I am too lazy to look it up at the moment, but I recently [in the last 6 months, or so] read in my local paper how survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still dying from the effects of the bombs.
This may not be PC, but my first thought was, damn! I'd like to still be dying of something after being nuked, almost 50 years later!
I know, war sucks, and all [hey, I watched Saving Private Ryan] but if you are gonna have one, you might as well do it right! Nuke your enemy. Christ, they way they run wars now-a-days, you'd think there was money to be made in it or something, rather than the principal... um, wait a minute...
Anyhow, the Sun will burn all the excess isotopes off the surface of this rock, sooner or later. Cheers.
I would mod you as Funny, IF I could mod in a thread in which I had posted, AND if I had unlimited mod points. [Trust me, I can mod without abuse, my clients trust me:-) ]
Compare and contrast: CBS, New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, Al-Jazari... take your pick. Do you see unbiased news on these outlets?
The only problem that I see is that the Internet speeds up the trend that more and more people can find whatever isolated niche they like, where they won't have to be bothered by the uncomfortable reality that others don't think they way they do.
Don't worry, I think most politicians already send your emails straight to the bit bucket.
Don't even get me started on how wrong the Spanish Inquistions were. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Seriously - if you get to keep the wealth of the accused, even posthumously, how much of an effort to find a not guilty could there be? [I forget the split - it was like 25%, 25%, 50% - local civil authorities, non-clerical torturers, and the local church.] I think there were cases that went back and took the estates of long-dead people [decades] saying, oh, yeah, he was a heritic!
if it gets you really hot does that mean it's OK or extra bad?
If it just disgusts you, is it porn or what?
To paraphrase some supreme court justice or another, I can't tell you where I'd draw the line, but I'll tell you on a case by case basis, if you pay my normal hourly rates.
You are in a restaurant. Your "garden salad" contains a little [5mm] "inch-worm" type creature walking around on it, deftly avoiding the 1000 Island dressing. Do you:
a) scream and run out of the restaurant.
b) pick the bug off and continue eating.
c) calmly point out the problem to the waitperson and ask for another salad.
d) get all in a huff and sue the restaurant, the waiter, and the food vender.
This situation has happened to me twice. The first time, my answer was "b". The second time (years later) my answer was "c" (I think the bug was uglier than the little inch-worm thingy).
I suppose you could offer "e) ignore the worm and eat the salad. The worm can look out for itself." But that's just a little bit too far for me.
Most of MSDN is not for production use - only development [E.g. the OS's, SQL server, other servers, etc.]
The point is that it is a great deal anyhow, if you are stuck developing Windows code - AND you get a legit copy of Office to boot! Back to the main topic -- one could argue that the economic value of MSDN is in the development tools and that the value of Office is, say $19.99;-)
Strictly speaking, I am not sure getting rebates as an individual is income. I do know that software expenses for a business are expenses. Especially Microsoft software. It sure is expensive.:-)
A registered tax agent once gave me the adive that in grey areas, it is better to ask forgivness [plus interest], than to ask permission.
A side question for the tax wise - say I buy a house full of funiture... wait 60 years. By luck, some of the stuff I bought is now considered rare antiques. If I sell it, is that a capital gain? It wasn't an investment... if it is, can I write off all the other depreciated crap as a capital loss?
I am not trying to get into a pissing war on how f'ed up the tax system is, just that acquiring a legal copy of "office" might not cost as much as you some thing.
Minimizing your expenses is not the same as 3) "profit", otherwise we'd all jump for joy when the wife comes home and tells us how much she saved at "the big sale".:-)
I am not an accountant, but I seriously doubt you can declare as a loss everything less than "retail" that you collected on units shipped.
I am a little less skeptical that the gov't allows you to deduct the retail price of something when you donate it. Woe be to those who accept it. I would sure hate to have to pay tax [%50 fed+state] on some of the crappy prizes you might win.
How would you like to get a "$99.99" retail value camera from Reader's digest or some such, and have to declare that $2 (actual value) piece of crap on your taxes as $99.99?
Maybe you were trying for a "Funny" moderation, so I'll give you a break.:-)
1) buy on ebay for $800
2) Write it off as a biz expense - now you are out of pocket about $400
3) Send in the coupon for a $300 rebate. Don't declare the rebate as income.
4) Now you are out of pocket $100
5) You now have a legit license for Office, Visual Studio, and other various and sundry other things PLUS the right to use for testing, all the OS's, SQL server, etc.
Q: How much of your out-of-pocket, after taxes, $100 is Office alone worth?
Yes, I agree, but lots of people pay a lot less than retail too...
I always wondered about that... If I were, say an oscar presenter, and was given one of those $110K "gift" bags, do I have to declare that? What is the retail value of that gift? If I am in the %50 tax bracket [state+fed] I really doubt that I would want to pay $55K for whatever was in that bag. Thanks for the gift.
If it something is sent to me for free, it is um, well, free!
Nobody pays list. Sometimes it is discounted, somtimes it is bundled, sometimes you get it for free.
What is the value of an intangible? I know the media isn't worth $20.
But hey, this is Slashdot, so everyone will say here. here.
[BTW I have a legitimate copy of Office that I figure cost me FAR less than $500 - it was included in my MSDN subscription... which I also did not pay anywhere near list price for. I paid FAR more for my Qt license to develop Linux software.]
I don't keep track of my own spam, but it has been going up up up.
Is there anywhere on the web that has a chart, so we can see if there are [ever] any dips in spam traffic?
Based on anecdotal evidence I would just guess that spam is growing at a geometric rate such that by the year 2010, statistically speaking, ALL information travelling on the Internet is spam.
As part of the marketing agreement for retailers to sell the product, any such taxes ought to be listed as a separate line item. Most companies don't have the clout to pull this off [I wouldn't be surprised if there were a law against it] but with a popular product like the iPod and a stupid because-someone-might-abuse-me tax, I think it would be worth the effort.
I wish all taxes where that way. Like when you go to the gas station, there is a sticker on the pump that says how much the gas is, how much the fed excise tax, the state special tax, and the fact that they are going to charge sales tax on top of all that.
When people pay taxes, they ought to know it - not just have it rolled into the cost of business.
I know this is a little off topic, but maybe I can sneek a little "Ask Slashdot" in here under the guise of this topic.
What's worth watching? [seriously, I am looking for input] I know the TV folks are worried that "no one" is watching anymore... I think I fit that worry. With a more than full time job, wife, kids, etc [sorry, I am a geek, and dispite the jokes, I don't think I am atypical even if I am a "computer geek" but have a wife and a job in the field].
I don't watch anything on TV on a regular basis, am I missing anything? I have cable - about 70 channels or so. My 10 year old watches various anime and cartoon things, when he has time. My 14 year old will watch American Chopper if I remember to record it on my ATI-AIW equiped computer. I will ocaissionally walk in on my wife "watching" something like "batchelor" or "Millionaire", but odds are she's actually asleep since she works hard too.
If we have any spare time, the 14 year old would rather get on AIM, or physically hang with friends. I waste what little time I have on QII,/., and other non-TV activities.
I have the expandanded cable package, but no pay channels, such as HBO, etc.
Every few months I try to watch something on Comedy Central [besides South Park] but I get so offended by the number of commercials I just turn it off after a bit. For random watching the History Channel or Discovery might cough up somethign worth watching, but seriously - is there anything compelling on TV?
Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't even miss a network or two from my cable line-up.
Slashdot Mirror
This would be a little Linux predation a la MSFT to force more users into using Open Office, right?
lol
This may not be PC, but my first thought was, damn! I'd like to still be dying of something after being nuked, almost 50 years later!
I know, war sucks, and all [hey, I watched Saving Private Ryan] but if you are gonna have one, you might as well do it right! Nuke your enemy. Christ, they way they run wars now-a-days, you'd think there was money to be made in it or something, rather than the principal... um, wait a minute...
Anyhow, the Sun will burn all the excess isotopes off the surface of this rock, sooner or later. Cheers.
mumbles somthing about gin and shift keys to get html right...
I would mod you as Funny, IF I could mod in a thread in which I had posted, AND if I had unlimited mod points. [Trust me, I can mod without abuse, my clients trust me :-) ]
Oh wait, I've confused Science with religion, again.
Compare and contrast: CBS, New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, Al-Jazari... take your pick. Do you see unbiased news on these outlets?
The only problem that I see is that the Internet speeds up the trend that more and more people can find whatever isolated niche they like, where they won't have to be bothered by the uncomfortable reality that others don't think they way they do.
Don't worry, I think most politicians already send your emails straight to the bit bucket.
How can we trust you?
Which He says he can do, and I quote "Everyday, and twice on, your choice, a) Sunday, b) Saturday, c) Friday."
Seriously - if you get to keep the wealth of the accused, even posthumously, how much of an effort to find a not guilty could there be? [I forget the split - it was like 25%, 25%, 50% - local civil authorities, non-clerical torturers, and the local church.] I think there were cases that went back and took the estates of long-dead people [decades] saying, oh, yeah, he was a heritic!
If it just disgusts you, is it porn or what?
To paraphrase some supreme court justice or another, I can't tell you where I'd draw the line, but I'll tell you on a case by case basis, if you pay my normal hourly rates.
a) scream and run out of the restaurant.
b) pick the bug off and continue eating.
c) calmly point out the problem to the waitperson and ask for another salad.
d) get all in a huff and sue the restaurant, the waiter, and the food vender.
This situation has happened to me twice. The first time, my answer was "b". The second time (years later) my answer was "c" (I think the bug was uglier than the little inch-worm thingy).
I suppose you could offer "e) ignore the worm and eat the salad. The worm can look out for itself." But that's just a little bit too far for me.
There is stuff everywhere. Get over it.
What SPF do I need for that threat?
In this modern age, it is good to be reminded that you should look out for the simple stuff - like rocks falling on you.
"A licensed subscriber may use Microsoft Office for business or personal use."
Most of MSDN is not for production use - only development [E.g. the OS's, SQL server, other servers, etc.]
The point is that it is a great deal anyhow, if you are stuck developing Windows code - AND you get a legit copy of Office to boot! Back to the main topic -- one could argue that the economic value of MSDN is in the development tools and that the value of Office is, say $19.99 ;-)
Hint - get ad-aware and be prepared to reboot a couple of times to be sure it's Real gone.
A side question for the tax wise - say I buy a house full of funiture... wait 60 years. By luck, some of the stuff I bought is now considered rare antiques. If I sell it, is that a capital gain? It wasn't an investment... if it is, can I write off all the other depreciated crap as a capital loss?
I am not trying to get into a pissing war on how f'ed up the tax system is, just that acquiring a legal copy of "office" might not cost as much as you some thing.
Minimizing your expenses is not the same as 3) "profit", otherwise we'd all jump for joy when the wife comes home and tells us how much she saved at "the big sale". :-)
Uh... I guess you need to read the parent of that post... but slashdot seems to be acting a bit odd right now, mixedup kinda...
Let me ask the question a different way...
If you get an unsolicited Office disk, full license from Microsoft - how much will you declare its value to be, on your next tax return?
I am a little less skeptical that the gov't allows you to deduct the retail price of something when you donate it. Woe be to those who accept it. I would sure hate to have to pay tax [%50 fed+state] on some of the crappy prizes you might win.
How would you like to get a "$99.99" retail value camera from Reader's digest or some such, and have to declare that $2 (actual value) piece of crap on your taxes as $99.99?
Maybe you were trying for a "Funny" moderation, so I'll give you a break. :-)
1) buy on ebay for $800
2) Write it off as a biz expense - now you are out of pocket about $400
3) Send in the coupon for a $300 rebate. Don't declare the rebate as income.
4) Now you are out of pocket $100
5) You now have a legit license for Office, Visual Studio, and other various and sundry other things PLUS the right to use for testing, all the OS's, SQL server, etc.
Q: How much of your out-of-pocket, after taxes, $100 is Office alone worth?
I always wondered about that... If I were, say an oscar presenter, and was given one of those $110K "gift" bags, do I have to declare that? What is the retail value of that gift? If I am in the %50 tax bracket [state+fed] I really doubt that I would want to pay $55K for whatever was in that bag. Thanks for the gift.
I'd say "Thanks for the bar of gold", then evaluate the contract just like any other. But that's just me.
If it something is sent to me for free, it is um, well, free!
Nobody pays list. Sometimes it is discounted, somtimes it is bundled, sometimes you get it for free.
What is the value of an intangible? I know the media isn't worth $20.
But hey, this is Slashdot, so everyone will say here. here.
[BTW I have a legitimate copy of Office that I figure cost me FAR less than $500 - it was included in my MSDN subscription... which I also did not pay anywhere near list price for. I paid FAR more for my Qt license to develop Linux software.]
Is there anywhere on the web that has a chart, so we can see if there are [ever] any dips in spam traffic?
Based on anecdotal evidence I would just guess that spam is growing at a geometric rate such that by the year 2010, statistically speaking, ALL information travelling on the Internet is spam.
I wish all taxes where that way. Like when you go to the gas station, there is a sticker on the pump that says how much the gas is, how much the fed excise tax, the state special tax, and the fact that they are going to charge sales tax on top of all that.
When people pay taxes, they ought to know it - not just have it rolled into the cost of business.
What's worth watching? [seriously, I am looking for input] I know the TV folks are worried that "no one" is watching anymore... I think I fit that worry. With a more than full time job, wife, kids, etc [sorry, I am a geek, and dispite the jokes, I don't think I am atypical even if I am a "computer geek" but have a wife and a job in the field].
I don't watch anything on TV on a regular basis, am I missing anything? I have cable - about 70 channels or so. My 10 year old watches various anime and cartoon things, when he has time. My 14 year old will watch American Chopper if I remember to record it on my ATI-AIW equiped computer. I will ocaissionally walk in on my wife "watching" something like "batchelor" or "Millionaire", but odds are she's actually asleep since she works hard too.
If we have any spare time, the 14 year old would rather get on AIM, or physically hang with friends. I waste what little time I have on QII, /., and other non-TV activities.
I have the expandanded cable package, but no pay channels, such as HBO, etc. Every few months I try to watch something on Comedy Central [besides South Park] but I get so offended by the number of commercials I just turn it off after a bit. For random watching the History Channel or Discovery might cough up somethign worth watching, but seriously - is there anything compelling on TV?
Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't even miss a network or two from my cable line-up.