Ok, let's say I buy a $100 reader. Maybe it will last 5 years, and I will read, at most, 5 e-books per year. (I will still read online stuff, magazines, real books, etc.) I need to amortize $100 over 5 years, or $20/year
Real paperback bestseller type books cost about $5 at Costco. I might read 5 a year... maybe, there is lots of other stuff to read, other than "bestseller" stuff. So, 5x5 = 25. 25-20 = 5.
So; I would expect to pay about $1 to get a current best seller downloaded into my reader.
Q.E.D. That's the problem. Publishes won't let go of the e-text for a "bestseller" for only $1.
Ok, I know there is no more "free" land being given away to industrious homesteaders in the USA, but there are still plenty of places where the land is cheap, and there are no building codes.
Seems to me I'd want to start off in a Wal-Mart tent and get a pile of material delivered from the local Home Depot and build a real house before living in cardboard - isn't that the material of choice for the homeless? Seems to me if you had the rights to erect a stucture on a plot of land, you'd want to have something with at least the illiusion of permanence to call your home.
Now that I look at the images... it doesn't look much bigger than a Wal-Mart tent $69.
It is either all built up, or "protected" (parks, designated wildland, and whatnot). Try $3,000,000 USD per acre.
My nice little 2400 square foot house has a market value north of $700K, so, figuing a replacement cost at $150 square foot or so, that leave my tiny 4800 square foot lot at about $3M/acre.
Of course, it could all be a bubble in values... Is it really true that, at the peak, Tokyo land was priced more than the entire contenental USA? I think I read that in a Tom Clancy novel or some such, so I am not so sure, but sometimes things get crazy (cough) dot-com (cough), value-wise.
What makes fans think they have to take the whole package? Oh, yeah, I guess they are fanatics.
In my book, there are only two Indiana Jones movies, the first one and the third one - how is my life diminished by ignoring the one that I found annoying?
If the fourth one sucks all it means is I won't buy it. If it turns out well, I will spend some money seeing it and be entertained for my investment.
Some of us who have been typing/keyboarding since the time I we were wee lads, can't even remember how to write in cursive.
I think, maybe 3rd or 4th grade is the last time you have to use cursive. I do, however highly recommend giving your kids touch-typing classes, so that they too, can keyboard with fluidity (and rapidly lose their writing skills too).
For me, it is a speed issue - I can type MUCH faster than writing, when I have a lot to do, typing on a computer is the way to go (plus, I can't live without speelcheking).
That said, I do agree with others that sometimes, pen and paper is the right way to go - for me that is pen and composition books that I scribble in on a daily basis to keep track of what I was doing, when. (I am a software consultant) - There is nothing faster than flipping thru a comp book with dates on every page to see what I was doing, say August 10 (testing and OSD application). However, the penmanship on those notes is really bad - and anything I learn and jot down I do type into at least a plain text document so that I can search for it later (and have it be legible when I find it)!
Heh, what about shorthand? My Mother used to write in shorthand whenever she wanted to write notes to herself that noone else in the family could read.
Finally - how many of you have even tried to type, on a manual typewriter (if you can find one) lately? I learned on one, and was a speed demon, back in the day. Now, after years of these soft-touch keyboards, I tried punching a few keys on a manual and had a hard time making marks on the paper. Sheesh, you really need to whack those things. Good Riddance!
If you can get music cheaper in Canada - why not go all the way and get stuff from Russia (e.g allofmp3.com)?
If it is not legal to get it from one, it is probably not legal to get it from the other, so you might as well not bother, or get it from the cheaper of the two, no?
60% Experience (this is what gets you in the door)
39% Interview (this is what gets you hired)
1% Piece of paper
Remember, included in that 60% is the fact that while you are getting Experience, you are also meeting people. If you are good they will be more than happy to put in a good word for you later. This is very helpful in "getting in the door".
Being "good" means both technically, and not being an ass of a person.
Spam "steals" my bandwidth and other computing resources, however trivial those resources may be.
While the materials for the flyers and other physical junkmail left on my property are paid for by someone else, *I* have to pay to get rid of them.
No one is paying for my time however trivial that may be to pick up the trash around my front door. I also pay for my trash/recycle service to haul the stuff away. And finally, when I get spam, nobody is alerted to the fact that I may not be home, since spam doesn't collect on the front doorknob.
Should I send a bill to the junk-mailers for hiring the neighbor kid to keep my doorstep clean?
What law would I be breaking if I had a couple of tons of scrap paper delivered to your front lawn? Seems to me this is the same thing leaflet-leavers are doing, just to a lessor degree.
Economics is a complicated (seemingly random) thing.
Among other things, cheap dollars help (US) exporters improve their bottom line (stocks go up) while subtly stroking inflation, which, in turn, makes the freaking huge deficit "not so bad".
A John Maynard Keynes [economist] quote is good here; "In the long run, we're all dead."
... you can save a lot of money (especially if you are a homeowner) by doing things yourself.
Sometimes it is a nice break from IT stuff to build a fence, paint the house, make some cabinets, or do other work you might have spent money hiring out.
Don't laugh, "home improvement" is high on the list of many hobbies - and it can save you money for those times you are out of work - or vacations, or retirement. If you don't have it you don't have as many options.
I have been circulating a petition to make comet Temple 1 an international historic preserve - to be kept in its pristine state for all to enjoy forever!
When you tell people the government wants to destroy this natural wonder, there is nearly universal acceptance of this proposal!
Then I sell them lots on Mars, desireable lots, backing on nature preserves.
I thought I saw a phishing victim the other day...
on
Gone Phishing?
·
· Score: 4, Funny
... then I realized those hooks and such were there on purpose. These young'uns call it piercing, and do it on purpose!. And pay tattooed fellows to do it!
When I was a kid, we had to get bits of metal embedded in us the old fashioned way - war, industrial accidents and drunken fishing!
Generally the intent of forgeries is not to change the "history" of Art, but simply to make a buck, plain and simple.
As long as someone is willing to pay a premium for percieved value (above any intrinsic value) there will be those who will try to take advantage of this fact.
You said kids are not present or on the way for several years - I don't know what species you are married to, but the gestation period for humans is about 9 months, and they are expensive to have in a hospital.
If you spouse is working you might get by on their coverage, if it is offered. Otherwise, plan on a minimum of several hundred bucks for a no-frills, high deductable policy to almost $1000/month for a really nice medical policy that will probably cover alien babies.
The only extra tax that a self employed individual needs to pay is "the other" half of social security.
15.3% of the first $87,600. As an employee you only have 1/2 of that taken out in withholding, and the employer pays the other half. Next year the limit is $90,000. In any event, the 2.9% medicare has no limit.
Note however, that you WILL pay your taxes quarterly (e.g. file 1040-ES) or you will be subject to penalties for not paying your taxes nice and early.
Now, that said, you may want to raise your hourly rate by a third or more to cover things like medical insurance, unpaid vacation time, time between jobs, etc.
Being self employed is no less stable than being an employee. Just ask anyone who has been downsized.
Slashdot Mirror
so there.
Real paperback bestseller type books cost about $5 at Costco. I might read 5 a year... maybe, there is lots of other stuff to read, other than "bestseller" stuff. So, 5x5 = 25. 25-20 = 5.
So; I would expect to pay about $1 to get a current best seller downloaded into my reader.
Q.E.D. That's the problem. Publishes won't let go of the e-text for a "bestseller" for only $1.
Seems to me I'd want to start off in a Wal-Mart tent and get a pile of material delivered from the local Home Depot and build a real house before living in cardboard - isn't that the material of choice for the homeless? Seems to me if you had the rights to erect a stucture on a plot of land, you'd want to have something with at least the illiusion of permanence to call your home.
Now that I look at the images... it doesn't look much bigger than a Wal-Mart tent $69.
It is either all built up, or "protected" (parks, designated wildland, and whatnot). Try $3,000,000 USD per acre.
My nice little 2400 square foot house has a market value north of $700K, so, figuing a replacement cost at $150 square foot or so, that leave my tiny 4800 square foot lot at about $3M/acre.
Of course, it could all be a bubble in values... Is it really true that, at the peak, Tokyo land was priced more than the entire contenental USA? I think I read that in a Tom Clancy novel or some such, so I am not so sure, but sometimes things get crazy (cough) dot-com (cough), value-wise.
In my book, there are only two Indiana Jones movies, the first one and the third one - how is my life diminished by ignoring the one that I found annoying?
If the fourth one sucks all it means is I won't buy it. If it turns out well, I will spend some money seeing it and be entertained for my investment.
I think, maybe 3rd or 4th grade is the last time you have to use cursive. I do, however highly recommend giving your kids touch-typing classes, so that they too, can keyboard with fluidity (and rapidly lose their writing skills too).
For me, it is a speed issue - I can type MUCH faster than writing, when I have a lot to do, typing on a computer is the way to go (plus, I can't live without speelcheking).
That said, I do agree with others that sometimes, pen and paper is the right way to go - for me that is pen and composition books that I scribble in on a daily basis to keep track of what I was doing, when. (I am a software consultant) - There is nothing faster than flipping thru a comp book with dates on every page to see what I was doing, say August 10 (testing and OSD application). However, the penmanship on those notes is really bad - and anything I learn and jot down I do type into at least a plain text document so that I can search for it later (and have it be legible when I find it)!
Heh, what about shorthand? My Mother used to write in shorthand whenever she wanted to write notes to herself that noone else in the family could read.
Finally - how many of you have even tried to type, on a manual typewriter (if you can find one) lately? I learned on one, and was a speed demon, back in the day. Now, after years of these soft-touch keyboards, I tried punching a few keys on a manual and had a hard time making marks on the paper. Sheesh, you really need to whack those things. Good Riddance!
If it is not legal to get it from one, it is probably not legal to get it from the other, so you might as well not bother, or get it from the cheaper of the two, no?
Just think of these robots doing really dangerous things - going down terrorist booby-trapped tunnels and the like.
Or would you feel better just sending human fodder into such situations?
If you think wars suck, then you should like modern high-tech wars. War still sucks, but far fewer people get killed doing it.
Hmmm is that a good thing? On balance, I think so.
Cold Fusion? Hah, maybe they could limber up with something easy and pick up a million bucks while they are at it.
60% Experience (this is what gets you in the door)
39% Interview (this is what gets you hired)
1% Piece of paper
Remember, included in that 60% is the fact that while you are getting Experience, you are also meeting people. If you are good they will be more than happy to put in a good word for you later. This is very helpful in "getting in the door".
Being "good" means both technically, and not being an ass of a person.
While the materials for the flyers and other physical junkmail left on my property are paid for by someone else, *I* have to pay to get rid of them.
No one is paying for my time however trivial that may be to pick up the trash around my front door. I also pay for my trash/recycle service to haul the stuff away. And finally, when I get spam, nobody is alerted to the fact that I may not be home, since spam doesn't collect on the front doorknob.
Should I send a bill to the junk-mailers for hiring the neighbor kid to keep my doorstep clean?
What law would I be breaking if I had a couple of tons of scrap paper delivered to your front lawn? Seems to me this is the same thing leaflet-leavers are doing, just to a lessor degree.
Heh, if someone came to you at the start of the year and said "how about $600 worth of TV?" - what would you say?
That's a couple of first run movies, in the theater plus a lot of good books.
Among other things, cheap dollars help (US) exporters improve their bottom line (stocks go up) while subtly stroking inflation, which, in turn, makes the freaking huge deficit "not so bad".
A John Maynard Keynes [economist] quote is good here; "In the long run, we're all dead."
Sometimes it is a nice break from IT stuff to build a fence, paint the house, make some cabinets, or do other work you might have spent money hiring out.
Don't laugh, "home improvement" is high on the list of many hobbies - and it can save you money for those times you are out of work - or vacations, or retirement. If you don't have it you don't have as many options.
When you tell people the government wants to destroy this natural wonder, there is nearly universal acceptance of this proposal!
Then I sell them lots on Mars, desireable lots, backing on nature preserves.
When I was a kid, we had to get bits of metal embedded in us the old fashioned way - war, industrial accidents and drunken fishing!
And you can probably wrap some duct tape around the box it comes with, find an old broom stick, and have a really fun game!
... lurking near the ATM, looking over my shoulder, memorizing my PIN.
Or at least mentioned an act that is indecent in most southern states.
Either way, by posting it online, you are in deep trouble!
As long as someone is willing to pay a premium for percieved value (above any intrinsic value) there will be those who will try to take advantage of this fact.
5$/hour isn't going to be enough to clean the puke out of these.
If you spouse is working you might get by on their coverage, if it is offered. Otherwise, plan on a minimum of several hundred bucks for a no-frills, high deductable policy to almost $1000/month for a really nice medical policy that will probably cover alien babies.
Good luck.
The only extra tax that a self employed individual needs to pay is "the other" half of social security.
15.3% of the first $87,600. As an employee you only have 1/2 of that taken out in withholding, and the employer pays the other half. Next year the limit is $90,000. In any event, the 2.9% medicare has no limit.
Note however, that you WILL pay your taxes quarterly (e.g. file 1040-ES) or you will be subject to penalties for not paying your taxes nice and early.
Now, that said, you may want to raise your hourly rate by a third or more to cover things like medical insurance, unpaid vacation time, time between jobs, etc.
Being self employed is no less stable than being an employee. Just ask anyone who has been downsized.
I first read it in a paperback but when I saw this slashdot post, I remembered it and found it online.
Enjoy.
Oh, and retreive the data.
Assuming JA types his own stuff.
P.S. John Ashcroft is leaving public service, so act fast.