4 ms·

Put North Korea on the map!

Ardit20 16y ago
It would probably be 0, or 1. Apparently in Cambodia it is only 70,000 or so, the lowest I found from quickly looking at "bad" countries. Iran has millions! Even Cuba has plenty. Must be sad to live in North Korea.
- Amnon 16y ago
  You assume that Internet access makes you happier. I'm not sure. At least they are spared a lot of distractions :)
  - code_duck 16y ago
    They're also spared from distracting things like rice.
    - mahmud 16y ago
      Cambodia's largest export is rice. The country is bisected by the mighty Mekong river and the Tonle Sap is the largest lake in Asia. The whole country is lush; when it rains, the drops hurt your skin. Weeks of non-stop thunder and the soil doesn't seem to down a sip of it. If you believed in a fertility god, you would renounce your faith in it within sight of Cambodia, for the cruel abundance it has inflicted upon that land.
  - Ardit20 16y ago
    I don't know about happiness. That is a very vague, subjective word which I am not sure it even means much in substance, but, if prosperity makes people happy, then yes I guess internet access makes you happy. So too, if autonomy, that is access to knowledge so that you have the means of pursuing your aims makes people happy, then yes I do think that access to the internet makes you happy. So too I suppose if having better health information, satisfying the desire for fairness through learning of say if others get things on merit or other means, being able to see on video and talk for however long you want for free with your parents who might live in another town and you do not have the means to visit them... I suppose, even assume, that access to the internet makes you happier yes. As for distractions, really they are laziness rather than distraction. I doubt people in the middle ages where fulfilling their potential and doing what they willed all the time. Besides, perhaps access to the internet can help you manage the distractions. From the smiley though I suppose you weren't serious, but I do feel for the people of North Korea and I think we are a bit wrong to ignore their plight.
    - Amnon 16y ago
      I suppose you're right. It was the rich man's bias, thinking that you don't need money to be happy. (That word again). Also, I didn't realize that you were speaking more generally. Of course the lack of internet access is also related to other things (e.g. food shortage) that I didn't refer to.
- mahmud 16y ago
  Cambodia has internet cafes nearly everywhere in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. I volunteered for an NGO sponsored project to improve internet penetration, but it was quickly shelved after the first initial meetings when it was shown that Khmer business people were opening cyber cafes at an astronomical rate. So we decided it was better to stimulate the local economy by not meddling with it, and ruining these businesses with landfill-grade donated computers and imported expertise. It was amazing to see motorcycles with saddle-like bags delivering Acer computers to dusty markets :-) They're usually carefully wrapped in multiple layers of plastic and styrofoam to protect from the elements.
- atomical 16y ago
  I read that Iranian-Americans are the most educated immigrants -- or one of the most according to the census. It makes sense that they would be technologically advanced.
  - Ardit20 16y ago
    The reason why I was surprised is because Iran is vilified often in the news, so I thought the people of Iran were repressed, living in a sort of dictatorial regime, where information is heavily censored, a bit like a slightly more lenient North Korea. But if these people have access to the entire internet, then I am slightly confused.

It would probably be 0, or 1. Apparently in Cambodia it is only 70,000 or so, the lowest I found from quickly looking at "bad" countries. Iran has millions! Even Cuba has plenty. Must be sad to live in North Korea.

Amnon 16y ago
You assume that Internet access makes you happier. I'm not sure. At least they are spared a lot of distractions :)
- code_duck 16y ago
  They're also spared from distracting things like rice.
  - mahmud 16y ago
    Cambodia's largest export is rice. The country is bisected by the mighty Mekong river and the Tonle Sap is the largest lake in Asia. The whole country is lush; when it rains, the drops hurt your skin. Weeks of non-stop thunder and the soil doesn't seem to down a sip of it. If you believed in a fertility god, you would renounce your faith in it within sight of Cambodia, for the cruel abundance it has inflicted upon that land.
- Ardit20 16y ago
  I don't know about happiness. That is a very vague, subjective word which I am not sure it even means much in substance, but, if prosperity makes people happy, then yes I guess internet access makes you happy. So too, if autonomy, that is access to knowledge so that you have the means of pursuing your aims makes people happy, then yes I do think that access to the internet makes you happy. So too I suppose if having better health information, satisfying the desire for fairness through learning of say if others get things on merit or other means, being able to see on video and talk for however long you want for free with your parents who might live in another town and you do not have the means to visit them... I suppose, even assume, that access to the internet makes you happier yes. As for distractions, really they are laziness rather than distraction. I doubt people in the middle ages where fulfilling their potential and doing what they willed all the time. Besides, perhaps access to the internet can help you manage the distractions. From the smiley though I suppose you weren't serious, but I do feel for the people of North Korea and I think we are a bit wrong to ignore their plight.
  - Amnon 16y ago
    I suppose you're right. It was the rich man's bias, thinking that you don't need money to be happy. (That word again). Also, I didn't realize that you were speaking more generally. Of course the lack of internet access is also related to other things (e.g. food shortage) that I didn't refer to.
mahmud 16y ago
Cambodia has internet cafes nearly everywhere in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. I volunteered for an NGO sponsored project to improve internet penetration, but it was quickly shelved after the first initial meetings when it was shown that Khmer business people were opening cyber cafes at an astronomical rate. So we decided it was better to stimulate the local economy by not meddling with it, and ruining these businesses with landfill-grade donated computers and imported expertise. It was amazing to see motorcycles with saddle-like bags delivering Acer computers to dusty markets :-) They're usually carefully wrapped in multiple layers of plastic and styrofoam to protect from the elements.
atomical 16y ago
I read that Iranian-Americans are the most educated immigrants -- or one of the most according to the census. It makes sense that they would be technologically advanced.
- Ardit20 16y ago
  The reason why I was surprised is because Iran is vilified often in the news, so I thought the people of Iran were repressed, living in a sort of dictatorial regime, where information is heavily censored, a bit like a slightly more lenient North Korea. But if these people have access to the entire internet, then I am slightly confused.