RE: [cobalt-users] Mexican ISP + RaQ3 = Aye Caramba!

[Rodolfo Paiz <rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I was thinking it must take forever for DNS to propagate down to other
> countires. We are fortunate to have such good technology in the US.

Mike,

I'll remain civil for the purpose of this post; however, I'll honestly say
you've succeeded in making an utter fool of yourself, not to put it more
pictorially, by posting this particular portion of your inner musings.

[flame on: phasers set to stun]

The United States of America is truly a wonderful idea, albeit not perfectly
implemented. But since the human race is imperfect by nature, I will
wholeheartedly concede that it is clearly the most successful experiment in
governance in the history of mankind. It has also become the single most
powerful socioeconomic and political force of the twentieth century.
However, it has paid the price for this power in the hubris of its denizens:
the US of A is "of" America, not synonymous with "America" which more
properly is a continent, not a country.

The US also has, sadly, on average the most parochial attitude of any
citizenry in the free world today, whereby a small minority of the country
are truly world-class citizens but the average Joe thinks he's above the
world. Thus "Americans" look down on everybody else, causing no one good and
(usually) managing to do some harm. Since I believe this is innocently and
unwittingly your case, I won't completely rip your head off; however, I must
comment to some degree:

DNS takes exactly as long to propagate to other countries as the TTL
assigned in each server. Curiously enough, the speed of light is not faster
in the USA than in the rest of the world, and at 299,954 kilometers per
second, it's plenty fast enough for the job. Also, the whole world is
fortunate to have such good technology as there is today. And while Cisco is
a US company, the educated consumer will note that India is actually the
world's software programming powerhouse (receiving mostly outsourcing
projects from the US, hmm...)

I'm curious as to what "such good technology" you're being grateful for.
Every Internet technology described by an RFC (and then some) is in use
worldwide. Cisco runs 9x% of the *world's* traffic, not just the US's.
Funnily enough, although I've spent 10 years in the US, have traveled
extensively to three continents and fluently speak three languages, I've
never seen any technology available in the US that wasn't available anywhere
else. (And to the rest of the list, please forgive me for so loudly blowing
my own horn... I just want to make a point.)

There is one thing, however, that sadly I do see in the States about 10x
more than I see it anywhere else: the idea that "we are ahead, we are the
best, and pity the rest of the poor bastards who didn't have the luck to be
born in America [theoretically the States] where we rule, now and forever."
This attitude, Mike, does not well endear you to the substantial
international following on this list (most of whom, thank God, are vastly
more knowledgeable than I), nor does it endear you to any citizen of any
other part of the world whom you may encounter.

Most of us are rather proud of our home countries and work to make them
better every day. Most of us admire the United States, the intent of its
founders, the success of its venture, and the achievements of its people.
And all of us seek to work with the best people and companies worldwide,
regardless of race, color, culture, religion, language, or other variables,
because we seek to be the best and brook no interference with that goal.

Pray take care, sir, that you do not sully the proud name your country bears
by posting such asinine comments. I only ask that, despite the drubbing
you've received in this mail, you extend me the courtesy of understanding
that you've caused offense, and I seek not to return it but rather to make
you aware of your misstep in the constructive hope that you will, in the
next instance, be better acquainted with the rest of the world's
sensitivities and thus make yourself look fabulous rather than foolish.

[flame off]

------
Rodolfo J. Paiz
rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>