Yay! Somebody that wants to debate the relative merits of the GTO!
GTO vs. Corvette:
GTO is much cheaper
GTO has a semi-usable back seat
GTO does not have an existing base of parts-gougers
GTO is a much more resigned vehicle, as opposed to the extroverted C5 Vette
GTO does not have runflat tires (el expensivo again)
GTO has a much larger engine compartment, making service much easier
In my opinion, since the demise of the Camaro/Firebird, the GTO is the ideal vehicle for me. I did not fancy the SS/Firehawk hi-po versions anyway, because they are quite loudly-styled. I want something inconspicuous yet fast, and the GTO certainly is that...But since all of the dealers think they are made out of gold, I don't think I can pass up a
supercharged Silverado
I can get 4000 in rebates on that sucker, plus pay no guzzler tax. I will definately agree with you, though...the GTO is going to be a stinker in the marketplace. It is trying to fit into a niche where there is no niche.
It's a travesty when a 3800-pound 2004 Pontiac GTO (classed as a compact car) that gets, in reality, about 20/26 is "rated" by the EPA at 15/18, and gets a $1000 "gas guzzler" tax...while the 8000-pound Ford Excursion in the next parking spot gets fuel mileage so bad that it isn't even rated...but is eligible for medium-duty-truck tax writeoffs, and no "guzzler" tax. The whole system should be dumped in favor of vehicle choice, not artificial limits put on cars by the government.
Make no mistake about it, this country, and the world, will regulate itself into oblivion. We are well on our way. Who needs anthrax and nuclear weapons when we have do-gooder politicians and bureaucrats?
Nahh, it's "finance" (sic) by the Universal Service Fee on your phone bill. It all goes to a big government corporation called "USAC" or the Universal Service Administrative Company. From there it goes to the "SL" Schools and Libraries sub-program, and from there a large amount flows back to telecom companies in the form of discounts on leased T1 lines. When they get done handing out discounts on "Priority 1" services such as phone and T1 lines, they let "poorer" schools have some money for hardware discounts, which is quickly eaten up by software licenses for "email software" such as Windows Server 2K3 and the like. Anything that might be left over will be dumped into routers and switches, usually Cisco (since we need the best for our schools, right?) Usually there isn't much left once the telecom companies get done billing their $1500 a month lines. A school I used to work at had 7 such lines...and got e-rate discounts of around 60% on every one of them.
Depends on the size of the school. The larger schools, particularly in higher-poverty-rate areas, can make millions off of this, because they get huge hardware discounts...up to 90%. Smaller schools, or ones in more average-poverty-rate areas, get discounts on "leased-line" and telephone service only. In the district that I take care of, it's a definite balancing act...we will get 68% off of hardware, but ONLY if the discounts extend that far (which is a determination made by e-Rate AFTER you have done all of the work.) So if they decide to fund only down to 69%, we're screwed, and all of those trees will have been killed for naught.
What most people don't know is that a huge majority of the money doesn't go to internet access at all; it goes to the huge network of Microsoft Exchange Servers and Cisco 3725 routers that schools heap up for no reason. Additionally, things like voice mail and cell phones are covered under the program. It's really much, much bigger than most people realize...a wonderful form of corporate welfare.
I have watched the e-Rate program since its inception, and am neck-deep in it now...this sort of thing happens over and over again. It is a multi-billion-dollar boondoggle, typical government program. Schools are forced to hire entire staffs, or outsource, just to fill out the hundreds of pages of paperwork. The end result? Rejection, or perhaps more paperwork. But in any case, all of those billions are funneled to IT giants like Microsoft and IBM, as well as the Telecom companies that are given "preference" for their stone-age T1 technology. Want to put in your own glass fiber between buildings? Not covered by e-Rate, because that would step on the phone company's toes. Better to lease a dozen T1 lines, in their eyes. The whole thing needs to be gamma-irradiated and shot into deep space...and the "Universal Service Fee" that covers it eliminated.
"A flat, empty highway with a clearly marked, solid center strip."
So all we have to do for the robots to win the war is nuke the offending country flat, and then send in paint-bombers (UAV's of course) to mark the strip...
The entire E-Rate system was dreamed up by huge telecom conglomerates as a way to get government largesse...it is nothing more than that. In the early 90's it was trumpeted as a way to "empower" districts and "provide services to the poor." But it has rapidly grown into a terrifyingly wasteful government program. I know, I am the person in a school district responsible for it. We spent countless hundreds of hours to get a discount on our phone bills, and, perhaps, a discount on hardware. But it all keeps coming back to the fact that billions are being channeled into pockets already filled to overflowing...telecom companies and "consulting" firms. 90% of the money goes to districts that have the ability to lie and cheat their way through the forms...while honest districts get audited and denied on a regular basis. Take it from me...the way to win at E-Rate is to hire a high-powered company to do it all for you, then just sign the forms. Get ready for them to misrepresent everything about your school district to get it, though. The solution is to eradicate E-Rate and the "Universal Service Fee" that funds it...it's that simple.
Police just LOVE it when you don't stop. It's like a dog chasing after a ball, they will run over pedestrians, other cars, semi-solid objects, etc to get their prey. You won't get away, and will more than likely end up with a broomhandle stuck up your hind end during "interrogation."
I dunno if this is so much as a prototype as a test bed or demonstrator...I mean, if it was a prototype it would be something near the real thing...and this certainly isn't anywhere near their final product. Good that somebody's aiming high though...
I pity my educational counterparts in other districts...one in particular has probably a dozen Win2K/W2K3 machines sitting outside the firewall...no protection whatsoever. No, they do not do regular updates...just when something breaks. Oh well, they'll just hire their friendly neighborhood MCSE consultants to come in at $150 an hour to "sell them some protection." It seems like it's always firefighting with Windows anymore...And no, I do NOT run Windows on any server in my district...
Here's a quote from a Chinese Web Site...
"If we continue on the traditional growth path, energy consumption in China will surge to 3.3 billion tons of standard coal by 2020 from the current 1.4 billion tons"
Here's another quote, from an American Publication
"Total U.S. coal consumption is also projected to increase from 1.07 billion tons in 2002 to 1.57 billion tons in 2025, and production from 1.1 billion tons to 1.54 billion tons."
Perhaps on a per-capita basis we're outrunning them...but on a country-wide scale they are already out-burning us 1.4 gtons to 1.54 gtons. We (ya, the USA) are in the midst of scaling back our use of coal through lots of draconian rules that have devastated regions of the country...China shows little sign of backing off on their use. Think about it...in less than 20 years they will have more than doubled their use of coal...in around 20 years, we will have increased our use by around 57%. Coal is a way of life in China, have you ever seen the little coal cakes that people use to heat their houses? There was a program on PBS the other night that showed little shops everywhere liquefying the coal and making the pressed-and-dried blocks. One guy mentioned he could heat his house for the winter for about $25. They will not stop doing that to retrofit to bottled propane or dig up their cities to put in natural gas.
The Chinese have long since passed us up on coal usage...and are rapidly gaining. They have just begun to convert their old Bessemer converters to lower-pollution designs...but basically, their entire economy depends on trashing their environment as fast as they can...and of course, OUR environment. The US could collectively wheel around on unicycles and rub our hands together for warmth, and China would more than make up for it in additional pollution. Until they start doing something, I see no reason to stop driving an SUV or heating my house with fuel oil.
I couldn't agree more...school, particularly middle and grade school, should be about learning, not harsh, life-altering punishments like the RIAA would like to deal out, and Administrators do all too often.
That has been tried; a student was suspected of reading administrative e-mails and even changing his grades, and was banned from computer access. The next day, his parents and a lawyer talked to the superintendent, and informed him that they would sue the district if he was not allowed back on the computers (since it was going to be detrimental to his grades.) This prompted the lawsuit-paranoid superintendent to tell me and my immediate boss "Put him back on." There is much to be said about standing up for student rights and also the relative severity of a student lawsuit or an RIAA lawsuit...but this is education, and things do not make much sense.
I'm the admin in a school district...and we went to a generic login for that very reason; the fact that, without cameras and DNA samples, you can never tell if someone logging in is really them. (Here comes the analogy that will be counter-analogied and counter-counter analogied to death) I mean, if someone steals a fence post from your front yard and beats someone to death with it, could you be held liable for kiling that person? Passwords and usernames are very freely shared amongst students, and no amount of goading or agreement-signing will change that. The only ultimate cure is teacher supervision...but then again, we're too busy fiddling with standardized tests and leaving no child behind to do that.
If frame dragging isn't observed, the physics guys will just come up with another theory that fits reality...and life goes on. Is it just me, or is this basically several hundred million dollars to just prove a couple of phsyics professors' beer bets? I guess more has been spent on less before, though.
When the working conditions include flat rate work on sometimes impossible schedules and working conditions that would make a sewage technician laugh with glee, there is no surprise in the fact that there is a shortage of techs. In the IT world, you might start on the ground floor manually typing stuff into a database...in the automotive world, you start out changing tires and filling windshield wiper reservoirs. There are lots of disincentives to go into auto repair anymore...claims of $100,000 compensation notwithstanding.
Well, at my old employer, we had an ancient "Gateway 2000" that was a 486/33 I believe...that has been in continuous, daily use since 1990...and is still in use today. Is is covered with cigarette butts, banana peels, coffee stains, and god knows what else...it has not been off more than a few hours since it was turned on, and has never had a single problem. It is in continuous, professional use all day long (architectural office, they do their specs on it) and, right now, is 14 years old. It is a commodity machine. I think I'll keep buying commodity machines.
My bad, they're all Indigos not blueberries. It's difficult to keep all of these colors straight...but they are Indigos, bought 2001-2002. So 2-3 years old, for the sake of those keeping track.
Here's a nice link showing iMacs being EOL'ed in March 2003...
We bought these in 2001-2002 I believe...which hardly makes them old. I can say that I have proper controls in place, and have no problems WHATSOEVER with "viruses, spyware, OS troubles, or security updates", as you put it. You are making too many assumptions about problems with PC's...when it is probably YOUR "piddly" experience that is leading you to believe that. I have a sample size of over 500 machines, well, I don't run the IT department of some fictional Fortune 500 company that is all Mac, so I guess I don't have a 100,000-machine sample. All I know is that Apple hardware today is no better than the cheap PC's I buy, and the difference in price makes it worth it to me to buy the latter.
Slashdot Mirror
Nothing like doing development on a production machine! I love the smell of flaky kernels in the morning.
Yay! Somebody that wants to debate the relative merits of the GTO! GTO vs. Corvette: GTO is much cheaper GTO has a semi-usable back seat GTO does not have an existing base of parts-gougers GTO is a much more resigned vehicle, as opposed to the extroverted C5 Vette GTO does not have runflat tires (el expensivo again) GTO has a much larger engine compartment, making service much easier In my opinion, since the demise of the Camaro/Firebird, the GTO is the ideal vehicle for me. I did not fancy the SS/Firehawk hi-po versions anyway, because they are quite loudly-styled. I want something inconspicuous yet fast, and the GTO certainly is that...But since all of the dealers think they are made out of gold, I don't think I can pass up a supercharged Silverado I can get 4000 in rebates on that sucker, plus pay no guzzler tax. I will definately agree with you, though...the GTO is going to be a stinker in the marketplace. It is trying to fit into a niche where there is no niche.
It's a travesty when a 3800-pound 2004 Pontiac GTO (classed as a compact car) that gets, in reality, about 20/26 is "rated" by the EPA at 15/18, and gets a $1000 "gas guzzler" tax...while the 8000-pound Ford Excursion in the next parking spot gets fuel mileage so bad that it isn't even rated...but is eligible for medium-duty-truck tax writeoffs, and no "guzzler" tax. The whole system should be dumped in favor of vehicle choice, not artificial limits put on cars by the government.
Make no mistake about it, this country, and the world, will regulate itself into oblivion. We are well on our way. Who needs anthrax and nuclear weapons when we have do-gooder politicians and bureaucrats?
Nahh, it's "finance" (sic) by the Universal Service Fee on your phone bill. It all goes to a big government corporation called "USAC" or the Universal Service Administrative Company. From there it goes to the "SL" Schools and Libraries sub-program, and from there a large amount flows back to telecom companies in the form of discounts on leased T1 lines. When they get done handing out discounts on "Priority 1" services such as phone and T1 lines, they let "poorer" schools have some money for hardware discounts, which is quickly eaten up by software licenses for "email software" such as Windows Server 2K3 and the like. Anything that might be left over will be dumped into routers and switches, usually Cisco (since we need the best for our schools, right?) Usually there isn't much left once the telecom companies get done billing their $1500 a month lines. A school I used to work at had 7 such lines...and got e-rate discounts of around 60% on every one of them.
Depends on the size of the school. The larger schools, particularly in higher-poverty-rate areas, can make millions off of this, because they get huge hardware discounts...up to 90%. Smaller schools, or ones in more average-poverty-rate areas, get discounts on "leased-line" and telephone service only. In the district that I take care of, it's a definite balancing act...we will get 68% off of hardware, but ONLY if the discounts extend that far (which is a determination made by e-Rate AFTER you have done all of the work.) So if they decide to fund only down to 69%, we're screwed, and all of those trees will have been killed for naught.
What most people don't know is that a huge majority of the money doesn't go to internet access at all; it goes to the huge network of Microsoft Exchange Servers and Cisco 3725 routers that schools heap up for no reason. Additionally, things like voice mail and cell phones are covered under the program. It's really much, much bigger than most people realize...a wonderful form of corporate welfare.
I have watched the e-Rate program since its inception, and am neck-deep in it now...this sort of thing happens over and over again. It is a multi-billion-dollar boondoggle, typical government program. Schools are forced to hire entire staffs, or outsource, just to fill out the hundreds of pages of paperwork. The end result? Rejection, or perhaps more paperwork. But in any case, all of those billions are funneled to IT giants like Microsoft and IBM, as well as the Telecom companies that are given "preference" for their stone-age T1 technology. Want to put in your own glass fiber between buildings? Not covered by e-Rate, because that would step on the phone company's toes. Better to lease a dozen T1 lines, in their eyes. The whole thing needs to be gamma-irradiated and shot into deep space...and the "Universal Service Fee" that covers it eliminated.
"A flat, empty highway with a clearly marked, solid center strip." So all we have to do for the robots to win the war is nuke the offending country flat, and then send in paint-bombers (UAV's of course) to mark the strip...
The entire E-Rate system was dreamed up by huge telecom conglomerates as a way to get government largesse...it is nothing more than that. In the early 90's it was trumpeted as a way to "empower" districts and "provide services to the poor." But it has rapidly grown into a terrifyingly wasteful government program. I know, I am the person in a school district responsible for it. We spent countless hundreds of hours to get a discount on our phone bills, and, perhaps, a discount on hardware. But it all keeps coming back to the fact that billions are being channeled into pockets already filled to overflowing...telecom companies and "consulting" firms. 90% of the money goes to districts that have the ability to lie and cheat their way through the forms...while honest districts get audited and denied on a regular basis. Take it from me...the way to win at E-Rate is to hire a high-powered company to do it all for you, then just sign the forms. Get ready for them to misrepresent everything about your school district to get it, though. The solution is to eradicate E-Rate and the "Universal Service Fee" that funds it...it's that simple.
Here's to a long and fruitful future for Win64 viruses...
Police just LOVE it when you don't stop. It's like a dog chasing after a ball, they will run over pedestrians, other cars, semi-solid objects, etc to get their prey. You won't get away, and will more than likely end up with a broomhandle stuck up your hind end during "interrogation."
Radiothermal Generators...RTG's. Just make them heavy enough that you can't tote them out...
I dunno if this is so much as a prototype as a test bed or demonstrator...I mean, if it was a prototype it would be something near the real thing...and this certainly isn't anywhere near their final product. Good that somebody's aiming high though...
I pity my educational counterparts in other districts...one in particular has probably a dozen Win2K/W2K3 machines sitting outside the firewall...no protection whatsoever. No, they do not do regular updates...just when something breaks. Oh well, they'll just hire their friendly neighborhood MCSE consultants to come in at $150 an hour to "sell them some protection." It seems like it's always firefighting with Windows anymore...And no, I do NOT run Windows on any server in my district...
Here's a quote from a Chinese Web Site... "If we continue on the traditional growth path, energy consumption in China will surge to 3.3 billion tons of standard coal by 2020 from the current 1.4 billion tons" Here's another quote, from an American Publication "Total U.S. coal consumption is also projected to increase from 1.07 billion tons in 2002 to 1.57 billion tons in 2025, and production from 1.1 billion tons to 1.54 billion tons." Perhaps on a per-capita basis we're outrunning them...but on a country-wide scale they are already out-burning us 1.4 gtons to 1.54 gtons. We (ya, the USA) are in the midst of scaling back our use of coal through lots of draconian rules that have devastated regions of the country...China shows little sign of backing off on their use. Think about it...in less than 20 years they will have more than doubled their use of coal...in around 20 years, we will have increased our use by around 57%. Coal is a way of life in China, have you ever seen the little coal cakes that people use to heat their houses? There was a program on PBS the other night that showed little shops everywhere liquefying the coal and making the pressed-and-dried blocks. One guy mentioned he could heat his house for the winter for about $25. They will not stop doing that to retrofit to bottled propane or dig up their cities to put in natural gas.
The Chinese have long since passed us up on coal usage...and are rapidly gaining. They have just begun to convert their old Bessemer converters to lower-pollution designs...but basically, their entire economy depends on trashing their environment as fast as they can...and of course, OUR environment. The US could collectively wheel around on unicycles and rub our hands together for warmth, and China would more than make up for it in additional pollution. Until they start doing something, I see no reason to stop driving an SUV or heating my house with fuel oil.
I couldn't agree more...school, particularly middle and grade school, should be about learning, not harsh, life-altering punishments like the RIAA would like to deal out, and Administrators do all too often.
That has been tried; a student was suspected of reading administrative e-mails and even changing his grades, and was banned from computer access. The next day, his parents and a lawyer talked to the superintendent, and informed him that they would sue the district if he was not allowed back on the computers (since it was going to be detrimental to his grades.) This prompted the lawsuit-paranoid superintendent to tell me and my immediate boss "Put him back on." There is much to be said about standing up for student rights and also the relative severity of a student lawsuit or an RIAA lawsuit...but this is education, and things do not make much sense.
I'm the admin in a school district...and we went to a generic login for that very reason; the fact that, without cameras and DNA samples, you can never tell if someone logging in is really them. (Here comes the analogy that will be counter-analogied and counter-counter analogied to death) I mean, if someone steals a fence post from your front yard and beats someone to death with it, could you be held liable for kiling that person? Passwords and usernames are very freely shared amongst students, and no amount of goading or agreement-signing will change that. The only ultimate cure is teacher supervision...but then again, we're too busy fiddling with standardized tests and leaving no child behind to do that.
If frame dragging isn't observed, the physics guys will just come up with another theory that fits reality...and life goes on. Is it just me, or is this basically several hundred million dollars to just prove a couple of phsyics professors' beer bets? I guess more has been spent on less before, though.
When the working conditions include flat rate work on sometimes impossible schedules and working conditions that would make a sewage technician laugh with glee, there is no surprise in the fact that there is a shortage of techs. In the IT world, you might start on the ground floor manually typing stuff into a database...in the automotive world, you start out changing tires and filling windshield wiper reservoirs. There are lots of disincentives to go into auto repair anymore...claims of $100,000 compensation notwithstanding.
Well, at my old employer, we had an ancient "Gateway 2000" that was a 486/33 I believe...that has been in continuous, daily use since 1990...and is still in use today. Is is covered with cigarette butts, banana peels, coffee stains, and god knows what else...it has not been off more than a few hours since it was turned on, and has never had a single problem. It is in continuous, professional use all day long (architectural office, they do their specs on it) and, right now, is 14 years old. It is a commodity machine. I think I'll keep buying commodity machines.
My bad, they're all Indigos not blueberries. It's difficult to keep all of these colors straight...but they are Indigos, bought 2001-2002. So 2-3 years old, for the sake of those keeping track.
Here's a nice link showing iMacs being EOL'ed in March 2003... We bought these in 2001-2002 I believe...which hardly makes them old. I can say that I have proper controls in place, and have no problems WHATSOEVER with "viruses, spyware, OS troubles, or security updates", as you put it. You are making too many assumptions about problems with PC's...when it is probably YOUR "piddly" experience that is leading you to believe that. I have a sample size of over 500 machines, well, I don't run the IT department of some fictional Fortune 500 company that is all Mac, so I guess I don't have a 100,000-machine sample. All I know is that Apple hardware today is no better than the cheap PC's I buy, and the difference in price makes it worth it to me to buy the latter.