2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths About Foreign Aid - Gates Foundation
Learn how foreign aid reduces overpopulation, dependency on aid for impoverished countries, and makes a sustainable future for our planet.
Click to view the original at annualletter.gatesfoundation.org
Hasnain says:
I encourage everyone to read this in its entirety. Hats off, Mr Gates.
Two relevant snippets:
"Many people think that development aid is a large part of rich countries’ budgets, which would mean a lot can be saved by cutting back. When pollsters ask Americans what share of the budget goes to aid, the average response is “25 percent.” When asked how much the government should spend, people tend to say “10 percent.” I suspect you would get similar results in the United Kingdom, Germany, and elsewhere.
Here are the actual numbers. For Norway, the most generous nation in the world, it’s less than 3 percent. For the United States, it’s less than 1 percent."
"There is a double standard at work here. I’ve heard people calling on the government to shut down some aid program if one dollar of corruption is found. On the other hand, four of the past seven governors of Illinois have gone to prison for corruption, and to my knowledge no one has demanded that Illinois schools be shut down or its highways closed."
Posted on 2014-01-21T22:02:21+0000
Shooting reported at Purdue University
A suspect was in custody after a reported shooting on the campus of Purdue University, posts on the school's official Twitter account said Tuesday afternoon.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2014-01-21T19:09:30+0000
Quicken Loans' Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge Offers $1 Billion Grand Prize for Perfect...
DETROIT, Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Detroit-based Quicken Loans, the nation's fourth largest mortgage lender, has joined forces with Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway to offer a chance at a $1 billion prize for completing the perfect bracket in this March's men's college basketball championsh...
King has trademarked the word CANDY (and you're probably infringing)
King has trademarked the word CANDY (and you're probably infringing)
For the Love of Money
We are letting money addiction drive too much of our society.
What Happens When the Poor Receive a Stipend?
A study of what happened with a Native American tribe shows a big effect on children.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2014-01-19T21:52:03+0000
Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces
Welcome to Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces (now version 0.6 -- see BOOK NEWS for details), a free online (and available for purchase in printed form) operating systems book! The book is centered around three conceptual pieces that are fundamental to operating systems: virtualization,concurrency...
Hasnain says:
This is an amazing free book on OS.
(the professors got ticked off at how expensive books were and made this freely available)
Posted on 2014-01-17T19:59:50+0000
Building an open source Nest
Inspired by the Google acquisition of Nest for $3.2Bn, the Spark team set out to build an intelligent learning thermostat in less than 24 hours.
Hasnain says:
For the people who want to be able to set the temperature in their house in an intelligent manner; and not have to sign into google+ to do so.
Posted on 2014-01-17T19:35:58+0000
Matasano Security - October Crypto Class
You get access to the device, disassembly of its code, and a low-level debugger and assembler. We "run" the devices, you interact with them via a vanilla web interface.
Hasnain says:
Yay this looks fun.
(Facebook can't seem to get the title right, it's "Announcing The Matasano/Square CTF")
Posted on 2014-01-17T03:31:19+0000
A VC: VC Pitches In A Year Or Two
Entrepreneur: I plan to launch a better streaming music service. It leverages the data on what you and your friends currently listen to, combines that with the schedule of new music launches and acts that are touring in your city...
Hasnain says:
This paints a scary picture of the future in light of the recent ruling on net neutrality.
Posted on 2014-01-15T22:51:30+0000