Environmental Progress is not a true science journal, and this was not a peer review study. It was a hatchet piece by a paid nuclear industry shill organization. I can spot several major flaws with this study right away:
1. They assume panels will cease to be used at the end of their rated lifespan. In truth, panels continue to work well beyond their rated lifespan. They will typically continue to produce 80% or higher of their rated capacity even after 25 years and will degrade only very slowly.
2. They also assume all panels will just be thrown away, rather than being refurbished or recycled.
3. The toxic chemicals that go into panel production tend to be bound into stable structures that do not easily break down even if they were discarded in landfills.
4. Newer panels use far less of these compounds than the generation of panels than they used in their study.
In short it was a hatchet job, not a legitimate study... but what would you expect from an organization called Environmental Progress that seems to only put out pro-nuclear articles. I'm actually pro-nuclear... but I'm against propaganda masquerading as science.
I've been doing embedded Linux and Android development remotely for years now. Both I and my clients have been very happy with the arrangement. The secret is to stay on top of communication, use tools like email, skype, and the usual web based collaboration suites (i.e. JIRA, Confluence, etc) so your boss/client has confidence you are top of things. Be up front about challenges that might delay deliveries. It is better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around. Also, the flexibility is great, but keep a log of your time to make sure work doesn't bleed into personal time too much (or personal into work).
If you have a client or boss that is reluctant, offer to do it on a trial basis. I often start new consulting projects by going on site for the first week or two while things ramp up, go off site for most of the work, then come back during key integration phases, so a hybrid arrangement is also an option.
It's only going to get worse as long as the liberal approach is to shut down carbon-free nuclear power and replace it with carbon-producing natural gas (which by the way pays someone to frack it), heavily subsidizing solar panels and then declaring it cheaper than carbon power. Yeah, stop the free money and disconnect from the evil carbon grid and we'll see just how a fair comparison works out. (ps, also look up the meaning of sustainable and see if it involves free money from a magic source) Or imagine if there were organized efforts to make solar installations as painful and expensive as possible through any means (lawsuits, unnecessary processes, etc) possible.
How about a tax on solar panels to pay for new nuclear plants.
... snip....
Your data seems to be out of date. Solar has reached and even passed grid parity in many markets, which explains why its deployment has rapidly increased even where there are no subsidies. I agree we should invest more in next gen nuclear, but it makes no sense to penalize solar to do it. Instead, we should have a carbon tax and divert the funds to low carbon alternatives (like nuclear) and, heck, give rebates to taxpayers just to make it politically popular. We could start with a tax that is very low and gradually increase it to allow for smooth transition. It's the fair thing to do, as we are all paying the externalized costs that fossil fuels create in the form of pollution. Oil, gas, and coal companies essentially get a subsidy compared to cleaner energy sources by not paying the societal cost of pollution. A carbon tax would level the playing field.
Yes, I've actually read the regulations, and frankly their only real problem is that they don't go far enough. I used to be half owner of an ISP in the mid 90's. I was there for the ending of NSFNet, the birth of the commercial backbone, the rise of independent ISPs, and then telecom deregulation and subsiquent consolidation. I know what it meant to be a CLEC when big telecom was handed whatever they want. Net Neutrality is what made the Internet what it is. Walking away from it know, even as patchwork and incomplete as the current regulations are, will be a disaster for consumer. Period.
That article comes of as an attack piece from someone who feels threatened (maybe someone with serious investment in traditional reactor tech?). He makes ridiculous claims about the US spending decades trying to get thorium reactors working (we did not), and about many companies trying to create thorium reactors in past decades (they did not), and makes scary claims about a small amount of thorium 233 and its potential to make bombs (far more refined plutonium and uranium exists and is more easily weaponized). The truth is, the US made only one test thorium reactor decades ago, and it proved the potential for a sustained thorium cycle. The current research challenge is only around extracting waste products from the molten salt fuel mixture, and that is well within our technical capabilities. The only thing stopping the development of working LFTR reactors is the will and funding to do it.
I would pick apart the article in more detail, but I suspect other people have already beat me to it.
You can certainly find IT work without a degree, but an actual CS degree will open up far more opportunities, and the coursework will expose you to a broader range of concepts and skills. When I started college, I was already hacking assembly language on simple personal computers... but college exposed me to low level operating system concepts and taught me how to write a compiler from scratch. I probably could have taught myself those things if I made he effort... but I am not sure I would have thought to without the going to college. My CS degree set me on the path to become an embedded Linux and Android developer.
I've been getting great feedback. Rather than the usual shotgun toting road warrior style hero, I decided to explore how a tech geek might approach the zombie apocalypse. Its been described as McGuyver meets the Walking Dead. Part 1 is available on Nook, Kindle, Smashwords, or download it for free directly from my blog. So far I've been getting 5 star reviews and very positive comments, but I would love to hear some feedback from the more technology savvy Slashdot demographic.
I've been doing mostly telecommuting embedded linux and android work for years now, and for the last two have been doing much of it from my RV. I have a Verizon MiFi hotspot, and it works really well.
I've been doing the telecommuting thing for nearly a decade now, focusing mainly on emebedded linux kernel and driver developent as well as Android work more recently. I not only get my job done from home, I sometimes work on the road in an RV. I mostly use an Ubuntu laptop, Verizon MyFi, and a cell phone. I also have a Tektronix oscilloscope and a BDI3000 hardware debugger... but that is more specific to my kind of work than most people will need I suppose. On the software end, I mostly use gmail for email (though I have used Thunderbird in the past). LibreOffice does everything I need in document department. I trade Word and Excell docs with Microsoft users all the time with no complaints. Gmail also seems to handle the calender thing pretty well, including interoperting with Microsoft calendar messages. I've occasionaly had to work with clients with a very Microsoft centric infratructure, and that has meant using the web interface to their Outlook server and other such hastle... but I've always manage to get by. '
I've been an independent computer consultant for more than 15 years now, and spent many of those years working from home on my own schedule. I find it helps to set aside a specific work area and specific hours of work (assuming those aren't set for you). It helps if you have a spare bedroom you can turn into an office. Keep non-work visual clutter to a minimum to avoid distractions, but don't be afraid to schedule breaks for yourself. I do most of my work in Linux, so on the computer end I keep all my work related stuff in a different account or at least a different virtual desktop.
Since their latest Amazon Instant Video upgrade, I've been unable to watch any Amazon videos either on my 32 or 64 bit system. I've made sure I have the latest Adobe flash plug-in and have HAL installed. Their tech support was useless. I've cancelled my Amazon Prime membership over it.
And they wonder why some people resort to bit-torrent.
I run my business, surf the web, stream video, and even play games using Linux... have for years now. I don't miss Windows at all. I certainly don't miss all the hassle with anti-virus software etc.
I am actually an Android developer that uses a Verizon MiFi as my primary Internet. With my frequent repo syncs and source code downloads, I could easily blast past a data cap. If they take away my $70/month unlimited account, I'll probably just cancel and look for alternatives.
Since I've been doing embedded Linux and Android work, I mostly work from home AND my pay is higher. Its a simple supply and demand thing. Go where the demand is, and you'll get better pay and a better work environment.
You can have an S-Corp with only one shareholder (at least here in WI and most other states I know of). That's how I do my consulting. It involves more paperwork that being a sole proprietor, but their are liability and tax advantages to having a real corp over going sole proprietor. An LLC is also a good option; it lacks some of the advantages of an S-Corp but involves less paperwork.
As I read it, he had an S-Corp, not an LLC, but paid himself a salary just as you suggest. The problem is that the IRS claims he paid himself too little (which he could have also done with an LLC). The reason he did this was to reduce his payroll tax contributions. This can also reduce your eventual social security benefits, but as a CPA he probably figured he could do better investing the money. As an independent consultant this is the same situation I am in. I take a fixed, modest salary and take any additional income as just profits from the corporation. In year where I book a lot of hours, my income from profit can be more than my salary... which it looks like according to this article could put me in the cross-hairs of the IRS. I guess its time to give myself a raise.:-/
Dude, if they had actually released the source code to their client, someone would have already ported it to Linux (heck, I would do it nobody else stepped up). Netflix uses open source tools in the course of doing business. That is very different than actually releasing their product as open source.
If you are into puzzle games at all, the bundle is worth it for Machinarium alone. Heck, even if you are not into puzzle games, Machinarium is worth it for the fantastic artwork. Me and the GF have been playing it non-stop since we downloaded it.
As one of those 'sell outs', I'm curious why you think that? At the heart of the open source ethos is the license under which the software is distributed. As long as the code that is developed is submitted back to the open source community, that ethos is satisfied. How or even if the developer is paid is not really relevant. Indeed, a world in which most commercial software is open source and the developers are paid for their efforts is very much in keeping with our dreams of an open source utopia.
I've been working as an embedded Linux developer for almost a decade now, and yes, most of us kernel hackers are paid for our work. For example, right now I'm working for a major microchip manufacturer that wants to make sure their products are fully supported by Linux. Consequently, they fund teams of open source developers (often hired through big name consulting firms) to port the kernel to their latest CPU's, develop drivers for integrated peripherals, etc. Just look at the email addresses in the submit logs for major open source projects. You will see ibm.com, intel.com, ti.com, redhat.com, windriver.com..., and many, many more big commercial technology companies. Its been this way for a while, which is why I would always laugh whenever some MS fanboy would try to denigrate Linux programmers as a bunch of basement dwellers. I make a better than average living from Linux coding, with multiple job offers right now, even in this horrid economy.
This is also why I have no worries about Microsoft ever killing off Linux. There are far too many companies making far too much money from Linux based products in market niches that MS has no traction in. The embedded and mobile markets are pretty much owned by Linux, and those are pretty much the only tech sectors seeing strong growth right now. If you haven't yet added Linux skills to your resume, do it.
If anyone wants to ask me about the Linux / embedded / open source consulting world, go ahead and post your questions. I'll check back and answer if I can.
Correct. I jut bought a new LG Android phone and had no trouble upgrading the custom 2.1 Android OS that it came with to stock google 2.2. If that had not worked, I would have immediately returned the phone as 'defective'.
It won't do it out of the box, but as an open platform it should be possible to make it happen. Might require an a custom OS patch though... As an Android developer myself, I might look into this and release something if someone else doesn't beat me to it.
There is no way to enforce this law without harassing American citizens and legal residents. If a cop thinks you might be Mexican (or Canadian, or German, etc) you will be asked to produce your proof of citizenship, green card, etc. And, no, your driver's license is not proof of citizenship. If YOU (an American citizen) go out for smoothie and forget to take your notarized birth certificate and social security card, you can be locked up while they process your status.
Don't believe that can happen? It happens already... the only difference is now this new law REQUIRES the police to do it and encourages citizens to sue the police if they don't. It is going to be a godawful mess and will probably bankrupt some rural municipalities. If they try to uphold the law they will be sued by improperly detained citizens. If they fail to uphold it they will be sued by other citizens who still see too many durn Mexicans walking around. Its a no-win situation for the police (and any too tan citizen).
This is a big deal, and if you think it is not, I'll leave you with this final point: A major consulting client based in Texas just told me they are canceling their expansion into Arizona. The owner of the company is 3rd generation Hispanic American and about a third of his work force are either Hispanic, Indian, or Asian. Whether or not enforcement of this law becomes the debacle many of us suspect, the expectation of harassment is enough to cause major economic damage to the state.
There is a much better way to handle the problem of illegal immigration: Crack down on the business that hire undocumented workers. Have real enforcement with real financial penalties for the businesses that don't follow the rules (not the token effort and paltry wrist slap fines we have now). Without job opportunities, you remove the incentive for illegals to even enter in the first place.
Slashdot Mirror
Environmental Progress is not a true science journal, and this was not a peer review study. It was a hatchet piece by a paid nuclear industry shill organization. I can spot several major flaws with this study right away:
1. They assume panels will cease to be used at the end of their rated lifespan. In truth, panels continue to work well beyond their rated lifespan. They will typically continue to produce 80% or higher of their rated capacity even after 25 years and will degrade only very slowly.
2. They also assume all panels will just be thrown away, rather than being refurbished or recycled.
3. The toxic chemicals that go into panel production tend to be bound into stable structures that do not easily break down even if they were discarded in landfills.
4. Newer panels use far less of these compounds than the generation of panels than they used in their study.
In short it was a hatchet job, not a legitimate study... but what would you expect from an organization called Environmental Progress that seems to only put out pro-nuclear articles. I'm actually pro-nuclear... but I'm against propaganda masquerading as science.
I've been doing embedded Linux and Android development remotely for years now. Both I and my clients have been very happy with the arrangement. The secret is to stay on top of communication, use tools like email, skype, and the usual web based collaboration suites (i.e. JIRA, Confluence, etc) so your boss/client has confidence you are top of things. Be up front about challenges that might delay deliveries. It is better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around. Also, the flexibility is great, but keep a log of your time to make sure work doesn't bleed into personal time too much (or personal into work).
If you have a client or boss that is reluctant, offer to do it on a trial basis. I often start new consulting projects by going on site for the first week or two while things ramp up, go off site for most of the work, then come back during key integration phases, so a hybrid arrangement is also an option.
Thad Phetteplace
It's only going to get worse as long as the liberal approach is to shut down carbon-free nuclear power and replace it with carbon-producing natural gas (which by the way pays someone to frack it), heavily subsidizing solar panels and then declaring it cheaper than carbon power. Yeah, stop the free money and disconnect from the evil carbon grid and we'll see just how a fair comparison works out. (ps, also look up the meaning of sustainable and see if it involves free money from a magic source) Or imagine if there were organized efforts to make solar installations as painful and expensive as possible through any means (lawsuits, unnecessary processes, etc) possible.
How about a tax on solar panels to pay for new nuclear plants.
... snip ....
Your data seems to be out of date. Solar has reached and even passed grid parity in many markets, which explains why its deployment has rapidly increased even where there are no subsidies. I agree we should invest more in next gen nuclear, but it makes no sense to penalize solar to do it. Instead, we should have a carbon tax and divert the funds to low carbon alternatives (like nuclear) and, heck, give rebates to taxpayers just to make it politically popular. We could start with a tax that is very low and gradually increase it to allow for smooth transition. It's the fair thing to do, as we are all paying the externalized costs that fossil fuels create in the form of pollution. Oil, gas, and coal companies essentially get a subsidy compared to cleaner energy sources by not paying the societal cost of pollution. A carbon tax would level the playing field.
Blarg!... posted the above as AC because I didn't realize I wasn't logged in.
Yes, I've actually read the regulations, and frankly their only real problem is that they don't go far enough. I used to be half owner of an ISP in the mid 90's. I was there for the ending of NSFNet, the birth of the commercial backbone, the rise of independent ISPs, and then telecom deregulation and subsiquent consolidation. I know what it meant to be a CLEC when big telecom was handed whatever they want. Net Neutrality is what made the Internet what it is. Walking away from it know, even as patchwork and incomplete as the current regulations are, will be a disaster for consumer. Period.
That article comes of as an attack piece from someone who feels threatened (maybe someone with serious investment in traditional reactor tech?). He makes ridiculous claims about the US spending decades trying to get thorium reactors working (we did not), and about many companies trying to create thorium reactors in past decades (they did not), and makes scary claims about a small amount of thorium 233 and its potential to make bombs (far more refined plutonium and uranium exists and is more easily weaponized). The truth is, the US made only one test thorium reactor decades ago, and it proved the potential for a sustained thorium cycle. The current research challenge is only around extracting waste products from the molten salt fuel mixture, and that is well within our technical capabilities. The only thing stopping the development of working LFTR reactors is the will and funding to do it.
I would pick apart the article in more detail, but I suspect other people have already beat me to it.
You can certainly find IT work without a degree, but an actual CS degree will open up far more opportunities, and the coursework will expose you to a broader range of concepts and skills. When I started college, I was already hacking assembly language on simple personal computers... but college exposed me to low level operating system concepts and taught me how to write a compiler from scratch. I probably could have taught myself those things if I made he effort... but I am not sure I would have thought to without the going to college. My CS degree set me on the path to become an embedded Linux and Android developer.
I've been getting great feedback. Rather than the usual shotgun toting road warrior style hero, I decided to explore how a tech geek might approach the zombie apocalypse. Its been described as McGuyver meets the Walking Dead. Part 1 is available on Nook, Kindle, Smashwords, or download it for free directly from my blog. So far I've been getting 5 star reviews and very positive comments, but I would love to hear some feedback from the more technology savvy Slashdot demographic.
I've been doing mostly telecommuting embedded linux and android work for years now, and for the last two have been doing much of it from my RV. I have a Verizon MiFi hotspot, and it works really well.
I've been doing the telecommuting thing for nearly a decade now, focusing mainly on emebedded linux kernel and driver developent as well as Android work more recently. I not only get my job done from home, I sometimes work on the road in an RV. I mostly use an Ubuntu laptop, Verizon MyFi, and a cell phone. I also have a Tektronix oscilloscope and a BDI3000 hardware debugger... but that is more specific to my kind of work than most people will need I suppose. On the software end, I mostly use gmail for email (though I have used Thunderbird in the past). LibreOffice does everything I need in document department. I trade Word and Excell docs with Microsoft users all the time with no complaints. Gmail also seems to handle the calender thing pretty well, including interoperting with Microsoft calendar messages. I've occasionaly had to work with clients with a very Microsoft centric infratructure, and that has meant using the web interface to their Outlook server and other such hastle... but I've always manage to get by.
'
I've been an independent computer consultant for more than 15 years now, and spent many of those years working from home on my own schedule. I find it helps to set aside a specific work area and specific hours of work (assuming those aren't set for you). It helps if you have a spare bedroom you can turn into an office. Keep non-work visual clutter to a minimum to avoid distractions, but don't be afraid to schedule breaks for yourself. I do most of my work in Linux, so on the computer end I keep all my work related stuff in a different account or at least a different virtual desktop.
... It's a debate classic!
Since their latest Amazon Instant Video upgrade, I've been unable to watch any Amazon videos either on my 32 or 64 bit system. I've made sure I have the latest Adobe flash plug-in and have HAL installed. Their tech support was useless. I've cancelled my Amazon Prime membership over it.
And they wonder why some people resort to bit-torrent.
I run my business, surf the web, stream video, and even play games using Linux... have for years now. I don't miss Windows at all. I certainly don't miss all the hassle with anti-virus software etc.
I am actually an Android developer that uses a Verizon MiFi as my primary Internet. With my frequent repo syncs and source code downloads, I could easily blast past a data cap. If they take away my $70/month unlimited account, I'll probably just cancel and look for alternatives.
Since I've been doing embedded Linux and Android work, I mostly work from home AND my pay is higher. Its a simple supply and demand thing. Go where the demand is, and you'll get better pay and a better work environment.
You can have an S-Corp with only one shareholder (at least here in WI and most other states I know of). That's how I do my consulting. It involves more paperwork that being a sole proprietor, but their are liability and tax advantages to having a real corp over going sole proprietor. An LLC is also a good option; it lacks some of the advantages of an S-Corp but involves less paperwork.
As I read it, he had an S-Corp, not an LLC, but paid himself a salary just as you suggest. The problem is that the IRS claims he paid himself too little (which he could have also done with an LLC). The reason he did this was to reduce his payroll tax contributions. This can also reduce your eventual social security benefits, but as a CPA he probably figured he could do better investing the money. As an independent consultant this is the same situation I am in. I take a fixed, modest salary and take any additional income as just profits from the corporation. In year where I book a lot of hours, my income from profit can be more than my salary... which it looks like according to this article could put me in the cross-hairs of the IRS. I guess its time to give myself a raise. :-/
Dude, if they had actually released the source code to their client, someone would have already ported it to Linux (heck, I would do it nobody else stepped up). Netflix uses open source tools in the course of doing business. That is very different than actually releasing their product as open source.
If you are into puzzle games at all, the bundle is worth it for Machinarium alone. Heck, even if you are not into puzzle games, Machinarium is worth it for the fantastic artwork. Me and the GF have been playing it non-stop since we downloaded it.
As one of those 'sell outs', I'm curious why you think that? At the heart of the open source ethos is the license under which the software is distributed. As long as the code that is developed is submitted back to the open source community, that ethos is satisfied. How or even if the developer is paid is not really relevant. Indeed, a world in which most commercial software is open source and the developers are paid for their efforts is very much in keeping with our dreams of an open source utopia.
I've been working as an embedded Linux developer for almost a decade now, and yes, most of us kernel hackers are paid for our work. For example, right now I'm working for a major microchip manufacturer that wants to make sure their products are fully supported by Linux. Consequently, they fund teams of open source developers (often hired through big name consulting firms) to port the kernel to their latest CPU's, develop drivers for integrated peripherals, etc. Just look at the email addresses in the submit logs for major open source projects. You will see ibm.com, intel.com, ti.com, redhat.com, windriver.com ..., and many, many more big commercial technology companies. Its been this way for a while, which is why I would always laugh whenever some MS fanboy would try to denigrate Linux programmers as a bunch of basement dwellers. I make a better than average living from Linux coding, with multiple job offers right now, even in this horrid economy.
This is also why I have no worries about Microsoft ever killing off Linux. There are far too many companies making far too much money from Linux based products in market niches that MS has no traction in. The embedded and mobile markets are pretty much owned by Linux, and those are pretty much the only tech sectors seeing strong growth right now. If you haven't yet added Linux skills to your resume, do it.
If anyone wants to ask me about the Linux / embedded / open source consulting world, go ahead and post your questions. I'll check back and answer if I can.
Correct. I jut bought a new LG Android phone and had no trouble upgrading the custom 2.1 Android OS that it came with to stock google 2.2. If that had not worked, I would have immediately returned the phone as 'defective'.
It won't do it out of the box, but as an open platform it should be possible to make it happen. Might require an a custom OS patch though... As an Android developer myself, I might look into this and release something if someone else doesn't beat me to it.
There is no way to enforce this law without harassing American citizens and legal residents. If a cop thinks you might be Mexican (or Canadian, or German, etc) you will be asked to produce your proof of citizenship, green card, etc. And, no, your driver's license is not proof of citizenship. If YOU (an American citizen) go out for smoothie and forget to take your notarized birth certificate and social security card, you can be locked up while they process your status.
Don't believe that can happen? It happens already... the only difference is now this new law REQUIRES the police to do it and encourages citizens to sue the police if they don't. It is going to be a godawful mess and will probably bankrupt some rural municipalities. If they try to uphold the law they will be sued by improperly detained citizens. If they fail to uphold it they will be sued by other citizens who still see too many durn Mexicans walking around. Its a no-win situation for the police (and any too tan citizen).
This is a big deal, and if you think it is not, I'll leave you with this final point: A major consulting client based in Texas just told me they are canceling their expansion into Arizona. The owner of the company is 3rd generation Hispanic American and about a third of his work force are either Hispanic, Indian, or Asian. Whether or not enforcement of this law becomes the debacle many of us suspect, the expectation of harassment is enough to cause major economic damage to the state.
There is a much better way to handle the problem of illegal immigration: Crack down on the business that hire undocumented workers. Have real enforcement with real financial penalties for the businesses that don't follow the rules (not the token effort and paltry wrist slap fines we have now). Without job opportunities, you remove the incentive for illegals to even enter in the first place.