150,000 is pretty standard for the readers of Slashdot (programmers or engineers), and it's miniscule compared to the persons earning $5 million a year off Stock options and other shit. (i.e. the Ruling class of this country, like CEOs and congressmen)
Forget the table..... I want to know where I can get a laptop for only $200 (preferably with a dialup modem*)??? The cheapest I've ever seen was $320 during a Staples sale.
* *Most budget hotels only have internet via phone. *Unless you want to pay $3/day! *(which I don't)
>>>reduced distance the higher frequency digital signals travel.
Actually the DTV in the US is the same frequency (channels 2-51) as the old analog system. There's no difference.
Where DTV has less range is the "cliff effect". You used to be able to watch analog television in black-and-white/fuzzy marginal quality, whereas DTV just displays a blank screen. ----- Also DTV has about half as much power, so it doesn't penetrate through walls like analog did. You can overcome this effect by putting your antenna on your roof.
Overall I get more channels with DTV (~50) than I did with analog (20-to-25).
>>>This system would prioritise a 5 year old ringing about a huge splinter, over a military veteran reporting a 3 car pileup
Well this is what happens when your government runs-out of money, doesn't want to spend any Euros to upgrade the 911 system to handle more calls (and more operators), so instead they start rationing the medical care by using a computer that "screens out" people.
I predict in another year or two we'll start hearing stories about Patients that died at home because the 911 Computer decided they were "not stressed enough" and left them without care.
>>>how much power they could save by using windows that open instead of A/C...
They'd actually save more money by keeping the A/C and eliminating the windows so the cool in summer (and heat in winter) could not escape from the building. FAR more energy escapes through porous windows, then is generated by these solar panels. --
Or those who just don't give a fuck. "Yeah my asshole husband who beats me had a heart attack, and lost consciousness. (yawn). We live at 10 main street. Please hurry. Or not. Whatever."
This sounds like the Dutch are "rationing" their healthcare. What they should be doing is the same thing the ISPs should be doing - laying more lines (and people) to handle the load, rather than capping service.
>>>They don't seem to realize that they're ALREADY paying when some uninsured person queues up at ER
Not true. The money does not come from my pocket (via taxes), but comes out of the pocket of the Corporation that owns the hospital. They are the ones who have to absorb the loss.
As for me I plan to get insurance when I'm old (i.e. my body starts breaking down), but certainly not when I'm young and never get sick. That makes no sense. When I'm young paying ~$200 in cash for annual visits makes more sense then paying ~$5000 to the insurance megacorp.
>>>They want you to think that Capitalismis about choice, Well that is true if you are rich.
That is so easily falsifiable:
I am not rich. I am one of the poor working class, and yet I have freedom of choice. I CHOOSE not to buy comcast (getting my TV for free). I CHOOSE not to buy circuit city (which eventually went bankrupt). I CHOOSE not to buy sony or verizon or toyota or..... I also choose not to buy software, instead preferring to use free options (OpenOffice, VLC player, Winamp, etc).
Now contrast that with the monopoly of Government, which forces me to use the shitty post office, forces me to fund Amtrak even though I haven't ridden a train in 30 years, forces me to buy Hospital insurance even though I don't want any (I'd sooner leave my fate to god), and so on.
Give me capitalism (choice/free market) versus monopoly any day.
>>>how much power they could save by using windows that open instead of A/C...
They'd actually save more money by keeping the A/C and eliminating the windows so the cool in summer (and heat in winter) could not escape from the building. FAR more energy escapes through porous windows, then is generated by these solar panels.
P.S. Take a look at this list, and explain to me how all these stations are supposed to squeeze down into only 2-to-25? Basically everything above 25 has to be reassigned to a lower number. It's impossible because there's not enough space.
I wouldn't mind if "free" TV was replaced with "free" streaming video over internet or phone, but that's not in the plans. INSTEAD you'll have to pay ~$100 a month to replace the Free TV you lose. This is bad not just for me and my parents, but also for poor americans.
>>>Where the hell do you live that every broadcast channel from 2 to 25 is actually in use, let alone 2-52?
The middle of the Northeast Megalopolis. Every channel is "booked" by the FCC's TV allocation, except 35 (reserved to radioastronomy). Some of those channels, like 5 in DC, are too far away for me to receive, but it still can't be used locally by my town, because the two stations would "collide" and neither channel would not work. Hence every slot on the dial is filled.
To give you an idea how bad things are, WPVI in Philadelphia is trying to move from channel 6 to a higher number, because channels 2-6 are near impossible to receive (motors and lightning pixelate the picture). Problem: There's no room in channels 7 to 51. They have nowhere to move to.
Based upon the numbers you listed, I was able to use wikipedia's list of markets and guess where you live. These stations are now "multiplexing" which means 2-3 channels per station. You have access to twelve channels in total, including the Big 6 networks, a movie and two RetroTV channels (think TVLand), for free.
Why would you want that taken away from you (or your poorer neighbors)? That's what will happen if the FCC goes through with its plan to eliminate TV above channel 25.
>>>they can easily fit within the 25 channels
You forget that those 25 channels have to be shared with the 5-6 nearby cities. For example Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Scranton . 25/6 == not much room per city - the FCC has already stated many stations would lose their broadcast licenses.
>>>so governments can reassign the spectrum for other uses.
Yeah but I enjoy getting 40+ channels free television (including primetime, foreign language, news, movies, retro, Qubo, etc). I don't think governments should be taking that free service away from us.
"AT&T's 700 Mhz spectrum" came from the selloff of TV channels 52 through 69. ATT, Verizon, and the FCC are pushing to selloff channels 25 and up, too, effectively killing free television (there would be one-half as many stations).
"Huub, who ordinarily spends his days as a digital forensics manager in the town of Hilversum, has lately spent up to 16 hours a day, scanning for clues about the attack on Libya..... 'If you are not delaying your tweets by a WIDE margin, you are putting the pilots in harms way!!!!' tweets @Joe_Taxi. 'When the sounds of the #operationoddesydawn aircraft are heard in #Libya it should be a complete surprise.'"
Google collects images for its streetview, and a Wifi sensor to create a "coverage" map, and it gets investigated by two governments (EU and US) plus an anti-trust investigation.
But if the government-owned post office does it, and "accidentally" collects your userID and other crap, that will be good. It will "help stop terrorism". Yep.
>>>The link doesn't explain why the San Andreas fault can't have a 9.0 magnitude earthquake
Quote: "Geologists believe a 9.0 quake is virtually impossible along the San Andreas, a network of "strike-slip" faults smaller and more fragmented, than the great chasm that exists where two continent-sized plates of the Earth's crust meet along the Japanese islands."
"This subduction zone beneath the Pacific, where one tectonic plate is thrust up over another, is capable of producing the biggest quakes on Earth, on an order of magnitude higher than any recorded in California."
>>>Wikileaks should deal with its legal troubles and pass off...to someone who is still trustworthy.
What the HELL are you talking about? Wikileaks hasn't done anything wrong to be labeled "untrustworthy". It sounds like you've been buying into the Corrupt US Government's propaganda.
Aside -
I wonder if the Indian government will not try to copy the US, and arrest Assange as a "traitor"? (shrug) Well whatever.
This caught my eye: "Most of the people working in Tokyo take about 30minutes to hour-and-a-half to commute"
Wow. I've driven as far as an hour (70 miles), but never 1.5 hours. That's three hours a day of unpaid time! Anyway, thanks for sharing the comments from japan.
>>>one Republican legislator...talked about being blackmailed by the leadership... That's the power of the (R) in this state.
We have the exact-same problem in (D) run Maryland, and I agree it's annoying. In one case I recall the Speaker of the House put a Poor Assistance bill (it needed to be renewed, or else it would die) into his desk and left it there, simply to force everyone else to give him a New train line through his district. i.e. Utah-style blackmail.
It's never a wise idea for voters to give all the control to one party. In fact I think we should try to restore the 1700s political system, where parties did not exist. Maybe make it illegal to be an affiliate of a party, once you enter the Legislature?
Slashdot Mirror
150,000 is pretty standard for the readers of Slashdot (programmers or engineers), and it's miniscule compared to the persons earning $5 million a year off Stock options and other shit. (i.e. the Ruling class of this country, like CEOs and congressmen)
His article on Net Neutrality is good. It imagines a future 2020 when much of the web is blocked:
http://www.stormdriver.com/blog/pipe-wars-the-phantom-menace
Forget the table..... I want to know where I can get a laptop for only $200 (preferably with a dialup modem*)??? The cheapest I've ever seen was $320 during a Staples sale.
*
*Most budget hotels only have internet via phone.
*Unless you want to pay $3/day!
*(which I don't)
>>>reduced distance the higher frequency digital signals travel.
Actually the DTV in the US is the same frequency (channels 2-51) as the old analog system. There's no difference.
Where DTV has less range is the "cliff effect". You used to be able to watch analog television in black-and-white/fuzzy marginal quality, whereas DTV just displays a blank screen. ----- Also DTV has about half as much power, so it doesn't penetrate through walls like analog did. You can overcome this effect by putting your antenna on your roof.
Overall I get more channels with DTV (~50) than I did with analog (20-to-25).
>>>This system would prioritise a 5 year old ringing about a huge splinter, over a military veteran reporting a 3 car pileup
Well this is what happens when your government runs-out of money, doesn't want to spend any Euros to upgrade the 911 system to handle more calls (and more operators), so instead they start rationing the medical care by using a computer that "screens out" people.
I predict in another year or two we'll start hearing stories about Patients that died at home because the 911 Computer decided they were "not stressed enough" and left them without care.
>>>how much power they could save by using windows that open instead of A/C...
They'd actually save more money by keeping the A/C and eliminating the windows so the cool in summer (and heat in winter) could not escape from the building. FAR more energy escapes through porous windows, then is generated by these solar panels.
--
Or those who just don't give a fuck. "Yeah my asshole husband who beats me had a heart attack, and lost consciousness. (yawn). We live at 10 main street. Please hurry. Or not. Whatever."
This sounds like the Dutch are "rationing" their healthcare. What they should be doing is the same thing the ISPs should be doing - laying more lines (and people) to handle the load, rather than capping service.
>>>They don't seem to realize that they're ALREADY paying when some uninsured person queues up at ER
Not true.
The money does not come from my pocket (via taxes), but comes out of the pocket of the Corporation that owns the hospital. They are the ones who have to absorb the loss.
As for me I plan to get insurance when I'm old (i.e. my body starts breaking down), but certainly not when I'm young and never get sick. That makes no sense. When I'm young paying ~$200 in cash for annual visits makes more sense then paying ~$5000 to the insurance megacorp.
>>>so what is your yearly income
It's 1% as large as rich people like Gates or Trump or other "rich" CEOs earn. And only 0.1% as much as the megacorps earn.
>>>They want you to think that Capitalismis about choice, Well that is true if you are rich.
That is so easily falsifiable:
I am not rich. I am one of the poor working class, and yet I have freedom of choice. I CHOOSE not to buy comcast (getting my TV for free). I CHOOSE not to buy circuit city (which eventually went bankrupt). I CHOOSE not to buy sony or verizon or toyota or..... I also choose not to buy software, instead preferring to use free options (OpenOffice, VLC player, Winamp, etc).
Now contrast that with the monopoly of Government, which forces me to use the shitty post office, forces me to fund Amtrak even though I haven't ridden a train in 30 years, forces me to buy Hospital insurance even though I don't want any (I'd sooner leave my fate to god), and so on.
Give me capitalism (choice/free market) versus monopoly any day.
>>>how much power they could save by using windows that open instead of A/C...
They'd actually save more money by keeping the A/C and eliminating the windows so the cool in summer (and heat in winter) could not escape from the building. FAR more energy escapes through porous windows, then is generated by these solar panels.
P.S. Take a look at this list, and explain to me how all these stations are supposed to squeeze down into only 2-to-25? Basically everything above 25 has to be reassigned to a lower number. It's impossible because there's not enough space.
http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCGrid.do?zipcode=17566
I wouldn't mind if "free" TV was replaced with "free" streaming video over internet or phone, but that's not in the plans. INSTEAD you'll have to pay ~$100 a month to replace the Free TV you lose. This is bad not just for me and my parents, but also for poor americans.
>>>Where the hell do you live that every broadcast channel from 2 to 25 is actually in use, let alone 2-52?
The middle of the Northeast Megalopolis. Every channel is "booked" by the FCC's TV allocation, except 35 (reserved to radioastronomy). Some of those channels, like 5 in DC, are too far away for me to receive, but it still can't be used locally by my town, because the two stations would "collide" and neither channel would not work. Hence every slot on the dial is filled.
To give you an idea how bad things are, WPVI in Philadelphia is trying to move from channel 6 to a higher number, because channels 2-6 are near impossible to receive (motors and lightning pixelate the picture). Problem: There's no room in channels 7 to 51. They have nowhere to move to.
>>>2, 16, 19 (on a good day), 22 and 45
Based upon the numbers you listed, I was able to use wikipedia's list of markets and guess where you live. These stations are now "multiplexing" which means 2-3 channels per station. You have access to twelve channels in total, including the Big 6 networks, a movie and two RetroTV channels (think TVLand), for free.
Why would you want that taken away from you (or your poorer neighbors)? That's what will happen if the FCC goes through with its plan to eliminate TV above channel 25.
>>>they can easily fit within the 25 channels
You forget that those 25 channels have to be shared with the 5-6 nearby cities. For example Richmond, Washington, Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Scranton . 25/6 == not much room per city - the FCC has already stated many stations would lose their broadcast licenses.
>>>so governments can reassign the spectrum for other uses.
Yeah but I enjoy getting 40+ channels free television (including primetime, foreign language, news, movies, retro, Qubo, etc). I don't think governments should be taking that free service away from us.
P.S.
"AT&T's 700 Mhz spectrum" came from the selloff of TV channels 52 through 69. ATT, Verizon, and the FCC are pushing to selloff channels 25 and up, too, effectively killing free television (there would be one-half as many stations).
The FCC has been approving way too many mergers lately. Sirius and XM (okay). Comcast and NBC (bad). ATT and T-mobile should be negated.
Several have already called him on it:
"Huub, who ordinarily spends his days as a digital forensics manager in the town of Hilversum, has lately spent up to 16 hours a day, scanning for clues about the attack on Libya..... 'If you are not delaying your tweets by a WIDE margin, you are putting the pilots in harms way!!!!' tweets @Joe_Taxi. 'When the sounds of the #operationoddesydawn aircraft are heard in #Libya it should be a complete surprise.'"
16 hours a day. So the guy quit his job? Hmmm.
Google collects images for its streetview, and a Wifi sensor to create a "coverage" map, and it gets investigated by two governments (EU and US) plus an anti-trust investigation.
But if the government-owned post office does it, and "accidentally" collects your userID and other crap, that will be good. It will "help stop terrorism". Yep.
Sorry. I'm a cynic.
>>>The link doesn't explain why the San Andreas fault can't have a 9.0 magnitude earthquake
Quote: "Geologists believe a 9.0 quake is virtually impossible along the San Andreas, a network of "strike-slip" faults smaller and more fragmented, than the great chasm that exists where two continent-sized plates of the Earth's crust meet along the Japanese islands."
"This subduction zone beneath the Pacific, where one tectonic plate is thrust up over another, is capable of producing the biggest quakes on Earth, on an order of magnitude higher than any recorded in California."
>>>Wikileaks should deal with its legal troubles and pass off...to someone who is still trustworthy.
What the HELL are you talking about? Wikileaks hasn't done anything wrong to be labeled "untrustworthy". It sounds like you've been buying into the Corrupt US Government's propaganda.
Aside -
I wonder if the Indian government will not try to copy the US, and arrest Assange as a "traitor"? (shrug) Well whatever.
Also develop warp drive, so our robotic probes can explore *other* solar systems.
PHOTOS FROM MESSENGER:
2008 http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080116.html
2010 http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100901.html
2011 http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110223.html
This caught my eye: "Most of the people working in Tokyo take about 30minutes to hour-and-a-half to commute"
Wow. I've driven as far as an hour (70 miles), but never 1.5 hours. That's three hours a day of unpaid time! Anyway, thanks for sharing the comments from japan.
>>>I was very disappointed when I finished reading the headline.
Fixed that for you.
;-)
>>>one Republican legislator...talked about being blackmailed by the leadership... That's the power of the (R) in this state.
We have the exact-same problem in (D) run Maryland, and I agree it's annoying. In one case I recall the Speaker of the House put a Poor Assistance bill (it needed to be renewed, or else it would die) into his desk and left it there, simply to force everyone else to give him a New train line through his district. i.e. Utah-style blackmail.
It's never a wise idea for voters to give all the control to one party. In fact I think we should try to restore the 1700s political system, where parties did not exist. Maybe make it illegal to be an affiliate of a party, once you enter the Legislature?