I'm positive I did not pay the tax. No license sticker. They actually take off the 100 dollars in their web selection tool when purchasing the laptop. They are very up-front about this.
I have Dell Precision M3800 for my work and it has been fantastic. It comes pre-configured with Ubuntu and thus saves you a hundred dollars vis-a-vis the Windows LIcense cost. I am very happy with the machine and use it has a workstation replacement. I push it hard and it has been fine. I would suggest that if you use it as a development machine to purchase a stand to allow it to cool properly. The graphic device drivers are great and it is an actual working touch-screen which I honestly don't use (emacs users) but does make the Unity interface actually usable.
Link is here; http://www.dell.com/us/busines...
Lenovo's have been good in the past but Lenovo is reducing quality fast and thus I would not suggest such a machine. HP also would not be a good choice. (Thanks Fiorina!)
Actually we felt it in Boston. I could feel the swaying. I sent an IM to somebody asking if they felt it. Later they said they had. Once I read this message the the time 1:41pm EDT I noted that my IM message was sent at 1:44. My clock is probably off somewhat but that's close enough. I have felt other quakes in New England. This would be the fourth so it is not unheard of. Also much of Boston is filled-in land thus it tends to amplify the shock waves.
First I commend the many find responses offered to this important question. My only comment that has not already been articulated would be that I disagree with the thought that there is no limit to management and that it is possible for a middle-manager to rise to the c-suite. This no longer occurs which is actually a problem. The upper management ranks now consider themselves aristocrats and pay themselves accordingly and dispense with employees of all kinds in the lower ranks accordingly.
It also appears that there is a trend towards more experienced technologists. I am 42 year old coder and architect and I am often ping'ed with job requests even in this economic environment. I've done some management and speak often with management given my position and there opinions of management job prospects vis-a-vis tech seem to square with my opinion above. If you want to move to upper management you are best starting your own company if you are not a Harvard MBA. That's my two cents in any event.
I suggest trying management since it appears from your post you desire this. However, be prepared to abruptly change course again if you decide this is not your karma because project/middle management is extremely difficult and not highly valued by upper management.
In any event I wish you the best of luck. I truly do.
You hit the problem I've always had with him. In fact, I could add to the list a device that extracts water right out of the air with very little power. That could be powered by electricity and solves the issue of actually getting water at all which the other devices do not.
Did he ask "Is the issue lack of technology or lack of access to technology?" He never asks that question. So everything is a technological solution which is not really what the world wants nor needs.
I'd like to extend my congratulations to all those slashdot denizens that jumped instantly and in unison onto the Canton website listed in this article. They never knew what hit them.
The sarcasm is obscurring a real threat:
"and will cooperate fully in helping Google change people's perceptions of its role"
Google tends towards arrogance when working with non-techies. For example, Wall Street, Regulators and now The Press. Whether or not the institutions
deserve the slap I think it not wise to annoy them.
I think it was Napoleon that said he would rather face a squandron of Lancers than an angry press.
To think that this movie is somehow more violent than *this* planet is amusing. It is a restless day in which somebody is not blown to smithereens in Iraq yet I am supposed to feel outraged that the new Star Wars movie earned a pg-13 rating?
This is actually an accounting and cashflow issue.
Essentially it comes down to the rate of return of the equipment vis-a-vis the companies cost of capital.
If the return on the equipment is greater than the cost of capital it makes sense to lease. Now within this calculation you must take into account the cost of maintaining the equipment. That is subtraced from the rate of return along with anything else you deem important.
I am simplifying here as I don't want to write a book but it comes down to this:
It is irrational to purchase equipment with money that could earn a greater return elsewhere. It is irrational to use cash to purchase equipment if you can borrow at a lower rate than the plant produces.
You also don't have depreciation which can look bad on the books. Ask your accountant concerning GAAP and IAAP.
The current debian release process worked at one time. PResently however a release is much larger as it encompases about every concievable piece of software you might wish to install.
That's a tall order. I think perhaps the Gentoo system, which I now use exclusivly, might have the best idea. Distribute a base system. Allow the user to include/exclude and upgrade whatever they want as they move along. Their call.
I have emerged items (download and compile) and then reverted them just as quickly if I found an issue. I think that is the only way given the huge amount of software available and the possible library interactions.
I think Debian biting off a lot. I respect them greatly for trying however.
The French language tirade against English via French Academics is nothing new and something similar happens periodially in Britain vis-a-vis American/Australian English. The idea is to drump-up support for some funding effort related to language preservation from the government.
It isn't simple to get funding in Europe for anything including science at the academic level. That's why they European academics often end up in the states where funding is more plentiful relatively speaking.
The fact that slashdot published a link to the Bank Of Canada's website means that apparently they *also* will be experiencing issues with their website. I.T. will be having a bad day at the bank.
Just recite this every time you think of using P2P in Italy.
Luca Brasi:
Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your daughter... 's wedding... on the day of your daughter's wedding. And I hope their first child be a masculine child. I pledge my ever-ending loyalty.
I actually agree that it is an aspect of off-shoring. When my kids grow older I will keep them away from the engineering/science fields. IT is not worth the enormous effort only to find a low paying job after college.
SHould you be fortunate enough to find a position you will only be axed at age 30 because you are to old. You would be better off being a professional foot-ball player as their average carear is slightly longer than that of a software engineer.
Now with the off-shoring craze you are now guaranteed to *not* find employment. This isn't going away.
As this continues I really am begining to think it doesn't make sense to attend college either. Much better to enter a trade school or two year program and save the money and make decent cash performing work that can't be off-shored *and* wont take 120,000 dollars of debt and lost years of income to procure.
American students are not lazy. They are in fact not stupid at all. They are adding properly. 2 + 2 equals 4.
It's not the employer that is making this requirement. The SEC has regulated such communication since its inception in 1934 in accordance with the Securities ACT of 1933 and the Securties and Exchange ACT of 1934. This is the law. Period.
Insider trading and information dissemination is strictly regulated to prevent classic insider stock manipulation gambits. To get some idea of how that worked you can read "Reminiscence of a Stock Operator " first publised in 1924.
Sam Waksel who was found guilty of violation of several securities laws and could have been hung up on obstruction of justice to boot is now spending 7 years in prison. He could have gotton 40.
The laws have become stricter more recently. Just before the bubble burst Congress enacted more legislation that prevented companies from providing non-public information to traders, analysists and the like. They mean it. Siebel executives during a dinner recently that off the cuff mentioned some data to an analysist are now having to explain themselves to the SEC. SEC is in a bad mood these days.
The point that is lost outside the industry is that the witch hunt is on. This happens after every debacle. It is not a technical issue. The IM infrastructure *must* meet SEC and NASD ( 1938 ACT ) rules and regulations otherwise the companies face prosecution and the individuals lose Series 7.
I am actually astonished NASD waited this long. Brokerage firms are all ready rushing to comply in 2003 because it has been assumed this would happen.
I would suggest at this time that you have a choice of three that have reasonable price, performance, reliability and availability statistics.
1.) Prius.
2.) Insight
3.) Honda Civic Hybred
I am going to give a quick overview of each vehicle.
The Prius from Toyota is a more traditional hybred design which is what you would expect from Toyota. They are a bit conservative. That being said the system they devised is excellent.
The Prius essentially incorporates a seperate induction engine which can power the vehicle
on it own without assist for a short period at low speed. It also regenerates the batteries when braking.
The advantage here is that an internal combustion piston engine cannot be efficient at all RPM's and actually only produces good torque and clean emissions during specific RPM bands. If the induction motor handles the low RPM range and can assist on the high RPM range for passing the gas engine can be tuned to the mid-range RPM band.
That's what Toyota did. In fact the engine itself is one of the few examples of the Atkinson Cycle engine that actually made production. The Atkinson is very efficient but suffers from the fact that it produces dreadful low RPM torque.
I think you see that its a good match with the induction motor.
Thus a very light Atkinson block can power a production vehicle if an induction motor handles the low end load and assists on the high end. Nice setup. What you get is a vehicle that reliably seats 4 ( perhaps 5 if you have tiny friends ) and gets at least 50 miles to the gallon in comfort.
IN addition it is very clean. NOX, HydroCarbonds, CO and CO2 are reduced greatly.
The second choice is the insight which is a very different hybred vehicle actually than Toyota's.
It's an integrated Motor Assist setup. The battery, unbelievably thin, is integrated with the block. That means one engine with two power systems which is a mind blower.
The induction motor will assist when power is required at low end and high end but it *can't* take the entier load ever. It only assists. The the gas engine has to run for you to move.
At first this doesn't sound wonderful but it actually is very clever. By assisting the engine the engine doesn't need to be as big and powerful. Thus you can get away with a small 3 cylinder engine. I mean small! In addition the induction motor will regenerate the batteries and will smooth out the vibrations with short bursts of power such that the 3 cyclinder engine wont beat itself up. They aren't balanced you know.
The engine itself is a wonder. It's a super light variable valve timing lean burning engine. This is the decendant of the 92 horse power 4 cyclinder lean burner that Honda used to sell in its Honda Civic Hatchbacks some time ago.
With an aluminum body and lots of batteries and a very low drag coefficient this vehicle pays every price for fuel economy which it achieves.
The last vehicle is Honda's Hybred Civic. That means a production vehicle with a Hybred drive train. The first ever in automotive history and I think the most important vehicle of the three for that reason. This means these vehicles are *real* in the automotive sense.
Same system as the insight only 4 cylinders and an improved induction motor and control system. This system actually idles cyclinders when you are slowing down to further conserve fuel.
51 miles per gallon and basically 20K. Beyond that same as any other Civic which is the idea.
Below are much very short summarized opinions on each vehicle with an emphases on what would be best for the consumer.
Insight: If you want MPG uber every other consideration then this is your vehicle. I have seen many of these vehicles driven by people with just that attitude which is fine and dandy. I think this vehicle is especially well suited to the Sunshine states.
However, tho I have seen many of these vehicles in New England I can recommend this vehicle in areas where it snows. The small baby-coach wheels and low hung carrage make this a "pusher" as we call it in New England. Meaning you get out and push the vehicle through the snow banks. Serously, New England can be brutal on vehicles and frankly this car wont measure up dispite what many people may claim.
But for the Sunshine states *or* a Summer vehicle this will work great. Awesome in the city in particular.
Prius: I think this is the best combination of good mileage, confort and price. You don't get as good MPG as the Insight but you don't suffer the road bumps either. YOu can feel the Insight running over a termite but the Prius is civilized.
My only word of caution is that this vehicle also has baby coach wheels and is a bit low hung. I expect it is better in the snow than an Insight but you may have trouble. Consider it a bigger version of a sub-compact in that sense. This is a good purchase for anybody that wants really good mileage in the City where it really shines but does not want to suffer and needs a trunk and has more than one friend.
Civic Production Hybred:
I actually like this vehicle the best. Ya, it doesn't have the MPG like the above two especially in the city. ( Keep in mind that the MPG on the sticker will vary much from actual driving experience with Hybreds. ) But, it does
get great mileage is not as costly for its size and it is larger than the other two. The Civic
will perform well in snow, sleet and ice just
like past Civics. In other words, an ordinary car with an extraordinary drive train.
This is the best vehicle if you just want a damn car that does damn car things but miraculously gets better mileage. If that's you then you want this car.
I think that's the best reasoning I can arrive at for purchasing one over another. It really is a personal decision. You actually have a good variety of choices here.
Here are some misc bits of info that I will toss in as is.
o All these systems idle stop the engine. The induction motor will start them. No starter motor. The induction motor does various things on these vehicles. Move the car, regenerate power, start the engine...
o The batteries are NiMetalHydride. That means a loss of power perhaps 30 percent in really cold climates. Not a *big* deal but understand this.
o The batteries are 8-10 year batteries. By the time they die they should be cheaper. Assuming you don't move to Lithium Ion XXX.
o The original Insight actually gets better mileage than the current ones. The lean burners were gaining MPG but emitting more NOX. They changes that to make the system SULEV rather than simply ULEV to keep up with Toyota. The price paid is less MPG and thus more CO2.
In Europe with Diesels they will tolerate more NOX, HydroCarb and Particulate matter to get less CO2. In the US its no NOX, Particulate Matter and HydroCarbon but CO2 is ok.
o You engine cycles that you will be seeing in the future are: Atkinson (Toyota) Miller (Mazda) and advances on the Otto (everybody else in the world). You also will see a return of the Wankel Rotary engine apparently.
o 42 Volt systems are in vogue in Detroit since they are cheaper, get you 25 percent better mileage and allow them to provide more power for appliances. The system has super lead acid batteries and an induction motor that will start the engine from idle stop and regenerate. It will not propel the vehicle. Contractor special pickups will arrive that can use the engine as a generator which is actually more efficient and cleaner than the ones at Home Depot.
What they think is that they are going out of business in the not-to-distant future.
The Gartner group claims that within 5 years AT&T will be purchased by another corporation and will cease to exist as a serpate corporate entity. The time frame might be optimistic, 5 years seems a bit soon, but the conclustion is indisputable. AT&T just began a 5-1 stock reverse split. First time in its history and the first for a DOW component. That's something that soon-to-be-delisted dot-coms do. Not DOW components.
How the mightly hast fallen.
I'm not sure if those outside the United States realize that MA-Bell is on her deathbed. In fact, amoungst the possible purchasers of the AT&T franchise are any number of the baby-bells such as Verizon or PacBell.
Thus the closing of the lab is just a sign of AT&T's time. Telco in general is cratering within the United States. The internet is crushing the old to make way for the new.
I have to tell you that, honestly, AT&T had it coming for some time. I am sorry that many good people are getting squashed but the corporation as a while has done much to harm customers and prevent the movement towards the Internet in recent years.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm positive I did not pay the tax. No license sticker. They actually take off the 100 dollars in their web selection tool when purchasing the laptop. They are very up-front about this.
I have Dell Precision M3800 for my work and it has been fantastic. It comes pre-configured with Ubuntu and thus saves you a hundred dollars vis-a-vis the Windows LIcense cost. I am very happy with the machine and use it has a workstation replacement. I push it hard and it has been fine. I would suggest that if you use it as a development machine to purchase a stand to allow it to cool properly. The graphic device drivers are great and it is an actual working touch-screen which I honestly don't use (emacs users) but does make the Unity interface actually usable. Link is here; http://www.dell.com/us/busines... Lenovo's have been good in the past but Lenovo is reducing quality fast and thus I would not suggest such a machine. HP also would not be a good choice. (Thanks Fiorina!)
If I wanted to meet interesting folks at the Maker Fair I would simply manufacture them in my 3D printer.
Actually we felt it in Boston. I could feel the swaying. I sent an IM to somebody asking if they felt it. Later they said they had. Once I read this message the the time 1:41pm EDT I noted that my IM message was sent at 1:44. My clock is probably off somewhat but that's close enough. I have felt other quakes in New England. This would be the fourth so it is not unheard of. Also much of Boston is filled-in land thus it tends to amplify the shock waves.
First I commend the many find responses offered to this important question. My only comment that has not already been articulated would be that I disagree with the thought that there is no limit to management and that it is possible for a middle-manager to rise to the c-suite. This no longer occurs which is actually a problem. The upper management ranks now consider themselves aristocrats and pay themselves accordingly and dispense with employees of all kinds in the lower ranks accordingly. It also appears that there is a trend towards more experienced technologists. I am 42 year old coder and architect and I am often ping'ed with job requests even in this economic environment. I've done some management and speak often with management given my position and there opinions of management job prospects vis-a-vis tech seem to square with my opinion above. If you want to move to upper management you are best starting your own company if you are not a Harvard MBA. That's my two cents in any event. I suggest trying management since it appears from your post you desire this. However, be prepared to abruptly change course again if you decide this is not your karma because project/middle management is extremely difficult and not highly valued by upper management. In any event I wish you the best of luck. I truly do.
You hit the problem I've always had with him. In fact, I could add to the list a device that extracts water right out of the air with very little power. That could be powered by electricity and solves the issue of actually getting water at all which the other devices do not. Did he ask "Is the issue lack of technology or lack of access to technology?" He never asks that question. So everything is a technological solution which is not really what the world wants nor needs.
I bet my combat software can beat your combat software.
I'd like to extend my congratulations to all those slashdot denizens that jumped instantly and in unison onto the Canton website listed in this article. They never knew what hit them.
The sarcasm is obscurring a real threat: "and will cooperate fully in helping Google change people's perceptions of its role" Google tends towards arrogance when working with non-techies. For example, Wall Street, Regulators and now The Press. Whether or not the institutions deserve the slap I think it not wise to annoy them. I think it was Napoleon that said he would rather face a squandron of Lancers than an angry press.
If only that were playing non-stop on the Sterio of that fella's apartment.
To think that this movie is somehow more violent than *this* planet is amusing. It is a restless day in which somebody is not blown to smithereens in Iraq yet I am supposed to feel outraged that the new Star Wars movie earned a pg-13 rating?
My outrage well is dry for the moment. Sorry.
Why not just go the entire nine yards and tatoo bar-codes on the kid's forhead? Smart-cards are yesterdays news.
This is actually an accounting and cashflow issue.
Essentially it comes down to the rate of return of the equipment vis-a-vis the companies cost of capital.
If the return on the equipment is greater than the cost of capital it makes sense to lease. Now within this calculation you must take into account the cost of maintaining the equipment. That is subtraced from the rate of return along with anything else you deem important.
I am simplifying here as I don't want to write a book but it comes down to this:
It is irrational to purchase equipment with money that could earn a greater return elsewhere. It is irrational to use cash to purchase equipment if you can borrow at a lower rate than the plant produces.
You also don't have depreciation which can look bad on the books. Ask your accountant concerning GAAP and IAAP.
The current debian release process worked at one time. PResently however a release is much larger as it encompases about every concievable piece of software you might wish to install. That's a tall order. I think perhaps the Gentoo system, which I now use exclusivly, might have the best idea. Distribute a base system. Allow the user to include/exclude and upgrade whatever they want as they move along. Their call. I have emerged items (download and compile) and then reverted them just as quickly if I found an issue. I think that is the only way given the huge amount of software available and the possible library interactions. I think Debian biting off a lot. I respect them greatly for trying however.
The French language tirade against English via French Academics is nothing new and something similar happens periodially in Britain vis-a-vis American/Australian English. The idea is to drump-up support for some funding effort related to language preservation from the government.
It isn't simple to get funding in Europe for anything including science at the academic level. That's why they European academics often end up in the states where funding is more plentiful relatively speaking.
The fact that slashdot published a link to the Bank Of Canada's website means that apparently they *also* will be experiencing issues with their website. I.T. will be having a bad day at the bank.
Just recite this every time you think of using P2P in Italy.
Luca Brasi:
Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your daughter... 's wedding... on the day of your daughter's wedding. And I hope their first child be a masculine child. I pledge my ever-ending loyalty.
I actually agree that it is an aspect of off-shoring. When my kids grow older I will keep them away from the engineering/science fields. IT is not worth the enormous effort only to find a low paying job after college. SHould you be fortunate enough to find a position you will only be axed at age 30 because you are to old. You would be better off being a professional foot-ball player as their average carear is slightly longer than that of a software engineer. Now with the off-shoring craze you are now guaranteed to *not* find employment. This isn't going away. As this continues I really am begining to think it doesn't make sense to attend college either. Much better to enter a trade school or two year program and save the money and make decent cash performing work that can't be off-shored *and* wont take 120,000 dollars of debt and lost years of income to procure. American students are not lazy. They are in fact not stupid at all. They are adding properly. 2 + 2 equals 4.
It's not the employer that is making this requirement. The SEC has regulated such communication since its inception in 1934 in accordance with the Securities ACT of 1933 and the Securties and Exchange ACT of 1934. This is the law. Period.
Insider trading and information dissemination is strictly regulated to prevent classic insider stock manipulation gambits. To get some idea of how that worked you can read "Reminiscence of a Stock Operator " first publised in 1924.
Sam Waksel who was found guilty of violation of several securities laws and could have been hung up on obstruction of justice to boot is now spending 7 years in prison. He could have gotton 40.
The laws have become stricter more recently. Just before the bubble burst Congress enacted more legislation that prevented companies from providing non-public information to traders, analysists and the like. They mean it. Siebel executives during a dinner recently that off the cuff mentioned some data to an analysist are now having to explain themselves to the SEC. SEC is in a bad mood these days.
The point that is lost outside the industry is that the witch hunt is on. This happens after every debacle. It is not a technical issue. The IM infrastructure *must* meet SEC and NASD ( 1938 ACT ) rules and regulations otherwise the companies face prosecution and the individuals lose Series 7.
I am actually astonished NASD waited this long. Brokerage firms are all ready rushing to comply in 2003 because it has been assumed this would happen.
FYI
I would suggest at this time that you have a choice of three that have reasonable price, performance, reliability and availability statistics. 1.) Prius. 2.) Insight 3.) Honda Civic Hybred I am going to give a quick overview of each vehicle. The Prius from Toyota is a more traditional hybred design which is what you would expect from Toyota. They are a bit conservative. That being said the system they devised is excellent. The Prius essentially incorporates a seperate induction engine which can power the vehicle on it own without assist for a short period at low speed. It also regenerates the batteries when braking. The advantage here is that an internal combustion piston engine cannot be efficient at all RPM's and actually only produces good torque and clean emissions during specific RPM bands. If the induction motor handles the low RPM range and can assist on the high RPM range for passing the gas engine can be tuned to the mid-range RPM band. That's what Toyota did. In fact the engine itself is one of the few examples of the Atkinson Cycle engine that actually made production. The Atkinson is very efficient but suffers from the fact that it produces dreadful low RPM torque. I think you see that its a good match with the induction motor. Thus a very light Atkinson block can power a production vehicle if an induction motor handles the low end load and assists on the high end. Nice setup. What you get is a vehicle that reliably seats 4 ( perhaps 5 if you have tiny friends ) and gets at least 50 miles to the gallon in comfort. IN addition it is very clean. NOX, HydroCarbonds, CO and CO2 are reduced greatly. The second choice is the insight which is a very different hybred vehicle actually than Toyota's. It's an integrated Motor Assist setup. The battery, unbelievably thin, is integrated with the block. That means one engine with two power systems which is a mind blower. The induction motor will assist when power is required at low end and high end but it *can't* take the entier load ever. It only assists. The the gas engine has to run for you to move. At first this doesn't sound wonderful but it actually is very clever. By assisting the engine the engine doesn't need to be as big and powerful. Thus you can get away with a small 3 cylinder engine. I mean small! In addition the induction motor will regenerate the batteries and will smooth out the vibrations with short bursts of power such that the 3 cyclinder engine wont beat itself up. They aren't balanced you know. The engine itself is a wonder. It's a super light variable valve timing lean burning engine. This is the decendant of the 92 horse power 4 cyclinder lean burner that Honda used to sell in its Honda Civic Hatchbacks some time ago. With an aluminum body and lots of batteries and a very low drag coefficient this vehicle pays every price for fuel economy which it achieves. The last vehicle is Honda's Hybred Civic. That means a production vehicle with a Hybred drive train. The first ever in automotive history and I think the most important vehicle of the three for that reason. This means these vehicles are *real* in the automotive sense. Same system as the insight only 4 cylinders and an improved induction motor and control system. This system actually idles cyclinders when you are slowing down to further conserve fuel. 51 miles per gallon and basically 20K. Beyond that same as any other Civic which is the idea. Below are much very short summarized opinions on each vehicle with an emphases on what would be best for the consumer. Insight: If you want MPG uber every other consideration then this is your vehicle. I have seen many of these vehicles driven by people with just that attitude which is fine and dandy. I think this vehicle is especially well suited to the Sunshine states. However, tho I have seen many of these vehicles in New England I can recommend this vehicle in areas where it snows. The small baby-coach wheels and low hung carrage make this a "pusher" as we call it in New England. Meaning you get out and push the vehicle through the snow banks. Serously, New England can be brutal on vehicles and frankly this car wont measure up dispite what many people may claim. But for the Sunshine states *or* a Summer vehicle this will work great. Awesome in the city in particular. Prius: I think this is the best combination of good mileage, confort and price. You don't get as good MPG as the Insight but you don't suffer the road bumps either. YOu can feel the Insight running over a termite but the Prius is civilized. My only word of caution is that this vehicle also has baby coach wheels and is a bit low hung. I expect it is better in the snow than an Insight but you may have trouble. Consider it a bigger version of a sub-compact in that sense. This is a good purchase for anybody that wants really good mileage in the City where it really shines but does not want to suffer and needs a trunk and has more than one friend. Civic Production Hybred: I actually like this vehicle the best. Ya, it doesn't have the MPG like the above two especially in the city. ( Keep in mind that the MPG on the sticker will vary much from actual driving experience with Hybreds. ) But, it does get great mileage is not as costly for its size and it is larger than the other two. The Civic will perform well in snow, sleet and ice just like past Civics. In other words, an ordinary car with an extraordinary drive train. This is the best vehicle if you just want a damn car that does damn car things but miraculously gets better mileage. If that's you then you want this car. I think that's the best reasoning I can arrive at for purchasing one over another. It really is a personal decision. You actually have a good variety of choices here. Here are some misc bits of info that I will toss in as is. o All these systems idle stop the engine. The induction motor will start them. No starter motor. The induction motor does various things on these vehicles. Move the car, regenerate power, start the engine... o The batteries are NiMetalHydride. That means a loss of power perhaps 30 percent in really cold climates. Not a *big* deal but understand this. o The batteries are 8-10 year batteries. By the time they die they should be cheaper. Assuming you don't move to Lithium Ion XXX. o The original Insight actually gets better mileage than the current ones. The lean burners were gaining MPG but emitting more NOX. They changes that to make the system SULEV rather than simply ULEV to keep up with Toyota. The price paid is less MPG and thus more CO2. In Europe with Diesels they will tolerate more NOX, HydroCarb and Particulate matter to get less CO2. In the US its no NOX, Particulate Matter and HydroCarbon but CO2 is ok. o You engine cycles that you will be seeing in the future are: Atkinson (Toyota) Miller (Mazda) and advances on the Otto (everybody else in the world). You also will see a return of the Wankel Rotary engine apparently. o 42 Volt systems are in vogue in Detroit since they are cheaper, get you 25 percent better mileage and allow them to provide more power for appliances. The system has super lead acid batteries and an induction motor that will start the engine from idle stop and regenerate. It will not propel the vehicle. Contractor special pickups will arrive that can use the engine as a generator which is actually more efficient and cleaner than the ones at Home Depot.
What they think is that they are going out of business in the not-to-distant future.
The Gartner group claims that within 5 years AT&T will be purchased by another corporation and will cease to exist as a serpate corporate entity. The time frame might be optimistic, 5 years seems a bit soon, but the conclustion is indisputable. AT&T just began a 5-1 stock reverse split. First time in its history and the first for a DOW component. That's something that soon-to-be-delisted dot-coms do. Not DOW components.
How the mightly hast fallen.
I'm not sure if those outside the United States realize that MA-Bell is on her deathbed. In fact, amoungst the possible purchasers of the AT&T franchise are any number of the baby-bells such as Verizon or PacBell.
Thus the closing of the lab is just a
sign of AT&T's time. Telco in general is cratering within the United States. The internet is crushing the old to make way for the new.
I have to tell you that, honestly, AT&T had it coming for some time. I am sorry that many good people are getting squashed but the corporation as a while has done much to harm customers and prevent the movement towards the Internet in recent years.
In any event, so goes AT&T and so goes the lab.
Sorry guys.