China is the country that the USA keeps borrowing money from...wonder how long it will be before we start noticing some policy changes to our internet? What would the US government do if the Chinese government demanded we censor our internet the same way they are, or they won't let us borrow anymore money?
A slippery slope, indeed.
In the end, the political calculus is:
Which side is willing to endure the most pain?
The US could just as easily refuse to honor the Chinese debt; or massively devalue the dollar and wipe it out. Not good options, but both sides have power in this situation.
You understand what communism in any form is, right?
The state controls commerce and corporations.
Actually, no. Marx's Communism is an economic model that gives workers control over their "labor value"; rather than allow capitalists to buy labor (via wages) and make a profit on the difference between inputs costs and output revenue. Central control is not a necessary tenant for that; a commune would be a more realistic model for a Marxian society.
Amongst communism's many failings was that it was used as a guise to assert state control over a population. Political leaders repalced capitalists as the decision making body.
I seem to remember quite a few cases cropping up after a (recently sold) railway starting sending bills to landowners for crossing into their property. Basically the railway abutted the property, and made it impossible to access without crossing the railway. As the existing crossings were owned by the new rail company, they decided to bill the landowners tens of thousands ($) each in order to be able to access their own land in the same manner they had been doing for decades.
Interestingly enough, in the US railroads don't always own the land they traverse; sometimes they merely have a right of way over property owned by others. This has resulted in lawsuits where companies laying fiber optic cable on rights of way over compensation to the property owners for laying the cable; at least some were settled with property owners receiving payments.
http://www.fiberopticcablesettlement.com/
While IANAL, I would think a reasonable case could be made, in situations you describe, for the railroad being forced to allow continued access to a right of way without payment, in the US at least. I'd be surprised if various state laws didn't already address such issues.
Correct. The study is obviously flawed, economically speaking. In a real life study done years ago, trains moved freight for about 7 cents per ton/mile, and trucks moved the same freight for about 28 cents per ton/mile. As I recall, that included investment in tractor/locomotive and trailer/railcars, but did NOT include the highway/rail infrastructure.
While your freight numbers may be correct, the study referenced referred to passenger movement, not freight. The study basically states if you include infrastructure related emissions, the emissions of various modes of transportation increase. If a mode is lightly used its total emissions may be worse than a mode that has higher tailpipe emissions; i.e. an off peak bus with a few passengers is worse than a car or SUV carrying the same number of passengers.
Without seeing the analysis I can't comment on the methodology, but the conclusions make sense; the question is their accuracy, which depends on the assumptions used to calculate emissions.
One interesting note is the impact of the fuels used to produce electricity - switching from fossil to sources with much lower emissions would change the results in for electric mass transit vehicles in a favorable manner.
Looks to me like a clear-cut case of some overzealous IT goob forgotting who is paying whose salary. I'm not saying that you're the Chairman of the Board, but you most certainly should expect to have the right to have full access to this academic resource without this kind of burden.
You seem to be confused about who really matters at a university. Clue: The faculty.
I'm hoping for better PIM tools. I'm currently using an iPhone at work (I can pick any device so I change regularly) and having spent a lot of time with Windows Mobile I'm missing a lot of its basic functionality. For example with the iPhone I cannot:
Sync notes even though there is a notes application
Sync tasks, as there is no tasks application (why? it's pretty basic!)
Label a calendar appointment as private. Everything is visible to people who have read access to my calendar until I set it on the PC.
Set the location of a meeting as free, out of the office or tentative. Everything is busy.
Differentiate between tentative meetings and ones that have been confirmed.
Snooze a reminder. It either nags you or gets dismissed when you unlock the phone and never comes back.
I also use my iPhone for work and find its PIM tools lacking. What's worse is Apple has apaprently decided to go with data stores that are not accessible to other software apps; so iambic / CESD / et.al. need to create new data files if they want to create an iPhone app. That probably means no push synch, which would make those apps useless for me.
Of course, that's in keeping with Apple's insistence on total control of parts of teh user experience; which while useful in maintaining the end user experience is very limiting in terms of development in those areas.
As a result, I am looking at the new N95 or going back to a Treo just to have the functionality I need.
From a quick RTFA; it appears the calculations assume even distribution of flights and meteors. I don't know if meteor activity is uniformly distributed over the Earth's surface, but flights aren't in time of day or location. A more accurate calculation would compare meteor activity at the times and flight paths of commercial aviation, at altitudes where damage could potentially occur, to come up with a more accurate assessment of the probability of a meteor downing an aircraft.
I read somewhere that statistically, airplanes are safer than cars, you're more likely to die in a car accident.
I also read a quote somewhere else of somebody saying "Airplanes might be safer than cars, but I'd rather arrive at my destination with a false sense of security than feel like I've narrowly escaped death."
Also- I personally believe statistics aren't all they're cracked up to be. When I'm in control of a situation VS when I'm not. I think I can personally change my chances of survival in a car by not speeding... Maybe only a few percentage points, but still- statistics are cold hard ideas, but don't account for personal decisions.
Your confusing your personal risk assessment (I'm in control vs when I'm not) with actual risks. Yes you can raise your chances of avoiding or surviving a car accident by taking precautions - but the overall risk levels are still vastly in favor of airplanes. People generally feel more comfortable when tehy are "in control" and discount risks (won't happen to me" yet fear much safer things that they feel are out of their direct control. Add to that the rarity of airplane fatalities and so they make the news, heighten people's apprehension.
Bottom line - people are very bad at assess risks realistically; and even worse at probability and statistics.
The interesting part of the article was where one exec pointed out creating additional content to sell or making the game have a longer initial life so it enters teh used market later - gee make a good product and people will hold on to it. Publishers could lower price s- gasp - but don't want to do that so they complain about the unfairness of it all
It's a model that has existed for a long time - books, cars, houses, computers, records - maybe teh developers would like to pay a little extra for every usd item they buy to reward the original creator of that item as well.
Not only that, but speculation is also the root cause of every financial collapse in modern history (except those caused by war), including the one we're going through now. It's not just "jackassery," it's also harmful to society at large!
Actually, human nature is the cause of financial collapse, speculation is just one outcome that results
People stupidly assume because something was valuable today it will be more valuable tomorrow; and want to get in on the profits. That leads to Tulip Bubbles, Real Estate Bubbles, etc.
Fraud also plays a role - South Sea Stocks, International Mail Coupons, Madoff Investmenst all were the result of a con game. Again, a behavioral issue.
Finally, speculation is not automatically harmful - it provides a way to off load risk to someone more willing to accept the risk for the potential return. Without that, many businesses would be far too risky to conduct.
Take insurance, for example. Reinsurers assume risks, allowing insurance companies to offload some of the risks associated with their insured. The Re's are speculating on the value of teh risk they assume. Some insurers sell "Risk Bonds" to cover potentially catastrophic losses sucha s from a hurricane. The bond buyers get reimbursed if no major loss occurs; but lose if one does. Again, they are speculating but that allows insurers to insure for hurricane losses and have some assurance they can payout if it occurs. Without speculation you don't have insurance.
Speculation of any sort should be frowned upon in our society.
I'm all for capitalisim and making a profit, but buying something just so you can turn around and sell it to someone else for more money, without having made any improvements is just jackassery.
While "speculators" are the current MostEvilThing (tm); they provide a valuable service to an economy.
Consider firms that hedge commodities that they use - if they can't add certainty to their costs through hedges they are at the mercy of market swings. In order to hedge, someone needs to take an opposite position - both sides are speculating on future prices; to reap a potential benefit.
Speculation is not the problem; the failure to quantify risks and understand what you are actually buying is what causes problems.
People buy many things - stocks, land, art, coins - as investments they hope will increase in value. Just because they stick them in a box and wait does not mean they are being jackasses.
I had a friend who worked as a boothbabe. Here qualifications were she was a tall, attractive blonde who could memorize lines - no product knowledge needed.
I use my PSP as a portable video player; and wondered why Sony never released one that hit that market. I rip my DVDs and TIVO'd shows to a MS, and watch them while traveling. 16g built in is more than enough for a few weeks of travel. The PSP has a very nice, large screen that is more than adequate for mobile viewing, is instant o and has TV out if I want it.
I could use my iPhone, but that kills the battery. An iPod touch is a lot more expensive than a PSP and MS; plus I can carry a spare PSP battery.
I hope they update their interface as well - the one thing I hate is how it only remembers where you were on the last video watched; unlike the iPod the shows the status of each video.
If it comes in near the current PSP price I'll upgrade.
I bought Wolfenstein 3D for the iPhone, and I found it utterly boring. Yes, that's right -- I'd never played it before. (Oddly enough, I remember the original Castle Wolfenstein a bit fondly from childhood.)
Nut the Original CW was a completely different game - a top view scroller rather than a FPS. It was a fun game, with good gameplay that would work well on an iPhone; but then people would complain about the graphics,
While I realise you probably live in the USA, where everything can be defended as "free speech", in the "real world" of forum and wiki administration there are some behaviors that need to be banned for, such as repeated trolling, spamming porn links, etc, that otherwise can make a forum/open community unbearable to work in.
Actually in the US, the two concepts you mention are perfectly compatible. Our concept of free speech means the government is prohibited from controlling speech; it does not prevent individuals from exercising control of what is said on any medium they own. So, banning a poster is perfectly acceptable within the US definition of free speech.
A corollary is you are responsible for the results of exercising your free speech rights. Punishing you for yelling fire in a theater does not infringe on your right to free speech.
Of course, in reality the issues is more complex than simply "the government can't stop you from saying anything you want." Courts have ruled commercial speech can be regulated - you can't make bogus product claims for medicine, for example. (Though I guess you could and then be fines); and another example is how political campaigns have rules about how they can say things.
If a Slashdot reader has evolved to the point where he has no sense of humour whatsoever and is therefore incapable of mating with female humans, does that make said Slashdot reader a new species?
I can think all day about how the electrical in my house works, and understand the theory behind it. But can I wire my house so that everything works, and I don't burn it down? Maybe, but it is in my interest to have an electrician look at it to make sure. Not necessarily an electrical engineer.
My father is an electrical engineer, and I am (among other things) a licensed electrician. The stories my mother has about him trying to do his own electrical work are hilarious ("how hard can it be? It's a simple AC circuit!")
My anecdotal experience suggest that their are two types of engineers:
Those that like the theory and design work but can't tell a hammer from a screwdriver.
Those that like working with things, tinkering with equipment and getting their hands dirty. They go into engineering because it lets them play with things ; and eventually become field engineers who get to test and troubleshoot equipment they install.
Me? I became an engineer because I like model rockets and airplanes and studying aeronautical engineering let me play with toys under the guise of studying; all on someone else's nickle.
A skilled trade is an excellent way to make a good living; and is a way to do what you enjoy. cars need to be repaired, plumbing fixed, houses built and repaired. Those skills are both valuable and not easily replicated if you do quality work.
Of course, many trades require a pretty solid eduction as well. Mechanics once needed mechanical aptitude and the ability to work well with their hands; today it requires that plus an understanding of computers and advanced electronics / electrical theory.
Unfortunately, people tend to look down as anything not requiring a college education as lesser work.
a downgrade would be the cost of MS software - support costs for Linux.
You're assuming that Dell doesn't provide any windows support, which is false.
True, but I include that in the MS software cost.
Finally, if Dell or HP were really serious about using a free OS why not go with BSD and keep any improvements to your self, like Apple does? In theory, if it was a good enough OS they could sell it separately as well.
Apple's Open Source components lag perpetually behind Linux's... but then, they lag behind FreeBSD, too. Still, Apple is a software company. Dell is a hardware company. It doesn't make sense for them to have their own OS. I could see them maybe having their own themes or something, but that alone would be guaranteed to confuse consumers.
True - it makes sense to buy an OS form a company that can provide what dell needs and minimize the costs of installing and supporting it - something I don't see Linux doing.
Let's be realistic - if MS thought there was money to be made in providing a second OS beyond theirs they'd be marketing a BSD variant -a s would Apple. that neither does so tells me they don't see it as a serious option for the desktop.
is if enough users track data usage - easy enough to do with an iPhone and discover a lower capped plan is cheaper then ATT will lose revenue - the question is will they get enough additional subscribers to make up for the loss? Also, will they increase the contract length if you switch plans?
Now if we could just get Dell to put a little drop down option in its OS & Productivity Suite selection to have an option for "Ubuntu & Open Office (subtract $200)" on all of their computers. And then to have it actually be $200 cheaper with the exact hardware.
Even if MS got $200/computer (which I doubt); a downgrade would be the cost of MS software - support costs for Linux. While the OS may be free; supporting it is not and will require Dell to factor those costs in as part of the option. Depending on the cost of the number of units they would expect to sell the cost for Linux per unit may actually be higher than for MS software.
Every time they change hardware they'd have to test to see if Linux supported the new configuration properly and fix any issues before they released the machine (in theory at least; after all we are talking about a hardware vendor here); and any release any mods back to the community essentially being a free development resource for other companies to boot. Why would Dell want to get into the driver business anyway?
It's a bit of the chicken and the egg - Dell needs vendors to support their hardware before Linux is mainstream enough for them, vendors need manufacturer demand to make developing drivers worthwhile.
Finally, if Dell or HP were really serious about using a free OS why not go with BSD and keep any improvements to your self, like Apple does? In theory, if it was a good enough OS they could sell it separately as well.
The problem with escorts-as-paid-companions is that if you *can* afford to shell out whatever these girls get for an evening on the town (4 hours?) -- say $1000 -- you want high class.
Actually, to paraphrase one famous person's explanation:
I ain't paying for sex, I'm paying her to go away after sex
It's cheaper to lease than buy; just like a high end car. Take it for a spin; once you're bored turn it in and get something different.
Slashdot Mirror
China is the country that the USA keeps borrowing money from...wonder how long it will be before we start noticing some policy changes to our internet? What would the US government do if the Chinese government demanded we censor our internet the same way they are, or they won't let us borrow anymore money?
A slippery slope, indeed.
In the end, the political calculus is:
Which side is willing to endure the most pain?
The US could just as easily refuse to honor the Chinese debt; or massively devalue the dollar and wipe it out. Not good options, but both sides have power in this situation.
You understand what communism in any form is, right? The state controls commerce and corporations.
Actually, no. Marx's Communism is an economic model that gives workers control over their "labor value"; rather than allow capitalists to buy labor (via wages) and make a profit on the difference between inputs costs and output revenue. Central control is not a necessary tenant for that; a commune would be a more realistic model for a Marxian society.
Amongst communism's many failings was that it was used as a guise to assert state control over a population. Political leaders repalced capitalists as the decision making body.
I seem to remember quite a few cases cropping up after a (recently sold) railway starting sending bills to landowners for crossing into their property. Basically the railway abutted the property, and made it impossible to access without crossing the railway. As the existing crossings were owned by the new rail company, they decided to bill the landowners tens of thousands ($) each in order to be able to access their own land in the same manner they had been doing for decades.
Interestingly enough, in the US railroads don't always own the land they traverse; sometimes they merely have a right of way over property owned by others. This has resulted in lawsuits where companies laying fiber optic cable on rights of way over compensation to the property owners for laying the cable; at least some were settled with property owners receiving payments.
http://www.fiberopticcablesettlement.com/
While IANAL, I would think a reasonable case could be made, in situations you describe, for the railroad being forced to allow continued access to a right of way without payment, in the US at least. I'd be surprised if various state laws didn't already address such issues.
Correct. The study is obviously flawed, economically speaking. In a real life study done years ago, trains moved freight for about 7 cents per ton/mile, and trucks moved the same freight for about 28 cents per ton/mile. As I recall, that included investment in tractor/locomotive and trailer/railcars, but did NOT include the highway/rail infrastructure.
While your freight numbers may be correct, the study referenced referred to passenger movement, not freight. The study basically states if you include infrastructure related emissions, the emissions of various modes of transportation increase. If a mode is lightly used its total emissions may be worse than a mode that has higher tailpipe emissions; i.e. an off peak bus with a few passengers is worse than a car or SUV carrying the same number of passengers.
Without seeing the analysis I can't comment on the methodology, but the conclusions make sense; the question is their accuracy, which depends on the assumptions used to calculate emissions.
One interesting note is the impact of the fuels used to produce electricity - switching from fossil to sources with much lower emissions would change the results in for electric mass transit vehicles in a favorable manner.
Don't you mean 100?
No, that'd be 9 in conventional usage
Language would be a big puzzle to crack, and probably a really frustrating one... but 2+2=4 everywhere you go.
Unless, of course, it's 11.
Looks to me like a clear-cut case of some overzealous IT goob forgotting who is paying whose salary. I'm not saying that you're the Chairman of the Board, but you most certainly should expect to have the right to have full access to this academic resource without this kind of burden.
You seem to be confused about who really matters at a university. Clue: The faculty.
I'm hoping for better PIM tools. I'm currently using an iPhone at work (I can pick any device so I change regularly) and having spent a lot of time with Windows Mobile I'm missing a lot of its basic functionality. For example with the iPhone I cannot:
I also use my iPhone for work and find its PIM tools lacking. What's worse is Apple has apaprently decided to go with data stores that are not accessible to other software apps; so iambic / CESD / et.al. need to create new data files if they want to create an iPhone app. That probably means no push synch, which would make those apps useless for me.
Of course, that's in keeping with Apple's insistence on total control of parts of teh user experience; which while useful in maintaining the end user experience is very limiting in terms of development in those areas.
As a result, I am looking at the new N95 or going back to a Treo just to have the functionality I need.
From a quick RTFA; it appears the calculations assume even distribution of flights and meteors. I don't know if meteor activity is uniformly distributed over the Earth's surface, but flights aren't in time of day or location. A more accurate calculation would compare meteor activity at the times and flight paths of commercial aviation, at altitudes where damage could potentially occur, to come up with a more accurate assessment of the probability of a meteor downing an aircraft.
I read somewhere that statistically, airplanes are safer than cars, you're more likely to die in a car accident. I also read a quote somewhere else of somebody saying "Airplanes might be safer than cars, but I'd rather arrive at my destination with a false sense of security than feel like I've narrowly escaped death." Also- I personally believe statistics aren't all they're cracked up to be. When I'm in control of a situation VS when I'm not. I think I can personally change my chances of survival in a car by not speeding... Maybe only a few percentage points, but still- statistics are cold hard ideas, but don't account for personal decisions.
Your confusing your personal risk assessment (I'm in control vs when I'm not) with actual risks. Yes you can raise your chances of avoiding or surviving a car accident by taking precautions - but the overall risk levels are still vastly in favor of airplanes. People generally feel more comfortable when tehy are "in control" and discount risks (won't happen to me" yet fear much safer things that they feel are out of their direct control. Add to that the rarity of airplane fatalities and so they make the news, heighten people's apprehension.
Bottom line - people are very bad at assess risks realistically; and even worse at probability and statistics.
It's a model that has existed for a long time - books, cars, houses, computers, records - maybe teh developers would like to pay a little extra for every usd item they buy to reward the original creator of that item as well.
Not only that, but speculation is also the root cause of every financial collapse in modern history (except those caused by war), including the one we're going through now. It's not just "jackassery," it's also harmful to society at large!
Actually, human nature is the cause of financial collapse, speculation is just one outcome that results
People stupidly assume because something was valuable today it will be more valuable tomorrow; and want to get in on the profits. That leads to Tulip Bubbles, Real Estate Bubbles, etc.
Fraud also plays a role - South Sea Stocks, International Mail Coupons, Madoff Investmenst all were the result of a con game. Again, a behavioral issue.
Finally, speculation is not automatically harmful - it provides a way to off load risk to someone more willing to accept the risk for the potential return. Without that, many businesses would be far too risky to conduct.
Take insurance, for example. Reinsurers assume risks, allowing insurance companies to offload some of the risks associated with their insured. The Re's are speculating on the value of teh risk they assume. Some insurers sell "Risk Bonds" to cover potentially catastrophic losses sucha s from a hurricane. The bond buyers get reimbursed if no major loss occurs; but lose if one does. Again, they are speculating but that allows insurers to insure for hurricane losses and have some assurance they can payout if it occurs. Without speculation you don't have insurance.
Speculation of any sort should be frowned upon in our society. I'm all for capitalisim and making a profit, but buying something just so you can turn around and sell it to someone else for more money, without having made any improvements is just jackassery.
While "speculators" are the current MostEvilThing (tm); they provide a valuable service to an economy.
Consider firms that hedge commodities that they use - if they can't add certainty to their costs through hedges they are at the mercy of market swings. In order to hedge, someone needs to take an opposite position - both sides are speculating on future prices; to reap a potential benefit.
Speculation is not the problem; the failure to quantify risks and understand what you are actually buying is what causes problems.
People buy many things - stocks, land, art, coins - as investments they hope will increase in value. Just because they stick them in a box and wait does not mean they are being jackasses.
I had a friend who worked as a boothbabe. Here qualifications were she was a tall, attractive blonde who could memorize lines - no product knowledge needed.
I use my PSP as a portable video player; and wondered why Sony never released one that hit that market. I rip my DVDs and TIVO'd shows to a MS, and watch them while traveling. 16g built in is more than enough for a few weeks of travel. The PSP has a very nice, large screen that is more than adequate for mobile viewing, is instant o and has TV out if I want it.
I could use my iPhone, but that kills the battery. An iPod touch is a lot more expensive than a PSP and MS; plus I can carry a spare PSP battery.
I hope they update their interface as well - the one thing I hate is how it only remembers where you were on the last video watched; unlike the iPod the shows the status of each video.
If it comes in near the current PSP price I'll upgrade.
I bought Wolfenstein 3D for the iPhone, and I found it utterly boring. Yes, that's right -- I'd never played it before. (Oddly enough, I remember the original Castle Wolfenstein a bit fondly from childhood.)
Nut the Original CW was a completely different game - a top view scroller rather than a FPS. It was a fun game, with good gameplay that would work well on an iPhone; but then people would complain about the graphics,
While I realise you probably live in the USA, where everything can be defended as "free speech", in the "real world" of forum and wiki administration there are some behaviors that need to be banned for, such as repeated trolling, spamming porn links, etc, that otherwise can make a forum/open community unbearable to work in.
Actually in the US, the two concepts you mention are perfectly compatible. Our concept of free speech means the government is prohibited from controlling speech; it does not prevent individuals from exercising control of what is said on any medium they own. So, banning a poster is perfectly acceptable within the US definition of free speech.
A corollary is you are responsible for the results of exercising your free speech rights. Punishing you for yelling fire in a theater does not infringe on your right to free speech.
Of course, in reality the issues is more complex than simply "the government can't stop you from saying anything you want." Courts have ruled commercial speech can be regulated - you can't make bogus product claims for medicine, for example. (Though I guess you could and then be fines); and another example is how political campaigns have rules about how they can say things.
If a Slashdot reader has evolved to the point where he has no sense of humour whatsoever and is therefore incapable of mating with female humans, does that make said Slashdot reader a new species?
Something to ponder tonight.
If?
I can think all day about how the electrical in my house works, and understand the theory behind it. But can I wire my house so that everything works, and I don't burn it down? Maybe, but it is in my interest to have an electrician look at it to make sure. Not necessarily an electrical engineer.
My father is an electrical engineer, and I am (among other things) a licensed electrician. The stories my mother has about him trying to do his own electrical work are hilarious ("how hard can it be? It's a simple AC circuit!")
My anecdotal experience suggest that their are two types of engineers:
Those that like the theory and design work but can't tell a hammer from a screwdriver.
Those that like working with things, tinkering with equipment and getting their hands dirty. They go into engineering because it lets them play with things ; and eventually become field engineers who get to test and troubleshoot equipment they install.
Me? I became an engineer because I like model rockets and airplanes and studying aeronautical engineering let me play with toys under the guise of studying; all on someone else's nickle.
A skilled trade is an excellent way to make a good living; and is a way to do what you enjoy. cars need to be repaired, plumbing fixed, houses built and repaired. Those skills are both valuable and not easily replicated if you do quality work.
Of course, many trades require a pretty solid eduction as well. Mechanics once needed mechanical aptitude and the ability to work well with their hands; today it requires that plus an understanding of computers and advanced electronics / electrical theory.
Unfortunately, people tend to look down as anything not requiring a college education as lesser work.
If you drop a fucking robot into a village where a vast majority of the people don't know how to read, what do you think they're going to do?
Fuck?
a downgrade would be the cost of MS software - support costs for Linux.
You're assuming that Dell doesn't provide any windows support, which is false.
True, but I include that in the MS software cost.
Finally, if Dell or HP were really serious about using a free OS why not go with BSD and keep any improvements to your self, like Apple does? In theory, if it was a good enough OS they could sell it separately as well.
Apple's Open Source components lag perpetually behind Linux's... but then, they lag behind FreeBSD, too. Still, Apple is a software company. Dell is a hardware company. It doesn't make sense for them to have their own OS. I could see them maybe having their own themes or something, but that alone would be guaranteed to confuse consumers.
True - it makes sense to buy an OS form a company that can provide what dell needs and minimize the costs of installing and supporting it - something I don't see Linux doing.
Let's be realistic - if MS thought there was money to be made in providing a second OS beyond theirs they'd be marketing a BSD variant -a s would Apple. that neither does so tells me they don't see it as a serious option for the desktop.
is if enough users track data usage - easy enough to do with an iPhone and discover a lower capped plan is cheaper then ATT will lose revenue - the question is will they get enough additional subscribers to make up for the loss? Also, will they increase the contract length if you switch plans?
Now if we could just get Dell to put a little drop down option in its OS & Productivity Suite selection to have an option for "Ubuntu & Open Office (subtract $200)" on all of their computers. And then to have it actually be $200 cheaper with the exact hardware.
Even if MS got $200/computer (which I doubt); a downgrade would be the cost of MS software - support costs for Linux. While the OS may be free; supporting it is not and will require Dell to factor those costs in as part of the option. Depending on the cost of the number of units they would expect to sell the cost for Linux per unit may actually be higher than for MS software.
Every time they change hardware they'd have to test to see if Linux supported the new configuration properly and fix any issues before they released the machine (in theory at least; after all we are talking about a hardware vendor here); and any release any mods back to the community essentially being a free development resource for other companies to boot. Why would Dell want to get into the driver business anyway?
It's a bit of the chicken and the egg - Dell needs vendors to support their hardware before Linux is mainstream enough for them, vendors need manufacturer demand to make developing drivers worthwhile.
Finally, if Dell or HP were really serious about using a free OS why not go with BSD and keep any improvements to your self, like Apple does? In theory, if it was a good enough OS they could sell it separately as well.
Any actual data to back that up?
The problem with escorts-as-paid-companions is that if you *can* afford to shell out whatever these girls get for an evening on the town (4 hours?) -- say $1000 -- you want high class.
Actually, to paraphrase one famous person's explanation:
I ain't paying for sex, I'm paying her to go away after sex
It's cheaper to lease than buy; just like a high end car. Take it for a spin; once you're bored turn it in and get something different.