>>>c64 everyone here knows that you like your macs.
Actually I prefer Windows machines. Mainly because they are well-supported by oodles and oodles of software. And yes I know Apple is *starting* to lock-down Macs, such as not allowing Opera browser to use OS 10.7's builtin auto-update.
>>>VP8 will also be supported by IE9 if the user installs a codec for it,
I'm tired of all these different standards. Why can't we just use MPEG4 and be done with it? It has been shown to be the best codec for bitrate-limited video (AVC) and audio (AAC or AAC+SBR) like you find on the web. What you're hoping we'll do is equivalent to abandoning DVDs/Blurays for some other new format, not for any additional benefit, but "just because".
Well no thanks. Since MPEG4 already produces the best quality, and is also the codec used for worldwide television/radio, why not just stick with it? There's no need to reinvent the wheel.
My local hospital charges $500/day for a stay. Multiply by 90 and you get $45,000 which I rounded to an even number (about 50,000).
I did not include cost of hip replacement surgery because I don't know what it was, but for my family member have spent just $8000 for a pacemaker implant and $12,000 for hysterectomy. Not millions of dollars over 3 months as you falsely claim.
There's a need for a safety net to help those too poor to pay their bills (i.e. less than 5% in the US).
There's not a need for a government monopoly to pay every little stupid thing, like wiping the patient's runny nose. Let people pay their own bills and only have the government step-in when the citizens runs out of cash (i.e. the safety net).
>>>Do we really want a search engine where criticism and free thinking is banned out
Possibly. Like if I'm Christian and want filtering, or a parent and want my kid not to stumble upon Girls gone wild. Also the advantage of competition is *I* get to choose if I want Google or Yahoo or Metacrawler or Excite or Lycos or AOL search or Bing or Whatever.
>>>paying your taxes at the end of the year instead of every pay period.
Interesting. This isn't allowed in the U.S. You MUST have your taxes deducted every week. You can set your deductions very high, say 15, to limit the amount taken off but even then most employers will refuse to cooperate and only let you list 5 maximum.
>>>There are two petitions you should sign if you don't feel like this is right.
But it is right. You pay your electricity by the unit. Your long distance calls by the unit. Your natural gas, water, and gasoline by the unit. Even your food. Why should internet be any different? Let the high users pay more, while the less users pay less. It encourages conservation.
Comcast has competition? Not really. Some areas offer a choice between Comcast and the Phone company, but most areas do not.
I don't have a cap on my Netscape or Verizon line but there is a practical limit due to the speed of the line: 5 KB/s * 30 days == 13 Gig 90KB/s * 30 days == 233 Gig
VP8 is open source, which is good, but it's not really any better quality than MPEG2, which is bad. I'd rather just use the superior MPEG4 encoding, even if it meant paying an extra 10 cents per device. Besides MPEG4 will soon be public domain anyway (2015 if I recall correctly) which is just as good as open source.
So if a World Government comes under the control of an Adolf Hitler or Napoleon or Stalin or Pol Pot or Mao Tse'tung "type" of leader, I don't have to fear??? I call "bullshit" on that. Of course I would have to fear because the tyrant would be able to reach his hands to any part of the world, and kill/imprison any person or group he desires.
>>>A [German] 6 year old could throw in your window and nobody, not the kid nor the parents would have to pay.
Oh. They'd pay.
Can you say "car keying"?;-) Of course this poor old woman's DEAD and $3000 paint damage isn't really comparable is it? While accidents certainly happen, the ~$50,000 cost of 3 months in a hospital recovering from a broken hip should NOT have to be borne by the victim or her children.
Almost all the money for education is spent at the State Government level, and it adds up to $500 billion across the continent. The DOE portion is less than 1% of total US and State annual expenditures.
>>>The single global government idea, while with merit, goes against the grain of the fact that we all consider ourselves tribes,
That's not the only reason. If a country like Germany or Russia or China fell to tyranny, it only affected that portion of the globe. The rest of the world was "free". If the world government falls to tyranny, it affects everyone. As a Roman Senator opined, when he was trying to escape the tyranny of the new dictator Octavius: "Where is there to flee? There is no part of the civilized world that is not within reach of Rome's government."
We would have the same problem if the whole world entire was ruled by one single government.
>>>non-existent worker-safety regulations tells me that most people also don't give a damn.
I think it depends what LEVEL of caring. I care about worker safety, but don't want to stop buying the product because it would cause job loss (and the asians or indians would starve). Instead I'd like to see the US and EU impose restrictions - that no product may enter the country unless the Chinese/Indian manufacturer can prove they have safety standards for their workers (breathing protection, hearing protection, et cetera). Bring them up to our level, or at least close to it.
I wish they'd stop inventing new names, and confusing the consumer (me). MiFi is just s 3G device that creates a local Wifi node in your home. Correct? So call it that: Portable WiFi.
Does that mean Gay persons can be arrested for "harassment" when they have their marches? Or maybe the Christians standing by with "god hates gay" signs in the periphery? Or maybe both?
This law seems ripe for abuse in order to suppress free speech.
I don't see how Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalis could interbreed & produce viable children. Wouldn't it be like breeding a horse and donkey (which produces a sterile mule)??
>>>Funny how when someone or their family needs medicare they stop calling it welfare.
Oh really? Well both my parents are collecting SS and Medicare, and I still call it welfare because that's what it is. MY point was that if we cut expenses, let's focus on the real big stuff first like the 1000 billion SS/medicare budget and the ~600 billion dollar military budget and other big-ticket items, rather than get all hot-and-bothered over small stuff. To me excluding people who are rich (>5 million life income) is a logical first step because rich people (like Gates, Jobs, Trump) can take care of themselves. .
>>>80 billion is not a small number
Yeah. It is. It just 2% of the total amount government spends per year, and is equivalent to if you canceled CATV + Cellphone Service for a year (about 2% of your individual budget). Trivial.
Well you'd be wrong. Last I heard the current SSI and Medicare cutoffs are ~$80,000/year income - if you earn that much, you get nothing. BUT when people retire, they earn near-zero annual income. So even if they had multi-million dollar bank accounts and were rich, they would be able to collect the SS/medicare checks. That should not be allowed... which is why I would like to see an additional $5 million lifetime cap added to the SS/medicare programs.
I was told my website would be deleted, and now I'm learning that didn't happen? There are certain things (like my resume) that I'd like to see disappeared. I wasn't expecting anyone to come along and store it for the next hundred years. Oh well.
4% of Americans have greater than 5 million lifetime income.
According to the Social Security Administration. Of course as wages rises-up, then there will be more and more people with lifetime earnings exceeding 5 million dollars. By 2020 it'll probably be 9% and by 2030, 15%. I think when someone is that wealthy (a millionaire), he or she should not be eligible to receive SS or Medicare checks. They can afford to pay their own bills.
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>>>c64 everyone here knows that you like your macs.
Actually I prefer Windows machines. Mainly because they are well-supported by oodles and oodles of software. And yes I know Apple is *starting* to lock-down Macs, such as not allowing Opera browser to use OS 10.7's builtin auto-update.
>>>VP8 will also be supported by IE9 if the user installs a codec for it,
I'm tired of all these different standards. Why can't we just use MPEG4 and be done with it? It has been shown to be the best codec for bitrate-limited video (AVC) and audio (AAC or AAC+SBR) like you find on the web. What you're hoping we'll do is equivalent to abandoning DVDs/Blurays for some other new format, not for any additional benefit, but "just because".
Well no thanks. Since MPEG4 already produces the best quality, and is also the codec used for worldwide television/radio, why not just stick with it? There's no need to reinvent the wheel.
My local hospital charges $500/day for a stay. Multiply by 90 and you get $45,000 which I rounded to an even number (about 50,000).
I did not include cost of hip replacement surgery because I don't know what it was, but for my family member have spent just $8000 for a pacemaker implant and $12,000 for hysterectomy. Not millions of dollars over 3 months as you falsely claim.
There's a need for a safety net to help those too poor to pay their bills (i.e. less than 5% in the US).
There's not a need for a government monopoly to pay every little stupid thing, like wiping the patient's runny nose. Let people pay their own bills and only have the government step-in when the citizens runs out of cash (i.e. the safety net).
>>>most of us don't get insurance.
"Most"? False. Recent studies show that only 8 million or about 2% of Americans are not insured by a private company or the government.
>>>Do we really want a search engine where criticism and free thinking is banned out
Possibly. Like if I'm Christian and want filtering, or a parent and want my kid not to stumble upon Girls gone wild. Also the advantage of competition is *I* get to choose if I want Google or Yahoo or Metacrawler or Excite or Lycos or AOL search or Bing or Whatever.
>>>paying your taxes at the end of the year instead of every pay period.
Interesting. This isn't allowed in the U.S. You MUST have your taxes deducted every week. You can set your deductions very high, say 15, to limit the amount taken off but even then most employers will refuse to cooperate and only let you list 5 maximum.
>>>There are two petitions you should sign if you don't feel like this is right.
But it is right. You pay your electricity by the unit. Your long distance calls by the unit. Your natural gas, water, and gasoline by the unit. Even your food. Why should internet be any different? Let the high users pay more, while the less users pay less. It encourages conservation.
Comcast has competition? Not really. Some areas offer a choice between Comcast and the Phone company, but most areas do not.
I don't have a cap on my Netscape or Verizon line but there is a practical limit due to the speed of the line:
5 KB/s * 30 days == 13 Gig
90KB/s * 30 days == 233 Gig
RTFA? Of course not.
VP8 is open source, which is good, but it's not really any better quality than MPEG2, which is bad. I'd rather just use the superior MPEG4 encoding, even if it meant paying an extra 10 cents per device. Besides MPEG4 will soon be public domain anyway (2015 if I recall correctly) which is just as good as open source.
>>>I'd prefer that people buy a less locked-down device in the first place
Like a macintosh?
"Oh yes... touch me there. Yes that's the spot. You know you're really cute. Ever tried being gay Mr Security Guy?"
Really?
So if a World Government comes under the control of an Adolf Hitler or Napoleon or Stalin or Pol Pot or Mao Tse'tung "type" of leader, I don't have to fear??? I call "bullshit" on that. Of course I would have to fear because the tyrant would be able to reach his hands to any part of the world, and kill/imprison any person or group he desires.
>>>A [German] 6 year old could throw in your window and nobody, not the kid nor the parents would have to pay.
Oh. They'd pay.
Can you say "car keying"? ;-) Of course this poor old woman's DEAD and $3000 paint damage isn't really comparable is it? While accidents certainly happen, the ~$50,000 cost of 3 months in a hospital recovering from a broken hip should NOT have to be borne by the victim or her children.
The US DOE budget is also trivial.
Almost all the money for education is spent at the State Government level, and it adds up to $500 billion across the continent. The DOE portion is less than 1% of total US and State annual expenditures.
>>>The single global government idea, while with merit, goes against the grain of the fact that we all consider ourselves tribes,
That's not the only reason. If a country like Germany or Russia or China fell to tyranny, it only affected that portion of the globe. The rest of the world was "free". If the world government falls to tyranny, it affects everyone. As a Roman Senator opined, when he was trying to escape the tyranny of the new dictator Octavius: "Where is there to flee? There is no part of the civilized world that is not within reach of Rome's government."
We would have the same problem if the whole world entire was ruled by one single government.
>>>non-existent worker-safety regulations tells me that most people also don't give a damn.
I think it depends what LEVEL of caring. I care about worker safety, but don't want to stop buying the product because it would cause job loss (and the asians or indians would starve). Instead I'd like to see the US and EU impose restrictions - that no product may enter the country unless the Chinese/Indian manufacturer can prove they have safety standards for their workers (breathing protection, hearing protection, et cetera). Bring them up to our level, or at least close to it.
I wish they'd stop inventing new names, and confusing the consumer (me). MiFi is just s 3G device that creates a local Wifi node in your home. Correct? So call it that: Portable WiFi.
Is this device from Virgin considered a MiFi too?
What about the USB dongle underneath it? Rather pricey.
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-broadband/
Does that mean Gay persons can be arrested for "harassment" when they have their marches? Or maybe the Christians standing by with "god hates gay" signs in the periphery? Or maybe both?
This law seems ripe for abuse in order to suppress free speech.
I don't see how Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalis could interbreed & produce viable children. Wouldn't it be like breeding a horse and donkey (which produces a sterile mule)??
Constitution == whitelist?
>>>Funny how when someone or their family needs medicare they stop calling it welfare.
Oh really? Well both my parents are collecting SS and Medicare, and I still call it welfare because that's what it is. MY point was that if we cut expenses, let's focus on the real big stuff first like the 1000 billion SS/medicare budget and the ~600 billion dollar military budget and other big-ticket items, rather than get all hot-and-bothered over small stuff. To me excluding people who are rich (>5 million life income) is a logical first step because rich people (like Gates, Jobs, Trump) can take care of themselves.
.
>>>80 billion is not a small number
Yeah. It is. It just 2% of the total amount government spends per year, and is equivalent to if you canceled CATV + Cellphone Service for a year (about 2% of your individual budget). Trivial.
>>>My guess is close to zero percent.
Well you'd be wrong. Last I heard the current SSI and Medicare cutoffs are ~$80,000/year income - if you earn that much, you get nothing. BUT when people retire, they earn near-zero annual income. So even if they had multi-million dollar bank accounts and were rich, they would be able to collect the SS/medicare checks. That should not be allowed... which is why I would like to see an additional $5 million lifetime cap added to the SS/medicare programs.
I object.
I was told my website would be deleted, and now I'm learning that didn't happen? There are certain things (like my resume) that I'd like to see disappeared. I wasn't expecting anyone to come along and store it for the next hundred years. Oh well.
4% of Americans have greater than 5 million lifetime income.
According to the Social Security Administration. Of course as wages rises-up, then there will be more and more people with lifetime earnings exceeding 5 million dollars. By 2020 it'll probably be 9% and by 2030, 15%. I think when someone is that wealthy (a millionaire), he or she should not be eligible to receive SS or Medicare checks. They can afford to pay their own bills.