Blog: Datenstrom

Noise Problem 21th Century

21th Century, one of the distinctive features is the amount of noise. Cheap electronics construction, decent batteries, have caused a situation where every man and woman on the street can carry around a speaker. What that means is you have people carrying around speakers blaring music on every street at all hours of the clock. They sit down and hang out for a couple hours. Downtown in some cities, there's no place where there's peace or quiet. The pushcart vendors, instead of yelling or using a loudspeaker for their voice (although occasionally of similar volume less irritating because actually a person which means never repeats exactly and the person to do this, you know hearing it, has to expend energy to do it, not just put on a 2o second spot and blare it on repeat for hours), just get recordings that play over and over the same advertisement, set to music and using attention-getting voices, and they sit for an hour or so and then move on also, with advertisements that repeat every 20 or 30 seconds for that hour, every day, or a few times a day, so loud you can't block them out with windows or even earphones (partly because speakers sold are bass-capable, and bass can't be blocked out, and in fact if you close a window or use earphones, you will hear that sound source more clearly because other non-bass sounds (regular sounds of the street and people) will be blocked out). 7am or 11pm, someone can come along and sit down with a huge speaker blaring reggaeton. Stores also place big speakers with advertisements on repeat outside their shops, which you can hear (just the bass of them) half a block away.

Solutions: City by-law prohibiting staying stationary with amplified sound. If caught, a fine of a money value of around 4 hours work, applicable to pushcart vendors, people with loudspeakers, and anyone else without a permit for amplified sound. Same fine for shops that put speakers outside stores (speakers inside stores are a different story, partly because when inside the shopkeeper actually has to be bothered by the volume themselves). If the person receives the fine, another can be given in a minute if they don't move and another recording plays. This and having city workers tasked with enforcing this heavily - once established as being enforced, people will avoid the fine by not playing amplified sound, and then only periodic enforcement walks necessary, with a phone number to report offenders, which in itself, if acted on, will be a great comfort to those disturbed because they will feel something can be done to remedy nuisance situations.

Something like this will have to be done, as the proliferation of people carrying non-private sound sources with the increase in volume and battery capacity only increase. The alternative is simply city spaces where there is no peace for citizens, and no hope of it.

In residential areas and buildings, the situation is a bit different from the public space. People can reasonably expect to be able to enjoy their sounds. However, they can also reasonably expect not to have to endure the nuisome sounds of others in their own dwelling. It seems the balance must be set in favor of not being disturbed by others. Therefore, if any allowance for sounds that disturb otherss is the chosen route, something like fixed times for sounds, standard for a city, such as Fridays from 11030am to Sunday at 2pm, or from 6-730 every evening, or on Friday and Saturday from 4pm-9pm, or Saturday 9am to 11pm. Fixed times allow those who would be disturbed on a regular basis to make other arrangements for where they want to spend their time, and to arrange the time they allot per week to doing things that require concentration and are negatively affected by noise, and the time they spend doing other things not affected by noise.

NOTE: A fixed time for sounds has another effect: concentration of the party and socialization part of everyone's week. In some Latin American countries, this is already the case with regards (only) to bars and clubs. They're permitted to open Thursday or Friday and close Sunday. They are not allowed to open during the rest of the week. All shops except a very few close Sunday, and basically even those that open Sunday close by afternoon Sunday. This provides a very quiet Sunday every week, with very little traffic and empty streets. It creates a set two days when everyone goes out at night to clubs (there are other bars open in some locations other days, however). And it creates a schedule for people to arrange their weeks, with quieter activities during the week and festivities during the weekend. Another note: Latin countries are also among the worst for public noise, with shops, street vendors, and regular people blaring music and advertisements everywhere, because there isn't a similar bylaw in place for those times of noise.

I think quieter cities in general have a beneficial effect broadly. For comparison, I know of a big city in South America where the climate is mild but warm all year round. The temperatures all year round are comparable to the temperatures experienced in Springtime in northern America and Europe. The people are seldom greatly uncomfortable. As you can imagine, this is a broad effect of people being more or less comfortable (although hot times are complained about as "hot" (not hot like tropical hot but hot like springtime hot, where you have to wear a t-shirt outside, and in the shade will be a comfortable temperature, but in the sun you'll feel too hot but might or might not sweat). The people in this city are also considered broadly to be nice people, sociable, talkative, relative even to other cities in the country. Are these two things unrelated: always being non uncomfortable and being generally pleasant?

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Minimum Wage Globally

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Compare with population:

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Website hover over country for population number: http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/

Wage consideration for international (but main consumer American) garment assembly, price of fabric, price and considerations of distribution from country.

Welcome feedback/comments on value of labor compared with Western Culture standard, based on country of experience.

Numbers vary according to various sources. Based on 40-hour work week, 52 weeks per year, except in some countries where the work week is shorter like France, etc. Numbers are based on a legal monthly rate in most countries, with a weekly or hourly fixed rate in some. Some countries have a lower rate for people under age 25.

EUROPE

(2017 rates)

  • Denmark: €42.5
  • Belgium: €39.6
  • Luxembourg: €37.6
  • Sweden: €36.6
  • France: €36.0
  • Netherlands: €34.8
  • Germany: €34.1
  • Austria: €34.1
  • Finland: €32.7
  • Ireland: €31.0
  • Italy: €28.2
  • United Kingdom: €25.7
  • Spain:€21.20
  • Slovenia: €17.0
  • Cyprus: €16.0
  • Greece: €14.5
  • Portugal: €14.10
  • Malta: €13.8
  • Estonia: €11.70
  • Czech Republic: €11.30
  • Slovakia: €11.10
  • Croatia: €10.60
  • Poland: €9.4
  • Hungary: €9.1
  • Latvia: €8.1
  • Lithuania: €8.0
  • Romania: €6.3
  • Bulgaria: €4.9

More recent rates, taken from wikipedia 2020:

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Note: Italy's is around 7 Euro.

Can be compared with 'net monthly' and 'gross monthly' adult incomes:

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LATIN AMERICA

(Aprox. 2019 data)

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Little Note on Ecology of Unpaid Internet

Before making money from websites, people put on their website things that interested them or they believed in. After, things of value in terms of visitors.

An example: If a blogger put out something of quality, there wasn't really a risk of other people "stealing" his content, because 1) the people who would be reading his blog would generally be above that quality of behaviour; if they were people with that type of behaviour they would be on other websites generally; 2) there was almost no incentive to steal content - you could get high opinions by reposting other people's content, sure, but you were also open to criticism for stealing content, which represents a serious disincentive to people in this type of ecological space.

After monetization, stealing content is actually preferable. It means less effort (which also refers to barrier to entry as lower-capacity people can participate by appropriating) and more chance of revenue (which also refers to quality or integrity, as individuals without these values are incentivized for participation), which is the formula of business in this type of ecology.

Just an interesting note, that's all.

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Ptolemy

Would Ptolemy be as famous as Alexander and Ceasar if he had wanted to dare to be?

He lived a decently long life, around 85 years, and passed on opportunities to attempt to succeed Alexander in all his conquered territories, maintaining his property of Egypt and securing it's orbit, Greek coastal towns, and then Corinth (later lost) and a few others. His Egypt was considered well-ordered, and his way with his own men (Macedonians and other Greeks) won him favor among them, and he wasn't unpopular with the natives either for his treatment of them. He founded the Library of Alexandria. After his death, his line ruled Egypt of almost 300 years until Roman's took control with the death of the final Ptolemaic ruler, Cleopatra VII in 30 BC.

When in 321 Perdiccas made an attempt on Egypt and was defeated (and killed by his own men). When the reputedly good-natured and well-liked Ptolemy crossed the Nile to deliver supplies to the invading army, they offered him Perdiccas' regency, but Ptolemy declined.

Had Ptolemy extended himself to his full and just came up against his limits of resources and ability? or did he hold back where others would have dared, and perhaps secured himself a place much larger in history, alongside Alexander and Ceasar?

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How to install a Linux OS on a flash drive (not a live USB, but an actual OS on a flash drive).

(I take out my hard drive to be safe but it isn't necessary).

Requires 2 flash drives, referred to here as FlashDrive1 and FlashDrive2.

Download the OS and right-click the file and "Open with Disk Image Writer" or rip the .iso to FlashDrive1 however you want.

Turn off your computer, plug in both flash drives (into slots you know will have power and work on your computer) and start it up again, entering BIOS first to set your boot order so it read FlashDrive1 first (before your regular hard drive OS if you have left that installed).

You should see the options screen and click "Install Ubuntu."

... Method so far does not work so will update later...

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