Walter Bender Resigns From OLPC 126
westlake writes "Walter Bender, the former executive director of MIT's Media Lab, and, in many ways, the tireless workhorse and public face of OLPC, has resigned from OLPC after being reorganized and sidetracked into insignificance. The rumor mill would have it that 'constructionism as children [learn] learning' is being replaced by a much less romantic view of the XO's place in the classroom and XO's tech in the marketplace."
oblig (Score:5, Funny)
No, nor XP. (Score:2, Informative)
Summary and original speculation were complete BS. [olpcnews.com]
To keep in the spirit of the thread, XP smells worse than your shiny metal ass.
Re:No, nor XP. (Score:4, Insightful)
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If you were engaged in a discussion with a person and suddenly six others showed up to shill and agree with the original one, how would you like that? More importantly, he knows very well what that kind of activity looks like to moderators - seven people carrying on a "conversation" with each other in opposition to you is usually a recipe for being modded down (and get him karma in the process).
I don't know about you, but I have a single Slashdot account and I'd like to think I'm re
Sounds about right. (Score:2)
If you were engaged in a discussion with a person and suddenly six others showed up to shill and agree with the original one, how would you like that?
Everytime I say something, I see a six or seven nutballs screaming Twitter. In this case the off topic thread is large and suspiciously well moderated. Oh well.
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Whatever it is, you need to find a story and stick to it.
BS yes, but whose? (Score:3, Informative)
You give a quote that seems intended to contradict the story, but doesn't really — this isn't just about whether or
olpcnews that's who's (Score:2)
I quoted the article. You would know that if you followed the link instead of flaming me. The author updated himself and quoted Bender quashing those stupid XP rumors.
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Twitter, you get flamed because you're a BS artist. Grow up a little, stop playing stupid games with quotations and fake IDs, and we'll consider treating you with a little respect.
Re:oblig (Score:5, Funny)
nah, but: 'i'll make my own OLPC
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Yes. I believe he said something like, "What the HELL are you doing? Stop that right now you freak, or I'm leaving."
Re:oblig (Score:5, Funny)
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Instead OLPC should deepen its approch (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Instead OLPC should deepen its approch (Score:5, Insightful)
My brain hurts.
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Why am I getting a strange feeling... (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:Why am I getting a strange feeling... (Score:4, Interesting)
The people who don't get it right may stop offering small lappies, but at last there is a small, uncrippled (unlike I-Openers etc) flash drive computer in a very convenient form-factor.
OLPC may die out, but their business model isn't our problem. Asus proved that running a real desktop OS in that package is what consumers want as opposed to deliberately crippled equipment running crippled operating systems. Crippling gives "product differentiation", but it still leaves a gap. Asus just exploited that gap.
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The key is how much competition exists in this space. If Asus can make money after their support and managing costs are figured it, then they might keep it around. A problem that many businesses are having in the advanced industrial nations, however, is that the cost of business over
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Asus could do massive volume of each design by keeping it available and gradually dropping the price. Upscaling features and prices is normal enough, but the tooling for the first versions is paid for. They could keep spitting them out and secure the market by flooding it.
OLPC isn't a consumer device. (Score:2)
Many people conflate OLPC's work (which really is an educational project) with making a low-end ultra-inexpensive laptop because they view everything through first world consumer's eyes.
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OLPC may die out, but their business model isn't our problem. Asus proved that running a real desktop OS in that package is what consumers want as opposed to deliberately crippled equipment running crippled operating systems.
If you think that the OLPC is "Crippled" or that its OS is crippled, then you obviously don't understand the system.
The OLPC uses far less power than any "competitor" (the OLPC is not competing with them, by design) and NO other machine that I know of has the same type of networking subsystem which is a mesh-networking AP, not just a WiFi NIC. No other machine has a screen that does what the XO's screen does, either.
Try again when you understand what the machine is for.
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That assumes that it is a for-profit operation. But it isn't, it is an attempt to give third world children better tools for learning.
Asus proved that running a real desktop OS in that package is what consumers want as opposed to deliberately crippled equipment running crippled operating systems.
OLPC isn't aimed at first world consumers and what they want, it is designed to be (among other things) extremely robust and power efficient.
Surely you jest... (Score:2)
It looks (Score:5, Interesting)
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Oh, right, this is Slashdot...
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Honestly, the guy makes one reference to MS-like management structure, and all of a sudden it's an MS conspiracy?
Sorry, no, it's far easier to just assume the most simple, obvious answer: OLPC is growing, and they've discovered they need to change the way they manage the project in order to succeed. I know, shocking. And what better model to use for managing a large project than that used by one of the *largest computer co
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Related to Ivan Krstic's resignation (Score:4, Informative)
It was the demotion of Bender that prompted Ivan Krstic' to resign [radian.org] last month, so the damage to OLPC by their stupid demotion of Bender is not limited to just the loss of him. I wonder if anyone else will be leaving over this?
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Direct Link to Resignation letter (Score:5, Informative)
I was going to submit this story after finding it on Digg or Reddit; the headline was focusing on Negreponte(sp?) allegedly wishing to partner with MS to put XP on XO in order to sell more units. After reading the letter and there being no mention of it I decided against submission.
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LoB
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Bender Was Quoted... (Score:4, Funny)
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"I'm going to build my own OLPC! With blackjack and hookers! In fact, forget the OLPC. Aw, screw the whole thing."
Benders next project (Score:2, Informative)
OLPC News is a Microsoft shill (Score:2)
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1: Wait till it all falls apart.
2: Buy them up by the container load.
3: Spray the case a reasonable colour.
4: Reflash the OS to something businesses can use.
5: Profit!
There you go. Filled in all of the steps for you.
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How would one "reflash" a child-sized keyboard to one suitable for use by adults' hands?
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Re:GOOD... (Score:5, Insightful)
I hope not. Look I'm as big of an OS X fan as anyone, but it is not really suited to the OLPC project in a number of ways. Also, the all OSS stack makes sense with regard to their mission, to bootstrap an intellectual property creation industry in these nations. Being able to edit and modify all the code provides a starting place for this project to sustain itself via the user base.
The OLPC software is very well designed for its core tasks of educating children, which is quite different from general purpose computing. As a kid, I'd much rather have had an OLPC that allows me to learn with all the other kids in my school, than even a modern OS X system. Swapping it out for OS X makes little more sense than doing the same with WinXP.
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I happen to think the Sugar UI and its activities contain a lot of terrific innovations, but being that I am not well-informed on the subject of educational pedagogy, I really can't say how well the software actually achieves its core tasks.
It may be exciting for students to hack together small Python scripts in Pippy or have a collaborative jam session in TamTam, but how does that mesh with a core learning curriculum based on T
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constructionism (Score:2)
The idea is that students build actual things (even if software is rather abstract) which they can share with other students and the teacher as a reflection of the knowledge they have built inside their minds.
Re:GOOD... (Score:4, Insightful)
All too often those who claim proficiency in pedagogy are merely hiding their lack of brilliance behind a stack of journal articles and study results. I draw inspiration from Shin'ichi Suzuki, founder of Talent Education, who with no formal training in education single-handedly created one of the most successfull methods of teaching music to children. Back in the 70s Suzuki was widely criticized by American violin pedagogues who denounced him as a crackpot. The Suzuki method was built on a common sense view of learning which begins with this observation: children naturally learn their mother tongue without the help of experts. Therefore, children know how to learn, and mothers are the best teachers.
Now apply that view to homeschooling and an interesting picture develops. Parents are fully qualified to teach young children. As children get older they benefit from subject matter experts, but it does not require a brick-and-morter school to provide them. K-12 teachers complain about the lack of parent involvement, especially as the children get older. With homeschoolers, the parent is always involved.
Hold on, there! Who says education has a core of three R's? Or a core of anything? This is just pedagogical pablum passed along year after year as if it were inscribed in stone by the almighty himself. Stringing together Python scripts could very well be much more relavent to today's children.
Re:GOOD... (Score:4, Insightful)
Children are small humans (shocking but true) and humans learn best when they are involved with something with which they are interested. Computers are useful for this sort of thing because they are applicable to basically everything.
Here's a simple truth for you: Those who are able to manipulate information have an edge over those who do not. For instance I can make my own vector maps instead of paying for them; I can also get my own information on the nutritive value of foods instead of buying a carb counter book simply by downloading a freely available government database.
I was in a GATE program in elementary school and they told me I could not participate in astronomy because I was too young. Today I am a math idiot. Perhaps if instead of quashing my enthusiasm, they had presented me with mathematics related to something I was interested in, I would be more comfortable with it today? Unfortunately, even so-called "Gifted and Talented" programs are really just a means to "deal with" "problem children" (I was disruptive because I was bored) and to park them somewhere.
What I'm trying to say is that presenting children with the maximum number of options is critical. Lots of the functionality on the system isn't necessary for all purposes. You have the option to not use it all. Meanwhile, including it may be what gets one more child interested in something that saves our collective bacon. You never know.
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60% of Microsoft's revenues come from outside the U.S. and these revenues are growing at a fantastic pace.
Microsoft has an R&D presence pretty much everywhere in the world. It is working with an African university on the design and launch of a comsat for Africa. Microsoft has become a multinational.
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Sadly, no... (Score:5, Insightful)
Nothing else comes close for efficiency, cost, battery life (with working software), ruggedness, total lifetime, etc.
The thing is VERY tough (i've tossed mine several times), very low power (3 hours battery life with 100% broken power management. Good power management should get 6+ hours battery life for typical users), with a brilliant screen. Just put real software on it and its very nice.
Let alone the environmental tolerance: Normal notebook batteries die if you try charging them at 100F.
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Agreed but the problem is that the OLPC will be much more useful to children when the software and documents will be ready, for example having good e-manuals on their native language available on the local server.
And this will take many years to have..
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The software stack may be questionable, but the hardware is brilliant.
The external hardware is durable and well placed, but the overall system is anything but brilliant. There is no reason to use an x86 processor for the project. This should be treated as an embedded design.
To further reduce costs and increase battery life a RISC based processor should be used. Suitable ARM based System-On-Chip (SOC) processors run up to 800 MHz, thus reducing power consumption and increasing performance. Nvidia, ATI, and other companies make graphics accelerators that are more than suf
Actually... (Score:5, Informative)
And in return, x86 compatibility is a good thing, because it opens up a huge world of binary software. For one, x86 is far better supported by just about everybody.
B: The OLPC actually uses a 15 W-Hr LiFeP (Lithium Ferro-Polymer) battery. Which is actually 4x the charge lifespan of LiIon, and has far greater environmental tolerance, and can even be composted for disposal.
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LoB
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Okay. Is there any reason NOT to use an x86 CPU? There are some great low-power "embedded" CPU solutions out there, but is it accurate to say x86-based CPUs do not and cannot meet those criteria?
The systems has an 800 x 600 display
It's actually 1200x900. I'm not sure where you got your numbers from.
I wonder what else about the device you might be misinformed about?
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And that's only about 1% different from the screen on the Mac Powerbook that I'm typing this on. So both should be able to display about the same amount of info, right?
On this PB, I have four 90x30 non-overlapping Terminal windows open, with three of them ssh'd to other machines that I'm working on. With the XO, as far as I can tell, I can only get one terminal window at a time, and it's fewer chars t
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. Maybe I should look into running a real OS (like linux or free/openBSD) on it, and running Sugar as a process that talks to X-Windows. I wonder how I'd learn to do that?
A lot of people run various "mainstream"distributions of Linux on XO -- I just posted preliminary Ubuntu Hardy installation files and instructions [olpcnews.com].
On this PB, I have four 90x30 non-overlapping Terminal windows open, with three of them ssh'd to other machines that I'm working on. With the XO, as far as I can tell, I can only get one terminal window at a time, and it's fewer chars than 90x30 (though I don't offhand remember its actual size).
It won't give you four non-overlapping oversized terminal windows, but it will comfortably run few overlapping ones, plus Emacs, with multiple desktops.
Re:Sadly, no... (Score:4, Interesting)
Sugar is a worthwhile project. Unfortunately, it is not yet stable (memory leaks, etc), the kinks of the completely re-imagined user experience have not been worked out, and not every "activity" that is needed to provide a complete user experience exists.
I hope that Sugar is not dead, because when that thing actually starts working...(famous last words?) More importantly, I hope that OLPC makes some very clear and unambiguous statements regarding the future and the status of Sugar, because it needs a strong developer community to survive, and I sure as hell am not going to write anything for it if it is completely abandoned. What a waste it would be, after so much good work.
Re:Sadly, no... (Score:4, Interesting)
I've had the touch pad start freaking out in odd ways, with the pointer randomly jumping when I lift my finger to reposition it.
The screen is very impressive, especially for the cost. The camera is surprisingly good. The software is, IMHO, a steaming pile of crap in its current state, wholly unsuitable for its target audience. It's slow to load, simple operations like exiting programs are inconsistent between applications, and there seems to be little to no built-in help.
Both of my kids (ages 9 and 12) gave up on using it. My daughter (the 9-year-old) much prefers her old Gateway P2-550 laptop running Windows 2000, despite the machine being an ancient cast-off that ceased being a useful business computer several years ago. Firefox on that machine is vastly superior to the XO-1's browser, and the overall experience is much less frustrating.
Despite my doubts about the OLPC project from the beginning, I've WANTED it to succeed, and I still hope to see it succeed. I want to believe that the open source community can build something that will make a real difference in the developing world, but it looks like there's still a long way to go.
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And yes, Sugar is not quite there yet but come on, it has taken Microsoft over 10 years to get there little Windows CE/W
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You are making the incorrect assumption that the XO is supposed to be like a normal computer and it is not. It is too bad but way too many think the way you do and the whole project is getting a bad rep because of this misinformation. IMO.
The XO needs to be able to perform the tasks that a normal computer performs. It doesn't need to be as fast at all the same things but it needs to be able to do them.
The GP said that Sugar was neato but a long way from being ready for primetime. Nothing you have said actually contradicts this. Stability is more important than "usable for some learning activities".
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The XO needs to be able to perform the tasks that a normal computer performs. It doesn't need to be as fast at all the same things but it needs to be able to do them.
If you mean the following then I agree but these are not all "normal computer" operations:
1) easily start/launch applications
2) easily stop the application or switch to another
3) easily restart the application on the data it was originally started with, not just the last dataset.
4) easily start a mesh network session with one or many XO devices nearby
5) easily enable the user identify one or many users around him/her
6) easily invite one or many users to share applications and/or data
7) easily allow applica
regarding running Sugar from Ubuntu liveCD (Score:2)
1) boot the Ubuntu LiveCD with a network connection
2) open Synaptic Page Manager( System->Administration->Synaptic...)
3) enable the Universe repository found in Synaptics Settings->Repositories menus
4) reload as the dialog will suggest
5) do a Synaptic search for Sugar using the search icon in the upper right of the application
6) select Sugar and Sugar-Activities
7) Click the Apply button
8) when a
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We CAN help the developing world (Score:2)
if we stopped dicking around with laptops and started collaborating on high-yield, low-input agricultural methods, water reclamation systems, sanitation, and low-conventional-energy devices generally. Great examples: the discovery [usc.edu] that pouring water through silk provides enough filtration to substantially reduce the incidence of cholera; the development of solar cooking technologies [solarcooking.org] to help stop defo
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I am writing this response on one of those laptops, running prerelease Ubuntu Hardy that I have just configured for it.
This laptop is not going to do any 3D modeling or video editing any soon, but for everything that belongs in a classroom it's fine.
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sudo apt-get install sugar sugar-activities
logout and then change the session type to Sugar and see what you get.
You can also use the standard application install tool(s) if you're not a commandline speed junky. FYI, Sugar has not "logout" option so you have to either reboot or restart gdm to get back to the login screen to boot the XFCE desktop or what ever one you've installed.
LoB
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It should be relatively easy to run Sugar in Xephyr, so both environments can coexist (good for development, bad for UI testing).
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No, we should do as much interesting stuff as early as possible. If you force kids to 'learn' what you term "widely applicable" (but, to them, pointless and boring) things like algebra, it fails. They don't really learn algebra. The only kids who learn algebra are the ones who go on to a science or similar caree
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This is why they are not in the basic curriculum of anything -- least of all schools that are going to use those laptops.
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Mathematics done right is extremely exacting. It resembles what is done in school not one iota, except possibly the proofs done in geometry. 3D modeling and video editing a
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Mathematics done right is extremely exacting. It resembles what is done in school not one iota, except possibly the proofs done in geometry.
While I won't call things modern mathematicians do similar to what school math courses look like, the content of school math courses is VERY useful applicable to the everyday life. School math courses aren't there to make you a mathematicians, they are to teach you the foundation of math that are necessary for a wide range of applications. 3D modeling and video editing at the professional level are, indeed, way beyond the range of the average student. So is what a professional mathematician does. Completel
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They belong in an art or trade school, kids have more widely applicable things to study -- like math, sciences, engineering, literature, etc.
If you don't think 3d modeling is useful to learning math, sciences, and engineering, you are a genuine idiot. And if you do not think that video editing can help you learn literature you have no imagination, to boot. But perhaps I'm just misunderstanding you? Regardless, your comment is proof positive that a low slashdot ID doesn't mean anything.
Also no one should learn 3D modeling and video editing on a computer he can carry -- inexperienced user needs massive amount of resources and very large screen to be able to do anything with it.
While my laptop is WORLDS ahead of the XO, I have a Compaq nw9440 which is MORE than adequate for learning 3d graphics with its Core Duo, 2GB memory, and nVid
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If you don't think 3d modeling is useful to learning math, sciences, and engineering, you are a genuine idiot.
I think, it became a tradition on Slashdot for someone to tell "if you think [something], you are an idiot" when they have no good argument to support their opposing position.
And if you do not think that video editing can help you learn literature you have no imagination, to boot.
No, I think that watching movies instead of reading books hurts people's understanding of literature. How video editing, that is two or three degree further away from literature, can help or hurt, I have no idea unless you are suggesting that a group of 20-30 kids should study literature by making movies based on books, complete with
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It's also absolutely inappropriate for a middle or high school environment
Why?
Anyway, you can get just as much power (with a bit less resolution, naturally) in a 15" or smaller package. Hell, geeks.com has a ~$2300 12" core duo (or was it core 2 duo?) tablet right now. Expensive, 'cause tablets are.
Whatever Amiga could do in 80's, this laptop can, too. I am sure, if I wanted to remake Tron on it, I would end up with a result technically superior to the original
Technically superior? Only if it actually looked better somehow. Which I doubt you would achieve on your own.
Neither of those things is in any way suitable as a part of a school curriculum because, as I have mentioned before, it's hard, tedious work, and few people care for it more than, say, knitting.
The school curriculum is designed to produce factory workers and soldiers. Period, end of story. They are not actually trying to educate children to be successful. They
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Sorry but you're a quack and don't know what you are talking about. And
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My first thought was also that the story had something to do with the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender [wikipedia.org] -- forget the network; think Miyazaki, not SpongeBob. Excellent series in the vast wasteland of American animated TV.
However, it should be noted that Aang, the primary character, is not a Water Bender, but an Air Bender.
(Somehow, the inevitable loss of Karma for this way-off-topic posting seems unusually appropriate.)
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My first thought was also that the story had something to do with the Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender -- forget the network; think Miyazaki, not SpongeBob. Excellent series in the vast wasteland of American animated TV.
This is a bit OT but just in case anyone out there was just thinking about running off to Netflix to order this one, don't. I did, and it was absolutely horrible. The plot was as crap as you can get, the production value was worse than Hentai let alone any actually credible Anime, and the voice acting is everything you've come to expect from American animated features, which is to say, very bad.
To compare Avatar to anything by Miyazaki, and I do mean anything, is to greatly insult the man and his talent.
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I'll give you that -- I may have gone a bit too far by putting SpongeBob and Miyazaki on the same measuring stick. That may have been like using George W. Bush and Stephen Hawking as a comparison of intelligence.
However, I think you've rated Avatar too harshly. It *has* a plot, which is more than you can say for just about any animated series generated in the US that I can think of. I'm not sure
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I'm not sure what part of the production values you're complaining about, but keep in mind that many peoples' impression of anime is that *it* is sorely lacking in production values -- looping the same punch over and over, etc.
The lack of production value I'm talking about is the same one shared by basically every American animated series ever made. Simply put, the art style is childish, immature, and boring compared to even most garbage anime series like DragonballZ. Everything looks like junk after watching Anime for years. Water effects? Crap. Sunsets? I could do better in painter in just a few minutes, and I'm definitely no artist. Even subtlety of color is pretty much nowhere in American animation, and Avatar is no excepti
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"You've got an OLPC? You must be starving to death! Turn that sucker off and go gather grubs! Bet you wish you had clean water instead! I'm sure no one built any infrastructure in your country, 'cause they're all spending the dough on education, and we all know education is useless! Back to the Stone Age for you!"
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You know this, and are just being a dick.
Hence I will filter you out.
Bye.