I've seen at least one example where it looked like the programmer added logging when trying to debug a problem. Then, apparently on the assumption that it was "useful once, so it might be useful again", the logging was left in. There was a compile-time AND a runtime switch to toggle this logging. It tended to be ON all the time, cluttering the logs with needless information, and making the code look ugly. In theory, compile-time switches can eliminate the performance issue; but some of the logs depended on values that had to be computed before-hand. The result? That code had to be left in, even if the log wasn't there. It would sometimes generate a compiler warning when compiling without logging, since those variables were initialized but otherwise un-used. In some cases, macros were used to dodge around this.
The rememdy to this anti-pattern? When debugging a specific issue, I prefixed the log with the word DIAGNOSTIC in all caps, just like that. Thus, I knew that such logs should be removed as soon as the specific bug was fixed. A grep for DIAGNOSTIC would locate all these messages. The remaining logs were gradually removed, and things that were supposed to be logged under normal operation were written into the program specifications. These could be toggled at runtime via the verbose options, an option that needs to be distinguished from logs generated specificly for programmers working on specific issues.
Code to debug a specific issue should never, I repeat, NEVER find its way into a release. Many will argue that it's a waste to throw away the code that instruments the bug; but I've found this worry to be unfounded (I'm reminded of another internet rant about "how to properly delete code", and I know I've been guilty of leaving old code around, so I'm not claiming purity on any of these issues).
If a problem is likely to occur often in code that does not have bugs (e.g., a client that can't connect to a server because the server is down) then of course that should be logged, otherwise you aren't going to know why the client has no data. That just cycles back to what I said before, namely that you should only log what's specified in the requirements for logging.
As that somewhat unusal combinaton of geek and Christian (formerly quite conservative, mellowed quite a bit in my old age and no longer churched) I used to spend a lot of time thinking about this. If humans have free will, then the only way for that to happen is for God to relinquish control over a small portion of the universe, that portion would be the locus in which resides the "soul with free will". That way, since God doesn't control that portion of the universe, he can't be held responsible for the sins that happen in there. It also implies that it's moral for us to relinquish control over something, even if we know that it might result in evil happening in the region where we relinquish control. Those who wish to control various aspects of our lives might want to consider that... now you see why I couldn't remain a church-going conservative Christian for very long...
I'm not sure how close they come to reverse Carnot in a modern "fridge", but they are very durable. It seems like we had two refridgerators the whole time I was growing up, and the only reason we got the 2nd one was because we were in a different house. It's not exactly like they were being fixed all the time either. In fact, aside from the fact that the fridge we had when I was a kid required manual defrost, I don't think they ever required maintenance. The HVAC unit in my old condo had to be pulled. This was in 2006. When the tech opened it up, we discovered it was build in 1979. These units are essentially refrigerators too, with compressors. Now, that was a good old USA unit, with a steel housing and everything. I'm not sure if the cheapo plastic jobs they installed will hold up as well, but that's an implementation issue, not a problem inherent with the underlying tech.
The point is, can this new technology be as efficient as a compressor, as cheap as a compressor and as DURABLE as a compressor?
That said, perhaps it will find applications outside of keeping your OJ cool and your brow dry. If it does, great; but the current tech is pretty good. I wish they were silent, but even at that, a modern fridge is pretty quiet too.
They were cool and casual, and did not run from the cops. If they had stared at the cruiser with that "OMG, we're busted" look, or even worse, run away; there might have been trouble. You hear stories like this all the time--the guy who gets pulled over for a warning about going 10 miles over the limit, and he's cool and the cop never finds out he's got joints in the glovebox. Then, on the other side there's the guy who's initially done nothing wrong and ends up getting his whole car searched by dogs, and getting detained for an hour just because he acted suspiciously.
OK, don't go there. It's just some lousy advertising site. It's just that if it weren't taken, I might have used this domain to run the hypothetical service I've been talking about for months now: backdown, as opposed to backup. It would be just what you're talking about--something that takes all this web app crap and pulls it back down to your local box. Ideally, you should be able to change services. I began to think of this when I realized I was accumulating a lot of metadata for my photos in Flickr. I began to think, it would be nice if I could preserve all of that locally, or even store it in a service-independant format so that I could change services. Imagine, you have a standard XML format for photo metadata, and you can translate your Flickr metadata into that, and then upload it into whatever service or application comes along later.
Technicly, we know it can be done. The real problem seems to be some of the legal crap that could happen to you as a result of agreeing to the TOS. I'm not sure about Flickr, but the LinkedIn TOS is evil in this regard. They specificly say you can't have a LinkedIn account if you are competing with LinkedIn, and the development of such a service could easily be placed in that category.
So. I haven't put any effort into it. It's just another idea for the halfbakery.
Yawwnnn... How much do you want to bet it will just be tied up in patents for the next 20 years and forgotten? I wish Slashdot had adopted my suggestion for a "cantbuyityet" tag. Vaporware is a bit unfair, since it actually exists. However, if you can't actually BUY it, or if only OEMs can buy it in bulk and it isn't in a product, then for the average slashdotter it might as well not even exist.
When you're doing a solar install, you look at cost per killowatt-hour. You figure out how long it will take to recoup your cost. Until a dramatic reduction in that figure comes along in a form that is READILY AVAILABLE to people doing solar installs, it's really just frustrating to read these stories.
Postel's law has been blamed for a lot of compatability issues, and IIRC, he may have even backed away from it himself.
Consider this: If web browsers were required to *fail* when a server sent the wrong code instead of "being liberal in what they accept", then you can be sure that the servers would have complied. As it stands, a number of dubious things are being done by both clients and servers, and implementations are forced to attempt rolling with the punches. One of my favorites: the Netscape web server that sent Unix style line feeds between headers, rather than CRLF.
AC has a good point. Neither of us have the data to back it up either way. The metals in HDs are very recyclable, but the circuit boards are certainly an issue. However, that could be mitigated by proper e-waste recycling, using the same path as old cel phones and other devices. The volume of e-waste from old HDs will certainly be less than the volume of landfill for old DVDs. Of course, it all depends on compliance too. Anecodtally, e-waste recycling is not being done properly... once again, not enough data. At least we have some place to store the data when we get it.
Landfill items like DVDs are dead, and broadband will kill them. Nobody should care about the next landfill item. I just recently bought a terabyte of storage for abotu $250. It connects via Ethernet--a stable standard that isn't going to change in any radical way. Same deal with USB, which is just as ubiquitous, and almost as stable.
Why should I build a big collection of toxic plastic platters when I can order what I want and put it on my little SAN?
Plainly, there are a lot of things that need to be worked out before everybody takes this path. The DRM people need to go away. Really. Just give it up already. We need broadband to become much more widespread.
OK, I know there is that desire to have the "physical item" for some people, and nicely printed liner notes and things like that. Fine. Send us that, maybe even include your latest landfill format disk as an option, but as far as getting excited about the little plastic platter is concerned... no. It's not exciting. It's just data, and everybody knows that.
Midori is a Linux distro developed by that all-but-dead CPU company, Transmeta. It seems unlikely MS would have anything to do with this. Either that, or they named the project without realizing it might cause confusion. Since it's just an internal code name, I don't see that as trademark violation (IANAL); but they would certainly have to change it before they release anything.
If you don't enjoy it, you won't do it. I used to run because I enjoyed the competitive aspect of it. My knees got bad. Now I hike. Sometimes I take pictures when I hike. When I lived in the East, I drove to the Blue Ridge and hiked it. Now I hike on the beach. I go where I want to go. I don't need anybody telling me to do it.
The best excercise plan in the world falls apart in short order if you take no pleasure in it.
It's not quite so convenient to have to drive to a hiking spot though. So yes, I'm always on the lookout for some activity that's good excercise; but it's also got to be fun, otherwise I know I'll just get bored and/or frustrated and quit.
Try "rough rocks" (no quotes). Works OK. Try "smooth rocks" (no quotes). Works OK. Try "rough smooth rocks" (no quotes). Doesn't find anything. Tried various other 3-word phrases. No dice. Nice try, guys.
Dealing with unjust laws is what the courts are for.
If jury nullification hadn't been all but eliminated, I might agree with you. If you want to get out of jury duty, all you have to do is display knowledge of the subject. This is in part because the right was abused in the racist South, but instead of moving to revoke the right of nullification in certain specific cases (e.g., battery, manslaughter, murder, etc.) the courts instead informally moved to eradicate jury nullification for all cases.
Unless you are knowledgeable about nullification, and can stealthily insert yourself into a jury, the courts are no longer capable of dealing with unjust laws.
Sadly, civil disobediance is beginning to look like the only real recourse for dealing with unjust laws.
I saw this article and the name vaguely rang a bell. Turns out, I was at UVa the same time he was there. I was also interested in VR, and did some extracurricular work with it that didn't go anywhere; but I learned a lot of valuable skills doing that. That connection, although tenuous, gives the lecture even more impact for me. It's sobering to think that I might have passed him in the halls and not even known. RIP, Mr. Pausch. And for the rest of us, carpe diem.
I had 1000+ songs for a little over $100. I could have had a lot more. If you download a lot of songs, subscription is competitive with permanent download. There's no way I would have purchased all that stuff on iTunes. The enduring value for me is the playlists I built, and they can't really take those away. I know that in the future I can find the music again.
I allowed my subscription to expire several months ago, not because of DRM; but because of BUGS IN THE APP. When a license expired, you had to re-download the music even though the file was there on your drive. Because the tracks in any given playlist tend to be downloaded at random times, playlists would become corrupted with random unlicensed tracks. There was no way to bulk-renew licenses on all your tracks without tediously selecting expired tracks and re-downloading the entire file. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Previous issues included lock-ups, and an "upgrade" that simply didn't work, and couldn't be downgraded until I got in touch with a support person who gave me the magic URL.
The failure is, IMHO, not about DRM. Apple and others are still DRM'd. The failure is about what happens when SAAS isn't properly maintained. At least now I have a feel for what it's like when SAAS is starting to fail.
Having a music collection managed via SAAS? No big deal. It's a relatively minor inconvenience and not a high priority for me. Having mission-critical data managed via SAAS? Insanity!
An uptick in stuff like this is a sure sign that the recession is really here. The other day, I saw bright some bright new day-glo signs affixed to light poles touting WORK AT HOME or something. Times get a little tough, and all the MLM type scammers come out of the woodwork. That "Rich Jerk" ad right here on/. is priceless.
People who held stocks and real estate rode out Wiemar quite well! The stock market graph is quite interesting. Note that in the early stages the market fell, but when the inflation was raging there was actually a spike in stocks when measured in a currency that was more stable at the time (the dollar).
The buyers of stocks in 1920s Germany knew they were buying the productivity and resources of the German economy, which they figured (correctly) would make it through the inflationary period. The fundamentals of stocks make sense. A diversified portfolio represents some portion of the economic output.
Next came the Nazi period. Then gold makes more sense, and I mean physical bullion since Nazi paper would have had obvious problems. Now, how do you know when to actually do that, and what's a rational way to do that? What is the purpose for physical posession? Can a rational person justify having any physical gold?
I say yes, but not to the extent that some gold bugs would have us horde the metal, or use it to back the currency. I say yes only to the extent that it's an insurance policy, and one that like all insurance policies may or may not pay out.
Most people wouldn't consider it a wise investment to spend too much of their income on an insurance policy. Nevertheless, that's what it is; so holding a modest ammount of gold in your portfolio (the rule of thumb is 5%) makes sense if you are really concerned about political turmoil that would cause you to leave your country. Make sure that you also insure your insurance! However much bullion you store in your safety deposit box or home, insure it. Make sure you buy a gun too, so that you can move your gold in the presence of bandits. Be sure to set aside some to bribe the border guards. Coins are better than bars, because they are more practical units. See how insane this gets? You'll probably lose your house, car, and probably a significant fraction of your friends and family in a situation like that. You might lose your life. I don't think you can really insure against a Nazification of the US; certainly not by buying gold anyway.
One positive thing I can say about gold though, is that since it won't go to zero it makes a fantastic trading vehicle. Accumulate during a volatile period, sell the spikes. Very nice. I haven't been quite gutsy enough to do it with a large fraction of my money though.
I have a problem with capital gains tax. Letâ(TM)s say that you own a fixed asset. The dollar weakens (because of inflation). When you sell it, you will get a higher price â" and you will have to pay capital gains tax. But that does not make any sense â" the asset is worth just as much as when you bought it, it is the buying power of the dollar that declined (i.e. there was no capital gain). That is just B.S
It's more complicated than that of course. Gold may rise in price while the purchasing power of your dollar remains constant. Then, it really is a pure capital gain. The purchasing power of your dollar may decrease while gold rises. Then there is a mix of capital gain and asset presevation. The picture is even more complicated by the fact that "purchasing power" is divided among goods. Your purchasing power for gasoline at the pump has obviously fallen lately. Your purchasing power for houses in Stockton, CA has risen dramaticly! It's a fantastic time if you live in CA's Central Valley and were thinking of purchasing a home. Your purchasing power for the S&P 500 has also risen lately. So. I'll concede that it's "partial BS"; but not "just BS".
I only want the freedom to choose the medium of exchange
You've already got it. It might be a little less convenient (e.g., you have to mail gold eagles, Australian certificates, wire your Euros, etc.) but you have it. If you consider that to be an important freedom, you will have to work a little extra for it; but when you consider how hard some people have worked for truly important freedoms it's a small price.
There is at least some competition between cartels
Maybe in the short run; but after a while you end up with something like DeBeers.
You don't pay a tax for switching to gold. You only pay a tax on the CAPITAL GAIN you make if you sell at a profit. Your trading commissions and losses are actually DEDUCTIBLE.
Also, gold is no more fiat than anything else. Only 20% of it is put to industrial use. The rest is traded because people like it. If people stop liking it, down it goes. Think that can't happen? Think again. When the Conquistadors came to the West, Natives filled their coffers with gold on request. This was, only in part because they wanted to appease the Spaniards. Gold while attractive to them, was not monetary like it was in Spain. They valued jade (another scarce commodity) in that fashion. Had the Spaniards requested a room full of jade, it might have been another story.
Warren Buffet hit the nail on the head when he said: "It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head."
My own quote on the matter: "Under the current system money is managed by the Fed, which reports to Congress. Under a gold standard money is managed by international mining cartels and speculators. This is better, how?".
Then of course, there's the tendancy of gold standard advocates to ignore the history of business cycles under the gold standard (Hint, it wasn't a recession-free paradise). Why, praytell, have so many otherwise intelligent people been lured onto the gold bandwagon lately?
Every buzzword soaked trade publication on the planet has Cloud on the cover now. When looking for a job, I'm going to put my name and contact info on my resume. Then, in place of the usual job history and qualifications I will put, in the largest font that fits, one word: CLOUD. My pay will go up 25%. Then, in 6 months, people will be saying "remember cloud computing?".
Slashdot Mirror
I've seen at least one example where it looked like the programmer added logging when trying to debug a problem. Then, apparently on the assumption that it was "useful once, so it might be useful again", the logging was left in. There was a compile-time AND a runtime switch to toggle this logging. It tended to be ON all the time, cluttering the logs with needless information, and making the code look ugly. In theory, compile-time switches can eliminate the performance issue; but some of the logs depended on values that had to be computed before-hand. The result? That code had to be left in, even if the log wasn't there. It would sometimes generate a compiler warning when compiling without logging, since those variables were initialized but otherwise un-used. In some cases, macros were used to dodge around this.
The rememdy to this anti-pattern? When debugging a specific issue, I prefixed the log with the word DIAGNOSTIC in all caps, just like that. Thus, I knew that such logs should be removed as soon as the specific bug was fixed. A grep for DIAGNOSTIC would locate all these messages. The remaining logs were gradually removed, and things that were supposed to be logged under normal operation were written into the program specifications. These could be toggled at runtime via the verbose options, an option that needs to be distinguished from logs generated specificly for programmers working on specific issues.
Code to debug a specific issue should never, I repeat, NEVER find its way into a release. Many will argue that it's a waste to throw away the code that instruments the bug; but I've found this worry to be unfounded (I'm reminded of another internet rant about "how to properly delete code", and I know I've been guilty of leaving old code around, so I'm not claiming purity on any of these issues).
If a problem is likely to occur often in code that does not have bugs (e.g., a client that can't connect to a server because the server is down) then of course that should be logged, otherwise you aren't going to know why the client has no data. That just cycles back to what I said before, namely that you should only log what's specified in the requirements for logging.
As that somewhat unusal combinaton of geek and Christian (formerly quite conservative, mellowed quite a bit in my old age and no longer churched) I used to spend a lot of time thinking about this. If humans have free will, then the only way for that to happen is for God to relinquish control over a small portion of the universe, that portion would be the locus in which resides the "soul with free will". That way, since God doesn't control that portion of the universe, he can't be held responsible for the sins that happen in there. It also implies that it's moral for us to relinquish control over something, even if we know that it might result in evil happening in the region where we relinquish control. Those who wish to control various aspects of our lives might want to consider that... now you see why I couldn't remain a church-going conservative Christian for very long...
I'm not sure how close they come to reverse Carnot in a modern "fridge", but they are very durable. It seems like we had two refridgerators the whole time I was growing up, and the only reason we got the 2nd one was because we were in a different house. It's not exactly like they were being fixed all the time either. In fact, aside from the fact that the fridge we had when I was a kid required manual defrost, I don't think they ever required maintenance. The HVAC unit in my old condo had to be pulled. This was in 2006. When the tech opened it up, we discovered it was build in 1979. These units are essentially refrigerators too, with compressors. Now, that was a good old USA unit, with a steel housing and everything. I'm not sure if the cheapo plastic jobs they installed will hold up as well, but that's an implementation issue, not a problem inherent with the underlying tech.
The point is, can this new technology be as efficient as a compressor, as cheap as a compressor and as DURABLE as a compressor?
That said, perhaps it will find applications outside of keeping your OJ cool and your brow dry. If it does, great; but the current tech is pretty good. I wish they were silent, but even at that, a modern fridge is pretty quiet too.
They were cool and casual, and did not run from the cops. If they had stared at the cruiser with that "OMG, we're busted" look, or even worse, run away; there might have been trouble. You hear stories like this all the time--the guy who gets pulled over for a warning about going 10 miles over the limit, and he's cool and the cop never finds out he's got joints in the glovebox. Then, on the other side there's the guy who's initially done nothing wrong and ends up getting his whole car searched by dogs, and getting detained for an hour just because he acted suspiciously.
...it's got a Tootsie Roll center. The only question is, how many licks does it take to get to the center?
OK, don't go there. It's just some lousy advertising site. It's just that if it weren't taken, I might have used this domain to run the hypothetical service I've been talking about for months now: backdown, as opposed to backup. It would be just what you're talking about--something that takes all this web app crap and pulls it back down to your local box. Ideally, you should be able to change services. I began to think of this when I realized I was accumulating a lot of metadata for my photos in Flickr. I began to think, it would be nice if I could preserve all of that locally, or even store it in a service-independant format so that I could change services. Imagine, you have a standard XML format for photo metadata, and you can translate your Flickr metadata into that, and then upload it into whatever service or application comes along later.
Technicly, we know it can be done. The real problem seems to be some of the legal crap that could happen to you as a result of agreeing to the TOS. I'm not sure about Flickr, but the LinkedIn TOS is evil in this regard. They specificly say you can't have a LinkedIn account if you are competing with LinkedIn, and the development of such a service could easily be placed in that category.
So. I haven't put any effort into it. It's just another idea for the halfbakery.
Yawwnnn... How much do you want to bet it will just be tied up in patents for the next 20 years and forgotten? I wish Slashdot had adopted my suggestion for a "cantbuyityet" tag. Vaporware is a bit unfair, since it actually exists. However, if you can't actually BUY it, or if only OEMs can buy it in bulk and it isn't in a product, then for the average slashdotter it might as well not even exist.
When you're doing a solar install, you look at cost per killowatt-hour. You figure out how long it will take to recoup your cost. Until a dramatic reduction in that figure comes along in a form that is READILY AVAILABLE to people doing solar installs, it's really just frustrating to read these stories.
Postel's law has been blamed for a lot of compatability issues, and IIRC, he may have even backed away from it himself.
Consider this: If web browsers were required to *fail* when a server sent the wrong code instead of "being liberal in what they accept", then you can be sure that the servers would have complied. As it stands, a number of dubious things are being done by both clients and servers, and implementations are forced to attempt rolling with the punches. One of my favorites: the Netscape web server that sent Unix style line feeds between headers, rather than CRLF.
AC has a good point. Neither of us have the data to back it up either way. The metals in HDs are very recyclable, but the circuit boards are certainly an issue. However, that could be mitigated by proper e-waste recycling, using the same path as old cel phones and other devices. The volume of e-waste from old HDs will certainly be less than the volume of landfill for old DVDs. Of course, it all depends on compliance too. Anecodtally, e-waste recycling is not being done properly... once again, not enough data. At least we have some place to store the data when we get it.
Landfill items like DVDs are dead, and broadband will kill them. Nobody should care about the next landfill item. I just recently bought a terabyte of storage for abotu $250. It connects via Ethernet--a stable standard that isn't going to change in any radical way. Same deal with USB, which is just as ubiquitous, and almost as stable.
Why should I build a big collection of toxic plastic platters when I can order what I want and put it on my little SAN?
Plainly, there are a lot of things that need to be worked out before everybody takes this path. The DRM people need to go away. Really. Just give it up already. We need broadband to become much more widespread.
OK, I know there is that desire to have the "physical item" for some people, and nicely printed liner notes and things like that. Fine. Send us that, maybe even include your latest landfill format disk as an option, but as far as getting excited about the little plastic platter is concerned... no. It's not exciting. It's just data, and everybody knows that.
Midori is a Linux distro developed by that all-but-dead CPU company, Transmeta. It seems unlikely MS would have anything to do with this. Either that, or they named the project without realizing it might cause confusion. Since it's just an internal code name, I don't see that as trademark violation (IANAL); but they would certainly have to change it before they release anything.
If you don't enjoy it, you won't do it. I used to run because I enjoyed the competitive aspect of it. My knees got bad. Now I hike. Sometimes I take pictures when I hike. When I lived in the East, I drove to the Blue Ridge and hiked it. Now I hike on the beach. I go where I want to go. I don't need anybody telling me to do it.
The best excercise plan in the world falls apart in short order if you take no pleasure in it.
It's not quite so convenient to have to drive to a hiking spot though. So yes, I'm always on the lookout for some activity that's good excercise; but it's also got to be fun, otherwise I know I'll just get bored and/or frustrated and quit.
Try "rough rocks" (no quotes). Works OK. Try "smooth rocks" (no quotes). Works OK. Try "rough smooth rocks" (no quotes). Doesn't find anything. Tried various other 3-word phrases. No dice. Nice try, guys.
Via con Dios, hackers.
Dealing with unjust laws is what the courts are for.
If jury nullification hadn't been all but eliminated, I might agree with you. If you want to get out of jury duty, all you have to do is display knowledge of the subject. This is in part because the right was abused in the racist South, but instead of moving to revoke the right of nullification in certain specific cases (e.g., battery, manslaughter, murder, etc.) the courts instead informally moved to eradicate jury nullification for all cases.
Unless you are knowledgeable about nullification, and can stealthily insert yourself into a jury, the courts are no longer capable of dealing with unjust laws.
Sadly, civil disobediance is beginning to look like the only real recourse for dealing with unjust laws.
I saw this article and the name vaguely rang a bell. Turns out, I was at UVa the same time he was there. I was also interested in VR, and did some extracurricular work with it that didn't go anywhere; but I learned a lot of valuable skills doing that. That connection, although tenuous, gives the lecture even more impact for me. It's sobering to think that I might have passed him in the halls and not even known. RIP, Mr. Pausch. And for the rest of us, carpe diem.
I had 1000+ songs for a little over $100. I could have had a lot more. If you download a lot of songs, subscription is competitive with permanent download. There's no way I would have purchased all that stuff on iTunes. The enduring value for me is the playlists I built, and they can't really take those away. I know that in the future I can find the music again.
I allowed my subscription to expire several months ago, not because of DRM; but because of BUGS IN THE APP. When a license expired, you had to re-download the music even though the file was there on your drive. Because the tracks in any given playlist tend to be downloaded at random times, playlists would become corrupted with random unlicensed tracks. There was no way to bulk-renew licenses on all your tracks without tediously selecting expired tracks and re-downloading the entire file. That was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. Previous issues included lock-ups, and an "upgrade" that simply didn't work, and couldn't be downgraded until I got in touch with a support person who gave me the magic URL.
The failure is, IMHO, not about DRM. Apple and others are still DRM'd. The failure is about what happens when SAAS isn't properly maintained. At least now I have a feel for what it's like when SAAS is starting to fail.
Having a music collection managed via SAAS? No big deal. It's a relatively minor inconvenience and not a high priority for me. Having mission-critical data managed via SAAS? Insanity!
An uptick in stuff like this is a sure sign that the recession is really here. The other day, I saw bright some bright new day-glo signs affixed to light poles touting WORK AT HOME or something. Times get a little tough, and all the MLM type scammers come out of the woodwork. That "Rich Jerk" ad right here on /. is priceless.
People who held stocks and real estate rode out Wiemar quite well! The stock market graph is quite interesting. Note that in the early stages the market fell, but when the inflation was raging there was actually a spike in stocks when measured in a currency that was more stable at the time (the dollar).
The buyers of stocks in 1920s Germany knew they were buying the productivity and resources of the German economy, which they figured (correctly) would make it through the inflationary period. The fundamentals of stocks make sense. A diversified portfolio represents some portion of the economic output.
Next came the Nazi period. Then gold makes more sense, and I mean physical bullion since Nazi paper would have had obvious problems. Now, how do you know when to actually do that, and what's a rational way to do that? What is the purpose for physical posession? Can a rational person justify having any physical gold?
I say yes, but not to the extent that some gold bugs would have us horde the metal, or use it to back the currency. I say yes only to the extent that it's an insurance policy, and one that like all insurance policies may or may not pay out.
Most people wouldn't consider it a wise investment to spend too much of their income on an insurance policy. Nevertheless, that's what it is; so holding a modest ammount of gold in your portfolio (the rule of thumb is 5%) makes sense if you are really concerned about political turmoil that would cause you to leave your country. Make sure that you also insure your insurance! However much bullion you store in your safety deposit box or home, insure it. Make sure you buy a gun too, so that you can move your gold in the presence of bandits. Be sure to set aside some to bribe the border guards. Coins are better than bars, because they are more practical units. See how insane this gets? You'll probably lose your house, car, and probably a significant fraction of your friends and family in a situation like that. You might lose your life. I don't think you can really insure against a Nazification of the US; certainly not by buying gold anyway.
One positive thing I can say about gold though, is that since it won't go to zero it makes a fantastic trading vehicle. Accumulate during a volatile period, sell the spikes. Very nice. I haven't been quite gutsy enough to do it with a large fraction of my money though.
I have a problem with capital gains tax. Letâ(TM)s say that you own a fixed asset. The dollar weakens (because of inflation). When you sell it, you will get a higher price â" and you will have to pay capital gains tax. But that does not make any sense â" the asset is worth just as much as when you bought it, it is the buying power of the dollar that declined (i.e. there was no capital gain). That is just B.S
It's more complicated than that of course. Gold may rise in price while the purchasing power of your dollar remains constant. Then, it really is a pure capital gain. The purchasing power of your dollar may decrease while gold rises. Then there is a mix of capital gain and asset presevation. The picture is even more complicated by the fact that "purchasing power" is divided among goods. Your purchasing power for gasoline at the pump has obviously fallen lately. Your purchasing power for houses in Stockton, CA has risen dramaticly! It's a fantastic time if you live in CA's Central Valley and were thinking of purchasing a home. Your purchasing power for the S&P 500 has also risen lately. So. I'll concede that it's "partial BS"; but not "just BS".
I only want the freedom to choose the medium of exchange
You've already got it. It might be a little less convenient (e.g., you have to mail gold eagles, Australian certificates, wire your Euros, etc.) but you have it. If you consider that to be an important freedom, you will have to work a little extra for it; but when you consider how hard some people have worked for truly important freedoms it's a small price.
There is at least some competition between cartels
Maybe in the short run; but after a while you end up with something like DeBeers.
I think you need some coffee. I was arguing against the gold standard throughout the entire post, and that quote is no exception.
You don't pay a tax for switching to gold. You only pay a tax on the CAPITAL GAIN you make if you sell at a profit. Your trading commissions and losses are actually DEDUCTIBLE.
Also, gold is no more fiat than anything else. Only 20% of it is put to industrial use. The rest is traded because people like it. If people stop liking it, down it goes. Think that can't happen? Think again. When the Conquistadors came to the West, Natives filled their coffers with gold on request. This was, only in part because they wanted to appease the Spaniards. Gold while attractive to them, was not monetary like it was in Spain. They valued jade (another scarce commodity) in that fashion. Had the Spaniards requested a room full of jade, it might have been another story.
Warren Buffet hit the nail on the head when he said: "It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head."
My own quote on the matter: "Under the current system money is managed by the Fed, which reports to Congress. Under a gold standard money is managed by international mining cartels and speculators. This is better, how?".
Then of course, there's the tendancy of gold standard advocates to ignore the history of business cycles under the gold standard (Hint, it wasn't a recession-free paradise). Why, praytell, have so many otherwise intelligent people been lured onto the gold bandwagon lately?
Plainly, they just "don't get it". Hah! Remember that one?
Shhhhh! The enemy has clay. Clay, I tell you. They might even figure out how to use it, so keep your lips sealed.
Every buzzword soaked trade publication on the planet has Cloud on the cover now. When looking for a job, I'm going to put my name and contact info on my resume. Then, in place of the usual job history and qualifications I will put, in the largest font that fits, one word: CLOUD. My pay will go up 25%. Then, in 6 months, people will be saying "remember cloud computing?".