Meanwhile we're lucky to find WiFi in the middle of the city

[CoolBreeze]

There’s something you can get in Estonia, the post-Soviet Baltic country, that you can’t get anywhere on the continent: free wireless Web access (Wi-Fi) everywhere – even in the depth of the country’s forest.

This tiny northern outpost of 1.4 million people turned the tide of its 50-year Soviet occupation fast, thanks in part to its quick embrace of the Internet. Estonians file taxes and vote online, and their government officials meet online in videoconferences. And now, Europe’s most wired country also leads the way in offering free and public Wi-Fi access.

Orange and black “Area of Wireless Connection” signs have sprouted like mushrooms in recent years. There was only one in 2001, 280 three years later, and 1,600 today. They pop up in the most unexpected nooks – the depth of the forest, on the old market square, on restaurant windows, on bus schedules at the Tallinn Airport, and in police cars.

The network is mostly the result of the drive of a former computer science student. In the early 2000s, Veljo Hammer toured the country, going to restaurants, gas stations, and shops to persuade owners to install free Wi-Fi.

Being quick to embrace high technology is one positive result of having had to rebuild Estonia after communism collapsed.

“If you start a new country, you have the advantage of using the latest that’s out there,” says Jaan Tallinn, who was one of the software engineers behind Skype, the free phone Internet service that turned Estonia into a Silicon Valley of the Baltics.

He and other energetic young pioneers have nurtured Estonia’s high-tech revolution.

[Bob Campbell]

Damned socialist countries. We may not have decent wi-fi, or internet, or cell phone coverage, but at least we're free.

[CoolBreeze]

So are they.

They were the first to use the Flat Tax system of taxation.

They invented Skype , Hotmail and others.

They pay their parking meters, stores and now even VOTE by cell phone.

Few of their beautiful women are 10 pounds overweight, much less 100 like here.

They were the first to demand their independence from Russia (again).

They hate the Russians and always have.

[Bob Campbell]

And yet, as socialists, they must be a failure as a nation.
Sure, you can call it a social democracy. But they're no different from France, or Germany, or Sweden.
Damn, they all have great internet and cell phones too.
Damn socialists.

[DJSHOCKLEY]

Wonder how the healthcare system is there??

[CoolBreeze]

They have no Corporate Tax. Businesses are flocking in to take advantage. The US has the highest corporate tax in the world. WV is even worse when it comes to taxes of all types.

One thing you need to remember: under Communism, their health care was "free". You cant simply dump one and a half million people into the streets overnight with no job, no health care. Their health care system is not "socialist", in that the government pays for it. The employer and employee contributes to it. Unlike here however, their people dont go running off to the doctor every time someone get's the sniffles. More importantly, they don't have lawyers under every rock waiting to pounce on the doctor that forgets to wipe his patients ass before he leaves the office.

[Bob Campbell]

Well, if you use that definition of medical care as not socialist, then Obama care is not socialist.
They're socialist.
Germany, France, Canada, UK. All with higher corporate tax rates than the US.
And I still can't get cell service in the Turnpike tunnels.

[CoolBreeze]

America is a larger welfare state than many in Europe. The latest statistics and news bear this out. Problem is... not enough people are willing to admit nor accept this fact. You will soon, especially if you pay taxes.

[DJSHOCKLEY]

[quote="CoolBreeze"]America is a larger welfare state than many in Europe. The latest statistics and news bear this out.


Can ya hook a bruther up with some links and sources for this??

[genlock]

Drudge Report Headline.

[CoolBreeze]

Meanwhile.... back in Estonia:

Estonians target Hollywood and Bollywood with their novel 3D-camera

Estonian Brothers Kaur and Kaspar Kallas in cooperation with the USA camera producer – Silicon Imaging have developed a stereoscopic video camera that is able to record a three-dimensional image, as TestMarket.eu reports.




This novel gadget has already drawn the attention of many of the world's top directors, including James Cameron and Werner Herzog who used it for shooting his latest documentary last summer, writes LETA.

The Kallas brothers have successfully busted the myth according to which the making of a 3D-film takes a truckload of special equipment, at least three technicians and that setting up a scene takes half a day.

Actually, the 3D-camera is not a camera in the traditional sense of the word but a modular system comprising two camera heads and a recorder. The set is portable and can easily be adjusted for special purposes. Without a lens the device weighs four kilograms and enables the playing of a recorded 3D-picture at the film set.

Until today, production of a 3D-picture took two separate cameras and a special device to merge images from different cameras into a 3D-image. The cameras had to be synchronized for the timing of each frame to be exactly the same. It was all rather complicated and there was always a risk that the quality of the 3D-effect would be poor. And more importantly, the solution was neither mobile nor cheap.

Estonians developed the mobile hardware solution or the recorder for Silicon Imaging camera heads that enables the recording of a 3D-image and also helped to create the necessary software. The 3D-camera was developed on the basis of the 2D-camera that was also produced by Estonians in co-operation with Silicon Imaging and used for filming Kadri Kõusaar's controversial "Magnus". The same technology was used for the Hollywood feature film "Slumdog Millionaire" that last year won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The camera head of a 3D-camera actually consists of two 2D-cameras one of which records for one eye while the second records for the other eye.

The camera set costs approximately 64,000 euros. So far Silicon Imaging has sold one to the world famous director, James Cameron, whose film “Avatar” broke all box office records.

Fast technological development, however, does not favor the sale of these camera sets. It is more practical to offer the service which includes equipment rental together with the services of a specialist. And that is what the Kallas brothers are now focusing on. Panasonic and Sony have also used the same business model with their high-end digital cameras.

The camera heads and recorder rental costs 980 euros a day and auxiliary equipment, such as a mirror rig, wireless HD and 3D monitoring, wireless follow focus, lenses and a work station for viewing recorded material costs another 1500 – 2000 euros a day.

The new technology was used for the first time in December 2009 in Finland to make the 3D commercial that was shown before “Avatar”. In summer 2010, Werner Herzog used this novel camera to record his first 3D documentary called “Caves of Forgotten Dreams” that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September.


Negotiations are currently under way with several well-known directors who would like to use Estonians’ equipment for their upcoming projects but Kallas is unwilling to name any names yet.

Meanwhile the brothers continue to work on optimizing the camera casing. Within a year the entire system has become more compact and it is now possible to monitor and operate the camera with no wires attached.

[Bob Campbell]

Must be a fake. Socialists never produce anything.

[CoolBreeze]

They're no more Socialists than we are. You can take that any way you want.

They are much more Capitalist than we are (now).

They are the size and population of WV, and yet relatively few work for the government. (Unlike here).
They are among the smartest programmers in the world. We offshore much of the code we need to them to figure out. Here, we sit around and worry about WVU football and where our next government check is coming from.

[AmpedNow]

As much of a tech geek as I am, even I have to wonder what would be the need for a 5-bar 50mb 4G connection in the middle of Tucker County, for example...

With that said, there is no reason why every statistical MSA in the country shouldn't have at least some 3G/common Wifi access by now.

However, this is just at this point in time... 4G is the long term answer to rural high speed internet access. The problem is convincing ATT and Verizon to cover forests in Tucker County with 4G without giving them a bunch of government subsidies...

[CoolBreeze]

As a taxpayer all my life, I didn't have a problem with a "little" of my money going to people who truly needed it.

But the Commies who took over my government has decided that much more than "a little help" was needed from me. Here's what they took even more money out of my pocket to give to these people:

Food credit cards, that I watch being abuse daily.
Free or practically free housing.
Free health care
Free Cable TV.
Free utilities

And just when I didn't think it could get any worse, my Commie government started passing out free CELL PHONES. That's absolutely the straw that broke the camels back! I met a bum the other day that was bragging on his new cell phone. He pulled it out of his pocket and stated that as soon as he figured out how to turn it on, he was going to call all his other bum friends who got one. Needless to say, we got into a bit of an argument over the government passing out expensive toys to those who have no use for them, will lose them, or have them stolen. He came back with that same old excuse: "But what about emergencies?" I told him that even cell phones no longer used can dial 911, and there are probably millions of those laying around that could be put into service for "emergencies".

So now, we have bums walking around chatting with each other about the best dumpster food or alley-way to sleep. (real bums hate the million dollar shelters we build for them... too many rules they say). Now, instead of the typical rude asshole screaming into his/her cell phone while walking down the street, we have bums selling tax-paid cell phones for the price of a couple of 40 ouncers.

[Dave Loudin]

How does he keep it charged? Bogart some electrons from the library?

[CoolBreeze]

Some of our little parks have outlets. Or maybe they'll just beat each other up for fresh batteries.

[Bob Campbell]

Course they can't get cell reception cause those damn socialists in Europe have it all.

[CoolBreeze]

Tell ya what else they have: They just bought the largest privately owned oil shale site in the world... in Utah.

Right there's 57,000 barrels of oil a day that WE should have developed, but the wackos in Washington hate oil shale.

TALLINN, Estonia (AFP) – The state power firm of Estonia, a Baltic nation that all but covers its energy needs using oil extracted from shale, said Thursday that it was taking over a major US shale-sector player.

Eesti Energia is acquiring the Oil Shale Exploration Company (OSEC), which it said had one of the largest tracts of privately-owned oil shale reserves in the United States.

"Eesti Energia is planning to construct an oil shale plant with a capacity of 57,000 barrels of shale oil per day at full production," chief executive Sandor Liive told reporters.

"It is a unique opportunity for Estonia to be able to provide one of the largest countries in the world with something they need -- technology which enables them to utilise their domestic oil shale resource and therefore increase the country's energy independence," Liive added.

Eesti Energia did not disclose the price tag.

Estonia, a European Union nation of 1.3 million, covers more than 90 percent of its power needs via its shale reserves, which are the country's only mineral resource.

Eesti Energia said the OSEC takeover still needed a green light from the US foreign investment watchdog.

It said that once the deal closes, it planned to focus on developing oil shale projects in Estonia, the United States and Jordan, where it acquired a majority stake in a local shale company in 2006.

[DJSHOCKLEY]

[quote="CoolBreeze"]They're no more Socialists than we are. You can take that any way you want.

They are much more Capitalist than we are (now).

Umm... How so??

Also, how is being even MORE Capitalist than we are a good thing??

Especially after what we... Err.. Some of us know about Big Pharma in America and the Military Industrial Complex...