IIRC, we were taught in driver's ed that the police could enforce lower-than-posted speed limits with poor road conditions at their discretion. I don't think it regularly happens, but they do indeed have the authority to do so.
On June 24, 2008, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who represents most of San Francisco, California) told reporters that her fellow Democrat representatives did not want to forbid reintroduction of the Fairness Doctrine, adding "the interest in my caucus is the reverse." When asked by John Gizzi of Human Events, "Do you personally support revival of the 'Fairness Doctrine?'", the Speaker replied "Yes."
Are you high? Granted, I haven't been to Europe (France, Germany, Netherlands) since 2006, but I can't name a single thing that was less expensive, and I live in one of the most expensive cities in the US ($9 Beer Night).
I specifically went looking for cheap Lacoste stuff in France, and there was essentially dollar to euro parity, while the exchange rate was about 1.5:1. In other words, while I would pay $70 (just got a couple for $30 each on sale) for a shirt in the US, in France the same shirt was going for 70 euros. Food and drink prices seemed to be roughly comparable as well. Consumer Electronics, however, were considerably more expensive than in the US, as was gas. The metro was no less expensive than the DC subway, and the trains weren't cheaper than Amtrak, though 1000% better. I'd have to assume the reason that you believe it's actually cheaper is because you enjoy being banged out for taxes all the time.
You'll notice that the uber-liberal governments of California and New York are both suffering financially, with California looking for a bailout. The fact of the matter is that the myriad social programs they've created are unsustainable, and patching the wound to stop the bleeding would be an admission of that fact. Instead they'll flail around with stupid entertainment, environmental, business, and social-ills taxes, until they're bailed out, they totally sink, or the economy picks back up.
You aren't going to have people running a cable to your house in case you might want to use it.
They would if they were allowed to, but the majority of the time this is a forced monopoly, perpetuated by local franchise agreements. Before FiOS came, my home was served by two separate cable companies, that competed quite aggressively on price, bandwidth, and service. Verizon has effectively added a third competitor, further reducing price, increasing channel selection (2 years of free HBO), and significantly improving bandwidth. If they were unable to compete so freely in my county, I doubt we'd have been the first in the state with service installed (cable wasn't offered until much later), nearly 3 years ago now.
If you can't self-insure to pay the cost of shipping (~$6) because your disks are so frequently damaged, you have a much larger problem on your hands. In order for this to make sense, ever other game you purchase would have to be damaged beyond usability.
And you got ripped off. The manufacturer will generally replace damaged disks for the cost of shipping. If you're buying coverage on all your games, it's well over that cost.
P/E ratios for a company with flat revenue/profit growth are generally between 8 and 10. What this means is that a company that isn't growing is worth approximately 10 times what its annual profit is.
What you're not accounting for is the rapid growth, and expected future growth that Sun was counting on. Given the massive number of websites and/or large enterprises that use MySQL, and how quickly MySQL has matured into something which is beginning to resemble a real RDBMS, I think it's safe to assume that MySQL is going to continue to grow rapidly, vigorously chipping away at both Oracle and Microsoft. In addition, I believe that Sun correctly analyzed the largest problem faced by MySQL AB, the difficulty in picking up service contracts with large enterprise customers. Sun correctly surmised that while MySQL AB would have difficulty selling enterprise service contracts to Fortune 500's, Sun Microsystems wouldn't encounter the same difficulties. After all, they sell them hardware and enterprise service contracts already. Indeed, Jonathan Schwartz talks about exactly this here, where he describes selling MySQL services to a large enterprise client.
The other side of the story is the JAMS (Java, Apache, MySQL, and Solaris) stack, and the synergy created through the acquisition. Sun is now in the perfect position to start offering totally unified hardware and software support solutions. They designed and created Java, MySQL, Solaris, and the hardware in that equation, making them a very attractive option for the buyer. I believe that by being able to package and offer all of the software, hardware, and services together, offering them much less expensively than the competition by leveraging the open source community, Sun will easily be able to drive revenue. In fact, I'd bet that within 5-10 years, this acquisition could be driving a billion dollars of new revenue (that includes systems and services contracts they wouldn't have otherwise sold) a year to Sun. Should that happen, they'll have gotten a bargain on the acquisition.
Finally, there is one additional issue, which is the decline of enterprise systems in recent years. Sun has been attempting to divest themselves from their systems business for some time now, in an effort to establish other revenue streams. The MySQL acquisition was the perfect maneuver to jump start the systems business, while also broadening the horizons of the services business. Look at it as kind of a way to stay relevant with a changing landscape.
I guess what I'm getting at is that a company that has 200% revenue and profit growth today (just guessing Sun can achieve that), and a P/E ratio of 100 can still be an attractive investment, given that the ratio with sustained growth will effectively be 50 in one year, 25 in the next, and 12.5 in the third. It's a long term investment predicated on future growth potential, and in this case the additional benefits of having the product as part of Sun's larger portfolio.
About 38% of Sun's income, ~$5.26 billion, is derived from services. If MySQL represents just $100M of that $5.26B, the purchase price was probably fair, given that their support sector generally operates quite profitably.
The difficulty is that the air is very thin and the wind speeds can be quite high, with both updrafts and downdrafts, making the aircraft difficult to stabilize. The conditions may make it almost impossible to avoid touching the mountain.
It's not that easy, operating helicopters at that altitude is risky, to say the least. While a helicopter was able to land at the summit in 2005, multiple helicopters have crashed trying to land at the base camp, 10,000 feet below.
I once heard that the US Southern Border patrol, in their search for race-independent terminology, started referring to illegal immigrants crossing the border as "thunks", because that's kind of what it sounds like when you hit one with your flashlight.
The government can't even manage to keep a simple web service online, and people still believe that it would be wise to let them control health care. Once they can handle the trivial, they should be allowed to move onto bigger things.
This is interesting. I will commonly try to think about tough programming problems just before going to sleep, and generally find that in the morning the solution is apparent. I've also used to notice I did better when studying at night, knowing information I was shaky on well in the morning. I had no idea it also worked with motor skills.
Given that the sea level is only projected to rise by 9 to 88 cm before 2100, I'm not holding my breath. Don't believe the propaganda, especially when the guy that's pushing at it has a ton to gain trading carbon credits.
I can't wait to give all of my money to the government so they can provide me with all of this free shit. Wait... And it will be shit, take a look at the public schools for proof of that.
Don't like paying taxes? Quit your job. Grow your own food. Make your own electricity. Live off the grid.
Not willing to do all that? Then pay your taxes and quit complaining.
The government doesn't provide my job, my food, or my electricity. I perform services in exchange for money, which I then trade for those goods/services.
Slashdot Mirror
IIRC, we were taught in driver's ed that the police could enforce lower-than-posted speed limits with poor road conditions at their discretion. I don't think it regularly happens, but they do indeed have the authority to do so.
From Wikipedia:
On June 24, 2008, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (who represents most of San Francisco, California) told reporters that her fellow Democrat representatives did not want to forbid reintroduction of the Fairness Doctrine, adding "the interest in my caucus is the reverse." When asked by John Gizzi of Human Events, "Do you personally support revival of the 'Fairness Doctrine?'", the Speaker replied "Yes."
Are you high? Granted, I haven't been to Europe (France, Germany, Netherlands) since 2006, but I can't name a single thing that was less expensive, and I live in one of the most expensive cities in the US ($9 Beer Night).
I specifically went looking for cheap Lacoste stuff in France, and there was essentially dollar to euro parity, while the exchange rate was about 1.5:1. In other words, while I would pay $70 (just got a couple for $30 each on sale) for a shirt in the US, in France the same shirt was going for 70 euros. Food and drink prices seemed to be roughly comparable as well. Consumer Electronics, however, were considerably more expensive than in the US, as was gas. The metro was no less expensive than the DC subway, and the trains weren't cheaper than Amtrak, though 1000% better. I'd have to assume the reason that you believe it's actually cheaper is because you enjoy being banged out for taxes all the time.
There is nothing unusual about having your internet access filtered in the workplace, which is a far cry from the great firewall of china.
Know, he's saying that he works at the Department of State, and they filter his internet access at work. GP is apparently not particularly clueful.
You'll notice that the uber-liberal governments of California and New York are both suffering financially, with California looking for a bailout. The fact of the matter is that the myriad social programs they've created are unsustainable, and patching the wound to stop the bleeding would be an admission of that fact. Instead they'll flail around with stupid entertainment, environmental, business, and social-ills taxes, until they're bailed out, they totally sink, or the economy picks back up.
You aren't going to have people running a cable to your house in case you might want to use it.
They would if they were allowed to, but the majority of the time this is a forced monopoly, perpetuated by local franchise agreements. Before FiOS came, my home was served by two separate cable companies, that competed quite aggressively on price, bandwidth, and service. Verizon has effectively added a third competitor, further reducing price, increasing channel selection (2 years of free HBO), and significantly improving bandwidth. If they were unable to compete so freely in my county, I doubt we'd have been the first in the state with service installed (cable wasn't offered until much later), nearly 3 years ago now.
If you can't self-insure to pay the cost of shipping (~$6) because your disks are so frequently damaged, you have a much larger problem on your hands. In order for this to make sense, ever other game you purchase would have to be damaged beyond usability.
You do understand that they'll generally replace the disk if you send it back to them, right?
And you got ripped off. The manufacturer will generally replace damaged disks for the cost of shipping. If you're buying coverage on all your games, it's well over that cost.
P/E ratios for a company with flat revenue/profit growth are generally between 8 and 10. What this means is that a company that isn't growing is worth approximately 10 times what its annual profit is.
What you're not accounting for is the rapid growth, and expected future growth that Sun was counting on. Given the massive number of websites and/or large enterprises that use MySQL, and how quickly MySQL has matured into something which is beginning to resemble a real RDBMS, I think it's safe to assume that MySQL is going to continue to grow rapidly, vigorously chipping away at both Oracle and Microsoft. In addition, I believe that Sun correctly analyzed the largest problem faced by MySQL AB, the difficulty in picking up service contracts with large enterprise customers. Sun correctly surmised that while MySQL AB would have difficulty selling enterprise service contracts to Fortune 500's, Sun Microsystems wouldn't encounter the same difficulties. After all, they sell them hardware and enterprise service contracts already. Indeed, Jonathan Schwartz talks about exactly this here, where he describes selling MySQL services to a large enterprise client.
The other side of the story is the JAMS (Java, Apache, MySQL, and Solaris) stack, and the synergy created through the acquisition. Sun is now in the perfect position to start offering totally unified hardware and software support solutions. They designed and created Java, MySQL, Solaris, and the hardware in that equation, making them a very attractive option for the buyer. I believe that by being able to package and offer all of the software, hardware, and services together, offering them much less expensively than the competition by leveraging the open source community, Sun will easily be able to drive revenue. In fact, I'd bet that within 5-10 years, this acquisition could be driving a billion dollars of new revenue (that includes systems and services contracts they wouldn't have otherwise sold) a year to Sun. Should that happen, they'll have gotten a bargain on the acquisition.
Finally, there is one additional issue, which is the decline of enterprise systems in recent years. Sun has been attempting to divest themselves from their systems business for some time now, in an effort to establish other revenue streams. The MySQL acquisition was the perfect maneuver to jump start the systems business, while also broadening the horizons of the services business. Look at it as kind of a way to stay relevant with a changing landscape.
I guess what I'm getting at is that a company that has 200% revenue and profit growth today (just guessing Sun can achieve that), and a P/E ratio of 100 can still be an attractive investment, given that the ratio with sustained growth will effectively be 50 in one year, 25 in the next, and 12.5 in the third. It's a long term investment predicated on future growth potential, and in this case the additional benefits of having the product as part of Sun's larger portfolio.
how could Sun justify paying that much?
About 38% of Sun's income, ~$5.26 billion, is derived from services. If MySQL represents just $100M of that $5.26B, the purchase price was probably fair, given that their support sector generally operates quite profitably.
The difficulty is that the air is very thin and the wind speeds can be quite high, with both updrafts and downdrafts, making the aircraft difficult to stabilize. The conditions may make it almost impossible to avoid touching the mountain.
It's not that easy, operating helicopters at that altitude is risky, to say the least. While a helicopter was able to land at the summit in 2005, multiple helicopters have crashed trying to land at the base camp, 10,000 feet below.
I once heard that the US Southern Border patrol, in their search for race-independent terminology, started referring to illegal immigrants crossing the border as "thunks", because that's kind of what it sounds like when you hit one with your flashlight.
Great idea, that provides all the benefits without the glaring pitfalls.
The postal service is an independent agency of the US government, like the CIA, the EPA, the FCC, the FTC, NASA, the NSF, the SSS, the SSA, the SEC.
The government can't even manage to keep a simple web service online, and people still believe that it would be wise to let them control health care. Once they can handle the trivial, they should be allowed to move onto bigger things.
This guy?
This is interesting. I will commonly try to think about tough programming problems just before going to sleep, and generally find that in the morning the solution is apparent. I've also used to notice I did better when studying at night, knowing information I was shaky on well in the morning. I had no idea it also worked with motor skills.
Given that the sea level is only projected to rise by 9 to 88 cm before 2100, I'm not holding my breath. Don't believe the propaganda, especially when the guy that's pushing at it has a ton to gain trading carbon credits.
I can't wait to give all of my money to the government so they can provide me with all of this free shit. Wait... And it will be shit, take a look at the public schools for proof of that.
Don't like paying taxes? Quit your job. Grow your own food. Make your own electricity. Live off the grid.
Not willing to do all that? Then pay your taxes and quit complaining.
The government doesn't provide my job, my food, or my electricity. I perform services in exchange for money, which I then trade for those goods/services.
If you think things are going to improve once the government is in charge, I've got an oceanfront home in Arizona I'd like to talk to you about.
They'd definitely buy, this is a great buyers market after all. The trouble is that this story was pretty thoroughly debunked yesterday.