Day: October 10, 2001

Which is Cheaper Per Megabyte: Hard Drives or RAM

Ugh. Slashdot really dropped the ball in posting about solid state hard drives in which Cliff makes the absurd claim that the cost per megabyte of RAM is now lower than the cost per megabyte of a hard drive.

Not even close. Even if Cliff is out buying the most expensive SCSI-3 hard drive he can find, RAM is still about twice as expensive on a per megabyte basis as a hard drive. Once you start looking at the sort of IDE hard drive most computers ship with, RAM is about 30+ times as expensive as hard drives.

Kenya Fails to Pass Anti-Corruption Legislation; Recession Likely to Worsen

In August, Kenya‘s legislature was 15 votes short of passing anti-corruption legislation that the International Monetary Fund had set as a requirement for the restoration of foreign aid to Kenya. As a result of the failure of the new law, Kenya’s economic recession is likely to grow much deeper.

Kenya consistently ranks in the top 10 most corrupt nations in the world in surveys by Transparency International, and in 1997 the IMF suspended loans to Kenya. It briefly resumed such loans in 2000 after Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi agreed to introduce anti-corruption legislation, but suspended the loans again when the legislation stalled.

Kenya was already facing its worst recession since gaining its independence in the 1960s. In 2000 the economy declined by 0.3 percent. With the failure of the anti-corruption legislation, the law can’t be reintroduced for at least 6 months, and the IMF is unlikely to resume loans to Kenya.

As Kenyan businessman Chris Kirubui told the BBC, “Kenyans will continue to get poorer and the economy will disappear.”

Sources:

Kenya economy ‘will disappear’. The BBC, August 14, 2001.

MPs block Kenya anti-corruption plan. The BBC, August 14, 2001.

Activists Attack HSUS for Award to Young Farmer

As part of its National Farm Animals Awareness Week, the Humane Society of the United States gives out a “Farm Animals Awareness Award” to people who raise awareness about farm animals. One of the recipients of an award this year was James Frantzen, 13, of Iowa. Frantzen lives on an organic farm and has a web log describing his experiences.

The award to Frantzen did not go over well with the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance who put out a press release attacking HSUS for honoring an “animal abuser,” since the farm Frantzen lives on raises cattle for beef, and Frantzen lists fishing and hunting among his favorite activities.

In its press release, the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance urged people to,

Please contact HSUS and tell them that there is no excuse for giving awards
to animal killers. Ask them why they feel it is necessary to congratulate people who display extreme speciesism and disregard for life by abusing animals for profit and for pleasure.

The e-mail provided the phone number of an HSUS representative to call and complain about the award.

Source:

HSUS honors animal abuser. New Jersey Animal Alliance, Press Release, October 8, 2001.

SHAC Vows to "Smash HLS" Regardless of Where It Is Incorporated

Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty responded to the October 9 announcement that Huntingdon Life Sciences would be reorganized in the United States by promising to work even harder to “SMASH HLS.”

SHAC issued a press release referring to the move as an act of desperation that would have little impact on their activities, even though SHAC itself conceded that by incorporating itself in Maryland, the new Life Sciences corporation will be able to effectively prevent animal rights activists from having access to its list of shareholders.

SHAC apparently believes it will be able to continue receiving all of the information it needs from leaks within the company and/or third parties the company deals with. As the SHAC press release put it,

…HLS’s hope for privacy from the US listing and Maryland shareholder privacy law is nothing but a pipe dream for the company. HLS can keep nothing secret. Stephens bailout of HLS in January was meant to be very hush-hush but was discovered in a matter of days. The same will prove true for the “anonymous” group of US backers that are buying the 15% stake in HLS and their current and future shareholders.

Sources:

SHAC-USA on the HLS US Listing! Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, Press Release, October 9, 2001.

Anti-lab activists see victory as animal testing center HLS moves financial listing to US in desperate bid to survive! Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, Press Release, October 10, 2001.

Are Female Executives Too Tough?

In August the New York Times ran a bizarre story about female executives attending a Silicon Valley program designed, essentially, to teach them to be less confrontational and more “lady like” at work. Called, Bully Broads, this is an absurd versions of corporate sexism.

The program is run by Jean A. Hollands of the Growth and Learning Center. Hollands is the author of the forthcoming book, Same Game, Different Rules: How to Get Ahead Without Being a Bully Broad, Ice Queen or Other ‘Ms. Understoods’, which advises women to ditch their assertive styles in favor of a softer, more appraoch (for example, she urges women to go ahead and cry at meetings if they feel so inclined).

Ron Steck, Hollands’ son-in-law and a vice president at the Growth and Leadership Center, gave the Times the bottom line about what the Center deals with. “With a male executive, there’s no expectation to be nice,” Steck said. “He has more permission to be an ass. But when women speak their minds, they’re seen as harsh.”

This is absurd. The problem here is not assertive women but corporate cultures at a company that expects different behaviors from male and female executives.

Source:

Toughness has risks for women executives. Neela Banerjee, The New York Times, August 10, 2001.