[georgshult]

There is an old Chinese curse that goes something like:

"May you live in interesting times."

Which is ironic because.....

If you’re one in a million in China, there are 1,300 people just like you.

In India, there are 1,100 people just like you.

The 25% of the population in China with the highest IQs is greater than the total population of North America.

In India, it’s the top 28%.

Translation for teachers: they have more honors kids than we have kids.

China will soon become the number one English-speaking country in the world.

If you took every single job in the U.S. today and shipped it to China, it still would have a labor surplus.

[In the next five minutes]

~ 60 babies will be born in the U.S.

~ 244 babies will be born in China.

~ 351 babies will be born in India.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10 to 14 jobs by age 38.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 1 out of 4 workers today works for a company for whom they have been employed less than 1 year.

More than 1 out of 2 are working for a company for whom they have worked less than 5 years.

According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, the top 10 jobs that will be in demand in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist,

using technologies that haven’t yet been invented,

in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.

Name this country:

~ Richest in the world

~ Largest military

~ Center of world business and finance

~ Strongest education system

~ World center of innovation and invention

~ Currency the world standard of value

~ Highest standard of living

England, in 1900.

Did you know?

The U.S. is 20th in the world in broadband Internet penetration (Luxembourg just passed us).

Nintendo invested more than $140 million in research and development in 2002 alone.

The U.S. federal government spent less than half as much on research and innovation in education.

1 of every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.

There are over 106 million registered users of MySpace (as of September 2006).

If MySpace were a country, it would be the 11th largest in the world (between Japan and Mexico).

The average MySpace page is visited 30 times a day.

Did you know?

We are living in exponential times.

There are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month.

To whom were these questions addressed B.G. (before Google)?

The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the population of the planet.

There are about 540,000 words in the English language, about 5 times as many as during Shakespeare’s time.

More than 3,000 new books are published–daily.

It is estimated that a week’s worth of New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.

It is estimated that 1.5 exabytes (1.5 x 1018) of unique new information will be generated worldwide this year. That’s estimated to be more than in the previous 5,000 years.

The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years.

For students starting a four-year technical or college degree, this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.

It is predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010.

Third-generation fiber optics has recently been tested by both NEC and Alcatel that pushes 10 trillion bits per second down one strand of fiber.

That’s 1,900 CDs, or 150 million simultaneous phone calls, every second.

It’s currently tripling every 6 months and is expected to do so for at least the next 20 years.

The fiber is already there. They’re just improving the switches on the ends, which means the marginal cost of these improvements is effectively $0.

Predictions are that e-paper will be cheaper than real paper.

47 million laptops were shipped worldwide last year.

The $100 laptop project is expecting to ship between 50 and 100 million laptops a year to children in underdeveloped countries.

Predictions are that by 2013 a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computation capability of the human brain.

By 2023, when 1st-graders will be just 23 years old and beginning their (first) careers, it only will take a $1,000 computer to exceed the capabilities of the human brain.

And while technical predictions farther out than 15 years are hard to make, predictions are that by 2049, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the human race.”

Taken from

[JennaJJxoxoxo]

Soon I'll have to learn Mandarin. I don't particularly enjoy speaking Chinese because of the tricky intonation. bleh

[gopsbousperie]

I, for one, welcome our new Mandarin overlords.

[Caregrasy]

mmhmm... all that and 25 cents still won't buy you a cup of coffee.

[Flefebleaft]

mmhmm... all that and 25 cents still won't buy you a cup of coffee.

And it never will be .25 cents again.

..Ever.

[Goseciwx]

"England, in 1900."

Two world wars right beside you can really take it out of you.

[Acrogeokickic]

England, in 1900.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

[AlexBrith]

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Sorry bucko, never Ireland.

[imawlBoli]

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Man, you are really picky about the correct nomenclature for that little island. Make it easy on the rest of us, pick a name and stick with it for more than a century.

[UJRonald]

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

If we're going to be pedantic, it's best to be right...

[Stainditnew]

If we're going to be pedantic, it's best to be right...

You are correct (but not in your naming), so lets get pedantic:

* Kingdom of Britain is 1707-1801
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922 (official name change in 1927)
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1922(27) - now

Since this article quoted 1900, then you will find that the title I posted above is the correct one for the time frame.

Make it easy on the rest of us, pick a name and stick with it for more than a century.

I would say U.K. could be correctly used from 1801 onwards... thats 206 years. (I dislike the term GB because it doesnt include (Northern) Ireland).

Its not exactly something difficult to remember.

Man, you are really picky about the correct nomenclature for that little island.

Yeah sorry... ive many reasons for being picky about it. The easiest one to explain is that the usage above is just wrong.

[plaiskegizils]

China's foreign reserve four years ago was about 200 billion USD...China's reserve today is over 1.5-7 trillion USD.

Its domestic demand ratio in comparison to US demand is about .90 cents. This means that if the US stops spending 1 USD in trade with China, it's(China's) local demand would still cover .90cents of that loss dollar. In the past it was .50cents meaning they loose a huge chunk of business if the US economy stops spending on them...hence, there was the saying, "If the USA sneezes, we catch a cold." Today its more, "If the USA sneezes, we hand them a tissue."

If you look at recent market trends, it was speculation/actions/market adjustments in China that caused Wall Street to jump.

Ten or so years ago, you'd go for a meeting with an official and leave a laptop in his office. He'd then call you up and say, "Oh, you left a laptop here." You would then reply, "Laptop? what laptop?" This was a bribe. Today, they guy would be insulted by this...one laptop, he could give you twenty. Now its more, "Oh, your kids want to study in Eton? Let me sort that out for you, my buddy is an old boy."

India...India has great potential. But that potential is only good as when it is realised. The danger with India's economy is that it is operating under a double deficit, which means its fine so long as foreign investment happens...but if for some reason that money pulls out india would be in trouble. A true life example from the past is Thailand, the asian economic crisis, same thing...Thailand had a double deficit, foreign investors got spooked, pulled out and the Thai economy crashed.

Very interesting times...

[MikeGotTalentz]

Keep in your mind that in less than thirty years, oil supply won't be able to meet the demand. Those times will be very interresting.

[formobilagsw]

"Man, you are really picky about the correct nomenclature for that little island."

In fairness theres a bit more to it than nomenclature I'm not sure its something you colonials would understand.

[Keyclenef]

some of my favorite countries covered in one thread.. china, irepublic of ireland, and india.. chinese food, Guinness, and curry.. hmm.. in reality, i only need Guinness.

pete

[T1ivuQGS]

You are correct (but not in your naming), so lets get pedantic:

* Kingdom of Britain is 1707-1801
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922 (official name change in 1927)
* The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1922(27) - now

Since this article quoted 1900, then you will find that the title I posted above is the correct one for the time frame.

Fair point, I was wrong.

In fairness theres a bit more to it than nomenclature I'm not sure its something you colonials would understand.

Also a fair point. Especially when talking to English people who don't quite understand the Union and think that England owns the UK. England doesn't even have a Parliament.

[kilibry]

"England doesn't even have a Parliament."

Good point, I'd never though of it like that.

[ditpiler]

I'm not sure its something you colonials would understand.

No mate, it's not that we can't understand, we just don't fkn care.