I don't complain because I use a Palm Centro.. which has no such regulations. I can write my own program if I want, load it on my web server, and offer it up. And there are several Palm shareware sites that can be used.
It's called 'choice'. If someone wants the latest overpriced cool gadget, go buy an iPhone and get locked into the iTunes store and only what they will sell.
Or.. spend $50 for a refurbished phone and get freedom. Technology catches up every couple of years anyway, so the cool stuff iPhone has today will be on a Palm product in 18 months when I buy another one... for $50. I haven't had any problems finding apps that I need, and I can use music from just about any source.
Except music from iTunes I think. But since I've never used iTunes, I'll never miss it.
My dishwasher has a delay button, so when it's full we just hit that button and it doesn't start until after 9pm.
We do most of the laundry on the weekends when we can throw a load in, do things around the house, and then come back to it later. Between my wife and I, we do 4-5 average loads a weekend.
We tend to take showers early morning or late evening, so that puts the hot water usage off a little bit. Sharing the shower doesn't help since we tend to run it longer when we do.
My pool pumps are on timers and only run from midnight to 4am. I've found the 6 and 12 hour for winter/summer recommendations for most pools are wrong for me, I just kept cutting mine back further and further until I found out I only need 4 hours a night, no matter whether it was summer or winter. Oh.. I live in Phoenix.
Maybe we don't need smart appliances.. maybe we need smart users of dumb appliances.
Oh.. but then the government couldn't control it. I see where this administration is going with it....
Thanks for the laugh... you are absolutely right. When I was young, I wasn't going out because I wouldn't ask anyone. Because it was a date, and dates are a lot of pressure, and she might say no.
Funny thing, but when I stopped thinking of them as 'dates' and thought of it as just wanting to enjoy dinner with someone I enjoyed the company of, it was a lot easier. Instead of picking her up, I would meet her in town, enjoy dinner, maybe walk around and shoot some pool, then give her a hug and go home. She felt safe, and we both had a good time.
A couple of times it became more serious, but not so serious that the eventual breakup was a traumatic experience. More just two people drifted apart.
My wife told me of a friend of hers that once said 'Any man is better than no man'. I suppose some guys think that 'Any woman is better than no woman' too. Those types of thoughts are what put people into bad relationships that they then stay in far too long.
So.. you have to have the confidence to change on both sides. The confidence to talk to someone, and the confidence (honesty??) to let them know when it's just not going to go any further and move on. One woman I was serious with I told her up front that if her daughter and her daughter's baby were going to be living with her, then we could only be friends. She wasn't surprised later when I told her I was moving on, and to this day we remain good friends.
I didn't spend a dime on my relationship until I knew this was someone that was worth it. We spent weeks sending daily emails, then hours on the phone. True.. not all relationships that start as long distance ones work, but ours did. Not because of what I did, but because we truly 'fit' together very well.
I didn't spend $3,500 to meet someone, I spent $500 to meet her the first time, then more to spend time with her. A lot better risk than dropping $3,500 on the chance you might meet someone.
In all the time between my divorce and meeting my current wife, I went out lots of times. Sometimes with women I had known for years and discovered that I would rather have them as friends. It takes courage to keep a beautiful woman as a friend when you realize that the two of you would not be happy if you lived together. The point was that meeting my high school friend was happenstance, and not something I was searching for.
I lived in a loveless, sexless marriage for many years and was single for another 8. I didn't get married until I was 24, and only had one long-term relationship before then. I spent many a night alone when I was young and didn't know any better... like you are apparently. I didn't realize how little I knew about life and living it. After I got divorced, I still spent nights alone, but didn't care because I had developed friendships over the years.
What I have seen from those around me is that when someone spends their life having friends and going out in the REAL world and doing things, then they won't be lonely and will meet someone that, oddly enough, enjoys doing the same things they do. When I turned 40, I discovered what a great thing it was to have women friends.. women who trust that you are not going to try and screw them the first chance you have. I was going out all the time having a grand time with people I truly had a blast with, and with no pressure to be someone other than myself. And I don't mean going out and getting drunk, I mean shooting pool and going to concerts and having dinners and going to bars to listen to music and comedians instead of getting wasted. You know.. enjoying all that life has to offer. What a concept.. too bad more people don't learn it.
So.. unless no one likes to be around you, you are the only reason you are alone. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something about it.
BTW.. facile is a snooty word for easy. Maybe that's part of your problem.
When I was young, I thought I knew. But it wasn't until I was in my early 40s and had been married once and gone through a few relationships that I learned how naive I was when I was young. Each time a relationship ended, I add things to my list of 'must haves'. After I got divorced after being married for 18 years, I started to go out after work with fellow employees, both men and women, and realized I didn't have a clue about what I wanted in a partner. I started to see women I was interested in outside of work, but in a non-dating way, and realized that they looked great but had personality traits that I couldn't live with. Luckily, two dear lady friends helped me to understand what I needed to know and I'm now very happily married.
My opinion at my current age of 50 is that if a man is younger than 30 and has never lived with anyone for any length of time, he has no idea what he wants in a partner.
I was approached by one of those dating services 6 years ago to 'just come in and talk'. So I used it as a chance to hone my negotiating skills and went in. I found some nice ladies that had me fill out some forms, then explain how great their service was. They told me how nice it was to have a 'nice guy' come in, by which I think they meant someone polite, considerate, and well employed. They told me that they only accept employed people without criminal backgrounds.
Then they told me it costs $3,500. I almost laughed at them and suggested that that was a little high just to meet someone. They then went through the schpeal about how they do all these checks and everything. I still said it was too much. They came down in price. Still too much.
Finally, they asked me how much I thought it was worth. I told them that I'd pay $500. At which time they concluded my interview.
I left that day with the thought that if there truly were more women than men in this service, it's only because men won't spend $3,500 to meet women because they don't need to.
Three years later I rediscovered an old high school friend and sent her a 'Hello!! How ya doing??' email with no intention of dating. We sent a few emails, started calling, flew 2,000 miles to visit several times, and got married 10 months later. And joked that we never had a real date because we already knew each other and had never dated in high school.
2 1/2 years later later we are still very happy together, have sex regularly, and enjoy being with each other. Worked better than my first marriage by a long shot.
Maybe people should just stop dating and learn how to experience life and just get out and do things. My friends that try the hardest to meet someone are the ones that are the least successful at it.
We did something even simplier on our Sun servers. We used a master server with directories that held the different app and web servers we had. Everything that needed a configuration file that had server specific items, like Apache, had a server-specific script to generate environment variables. A configuration script was created using the template:
. servEnv.sh
cat <<EOD >realConfigFile
## put config file here replacing any server specific items
## with $envVariable from the servEnv.sh script
EOD
We could redeploy a server in 10 minutes from an empty hard drive. Creating a new one took about 10 more minutes to create the servEnv.sh file.
This also gave us the ability to take scripts from dev to qc to production without having to change anything. Part of the servEnv.sh script set things like home directories and such. We could even have multiple environments on one machine.
Burning bridges is always a bad idea. I'm just turning 50, and it has surprised me the people that I used to know that pop up. In fact, past antagonists gained new respect from me in later jobs as they learned from their mistakes and matured.
That doesn't mean one can't offer advice, one just needs to word it diplomatically instead of calling everyone dumb shits.
You can only log onto Google maps when you have data coverage. The US does not have 100% coverage. I ride a motorcycle across much of the state of Arizona, and can tell you that in many towns, Goggle maps does not work. Interestingly, it doesn't work in downtown Globe, Arizona. Or at least didn't several months ago. My wife's Blackberry would not give her maps or turn-by-turn instructions when we couldn't find an address. Instead, we relied on my old tried-and-true method of driving around aimlessly until we stumbled upon it.
Since all current phones rely on downloading maps to work and have screens that are way to small, I will continue to use standalone GPS devices. Maybe some like voice turn-by-turn, but I prefer a visual indicator of how fast the next turn is coming up and the shape of the road. I ride a motorcycle and want to know two miles before the turn that I need to get 30 bikes over into the left lane.
Along that same line, as long as phones don't have dSLR features such as interchangable, high quality lenses and large CCD sensors, I will continue to use a dSLR camera. As long as phones can't create hi-def videos, I will continue to use my hi-def video camera. That doesn't mean I won't use the GPS or camera in my phone when I need to, but as long as my needs require features the phone doesn't offer, I'll continue to have both.
I lead a motorcycle group of over 450 people. We ride our motorcycles all over the area surrounding Phoenix, Az. I personally put between 15,000 and 20,000 miles on my bike every year.
I started to use a GPS on our trips because when you need to get 30 bikes ready for a left turn, it's nice to know it's two miles ahead instead of waiting for the sign to show up. Plus, it's really hard to read a map while you riding a motorcycle, the wind tends to move it all around unless you use a tank bag.
I moved to Phoenix 6 years ago, and can now ride my motorcycle anywhere in this beautiful state or the Phoenix metro area without a map or GPS. The GPS and the mapping software on my PC have helped me to design routes much easier than I could have with a map. I can use Google maps to get a satellite view of roads and determine if they are dirt or not.
These tools have helped improve my local knowledge, not lessen it.
My wife has similar experience in her car. Her GPS has given her the confidence to go into areas in Phoenix with the knowledge that she will be able to get there safely. With that experience, she has gained a better understanding of the Phoenix area.
The above notes, while anecdotal, indicate that for some people, the GPS helps them learn the area.
Maybe it's all about how smart or observant the person using it is to begin with. Smart people learn faster without effort, and observant people notice their surroundings without having to work at it. I've always been good at finding my way back to a place after I've been there once or twice, even if someone else was driving. So maybe I'm just naturally more observant that those that don't learn their local area when using a GPS.
Or... no one is waiting and when you die you die and everyone will miss you. So enjoy life while you can, because there is no after life. Live as long as you can so those that love you can continue to enjoy your company; and those you help can continue to be helped.
My belief gives me enough reason to continue living. I don't need a fairy tale to help others and follow the same morals that have been around since before Christ was a glint in Mary's eye. You know.. those 'Christian' ones, like not stealing, not murdering?? That the Christians hijacked like they did all of the holidays because they couldn't attract any followers??
Someone suffering from a delusion would leave a life of luxury to pursue their delusion. Happens all the time. The stronger the delusion, the more likely you are to take life-threatening stands to protect it.
ROI can and should be applied to an entire investment portfolio to set goals. Once an investment strategy is determined, individual types of risks are gathered together and another expected ROI for each group can be further determined based on risk exposure.
So.. if I invest $1M ten times on a group of investments with a 75% of failure (0 ROI) but a 500% ROI if they succeed, my return on the 2-3 that succeed (i.e. 25% of 10) will be 10-15M, meaning at worst I'll probably break even if two succeed, but might see a 50% return if at least three do. Or lose it all if they all fail, a risk I have to decide whether or not is worth it. If all I have to invest is $10M, then it's probably not worth it. If I have $100M to invest, then it's probably worth it.
Both ROI and risk have to be used when deciding to invest in anything. I won't be investing my 401K in this venture, but that doesn't mean someone else with a higher risk tolerance won't.
It's called 'ROI'. If I have a portfolio of $100M, I might be willing to put up $10M in highly risky ventures under the assumption that some of them might succeed and return a significant sum that offsets the losses.
This is the nature of investing. I don't invest my 401K in risky stocks because I can't afford to loose it. But that doesn't mean someone who can afford to loose it, because they have already made enough to live on the rest of their lives, won't mind taking the risk for even more gain.
Yes.. it's legalized gambling. Except gambling is usually defined as a game of pure chance, where the odds can be calculated (and usually favor the house.) Investing is taking a gamble, but the odds are unknown and based on guesswork.
The odds of flipping a coin 5 times and having it come up heads each time are known and each flip is independent of prior results. The odds of a specific company becoming highly profitable are unknown, but the risks are decreased by inventive minds and creative forces where each decision impacts the outcome of events afterward.
People are usually only jealous of people who have more then they do..
They are rarely jealous of someone who has less.
My guess is that ScuttleMonkey belongs to the former, and his rant is nothing more than sour grapes. I'll just admit that I could never afford to even own one, let alone buy one and move on.
But I sure would love to take a look at one....or a ride.
Current hybrid cars already have a premium that is thousands of dollars above buying a regular car. Compare the 5 year cost of a Yaris ($27,674) getting 35mpg to a Prius ($33,048) getting 45mpg.
Currently, California is replacing electric meters with new smart meters at NO COST. Instead, the costs will be absorbed throughout the system. A GPS device in your car that can 'phone home' a bill will be expensive and require costs to install.
I should not be obligated to subsidize something that is already affordable only by those willing to pay a premium to buy it. But, if I have to help pay for electric cars which I will do if I have to install a GPS system in my car, then I choose the cheapest cost which is just to help pay for the electric meters in the few homes that will need them for the few people that will be able to afford an electric car. Hybrid cars have been around for years and are barely making a dent in purchases, I see no reason why electric cars won't be the same way.
Itwill be far cheaper to install an electric meter only at the homes that buy electric cars over the course of many years and use the existing data collection systems than it will be to retrofit GPS units in EVERY CAR IN THE UNITED STATES. Who is going to pay for that?? I know... people like me who have income will not only pay for mine, but also for all of those poor people that can't afford to do it.
The GPS unit will have to be sophisticated enough too that people can't just block the signal. I can't get GPS in my garage, it probably won't take much to devise a cheap Faraday cage to sell on the black market.
And how does something like this get phased in??? Give everyone two years to install the GPS, then flip a switch?? That would require that everyone registering their car provide proof of the install PRIOR to flipping the tax switch.
Just another Democrat POS legislation that is designed to take even more control away from the states and privacy away from me.
The problem of higher fuel economy resulting in decreasing tax revenues is the easy one to take care of, increase the gas tax accordingly. This way those that won't sell their 15mpg Jeeps will see their fuel costs continue to rise. And find a way to create a usage type tax for new power systems.
For instance, there is no need to install GPS systems in all existing cars just to tax plug-in electric cars. Do the same thing they did with diesels. Kerosene and diesel fuel are basically the same thing, yet diesel has a road tax. . The government implemented a taxing system and required the two to be different colors so it could be determined if someone was cheating. Anyone that sells diesel collects the tax and forwards it on the feds and state.
Why not the same thing for electric cars?? Why not create a law that says users have to have a special meter installed in their house to plug it in. Get really fancy and require that all electric cars won't recharge unless they sense a special signal from the electrical wiring. If a standard for a fuel pump nozzle can be reached, why not one for electric car recharging plugs. The electric company collects the taxes and forwards them to the state or feds. Do the same thing for all alternate fuels that become commonly used.
On an personal level, I don't think the Federal Government should not be in charge of collecting money and disbursing back to the states to fix state and local roads (or run schools or welfare or a host of other things.) All the federal government adds to such as system is bureaucracy and favoritism. There is a place for the federal government to help maintain the interstate highway system, since that impacts interstate commerce, but not local roads.
A system where EVERY state is receiving money from the federal government is not needed. Lower our federal taxes while lowering disbursements back to states, then let states increase income taxes to make up the difference. Efficiencies will improve somewhat, and people can decide which state they want to live in. Or what states are have better systems and copy them. Today, all states have to agree to the federal government's handout reuirements because federal income taxes are too high to allow states to increase state income taxes to cover saying 'NO' to the federal government's handouts.
But how will poor states fix their roads (or run their schools or welfare)? Grants come to mind, make them ask for it and show a need instead of writing a blank check with attachments to it related to how a state's highway system (or school system or welfare system) will be run. If a state doesn't need the money, then it's free to run it's highways (and schools and welfare system) as it see's fit. And people can decide which state to live in. If you can't run your state, then you have to run it according to the federal government's wishes.
I don't need another plug in, the existing 'Organizer Bookmarks' works just fine.
I guess I'm just old school and think I can determine how to organize my stuff better than the computer can. I keep a tab labeled 'new items' where I dump stuff, and periodically reclassify or delete them depending on whether I find them interesting and where I want them to be. I doubt if a plug in can determine whether or not something I open every day is 'interesting'.
Have you tried to use bookmarks to keep track of your sites instead of using tabs....
Ok.. all joking aside....
A feature I stumbled on in firefox is the ability to open all bookmarks in a folder. So I've arranged my bookmarks into daily/weekly/monthly folders based on topics. Then I middle click the folder and all the pages open up. I arrange the pages that usually open first at the top of the folder, and those that take longer at the bottom. It only takes a few seconds before I start seeing pages, and by the time I'm done with the first one, the rest are open.
I think the answer is that some games don't provide instant transportation because some people like it that way and others don't. As long as the trip provides some reward, such as experience points or items, I don't mind it. Obviously from the earlier comments, some people do.
It's called competition and is how a free market works. If a product is truly the best, everyone will flock to it. But if product A and B provide the same basic product but work a little different, they will attract different consumers. If a product can remain in business, they have succeeded in their enterprise.
Being number one in a market isn't necessarily the best place to be. Having the best return on your money is the best place to be, and a product doesn't have to be number one to do that.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't complain because I use a Palm Centro .. which has no such regulations. I can write my own program if I want, load it on my web server, and offer it up. And there are several Palm shareware sites that can be used.
.. spend $50 for a refurbished phone and get freedom. Technology catches up every couple of years anyway, so the cool stuff iPhone has today will be on a Palm product in 18 months when I buy another one ... for $50. I haven't had any problems finding apps that I need, and I can use music from just about any source.
It's called 'choice'. If someone wants the latest overpriced cool gadget, go buy an iPhone and get locked into the iTunes store and only what they will sell.
Or
Except music from iTunes I think. But since I've never used iTunes, I'll never miss it.
My dishwasher has a delay button, so when it's full we just hit that button and it doesn't start until after 9pm.
.. I live in Phoenix.
.. maybe we need smart users of dumb appliances.
.. but then the government couldn't control it. I see where this administration is going with it....
We do most of the laundry on the weekends when we can throw a load in, do things around the house, and then come back to it later. Between my wife and I, we do 4-5 average loads a weekend.
We tend to take showers early morning or late evening, so that puts the hot water usage off a little bit. Sharing the shower doesn't help since we tend to run it longer when we do.
My pool pumps are on timers and only run from midnight to 4am. I've found the 6 and 12 hour for winter/summer recommendations for most pools are wrong for me, I just kept cutting mine back further and further until I found out I only need 4 hours a night, no matter whether it was summer or winter. Oh
Maybe we don't need smart appliances
Oh
Thanks for the laugh ... you are absolutely right. When I was young, I wasn't going out because I wouldn't ask anyone. Because it was a date, and dates are a lot of pressure, and she might say no.
.. you have to have the confidence to change on both sides. The confidence to talk to someone, and the confidence (honesty??) to let them know when it's just not going to go any further and move on. One woman I was serious with I told her up front that if her daughter and her daughter's baby were going to be living with her, then we could only be friends. She wasn't surprised later when I told her I was moving on, and to this day we remain good friends.
Funny thing, but when I stopped thinking of them as 'dates' and thought of it as just wanting to enjoy dinner with someone I enjoyed the company of, it was a lot easier. Instead of picking her up, I would meet her in town, enjoy dinner, maybe walk around and shoot some pool, then give her a hug and go home. She felt safe, and we both had a good time.
A couple of times it became more serious, but not so serious that the eventual breakup was a traumatic experience. More just two people drifted apart.
My wife told me of a friend of hers that once said 'Any man is better than no man'. I suppose some guys think that 'Any woman is better than no woman' too. Those types of thoughts are what put people into bad relationships that they then stay in far too long.
So
I didn't spend a dime on my relationship until I knew this was someone that was worth it. We spent weeks sending daily emails, then hours on the phone. True .. not all relationships that start as long distance ones work, but ours did. Not because of what I did, but because we truly 'fit' together very well.
I didn't spend $3,500 to meet someone, I spent $500 to meet her the first time, then more to spend time with her. A lot better risk than dropping $3,500 on the chance you might meet someone.
In all the time between my divorce and meeting my current wife, I went out lots of times. Sometimes with women I had known for years and discovered that I would rather have them as friends. It takes courage to keep a beautiful woman as a friend when you realize that the two of you would not be happy if you lived together. The point was that meeting my high school friend was happenstance, and not something I was searching for.
Facile is English for easy, derived from French. It is also French.
I've only heard it used when I lived in Maine, which has a large Franco-Canadian population. And was almost always used by that population.
Using words that hardly anyone else uses is snooty in my book.
I lived in a loveless, sexless marriage for many years and was single for another 8. I didn't get married until I was 24, and only had one long-term relationship before then. I spent many a night alone when I was young and didn't know any better ... like you are apparently. I didn't realize how little I knew about life and living it. After I got divorced, I still spent nights alone, but didn't care because I had developed friendships over the years.
.. women who trust that you are not going to try and screw them the first chance you have. I was going out all the time having a grand time with people I truly had a blast with, and with no pressure to be someone other than myself. And I don't mean going out and getting drunk, I mean shooting pool and going to concerts and having dinners and going to bars to listen to music and comedians instead of getting wasted. You know .. enjoying all that life has to offer. What a concept .. too bad more people don't learn it.
.. unless no one likes to be around you, you are the only reason you are alone. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something about it.
.. facile is a snooty word for easy. Maybe that's part of your problem.
What I have seen from those around me is that when someone spends their life having friends and going out in the REAL world and doing things, then they won't be lonely and will meet someone that, oddly enough, enjoys doing the same things they do. When I turned 40, I discovered what a great thing it was to have women friends
So
BTW
When I was young, I thought I knew. But it wasn't until I was in my early 40s and had been married once and gone through a few relationships that I learned how naive I was when I was young. Each time a relationship ended, I add things to my list of 'must haves'. After I got divorced after being married for 18 years, I started to go out after work with fellow employees, both men and women, and realized I didn't have a clue about what I wanted in a partner. I started to see women I was interested in outside of work, but in a non-dating way, and realized that they looked great but had personality traits that I couldn't live with. Luckily, two dear lady friends helped me to understand what I needed to know and I'm now very happily married.
My opinion at my current age of 50 is that if a man is younger than 30 and has never lived with anyone for any length of time, he has no idea what he wants in a partner.
Except for big boobs.
I was approached by one of those dating services 6 years ago to 'just come in and talk'. So I used it as a chance to hone my negotiating skills and went in. I found some nice ladies that had me fill out some forms, then explain how great their service was. They told me how nice it was to have a 'nice guy' come in, by which I think they meant someone polite, considerate, and well employed. They told me that they only accept employed people without criminal backgrounds.
Then they told me it costs $3,500. I almost laughed at them and suggested that that was a little high just to meet someone. They then went through the schpeal about how they do all these checks and everything. I still said it was too much. They came down in price. Still too much.
Finally, they asked me how much I thought it was worth. I told them that I'd pay $500. At which time they concluded my interview.
I left that day with the thought that if there truly were more women than men in this service, it's only because men won't spend $3,500 to meet women because they don't need to.
Three years later I rediscovered an old high school friend and sent her a 'Hello!! How ya doing??' email with no intention of dating. We sent a few emails, started calling, flew 2,000 miles to visit several times, and got married 10 months later. And joked that we never had a real date because we already knew each other and had never dated in high school.
2 1/2 years later later we are still very happy together, have sex regularly, and enjoy being with each other. Worked better than my first marriage by a long shot.
Maybe people should just stop dating and learn how to experience life and just get out and do things. My friends that try the hardest to meet someone are the ones that are the least successful at it.
. servEnv.sh
cat <<EOD >realConfigFile
## put config file here replacing any server specific items
## with $envVariable from the servEnv.sh script
EOD
We could redeploy a server in 10 minutes from an empty hard drive. Creating a new one took about 10 more minutes to create the servEnv.sh file.
This also gave us the ability to take scripts from dev to qc to production without having to change anything. Part of the servEnv.sh script set things like home directories and such. We could even have multiple environments on one machine.
Burning bridges is always a bad idea. I'm just turning 50, and it has surprised me the people that I used to know that pop up. In fact, past antagonists gained new respect from me in later jobs as they learned from their mistakes and matured.
That doesn't mean one can't offer advice, one just needs to word it diplomatically instead of calling everyone dumb shits.
You can only log onto Google maps when you have data coverage. The US does not have 100% coverage. I ride a motorcycle across much of the state of Arizona, and can tell you that in many towns, Goggle maps does not work. Interestingly, it doesn't work in downtown Globe, Arizona. Or at least didn't several months ago. My wife's Blackberry would not give her maps or turn-by-turn instructions when we couldn't find an address. Instead, we relied on my old tried-and-true method of driving around aimlessly until we stumbled upon it.
Since all current phones rely on downloading maps to work and have screens that are way to small, I will continue to use standalone GPS devices. Maybe some like voice turn-by-turn, but I prefer a visual indicator of how fast the next turn is coming up and the shape of the road. I ride a motorcycle and want to know two miles before the turn that I need to get 30 bikes over into the left lane.
Along that same line, as long as phones don't have dSLR features such as interchangable, high quality lenses and large CCD sensors, I will continue to use a dSLR camera. As long as phones can't create hi-def videos, I will continue to use my hi-def video camera. That doesn't mean I won't use the GPS or camera in my phone when I need to, but as long as my needs require features the phone doesn't offer, I'll continue to have both.
I lead a motorcycle group of over 450 people. We ride our motorcycles all over the area surrounding Phoenix, Az. I personally put between 15,000 and 20,000 miles on my bike every year.
I started to use a GPS on our trips because when you need to get 30 bikes ready for a left turn, it's nice to know it's two miles ahead instead of waiting for the sign to show up. Plus, it's really hard to read a map while you riding a motorcycle, the wind tends to move it all around unless you use a tank bag.
I moved to Phoenix 6 years ago, and can now ride my motorcycle anywhere in this beautiful state or the Phoenix metro area without a map or GPS. The GPS and the mapping software on my PC have helped me to design routes much easier than I could have with a map. I can use Google maps to get a satellite view of roads and determine if they are dirt or not.
These tools have helped improve my local knowledge, not lessen it.
My wife has similar experience in her car. Her GPS has given her the confidence to go into areas in Phoenix with the knowledge that she will be able to get there safely. With that experience, she has gained a better understanding of the Phoenix area.
The above notes, while anecdotal, indicate that for some people, the GPS helps them learn the area.
Maybe it's all about how smart or observant the person using it is to begin with. Smart people learn faster without effort, and observant people notice their surroundings without having to work at it. I've always been good at finding my way back to a place after I've been there once or twice, even if someone else was driving. So maybe I'm just naturally more observant that those that don't learn their local area when using a GPS.
He really knows it because of his delusion....just read his prior posts.
Delusional people think the same thing and would probably write that they KNOW something to be a fact, when in fact is isn't.
Paging Dr. Phil.... Paging Dr. Phil....
Or ... no one is waiting and when you die you die and everyone will miss you. So enjoy life while you can, because there is no after life. Live as long as you can so those that love you can continue to enjoy your company; and those you help can continue to be helped.
.. those 'Christian' ones, like not stealing, not murdering?? That the Christians hijacked like they did all of the holidays because they couldn't attract any followers??
My belief gives me enough reason to continue living. I don't need a fairy tale to help others and follow the same morals that have been around since before Christ was a glint in Mary's eye. You know
Someone suffering from a delusion would leave a life of luxury to pursue their delusion. Happens all the time. The stronger the delusion, the more likely you are to take life-threatening stands to protect it.
Maybe Paul just needed to talk with Dr. Phil.
ROI can and should be applied to an entire investment portfolio to set goals. Once an investment strategy is determined, individual types of risks are gathered together and another expected ROI for each group can be further determined based on risk exposure.
.. if I invest $1M ten times on a group of investments with a 75% of failure (0 ROI) but a 500% ROI if they succeed, my return on the 2-3 that succeed (i.e. 25% of 10) will be 10-15M, meaning at worst I'll probably break even if two succeed, but might see a 50% return if at least three do. Or lose it all if they all fail, a risk I have to decide whether or not is worth it. If all I have to invest is $10M, then it's probably not worth it. If I have $100M to invest, then it's probably worth it.
So
Both ROI and risk have to be used when deciding to invest in anything. I won't be investing my 401K in this venture, but that doesn't mean someone else with a higher risk tolerance won't.
It's called 'ROI'. If I have a portfolio of $100M, I might be willing to put up $10M in highly risky ventures under the assumption that some of them might succeed and return a significant sum that offsets the losses.
.. it's legalized gambling. Except gambling is usually defined as a game of pure chance, where the odds can be calculated (and usually favor the house.) Investing is taking a gamble, but the odds are unknown and based on guesswork.
This is the nature of investing. I don't invest my 401K in risky stocks because I can't afford to loose it. But that doesn't mean someone who can afford to loose it, because they have already made enough to live on the rest of their lives, won't mind taking the risk for even more gain.
Yes
The odds of flipping a coin 5 times and having it come up heads each time are known and each flip is independent of prior results. The odds of a specific company becoming highly profitable are unknown, but the risks are decreased by inventive minds and creative forces where each decision impacts the outcome of events afterward.
People are usually only jealous of people who have more then they do..
They are rarely jealous of someone who has less.
My guess is that ScuttleMonkey belongs to the former, and his rant is nothing more than sour grapes. I'll just admit that I could never afford to even own one, let alone buy one and move on.
But I sure would love to take a look at one....or a ride.
You can burn kerosene in a diesel engine and you can burn kerosene in a home furnace. One is taxed for road use, the other is not.
Current hybrid cars already have a premium that is thousands of dollars above buying a regular car. Compare the 5 year cost of a Yaris ($27,674) getting 35mpg to a Prius ($33,048) getting 45mpg.
... people like me who have income will not only pay for mine, but also for all of those poor people that can't afford to do it.
Currently, California is replacing electric meters with new smart meters at NO COST. Instead, the costs will be absorbed throughout the system. A GPS device in your car that can 'phone home' a bill will be expensive and require costs to install.
I should not be obligated to subsidize something that is already affordable only by those willing to pay a premium to buy it. But, if I have to help pay for electric cars which I will do if I have to install a GPS system in my car, then I choose the cheapest cost which is just to help pay for the electric meters in the few homes that will need them for the few people that will be able to afford an electric car. Hybrid cars have been around for years and are barely making a dent in purchases, I see no reason why electric cars won't be the same way.
Itwill be far cheaper to install an electric meter only at the homes that buy electric cars over the course of many years and use the existing data collection systems than it will be to retrofit GPS units in EVERY CAR IN THE UNITED STATES. Who is going to pay for that?? I know
The GPS unit will have to be sophisticated enough too that people can't just block the signal. I can't get GPS in my garage, it probably won't take much to devise a cheap Faraday cage to sell on the black market.
And how does something like this get phased in??? Give everyone two years to install the GPS, then flip a switch?? That would require that everyone registering their car provide proof of the install PRIOR to flipping the tax switch.
Just another Democrat POS legislation that is designed to take even more control away from the states and privacy away from me.
The problem of higher fuel economy resulting in decreasing tax revenues is the easy one to take care of, increase the gas tax accordingly. This way those that won't sell their 15mpg Jeeps will see their fuel costs continue to rise. And find a way to create a usage type tax for new power systems.
For instance, there is no need to install GPS systems in all existing cars just to tax plug-in electric cars. Do the same thing they did with diesels. Kerosene and diesel fuel are basically the same thing, yet diesel has a road tax. . The government implemented a taxing system and required the two to be different colors so it could be determined if someone was cheating. Anyone that sells diesel collects the tax and forwards it on the feds and state.
Why not the same thing for electric cars?? Why not create a law that says users have to have a special meter installed in their house to plug it in. Get really fancy and require that all electric cars won't recharge unless they sense a special signal from the electrical wiring. If a standard for a fuel pump nozzle can be reached, why not one for electric car recharging plugs. The electric company collects the taxes and forwards them to the state or feds. Do the same thing for all alternate fuels that become commonly used.
On an personal level, I don't think the Federal Government should not be in charge of collecting money and disbursing back to the states to fix state and local roads (or run schools or welfare or a host of other things.) All the federal government adds to such as system is bureaucracy and favoritism. There is a place for the federal government to help maintain the interstate highway system, since that impacts interstate commerce, but not local roads.
A system where EVERY state is receiving money from the federal government is not needed. Lower our federal taxes while lowering disbursements back to states, then let states increase income taxes to make up the difference. Efficiencies will improve somewhat, and people can decide which state they want to live in. Or what states are have better systems and copy them. Today, all states have to agree to the federal government's handout reuirements because federal income taxes are too high to allow states to increase state income taxes to cover saying 'NO' to the federal government's handouts.
But how will poor states fix their roads (or run their schools or welfare)? Grants come to mind, make them ask for it and show a need instead of writing a blank check with attachments to it related to how a state's highway system (or school system or welfare system) will be run. If a state doesn't need the money, then it's free to run it's highways (and schools and welfare system) as it see's fit. And people can decide which state to live in. If you can't run your state, then you have to run it according to the federal government's wishes.
Competition works. Handouts do not.
I don't need another plug in, the existing 'Organizer Bookmarks' works just fine.
I guess I'm just old school and think I can determine how to organize my stuff better than the computer can. I keep a tab labeled 'new items' where I dump stuff, and periodically reclassify or delete them depending on whether I find them interesting and where I want them to be. I doubt if a plug in can determine whether or not something I open every day is 'interesting'.
Have you tried to use bookmarks to keep track of your sites instead of using tabs....
.. all joking aside....
Ok
A feature I stumbled on in firefox is the ability to open all bookmarks in a folder. So I've arranged my bookmarks into daily/weekly/monthly folders based on topics. Then I middle click the folder and all the pages open up. I arrange the pages that usually open first at the top of the folder, and those that take longer at the bottom. It only takes a few seconds before I start seeing pages, and by the time I'm done with the first one, the rest are open.
Then I just close them as I'm done with them.
I think the answer is that some games don't provide instant transportation because some people like it that way and others don't. As long as the trip provides some reward, such as experience points or items, I don't mind it. Obviously from the earlier comments, some people do.
It's called competition and is how a free market works. If a product is truly the best, everyone will flock to it. But if product A and B provide the same basic product but work a little different, they will attract different consumers. If a product can remain in business, they have succeeded in their enterprise.
Being number one in a market isn't necessarily the best place to be. Having the best return on your money is the best place to be, and a product doesn't have to be number one to do that.