Slashdot Mirror

Wait...you mean stores where you live expect you to own and bring your own bags to the store each time you shop with them?

assuming you're not being purposely obtuse: https://aldi.us/stores/ https://www.costco.com/warehou...

USAA

Are services provided by USAA worth joining the military?

Costco membership required

Annual fee: $60 (source)

Prime membership required

Annual fee: $119 (source) or $59 for students at a U.S. university whose email domain is within the .edu TLD (source)

I mean, I've been seeing stuff like this in Costco for a couple years now:
https://www.costco.com/Altair-..."-Flushmount-Light-Fixture.product.100354669.html

But people have their floor and table lamps, or don't want to replace every fixture in their house, or (worse) their house was built in the late 60s and doesn't even have wiring for ceiling fixtures.

"If this was true, then there would be a case because the balls are slightly inferior but otherwise identical."

No, because the Costco statement is general for all of their Kirkland Signature products, not specific to golf balls. It doesn't make any direct comparison between products. It's also not a competitive claim, but offered as a guarantee, Costco will take the product back and refund your money if you don't agree with it. "All Kirkland Signature products are guaranteed to be of equal or better quality than name brands"

And at the very least, it can be considered mere puffery.

However, you left out if these balls actually are NOT violate all 11 Acushnet patents, what would happen? This is a part of business tactic when a company is using patents to force others out of its way of monopoly. If it is the case, this is a kind of patent troll tactic and I don't support it...

Also, from what I read TFA, Acushnet is trying to force "meet or exceed the quality standards of leading national brands" as Costco advertisement of their balls (#7 in the Complaint). However, if you really look at Costco page, the phrase actually gives a different meaning in the context.

... Our goals for Kirkland Signature items are that they (1) meet or exceed the quality standards of leading national brands, while being offered to members at the lowest possible price; ...

For infringing those patents, you should read the complaint yourself for what Costco said against those patents. I don't know whether or not those claims are valid and won't argue about them because I'm not a patent attorney.

I want to but a new PC laptop too, but it has to run Win7, because just like W8, I won't own another with shitware on it. Been out looking, but of course, no one local is selling a new laptop with an actual working operating system, like W7.

If you are a Costco member they are currently selling an HP Envy 15t with an i7 and a 1080p display preloaded with Windows 7. I'd buy one myself but I need a discrete GPU.

Cool - thank you,

I want to but a new PC laptop too, but it has to run Win7, because just like W8, I won't own another with shitware on it. Been out looking, but of course, no one local is selling a new laptop with an actual working operating system, like W7.

If you are a Costco member they are currently selling an HP Envy 15t with an i7 and a 1080p display preloaded with Windows 7. I'd buy one myself but I need a discrete GPU.

San Francisco Bay Organic OneCup

They claim their cups are 99% recyclable and I love how you're not brewing hot coffee through plastic which never tastes good IMHO! Our household buys these in bulk every few months.

It's worth paying a bit more for solidly-built cables that meet spec (and especially for Ethernet cables, for some guard on the cable that keeps the clip from snagging or breaking off it you need to pull it through a tangle).

You mentioned everything needed but one, the wire needs to be Copper and not Aluminum

Anything beyond that is a bit silly.

http://www.costco.com/WireLogi... see the arrows? Signal is best if the arrow points to the input :)

This one has always gotten my attention, I have heard about from multiple sources. 10 deadliest volcanic eruptions --1815 eruption of Mount Tambora-- 92,000 dead -- Year Without a Summer

It wouldn't be so bad now, because of our improved transportation mechanisms. Vermont, for example, would still have trouble with a similar volcano eruption, but Kansas would still grow corn. Also note that a lot of our produce is already imported from Mexico and even Argentina. So our system is more robust, not as regional now.

Of course, a larger volcano eruption could still cause problems. You can get a year supply of food if it especially worries you. It's good to be prepared.

http://www.costco.com/Sentry%C...

yes there are fucking millions of them.... do a google search... come on.

It really doesn't. One kilo of rice costs C$3.67 in Montreal.

No sure, what's wrong with Montreal — or the numbeo-site, where you got your numbers — but an American Costco sells a 50-pound bag of rice for $22.69. That's 23kg, or just under $1/kg.

And, of course, you can buy as much as you'd like of it, whereas in Cuba the quantities are limited by the loving and caring government officials.

Only if you want to pay that much. I got a 2-pack 500 lumen flashlight set from Costco for $20 with coupon.

Costco also had a 2-pack 1500 lumen set for $69 until they sold out in two days.

http://www.costco.com/Duracell...

~~

I bought those....they were crappy. The light was poor, not uniform. Returned them all and bought more of the Feit from Costco.

No coating. Best bulbs I've ever owned.

***

Feit 40 watt equiv (8 watt actual), 500 lumen bulbs.

http://www.costco.com/Feit-Mul...

Recommendation, see if you can find a socket splitter. Since the Feit 40 watt bulbs are 500 lumens @ 8 watts. If you can find a socket splitter you can put "two" 40 watt Feit and hit 1,000 lumens and be at a meager 16 watts.

Or if your fixture will fit it, these are a 100 watt replacement at 1,000 lumens, for a whopping 17 watts.

http://www.costco.com/Feit-BR4...

Feit 40 watt equiv (8 watt actual), 500 lumen bulbs.

http://www.costco.com/Feit-Mul...

I paid $9.99 for 3 bulbs. That's $3.33. And the brand to get is Feit. I've tried a couple others, and the quality was crap. I haven't tried any other brands for quality, because all the others are priced 2x-3x what Costco's Feit bulbs run.

http://www.costco.com/Feit-Mul...

They are 40 watts, but in brightness are much more comparable to a 60 watt bulb.

I use and recommend a Sonicare electric toothbrush.

They aren't paying me to shill so if you prefer a different brand, buy that. (The Sweethome recommends this Oral-B toothbrush.) But Sonicare is working for me.

My teeth tend to accumulate tartar buildup quickly. (I'm not complaining; better that issue than having acidic mouth chemistry that erodes teeth.) It used to take a long and unpleasant time for my teeth to be cleaned.

I got my first Sonicare and started using it, and as it happened I had a dentist appointment about a month later. The dental hygienist took one look at my teeth and said "I can already tell you are doing something different, and whatever it is, I like it." I was stunned... this was after just one month! How much better would it be after six months!

That was years ago. I have been using the Sonicare and my teeth cleanings go more quickly and are less unpleasant.

A few tips.

The main one: let the Sonicare do the brushing... don't apply a lot of force with your hand. I have sometimes been guilty of this and it can have a negative effect on the gums, making them "recede" which you don't want. Just use light pressure and let the moving bristles do their thing.

Also, make an effort to let the bristles brush the gum line (where the teeth meet the gums). I used to have an issue with deep "pockets" in my gums, and the Sonicare seems to have stimulated my gums to grow and fill in the pockets. After I used it for a while, I only had the deep pockets in the corners of my mouth; and then I made an effort to brush all my gums, including in the corners, and I don't have any of the deep pockets anymore.

Sonicare has a deluxe edition that includes a USB-powered travel charger. I lust after that USB travel charger, but I can't bring myself to spend that much money on a toothbrush. http://www.slashgear.com/philips-sonicare-diamondclean-review-09201165/

This is what I have. For half the price of the deluxe edition I got two Sonicares, a charger, and a travel charger. The charger has a UV feature to sterilize the brush heads; it makes an annoying high-pitched whine that I can hear, so I never use it. Instead I use the travel charger, which works fine.

http://www.costco.com/Philips-Sonicare-Flexcare-Rechargeable-Sonic-Toothbrush-Premium-Edition-2-pk.product.100071852.html

Also, floss your teeth every night, seriously. It make a big difference.

What impy is referring to is say for example, you're in a vehicle. The vehicle (and you) are moving in the game, but your head (and body) is not so won't be experiencing the actual acceleration. Or for a FPS you might jump down a ledge (in game) but again, the whole time your feet are firmly planted on the ground in RL. You would need a system with actuators to jostle and tilt you in the right directions to simulate that. Something like this .

You got marmalade at a diner in St. Louis? As in, jam with fruit peel in it? That must be a first. Are you sure it wasn't just jam? While I'm sure it can be done, finding marmalade at a diner in the American Midwest is still quite a feat.

Don't worry about feeling bad for wasting food. It's a common sentiment among those visiting the US. After one spends enough time shopping in a Costco or other bulk food warehouse, the feeling passes.

I know you're making a joke, but I literally just got this email newsletter from costco: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11771916&cm_mmc=BCEmail_Sept2012MailerLP-_-Header-_-1-_-MarketingItemName (9687 Total Servings 1 Person 1 Year Food Supply)

MRE is convinent for a quick meal that takes up a small space if you have the ability to heat or cook it if required. For longer term survivability, they are not a good choice. I have a kit similar to this. You can still prepare for an emergency with standard off the shelf stuff from your grocery store without looking like a paranoid terrorist. Cans of meat like SPAM and DAK/hormel canned hams, canned and dried soups, tuna in oil, fruits, vegtables, all have shelf lives in the 2-4 year range. All of them are fully cooked and can be eaten by themselves straight out of the cold can or can be mixed in various quanities and heated for a "supper". Dry boxs and bags of things like Mac and Cheese, powered milk, flour, pasta, rice have a 1-3 year shelf life and can last longer if needed. Keep some of this stuff on hand and rotate through the stuff as you use them and you will have a good start without looking suspicious.

How is 169 USD not cheap for a 22 inch monitor? Think about what would have cost you 7 years ago in a CRT!

Costco

1 Barrel of Crude oil is 42 Gallons at a cost of ~$105.00 per barrel. 1 Barrel of Corn oil at 42 Gallons currently costs $464.92 retail.* I don't have an opinion either way, but 10:1 can't be correct except in possibly talking about an energy economy. * Cost based on the current listing of 1 barrell of Mazola Corn oil as found at Costco. http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?prodid=10250822&whse=BD_823&topnav=bd&cat=10702&hierPath=10035*&lang=en-US

Yes, investing in pure finance rather than in any actual capital or labor has really protected renters, their energy costs, and the economy generally.

Power corp stocks like Con Ed have a 15x P/E ratio, or a 15 year payback (if 100% of earnings are issued as dividends, which they're not). Solar panels have a 3-5-7 year payback (depending on local conditions). Yes, you can sell the stocks, but you can sell the solar panels with the house. The research in the story we're discussing shows that panels, which can cost $3:55:W at Costco + probably half that for installation, sell for something like 5%+ more than their net cost, even before subsidies. Which means that solar panels are better than twice as good an investment as even investing in evil power corp monopolies.

Renters should invest in buying a home, and then go from there. If they don't they're not investors.

Costco is now selling solar PV systems including a 5060WDC for $18K, or $3.55:W. $5.50:W increased home value sounds like a good way to nearly double your investment in solar, even before the subsidies cut the cost to $2:W or less, tripling it or better.

Paying for the privilege of shopping at a store?
Who would fall for such a thing?

Making preparations for emergencies and disasters gives you a greater margin to survive. You might not be getting any help any time soon, if ever. Consider the fact that the states knew that they were responsible for taking care of incidents for four days before FEMA stepped in, and the botched responses by the city of New Orleans (epic fail), the state of Louisiana (epic fail), and ultimately the federal government in Katrina. Not a shining moment for the United States.

However, many police, fire and EMS organizations from outside the affected areas were reportedly hindered or otherwise slowed in their efforts to send help and assistance to the area. FEMA sent hundreds of firefighters who had volunteered to help rescue victims to Atlanta for 2 days of training classes on topics including sexual harassment and the history of FEMA.[12] Official requests for help through the proper chains of command were not forthcoming due to local and state delays in engaging FEMA for federal assistance, even after approached by such authorities. Local police and other EMS workers found the situation traumatic; at least two officers committed suicide, and over 300 deserted the city after gang violence and "turf wars" erupted around the city.[13] A report by the Appleseed Foundation, a public policy network, found that local entities (nonprofit and local government agencies) were far more flexible and responsive than the federal government or national organizations. The federal response was often constrained by lack of legal authority or by ill-suited eligibility and application requirements. In many instances, federal staff and national organizations did not seem to have the flexibility, training, and resources to meet demands on the ground."[14Criticism of government response to Hurricane Katrina]

Think at least five basic scenarios, not all of which you may believe is necessary to prepare for, and you can do it in steps.
- Trouble on the road (breakdown on deserted road, trapped by blizzard or flood)
- Quickly evacuate from home indefinitely (hurricane, tornado, fire, flash flood, industrial accident, terrorist attack)
- Trapped at home for 1-4 weeks with loss of some services (massive blizzard, floods, loss of power, flu epidemic)
- Massive civil disorder (LA riots, Katrina looting & gang activity)
- Society changing event (deadly pandemic, EMP bombs destroy all electronics, major disruption in society)

Preparations can start small:
- For the car: a first aid kit, a couple of space blankets and plastic ponchos, some matches, steel mugs, a few granola bars, a can/bottle opener, bottled water, small tool kit, knife, duct tape, and flashlight.
- For the home: 3 days supply of food and water set aside, a first aid kit, flashlights w/ batteries, battery operated radio, some emergency cash, a fire extinguisher, a small repair kit/tool kit
- Start pulling your documents together in a safe place

Over time, you can build up to prepare to the level you believe necessary, including a one year supply of food for long term storage (just an example - many other vendors / options).

Ready America
Are You Ready? - An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness
How to Disaster-Proof Your Life
How to Survive Anything Mother Nature Throws at You
Blackout Survival Guide
4 Facts You Need to Know About D

Obviously software cost depends on what you measure it in. For example Linux kernel is estimated to cost near 1.4 billion US dollars (at the bottom), but IF you measure this in chickens.... it could cost 35,008,752.2 chickens.

In ounces of gold it would be around 1,040,041.6 ounces. In DOW it would cost approximately 127,186

It is also possible to estimate its cost in terms of Libraries of Congress, man years and many such wonderful things, however note that many Keynesians say that gold has no value but what is 'speculated' to be value while they do not see the same thing about their cherished and printed fiat, so then we could argue that Linux kernel is worth nothing if 1,040,041 ounces of gold priced at current levels in USD are worth nothing.

It's all a matter of point of view.

Microsoft is a company that cannot "let go" of anything. Take .NET for example -- it is a miserable failure that they won't let die.

A few web sites that use .NET technology:

Costco - http://www.costco.com/
Crate & Barrel - http://www.crateandbarrel.com/
Home Shopping Network - http://www.hsn.com/
Buy.com - http://www.buy.com/
Dell - http://www.dell.com/
Nasdaq - http://www.nasdaq.com/
Virgin - http://www.virgin.com/
7-Eleven - http://www.7-eleven.com/
Carnival Cruise Lines - http://www.carnival.com/
L'Oreal - http://www.loreal.com/
Remax - http://www.remax.com/
Monster Jobs - http://www.monster.com/
USA Today - http://www.usatoday.com/
ComputerJobs.com - http://computerjobs.com/
Match.com - http://www.match.com/
National Health Services (UK) - http://www.nhs.uk/
CarrerBuilder.com - http://www.careerbuilder.com/
Newegg http://newegg.com/
Geico http://geico.com/
Capital One http://capitalone.com/
Zecco http://zecco.com/

And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Maybe you should tell all those sites that .NET is a miserable failure? Or if you were just (successfully) karmawhoring, I am sorry to interrupt the circle jerk on here.

For those who upgraded, the smallest LCD TV sets cost over $500

Really?

Vizio 720p 32" $350

Heck the 32" Panasonic is $399.

I would hardly call a 32" TV "small" by any means.

Under 30" the price drops to well under $300.

This one might but I imagine it would be slow as molasses lol

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11504534&whse=BC&Ne=5000000+4000000&eCat=BC|84&N=4017755%205000108&Mo=4&No=3&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=

Not sure why this is big news. Costco has been doing this for some time already. Guess it's funny now that WalMart is doing it?

I personally run/have run many huge enterprise apps on .NET. It's actually a pretty good platform if you know what you're doing.

Don't take my word for it, though.

When I googled for what you asked to google, I found this list of sites running ASP.NET.

Costco - http://www.costco.com/
Crate & Barrel - http://www.crateandbarrel.com/
Home Shopping Network - http://www.hsn.com/
Buy.com - http://www.buy.com/
Dell - http://www.dell.com/
Nasdaq - http://www.nasdaq.com/
Virgin - http://www.virgin.com/
7-Eleven - http://www.7-eleven.com/
Carnival Cruise Lines - http://www.carnival.com/
L'Oreal - http://www.loreal.com/
The White House - http://www.whitehouse.gov/
Remax - http://www.remax.com/
Monster Jobs - http://www.monster.com/
USA Today - http://www.usatoday.com/
ComputerJobs.com - http://computerjobs.com/
Match.com - http://www.match.com/
National Health Services (UK) - http://www.nhs.uk/
CarrerBuilder.com - http://www.careerbuilder.com/
Newegg http://newegg.com/
Geico http://geico.com/
Capital One http://capitalone.com/
Zecco http://zecco.com/

Maybe you should tell those sites that .NET is a unproven technology? Or will you try to argue that these are not huge enterprise apps? Just because you want something to be true(or maybe you were just karma whoring) doesn't make it true. C# is a better language than Java, though each one has it's strengths. And even conceding your point(I don't) that Java is faster, speed is not everything. Or we would all be coding in assembly or machine code.

Or you could prove how large your penis is with a real man's home generator from costco.

What you need is a charging valet like this one from Costco
Works great. I have a usb hub & several wall warts tucked into a similar one.

Maybe it is better to have something that doesn't make everyone who sees you say, "Rich guy!" Find some other way to protect your stuff. Avoid being a target of crime.

Skyway Northwest Trails Westport 30" Rolling Duffle: $29.99.

McGuire-Nicholas Rolling Bag Set includes 14" Multi-Purpose Rolling Bag with 16" and 12" Bags: $39.99.

ATEC XL Pro Travel Bag Three Sidecar Pockets, Zippered Full-length Mesh Inside Pocket: $59.99

Bags costing $200 do more than carry your stuff. They talk to everyone who sees you. They say, "I have money to burn. I am probably carrying expensive things you could sell. Steal me."

Maybe it is better to have something that doesn't make everyone who sees you say, "Rich guy!" Find some other way to protect your stuff. Avoid being a target of crime.

Skyway Northwest Trails Westport 30" Rolling Duffle: $29.99.

McGuire-Nicholas Rolling Bag Set includes 14" Multi-Purpose Rolling Bag with 16" and 12" Bags: $39.99.

ATEC XL Pro Travel Bag Three Sidecar Pockets, Zippered Full-length Mesh Inside Pocket: $59.99

Bags costing $200 do more than carry your stuff. They talk to everyone who sees you. They say, "I have money to burn. I am probably carrying expensive things you could sell. Steal me."

Maybe it is better to have something that doesn't make everyone who sees you say, "Rich guy!" Find some other way to protect your stuff. Avoid being a target of crime.

Skyway Northwest Trails Westport 30" Rolling Duffle: $29.99.

McGuire-Nicholas Rolling Bag Set includes 14" Multi-Purpose Rolling Bag with 16" and 12" Bags: $39.99.

ATEC XL Pro Travel Bag Three Sidecar Pockets, Zippered Full-length Mesh Inside Pocket: $59.99

Bags costing $200 do more than carry your stuff. They talk to everyone who sees you. They say, "I have money to burn. I am probably carrying expensive things you could sell. Steal me."

Funny. I live in Berkeley and had my car stolen last year; laptop, electronics the year before that; and now they stole about 10K of tools from my shop. I thought about getting cameras after the first incident, but I didn't want to be a spaz. At this point, I feel it's a community service. Several neighbors have been burglarized this year (also cars, tools, jewelry). The cops are understaffed and overwhelmed, and frankly, didn't seem that eager to put their ass on the line for some yuppies. I helped set up a commercial system once, so I knew kind of what I wanted. I found something pretty close at Costco: night visior outdoor campers, dvr multiplexer, a basic quality setup. It arrived a few days ago, so I'm still setting it up. If you're interested, I can keep you posted on what I discover. I'm in the same boat: I want to cover the front and back yards. Link to the Qsee system I purchased for 1.5K plus tax: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11235330&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|79|4802&N=4001405&Mo=16&No=4&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=4802&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&topnav=

In my car I tossed the 12V "cigarette lighter" from the dash to the truck. I also increased its power from a small 5A fuse to a 10A fuse, so I can run a reasonably sized 120V inverter (also in the trunk) to power a few devices on-the-go.


Drawing twice the power than the wire was fused for is a good way to need another car soon. Unless you also upgraded the wire, I wouldn't recommend changing the fuse size.

I have a reasonably sized inverter in my trunk also, next to the battery. 1KW will power most anything except hair dryers you care to bring along.

At home, we have a DC run throughout the house wherever we upgraded our power,

This is not a good idea. Volts X Amps = Watts in DC circuits. To run a 100 watt laptop cross the house on 12 volts with less than 10% voltage drop requires a huge wire. Do the math.

http://www.otherpower.com/cgi-bin/webbbs/webbbs_config.pl?noframes;read=6346

Don't forget a 50 foot cord is a 100 foot DC path.

To cut your loss in the wire by 100 as in a 10$ loss is now a 0.1% loss, go from 12 volts to 120 volts. That is the simple reason for the big inverter in the trunk. I can run a 100 foot 14 AWG extension cord and have less than 1% voltage drop in the cord to a 100 Watt laptop.

From the page "14AWG = .00297 ohms / foot". Doing the math, a 100 foot 14 gauge extension cord is 200 feet of wire with a resistance of .00297 ohms per foot. 0.00297 X 200 = 0.594 ohms. To get 100 Watts at the far end of the wire at 12 volts, you need to deliver 8 and 1/3 amps. That amprage going on that almost .6 ohm wire will have a voltage loss of 0.594 X 8.3333 or 4.9499 volts. To get 12 volts out, you need to put in 12 + 4.9499 volts. Volts X Amps in the wire is the power lost.. Let's see, lost 4.94 volts along 200 feet while carying 8.3333 amps. That's 41 Watts. In short to drive a 100 watt load, you toss out almost 1/3rd of your power in the wire.

Now using the same cord and laptop but now using 120 volts. Instead of needing 8.3333 amps for the 100 watts, we now need 1/10 of that or 0.8333 amps. Our voltage loss is now 1/10th what it was or 0.49499 volts at 1/10th the current. We now lose 1/100th the power in the wire we were before while still delivering 100 watts to the laptop. Now the wire has a loss of 0.41 Watts. I don't need to boost anything to make up for it.

I'm shocked that more devices aren't standardizing on DC. 18V, 5A+, not a big deal -- but so many devices could use it (charging tools, video games, cell phones, even some computer monitors). Simple, without needed ANOTHER heat-generating and wasting transformer. My laptop is DC, too, yet I need the darned transformer throughout the house.

Do the math and you won't be shocked at all. I would rather lose 5 watts in a laptop power supply than 40 watts in the 50 foot wire from the battery fuse box to the laptop.

I've standardized on 120 VAC for almost everything. As a bonus, I don't have to buy special 12 volt CF bulbs at $15 each. I can use the buck a bulb ones instead. It's all about saving money. A 1 KW inverter is chaep and can be located very close to the battery to keep loss minimum in the low voltage wire.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11234952&search=inverter&Mo=13&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogNam

D'oh, that'll teach me to read... though looking at the MacBook Pro, which the previous poster changed the subject to, comes with its own video memory, while the HP is only upgradeable to an nvidia 8400M GS - which still uses shared memory. While getting dedicated video memory comes with a price jump, it does look like there are plenty of laptops that are better deals, like this ASUS which is $1000 cheaper than a MacBook with the same or similar components and 1 GB less RAM.

I can seem them justifying charging extra for OS X, and maybe the chassis is of higher build quality... but $700 to upgrade by 2 GB of RAM is crazy...

Sure, it's cheap, but not exactly an ultraportable. A better comparison would be to a Thinkpad X-series. Or maybe a Toshiba Portege or a Fujitsu Lifebook. Heck, the Asus eee is closer to this than that HP. (And unlike the Apple, it has three USB ports, a swappable battery, and an ethernet port.)

Assuming you received this, it says that "non-members may use the cash cards to shop in the warehouse or online." I saw them in the store and wondered the same thing... it wouldn't make much sense if you could only give them to members. This way it actually functions as some good advertising, by letting a non-member try it out without risking the $50 fee.

Maybe he has a generator.

Many people have a generator that they never consider using. It's called a car. Unlike a standby generator, it is most likely have been recently serviced, has a working battery, fresh fuel and oil, and tested in the last week. Dig out your pocket inverter, and extension cord and laptop. Fire up the car once in a while to recharge the battery.

I wanted more power than a lighter socket inverter will provide so I installed a trunk mount inverter.

I have a Prius. It takes care of shutting down the engine when the traction battery is charged and restarting it when it is drawn down. I use that at my advantage. My Prius is my emergency genertator. I picked up one of these from Costco and trunk mounted it.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11240887&whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|3960|21273|59839&N=4018442&Mo=5&pos=8&No=3&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=59839&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10613-Cat21269&topnav=

It's a bargin at under $70.00 I have used it camping and for emergencies. I use about 1/4 tank of gas/weekend. It beats filling a portable noisy generator every 3-8 hours.
It has enough surge capacity to start my fridge as well as run a few CF lights, and my computer. In using the car for emergency power, it typicaly runs for about 5 minutes, then it shuts down for about 1/2 hour and then repeats the cycle.

Clearly, Apple is doing the right thing as far a public relations are concerned, but the idea that you are entitled to a refund for something you bought two months ago is ridiculous.

Apparently this idea doesn't seem too ridiculous to these people. I have no idea whether you can purchase an iPhone from Costco, but they guarantee 90 days on any of the electronic products they sell.

I was stopping by a friend's house yesterday -- he just got a fan from costco ( http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=1 1033623 ). He's a cheap guy, living on a fixed income, so he put it on his killawatt thingy that tells you how much power this or that draws. How much power does a window fan that's got a thermostat and remote control draw when "off"???? 1 watt. Absurd. So, if a fan does it, you better bet that your cd player or something else does as well.

Except that Dell has sold through 3rd parties before. They're just adding one more. Yes, this is a bit of a shift in strategy. But I seriously doubt that even Walmart is big enough to bring down Dell's direct business model.

Will Dell sell a lot of machines through Walmart? Who can say? Will Dell get their name out there right next to HP, bringing their online and phone stores business that they might not have gotten before? You bet.

I think that's the ultimate goal here. If the individual units sell at Walmart is irrelevant -- this is one giant free advertising campaign.

I don't really know anything about this USB turntable, but it certainly *looks* like a good prospect ... main question for me is how good/durable/replaceable/expensive is the needle. It does appear to have a standard counterbalanced arm. (Anyone know offhand how good Costco's price really is?)

Found it at Costco

Is it This?

Just keep checking Toys and Games - Special Deals and One-time Offers. It was online for at least 90 days.

You snooze. You ... what? sorry, I was asleep.