there's an incredibly persuasive argument (link) from what appears to be America's only remaining liberal! definitely worth a read, especially if you weren't intending to vote out of resentment for GWB and AG.
we need more civil disobedience, and these bastards need to be taken to issue on locking the protestors up, blatantly ignoring the geneva convention. whilst i don't agree with the anti-WTO sentiment (these idiots are in bed with protectionists like Pat Buchanan) i feel the Democrats are getting far too right wing and they need a reality check.
you're absolutely correct, CDMA is an extension of DSSS which is itself a form of spread spectrum.
i'd be interested to see what the final 3G specification uses and whether qualcomm are fighting them over patent infringements. (so, i'm off to try and find out!)
I agree, cellular service is really crappy over here in the US. I was much happier with the service in Europe. The US cellular companies are determined to squeeze more profits out of their crappy old Analog networks by selling dual-mode phones. This kills battery life and slows rollout of Digital service.
This sprung out of the American government's obsession with competition. European companies tend to have 3 or 4 big players that compete against each other. Europe also adheres to a standard (GSM) so digital roaming is almost assured in most other countries. When the cellular network was built in the US the licences were sold to hundreds of "Mom and Pop" providers who all rolled out different technology in their tiny little areas of service.
A certain San Diego based comms firm and their buddies have hijacked the 3rd generation (3G) standards for their own purposes. They claim to have invented Spread Spectrum (CDMA) which is bollocks, it's been around since WWII. They are simply trying to protect their investment in technology. The US firms should get over their fear of standards bodies and try putting long term interoperability and ease of use over short term earnings reports and shareholder satisfaction.
Back to the topic though: Bigger box, less units per pallette, more trucks/planes/boats to ship it, more Gasoline, more space on shelf, more air conditioning in store.
But then it keeps some acne-laden nerd at CompUSA and an overweight and undersexed truck driver in full employment and gets rid of those nasty rainforests and fossil fuel reserves that blight our landscape.
Can you say capitalism? We love it.
Footnote: interesting angle that napster might want to play - "we're preserving the world's scarce plastic reserves"
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so you physically go in to an office to arrange insurance? tell me it is not so! next you'll be telling us you read real newspapers!
we need more civil disobedience, and these bastards need to be taken to issue on locking the protestors up, blatantly ignoring the geneva convention. whilst i don't agree with the anti-WTO sentiment (these idiots are in bed with protectionists like Pat Buchanan) i feel the Democrats are getting far too right wing and they need a reality check.
i'd be interested to see what the final 3G specification uses and whether qualcomm are fighting them over patent infringements. (so, i'm off to try and find out!)
I agree, cellular service is really crappy over here in the US. I was much happier with the service in Europe. The US cellular companies are determined to squeeze more profits out of their crappy old Analog networks by selling dual-mode phones. This kills battery life and slows rollout of Digital service. This sprung out of the American government's obsession with competition. European companies tend to have 3 or 4 big players that compete against each other. Europe also adheres to a standard (GSM) so digital roaming is almost assured in most other countries. When the cellular network was built in the US the licences were sold to hundreds of "Mom and Pop" providers who all rolled out different technology in their tiny little areas of service. A certain San Diego based comms firm and their buddies have hijacked the 3rd generation (3G) standards for their own purposes. They claim to have invented Spread Spectrum (CDMA) which is bollocks, it's been around since WWII. They are simply trying to protect their investment in technology. The US firms should get over their fear of standards bodies and try putting long term interoperability and ease of use over short term earnings reports and shareholder satisfaction.
Back to the topic though:
Bigger box, less units per pallette, more trucks/planes/boats to ship it, more Gasoline, more space on shelf, more air conditioning in store.
But then it keeps some acne-laden nerd at CompUSA and an overweight and undersexed truck driver in full employment and gets rid of those nasty rainforests and fossil fuel reserves that blight our landscape.
Can you say capitalism? We love it.
Footnote: interesting angle that napster might want to play - "we're preserving the world's scarce plastic reserves"