1.6TB disc for $100 in 5 years (we'll assume Q4 2010)
Hard drive prices per unit of storage have dropped about 50% per year, give or take a bit. (reality check - $80-90 for a 120GB drive was a good price last year at this time, I just got a 250GB drive for $93 last week; in 1987, a 20GB drive was $400, about $20/MB, today, its about $3.72x10-4/MB, about 45% per year)
So, lets bring that FV back to PV -> $100 in 5 years at (conservatively) 45%. I get about $2000 in today's techmology prices.
Bad news: $2000/1.6TB just isn't very sexy...or cost effective. A quick Google search reveals the LaCie 1.6TB FW800 tower for $1400. Now, you'll have to live with only 55MB/sec transfer speed, but it is a plug-and-play solution from a well-known manufacturer. And it's here today.
Am I full of shit? I don't think so, and apparently my very unscientific numbers above are borne out by Kryder's Law which holds that HDD size is doublling every 13 months. By 2010, we should expect about 8TB on the biggest hard drives, and the "sweet spot" for price - in the $100 range - for 4TB drives. With the (currenly available) SATA II interface, the bus speed maxes out at 300MB/sec, though drive speeds are behind.
Now, that's not to say that holographic storage won't take off, but at the proposed numbers they're throwing out, its going to be the read speed and possible space or (more likely) power consumption that makes them viable. The $/storageunit is not going to be a compelling argument whan compared to traditional spinning platters for several years to come, at least.
I'm going to wait until the holographic-RW and holographic+RW are both mature enough that I can get a drive that will handle both. I'm not conviced that holographic*RW is ever going to have enough market share to warrant needing it.;-)
They don't do tracking at the firewall? I would think they monitor the ports, not the remote applications.
I do see the CD paranoia thing. My wife's company diables the CDROMs and floppies so that nobody can install "foreign" software. I'm not quite sure how they deal with USB , but I think they figure nobody at that office knows enough to use a key or a portable.
Sorry, but Philospher as a title just doesn't really fly with this crowd. This kind of piece ranks right up there with the dozen or so OQO articles before the launch, or Cringly's article on how things should be. We want results, we want product. If we wanted "this is a neat idea, somebody should do it" we'd grab a pack of nabs and a coke and find the geek table in the lunchroom. The number of replies (most of which should be "redundant", not "insightful" or "informative"...including mine by the time I posted it) confirms this.
I've tried it both ways - on and off. The ink dries out anyway in about 2 weeks and causes clogs. I had one I'd left off for about two months during a move, and when it powered back up, about 2/3 of the jets were clogged. After wasting a full set of ink (empty, replace, empty) there were still 3-4 that would not print. That's when I decided to switch to the keep-alive print. Besides, everytime you power up, it runs a bit of ink through the heads (I believe that the startup routine has not chaged in the latest crop), so its not like your saving ink over a keep-alive print.
A couple of pages of rambling is far from "news". This might be an interesting read for someone who has never thought of content or contextual organization before, but it's really old hat.
Now, if this goober had coded up a new manager which integrated all the functions he talked about, or had an extensble base manager to replace the native file system, with a defined api for plugins that would allow you to customize the environment, that would be news.
And I'm not so sure about the net zero effect. You're still liberating C from the bio-deisel in the form of CO2, instead of burying it in the ground as waste, right? (at.50/gal, I'm assuming he's using waste oil). So you're adding to the CO2 problem by _not_ burying the oil (muhahahahaha!).
Actually, the GP had me going until he hit the bio-deisel part, then I realized he was just one of those BD nutjobs. It's like seeing a GNAA post that doesn't let you in on the joke until the last paragraph.
I think the low maintenance, high performance lady is easier to find than the equivalent printer. At least I managed to get the former, but the latter seems to be all too elusive.;-)
No, they still clog if you let them sit for more than a few days to a week. I made up a small "rainbow" image in pshop (about 8"x1") and printed it to a file. I just copy that file to the printer on bond paper once every three or four days and it seems to keep things clear. I do the same with my 24" HP designjet plotter, as I don't use the color heads very often (the rainbow is 2" wide, and it prints on a 6" sheet, which is the smallest size for the roll-feed cutter). At one point I had them on the scheduler (cron-like), but it didn't always work. Now with the epson on a printserver, I have to babysit every print anyway.
Well, I think Epson would probably disagree with you on the longevity. I probably would, too, as I've had high end dye sub output look like the poster in the window of a beach popsicle stand in just a year or two (you know - all cyan with a touch of yellow here and there...not a hint of magenta to be found). The longevity figures are all artifically created, and DS mfrs are no more trustworthy than inkjet companies. Epson claims 108 (color) to 200 (b&w) years with their new pigment based inks. No, I don't believe them, but I also have lots of transparencies from the 60s and 70s, and silver prints dating back to the late 1800s - they're not perfect either.
I do agree that Dye Sub is the way to go for photographic prints. I've been hoping that the technology would really get some traction, but its been a slow sell. The continuous tone is just fantastic, and looks good even under a loupe (300dpi and lower can be a bit pixellated at >4x) - not something you can say about even the best inkjet prints. With the cost of 4x6 lab prints down in the sub 15 cent range, the consumables are going to have to find some real economies of scale to compete now. I looked up the Kodak in the article, and print packs look to be $80 for 50 sheets...$1.60 for an 8x10 or similar, or $.40 a 4x6 when printed 4-up. Not bad - certainly as good or better than dark prints from an inkjet with OEM supplies - but not really competition for mini-lab or mail order costs.
Another down side for DS is that you can't print on bond (for the occasional non-photo print) so you'll want a second printer for all your non-photo work. Not a big deal for the photo enthusiast, but annoying for the average user to need an extra printer for day-to-day stuff. It's also hard to find a printer that will do larger than A4 (for, say, an 11x14 print) for less than the cost of a new car. 13" inkjets are expensive by the throw-away standard of inkjets today, but you can still easily get in for under $500 if you shop around (the Epson R1800 comes to mind).
Interesting. I find that my hard copies don't run out of battery after a couple of hours, and that labeling CDs and DVDs looks much better when printed instead of scribbled with a sharpie.
You obviously have never expeienced the hell that is the Epson Status Monitor which must run in order to use a consumer epson photo printer. If anything should go wrong, the system will hang (print system, not the OS). And if you've ever had to reinstall a driver due to a bug...oh, you're in for some fun. You see, the uninstall doesn't actually uninstall everything, and a full removal requires both manual tracking down of all the epson driver bits (search for E_ in the entire system directory), and editing the registry.
In addition it makes them almost impossible to use with a network print server. Any fault - paper out, ink low, etc - causes the job to hang, and fixing the problem results in the first burst of data getting printed, while the print server stays locked up tight as a drum. To get the system working again generally requires either a reboot or manually killing the entire print spooler service and manually restarting it. Even worse, if you clear the error and do not power down the printserver and the printer, the first burst of information will make it through to the printer, and then the printer will hang. No big deal? Well, since the first few lines of ink get put down, it effectively ruins whatever media you're using. For something on bond it's merely annoying. For an 8x10 glossy print or a printable CD or DVD, you've just thrown away $.25 to $2.00 (or more for a DL DVD) in media. Of course, as a bonus, your required power cycle results in wasting a slug of $$$ ink to the startup cycle.
Sadly, I stick with Epson because the output is just so damned good, and I really like the CD/DVD printing feature. Sort of like having a beautiful but high maintenance girlfriend who's a tiger in the sack - you learn to walk on eggshells, but with every great performance you convice yourself it's worth it.
I'm going to add a thought on HD here, as it applies to movies. I recently got a DirecTV HD Tivo, and have been watching a few of the movies on HDnet. Interestingly, the transfers to HD of most content older than 10 years or so is no better in HD than from DVD. Admittedly, this is on a small (51") HD prear projection unit, but a fairly good one, which I've both aligned and color balanced. Now, I'm sure that for larger screens (>70") and certain modern HD native content there would be a difference, but I'm just not convinced it's going to make a difference to mainstream users. (I used to have a 119" FP setup, and never got to see HD on it...such a shame).
OTOH, football in HD is unbelievable. Better than the super-compressed crap that comes over SD DirecTV and better than the best analog OTA signal I've seen. The fine detail for wide shots makes quite a difference in viewing.
I tend to agree with you. DVD was a big step up from VHS - clarity, features, accessibilty - enough to counter the forced-commercial PUOPs and (thank goodness) flawed DRM. HD-DVD is just going to add some resolution, and those without 60+" screens won't really notice the difference without an A-B test. Extra cost (we know they'll be more expensive) and DRM that may be a bit too obvious isn't going to sway the installed base of DVD users to switch. I know that I won't be replacing the 200+ titles in my jukebox anytime soon.
Personally, I'm in favor of a gross receipts tax. The only deduction is 2087x[federal minimum wage]. Every personal TIN gets the deduction against any receipts (not just income). My calculations put the tax close to 3% to raise the current amount of revenue. But is shifts the burden to corporations, which pay little or no tax right now, so it will never pass. A shame, too, as it favors short supply chains and encourages long term savings and investment strategies, and it simplifies accounting: add up the left column in your coa (less 2087xFMW), multiply by the single rate, and write your check.;-)
You must not have see these 'Sams" series books before. I picked up a C++ version about 6 ot 7 years ago. 24 hours? Try 24 lessons which can be read and completed by the author in just over an hour each. They're freakin texts. I must say I haven't seen this one in particular, but if it's like the others I've seen, a good user without some prior understanding of the subject can figure that it will take an evening - 2-3 solid hours - to thoroghly digest each chapter...longer if you work most or all of the examples. It's only the title which makes it appear quick...a more apt title would be "Teach yourself Unix in less than a month if you don't have a life".
The server is on fire, so I didn't get to read it I don't suppose they considered that if I buy a vehicle ("for the business") that has over a 6000#GVWR (and is in the 30k range), I get to deduct practially the entire cost of the vehicle from my taxes? I looked at a Toyota Sequoia two years ago, and at a price of $36k, I would only actually spend the equvalent of about $22k of after tax dollars. Since I drive about 14k mi/yr and gas near me is $2/gal ($1.979 to be exact), that would be $1750/yr in gas costs. I get a $14k tax credit, which will run my vehicle for 8 years.
(edit, page just came up) HEY! that new Hybrid was $21,285! And at my 14k miles/yr, that's only $510 in gas. So if you buy a hybrid personally, and I buy a Sequoia for the business, we'll pay the same for our cars. You'll pay $510/yr in gas costs, and I'll pay ($1750 less 39%) $1070. So you can save $500 per year by buying a hybrid vs me buying a V8 SUV with room for 8 passengers. Aren't tax loopholes wonderful?
I can even make it come out in my favor...I'm sure there is a less expensive large vehicle. Hmmmm, how 'bout maybe a Grand Caravan, >6000GVWR, ~$30k, 20mpg....$18,300 post-tax dollars, $850/yr in gas, in equvalent after tax dollars. It would take more than 10 years just for the hybrid to break even.
BTW - I did not get the monster SUV. I also bike or walk to work in good weather, as my office is (intentionally) less than a mile from my house. IMHO, the whole tax thing is out of control.
Well, to play devils advocate, ti depends on how big the 2X4 is. If it happens to be a cast-of from an 8' wall, that 2x4 could be buried quite deep. Unless that family happens to have a shovel and a saw (not everyone does, especially if they've always lived in an apartment), that 2x4 is no coming out by hand.
Or I could take another route and say that this family just paid $(insert house cost here) for a new home...they shouldn't have to deal with dangerous debris in their yard.
I suspect it's simply an indication of the poor supervision that occurs on the job site. I'm in the industry, and I visit lots of sites. There is a large disparity between the best and even the average ones. Funny, the owner-builder sites are usually among the worse. It is not a stretch to say that many poorly kept worksites are those in which the workmanship is also shoddy. It may not always be the case, and the reverse is not always true either, but from my experience there is a very strong correlation. It's just one indication of a poorly run construction site - silly in isolation, but when combined with other observations forms a more complete picture of how that development is being run.
I was thinking that this wouldn't succeed until Verizon, et al., can use the standard platform to turn off anything at re-route it though their wireless pay-to-play system.
Your ROKR comment is the key reason why full-price phones and a la carte service would be a boon to consumers. Sadly, we live in a WalMart US market, where saving a few dollars now (free $100 phone) and paying extra each month in add-on fees is worth more than spending the money to get an unencumbered product. In some ways it makes sense for the cheap phones, but if I'm looking at a $500 PIM/phone, that $100 looks less and less like a bargain.
My favorite line: "These changes are not targeted at changing the hearts and minds of the Darwin fundamentalists," Calvert said.
Wow. Now I can be a fundamentalist, just like those wackos that go kill people in the name of god. Except I'm worse, because I might teach someone science! Oh, it's a wonderful day when I get to stand next to GWB and OBL as a nutjob over my adherance to hokey old science stuff.
That was, perhaps, one of the worst tests ever. The amount of fuel in the vehicles may have been grossly out of balance due to their method of testing. The data from the onboard computer was probably more accurate. They should have used a non-recirculating system with a small, calibrated resevoir in the engine compartment.
Now, imagine a world where your TiVo (or DVR) won't record your show, because it is available as a PPV download. Not possible? Imagine NBC and CBS and ABC stroking checks for millions of dollars a (season/quarter/year) to Comcast or DirecTV in return for blocking recording of these shows with the "standard" DVR function. Think of it as an internal, proprietary "record none" flag. In return, every dollar above a negotiated threshhold gets split between the content creator and the content provider.
I hear money changing hands...don't you?
(yes, I own 2 SD DirecTiVos and a soon-to-be-hacked HDTiVo)
If you don't have a three year old daughter, of course you don't know why you would want to watch the Fairytale Dora the Explorer 100 times. If you do, well, the need for multiple viewings is obvious.
Well, I had to go check, but the GAS program (along with the Shuttle Small Payloads Project) is offically gone, though they did not close up shop until 2004. The last mission flown under the SSPP, a Hitchhiker, was lost on Discovery.
If you want cheap space access, you still might be able to get it at the followon porgram, managed out of the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Slashdot Mirror
... much sound and fury signifying nothing.
It's a Gilbert and Sullivan musical? Oh, no...that's words and music signifying nothing.
(apologies to Tom Lehrer)
Okay, FTFA:
1.6TB disc for $100 in 5 years (we'll assume Q4 2010)
Hard drive prices per unit of storage have dropped about 50% per year, give or take a bit.
(reality check - $80-90 for a 120GB drive was a good price last year at this time, I just got a 250GB drive for $93 last week; in 1987, a 20GB drive was $400, about $20/MB, today, its about $3.72x10-4/MB, about 45% per year)
So, lets bring that FV back to PV -> $100 in 5 years at (conservatively) 45%. I get about $2000 in today's techmology prices.
Bad news: $2000/1.6TB just isn't very sexy...or cost effective. A quick Google search reveals the LaCie 1.6TB FW800 tower for $1400. Now, you'll have to live with only 55MB/sec transfer speed, but it is a plug-and-play solution from a well-known manufacturer. And it's here today.
Am I full of shit? I don't think so, and apparently my very unscientific numbers above are borne out by Kryder's Law which holds that HDD size is doublling every 13 months. By 2010, we should expect about 8TB on the biggest hard drives, and the "sweet spot" for price - in the $100 range - for 4TB drives. With the (currenly available) SATA II interface, the bus speed maxes out at 300MB/sec, though drive speeds are behind.
Now, that's not to say that holographic storage won't take off, but at the proposed numbers they're throwing out, its going to be the read speed and possible space or (more likely) power consumption that makes them viable. The $/storageunit is not going to be a compelling argument whan compared to traditional spinning platters for several years to come, at least.
I'm going to wait until the holographic-RW and holographic+RW are both mature enough that I can get a drive that will handle both. I'm not conviced that holographic*RW is ever going to have enough market share to warrant needing it. ;-)
They don't do tracking at the firewall? I would think they monitor the ports, not the remote applications.
I do see the CD paranoia thing. My wife's company diables the CDROMs and floppies so that nobody can install "foreign" software. I'm not quite sure how they deal with USB , but I think they figure nobody at that office knows enough to use a key or a portable.
Sorry, but Philospher as a title just doesn't really fly with this crowd. This kind of piece ranks right up there with the dozen or so OQO articles before the launch, or Cringly's article on how things should be. We want results, we want product. If we wanted "this is a neat idea, somebody should do it" we'd grab a pack of nabs and a coke and find the geek table in the lunchroom. The number of replies (most of which should be "redundant", not "insightful" or "informative"...including mine by the time I posted it) confirms this.
I've tried it both ways - on and off. The ink dries out anyway in about 2 weeks and causes clogs. I had one I'd left off for about two months during a move, and when it powered back up, about 2/3 of the jets were clogged. After wasting a full set of ink (empty, replace, empty) there were still 3-4 that would not print. That's when I decided to switch to the keep-alive print. Besides, everytime you power up, it runs a bit of ink through the heads (I believe that the startup routine has not chaged in the latest crop), so its not like your saving ink over a keep-alive print.
That's exactly what I thought. Sounds like a content provider desperate for new clients to fill the hole left by DTV.
A couple of pages of rambling is far from "news". This might be an interesting read for someone who has never thought of content or contextual organization before, but it's really old hat.
Now, if this goober had coded up a new manager which integrated all the functions he talked about, or had an extensble base manager to replace the native file system, with a defined api for plugins that would allow you to customize the environment, that would be news.
And I'm not so sure about the net zero effect. You're still liberating C from the bio-deisel in the form of CO2, instead of burying it in the ground as waste, right? (at .50/gal, I'm assuming he's using waste oil). So you're adding to the CO2 problem by _not_ burying the oil (muhahahahaha!).
Actually, the GP had me going until he hit the bio-deisel part, then I realized he was just one of those BD nutjobs. It's like seeing a GNAA post that doesn't let you in on the joke until the last paragraph.
I think the low maintenance, high performance lady is easier to find than the equivalent printer. At least I managed to get the former, but the latter seems to be all too elusive. ;-)
No, they still clog if you let them sit for more than a few days to a week. I made up a small "rainbow" image in pshop (about 8"x1") and printed it to a file. I just copy that file to the printer on bond paper once every three or four days and it seems to keep things clear. I do the same with my 24" HP designjet plotter, as I don't use the color heads very often (the rainbow is 2" wide, and it prints on a 6" sheet, which is the smallest size for the roll-feed cutter). At one point I had them on the scheduler (cron-like), but it didn't always work. Now with the epson on a printserver, I have to babysit every print anyway.
Well, I think Epson would probably disagree with you on the longevity. I probably would, too, as I've had high end dye sub output look like the poster in the window of a beach popsicle stand in just a year or two (you know - all cyan with a touch of yellow here and there...not a hint of magenta to be found). The longevity figures are all artifically created, and DS mfrs are no more trustworthy than inkjet companies. Epson claims 108 (color) to 200 (b&w) years with their new pigment based inks. No, I don't believe them, but I also have lots of transparencies from the 60s and 70s, and silver prints dating back to the late 1800s - they're not perfect either.
I do agree that Dye Sub is the way to go for photographic prints. I've been hoping that the technology would really get some traction, but its been a slow sell. The continuous tone is just fantastic, and looks good even under a loupe (300dpi and lower can be a bit pixellated at >4x) - not something you can say about even the best inkjet prints. With the cost of 4x6 lab prints down in the sub 15 cent range, the consumables are going to have to find some real economies of scale to compete now. I looked up the Kodak in the article, and print packs look to be $80 for 50 sheets...$1.60 for an 8x10 or similar, or $.40 a 4x6 when printed 4-up. Not bad - certainly as good or better than dark prints from an inkjet with OEM supplies - but not really competition for mini-lab or mail order costs.
Another down side for DS is that you can't print on bond (for the occasional non-photo print) so you'll want a second printer for all your non-photo work. Not a big deal for the photo enthusiast, but annoying for the average user to need an extra printer for day-to-day stuff. It's also hard to find a printer that will do larger than A4 (for, say, an 11x14 print) for less than the cost of a new car. 13" inkjets are expensive by the throw-away standard of inkjets today, but you can still easily get in for under $500 if you shop around (the Epson R1800 comes to mind).
Interesting. I find that my hard copies don't run out of battery after a couple of hours, and that labeling CDs and DVDs looks much better when printed instead of scribbled with a sharpie.
You obviously have never expeienced the hell that is the Epson Status Monitor which must run in order to use a consumer epson photo printer. If anything should go wrong, the system will hang (print system, not the OS). And if you've ever had to reinstall a driver due to a bug...oh, you're in for some fun. You see, the uninstall doesn't actually uninstall everything, and a full removal requires both manual tracking down of all the epson driver bits (search for E_ in the entire system directory), and editing the registry.
In addition it makes them almost impossible to use with a network print server. Any fault - paper out, ink low, etc - causes the job to hang, and fixing the problem results in the first burst of data getting printed, while the print server stays locked up tight as a drum. To get the system working again generally requires either a reboot or manually killing the entire print spooler service and manually restarting it. Even worse, if you clear the error and do not power down the printserver and the printer, the first burst of information will make it through to the printer, and then the printer will hang. No big deal? Well, since the first few lines of ink get put down, it effectively ruins whatever media you're using. For something on bond it's merely annoying. For an 8x10 glossy print or a printable CD or DVD, you've just thrown away $.25 to $2.00 (or more for a DL DVD) in media. Of course, as a bonus, your required power cycle results in wasting a slug of $$$ ink to the startup cycle.
Sadly, I stick with Epson because the output is just so damned good, and I really like the CD/DVD printing feature. Sort of like having a beautiful but high maintenance girlfriend who's a tiger in the sack - you learn to walk on eggshells, but with every great performance you convice yourself it's worth it.
I'm going to add a thought on HD here, as it applies to movies. I recently got a DirecTV HD Tivo, and have been watching a few of the movies on HDnet. Interestingly, the transfers to HD of most content older than 10 years or so is no better in HD than from DVD. Admittedly, this is on a small (51") HD prear projection unit, but a fairly good one, which I've both aligned and color balanced. Now, I'm sure that for larger screens (>70") and certain modern HD native content there would be a difference, but I'm just not convinced it's going to make a difference to mainstream users. (I used to have a 119" FP setup, and never got to see HD on it...such a shame).
OTOH, football in HD is unbelievable. Better than the super-compressed crap that comes over SD DirecTV and better than the best analog OTA signal I've seen. The fine detail for wide shots makes quite a difference in viewing.
I tend to agree with you. DVD was a big step up from VHS - clarity, features, accessibilty - enough to counter the forced-commercial PUOPs and (thank goodness) flawed DRM. HD-DVD is just going to add some resolution, and those without 60+" screens won't really notice the difference without an A-B test. Extra cost (we know they'll be more expensive) and DRM that may be a bit too obvious isn't going to sway the installed base of DVD users to switch. I know that I won't be replacing the 200+ titles in my jukebox anytime soon.
For every loophole that is closed, two will open.
;-)
Personally, I'm in favor of a gross receipts tax. The only deduction is 2087x[federal minimum wage]. Every personal TIN gets the deduction against any receipts (not just income). My calculations put the tax close to 3% to raise the current amount of revenue. But is shifts the burden to corporations, which pay little or no tax right now, so it will never pass. A shame, too, as it favors short supply chains and encourages long term savings and investment strategies, and it simplifies accounting: add up the left column in your coa (less 2087xFMW), multiply by the single rate, and write your check.
You must not have see these 'Sams" series books before. I picked up a C++ version about 6 ot 7 years ago. 24 hours? Try 24 lessons which can be read and completed by the author in just over an hour each. They're freakin texts. I must say I haven't seen this one in particular, but if it's like the others I've seen, a good user without some prior understanding of the subject can figure that it will take an evening - 2-3 solid hours - to thoroghly digest each chapter...longer if you work most or all of the examples. It's only the title which makes it appear quick...a more apt title would be "Teach yourself Unix in less than a month if you don't have a life".
The server is on fire, so I didn't get to read it I don't suppose they considered that if I buy a vehicle ("for the business") that has over a 6000#GVWR (and is in the 30k range), I get to deduct practially the entire cost of the vehicle from my taxes? I looked at a Toyota Sequoia two years ago, and at a price of $36k, I would only actually spend the equvalent of about $22k of after tax dollars. Since I drive about 14k mi/yr and gas near me is $2/gal ($1.979 to be exact), that would be $1750/yr in gas costs. I get a $14k tax credit, which will run my vehicle for 8 years.
(edit, page just came up) HEY! that new Hybrid was $21,285! And at my 14k miles/yr, that's only $510 in gas. So if you buy a hybrid personally, and I buy a Sequoia for the business, we'll pay the same for our cars. You'll pay $510/yr in gas costs, and I'll pay ($1750 less 39%) $1070. So you can save $500 per year by buying a hybrid vs me buying a V8 SUV with room for 8 passengers. Aren't tax loopholes wonderful?
I can even make it come out in my favor...I'm sure there is a less expensive large vehicle. Hmmmm, how 'bout maybe a Grand Caravan, >6000GVWR, ~$30k, 20mpg....$18,300 post-tax dollars, $850/yr in gas, in equvalent after tax dollars. It would take more than 10 years just for the hybrid to break even.
BTW - I did not get the monster SUV. I also bike or walk to work in good weather, as my office is (intentionally) less than a mile from my house. IMHO, the whole tax thing is out of control.
Well, to play devils advocate, ti depends on how big the 2X4 is. If it happens to be a cast-of from an 8' wall, that 2x4 could be buried quite deep. Unless that family happens to have a shovel and a saw (not everyone does, especially if they've always lived in an apartment), that 2x4 is no coming out by hand.
Or I could take another route and say that this family just paid $(insert house cost here) for a new home...they shouldn't have to deal with dangerous debris in their yard.
I suspect it's simply an indication of the poor supervision that occurs on the job site. I'm in the industry, and I visit lots of sites. There is a large disparity between the best and even the average ones. Funny, the owner-builder sites are usually among the worse. It is not a stretch to say that many poorly kept worksites are those in which the workmanship is also shoddy. It may not always be the case, and the reverse is not always true either, but from my experience there is a very strong correlation. It's just one indication of a poorly run construction site - silly in isolation, but when combined with other observations forms a more complete picture of how that development is being run.
I was thinking that this wouldn't succeed until Verizon, et al., can use the standard platform to turn off anything at re-route it though their wireless pay-to-play system.
Your ROKR comment is the key reason why full-price phones and a la carte service would be a boon to consumers. Sadly, we live in a WalMart US market, where saving a few dollars now (free $100 phone) and paying extra each month in add-on fees is worth more than spending the money to get an unencumbered product. In some ways it makes sense for the cheap phones, but if I'm looking at a $500 PIM/phone, that $100 looks less and less like a bargain.
My favorite line: "These changes are not targeted at changing the hearts and minds of the Darwin fundamentalists," Calvert said.
Wow. Now I can be a fundamentalist, just like those wackos that go kill people in the name of god. Except I'm worse, because I might teach someone science! Oh, it's a wonderful day when I get to stand next to GWB and OBL as a nutjob over my adherance to hokey old science stuff.
That was, perhaps, one of the worst tests ever. The amount of fuel in the vehicles may have been grossly out of balance due to their method of testing. The data from the onboard computer was probably more accurate. They should have used a non-recirculating system with a small, calibrated resevoir in the engine compartment.
yuk...I feel dirty now.
Now, imagine a world where your TiVo (or DVR) won't record your show, because it is available as a PPV download. Not possible? Imagine NBC and CBS and ABC stroking checks for millions of dollars a (season/quarter/year) to Comcast or DirecTV in return for blocking recording of these shows with the "standard" DVR function. Think of it as an internal, proprietary "record none" flag. In return, every dollar above a negotiated threshhold gets split between the content creator and the content provider.
I hear money changing hands...don't you?
(yes, I own 2 SD DirecTiVos and a soon-to-be-hacked HDTiVo)
There must be a way to automate this comment.
If you don't have a three year old daughter, of course you don't know why you would want to watch the Fairytale Dora the Explorer 100 times. If you do, well, the need for multiple viewings is obvious.
Well, I had to go check, but the GAS program (along with the Shuttle Small Payloads Project) is offically gone, though they did not close up shop until 2004. The last mission flown under the SSPP, a Hitchhiker, was lost on Discovery.
If you want cheap space access, you still might be able to get it at the followon porgram, managed out of the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
http://www.wff.nasa.gov/efpo/index.html