While Ryan Lackey was still there, you could probably count on being safe from the authorities. But one of the reasons he left was because the "royalty" of Sealand did not hold to his same level of confidentiality commitment. They weren't willing to risk their somewhat shaky legal status as a country, and would give up data if pressure was applied appropriately. This is of course all my personal understanding of the situation, anyone more familar with it is by all means welcome to clairify... Regardless, if I had data I didn't want siezed I wouldn't do it there. Probably somewhere in the former Soviet Union or something.
I was fortunate enough to attend the memorial service for Alan Shephard at JSC in Houston back in '98... One of my fondest memories of the service was Gordo's eulogy, in which he said the following:
"We raced many miles in identical Corvettes," Cooper told the crowd, then looked straight ahead, as if joking to his late friend: "I'm sorry Al, but I never told you that I changed the ratio in the differential. You really weren't any less a driver, it's just that I cheated a little."
"Now you're up there in that big hangar in the sky," Cooper said. "We miss you, Al. We'll be there before long and we'll try some of that flying ourselves."
Ryan Lackey, the driving force behind HavenCo, departed the company a year or two back, mainly because the Sealand folks were caving. Essentially, despite the advertising, if somebody with sufficient governmental or financial might gets on HavenCo/Sealand's back, they're going to cave. So frankly I wouldn't really consider it a good data haven anymore. You'd probably do better setting up shop in one of the former Soviet states, or maybe China or something. There also seem to have been some technical issues since Mr. Lackey's departure, which would merit close inspection prior to hosting with HC.
I am more trusting of a freely available software package rather than a service. What happens if Tivo goes bankrupt or ups the price or whatever?
If a website changes and code needs to be fixed the people running the software will do so and get the changes down to the endusers quickly.
Even if it doesn't work anymore at least I wouldn't be losing money like I would if Tivo died.
If Tivo goes belly up, just roll your own data (or more likely join a community of people who do). The Tivo guide data format is hardly a secret these days. The service actually exists in the UK and US, but there are thriving widly active Tivo communities in AU and Canada. I've been running a service emulator for New Zealand since April, and before that we (NZ) were all manually loading guide data. So if Tivo Inc. goes belly up, those of you in the US will surely band together quickly and no doubt have a solid system running in no time flat... The Aussies have a really nice setup, with seemingly very reliable guide data and the like, and the numbers in the states eclipse AU by several orders of magnitude.
Ahh, yes, I was wondering who this Turing fellow was, but couldn't for the life of me remember. Now that we've cleared that up, can you remind me about this Linus Torvalds guy? And who the hell are Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson?
Really, I don't think too many self respecting/. readers will have "forgotten" who Alan Turing is... Perhaps a simple link for the n00bs would've been more appropriate.
The bloody Aussie government didn't immediately assume the position in negotiations with the US. Is Howard growing scrotum? Backing off from consistent kissing of Bush's posterior area? Enquiring minds want to know.
It's frustrating to be out of work and not getting offers, while knowing I'm considerably more competent than these fools who still seem to have jobs after b0rking it time and time again.
Adapt the jet engine beer cooler system that guy in NZ did a few years back. You could probably cool a whole mess of kegs for the above mentioned BBQ. And it would make you even more likely to end up on the Man Show. Beer, BBQ, and summer, that's what it's all about...
The F111 crew modules were designed for ejections at maximum performance (Mach 1.2, 60k ft); at those speeds and altitudes the crew requires protection from the extreme environment. So, the entire cockpit ejects and parachutes to the ground. I'm sure such a system could be worked out for the shuttle, though the added cost (both in terms of weight and design/engineering) could well be excessive. Clearly the better solution is to scrap the shuttle altogether, and use the lessons learned to design such systems into it's successor.
The link is so blazing fast that it actually slows down time, like Superman in the movie. That's why we all feel like Defcon was months ago. It was really last week.
In related news, the shuttle was traveling at 18x the speed of light when it broke up... Really, cnn said so here, and everyone knows cnn is the epitome of clueful.
The best deal you can get from these bandits is a 256k cap (both directions) with a limit of 2gigs/mo for $69nzd/mo. Anything above that is $.20nzd/meg (yes, that's $200nzd/gig). Needless to say, this has been rather a shock for me since our move from the SFBA (where for $80/mo I had 5 statics, 1.5/256k, and unlimited bandwidth from PacBell/SBC).
Ironically, I've found that even with the expensive bandwidth, it's still cheaper for me to exceed my monthly usage when using VOIP in lieu of PSTN. Since NZ Telecom is a monopoly, they charge like one. And I found that it's cheaper (bandwidth and dollar conversion rates factored in) to use Vonage and make an "international" call than to use my landline. The only exception is for free local calls. So, if I want to call Auckland (I'm in Wellington) I save about $.30nzd/minute by using VOIP and calling "internationally" from the States, even if I exceed my miserly 2gig cap. I realize there are also prepaid calling cards which can cut this cost even more, but the convenience factor of Vonage is worth the extra cost IMHO.
I've hit the same problem. I went for the uncapped line for our first month and we're going to pay about $200 in overage charges. Starting the 26th we'll be on the 256k plan with 2 gigs, so we can probably keep all our traffic in that neighborhood. The thing I like about keeping Vonage is 1: calls to the SFBA are unlimited, 2: US callers can call us direct without using international, 3: the UI is excellent, the wife has no troubles with it at all, it just works. Given that I'm going to keep DSL regardless of VOIP, the DSL costs aren't considered as part of the equation (unless I go over the 2gig mark). The $25us plan gives me 500 minutes of US ld, at a cost of $.08nz, rising to.14 if I go over the 500. But the real savings is in "local" calls. The wife can easily use 6-700 minutes/mo babbling to friends in the SFBA, and to Vonage that's a local call.
It's admittedly not a perfect solution, especially with Telecom's crappy options, but it's comptetetive and offers some rather nice features (USians call a US #, we can call US numbers with ease, "local" SFBA calls are all you can eat, etc). Along with judicious use of the power switch (I unplug the ATA186 when not in use, since it can use about 500megs/mo just telling the Vonage server where it is) it's workable. An unmetered network connection would certainly have a positive effect on the value though.
I've been using Vonage as my family's primary line since April. It's not perfect, but it's better than a cell line. Back in the SFBA I was using it over a SBC DSL line; I found that it cost about the same to use Vonage and keep a $80/mo DSL line as it did to use a traditional PSTN line and keep a cheaper DSL line. I think we saved maybe $5 or $10/mo, chump change. But where it really came in useful is last month, when we moved to Wellington New Zealand. We've been using it since our DSL went live down here, and as far as the yankees can tell we're calling from the SFBA. Even with the outrageous prices of DSL (Telcom NZ is a monoploy and they really love to ream it to you) it's still cheaper than international long distance. There's a slight bit more latency than PSTN, but not enough to matter, given the significant savings. Another nice thing is being able to dial US 800 numbers. It's a real bitch from an international line, but on Vonage it's just like I'm callng from SF. And of course when folks call us they pay domestic long distance and ring a phone in Wellington. Good stuff for the ex-pat.
Neither of which is a desktop, meaning the original poster's point may be valid.
Indeed. Even in '99, iBooks, Powerbooks, and (I'm pretty sure) displays were already sourced from the far east. To my knowledge, the only remaining domestic product assembly line at the fruit co. was in Elk Grove. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if even that facility is now offshore, but I haven't heard any "sky is falling" news stories, which would tend to indicate otherwise (until last month I was in the SF Bay Area, where presumably the proximity of Sacto and the corp. HQ of the fruit co. would have merited a mainstream news story).
Granted, most if not all the parts come from the East, but when I worked for the fruit co. back in '99 all the desktop units were assembled at their facility in Elk Grove (a suburb of Sacramento CA). Having heard nothing to the contrary, I'd suspect they still exist.
The CarterCopter has had proven VTOL flight with small canard-style wings for several years now, even a demonstration at Oshkosh. Boeing's a bit behind the ball on this one.
Having just moved from the SF Bay Area to Wellington New Zealand, I'm now quite aware of just how good the situation is in the upper 48. In SF I was paying ~80/mo for around 1.5/256 ADSL with 5 statics, and there were slightly better deals available. Down here I've found that Telecom NZ has the monopoly thing going on, and it's reflected in their pricing. Their starter option is ADSL capped at 256k each direction, for $49/mo. Besides capping the line, they only give you 500m/mo usage, and charge $.20nzd per meg thereafter (yes Virginia, that's $200/gig). The maximum available is 2gigs/mo, at $69, with the same overage charge. You can also opt for an uncapped line (sweet, but wait for the downside) with only 1gig data available. I can easily use 1 gig in one day downloading the latest ISO for some distro or another. In Auckland there's a bit more competition, but it's still pretty damn expensive. Granted, undersea fiber ain't cheap, but regardless it's pretty clear to me that Telecom is making the most of their monopoly. I opted for the uncapped line (as 256k is too bloody slow for my tastes) but I'm gonna have a hard time keeping below my cap. I'm already sitting on about 600m and I've got to make it to xmas day before getting my next gig. Vonage is eating up a lot of that, but even at.20nzd/meg it's considerably cheaper to use Vonage than dial internationally. But in order to stay low on bandwidth I actually leave the ATA186 unplugged-Vonage will eat about 2-3m/day just doing the "ET phone home" bit.
By comparison to NZ anyway, broadband in the states is really quite reasonably priced already. I do hope the various efforts to pull the plug on Telecom's monopoly are sucessful. A lot of things about the states kinda suck (which is why I moved here) but broadband is not one of them.
Kiwis will have the first opportunity to see it when it is officially released to. Comes from being on the right side of the international date line, it's the official date for release a good 12hrs ahead of the US.
Yeah, except that the turkeys at New Line decided to release it here on the 18th (and in the states on the 17th) so we get our first chance about the time the Cali crowd is finishing up the film. We're 21hrs ahead of CA at the moment due to daylight savings down here, so midnight of the 18th here is 3am of the 17th there. El lamo.
At the age of 18 I got a GS850. Rode it 4 years, over 100k miles, until mechanical failure caused me to total it (walked away). There were a great many times where the manuverablity and small size of the bike allowed me to avoid accidents; had I been in a car I'd have at least 2, maybe 3 accidents on my driving record. Of course, I had to do my part; no daydreaming off in la-la land, pay attention or die. That applies to cars too of course. This was all in Los Angeles and San Diego, very heavy traffic, and obviously lots of riding. And a punk kid who knew everything.;-)
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I'm still waiting for the flying car they promised me!
While Ryan Lackey was still there, you could probably count on being safe from the authorities. But one of the reasons he left was because the "royalty" of Sealand did not hold to his same level of confidentiality commitment. They weren't willing to risk their somewhat shaky legal status as a country, and would give up data if pressure was applied appropriately. This is of course all my personal understanding of the situation, anyone more familar with it is by all means welcome to clairify... Regardless, if I had data I didn't want siezed I wouldn't do it there. Probably somewhere in the former Soviet Union or something.
Ryan Lackey, the driving force behind HavenCo, departed the company a year or two back, mainly because the Sealand folks were caving. Essentially, despite the advertising, if somebody with sufficient governmental or financial might gets on HavenCo/Sealand's back, they're going to cave. So frankly I wouldn't really consider it a good data haven anymore. You'd probably do better setting up shop in one of the former Soviet states, or maybe China or something. There also seem to have been some technical issues since Mr. Lackey's departure, which would merit close inspection prior to hosting with HC.
Ahh, yes, I was wondering who this Turing fellow was, but couldn't for the life of me remember. Now that we've cleared that up, can you remind me about this Linus Torvalds guy? And who the hell are Dennis Ritchie and Ken Thompson?
/. readers will have "forgotten" who Alan Turing is... Perhaps a simple link for the n00bs would've been more appropriate.
Really, I don't think too many self respecting
Not just a conservative Christian, but out and out nutjob. The guy annoints himself with oil, ala the biblical kings, when taking political office.
The bloody Aussie government didn't immediately assume the position in negotiations with the US. Is Howard growing scrotum? Backing off from consistent kissing of Bush's posterior area? Enquiring minds want to know.
It's frustrating to be out of work and not getting offers, while knowing I'm considerably more competent than these fools who still seem to have jobs after b0rking it time and time again.
Adapt the jet engine beer cooler system that guy in NZ did a few years back. You could probably cool a whole mess of kegs for the above mentioned BBQ. And it would make you even more likely to end up on the Man Show. Beer, BBQ, and summer, that's what it's all about...
The F111 crew modules were designed for ejections at maximum performance (Mach 1.2, 60k ft); at those speeds and altitudes the crew requires protection from the extreme environment. So, the entire cockpit ejects and parachutes to the ground. I'm sure such a system could be worked out for the shuttle, though the added cost (both in terms of weight and design/engineering) could well be excessive. Clearly the better solution is to scrap the shuttle altogether, and use the lessons learned to design such systems into it's successor.
Heh. Good point...
The link is so blazing fast that it actually slows down time, like Superman in the movie. That's why we all feel like Defcon was months ago. It was really last week.
In related news, the shuttle was traveling at 18x the speed of light when it broke up... Really, cnn said so here, and everyone knows cnn is the epitome of clueful.
Well said.
The best deal you can get from these bandits is a 256k cap (both directions) with a limit of 2gigs/mo for $69nzd/mo. Anything above that is $.20nzd/meg (yes, that's $200nzd/gig). Needless to say, this has been rather a shock for me since our move from the SFBA (where for $80/mo I had 5 statics, 1.5/256k, and unlimited bandwidth from PacBell/SBC).
Ironically, I've found that even with the expensive bandwidth, it's still cheaper for me to exceed my monthly usage when using VOIP in lieu of PSTN. Since NZ Telecom is a monopoly, they charge like one. And I found that it's cheaper (bandwidth and dollar conversion rates factored in) to use Vonage and make an "international" call than to use my landline. The only exception is for free local calls. So, if I want to call Auckland (I'm in Wellington) I save about $.30nzd/minute by using VOIP and calling "internationally" from the States, even if I exceed my miserly 2gig cap. I realize there are also prepaid calling cards which can cut this cost even more, but the convenience factor of Vonage is worth the extra cost IMHO.
I've hit the same problem. I went for the uncapped line for our first month and we're going to pay about $200 in overage charges. Starting the 26th we'll be on the 256k plan with 2 gigs, so we can probably keep all our traffic in that neighborhood. The thing I like about keeping Vonage is 1: calls to the SFBA are unlimited, 2: US callers can call us direct without using international, 3: the UI is excellent, the wife has no troubles with it at all, it just works. Given that I'm going to keep DSL regardless of VOIP, the DSL costs aren't considered as part of the equation (unless I go over the 2gig mark). The $25us plan gives me 500 minutes of US ld, at a cost of $.08nz, rising to .14 if I go over the 500. But the real savings is in "local" calls. The wife can easily use 6-700 minutes/mo babbling to friends in the SFBA, and to Vonage that's a local call.
It's admittedly not a perfect solution, especially with Telecom's crappy options, but it's comptetetive and offers some rather nice features (USians call a US #, we can call US numbers with ease, "local" SFBA calls are all you can eat, etc). Along with judicious use of the power switch (I unplug the ATA186 when not in use, since it can use about 500megs/mo just telling the Vonage server where it is) it's workable. An unmetered network connection would certainly have a positive effect on the value though.
I've been using Vonage as my family's primary line since April. It's not perfect, but it's better than a cell line. Back in the SFBA I was using it over a SBC DSL line; I found that it cost about the same to use Vonage and keep a $80/mo DSL line as it did to use a traditional PSTN line and keep a cheaper DSL line. I think we saved maybe $5 or $10/mo, chump change. But where it really came in useful is last month, when we moved to Wellington New Zealand. We've been using it since our DSL went live down here, and as far as the yankees can tell we're calling from the SFBA. Even with the outrageous prices of DSL (Telcom NZ is a monoploy and they really love to ream it to you) it's still cheaper than international long distance. There's a slight bit more latency than PSTN, but not enough to matter, given the significant savings. Another nice thing is being able to dial US 800 numbers. It's a real bitch from an international line, but on Vonage it's just like I'm callng from SF. And of course when folks call us they pay domestic long distance and ring a phone in Wellington. Good stuff for the ex-pat.
Neither of which is a desktop, meaning the original poster's point may be valid.
Indeed. Even in '99, iBooks, Powerbooks, and (I'm pretty sure) displays were already sourced from the far east. To my knowledge, the only remaining domestic product assembly line at the fruit co. was in Elk Grove. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if even that facility is now offshore, but I haven't heard any "sky is falling" news stories, which would tend to indicate otherwise (until last month I was in the SF Bay Area, where presumably the proximity of Sacto and the corp. HQ of the fruit co. would have merited a mainstream news story).
Granted, most if not all the parts come from the East, but when I worked for the fruit co. back in '99 all the desktop units were assembled at their facility in Elk Grove (a suburb of Sacramento CA). Having heard nothing to the contrary, I'd suspect they still exist.
One finger points, 3 point back.
Go do some research. It's only a gryro until the rotors slow to ~25rpm and it exceeds 400 knots. Dumbass.
The CarterCopter has had proven VTOL flight with small canard-style wings for several years now, even a demonstration at Oshkosh. Boeing's a bit behind the ball on this one.
Having just moved from the SF Bay Area to Wellington New Zealand, I'm now quite aware of just how good the situation is in the upper 48. In SF I was paying ~80/mo for around 1.5/256 ADSL with 5 statics, and there were slightly better deals available. Down here I've found that Telecom NZ has the monopoly thing going on, and it's reflected in their pricing. Their starter option is ADSL capped at 256k each direction, for $49/mo. Besides capping the line, they only give you 500m/mo usage, and charge $.20nzd per meg thereafter (yes Virginia, that's $200/gig). The maximum available is 2gigs/mo, at $69, with the same overage charge. You can also opt for an uncapped line (sweet, but wait for the downside) with only 1gig data available. I can easily use 1 gig in one day downloading the latest ISO for some distro or another. In Auckland there's a bit more competition, but it's still pretty damn expensive. Granted, undersea fiber ain't cheap, but regardless it's pretty clear to me that Telecom is making the most of their monopoly. I opted for the uncapped line (as 256k is too bloody slow for my tastes) but I'm gonna have a hard time keeping below my cap. I'm already sitting on about 600m and I've got to make it to xmas day before getting my next gig. Vonage is eating up a lot of that, but even at .20nzd/meg it's considerably cheaper to use Vonage than dial internationally. But in order to stay low on bandwidth I actually leave the ATA186 unplugged-Vonage will eat about 2-3m/day just doing the "ET phone home" bit.
By comparison to NZ anyway, broadband in the states is really quite reasonably priced already. I do hope the various efforts to pull the plug on Telecom's monopoly are sucessful. A lot of things about the states kinda suck (which is why I moved here) but broadband is not one of them.
Obligatory Dr. Strangelove reference...
At the age of 18 I got a GS850. Rode it 4 years, over 100k miles, until mechanical failure caused me to total it (walked away). There were a great many times where the manuverablity and small size of the bike allowed me to avoid accidents; had I been in a car I'd have at least 2, maybe 3 accidents on my driving record. Of course, I had to do my part; no daydreaming off in la-la land, pay attention or die. That applies to cars too of course. This was all in Los Angeles and San Diego, very heavy traffic, and obviously lots of riding. And a punk kid who knew everything. ;-)