Anyhow - it seems that the parent poster is right, to a degree. It isn't "illegal" per-se, but rather it is cheaper for a company to outsource than to hire a contractor in a "technical" profession...
Basically, Section 1706 amends Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978. Section 530 allowed employers to treat contractors as non-employees without incurring a tax liability. Section 1706 amends this by saying that this section "shall not apply to firms engaging the services of such person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work". So now, according to IRS code, if a company hires you as a contracted programmer, the employer incurs a tax liability. Thus, it becomes cheaper to outsource (no tax liabilities under this section), than to hire a contractor.
Note that this doesn't make contracting illegal, it just makes it more financially difficult for the employer. If the employer thinks he will get a better deal from the contractor than from outsourcing (or another method), and is willing to pay the taxes, he can still hire you as a contractor. Even so, I find this code amendment to be a funny thing, and I tend to wonder what/who got it to pass - ie, WHO SCREWED US?
I am late to this thread, and it has probably been said anyhow, but I want to reiterate:
The problem isn't soley with the business arrangements between the "big providers" - oh, certain, that does have impact, but the internet would be as robust as ever, if every participant on it could be a peer.
This is how the network was meant to be, a mesh comprised of stupid interconnects and smart nodes. Every node on the internet, from the largest colo to the smallest wireless handheld, should have the ability to be a true peer on the internet. In practice, this isn't really possible, but imagine a mesh network with a distributed p2p DNS system which many people could run if they wanted to - if only a fraction were running it, and were distributed enough, such outages might not occur (the traffic could continue to be routed, albeit at a slower pace).
Everyone should be able to be a peer on the network, everyone should be able to get at least one static IP, everyone should be able to run their own server(s) if they want to. Right now, the only way you can do it is by paying huge amounts of $$$ so you can get a garden hose instead of a straw. I am not saying access to the internet should be or could be free, but peering should be a natural right of being a part of the internet, not something you have to pay extra (a LOT extra) for.
You do know that GE makes more than appliances, right? That Mitsubishi made the Zero during WW2? That Ford supplied tank parts to Germany in WWI (IIRC)?
The fact is, a lot of the manufacturers that make products today for consumers, either used to or still do manufacture products for the military. That is why it is called the "military/industrial complex".
Also, considering that any more nowadays, corporations have become the de-facto government (with the "real" governments there serving as puppet regimes to keep the populace from revolting), it is only natural to see them also continuing to design and manufacture weapons-of-war for them to keep their place.
Look at iRobot as just being an upstart here, either hoping to gather favor from the other nation-states - oops - I mean corporations, or possibly become one themselves, one day (at that point, SkyNet becomes self-aware, blah, blah, blah)...
The last Game Boy I ever bought was the the Game Boy Color. I thought it was okay, could play my old GB games I had (and in a "faux" color that wasn't bad), but it had one glaring problem: it was too damn small. Actually, it wasn't the physical size that bothered me, but that related to the issue. The d-pad and buttons were spaced in such a manner that in a quick amount of time (playing mario or zelda, or even tetris), my thumbs were aching. On the original Game Boy, this wasn't a problem (unless you played a really long time, but that is just common Nintendo-thumb there).
I look at the new offerings and they seem like they would be uncomfortable as hell, unless you have tiny hands. The Sony PSP looks like it would be more suited to me - things are space faaaar apart, like the old Sega GameGear.
In the end, I don't really worry about it for myself personally - I am not a big game player (I like the occasional distraction on a car or airplane trip, though). But I do wonder what other players do about the issue - unless the target-market player's hands are smaller (kids I can understand - which is likely the target market - but how the hell does an adult play one of these things without severe pain in the thumbs?).
BTW - slightly off-topic but Nintendo-related anyhow: is there anyone else out there disappointed that Nintendo's Revolution machine (whatever it will be) most likely *won't* be anything like the machine depicted in that fake marketing video created (the "ON" video)? I want to see a home VR gaming system on the market, damnit!!!
Not that I expect normal people to do this, but those three tools are all you are likely to need in order to get to the analog signal from the speakers.
Let's propose the likely worst-case scenario, where the entire speaker cabinet is potted in epoxy resin (thus turning it into a heavy brick as well, and likely sounding like crap). Even in this scenario, the speaker cone itself still must remain free to move. To this end, speaker manufacturers have found that the mass of the cone has to be low, and the cone itself has to be ridged. They can't get around this fact (not cheaply, and not in a small package) - so no matter what, the driver coil must be mounted to the cone (the magnet couldn't be mounted to the cone, because it is more massive, and thus would change the resonant frequency of the speaker drastically, making the speaker near-useless). Thus, the wires to that coil will always be accessible. Just remove the front of the speaker (with the dremel), cut the cone away taking care not to cut the wires (x-acto), then solder your own wires on to the wires going to the cone (soldering iron).
The reality is that potting the speaker in resin won't ever be an option, because the speaker needs certain sized cavities and air passageways behind it (and in front of it, and around it) to make it sound as good as possible. Potting the whole thing in resin just isn't conducive to making a nice sounding system. I can see the possibility of potting the built-in amplifier/decoder in resin - but they would have to get real creative on the potting around the heatsinks and such, especially on higher power systems - and if they are sloppy, off of those transistors/amp IC's is an analog signal, provided you can get to a bare pin in some way (dremel/drill a hole to the pin, maybe?). I can even see the possibility of pulling the signal off the heatsink itself, since it might be connected to the ground side, and if it isn't perfectly grounded (on a cheap amp, most certainly), the difference between true ground and the "floating" ground of the heatsink might have some audio information in it (whether it would be above the noise floor is another thing, though).
Whatever the method, you will be dealing with having to either down-convert the signal level (from the speaker level to line level) or up-convert it (from the baseline-trickle-off-the-floating-ground/pre-amp level to line level), which will require an attenuator or extra-amplifier (which will inject some noise itself) - but if we are looking at a world like you are proposing, such extra effort and cost will be justified in order to get music (albeit of subjective quality in the end) that can be played on the device of your choice, and not the music cartel's...
When I first saw this headline, I had visions in my head of Google rolling out some new kind of search engine technology based on "ant trails" (not literal ants or trails, but "digital droppings" or something - maybe user cookies?) to enhance their current system.
If you own it outright (and the warantee is up) and don't mind taking possibly expensive chances...
You can run on a blend of regular diesel and WVO (waste vegetable oil). Basically, you would need to gather the WVO from places as normal (ie, in 55 gallon drums or whatnot, using a diesel fuel rated pump with a fine mesh filter on it to keep from gathering crud from the WVO tank), you may want to refilter it again after collection (just to make sure). Then, you need to blend it with regular diesel - the blend ratio will vary, but I think it starts at 50/50, then goes from there (that is, you increase the diesel to the WVO, because at a certain point with too much WVO you need to set up a dual-tank system with valves and WVO preheater). You might want to start high - 9 parts diesel to 1 parts WVO and work your way down, but don't go below a 50/50 mix. There are websites out there with more information. No, it isn't as good or cheap as biodiesel (although, from what I gather, homemade biodiesel isn't cheap to make, mainly because you need a way to "get rid" of the glycerin formed in the process, plus you need to find a source of methanol, which isn't easy unless you live in the midwest), but it would be cheaper than straight diesel - and easier to set up/use (since there are no vehicle mods needed) than a "straight" WVO system...
Imagine if the turbine and the generator were combined (in other words, no shaft connection)? Imagine if the turbine itself (or part of the shaft) were magnetized (some way to keep heat away from this portion would be needed), and coils mounted around that portion to generate the electricity? Such a "power pack" could be built quite small and lightweight, but produce a great amount of electricity for the vehicle...
Re:Ah - the answer is clearer now...
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True biodiesel (100 percent or blended) runs the same as regular diesel, it is just the source that is different. However, when running straight WVO (waste vegetable oil), you need to preheat it to thin it out, and do the switcheroo thingie so that it doesn't clog the lines and such when stopping and starting the vehicle. I don't know if that is necessarily less reliable, although when you add in extra parts, things can happen (but cars are already complex enough and breakdown enough, so does it really matter? dunno). One thing with WVO is that if you have it clean enough, you can thin it with regular diesel and use it without a preheat system. I don't know the ratio, but it is rather high IIRC - 50/50 or so. It will burn cleaner than regular diesel - it won't be cheaper than straight WVO, but cheaper than straight diesel without the extra parts. I don't know if the ratios change for TDI engines or not. As far as the oil for your engine and burning your turbocharger, you might ask around a VW TDI repair shop. Tell them your problem locating the oil, see if they can reccommend something that will work without harming the turbocharger. Basically, for the turbo, you need something that can keep the viscosity up under the heat and the high RPMs it runs at. You might also ask around a place that supplies oil for diesel rigs - many of those have turbochargers as well (you mention delvac, which has a familiar ring to it). You might also find out what the temperature range/rpm range of the turbocharger is, and what the numbers are for the oil you are supposed to get - then get in contact with one of the oil manufacturers to see if they have anything that would work for your needs, and go from there. I do agree that if you don't use the right oil, you will have problems with the turbo, and that is a big-dollar repair/replacement...
Who says the web "server" has to be remote? This kind of model is not much different from what the X Window system uses when run on the local host. In fact, one could argue AJAX in this form is nothing more than a completely cross-platform version of X. Imagine if you will, taking Gecko (Mozilla's rendering engine), and stripping it down really bare. This running as an application, using XUL (along with DHTML and AJAX-type stuff) communicating locally (or remotely) with the web-server. Baically, Gecko/XUL becomes the "window manager" of the system, through which applications (both local and remote) run. Mozilla already works this way, it's UI described in XUL (albeit without the web-server back end - but there is nothing stopping this, you can do it already if you have Mozilla installed and are willing to learn XUL). I am not saying that this would be the best thing to happen, it actually seems a little impractical for some applications to me - but it certainly is possible, and we currently have all the tools (open source) available to do this...
Cars, on the whole, are simple machines. If you understand the basics behind a simple 2-stroke, 4-stroke, and diesel engine - you will understand how just about every common transportation vehicle out there. The only thing that computer systems add to the mix in moderm engine control systems, is just that: control.
Basically, instead of mechanical elements providing all the timing, a computer takes inputs from a variety of sensors (accelerator position, air flow, oxygen, knock, camshaft/crankshaft position, etc), mashes them through a complex real-time algorithm, and spits out commands to advance/retard spark timing, adjust the fuel/air mixture (after all, a fuel injector is nothing more than a very fancy solenoid valve driven by pulse-code modulation techniques), valve opening/closure (in some high-end cars the valves are driven by solenoids to allow very precise timing - I expect this to become more mainstream), etc. Other computers control when/how to shift (in an automatic transmission system - sometimes - others just use standard load/hydraulics to control this - which is nothing more than a fancy hydraulic analog computer), how to apply the brakes (anti-lock brakes and traction control via monitoring wheel slippage/etc via toothed magnetic hall-effect sensor packages)...
In the end, though, it is just an piston moving in a cylinder connected to a crankshaft spinning a flywheel connected to transmission (composed of either an "inline" manual gear train with a clutch or an automatic with torque-convertor and two to four inline planetary gear devices - or, on certain Hondas and others, a CVT using conical devices and belts or similar) connected to a driveshaft connected to a differential which spins the wheels. Some of these may be front wheel drive vehicles where all of those packages are packed tightly into one case, or in a rear-wheel drive vehicle, spread along the length of the undercarriage. But honestly, cars are simple, and always will be. I think as long as Chilton and Haynes continue to do complete tear-downs and rebuilds, fixing your own car won't be that big of a deal (unless the horror that is those "electro-mechanical" fasteners become vogue - and even then, nothing a cutting torch can't get through). I imagine cars will become more complex - hybrids are pretty advanced - but all they do is throw a generator/motor/battery package in the drivetrain mix, so if you know anything about electric cars, charge controllers, motor controllers, etc - no real big deal.
Personally, I think most of the problems with today's vehicles don't stem so much from seeming complexities of the vehicle themselves, but rather from the lack of information about how all the systems work together from the manufacturer. Basically, the control system (the computer, sensors, etc) of the system is "closed source" - it was like pulling teeth to get the manufacturer to give out information about the codes the ECU throws when there is a problem, to regular joe mechanics and engine scan-tool makers - and that took an "act of Congress" - quite literally! Manufacturers are doing everything it can to keep the home mechanic (even - and maybe especially - those who understand the computer side of the equation) from repairing their own cars. Audi even has a vehicle out there without a hood - just a little door on the fender to put fluids in. To get to the engine, you have to remove the whole front body work of the car, and there is an "interlock" mechanism that flags the computer when this is done, so even if you got it off and had access, the computer won't let you restart the car unless you trigger the proper sequence (which is probably only known by Audi and their dealers - thus requiring you to take it to the dealer for maintenance and pay big $$$$!) - now, this wouldn't be so bad if this just stayed on "rich people's cars" - but it probably won't, it will trickle down to normal vehicles quicker than you realize - I expect within 10 years, maybe sooner, for it to be like this.
It is getting to the point where I am seriously considering building my next car from "scratch" (actually, a combination of scratch and "junk" parts)...
The main purpose of the cotton gin was to do something that up until that time was a very labor intensive and manual process, requiring a lot of people (slaves, usually) to perform. The task, however, is very simple to describe, although difficult to execute (if you have ever tried):
Removal of seeds from the cotton "boll"
Basically, cotton, like almost any other vegetable that hasn't been nutered by Monsanto, has seeds. These seeds reside in the "fruit" of the plant. In that case of cotton, that fruit is the "boll", or the white, fluffy, fibrous thing prized by the cotton farmer. The seeds are in the "middle" of the cotton boll, and being that they are surrounded by a tangled mass of white fluffy fiber, they are very difficult to remove (I know - I used to live in Bakersfield, California, right across the street from a cotton field - which is now a park).
In the past, before the cotton gin, removal of seeds was done via a method of combing and carding, very similar to what was done for wool - basically a manual method of using various "combs" to comb the seeds and fibers away from each other. The main problem with this method was the labor intensiveness and slowness of the method. In addition, the manual methods also tended to cause waste of the cotton (ie, cotton stuck on the seeds) - it was practical to get every bit of cotton off because the process was already a problem to begin with.
Numerous inventors tried to build machines to alleviate these problems, but it was Eli Whitney's which won the day. His machine relied on a few simple mechanisms (most involving spinning wood rollers studded with a myriad of small metal spikes/nails along with steel "combs" to separate the cotton from the seeds) which worked amazingly well, were easily driven by water, wind, and steam (or human and animal power), and was a cheap machine to manufacture. Not sure on the patenting of the device, but I seem to recall that it wasn't well protected, IP wise, and the ideas in the device spread quickly. Seemingly single-handedly revolutionizing the cotton farming and processing industry (not to mention the fact that the now large and steady supply of seed created a nice animal feed and vegetable oil business)...
Honestly, fire is nothing more than a chemical reaction which uses rapid oxidation to create massive amounts of heat and light. Steel, in the presence of oxygen and hydrogen, rusts. Apply enough of both, plus a little "starter" heat to get things going, and steel will BURN. Steel rusting is nothing more than a really turned-down version of fire. Controlled oxidation, whatever the source, generates heat - which is why we have a body temperature (probably also why we need elemental iron in our diet, too). This is a very, very, VERY simple explanation, and it really is more complex than all that - but at base, all fire is, is rapid oxidation.
I didn't realize we were speaking of a diesel vehicle (wrongly assumed gasoline) - my appologies. Strange that you couldn't get the filter (I can understand the oil, though - my brother-in-law was forever scrounging for a certain grade of oil in an old Detroit that was in his 1976 Ford dumptruck), but maybe not. Diesels just aren't popular here in the US, thus the parts and such would be more difficult to find. It is a shame you mentioned this, because I always thought that my next small used car would be a VW TDI of some sort (likely a Jetta). I have this "dream" of creating my own biodiesel for it. Here in Phoenix we have a couple of other places I would try from those parts and fluids - one place is "ABC Auto Parts", the other is "Auto Safety House" (which, strangely enough, seems to cater more to diesel rigs/truckers than automobiles) - I would think the former could get the filter, and the latter the oil...
Let's say you are right, which from the article it sounds like you are. I can see two VERY big problems with this kind of "media" (outside of the DRM issue - what happens to the music after 50 years when no one has a working reader - does the LOC go "meh"?):
Album Cover Art - you think it was bad with CDs after LPs, just wait until you try to cram liner notes onto one of these (ok, this isn't really serious)
Mechanical interface - the connection between the SD device and the computer (in whatever form) is inherently a mechanical electrical connection. That means the connection can go bad over time: corrosion, spills, noise, etc - over time, the mechanical connection will wear out (probably rapidly, considering most consumers can't even handle a CD or DVD properly without scratching it to hell) and the music will become unplayable - PAY UP!
Those two issues are big ones - I actually see the first outweighing the last, at least when these things first come out. How do you market such a thing? I can see record stores doing a final implosion here, as these things will probably be purchased "blank" and the tracks downloaded on them (they can't be preloaded - otherwise the packaging would be way larger than the product - of course, that hasn't stopped PC games, either). If they come as blanks, I can imagine some record stores having a "certified" kiosk (which would check for a blank SD device with the DRM in it) which you could select albums/songs - perhaps even creating your own "mix" album (one can hope). But even these would eventually give way to online buying patterns and special "certified" readers/writers (or certified software drivers)...
Please tell me which car this is so that I can avoid buying it in the future. If I can't buy common fluids or parts for servicing my car at Napa, AutoZone, or Checker (or anywhere else but the dealer), I am not interested in it. BTW - what is taking up so much of your time that you don't have any to change the oil, but you don't have enough money to get it changed and have to save it? I suppose you could be working 2-3 minimum wage jobs at one shot (thus no time), and all your money going to house payments, car payments, etc (thus no money) - but if so, doesn't that say something to you?
In front of you, you have access to one of the most amazing machines ever built by man - the computer. You have, through the internet, a literally unimaginably vast store of information and expertise at your fingertips, about any myriad of topics, from the most base to the most fantastic. Above all else, what the internet offers most of is information about itself and its components - you can read about the history, design, construction, programming, management, networking, information processing, speed, throughput, etc - on and on - about this most amazing machine. More so than that, you have access to a TON of free (in beer or in speech, in many cases both) software. Not just any software (there is plenty of that to be sure) - but including software to make software.
You have at your hands the ability, given a lot of effort, to become skilled in everything there is to know about a computer. More importantly, you can develop the skills needed to build "soft" stuff (software, web pages, music, sound effects, graphical design, movies, etc) using that machine - using software that is free. There is no other comparison in the world to this machine and the abilities and offerings it can open to someone that is willing to try hard.
Let's suppose you didn't even own a computer (I don't know for certain if you do or don't), or had access to the internet. Go around town to various thrift stores in your area and look for the parts! Go to the library and read up on what you need to build a computer (your library should have books on this) - then learn that, and pick up the parts from thrift stores. Go around dumpsters near office buildings - many times they throw out entire systems. Ask friends and co-workers for old parts. You will learn a lot just building your own machine. It may not be the latest and greatest, but it will be a better (and more useful skill) than a new Dell. If you try hard, you should be able to get at least a P2-300 together running Windows 98 (ugh), or some distro of Linux (much better if you are going down the development route). Read up more at the library (look in the 001.xx section), devour the books on computers. Download that distro of Linux at the computers at the library (or get a copy from your local LUG). The resources are out there.
Note that this route might not (immediately) get you a better paying job, but it might get you better working conditions - if I had to choose between $9.00/hr in a factory vs. $9.00/hr sitting in a cube coding for cheap (for a startup, or doing web design, say) - I would choose the latter in a heartbeat. While you are doing this, you can continue to upgrade your skills. Or, I don't know, maybe you become an expert at building "trash machines"? Or maybe you start a side business giving seminars at your local unemployment office on how to build computer skills? You see where I am taking this?
The ability is there. The technology is there. The parts in most cases are ultra-cheap ($100.00 for a complete computer at Goodwill that once cost $2000.00 five years ago is not unheard of) or free in the trash to take home. The information is ubiquitous if you just look, and are willing to ask around. Classes in some things can be had cheap or free from the library and the unemployment office. I realize that your time is tight, and you are probably tired after a hard day at the factory. With that said, if you ever want to get out of the factory job and into something skilled, you are going to have to bust your ass a little. Instead of "relaxing" in front of the tube after work or on weekends, use that time to study. Relax the body, but exercise the brain (I know I could use to do the opposite, to be honest). On weekends, instead of doing the yardwork one week (the grass can go a little longer, I promise), scour the dumpsters for parts. Ask for donations of parts from friends, co-workers, and family (ask your boss at your factory if you IT department, if you have one, throws anything out). The opportunity is there - seize it!
IIRC, it was Ken Williams of Sierra Online - the first company he worked for as a programmer, he did this, then went on to found Sierra Online. At least, I think he is the guy I am thinking of...ugh.
Lying can work wonders, sometimes...
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There was a "famous" old-school hacker who did this back in the late-70's/early-80's (I can't remember his name off-hand, he was detailed in Steven Levy's book "Hackers") getting a job programming at some company. He lied his ass off. From what I understand, he had just enough knowledge (about computers at the time) to be dangerous, but not enough to be a programmer with the company for the language they were using (IIRC, he didn't even know how to program).
So he lied.
On his resume and in the interview, he bullshitted his way through, and somehow got the job. As the story goes, he spent the next week (he was to start in a week) CRAMMING everything about the language he was supposed to use and know - and when he walked in on the first day, it was found he was one of the top-coders there. I don't remember any of the details, and I don't have the book nearby. IIRC, he went on to become the company president or something like that.
I guess the story shows that if you want something badly enough, are willing to work extremely hard for it, and are willing to stretch the truth or bald-face lie, anything is possible...
Back then, I didn't have to save up for a freaking oil change for my car.
If you are having to "save up money" to have your oil changed, you are either getting screwed, or screwing yourself. I have some advice for you: change it yourself!
Not only will you know the process was done correctly by doing it yourself, you will also know exactly what you took out, and what you put in. You might also spot issues in the oil which could indicate more serious problems which a shop might not tell you about (or they might tell you as soon as it is so bad as to need a major repair). Get a pan, get some ramps (if you need the clearance), get some oil. The pan and the ramps will set you back about $40.00 or so (but they are reusable for other work and future oil changes). Oil will cost you about $2.00 a quart (more or less, depending on brand and quality). Don't go for the synthetic stuff unless you car is brand new, it is a money waster. If you have an older car, use a thicker oil for piston ring wear (better compression). I tend to use thinner oil in the winter and thicker in the summer. You will probably spend about $10-12.00 or so on the oil. If you want to lube your chassis, throw in about $10.00 more for a grease gun and a grease cartridge. Filters (oil and air) for a few dollars more.
While all of this together, the first time, will be more than the cost of a shop oil change, in the future you will only pay with time and the cost for the oil and oil filter (you don't need to lube the chassis every time you change your oil, nor do you need to change the air filter every time, either). If you spend more than $15.00 for oil and a filter, and 30 minutes of time - you are doing something wrong.
Something to also think about: remove and replace the oil filter with a clean filter. The filter usually holds about a quart of oil, so put in a NEW quart of the same type oil (do not mix synthetic with non-synthetic, and keep the weights the same) to bring the level back up. Doing this does a "prop-up" of the old oil (the effectiveness of the oil isn't determined by its color, but rather by its remaining viscosity level under running conditions, as well as the amount of metal particles in it - the new oil increases the viscosity, and the new filter helps with the particles - most of which in the old oil were in the old filter anyhow), which will get you by for a few thousand (or more, depending on who you ask) more miles. Don't do this twice in a row, though, and don't take my word on this - research this. Look on google for "3000 mile oil change myth" to learn some more. If you do this every other oil change, you will save a ton of money. Hope this helps you...
When are we going to stop blathering on about high-speed this, wireless-that, FIOS-OMFG!? True, I enjoy my broadband cable speed as much as anyone, but at the same time, I feel like I am being cheated. I don't want to be a consumer - I want to be a peer. I want to be able to pay to be a peer on the internet, so I can easily host my own servers.
Right now, my only choices if I want to run a website are 1) pay out the butt for ISDN or a T1 to the phone company and an ISP for service, 2) pay out the butt for colocation of my server (unless I am lucky and I have a friend thru whom I can colocate with - which I don't) - plus all of the travel expenses if something goes horribly wrong and I need to be on-site, 3) use a virtual hosting system (which is what I do now, and is cheap, of course) - but I don't have extreme control over what is on the server, 4) say "f--k them" and set up a server at home and dynamic DNS or something, and pray I don't get "caught" and my service terminated.
Personally, I would be happy if my cable company would allow me to pay $50.00/month for 256k/256k symetric u/d ratio, static IP, capped at 5gig transfer each way per month (with a fee structure and monitoring tools to allow you to go over this rate and/or pay extra when you do). Why can't I have this? Right now, if I want anything close to this, I have to switch to "business class" service, pay $150.00 a month (not too bad compared to T1 prices), but I also have to pony up close to $400.00 for "installation fees" (where they just change some crap on the head-end to bump the speed up and such - I already have the cable modem). I have looked into SpeakEasy, who have excellent DSL broadband plans that would allow just what I want (they seem to be the only provider in America that "gets it") - but I can't get DSL in my neighborhood (though their offer on a T1 line is pretty sweet).
Will people like me ever have the ability and means to inexpensively become peers on the internet from within our homes? Will we ever demand it?
This is the truth. Regular oil changes, air filter changes, plugs and wires on occasion, maybe a transmission flush now and again, plus keeping the gear oil topped on the differential (if you have one) is about all the real maintenance a car needs on a regular basis. Keep an eye on the power steering and brake fluid levels, and an ear (and nose!) on everything else, and a car will easily last for a very long time. Yeah, you should lube the chassis every now and again (at least once or twice a year), change the brake pads when they are worn, rotate your tires, change the shocks when your car is bouncing, and align the sucker every now and again. For the most part though, cars tend to be real tough things. I have seen enough jalopies going down the road to know that you can really abuse the hell out of a car before it will stop running (been to enough destruction derbies as well to know this truth, too). Granted, it might not pass a state inspection or emmissions checks once it has gotten past a certain point - but it will run.
And the complexity isn't necessarily the hardware, but in the lack of standardization, the abstraction of the interface, and in the necessities of modern security.
No, the complexity isn't because of the hardware, nor is it because of the software. The complexity of a computer lies in what it is...
A computer is a "Universal Machine". I don't mean that in a fully literal sense - I mean it, I suppose, in a mathematical sense. A true computer (a Universal Turing Machine) is arguably not only the most elegant device on the planet, it is also arguably the most complex. Elegant, in that such a machine can be represented and actually do true processing, using the simplest of logical elements and the least amount of them. Complex, because this same machine, provided it is built right, can do the same work (albeit at a much slower pace) as a more complex and faster version of the machine.
The software of a computer can simulate exactly the hardware of another computer (and in theory, turtles all the way down - that is, you could have an emulator of a computer running an emulator of a computer, running an emulator of a computer, ad infintum - or until you hit the limits of memory and time, of course). This is nothing short of amazing, that we humans have been able to devise such machines and that most of the time, they work. It also seems to point to the idea that hardware is nothing more than software embodied in physical form. It also seems to indicate that hardware isn't necessary for software to function or to come about - and that complexity can arise from simple sets of rules (this is the fundamental point behind Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science").
Indeed, computers (and the idea of software and symbolic logic - both fairly recent inventions themselves - read up on the history of the computer and you will learn what a great leap it was to move from mere mathematical calculation to symbolic logic processing - something which didn't emerge in full until Turing and others made the grand leap in the 1940's!) are the closest thing that mankind has managed to create that imitates the processes within the human brain and mind.
The computer is probably the most revolutionary device and tool mankind has ever created. We are so close to the point of its full realization, that most of us don't realize this. We don't fully realize or appreciate the drastic and dramatic changes which its invention and use have brought upon us. The vast majority of humanity still has not grasped the fact that our knowledge aggregation is speeding up at an exponentially increasing rate. It is this issue that people are trying to come to grips with, when they talk about "information overload" and not understanding computers. They just don't realize it yet, and many of them never will...
So, the people killed and trapped by Hurricane Katrina were "ignorant fuckspittles?"
The parent was being a little too broad with his generalization, but I can't help but think that in some cases, it was true.
You clearly don't understand what it's like to be impoverished to the point where you can't get transportation.
Some of the people involved were too old, too weak, or were sick/in the hospital/disabled, etc - these people I can understand not being able to get out. The others? The others had, at a minimum, two legs to walk on. If they had kids, they could have figured out a way to haul their kids out of there - tear the wheels off of something and make a makeshift trailer to drag thier kids and other stuff around in. There was plenty of warning time to make this simple preparation. Hell, they could have stole a few grocery carts to push down the street (they probably had a few in the neighborhood from grocery shopping earlier - I see people walk away with carts from the store all the time). Worst case scenario, everyone just starts walking - people have and can walk long distances in the past, they can still do it today. Can it be painful? Yes. Can it be difficult? Yes. Should you take plenty of water? Yes. Does it beat probable death? You betcha!
You clearly don't understand the fear that comes with being told to leave your home, and knowing you don't have anywhere to go.
No, I can't understand it, and I hope I won't ever have to (but, given the way things are going in this country, I am no longer certain as to what the future will hold). But you can bet that if I heard that a category 5 hurricane was barrelling down on my ass, and my choice was to either stay and hopefully not die due to a myriad of causes (the hurricane itself and debris, possible/probable flooding, exposure, lack of food, lack of water, etc) - or walk out to someplace else carrying enough stuff to allow me to survive wherever I am - I am pretty sure I would choose the latter. In the end, as was apparent to anyone paying attention at the start of the storm - it didn't matter if you didn't have anywhere to go, because in the end, whether you stayed or left - you didn't have anything to return to!
You clearly don't understand the average person's capacity for convincing themselves that things will be okay, even when more objective people recognize that it clearly won't.
Oh, I recognise this, alright - it is same damn "drive" that causes people to believe in the flying spaghetti monster/invisible man in the sky/$DEITY despite all rational logic that says otherwise. Such nonsense pervades the human race and continually proves that the majority of us are still angry, superstitious, poo-flinging monkeys.
Moreover, you clearly don't want to learn. You're happy in your ignorance, blaming the victims for their poverty, and blaming liberals for everything else.
I am not the parent poster, so I can't speak for him, only myself. I know that nobody wants to be poor. I don't blame "the liberals" either (hard to do so when you are one). I don't blame the other "side" either. Although, actually, I do. I blame everyone involved. There are ways of getting out of poverty, if you really want to. Although I realize I am talking out my ass here, because I have never known poverty. But I am pretty sure that if I ever found myself in the situation, I could get out of it. I am pretty sure of this because I have made it my personal mission not to find myself there, by making proper choices and continuing my learning and study by many avenues about many things. I know of ways to keep me out of poverty and ways to get me out if I found myself there. Most of this, though, comes down to making good, intelligent, and rational choices throughout life. The rest comes from realizing when those choices don't work, and learning from those mistakes. Not, as some people do, by blaming others for the failure and then trying the same thing over again only to fail a second time. What is
Slashdot Mirror
Information on this amendment (scroll down about 2/3's of the way)
Anyhow - it seems that the parent poster is right, to a degree. It isn't "illegal" per-se, but rather it is cheaper for a company to outsource than to hire a contractor in a "technical" profession...
Basically, Section 1706 amends Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978. Section 530 allowed employers to treat contractors as non-employees without incurring a tax liability. Section 1706 amends this by saying that this section "shall not apply to firms engaging the services of such person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work". So now, according to IRS code, if a company hires you as a contracted programmer, the employer incurs a tax liability. Thus, it becomes cheaper to outsource (no tax liabilities under this section), than to hire a contractor.
Note that this doesn't make contracting illegal, it just makes it more financially difficult for the employer. If the employer thinks he will get a better deal from the contractor than from outsourcing (or another method), and is willing to pay the taxes, he can still hire you as a contractor. Even so, I find this code amendment to be a funny thing, and I tend to wonder what/who got it to pass - ie, WHO SCREWED US?
The problem isn't soley with the business arrangements between the "big providers" - oh, certain, that does have impact, but the internet would be as robust as ever, if every participant on it could be a peer.
This is how the network was meant to be, a mesh comprised of stupid interconnects and smart nodes. Every node on the internet, from the largest colo to the smallest wireless handheld, should have the ability to be a true peer on the internet. In practice, this isn't really possible, but imagine a mesh network with a distributed p2p DNS system which many people could run if they wanted to - if only a fraction were running it, and were distributed enough, such outages might not occur (the traffic could continue to be routed, albeit at a slower pace).
Everyone should be able to be a peer on the network, everyone should be able to get at least one static IP, everyone should be able to run their own server(s) if they want to. Right now, the only way you can do it is by paying huge amounts of $$$ so you can get a garden hose instead of a straw. I am not saying access to the internet should be or could be free, but peering should be a natural right of being a part of the internet, not something you have to pay extra (a LOT extra) for.
The fact is, a lot of the manufacturers that make products today for consumers, either used to or still do manufacture products for the military. That is why it is called the "military/industrial complex".
Also, considering that any more nowadays, corporations have become the de-facto government (with the "real" governments there serving as puppet regimes to keep the populace from revolting), it is only natural to see them also continuing to design and manufacture weapons-of-war for them to keep their place.
Look at iRobot as just being an upstart here, either hoping to gather favor from the other nation-states - oops - I mean corporations, or possibly become one themselves, one day (at that point, SkyNet becomes self-aware, blah, blah, blah)...
I look at the new offerings and they seem like they would be uncomfortable as hell, unless you have tiny hands. The Sony PSP looks like it would be more suited to me - things are space faaaar apart, like the old Sega GameGear.
In the end, I don't really worry about it for myself personally - I am not a big game player (I like the occasional distraction on a car or airplane trip, though). But I do wonder what other players do about the issue - unless the target-market player's hands are smaller (kids I can understand - which is likely the target market - but how the hell does an adult play one of these things without severe pain in the thumbs?).
BTW - slightly off-topic but Nintendo-related anyhow: is there anyone else out there disappointed that Nintendo's Revolution machine (whatever it will be) most likely *won't* be anything like the machine depicted in that fake marketing video created (the "ON" video)? I want to see a home VR gaming system on the market, damnit!!!
Let's propose the likely worst-case scenario, where the entire speaker cabinet is potted in epoxy resin (thus turning it into a heavy brick as well, and likely sounding like crap). Even in this scenario, the speaker cone itself still must remain free to move. To this end, speaker manufacturers have found that the mass of the cone has to be low, and the cone itself has to be ridged. They can't get around this fact (not cheaply, and not in a small package) - so no matter what, the driver coil must be mounted to the cone (the magnet couldn't be mounted to the cone, because it is more massive, and thus would change the resonant frequency of the speaker drastically, making the speaker near-useless). Thus, the wires to that coil will always be accessible. Just remove the front of the speaker (with the dremel), cut the cone away taking care not to cut the wires (x-acto), then solder your own wires on to the wires going to the cone (soldering iron).
The reality is that potting the speaker in resin won't ever be an option, because the speaker needs certain sized cavities and air passageways behind it (and in front of it, and around it) to make it sound as good as possible. Potting the whole thing in resin just isn't conducive to making a nice sounding system. I can see the possibility of potting the built-in amplifier/decoder in resin - but they would have to get real creative on the potting around the heatsinks and such, especially on higher power systems - and if they are sloppy, off of those transistors/amp IC's is an analog signal, provided you can get to a bare pin in some way (dremel/drill a hole to the pin, maybe?). I can even see the possibility of pulling the signal off the heatsink itself, since it might be connected to the ground side, and if it isn't perfectly grounded (on a cheap amp, most certainly), the difference between true ground and the "floating" ground of the heatsink might have some audio information in it (whether it would be above the noise floor is another thing, though).
Whatever the method, you will be dealing with having to either down-convert the signal level (from the speaker level to line level) or up-convert it (from the baseline-trickle-off-the-floating-ground/pre-amp level to line level), which will require an attenuator or extra-amplifier (which will inject some noise itself) - but if we are looking at a world like you are proposing, such extra effort and cost will be justified in order to get music (albeit of subjective quality in the end) that can be played on the device of your choice, and not the music cartel's...
Oh, well...
You can run on a blend of regular diesel and WVO (waste vegetable oil). Basically, you would need to gather the WVO from places as normal (ie, in 55 gallon drums or whatnot, using a diesel fuel rated pump with a fine mesh filter on it to keep from gathering crud from the WVO tank), you may want to refilter it again after collection (just to make sure). Then, you need to blend it with regular diesel - the blend ratio will vary, but I think it starts at 50/50, then goes from there (that is, you increase the diesel to the WVO, because at a certain point with too much WVO you need to set up a dual-tank system with valves and WVO preheater). You might want to start high - 9 parts diesel to 1 parts WVO and work your way down, but don't go below a 50/50 mix. There are websites out there with more information. No, it isn't as good or cheap as biodiesel (although, from what I gather, homemade biodiesel isn't cheap to make, mainly because you need a way to "get rid" of the glycerin formed in the process, plus you need to find a source of methanol, which isn't easy unless you live in the midwest), but it would be cheaper than straight diesel - and easier to set up/use (since there are no vehicle mods needed) than a "straight" WVO system...
Imagine if the turbine and the generator were combined (in other words, no shaft connection)? Imagine if the turbine itself (or part of the shaft) were magnetized (some way to keep heat away from this portion would be needed), and coils mounted around that portion to generate the electricity? Such a "power pack" could be built quite small and lightweight, but produce a great amount of electricity for the vehicle...
True biodiesel (100 percent or blended) runs the same as regular diesel, it is just the source that is different. However, when running straight WVO (waste vegetable oil), you need to preheat it to thin it out, and do the switcheroo thingie so that it doesn't clog the lines and such when stopping and starting the vehicle. I don't know if that is necessarily less reliable, although when you add in extra parts, things can happen (but cars are already complex enough and breakdown enough, so does it really matter? dunno). One thing with WVO is that if you have it clean enough, you can thin it with regular diesel and use it without a preheat system. I don't know the ratio, but it is rather high IIRC - 50/50 or so. It will burn cleaner than regular diesel - it won't be cheaper than straight WVO, but cheaper than straight diesel without the extra parts. I don't know if the ratios change for TDI engines or not. As far as the oil for your engine and burning your turbocharger, you might ask around a VW TDI repair shop. Tell them your problem locating the oil, see if they can reccommend something that will work without harming the turbocharger. Basically, for the turbo, you need something that can keep the viscosity up under the heat and the high RPMs it runs at. You might also ask around a place that supplies oil for diesel rigs - many of those have turbochargers as well (you mention delvac, which has a familiar ring to it). You might also find out what the temperature range/rpm range of the turbocharger is, and what the numbers are for the oil you are supposed to get - then get in contact with one of the oil manufacturers to see if they have anything that would work for your needs, and go from there. I do agree that if you don't use the right oil, you will have problems with the turbo, and that is a big-dollar repair/replacement...
Who says the web "server" has to be remote? This kind of model is not much different from what the X Window system uses when run on the local host. In fact, one could argue AJAX in this form is nothing more than a completely cross-platform version of X. Imagine if you will, taking Gecko (Mozilla's rendering engine), and stripping it down really bare. This running as an application, using XUL (along with DHTML and AJAX-type stuff) communicating locally (or remotely) with the web-server. Baically, Gecko/XUL becomes the "window manager" of the system, through which applications (both local and remote) run. Mozilla already works this way, it's UI described in XUL (albeit without the web-server back end - but there is nothing stopping this, you can do it already if you have Mozilla installed and are willing to learn XUL). I am not saying that this would be the best thing to happen, it actually seems a little impractical for some applications to me - but it certainly is possible, and we currently have all the tools (open source) available to do this...
Basically, instead of mechanical elements providing all the timing, a computer takes inputs from a variety of sensors (accelerator position, air flow, oxygen, knock, camshaft/crankshaft position, etc), mashes them through a complex real-time algorithm, and spits out commands to advance/retard spark timing, adjust the fuel/air mixture (after all, a fuel injector is nothing more than a very fancy solenoid valve driven by pulse-code modulation techniques), valve opening/closure (in some high-end cars the valves are driven by solenoids to allow very precise timing - I expect this to become more mainstream), etc. Other computers control when/how to shift (in an automatic transmission system - sometimes - others just use standard load/hydraulics to control this - which is nothing more than a fancy hydraulic analog computer), how to apply the brakes (anti-lock brakes and traction control via monitoring wheel slippage/etc via toothed magnetic hall-effect sensor packages)...
In the end, though, it is just an piston moving in a cylinder connected to a crankshaft spinning a flywheel connected to transmission (composed of either an "inline" manual gear train with a clutch or an automatic with torque-convertor and two to four inline planetary gear devices - or, on certain Hondas and others, a CVT using conical devices and belts or similar) connected to a driveshaft connected to a differential which spins the wheels. Some of these may be front wheel drive vehicles where all of those packages are packed tightly into one case, or in a rear-wheel drive vehicle, spread along the length of the undercarriage. But honestly, cars are simple, and always will be. I think as long as Chilton and Haynes continue to do complete tear-downs and rebuilds, fixing your own car won't be that big of a deal (unless the horror that is those "electro-mechanical" fasteners become vogue - and even then, nothing a cutting torch can't get through). I imagine cars will become more complex - hybrids are pretty advanced - but all they do is throw a generator/motor/battery package in the drivetrain mix, so if you know anything about electric cars, charge controllers, motor controllers, etc - no real big deal.
Personally, I think most of the problems with today's vehicles don't stem so much from seeming complexities of the vehicle themselves, but rather from the lack of information about how all the systems work together from the manufacturer. Basically, the control system (the computer, sensors, etc) of the system is "closed source" - it was like pulling teeth to get the manufacturer to give out information about the codes the ECU throws when there is a problem, to regular joe mechanics and engine scan-tool makers - and that took an "act of Congress" - quite literally! Manufacturers are doing everything it can to keep the home mechanic (even - and maybe especially - those who understand the computer side of the equation) from repairing their own cars. Audi even has a vehicle out there without a hood - just a little door on the fender to put fluids in. To get to the engine, you have to remove the whole front body work of the car, and there is an "interlock" mechanism that flags the computer when this is done, so even if you got it off and had access, the computer won't let you restart the car unless you trigger the proper sequence (which is probably only known by Audi and their dealers - thus requiring you to take it to the dealer for maintenance and pay big $$$$!) - now, this wouldn't be so bad if this just stayed on "rich people's cars" - but it probably won't, it will trickle down to normal vehicles quicker than you realize - I expect within 10 years, maybe sooner, for it to be like this.
It is getting to the point where I am seriously considering building my next car from "scratch" (actually, a combination of scratch and "junk" parts)...
Removal of seeds from the cotton "boll"
Basically, cotton, like almost any other vegetable that hasn't been nutered by Monsanto, has seeds. These seeds reside in the "fruit" of the plant. In that case of cotton, that fruit is the "boll", or the white, fluffy, fibrous thing prized by the cotton farmer. The seeds are in the "middle" of the cotton boll, and being that they are surrounded by a tangled mass of white fluffy fiber, they are very difficult to remove (I know - I used to live in Bakersfield, California, right across the street from a cotton field - which is now a park).
In the past, before the cotton gin, removal of seeds was done via a method of combing and carding, very similar to what was done for wool - basically a manual method of using various "combs" to comb the seeds and fibers away from each other. The main problem with this method was the labor intensiveness and slowness of the method. In addition, the manual methods also tended to cause waste of the cotton (ie, cotton stuck on the seeds) - it was practical to get every bit of cotton off because the process was already a problem to begin with.
Numerous inventors tried to build machines to alleviate these problems, but it was Eli Whitney's which won the day. His machine relied on a few simple mechanisms (most involving spinning wood rollers studded with a myriad of small metal spikes/nails along with steel "combs" to separate the cotton from the seeds) which worked amazingly well, were easily driven by water, wind, and steam (or human and animal power), and was a cheap machine to manufacture. Not sure on the patenting of the device, but I seem to recall that it wasn't well protected, IP wise, and the ideas in the device spread quickly. Seemingly single-handedly revolutionizing the cotton farming and processing industry (not to mention the fact that the now large and steady supply of seed created a nice animal feed and vegetable oil business)...
Honestly, fire is nothing more than a chemical reaction which uses rapid oxidation to create massive amounts of heat and light. Steel, in the presence of oxygen and hydrogen, rusts. Apply enough of both, plus a little "starter" heat to get things going, and steel will BURN. Steel rusting is nothing more than a really turned-down version of fire. Controlled oxidation, whatever the source, generates heat - which is why we have a body temperature (probably also why we need elemental iron in our diet, too). This is a very, very, VERY simple explanation, and it really is more complex than all that - but at base, all fire is, is rapid oxidation.
We're not making a dent in any non-violent crime, why throw more money at a non-problem?
I didn't realize we were speaking of a diesel vehicle (wrongly assumed gasoline) - my appologies. Strange that you couldn't get the filter (I can understand the oil, though - my brother-in-law was forever scrounging for a certain grade of oil in an old Detroit that was in his 1976 Ford dumptruck), but maybe not. Diesels just aren't popular here in the US, thus the parts and such would be more difficult to find. It is a shame you mentioned this, because I always thought that my next small used car would be a VW TDI of some sort (likely a Jetta). I have this "dream" of creating my own biodiesel for it. Here in Phoenix we have a couple of other places I would try from those parts and fluids - one place is "ABC Auto Parts", the other is "Auto Safety House" (which, strangely enough, seems to cater more to diesel rigs/truckers than automobiles) - I would think the former could get the filter, and the latter the oil...
Those two issues are big ones - I actually see the first outweighing the last, at least when these things first come out. How do you market such a thing? I can see record stores doing a final implosion here, as these things will probably be purchased "blank" and the tracks downloaded on them (they can't be preloaded - otherwise the packaging would be way larger than the product - of course, that hasn't stopped PC games, either). If they come as blanks, I can imagine some record stores having a "certified" kiosk (which would check for a blank SD device with the DRM in it) which you could select albums/songs - perhaps even creating your own "mix" album (one can hope). But even these would eventually give way to online buying patterns and special "certified" readers/writers (or certified software drivers)...
The whole thing stinks like a CueCat...
Please tell me which car this is so that I can avoid buying it in the future. If I can't buy common fluids or parts for servicing my car at Napa, AutoZone, or Checker (or anywhere else but the dealer), I am not interested in it. BTW - what is taking up so much of your time that you don't have any to change the oil, but you don't have enough money to get it changed and have to save it? I suppose you could be working 2-3 minimum wage jobs at one shot (thus no time), and all your money going to house payments, car payments, etc (thus no money) - but if so, doesn't that say something to you?
You have at your hands the ability, given a lot of effort, to become skilled in everything there is to know about a computer. More importantly, you can develop the skills needed to build "soft" stuff (software, web pages, music, sound effects, graphical design, movies, etc) using that machine - using software that is free. There is no other comparison in the world to this machine and the abilities and offerings it can open to someone that is willing to try hard.
Let's suppose you didn't even own a computer (I don't know for certain if you do or don't), or had access to the internet. Go around town to various thrift stores in your area and look for the parts! Go to the library and read up on what you need to build a computer (your library should have books on this) - then learn that, and pick up the parts from thrift stores. Go around dumpsters near office buildings - many times they throw out entire systems. Ask friends and co-workers for old parts. You will learn a lot just building your own machine. It may not be the latest and greatest, but it will be a better (and more useful skill) than a new Dell. If you try hard, you should be able to get at least a P2-300 together running Windows 98 (ugh), or some distro of Linux (much better if you are going down the development route). Read up more at the library (look in the 001.xx section), devour the books on computers. Download that distro of Linux at the computers at the library (or get a copy from your local LUG). The resources are out there.
Note that this route might not (immediately) get you a better paying job, but it might get you better working conditions - if I had to choose between $9.00/hr in a factory vs. $9.00/hr sitting in a cube coding for cheap (for a startup, or doing web design, say) - I would choose the latter in a heartbeat. While you are doing this, you can continue to upgrade your skills. Or, I don't know, maybe you become an expert at building "trash machines"? Or maybe you start a side business giving seminars at your local unemployment office on how to build computer skills? You see where I am taking this?
The ability is there. The technology is there. The parts in most cases are ultra-cheap ($100.00 for a complete computer at Goodwill that once cost $2000.00 five years ago is not unheard of) or free in the trash to take home. The information is ubiquitous if you just look, and are willing to ask around. Classes in some things can be had cheap or free from the library and the unemployment office. I realize that your time is tight, and you are probably tired after a hard day at the factory. With that said, if you ever want to get out of the factory job and into something skilled, you are going to have to bust your ass a little. Instead of "relaxing" in front of the tube after work or on weekends, use that time to study. Relax the body, but exercise the brain (I know I could use to do the opposite, to be honest). On weekends, instead of doing the yardwork one week (the grass can go a little longer, I promise), scour the dumpsters for parts. Ask for donations of parts from friends, co-workers, and family (ask your boss at your factory if you IT department, if you have one, throws anything out). The opportunity is there - seize it!
IIRC, it was Ken Williams of Sierra Online - the first company he worked for as a programmer, he did this, then went on to found Sierra Online. At least, I think he is the guy I am thinking of...ugh.
So he lied.
On his resume and in the interview, he bullshitted his way through, and somehow got the job. As the story goes, he spent the next week (he was to start in a week) CRAMMING everything about the language he was supposed to use and know - and when he walked in on the first day, it was found he was one of the top-coders there. I don't remember any of the details, and I don't have the book nearby. IIRC, he went on to become the company president or something like that.
I guess the story shows that if you want something badly enough, are willing to work extremely hard for it, and are willing to stretch the truth or bald-face lie, anything is possible...
If you are having to "save up money" to have your oil changed, you are either getting screwed, or screwing yourself. I have some advice for you: change it yourself!
Not only will you know the process was done correctly by doing it yourself, you will also know exactly what you took out, and what you put in. You might also spot issues in the oil which could indicate more serious problems which a shop might not tell you about (or they might tell you as soon as it is so bad as to need a major repair). Get a pan, get some ramps (if you need the clearance), get some oil. The pan and the ramps will set you back about $40.00 or so (but they are reusable for other work and future oil changes). Oil will cost you about $2.00 a quart (more or less, depending on brand and quality). Don't go for the synthetic stuff unless you car is brand new, it is a money waster. If you have an older car, use a thicker oil for piston ring wear (better compression). I tend to use thinner oil in the winter and thicker in the summer. You will probably spend about $10-12.00 or so on the oil. If you want to lube your chassis, throw in about $10.00 more for a grease gun and a grease cartridge. Filters (oil and air) for a few dollars more.
While all of this together, the first time, will be more than the cost of a shop oil change, in the future you will only pay with time and the cost for the oil and oil filter (you don't need to lube the chassis every time you change your oil, nor do you need to change the air filter every time, either). If you spend more than $15.00 for oil and a filter, and 30 minutes of time - you are doing something wrong.
Something to also think about: remove and replace the oil filter with a clean filter. The filter usually holds about a quart of oil, so put in a NEW quart of the same type oil (do not mix synthetic with non-synthetic, and keep the weights the same) to bring the level back up. Doing this does a "prop-up" of the old oil (the effectiveness of the oil isn't determined by its color, but rather by its remaining viscosity level under running conditions, as well as the amount of metal particles in it - the new oil increases the viscosity, and the new filter helps with the particles - most of which in the old oil were in the old filter anyhow), which will get you by for a few thousand (or more, depending on who you ask) more miles. Don't do this twice in a row, though, and don't take my word on this - research this. Look on google for "3000 mile oil change myth" to learn some more. If you do this every other oil change, you will save a ton of money. Hope this helps you...
Right now, my only choices if I want to run a website are 1) pay out the butt for ISDN or a T1 to the phone company and an ISP for service, 2) pay out the butt for colocation of my server (unless I am lucky and I have a friend thru whom I can colocate with - which I don't) - plus all of the travel expenses if something goes horribly wrong and I need to be on-site, 3) use a virtual hosting system (which is what I do now, and is cheap, of course) - but I don't have extreme control over what is on the server, 4) say "f--k them" and set up a server at home and dynamic DNS or something, and pray I don't get "caught" and my service terminated.
Personally, I would be happy if my cable company would allow me to pay $50.00/month for 256k/256k symetric u/d ratio, static IP, capped at 5gig transfer each way per month (with a fee structure and monitoring tools to allow you to go over this rate and/or pay extra when you do). Why can't I have this? Right now, if I want anything close to this, I have to switch to "business class" service, pay $150.00 a month (not too bad compared to T1 prices), but I also have to pony up close to $400.00 for "installation fees" (where they just change some crap on the head-end to bump the speed up and such - I already have the cable modem). I have looked into SpeakEasy, who have excellent DSL broadband plans that would allow just what I want (they seem to be the only provider in America that "gets it") - but I can't get DSL in my neighborhood (though their offer on a T1 line is pretty sweet).
Will people like me ever have the ability and means to inexpensively become peers on the internet from within our homes? Will we ever demand it?
This is the truth. Regular oil changes, air filter changes, plugs and wires on occasion, maybe a transmission flush now and again, plus keeping the gear oil topped on the differential (if you have one) is about all the real maintenance a car needs on a regular basis. Keep an eye on the power steering and brake fluid levels, and an ear (and nose!) on everything else, and a car will easily last for a very long time. Yeah, you should lube the chassis every now and again (at least once or twice a year), change the brake pads when they are worn, rotate your tires, change the shocks when your car is bouncing, and align the sucker every now and again. For the most part though, cars tend to be real tough things. I have seen enough jalopies going down the road to know that you can really abuse the hell out of a car before it will stop running (been to enough destruction derbies as well to know this truth, too). Granted, it might not pass a state inspection or emmissions checks once it has gotten past a certain point - but it will run.
No, the complexity isn't because of the hardware, nor is it because of the software. The complexity of a computer lies in what it is...
A computer is a "Universal Machine". I don't mean that in a fully literal sense - I mean it, I suppose, in a mathematical sense. A true computer (a Universal Turing Machine) is arguably not only the most elegant device on the planet, it is also arguably the most complex. Elegant, in that such a machine can be represented and actually do true processing, using the simplest of logical elements and the least amount of them. Complex, because this same machine, provided it is built right, can do the same work (albeit at a much slower pace) as a more complex and faster version of the machine.
The software of a computer can simulate exactly the hardware of another computer (and in theory, turtles all the way down - that is, you could have an emulator of a computer running an emulator of a computer, running an emulator of a computer, ad infintum - or until you hit the limits of memory and time, of course). This is nothing short of amazing, that we humans have been able to devise such machines and that most of the time, they work. It also seems to point to the idea that hardware is nothing more than software embodied in physical form. It also seems to indicate that hardware isn't necessary for software to function or to come about - and that complexity can arise from simple sets of rules (this is the fundamental point behind Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science").
Indeed, computers (and the idea of software and symbolic logic - both fairly recent inventions themselves - read up on the history of the computer and you will learn what a great leap it was to move from mere mathematical calculation to symbolic logic processing - something which didn't emerge in full until Turing and others made the grand leap in the 1940's!) are the closest thing that mankind has managed to create that imitates the processes within the human brain and mind.
The computer is probably the most revolutionary device and tool mankind has ever created. We are so close to the point of its full realization, that most of us don't realize this. We don't fully realize or appreciate the drastic and dramatic changes which its invention and use have brought upon us. The vast majority of humanity still has not grasped the fact that our knowledge aggregation is speeding up at an exponentially increasing rate. It is this issue that people are trying to come to grips with, when they talk about "information overload" and not understanding computers. They just don't realize it yet, and many of them never will...
The parent was being a little too broad with his generalization, but I can't help but think that in some cases, it was true.
You clearly don't understand what it's like to be impoverished to the point where you can't get transportation.
Some of the people involved were too old, too weak, or were sick/in the hospital/disabled, etc - these people I can understand not being able to get out. The others? The others had, at a minimum, two legs to walk on. If they had kids, they could have figured out a way to haul their kids out of there - tear the wheels off of something and make a makeshift trailer to drag thier kids and other stuff around in. There was plenty of warning time to make this simple preparation. Hell, they could have stole a few grocery carts to push down the street (they probably had a few in the neighborhood from grocery shopping earlier - I see people walk away with carts from the store all the time). Worst case scenario, everyone just starts walking - people have and can walk long distances in the past, they can still do it today. Can it be painful? Yes. Can it be difficult? Yes. Should you take plenty of water? Yes. Does it beat probable death? You betcha!
You clearly don't understand the fear that comes with being told to leave your home, and knowing you don't have anywhere to go.
No, I can't understand it, and I hope I won't ever have to (but, given the way things are going in this country, I am no longer certain as to what the future will hold). But you can bet that if I heard that a category 5 hurricane was barrelling down on my ass, and my choice was to either stay and hopefully not die due to a myriad of causes (the hurricane itself and debris, possible/probable flooding, exposure, lack of food, lack of water, etc) - or walk out to someplace else carrying enough stuff to allow me to survive wherever I am - I am pretty sure I would choose the latter. In the end, as was apparent to anyone paying attention at the start of the storm - it didn't matter if you didn't have anywhere to go, because in the end, whether you stayed or left - you didn't have anything to return to!
You clearly don't understand the average person's capacity for convincing themselves that things will be okay, even when more objective people recognize that it clearly won't.
Oh, I recognise this, alright - it is same damn "drive" that causes people to believe in the flying spaghetti monster/invisible man in the sky/$DEITY despite all rational logic that says otherwise. Such nonsense pervades the human race and continually proves that the majority of us are still angry, superstitious, poo-flinging monkeys.
Moreover, you clearly don't want to learn. You're happy in your ignorance, blaming the victims for their poverty, and blaming liberals for everything else.
I am not the parent poster, so I can't speak for him, only myself. I know that nobody wants to be poor. I don't blame "the liberals" either (hard to do so when you are one). I don't blame the other "side" either. Although, actually, I do. I blame everyone involved. There are ways of getting out of poverty, if you really want to. Although I realize I am talking out my ass here, because I have never known poverty. But I am pretty sure that if I ever found myself in the situation, I could get out of it. I am pretty sure of this because I have made it my personal mission not to find myself there, by making proper choices and continuing my learning and study by many avenues about many things. I know of ways to keep me out of poverty and ways to get me out if I found myself there. Most of this, though, comes down to making good, intelligent, and rational choices throughout life. The rest comes from realizing when those choices don't work, and learning from those mistakes. Not, as some people do, by blaming others for the failure and then trying the same thing over again only to fail a second time. What is