These suits are nothing more than Natick's desperate attempts to retain funding and viability before the next BRAC round. We should save taxpayer money and shut this place down. I have worked in a defense contractor and these "spaceman suits" were a constant source of amusment to engineers and grunts who know better.
Folks,
The DoD has no aspirations to banning COTS technology. Its the folks in Congress who don't have the clue. The DoD folks are all engineers who are perfectly aware of the capabilities and limitations of current commercial technology, let alone the availabilty of such technology.
I know this goes against the commonly held perception that all DoD personnel are of the 'Buck Turgison' mentality without an individual synapse between them, but c'est la vie.
... is there a whole lot of whining going on here. The ISP's create value by providing internet access. People pay them for this access and if it sucks, they go to someone else. If you don't like the way your ISP is treating you, go somewhere else. If that is not an option, I haven't found the article in the Constitution that guarantees the right to broadband access.
"Why not take this one step further and introduce computerized money that the consumer can put arbitrary restrictions on?"
Responding to this understandibly angry but misguided individual, this already exists. Its called stock. If you don't like what a firm is doing, don't invest in it. If it is a privately held firm, tough!
Several factors for high short term oil/gas prices
on
Out of Gas
·
· Score: 1
1. Increased manufacturing activity on the part of China and India over the past 18 months. - These nations (China esp.) have been absorbing excess global supply in their consumption and manufacturing markets. They're busy making more stuff made out of oil (all petrochemicals like plastics, etc) as well as using it more for fuel.
2. Lack of refinery capability in the US. - Not one new refinery has been constructed in the US in 20 yrs. There's plenty of oil to extract, just not enough ability to crack it into gasoline/kerosene/lubricants/etc.
3. Terrorism & global supply fears - Prices today are determined not by the cost it took to get that gallon of fuel out of the ground and into your tank, but what the current oil futures contracts are selling for. This is key, but unfortunately why most folks don't understand the dynamics of oil pricing. The uncertainty of future production capability in important but volatile regions tends to exaggerate current oil prices. - Other OPEC states are having big issues: Nigeria is getting ready to fall into civil war again, as is Venezuela. Non-OPEC Russians are having problems maintaining control in the Black Sea area.
4. Inconsistent local/state regulation - Some states require an ethanol blend (corn producing states) others MBTE while others nothing at all. Gasoline refined in southern IL cannot be sent to fill Chicago's gas pumps. California has to refine 90% of its fuel in-state! These artificial barriers make markets much more inefficient than they should, and add extra costs to the distribution of oil products.
5. OPEC has not lowered production but put a cap (leaky as it may be) on new production. - Although OPEC nations produce less than 40% of the world's oil, large producers like Saudi Arabia still maintain the ability to push production one way or another. The Saudi's are currently trying to regain some control over OPEC, and are doing everything they can to put themselves in a position to do so.
Maybe b/c MSFT has about 95% of the spreadsheet market. The only way you're gonna get people to try (and switch) to other forms of well-known software is to make it MSFT compatible...
There are many ways to maintain a legal monopoly (or near monopoly). Several of which include patent/IP protection, gov't regulation through licensure (like a NYC taxi), or operating in an industry with high barriers to entry/exit with few competitors (a la Intel). There are others.
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These suits are nothing more than Natick's desperate attempts to retain funding and viability before the next BRAC round. We should save taxpayer money and shut this place down. I have worked in a defense contractor and these "spaceman suits" were a constant source of amusment to engineers and grunts who know better.
Folks, The DoD has no aspirations to banning COTS technology. Its the folks in Congress who don't have the clue. The DoD folks are all engineers who are perfectly aware of the capabilities and limitations of current commercial technology, let alone the availabilty of such technology. I know this goes against the commonly held perception that all DoD personnel are of the 'Buck Turgison' mentality without an individual synapse between them, but c'est la vie.
... is there a whole lot of whining going on here. The ISP's create value by providing internet access. People pay them for this access and if it sucks, they go to someone else. If you don't like the way your ISP is treating you, go somewhere else. If that is not an option, I haven't found the article in the Constitution that guarantees the right to broadband access.
"Why not take this one step further and introduce computerized money that the consumer can put arbitrary restrictions on?"
Responding to this understandibly angry but misguided individual, this already exists. Its called stock. If you don't like what a firm is doing, don't invest in it. If it is a privately held firm, tough!
1. Increased manufacturing activity on the part of China and India over the past 18 months.
- These nations (China esp.) have been absorbing excess global supply in their consumption and manufacturing markets. They're busy making more stuff made out of oil (all petrochemicals like plastics, etc) as well as using it more for fuel.
2. Lack of refinery capability in the US.
- Not one new refinery has been constructed in the US in 20 yrs. There's plenty of oil to extract, just not enough ability to crack it into gasoline/kerosene/lubricants/etc.
3. Terrorism & global supply fears
- Prices today are determined not by the cost it took to get that gallon of fuel out of the ground and into your tank, but what the current oil futures contracts are selling for. This is key, but unfortunately why most folks don't understand the dynamics of oil pricing. The uncertainty of future production capability in important but volatile regions tends to exaggerate current oil prices.
- Other OPEC states are having big issues: Nigeria is getting ready to fall into civil war again, as is Venezuela. Non-OPEC Russians are having problems maintaining control in the Black Sea area.
4. Inconsistent local/state regulation
- Some states require an ethanol blend (corn producing states) others MBTE while others nothing at all. Gasoline refined in southern IL cannot be sent to fill Chicago's gas pumps. California has to refine 90% of its fuel in-state! These artificial barriers make markets much more inefficient than they should, and add extra costs to the distribution of oil products.
5. OPEC has not lowered production but put a cap (leaky as it may be) on new production.
- Although OPEC nations produce less than 40% of the world's oil, large producers like Saudi Arabia still maintain the ability to push production one way or another. The Saudi's are currently trying to regain some control over OPEC, and are doing everything they can to put themselves in a position to do so.
Maybe b/c MSFT has about 95% of the spreadsheet market. The only way you're gonna get people to try (and switch) to other forms of well-known software is to make it MSFT compatible...
There are many ways to maintain a legal monopoly (or near monopoly). Several of which include patent/IP protection, gov't regulation through licensure (like a NYC taxi), or operating in an industry with high barriers to entry/exit with few competitors (a la Intel). There are others.
That's good to know. Elephant-sized water particles are called 'ponds'.