson-might-be-instituting-checking-fee.html

' Bank of America dropped a $5 monthly fee for debit card use not too long ago after its customers rallied together to protest the plan, which subsequently was dropped.

The checking account fee plan is reportedly being tested in a few states now, under the name "Essentials" account. It charges customers $6 to $9 a month. Other options could charge $12, $15 and even $25, unless customers maintain minimum balances, use a credit card or take a mortgage out with BofA.

"It looks like Bank of America is up to its old tricks," said Norma Garcia, manager of Consumers Union's financial services team.'

Reminder: Turn Off Your Google Web History Today - The Consumerist

http://consumerist.com/2012/03/reminder-turn-off-your-google-web-history-today.html

" Starting today, Google's new unified privacy policy kicks in, meaning that your web browsing history can be tracked and shared been other Google products like Google+ and YouTube. So if that strikes you as a bit invasive, there's an easy way to turn it off.

Just make sure you're logged into Google and go to https://www.google.com/history. Select "Remove All Web History." This will stop the site from tracking your web history until, and only if, you opt back in.

You should also go to YouTube, which appears to have TWO separate History settings. First, go to http://www.youtube.com/my_history and both clear your history and pause it. Then click on the "Search History" tab from the left column and repeat."

With A New President and CEO, and a New Ethos, Sony Looks to the Future | Epicenter | Wired.com

http://m.wired.com/epicenter/2012/02/with-a-new-president-and-ceo-and-a-new-ethos-sony-looks-to-the-future/

"But fact is, this is Sony's fourth straight year of significant losses.

So... Sony is switching its persona from successful manufacturing company to one that sells user-experience. Where have we heard that one before?"

Facebook: The Last Great Company of the Desktop Age, Playing Catch-Up in a Mobile World | Epicenter | Wired.com

http://m.wired.com/epicenter/2012/02/facebook-mobile/

"Although the substantial majority of our mobile users also access and engage with Facebook on personal computers where we display advertising, our users could decide to increasingly access our products primarily through mobile devices. We do not currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven. Accordingly, if users continue to increasingly access Facebook mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users, our revenue and financial results may be negatively affected. — "Risks Related to Our Business and Industry," Facebook, Inc.'s S-1 Registration Statement"