So going through the article and some of the PDF left a lot of questions unanswered:
1. What can people who sit in server rooms do about their exposure? Oh, that's not answered because this is a report for industry and government, not everyday people. Recommending that I recycle everything ASAP isn't going to fly well with the PHBs of the world -- heck, there's still asbestos in some buildings!
2. Does dusting off the monitor and vacuuming the case have any benefits at all?
3. Would using an air ionizer be helpful?
4. BIG ONE! Why does the report make lots of very specific recommendations to industry and goverment but leave out this one: EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT PRECAUTIONS THEY CAN TAKE RIGHT NOW? WTF?!?! They say a lot about protecting *workers* from future issues and acting on immediate dangers, but no mention is made of what can be done to reduce risk for children (does that baby on the report work for someone?) or in homes that can't afford to replace every plastic widget. Of course this is a report for industry and government and telling me I might be able to solve this problem by cleaning my house a little better, or putting a dust cloth on the the monitor, doesn't move as much money around at the higher levels. (cynical, I am before coffee kicks in).
I'm not really all that worried about it (and our baby's due in 5 weeks!) and I'm glad they've done a report, but until I know what to do about it I'll just have to live with it and this report doesn't really do anything but cause panic when I can't do anything about it...
Brings up an interesting question: Do all Canadian petroleum companies get use of this tech since Canadian taxes helped pay for it? Or does just the consortium get to profit from it for a while since they did the actual research?
Either way seems fair from certain perspectives, but if Shell and Petro-Canada are the only ones to profit then what percentage of Canadian cars will actually run the stuff? How many petro companies are there in Canada? How many Canadians will really benefit from their taxes?
1. Dredge up that old P75 from the closet 2. Underclock it rather dramatically 3. Sign on with spammer for $1/CPU hour 4. Send only 3 spam an hour thus slowing the bastards down 5. PROFIT!!!
I thought the reasoning behind their pulling the strip was that they were accused of parodying American McGee using American Greetings material. I don't know how it all worked out, but if there is actually real legal precedent here then parodying Columbine with a credit card ad might be in the same boat. Not that I agree that it should be, but precedent can be the basis of law after all...
I ordered mine from here (no affiliation, just happened to find it.)
Energy costs ARE factored in!
on
Control-Alt-Recycle
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Probably 60% of posts will say that power munching dinosaur-machines are killing the planet, but that article actually said:
"... released a... report on the environmental impact of computers, from production through USE and disposal." (emPHAsis mine)
A friend of mine just measured his power consumption on a 24/7 P166 MP3 server machine and concluded it costs 52.3 kwh/month ($6.14/month for him). Even if the monitor were constantly in use (~double the above numbers) he'd have to save $150 a year with NEW equipment (cost to make/buy + (cost to dispose x2) VS cost to run) to justify trashing the old. If he used a clever timer system so it was only on when needed, then he'd save lots more and REALLY have to work hard to justify new equipment.
The math seems very in favor of careful reutilization in most cases. You have to have something really sucky to justify getting a new thing and THROWING OUT the old thing. The materials almost always cost more to deal with than the energy consumed for use, apparently.
That's what I want from Corel on Linux. Seen lots of complaints lately about not having a good path away from Microsoft Access onto Linux. I know you can import the datastructure from Access into Paradox, but not sure about the forms. Regardless there seems to be a clearer path from Access to Paradox than from Access to Sun's Base.
If Corel does the Professional version with Paradox then they will have something, I think. I like Paradox because it is relational and even _I_ can create forms and queries and reports in it. I know it is really old hat, but as a path from Access? Why the heck not?
That's what I want from Corel on Linux. Seen lots of complaints lately about not having a good path away from Microsoft Access. I know you can import the datastructure from Access, but not sure about the forms. Regardless there seems to be a clearer path from Access to Paradox than from Access to Sun's Base.
If Corel does the Professional version with Paradox then they will have something, I think. I like Paradox because it is relational and even _I_ can create forms and queries and reports in it. I know it is really old hat, but as a path from Access? Why the heck not?
Front access, same access across the aeons, and PHB simplicity. That's why I use still floppies.
I administer dozens of machines -- everything from 386s on up to P4 systems. I buy middle-aged used systems if the task warrants. On some older machines the only input I have other than ethernet (mandatory) is a floppy. No CD!
Even on some P3-ish things, the only FRONT access I have is CD or floppy. I'm not crawling around the back of machines to be raped by dust bunnies just for the privilege of using my USB key to update a network driver or move the average Word doc or run MEMTEST86. Nor is it worth my time to play BIOS olympics with menopausal systems that may or may not be able to boot from that 7 year old CD-ROM drive.
Sure I could install USB extension cables on every machine that needs one but that does NOT cover my install base completely nor does it guarantee the machine can boot from USB. My USB key is still not totally useful, only occasionally useful. And not all my OSes and MBs can do the USB-thing seamlessly anyway...
And don't get me started on CD writers. Training a PHB on how to copy his Word file to a floppy is dead simple. Getting him to understand Nero Burning ROM? BWUAHAHAHA! Not worth it. He'll move dozens of files around using a floppy and a sneaker net quite happily. Having to spend a half hour annoying him with CD burner training? That $7 floppy drive starts to look REAL good...
Add that all up and ONE common thing works for me -- floppy drives. Eventually those older machines will die but I bet I won't build a floppy-less PC for another 3 - 5 years.
(I hear skeptics saying "He said ethernet! He said ethernet! Why does he even need floppies?!" Word docs to the home PC of the PHB who is not on the net very often. MEMTEST86. SPINRITE. Emergency FAT fixes. Older system OS/NIC driver installs. Hard drive migration software. If I were a genius I'd figure out the whole boot from LAN thing (yeah, THAT'S easy...), but I'm a moron.)
Quad modems requires 4 phone lines. Maybe 5 if you also want a dedicated voice line, but I'll exclude that. Not even discussing multiplexer issues he might have by not having enough pairs run near his house (cost to run more (not included in math below) or degraded service being the only recourse) you have:
4 x Basic Phone Service @ $15 each = $60/mo
4 x maxed out/unlimited local usage (just gonna happen) @ $15 = another $60/month
I'm underestimating those numbers. I currently pay more than that but I'm not knowledgeable about service everywhere.
Multilink service provider @ $30 (what I pay for 2) up to $50 or more/month.
So not counting for any special services like persistent dialup or fixed IP, just getting the bloody things all talking to the internet at the same time is $150 - $200 a month or more.
For equipment you want decent modems and probably externals. Nice new USRs will run you $75 each so $300 there. You also need a router. Go for a hardware device like I use and you have very few new options if any. My used one was around $70 but can only do 3 modems and has no tech support. Throw in some cabling and you are up to $400 initial hardware cost on the low end with used, no tech support equipment.
No router? Gonna do a PC? Well that machine costs money, but we'll exclude it since all of us geeks have spare towers kicking around just waiting to consume yummy kilowatt hours each month (again, this measurable and sometimes considerable cost excluded from the discussion). The modems will NOT be much cheaper because you cannot often get a fleet of PCI winmodems all living in harmony -- they usually need to be DSP based models so $40 - $50 each. If you're gonna do external then you need additional serial cards as you also probably cannot get a fleet of USB modems (see external costs above) working very easily (see winmodem issue).
To wrap up:
quad modems 1st year cost = $2200 (excludes phone line installation costs and possible power consumption issues, includes some used equipment and performing initial setup yourself) future years = $1800 MINIMUM (see multiple exclusions and under-estimations above)
satellite 1st year cost = $1680, future years = $1080 (though it should be closer to $120/month business class (higher FAP, etc) which is 1st year cost = $2040, future years = $1440)
I'm not sure you can really interpret that as nearly the same price. Respectfully, I will not concede the "easily, easily" part at all.:-)
I have hours and hours into spreadsheeting this puzzle for myself. Considering my wants and needs (occassional gaming (equivalent to low latency for SSH requirement), wife doing online courses, wife working from home (accountant), wife browsing seamlessly, bandwidth on demand, occaissional ISO downloads (burstably slower than SAT but no FAP)) I will stick with my 2 modems. I MIGHT even consider adding a 3rd modem though the monthly cost is pushing nearly twice satellite. I just can't cope with the latency & FAP issues of a satellite.
My ISP, Sover.net, has at least dual Multilink PPP. I just called and asked. It was a whopping $10 extra a month for one extra dial in. I have not asked about 3 modems, which my equipment can do, because I don't feel it's worth it at this time. My impression is that if they can handle ISDN dial-in, then they are setup for Multilink.
Quad modems sounds neat, but I think in reality the cost of 2 modems is more in line with the cost of regular DirecWAY (unless you're looking at the business class levels?). I've done this research a lot. $$$ for $$$ my two modems are nearly identical in cost to a consumer grade satellite account, but I have no usage cap. Even though the bandwidth is burstably less, I don't get the door slammed with 1 ISO image.
You can get Multilink routers for next to nothing on Ebay. I have priced nearly everything as far as rural broadband in the 48th worst state in the union for broadband penetration - Vermont. I am currently using 2 USR 56k modems and a Webramp 350e (Ramp Networks is out of business) all purchased on Ebay. Alternately I have built a working router for this using Win98SE so I'm sure YOU can kludge together a Linux-flavored one.
I often have a downlink of 50.666kb x2 and an uplink of 33.6kb x 2. I can even use it to play WolfET on occassion, though it isn't great -- ~200ms pings at best which isn't terrible for a Field Ops calling in airstrikes:-) but is terrible for sniping with a Covert Ops:-( Think flamethrower rather than pistol...
I can only download about a single gB per day under the best of circumstances but my ISP has no FAP about it.
Yes, it's 2 phone lines. Yes I pay the full local usage cap each month. But even with my Multilink ISP account ($30/mo) it is less than a single phone line plus $99 DirecWay fee (if you pay for the hardware over year). I have done spreadsheet after spreadsheet on the comparisons and I feel the dual modems are the way to go.
Anyone with experience want to comment on the picture/sound quality of:
* Direct recording the bitstream with a DirecTiVo or DishPVR and playing back (basically digital to analog once from the satellite to the inputs of your home theater system)
- vs -
* A home brew PVR that has to go through an additional generation (digital to analog to digital to analog) before it gets to your home theater system
That is a concern I have but I've not seen any information on it. Any helpful links out there?
1. Re-release ancient games that have been ROM ripped and emulated to the millionth degree just to show that you still have the rights to produce it 2. Grossly overcharge to set a baseline cost from which to calculate how much you're going to get when you... 3. Sue ROM traders gangland RIAA-style 4. Profit!
It will be our own remote control actions that determine what type of ads we see. Do you change channel when a popvert shows up? Do you let commercials play that have 3 seconds of silence at the beginning? Do you choose movies with more or less Xanax trucks in them? Do you "rewind" when you see the color red in a football game? Does your household skip feminine product ads during recorded Star Treks? Do you frequently allow the ads to play but then always "rewind" back to the point just after the ad break (possibly you went to the bathroom and relied on your recorder to not miss the content)?
The bad news is that we will be experimented on unmercifully. The really good news is that our choices will be reflected more quickly.
How? Each DVR that makes it into the household, and has reporting capabilities upstream, gives the advertisers better data and all kinds of interesting business models based on interpretive statistics: pay less to channels where the ads are being skipped, pay more for primo live ad times like presidential inaugurations, etc., or new prime time episodes of hot shows. No big news here, just a refining of the math based on "better" numbers.
Hopefully we will win based on our habits turning into real $$$ discussions at the ad companies PHB level. Of course we could also lose -- think DRMed unskippable ads, ads downloaded based on your viewing habits, etc.
In the old days they assumed an ad was getting watched by looking at Nielsen ratings or whatever. (Now that's interesting -- the Nielsen ratings may just go bye-bye. The data gatering will be automated and MUCH more fine grain -- down to the second. Another failed advertising business model!) They did not know if you were going pee or getting a beer to enable the pee cycle, and obviously still don't. But now, if it is recorded or paused for 5 minutes at the beginning, my favorite method, they have SOME data. They can try all kinds of tricks with that data and get better feedback near real time. Their interpretation of statistics will lead to some business model that balances our annoyance level with their advertising profits. Gotta love market mentality.
Using that logic, I want to own Slashdot now, since some of my content is the subject of the site.
The age old controversy of who owns a photographic image was settled a long time ago (it is the photographer). Otherwise newspapers and history books would not exist.
And in the case of a wedding, well you signed a contract. Don't like it? Sign a better contract and pay more. Worked for my wedding.
I am not a wedding photographer, but I work in the photo industry and make a product that wedding photographers use.
They are NOT, as a general measure, in the $40-60K per event range. They CAN'T be. Do the math. How many average wedding couples can hire that single aspect of their wedding at that price? As you said, only the TOP photographers. As the article says, the ABOVE AVERAGE photographer would have to do 20 double wedding weekends in the $5000 range per to pull down $100K. I don't know any that actually do that.
Most of the ones I know personally make anywhere from $10k A YEAR (they sideline with photo store or other jobs) up to maybe $40-$60k A YEAR.
I hired someone for my wedding last year. I'm lower middle-class and we felt supremely pinched to consider the $2500 we paid and we got to keep all the files (totally digital) to print as we wanted. He was the most expensive of the several we looked at, but he was considered the best by many. The photographer did 2 weddings that weekend -- and nothing else all week, but that was a PRIME weekend. Assuming he got another 12 PRIME weekends a year (and I think that would be stretching it) he'd be pulling down $60k. Then he'd have to pay assistants so just whack a nice percentage out for that.
And he'd have to deal with:
* Mother of the bride * Cheap brides who won't pay for prints because they read "how to scan" in Wedding Dress magazine * Rude wedding guests trying to steal her shots or triggering her flashes * Missing ANY shot that that anyone thought he should have gotten * Disposable cameras on the table * A VERY FULL WEEK editing * Employing assitants * Moving 10's of thousands of dollars of heavy photo equipment around in ANY weather, usually in a tuxedo * And much much more
For most of these guys, this is their whole business. They have to pay rent, taxes, utilities and all of that for their studio OUT OF their service price in addition to their normal salary for keeping the lights on at home. Most of the other jobs listed had no such restrictions.
The product I make comes in two flavors. The cheap one and the expensive one ($350 and $600). The cheap one is extremely popular in the wedding industry. The expensive one is not a great seller in that market. Why? Research shows that it is too rich for the average wedding photographer's blood, even though it is a god send for him as far as function. The guy I hired had the cheap one.
My practical day to day dealings with this industry do not back up the conclusions reached in that article. Sure, some make the big bucks, but EVERY WEEKEND? All the time? ALL OF THEM?!? I'd be curious what the average PER YEAR PER PHOTOG was for the wedding service you worked for, not just the cream of the crop.
This is exactly what I'm looking into right now. I looking to reduce the use of my 18MPG Nissan pickup by getting a daily runner that is good to the environment and can hold kids (I am a geek with a wife so the car also has to be safe!). My current plan is to get a TDI VW Jetta (likely wagon), a few years old, with one of these kits installed:
I was going to consider a big 4-door diesel pickup (similarly modified) but the cost is roughly 3X the VW! Eeek! Mr. Bank Account vetoed that right after my wife did.
My wife works for a chi-chi culinary school so I have a good source for grease, but any greasy spoon will do.
The post above mine has a link to a test that includes these. Same conclusions on these that I came to: loud, no switch, but damn clean power. Nice to see them in a test. They also usually come with some nice brass thumbscrews that make case access easier.
Also I said CPU fan above -- I should have said HEATSINK and fan. Very nice heatsinks.
How come these guys never make into the power supply round-ups? I have purchased several (as well as some Antecs, Acers, and more no-names then I care to remember, so no fan-boy fanaticism here) and they have been very reliable. I have a 10 year old AT style that is still working perfectly while several no names have died on me. Never lost one of these (purchased 5 or so over the last 10 years) as a matter of fact.
I'm an MIS guy for a small company (10 people, 20 PCs -- go figure...) and I always look at PC power and cooling supplies as well as other brands when I'm building machines. I think they make great server supplies or swap in replacements for older machines at the very least.
I have also used those guys for obscure CPU cooling fan options (try to find a quality replacement CPU fan for a Pentium Pro 200)! They stopped stocking them, but offered to make one up for a very reasonable cost -- I went with a different solution, but they were quite helpful. I have purchased several CPU fans from them and none have yet died.
I usually go with Antec power supllies for new workstations because, in addition to running well, they come standard in good Antec cases that I'd want for a workstation anyway.
Slashdot Mirror
So going through the article and some of the PDF left a lot of questions unanswered:
1. What can people who sit in server rooms do about their exposure? Oh, that's not answered because this is a report for industry and government, not everyday people. Recommending that I recycle everything ASAP isn't going to fly well with the PHBs of the world -- heck, there's still asbestos in some buildings!
2. Does dusting off the monitor and vacuuming the case have any benefits at all?
3. Would using an air ionizer be helpful?
4. BIG ONE! Why does the report make lots of very specific recommendations to industry and goverment but leave out this one: EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT PRECAUTIONS THEY CAN TAKE RIGHT NOW? WTF?!?! They say a lot about protecting *workers* from future issues and acting on immediate dangers, but no mention is made of what can be done to reduce risk for children (does that baby on the report work for someone?) or in homes that can't afford to replace every plastic widget. Of course this is a report for industry and government and telling me I might be able to solve this problem by cleaning my house a little better, or putting a dust cloth on the the monitor, doesn't move as much money around at the higher levels. (cynical, I am before coffee kicks in).
I'm not really all that worried about it (and our baby's due in 5 weeks!) and I'm glad they've done a report, but until I know what to do about it I'll just have to live with it and this report doesn't really do anything but cause panic when I can't do anything about it...
Tinfoil hats
Brings up an interesting question: Do all Canadian petroleum companies get use of this tech since Canadian taxes helped pay for it? Or does just the consortium get to profit from it for a while since they did the actual research?
Either way seems fair from certain perspectives, but if Shell and Petro-Canada are the only ones to profit then what percentage of Canadian cars will actually run the stuff? How many petro companies are there in Canada? How many Canadians will really benefit from their taxes?
Nice opportunity to re-look up enzymes and ethanol. Too bad there's no good Wikipedia entries on "profit margin" ...
FWIW, YMMV, TWAGOS (Take with a grain of salt), DYOM (Do your own math), etc...
1. Dredge up that old P75 from the closet
2. Underclock it rather dramatically
3. Sign on with spammer for $1/CPU hour
4. Send only 3 spam an hour thus slowing the bastards down
5. PROFIT!!!
I thought the reasoning behind their pulling the strip was that they were accused of parodying American McGee using American Greetings material. I don't know how it all worked out, but if there is actually real legal precedent here then parodying Columbine with a credit card ad might be in the same boat. Not that I agree that it should be, but precedent can be the basis of law after all...
I ordered mine from here (no affiliation, just happened to find it.)
"... released a ... report on the environmental impact of computers, from production through USE and disposal." (emPHAsis mine)
A friend of mine just measured his power consumption on a 24/7 P166 MP3 server machine and concluded it costs 52.3 kwh/month ($6.14/month for him). Even if the monitor were constantly in use (~double the above numbers) he'd have to save $150 a year with NEW equipment (cost to make/buy + (cost to dispose x2) VS cost to run) to justify trashing the old. If he used a clever timer system so it was only on when needed, then he'd save lots more and REALLY have to work hard to justify new equipment.
The math seems very in favor of careful reutilization in most cases. You have to have something really sucky to justify getting a new thing and THROWING OUT the old thing. The materials almost always cost more to deal with than the energy consumed for use, apparently.
That's what I want from Corel on Linux. Seen lots of complaints lately about not having a good path away from Microsoft Access onto Linux. I know you can import the datastructure from Access into Paradox, but not sure about the forms. Regardless there seems to be a clearer path from Access to Paradox than from Access to Sun's Base.
If Corel does the Professional version with Paradox then they will have something, I think. I like Paradox because it is relational and even _I_ can create forms and queries and reports in it. I know it is really old hat, but as a path from Access? Why the heck not?
That's what I want from Corel on Linux. Seen lots of complaints lately about not having a good path away from Microsoft Access. I know you can import the datastructure from Access, but not sure about the forms. Regardless there seems to be a clearer path from Access to Paradox than from Access to Sun's Base.
If Corel does the Professional version with Paradox then they will have something, I think. I like Paradox because it is relational and even _I_ can create forms and queries and reports in it. I know it is really old hat, but as a path from Access? Why the heck not?
Front access, same access across the aeons, and PHB simplicity. That's why I use still floppies.
I administer dozens of machines -- everything from 386s on up to P4 systems. I buy middle-aged used systems if the task warrants. On some older machines the only input I have other than ethernet (mandatory) is a floppy. No CD!
Even on some P3-ish things, the only FRONT access I have is CD or floppy. I'm not crawling around the back of machines to be raped by dust bunnies just for the privilege of using my USB key to update a network driver or move the average Word doc or run MEMTEST86. Nor is it worth my time to play BIOS olympics with menopausal systems that may or may not be able to boot from that 7 year old CD-ROM drive.
Sure I could install USB extension cables on every machine that needs one but that does NOT cover my install base completely nor does it guarantee the machine can boot from USB. My USB key is still not totally useful, only occasionally useful. And not all my OSes and MBs can do the USB-thing seamlessly anyway...
And don't get me started on CD writers. Training a PHB on how to copy his Word file to a floppy is dead simple. Getting him to understand Nero Burning ROM? BWUAHAHAHA! Not worth it. He'll move dozens of files around using a floppy and a sneaker net quite happily. Having to spend a half hour annoying him with CD burner training? That $7 floppy drive starts to look REAL good...
Add that all up and ONE common thing works for me -- floppy drives. Eventually those older machines will die but I bet I won't build a floppy-less PC for another 3 - 5 years.
(I hear skeptics saying "He said ethernet! He said ethernet! Why does he even need floppies?!" Word docs to the home PC of the PHB who is not on the net very often. MEMTEST86. SPINRITE. Emergency FAT fixes. Older system OS/NIC driver installs. Hard drive migration software. If I were a genius I'd figure out the whole boot from LAN thing (yeah, THAT'S easy...), but I'm a moron.)
Let's see if you're right.
:-)
Quad modems requires 4 phone lines. Maybe 5 if you also want a dedicated voice line, but I'll exclude that. Not even discussing multiplexer issues he might have by not having enough pairs run near his house (cost to run more (not included in math below) or degraded service being the only recourse) you have:
4 x Basic Phone Service @ $15 each = $60/mo
4 x maxed out/unlimited local usage (just gonna happen) @ $15 = another $60/month
I'm underestimating those numbers. I currently pay more than that but I'm not knowledgeable about service everywhere.
Multilink service provider @ $30 (what I pay for 2) up to $50 or more/month.
So not counting for any special services like persistent dialup or fixed IP, just getting the bloody things all talking to the internet at the same time is $150 - $200 a month or more.
For equipment you want decent modems and probably externals. Nice new USRs will run you $75 each so $300 there. You also need a router. Go for a hardware device like I use and you have very few new options if any. My used one was around $70 but can only do 3 modems and has no tech support. Throw in some cabling and you are up to $400 initial hardware cost on the low end with used, no tech support equipment.
No router? Gonna do a PC? Well that machine costs money, but we'll exclude it since all of us geeks have spare towers kicking around just waiting to consume yummy kilowatt hours each month (again, this measurable and sometimes considerable cost excluded from the discussion). The modems will NOT be much cheaper because you cannot often get a fleet of PCI winmodems all living in harmony -- they usually need to be DSP based models so $40 - $50 each. If you're gonna do external then you need additional serial cards as you also probably cannot get a fleet of USB modems (see external costs above) working very easily (see winmodem issue).
To wrap up:
quad modems 1st year cost = $2200 (excludes phone line installation costs and possible power consumption issues, includes some used equipment and performing initial setup yourself) future years = $1800 MINIMUM (see multiple exclusions and under-estimations above)
satellite 1st year cost = $1680, future years = $1080 (though it should be closer to $120/month business class (higher FAP, etc) which is 1st year cost = $2040, future years = $1440)
I'm not sure you can really interpret that as nearly the same price. Respectfully, I will not concede the "easily, easily" part at all.
I have hours and hours into spreadsheeting this puzzle for myself. Considering my wants and needs (occassional gaming (equivalent to low latency for SSH requirement), wife doing online courses, wife working from home (accountant), wife browsing seamlessly, bandwidth on demand, occaissional ISO downloads (burstably slower than SAT but no FAP)) I will stick with my 2 modems. I MIGHT even consider adding a 3rd modem though the monthly cost is pushing nearly twice satellite. I just can't cope with the latency & FAP issues of a satellite.
My ISP, Sover.net, has at least dual Multilink PPP. I just called and asked. It was a whopping $10 extra a month for one extra dial in. I have not asked about 3 modems, which my equipment can do, because I don't feel it's worth it at this time. My impression is that if they can handle ISDN dial-in, then they are setup for Multilink.
Quad modems sounds neat, but I think in reality the cost of 2 modems is more in line with the cost of regular DirecWAY (unless you're looking at the business class levels?). I've done this research a lot. $$$ for $$$ my two modems are nearly identical in cost to a consumer grade satellite account, but I have no usage cap. Even though the bandwidth is burstably less, I don't get the door slammed with 1 ISO image.
You can get Multilink routers for next to nothing on Ebay. I have priced nearly everything as far as rural broadband in the 48th worst state in the union for broadband penetration - Vermont. I am currently using 2 USR 56k modems and a Webramp 350e (Ramp Networks is out of business) all purchased on Ebay. Alternately I have built a working router for this using Win98SE so I'm sure YOU can kludge together a Linux-flavored one.
:-) but is terrible for sniping with a Covert Ops :-( Think flamethrower rather than pistol...
I often have a downlink of 50.666kb x2 and an uplink of 33.6kb x 2. I can even use it to play WolfET on occassion, though it isn't great -- ~200ms pings at best which isn't terrible for a Field Ops calling in airstrikes
I can only download about a single gB per day under the best of circumstances but my ISP has no FAP about it.
Yes, it's 2 phone lines. Yes I pay the full local usage cap each month. But even with my Multilink ISP account ($30/mo) it is less than a single phone line plus $99 DirecWay fee (if you pay for the hardware over year). I have done spreadsheet after spreadsheet on the comparisons and I feel the dual modems are the way to go.
Anyone with experience want to comment on the picture/sound quality of:
* Direct recording the bitstream with a DirecTiVo or DishPVR and playing back (basically digital to analog once from the satellite to the inputs of your home theater system)
- vs -
* A home brew PVR that has to go through an additional generation (digital to analog to digital to analog) before it gets to your home theater system
That is a concern I have but I've not seen any information on it. Any helpful links out there?
Hmm, let's see.
1. Re-release ancient games that have been ROM ripped and emulated to the millionth degree just to show that you still have the rights to produce it
2. Grossly overcharge to set a baseline cost from which to calculate how much you're going to get when you...
3. Sue ROM traders gangland RIAA-style
4. Profit!
It will be our own remote control actions that determine what type of ads we see. Do you change channel when a popvert shows up? Do you let commercials play that have 3 seconds of silence at the beginning? Do you choose movies with more or less Xanax trucks in them? Do you "rewind" when you see the color red in a football game? Does your household skip feminine product ads during recorded Star Treks? Do you frequently allow the ads to play but then always "rewind" back to the point just after the ad break (possibly you went to the bathroom and relied on your recorder to not miss the content)?
The bad news is that we will be experimented on unmercifully. The really good news is that our choices will be reflected more quickly.
How? Each DVR that makes it into the household, and has reporting capabilities upstream, gives the advertisers better data and all kinds of interesting business models based on interpretive statistics: pay less to channels where the ads are being skipped, pay more for primo live ad times like presidential inaugurations, etc., or new prime time episodes of hot shows. No big news here, just a refining of the math based on "better" numbers.
Hopefully we will win based on our habits turning into real $$$ discussions at the ad companies PHB level. Of course we could also lose -- think DRMed unskippable ads, ads downloaded based on your viewing habits, etc.
In the old days they assumed an ad was getting watched by looking at Nielsen ratings or whatever. (Now that's interesting -- the Nielsen ratings may just go bye-bye. The data gatering will be automated and MUCH more fine grain -- down to the second. Another failed advertising business model!) They did not know if you were going pee or getting a beer to enable the pee cycle, and obviously still don't. But now, if it is recorded or paused for 5 minutes at the beginning, my favorite method, they have SOME data. They can try all kinds of tricks with that data and get better feedback near real time. Their interpretation of statistics will lead to some business model that balances our annoyance level with their advertising profits. Gotta love market mentality.
Using that logic, I want to own Slashdot now, since some of my content is the subject of the site.
The age old controversy of who owns a photographic image was settled a long time ago (it is the photographer). Otherwise newspapers and history books would not exist.
And in the case of a wedding, well you signed a contract. Don't like it? Sign a better contract and pay more. Worked for my wedding.
I am not a wedding photographer, but I work in the photo industry and make a product that wedding photographers use.
They are NOT, as a general measure, in the $40-60K per event range. They CAN'T be. Do the math. How many average wedding couples can hire that single aspect of their wedding at that price? As you said, only the TOP photographers. As the article says, the ABOVE AVERAGE photographer would have to do 20 double wedding weekends in the $5000 range per to pull down $100K. I don't know any that actually do that.
Most of the ones I know personally make anywhere from $10k A YEAR (they sideline with photo store or other jobs) up to maybe $40-$60k A YEAR.
I hired someone for my wedding last year. I'm lower middle-class and we felt supremely pinched to consider the $2500 we paid and we got to keep all the files (totally digital) to print as we wanted. He was the most expensive of the several we looked at, but he was considered the best by many. The photographer did 2 weddings that weekend -- and nothing else all week, but that was a PRIME weekend. Assuming he got another 12 PRIME weekends a year (and I think that would be stretching it) he'd be pulling down $60k. Then he'd have to pay assistants so just whack a nice percentage out for that.
And he'd have to deal with:
* Mother of the bride
* Cheap brides who won't pay for prints because they read "how to scan" in Wedding Dress magazine
* Rude wedding guests trying to steal her shots or triggering her flashes
* Missing ANY shot that that anyone thought he should have gotten
* Disposable cameras on the table
* A VERY FULL WEEK editing
* Employing assitants
* Moving 10's of thousands of dollars of heavy photo equipment around in ANY weather, usually in a tuxedo
* And much much more
For most of these guys, this is their whole business. They have to pay rent, taxes, utilities and all of that for their studio OUT OF their service price in addition to their normal salary for keeping the lights on at home. Most of the other jobs listed had no such restrictions.
The product I make comes in two flavors. The cheap one and the expensive one ($350 and $600). The cheap one is extremely popular in the wedding industry. The expensive one is not a great seller in that market. Why? Research shows that it is too rich for the average wedding photographer's blood, even though it is a god send for him as far as function. The guy I hired had the cheap one.
My practical day to day dealings with this industry do not back up the conclusions reached in that article. Sure, some make the big bucks, but EVERY WEEKEND? All the time? ALL OF THEM?!? I'd be curious what the average PER YEAR PER PHOTOG was for the wedding service you worked for, not just the cream of the crop.
Greascar
I was going to consider a big 4-door diesel pickup (similarly modified) but the cost is roughly 3X the VW! Eeek! Mr. Bank Account vetoed that right after my wife did.
My wife works for a chi-chi culinary school so I have a good source for grease, but any greasy spoon will do.
That would explain why their media player rises from the dead every time I install a service pack...
Beer.
The post above mine has a link to a test that includes these. Same conclusions on these that I came to: loud, no switch, but damn clean power. Nice to see them in a test. They also usually come with some nice brass thumbscrews that make case access easier.
Also I said CPU fan above -- I should have said HEATSINK and fan. Very nice heatsinks.
I'm an MIS guy for a small company (10 people, 20 PCs -- go figure...) and I always look at PC power and cooling supplies as well as other brands when I'm building machines. I think they make great server supplies or swap in replacements for older machines at the very least.
I have also used those guys for obscure CPU cooling fan options (try to find a quality replacement CPU fan for a Pentium Pro 200)! They stopped stocking them, but offered to make one up for a very reasonable cost -- I went with a different solution, but they were quite helpful. I have purchased several CPU fans from them and none have yet died.
I usually go with Antec power supllies for new workstations because, in addition to running well, they come standard in good Antec cases that I'd want for a workstation anyway.