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User: zach_the_lizard

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  1. Re:Time for some grass roots activism on Nationwide Google Fiber Deployment Would Cost $140 Billion · · Score: 1

    This is the part that I'm pretty sure Goldman Sachs hasn't accounted for. That whole "could cost up to $140Bn" thing sounds very inflated.

    Look at it this way. According to them, if Google spends 1/4 of its $4.5Bn it could equip 0.83million homes. That's $1.125Bn for 0.83million homes.
    On the other hand, Verizon has spent $15bn and equipped 17million homes. For google to pass 17million homes, using the above calculations, it would cost them $25bn. Those numbers don't make a lot of sense to me.

    I think the difference in these numbers is "nationwide" and what it might mean. Google could probably easily equip the same number of subscribers as Verizon with fiber for the same cost or less; however, there are some middle-of-nowhere places that would require a much more significant expenditure per potential customer than the places Verizon has deployed. Maybe to run a line to everyone everywhere costs $140 billion, but to reach, say, 30% of the population would cost $25 billion.

  2. Re:Python VS PHP on Python Creator Guido van Rossum Leaves Google For Dropbox · · Score: 1

    Dropbox clearly is technically more advanced than Skydrive.

    I think I would agree that Dropbox is more technically advanced; however, I would say that Skydrive (for good or ill) is also more ingrained into the Microsoft technology stack. Office 2013, SharePoint 2013, and (I think) Windows 8 have the ability to use it. In Office I think it is the default now which will probably trip a few people when they go to browse for their file and mistakenly saved it on Skydrive instead of their local box.

  3. Re:What I can't figure out... on FCC Chief: 300MHz More Spectrum By 2015 · · Score: 1

    The closest I could get in the US was on T-Mobile and that was USD65/mo for phone/data.

    Straight Talk's unlimited everything is $45 / month. Virgin Mobile is $35 / month. Boost is $50 / month. MetroPCS is $40 unlimited 3G coverage. All of these are still a lot more expensive than the $25 unlimited plan, but it's not as large a gap as $65 vs $25.

  4. Re:Here is more from John Gruber of Daring Firebal on Why Apple Replaced iOS Maps · · Score: 1

    Spoken like someone who's probably never picked up an iPhone in his life. Select contact. Click-Hold address. Select Copy. go to whatever maps app or webisite you like and click paste.

    Sure, if I expend more effort, I can use the clunky copy and paste functionality and open the app I want and still lose functionality: no Siri integration, for example. I can even use the crappy mobile version of Google maps, giving up speed, Siri integration, etc., delivering a worse experience than before. All of this makes my life harder. IMO the Android way of handling this is pretty good, and Apple should look into stealing the idea for at least mapping and navigation.

  5. Re:I wanted to post this on Another Elon Musk Bet: Half of All Cars Built In 2032 Will Be Electric · · Score: 1

    It's called a bike, and had a brief moment of popularity before the lazy fuckmobile was invented and killed all the transport infrastructure world-wide.

    You mean, before the car improved the worldwide transportation network? And I take great offense to "lazy fuckmobile." I must be a lazy fat ass if I don't want to bike for 30 miles to reach the nearest airport (and I guess a plane is even lazier than a car) or 100 miles to the beach or 20 miles to visit my family.

  6. Re:It's a space "RACE" because that's what US want on Shenzhou 9 Sparks Renewed Debate On Space Race With China · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Communism is an economic system, whereas democracy is a political system.

  7. Re:Not smart Enough? on Scientists Say People Aren't Smart Enough For Democracy To Flourish · · Score: 1

    Well, true that might be, democratic elections are the only way to get the representative you deserve.

    "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard." The problem is the average voter is merely an average; what they demand and deserve affects the saner parts of the populace just as it does the less clear minded.

  8. Re:Japan and Europe is where the industry is on Chevy Volt Meets High Resistance, GM Suspends Sales · · Score: 1

    Hyundai, BMW, Toyota, Honda, etc. all have plants in America. So we have those, at least. Apart from that, the coolest American car is probably the Tesla Roadster. Maybe a Jeep.

  9. Re:Welcome to our world on The Specter of Gasoline At $5 a Gallon · · Score: 1

    I assume you realize that your high gas prices are the result of high taxation and not natural market forces.

    If anything, those couple trillion not only didn't make the price of gas lower, they made it higher by destroying equipment, driving off workers, and generally making Iraq not a safe place to do business in. Those couple trillion were meant for the enrichment of a select portion of the population, not Joe Sixpack.

  10. Re:Welcome to our world on The Specter of Gasoline At $5 a Gallon · · Score: 1

    Mass transit is better suited to the higher population densities of European cities, much of the USA is too spread out.

    I think part of the reason we Americans are so spread out is because of the enormous costs of urban areas, at least some of them anyways. In my neck of the woods, years of artificially limiting density, height, and building moratoriums have resulted in an increase of suburbs outside of the urban core. The urban core, because of artificially limited supply and intense demand, has become hellaciously expensive. We're talking $600K for a 700 square foot condo with high condo fees and taxes.

    Needless to say, businesses and workers have begun to move out, but they brought the same "let's limit development and density" attitude with them. So there are now suburbs to the suburbs and so forth, resulting in some unfortunate folks who commute 50 miles each direction because they can't afford to live in the city. I think in order to really get America urbanized the artificial city costs need to be addressed. We should be making it easier for e.g. high density offices / apartments to be built, not make complaints such as "ruining the character of the city" and decide to ruin entire regions for the sake of keeping your house price propped up.

  11. Re:I dunno, are they? on RIM Trying To Woo Customers With Porn, Gambling Apps? · · Score: 1

    Not all of us have the luxury of public transport. Hell, housing prices in this area are so inflated some lower income ($45K or less) people have to drive at least two hours each way just to be able to qualify for housing.

  12. Re:"All"? on Ask Slashdot: Does Europe Have Better Magazines Than the US? · · Score: 1

    I don't live in the Bay Area, and the closest bookstore of any kind is at least 40 miles away. It may even be further; the closest ones were Borders, and those are now closed.

    So 15 minutes is not far at all.

  13. Re:YOU must let your boss know on IT Salaries Edge Up Back To 2008 Levels · · Score: 1

    you'll do better switching companies every 3-4 years.

    That's probably so, but what are the odds that you're going to find multiple companies in your area needing the exact skills you possess, and happen to be hiring right when you are looking?

    Depending on the area, it can be fairly easy or highly difficult. I just started in IT, and the job market here (D.C. area) is fairly strong. Further south in VA, and the pickings become slim.

  14. Re:Average on IT Salaries Edge Up Back To 2008 Levels · · Score: 1

    Sure, I live in a part of the country with a lower cost of living, but so do most people in my career. Am I really getting the shaft that bad? Or are these studies that skewed?

    Depending on how much cheaper your area is, you could be coming out ahead of those $100K+ folks in, say, the DC area, New York City, etc. I know that if I had my salary in the part of South Carolina where part of my family lives, it would be an almost palatial lifestyle. Housing costs are at least half of what they are in my area. Gas is also nearly a dollar per gallon cheaper. I could take a fairly hefty paycut and still have the same standard of living.

  15. Re:News? on Paypal Orders Buyer of Violin To Destroy It For a Refund · · Score: 3, Informative

    No, the 70s Chrysler is fine only at very low speeds, such as a fender bender. I own an old (60s) vehicle, and have been rear ended in stop and go traffic. My truck came out in better shape than theirs. However, if they were going more than 5-10 MPH, things would have been quite different. Let's take a look at some videos, shall we?

    1960s Crash Tests, mostly GM vehicles I believe.

  16. Re:Will it a be world 4g / 3g phone with GSM / CDM on Speculating On What a Microsoft Superphone Might Mean · · Score: 1

    Perhaps the savings of not having to deal with multiple phone models outweighs the costs of including hardware for multiple bands? I don't know, but this is a guess.

  17. Re:Bleeding Edge Aviation on Fatal Problems Continue To Plague F-22 Raptor · · Score: 1

    Yes. But we're not in one where we need an air superiority fighter jet designed to hunt and kill other aircraft.

  18. Re:I'm not so sure. on A Quarter of the EU Has Never Used the Web · · Score: 1

    For many years, states had their own militias. Maine skirmished with Canadian forces IIRC.

  19. Re:Nokia's Windows Phones on Nokia Exec: Young People Fed Up With iPhone and Android · · Score: 1

    As a young person, I cannot confirm that we want to only make phone calls.

  20. Re:Uh... on Goodbye Textbooks, Hello iPad · · Score: 4, Informative

    The term you're looking for is genericized trademark, I believe.

  21. Re:iPad books cost less? on Goodbye Textbooks, Hello iPad · · Score: 4, Informative

    Many professors hardly ever use their textbooks, making having the things a waste. Not only do they not know the cost (which they could easily look up if they ever cared to), but they listed as required a book that was never opened. It's one thing if you require and use a textbook; it's an entirely different story if you never even use it.

    For example, when I took Calculus III, we never even opened the textbook once. All lessons were done old school with a chalkboard and overhead projector. We didn't even use the book for assignments; we were given homemade worksheets and electronically posted problems. It was the same for the previous two courses: We never cracked the book open except for a single instance in Calc I.

  22. Re:Uh... on Goodbye Textbooks, Hello iPad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm willing to bet half of the administrators of these schools have never heard of any alternatives to iPads and so never considered any of the more logical choices (e.g.any e-reader)

  23. Re:Hard to believe on Are You Better At Math Than a 4th (or 10th) Grader? · · Score: 1

    But, but, he has a degree! There's no way anyone could ever get a degree and be stupid! The test, therefore, is too hard.

  24. Re:Or you never visualized them in the first place on Are You Better At Math Than a 4th (or 10th) Grader? · · Score: 1

    One way to convert if you can't remember the scale is that 32 F = 0 C and that -40C = -40F. With those two points, you should be able to figure it out from there. Set the X value to be the degrees in F, Y to be degrees in C. So you have (32, 0) and (-40, -40). Slope is (Y1 - Y2) / (X1 - X2). Slope intercept form is y = mx + b, where B = y - mx.

    So, we end up with m = 40 / 72. Let's pick (32, 0) to solve for b:

    0 - 40/72 * (32) = -1280 / 72, which is roughly -17.7.

    So we have now, Celsius = (40/72) Fahrenheit - (1280 / 72)

    Plug in 212 (boiling point of water in F) and you get back 100. Easy check.

    With a calculator, this is fairly trivial to solve, as many calculators will even give you this form of the equation if you just know those two points.

    TI 83 you can go:

    STAT
    STAT Edit

    Put the X values in L1, put Y values in L2

    Hit STAT again, then go to CALC

    Press 4

    Hit ENTER and there you go, you now have the slope and intercept solved for you, you just need to know how to apply it.

  25. Re:Worried on Are You Better At Math Than a 4th (or 10th) Grader? · · Score: 1

    Hey now, perhaps the AC is still collecting allowance money and just got a nice raise if he'll keep doing the dishes as well as he has been.