2D barcodes are already in use - look at the side of a UPS package - they utilize 2d barcodes. Most of these are not read via a laser scanner like 1D barcodes - instead they use a CCD camera (notice the central focusing spot). The problem with barcodes isn't hardware - the scanners in place could handle much longer barcodes. The software can't handle longer than 12 digit barcodes.
Home telescopes can be quite well made, and grinding isn't that hard at all - but 1/10 lambda is a bit much! May I ask what wavelength and interferometer was used for measurement?
The one the treasury agents in my old appartment building drove was a Ford Aerostar, not a cargo van. It did have 4 antennas and tinted windows - and was 12 years old and in immaculate condition (the biggest give away). Not at all conspicuous
Sheetrock, and other premade building materials were invented post WW2 to cope with the demands of the new subdivisions such as Levittown - Easy to hang sheetrock replaced the time consuming, but much more durable process of plaster & lathe. Plywood too appeared after WW2 - much time was devoted to plywood production during the war for its us in PT boats.
The reason they settled on 4*8 sheets as opposed to say, 5*10, is AC had allowed for comfortable homes to be made with 8' ceilings - among other reasons.
As much as Level 3 ain't as bad as other Telco's - it ain't a RBOC, and this market that ain't good. The only way L3 can meet the revenue covenents of their loans is by acquiring more companies - without acquiring new revenue streams, they're going to default on their loans, because the sure as hell can't raise revue from their fiber right now. This is why recently they've beeen acquiring non-telco companies - give them a quick source of revenue.
As for the reason for the bailout - the best explanation I've heard was it's a "capitalist" bailout. I.E Alan G., Paully O, a the W got on the horn and begged Warren. Historically, this scenario ain't that far fetched - particularly in light of the relatively small amount of money(relative to his portfolio) that Warren invested.
As an amusing sidenote - a couple of years back I interviewed at SVG Lithography in Danbury CT, nee Perkin Elmer(Optical Contractor for Hubble) as were taking a tour of their grinding labs, the middle manager pointed with pride "That's were the main lens for the Hubble Space Telescope was ground". I didn't have the balls to ask who made the mistake.
It's about time we start blowing things up with lasers? Apparently you've missed a 6 billion dollar project in the US, which, technically is a hell of a lot cooler. The Airborne Laser. Stick a laser in a 747 and aim it at Nuclear missiles.
I've seen at least half a dozen sites which use Paypal as a means of accepting donations for site upkeep. These are not micropayments however - I don't think anyones figured out an economically efficent means for transferring 2.00USD
Auction sites work best if there is a monopoly, i.e. only one marketplace.
The item sells for the highest price under a monopoly, yes. As the recent Christies/Sothebys price fixing scam shows however, an auction house monopoly does not necessarily allow the seller to make the most money, because auction houses are no longer competing with each to lower fees and offer better services.
MXPX, a West Coast(U.S) pop/punk bands first album had a similar sticker, readin "if you paid more than $6.99 you got ripped off" What did Best Buy do?
Enron's declaring bankruptacy was a direct result of their bookkeeping shenanigans. The precipitous drop in their stockprice after their creative accounting came to light caused a downgrading of their credit rating. This in turn caused an increase in their interest payments, and a limiting of their available credit. For any business, but particularly a trading house, eliminating your credit, and thereby your buying power is a substantial hit. When you couple reduced credit, with increased expenditures(higher interest payments) & reduced revenue because of a slowing economy - you're dead(well bankrupt)
Given the current status of Worldcom - their may be no one left at MCI to laugh!
Seriously though - VOIP may well have a future, but I really only foresee it in some time of great network overcapacity. I'm not a futurist though, so don't quote me. As for the time scale, 10 years is on the conservative side, given the current Holocaust in Telcom.
VOIP is the biggest joke in the telcom world right now. Without spending a buttload of bucks on QOS you can't get half the quality that people demand for Voice. When you spend the money to get QOS, any cost advantage you had is neutralized. The only reason anyone cares about it is it's the only way CSCO can attempt to sell stuff to the RBOC's. Except it's not working. As Public Enemy said "Don't Believe the Hype"
For a stock like Worldcom - it doesn't particularly matter if you put in $3k at $60/share or $30/share or $15/share. It's trading at $.40! That's $20, $40 or $80 - not much of a difference between those, and still less than you would have got from the redemption on beercans.
To review - when stocks go this far in the shitter - it don't matter if you bought at the high - or even a relative low, your still hurting bad.
For opposing the justness of our cause, and the righteousness of our violence, you sir, shall have the honor of being the first up against the wall when the revolution comes!
What's frightening is if you'd invested $3,000 in say, Worldcom, at it's peak or you'd invested $3,000 in beer - the beer would have been a better investment(the deposit).
Their is only one problem with allowing pilots to have guns. How do you make sure that the person with a gun is really a pilot? How do you make sure the pilot doens't lose his gun, or have it stolen?
If pilots were granted weapons, all a terrorist would have to do to obtain a weapon is beat up a pilot in the bathroom, and hop on his plane.
Now some sort of scheme whereby the weapons were stored in cockpit, say in a container with a constantly changing code, accessible only to the pilot and copilot would be imminently more secure for all concerned.
"In the end, long-term growth is only possible through reforming corrupt political systems and inviting the type of investment that builds the economy. Until the people running Ghana figure this out, they will continue in the same rut as they are now."
You've just summed up the problem of Africa. The question is - how do we solve it? Certainly the foreign aid and intervention of the past 40 years had done little. So have the African rulers (Mugabe, Amin, Mobutu, etc.) The continent has barely treaded water for the past 40 years - and with the specter of AIDS, there is little chance many of them will move forward. Infrastructure improvements may not be the final solution - but they are a bandage - and a hope for the future. As more Africans realize, through contact with the rest fo the world, how their rulers are holding them back, perhaps they can change their future.
I fail to see any particular racism in this remark - it ir more the normal behavior of advocates. Their job is to work until the Ghanaians acheive parity with the West - a typing center is not Redmond. That is not to say it is not an important step on the road however - but the NGO's do have a substantial point about the infrastructure issue.
As described, the typing center does little to contribute to the general good of Ghana, aside from marginally above average salaries, and a few incident economic contributions - and it has no lasting presence(as can be seen by the number of these centers elsewhere). The communications link is Satelite based - no benefit to those outside the building. The computer were most definitely not bought in Ghana - probably imported, with maybe a couple of onsite IT staff. The power for the building one would suppose is generator, given the Ghanain power issues - so they contribute some money for gas. In short - their is very little tying the Aetna contractors to Ghana - not the best basis for a growing community, but it is better than nothing
"The primary job of an architect is to add design features to your home. In other words, they charge you money to make your house more expensive. You almost always DO NOT need one."
This is characteristic only of a bad architect. A quality architect will make your home more functional, appealing, and interesting. Quite a number of famous architects have designed sunning homes for marginally (5%) more than you'd pay for a run of the mill suburban heap.
Of course the real root of your statement is the American aversion to quality design (And no, Quality design is not a computer in 5 different colors!)
The reason inspectors are more skeptical with a self contractor is because they have to completely evaluate your work, an initial inspection so to speak. For any pro contractor their are tens of prior instances upon which the inspector has already established an opinion, i.e. Joe's a good contractor, but tends to skimp on foundations, so I'll check there. For pro contractors the inspection is more a refresher. Humans ALWAYS study the unknown more closely than the known.
Of course there is always the gross ingnorance of self contractors which comes into play.
Slashdot Mirror
2D barcodes are already in use - look at the side of a UPS package - they utilize 2d barcodes. Most of these are not read via a laser scanner like 1D barcodes - instead they use a CCD camera (notice the central focusing spot). The problem with barcodes isn't hardware - the scanners in place could handle much longer barcodes. The software can't handle longer than 12 digit barcodes.
Home telescopes can be quite well made, and grinding isn't that hard at all - but 1/10 lambda is a bit much! May I ask what wavelength and interferometer was used for measurement?
Carl
The one the treasury agents in my old appartment building drove was a Ford Aerostar, not a cargo van. It did have 4 antennas and tinted windows - and was 12 years old and in immaculate condition (the biggest give away). Not at all conspicuous
Yes and no.
Sheetrock, and other premade building materials were invented post WW2 to cope with the demands of the new subdivisions such as Levittown - Easy to hang sheetrock replaced the time consuming, but much more durable process of plaster & lathe. Plywood too appeared after WW2 - much time was devoted to plywood production during the war for its us in PT boats.
The reason they settled on 4*8 sheets as opposed to say, 5*10, is AC had allowed for comfortable homes to be made with 8' ceilings - among other reasons.
That yet another portion of life is just like high school - dominated by narrowminded twits in the pursuit of some higher goal. Yay!
As much as Level 3 ain't as bad as other Telco's - it ain't a RBOC, and this market that ain't good. The only way L3 can meet the revenue covenents of their loans is by acquiring more companies - without acquiring new revenue streams, they're going to default on their loans, because the sure as hell can't raise revue from their fiber right now. This is why recently they've beeen acquiring non-telco companies - give them a quick source of revenue.
As for the reason for the bailout - the best explanation I've heard was it's a "capitalist" bailout. I.E Alan G., Paully O, a the W got on the horn and begged Warren. Historically, this scenario ain't that far fetched - particularly in light of the relatively small amount of money(relative to his portfolio) that Warren invested.
As an amusing sidenote - a couple of years back I interviewed at SVG Lithography in Danbury CT, nee Perkin Elmer(Optical Contractor for Hubble) as were taking a tour of their grinding labs, the middle manager pointed with pride "That's were the main lens for the Hubble Space Telescope was ground". I didn't have the balls to ask who made the mistake.
It's about time we start blowing things up with lasers? Apparently you've missed a 6 billion dollar project in the US, which, technically is a hell of a lot cooler. The Airborne Laser. Stick a laser in a 747 and aim it at Nuclear missiles.
http://www.airbornelaser.com/
I've seen at least half a dozen sites which use Paypal as a means of accepting donations for site upkeep. These are not micropayments however - I don't think anyones figured out an economically efficent means for transferring 2.00USD
Auction sites work best if there is a monopoly, i.e. only one marketplace.
The item sells for the highest price under a monopoly, yes. As the recent Christies/Sothebys price fixing scam shows however, an auction house monopoly does not necessarily allow the seller to make the most money, because auction houses are no longer competing with each to lower fees and offer better services.
MXPX, a West Coast(U.S) pop/punk bands first album had a similar sticker, readin "if you paid more than $6.99 you got ripped off" What did Best Buy do?
Put the $9.99 sticker right over it.
Enron's declaring bankruptacy was a direct result of their bookkeeping shenanigans. The precipitous drop in their stockprice after their creative accounting came to light caused a downgrading of their credit rating. This in turn caused an increase in their interest payments, and a limiting of their available credit. For any business, but particularly a trading house, eliminating your credit, and thereby your buying power is a substantial hit. When you couple reduced credit, with increased expenditures(higher interest payments) & reduced revenue because of a slowing economy - you're dead(well bankrupt)
Given the current status of Worldcom - their may be no one left at MCI to laugh!
Seriously though - VOIP may well have a future, but I really only foresee it in some time of great network overcapacity. I'm not a futurist though, so don't quote me. As for the time scale, 10 years is on the conservative side, given the current Holocaust in Telcom.
VOIP is the biggest joke in the telcom world right now. Without spending a buttload of bucks on QOS you can't get half the quality that people demand for Voice. When you spend the money to get QOS, any cost advantage you had is neutralized. The only reason anyone cares about it is it's the only way CSCO can attempt to sell stuff to the RBOC's. Except it's not working. As Public Enemy said "Don't Believe the Hype"
For a stock like Worldcom - it doesn't particularly matter if you put in $3k at $60/share or $30/share or $15/share. It's trading at $.40! That's $20, $40 or $80 - not much of a difference between those, and still less than you would have got from the redemption on beercans.
To review - when stocks go this far in the shitter - it don't matter if you bought at the high - or even a relative low, your still hurting bad.
Can you say Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap?
For opposing the justness of our cause, and the righteousness of our violence, you sir, shall have the honor of being the first up against the wall when the revolution comes!
What's frightening is if you'd invested $3,000 in say, Worldcom, at it's peak or you'd invested $3,000 in beer - the beer would have been a better investment(the deposit).
If he wasn't solely responsible - why did they pay him so damn much?
If you look at Bernie's finances - he's pretty close to owing more than he owes. And that was before WCOM stock/toilepaper was flushed.
Maybe they'll send him to jail in Mississippi?
Their is only one problem with allowing pilots to have guns. How do you make sure that the person with a gun is really a pilot? How do you make sure the pilot doens't lose his gun, or have it stolen?
If pilots were granted weapons, all a terrorist would have to do to obtain a weapon is beat up a pilot in the bathroom, and hop on his plane.
Now some sort of scheme whereby the weapons were stored in cockpit, say in a container with a constantly changing code, accessible only to the pilot and copilot would be imminently more secure for all concerned.
"In the end, long-term growth is only possible through reforming corrupt political systems and inviting the type of investment that builds the economy. Until the people running Ghana figure this out, they will continue in the same rut as they are now."
You've just summed up the problem of Africa. The question is - how do we solve it? Certainly the foreign aid and intervention of the past 40 years had done little. So have the African rulers (Mugabe, Amin, Mobutu, etc.) The continent has barely treaded water for the past 40 years - and with the specter of AIDS, there is little chance many of them will move forward. Infrastructure improvements may not be the final solution - but they are a bandage - and a hope for the future. As more Africans realize, through contact with the rest fo the world, how their rulers are holding them back, perhaps they can change their future.
I fail to see any particular racism in this remark - it ir more the normal behavior of advocates. Their job is to work until the Ghanaians acheive parity with the West - a typing center is not Redmond. That is not to say it is not an important step on the road however - but the NGO's do have a substantial point about the infrastructure issue.
As described, the typing center does little to contribute to the general good of Ghana, aside from marginally above average salaries, and a few incident economic contributions - and it has no lasting presence(as can be seen by the number of these centers elsewhere). The communications link is Satelite based - no benefit to those outside the building. The computer were most definitely not bought in Ghana - probably imported, with maybe a couple of onsite IT staff. The power for the building one would suppose is generator, given the Ghanain power issues - so they contribute some money for gas. In short - their is very little tying the Aetna contractors to Ghana - not the best basis for a growing community, but it is better than nothing
"The primary job of an architect is to add design features to your home. In other words, they charge you money to make your house more expensive. You almost always DO NOT need one."
This is characteristic only of a bad architect. A quality architect will make your home more functional, appealing, and interesting. Quite a number of famous architects have designed sunning homes for marginally (5%) more than you'd pay for a run of the mill suburban heap.
Of course the real root of your statement is the American aversion to quality design (And no, Quality design is not a computer in 5 different colors!)
Stop with the conspiracy theories!
The reason inspectors are more skeptical with a self contractor is because they have to completely evaluate your work, an initial inspection so to speak. For any pro contractor their are tens of prior instances upon which the inspector has already established an opinion, i.e. Joe's a good contractor, but tends to skimp on foundations, so I'll check there. For pro contractors the inspection is more a refresher. Humans ALWAYS study the unknown more closely than the known.
Of course there is always the gross ingnorance of self contractors which comes into play.