I recently bought a slightly used pickup truck. 2000 F-150.
I did a comparison with purchase price, gas prices, mileage, etc. between the F-150, and a new Honda hybrid.
The F-150 @ $12,000 and 20mpg does not start to cost more than the Honda @ $22,000 and 70 mpg until almost 200,000 miles.
And that is not including any maintenance costs. Battery replacement, etc.
Yes, the truck uses more gas. But the price differential is hard to ignore on a personal level.
Well, gee...I guess if you can power a laser pointer strong enough to blind you with a couple of AAA batteries, a 747 or Navy destroyer can supply enough power to run a laser strong enough to affect an incoming missile.
No. That copy of XP you bought was not a full retail version. You bought it at a (presumably) much reduced price from Toshiba, as part of the deal in buying the laptop. When you no longer want it, it is supposed to go with the Toshiba.
Did you get an actual XP CD? No.
Similarly, you cannot buy that exact same OEM copy in the store. Toshiba can, through a licensing deal with MS, but you cannot.
If you had purchased XP in a box, you're free to sell it to whomever you wish.
I hope you're competing on other battlegrounds with that 12 year old.
Service, selection, return policy, security...Things that bring a customer back. I don't think I've ever seen a cookie-cutter online store that I'd actually buy from. Far too many loose ends.
to get on board with this plan, states have to harmonize their sales tax regimes. So that the state, and local taxes are the same.
Good as a concept, VERY difficult in pratice.
Different states and localities tax different things and exempt others. Some places, food is not taxed. Some, clothing. Some places only certain types of food. Some places have no tax.
Let us take a hypothetical:
I live in State X that does not tax clothing. The etailer I wish to buy from is also located in that state. So now I have to pay not only shipping for the one piece (far more than the local store pays for bulk shipping), but additionally the country-wide Internet tax on that clothing. The balance has just moved from one side to the other. The local retailer I might visit to buy that same thing does not add on the tax. Or..it might even be the same company. Tax via the web, no tax in person.
2 cable installs (Cox and RoadRunner) and both times, the tech said "We're supposed to install this stuff, but you really don't want it". (I didn't anyway)
They merely set up the protocols enough to get a signal, opened a browser and got to a random webpage. "OK...thats it. Here's the CD if you want to install it later."
The argument that the passenger is "helping you drive" is ludicrous.
It's not a matter of them helping you drive, but rather a 3 or 4 second silence while you deal with some bit of weirdness is not a problem. In a phone conversation, it very well might be. Especially an "important" call. Your boss/girlfriend/whatever. The caller cannot see what you are dealing with, and merrily goes on about their side of the call. You, in trying to listen and talk, divide your concentration. Often to the detriment of the most important task at the time....piloting a vehicle with more kinetic energy than a bullet.
A passenger next to you can also assess the situation from moment to moment and STFU. Someone on the other ond of the phone has no idea that you are about to run that red light because you are so into the phone conversation.
Basic membership is free, Pay per View is $3-4, premium membership is $9.95/month.
Most of the newer relases are avialable only to premium members. Yes, they have an adult selection for you/. weenies. Girls Gone Wild, etc...;) Have fun, kiddies.
There are a few free (as in beer) movies. Shorts mostly, a LOT of Mr. Bill from SNL, other movies no one's ever heard of.
Randomly cruising through the 650 movie list, I checked out a free 6 minute short, "Automatic". (It was pretty much the first 'free' one I came to.)
Run in a window the stream quality on cable was 'not too bad'.
Pop it out to full screen, however, and there was significant pixelization.
(Philips 17" monitor, PIII 850, Intel i815 integrated video, or a Dell Latitude with AGP Matrox vid)
Oh yeah, don't have any auto pop up things (email, IM, whatnot) running on that PC. Awful annoying have your email client scream at you during a quiet scene in the movie.
Would I pay $4 for movie from here? Not a chance. Would I pay $10/month for premium access? HA. Netflix at twice the price is waaaay better.
The home movie experience is so far from the average PC user as to be unworkable via this method. I suppose if you had a hotrod PC dedicated to the living room, with all the fancy graphics, a fat pipe, a $1000 monitor, and a really good vid out signal, then maybe you could reproduce the quality of a $200 TV and a $60 DVD player.
But probably not.
Next, we shall investigate capturing a movie from here via a USB Dazzle.
Enter to win a "Free Trip" at the mall, (and have your long distance service switched), for one example.
I know it's hard, but you have to read (and attempt to understand) what they are actually asking you to do. But, I guess the result of that will be ever more obfuscated wording, so that no real human could get the true meaning of what it is doing.
Legalese could expand a common, two line description into many, many pages. NO ONE would read and understand its true meaning.
Store files on my computer? Oh, that must mean the graphics that come with the card.
No, Virginia, they mean they will store whatever they feel like putting there.
Send emails to my friends? COOL!
No, send anything they want, any time they want. And possibly have their interface hacked by some OTHER fool next month.
"Oh, we reserve the right to change this EULA at any time. The new one will be posted on our website." (Way back 7 levels deep, at the bottom of the page in a font no human can read).
What might a new EULA do? Again, Virginia, anything they want.
M: OK, let me ask you a question, how did I win?
H: We randomly picked you from a DB of phone #'s.
M: Well, that's the DB I want you to take my name off.
No, Carlin is mostly right. The planet will survive. Maybe not with us, but the planet will go on. It was here long before humans, and will be here looong after we're gone.
We're just trying to save things for us.
Overpollution, etc., may hasten our departure (or at least make it less pleasant), but the actual planet does not give a fuck. The roaches will gladly take our place. Mankind will be seen as a short term abberation.
the more shocking claim is that humans appropriate directly or indirectly 40% of the NPP of world as a whole. That's a hell of a lot of caloric consumption by any standard.
Well..there ARE a hell of a lot of fat people around.
...even then there doesn't seem to much built around it or anyone using it. It reached a 1.0 release in September and was met with no fanfare.
So I'm supposed to bet the farm, our company, and MY job on recommending a 1.0 release of a pivotal tool that:
a) no one else uses
b) requires a massive $ investment to get off the ground
c) has only been out for 30 days.
d) has no support from the company that builds the call center respondent database.
Not likely.
If for whatever reason it craps out, we are out of business. I don't care so much about the operating system as I do the combination of operating system AND application. A crappy tool that runs under Linux is far, far worse than a good tool that runs under a properly administered Win2k OS.
Recommending Linux merely because it is Linux is a fast way to the unemployment line.
The -117 got shot down because the planning staff was asleep at the switch. The same route was used several days in a row. The shooters got a lucky shot in, but they had anticipated where the jet was going to be.
Random routes to the same spot might have precluded the shootdown.
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I recently bought a slightly used pickup truck. 2000 F-150.
I did a comparison with purchase price, gas prices, mileage, etc. between the F-150, and a new Honda hybrid.
The F-150 @ $12,000 and 20mpg does not start to cost more than the Honda @ $22,000 and 70 mpg until almost 200,000 miles.
And that is not including any maintenance costs. Battery replacement, etc.
Yes, the truck uses more gas. But the price differential is hard to ignore on a personal level.
Made in America like Nokia, Seimens, Philips, Sony, Sanyo, Ericsson...
Well, gee...I guess if you can power a laser pointer strong enough to blind you with a couple of AAA batteries, a 747 or Navy destroyer can supply enough power to run a laser strong enough to affect an incoming missile.
and leaving it very vulnerable to other forms of detection/destruction.
/. ers, actively defending Microsoft licensing issues.
Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?
No. That copy of XP you bought was not a full retail version. You bought it at a (presumably) much reduced price from Toshiba, as part of the deal in buying the laptop. When you no longer want it, it is supposed to go with the Toshiba.
Did you get an actual XP CD? No.
Similarly, you cannot buy that exact same OEM copy in the store. Toshiba can, through a licensing deal with MS, but you cannot.
If you had purchased XP in a box, you're free to sell it to whomever you wish.
No, the Receive Window Size is just right. The incoming packets may be a little too small, though.
I hope you're competing on other battlegrounds with that 12 year old.
Service, selection, return policy, security...Things that bring a customer back. I don't think I've ever seen a cookie-cutter online store that I'd actually buy from. Far too many loose ends.
to get on board with this plan, states have to harmonize their sales tax regimes. So that the state, and local taxes are the same.
Good as a concept, VERY difficult in pratice.
Different states and localities tax different things and exempt others. Some places, food is not taxed. Some, clothing. Some places only certain types of food. Some places have no tax.
Let us take a hypothetical:
I live in State X that does not tax clothing. The etailer I wish to buy from is also located in that state. So now I have to pay not only shipping for the one piece (far more than the local store pays for bulk shipping), but additionally the country-wide Internet tax on that clothing. The balance has just moved from one side to the other. The local retailer I might visit to buy that same thing does not add on the tax. Or..it might even be the same company. Tax via the web, no tax in person.
hmmmm....
2 cable installs (Cox and RoadRunner) and both times, the tech said "We're supposed to install this stuff, but you really don't want it". (I didn't anyway)
They merely set up the protocols enough to get a signal, opened a browser and got to a random webpage. "OK...thats it. Here's the CD if you want to install it later."
The argument that the passenger is "helping you drive" is ludicrous.
It's not a matter of them helping you drive, but rather a 3 or 4 second silence while you deal with some bit of weirdness is not a problem. In a phone conversation, it very well might be. Especially an "important" call. Your boss/girlfriend/whatever. The caller cannot see what you are dealing with, and merrily goes on about their side of the call. You, in trying to listen and talk, divide your concentration. Often to the detriment of the most important task at the time....piloting a vehicle with more kinetic energy than a bullet.
Playing video games takes more concentration than driving
That mindset is why 40,000+ people die every year in the US from car crashes.
A passenger next to you can also assess the situation from moment to moment and STFU. Someone on the other ond of the phone has no idea that you are about to run that red light because you are so into the phone conversation.
"The bandwidth of the brain is actually quite limited,"
For some more than others. Sadly, the more bandwidth limited are the least likely to realize this.
It won't be long 'til you drive chatting on the phone and cause an accident, your ass is toast.
I don't care about his ass being toast, I care about my ass when he hits me.
...try this.
Crank up your fave FPS or driving simulator. Get really into it. Mark down how soon you crash/get killed out.
Now call someone and try to have a meaningful talk on the hone with them while playing the same game. Now see how fast you get killed out.
Behind the wheel of your car, there is no "reset".
Basic membership is free, Pay per View is $3-4, premium membership is $9.95/month.
/. weenies. Girls Gone Wild, etc...;) Have fun, kiddies.
Most of the newer relases are avialable only to premium members. Yes, they have an adult selection for you
There are a few free (as in beer) movies. Shorts mostly, a LOT of Mr. Bill from SNL, other movies no one's ever heard of.
Randomly cruising through the 650 movie list, I checked out a free 6 minute short, "Automatic". (It was pretty much the first 'free' one I came to.) Run in a window the stream quality on cable was 'not too bad'.
Pop it out to full screen, however, and there was significant pixelization.
(Philips 17" monitor, PIII 850, Intel i815 integrated video, or a Dell Latitude with AGP Matrox vid)
Oh yeah, don't have any auto pop up things (email, IM, whatnot) running on that PC. Awful annoying have your email client scream at you during a quiet scene in the movie.
Would I pay $4 for movie from here? Not a chance. Would I pay $10/month for premium access? HA. Netflix at twice the price is waaaay better.
The home movie experience is so far from the average PC user as to be unworkable via this method. I suppose if you had a hotrod PC dedicated to the living room, with all the fancy graphics, a fat pipe, a $1000 monitor, and a really good vid out signal, then maybe you could reproduce the quality of a $200 TV and a $60 DVD player.
But probably not.
Next, we shall investigate capturing a movie from here via a USB Dazzle.
..not just in software.
Enter to win a "Free Trip" at the mall, (and have your long distance service switched), for one example.
I know it's hard, but you have to read (and attempt to understand) what they are actually asking you to do. But, I guess the result of that will be ever more obfuscated wording, so that no real human could get the true meaning of what it is doing.
Legalese could expand a common, two line description into many, many pages. NO ONE would read and understand its true meaning.
Store files on my computer? Oh, that must mean the graphics that come with the card.
No, Virginia, they mean they will store whatever they feel like putting there.
Send emails to my friends? COOL!
No, send anything they want, any time they want. And possibly have their interface hacked by some OTHER fool next month.
"Oh, we reserve the right to change this EULA at any time. The new one will be posted on our website." (Way back 7 levels deep, at the bottom of the page in a font no human can read).
What might a new EULA do? Again, Virginia, anything they want.
M: OK, let me ask you a question, how did I win?
H: We randomly picked you from a DB of phone #'s.
M: Well, that's the DB I want you to take my name off.
That 'DB' is probably the phone book...
Please Mr. Legislator, shut off that spam (which doesn't come from us), so that we may send our spam messages in peace.
No, Carlin is mostly right. The planet will survive. Maybe not with us, but the planet will go on. It was here long before humans, and will be here looong after we're gone.
We're just trying to save things for us.
Overpollution, etc., may hasten our departure (or at least make it less pleasant), but the actual planet does not give a fuck. The roaches will gladly take our place. Mankind will be seen as a short term abberation.
the more shocking claim is that humans appropriate directly or indirectly 40% of the NPP of world as a whole. That's a hell of a lot of caloric consumption by any standard.
Well..there ARE a hell of a lot of fat people around.
...even then there doesn't seem to much built around it or anyone using it. It reached a 1.0 release in September and was met with no fanfare.
So I'm supposed to bet the farm, our company, and MY job on recommending a 1.0 release of a pivotal tool that:
a) no one else uses
b) requires a massive $ investment to get off the ground
c) has only been out for 30 days.
d) has no support from the company that builds the call center respondent database.
Not likely.
If for whatever reason it craps out, we are out of business. I don't care so much about the operating system as I do the combination of operating system AND application. A crappy tool that runs under Linux is far, far worse than a good tool that runs under a properly administered Win2k OS.
Recommending Linux merely because it is Linux is a fast way to the unemployment line.
How about instructions on the screen? No need reading them anymore
Actually, I went through one the other day that also has voice instructions.
The -117 got shot down because the planning staff was asleep at the switch. The same route was used several days in a row. The shooters got a lucky shot in, but they had anticipated where the jet was going to be.
Random routes to the same spot might have precluded the shootdown.