If I have a hybrid (say an Escape), I'm paying fewer gasoline taxes for the same use of the road as the non-hybrid escape driver. So the government should come after me for using my fuel in an alternative way (charging a battery)?
Not the best analogue. Okay, I decide I'm going to drop in a diesel engine to run my Escape hybrid, and use recycled oil from the cafeteria at work. Now I'm subject to the tax as per the T.F.A.
Still not the best analogy. Suppose I decide to dispense with the internal combustion engine altogether and adapt my Escape hybrid to use only power off the grid (my commute will support it). What's the tax man's angle for coming after me now, now that I'm not contributing anything to the road infrastructure?
Actually, that'll be a serious tax problem as we transition to plug-in electrics.
I used Virtual PC for ages and ages. It was dog slow ("emulation"), but it let me run the few Windows apps that I absolutely need. In most cases, it was quicker and easier to VNC into my bona fide Windows box.
When the Intel Macs came out, and then Parallels, I dumped the PC and replaced it with an iMac, saved my dollars and dumped my workhorse QuickSilver for a bigger iMac. Parallels was *that* damn fast. I've never tried BootCamp and don't intend to (dual boot? please), so I honestly don't know what the performance hit is, but it's still fast enough that I don't care. Parallels runs faster than my Dual Xenon 2.4 (ca. 2005 machine, not state of the art) engineering workstation at work does.
While I don't need 3D for most things, I'd love the ability to run the XBMC emulator for tinkering with my XBMC installation. I have a DirectX 9.0 emulator installed (from the *legal* DirectX dev kit), but it's reminiscent of VirtualPC all over again with how slow it is. So an upgrade for $40? Hell, I'm in.
FWIW, my Windows XP Pro license was free (as in beer), so the cost wasn't an issue for me -- I can see how it may be an issue for others, though.
I don't use Linux, either*. I'm a heavy user, a power user, and I choose to use Mac OS X, and sometimes I fire up Windows. In fact, when Apple went Intel, it was a perfect chance to get rid of my home-brewed, whitebox PC and my PowerMac and replace them with an elegant pair of iMacs capable of running Parallels way the hell faster than VPC ever did.
This post would go on forever if I explained why I used Mac OS X versus Windows, so I won't. But I choose Mac OS and Windows over Linux because of lack of need for Linux. Mac OS X does *almost* everything I could want it to do, and Windows XP in a VM takes care of my needs for the few things Mac OS X can't do (certain personal applications, certain work applications, probably the same stuff that doesn't work in Linux, which would probably already be ported to Mac OS X anyway). I'm aware Windows has its security problems, but I don't really care; it's insulated from most of the world in the VM anyway, and any miniscule, potential exposure is only when it's running. Really, now, what's my need for desktop Linux over existing solutions?
*Oops, had to add a qualifier to this. My MythTV backend is a Linux box, of course, and it also serves as my my NAT store, and my home gateway for ssh access while I'm not at home. I guess I could have cludged together something under Windows, but then I wouldn't trust it for the job (and Mac OS doesn't run [officially] on non-Apple hardware). So, I'm a Linux user after all, just not a desktop Linux user, which kind of transforms my point into something about choosing tools for the job.
I guess the more common term for "partial" would be "mild," as in "mild hybrid." You can see how I made the mistake -- full hybrids are still called "full hybrids" so what's a mild hybrid if not a partial hybrid?;-)
Actually, the license is to avoid patent disputes. Ford uses their own tech. Think of it as avoiding 1-Click lawsuits. GM in the meantime only currently offers partial hybrids, and Chrysler has nothing.
To the Hummer guys, I just wonder what happened to their good taste (and Escalade guys, too).
I sold my Expedition recently because I wanted to pay the conspicuous consumption of a new kitchen. It actually improved the kitchen functionally rather than just a crass face lift of the "it's not in fashion sort." I feel I have to mention that because the obvious/. perception relates to why I had the Expedition in the first place.
It didn't have to do with male organ compensation (duh, my Continental does that).
Feeling safe? Who the hell cares? *All* cars are safer now that they were years ago. I'm not some stupid idiot that's going roll my car or truck because I actually pay attention to how I drive and others drive.
Pull a trailer? Yeah, only sometimes, but nothing my Continental couldn't pull.
Cargo? Hell, no, and tear up the interior?
Self esteem? No, because every time I was out driving the thing, I know that 5% of everyone around me just thought I was an asshole, polluting, environment-hating, gun-toting snob, and I was actually self-conscious of that fact.
So despite all of the lack of utility or perceived need in my Expedition, why did I have it? I *liked* it. It was a personal choice, a pleasure to drive. Not unlike the fact I'll spend a little more for a Mac (yeah, not every Mac guy is a leftie weenie). Or the fact that my house is a little larger than I need. Or the fact that my TV is slightly larger than is necessary (it's only 37", but all I *need* is a 9" screen, right?).
I guess I'm asking, why does it always have to be a phallic symbol or conspicuous consumption? Is it suddenly forbidden to own things that give you pleasure?
Yeah, the USSR was certainly fighting this thing out of a duty to mankind. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty prior to the start of the war certainly exudes their altruism.
In general, why is it assumed that only the elite of the elite and business executives (in general) are going to be the primary owners of these? Sure, at $500 it's pricey and I don't see myself opting to have one of these, but it's less than 1/3 the price of my computer, and I was able to scrounge the pennies up for it because it's something I really wanted. If I thought that the iPhone would finally allow me to dump (a) my Clie, (b) my personal, Cingular phone, and (c) my work phone (Sprint) for a single device that syncs with Windows Outlook and with my Mac at home, I'd probably spring for it. I'm by no means an executive, but I admit to having a pretty damned good job where I would only have to struggle temporarily for a $500 purchase. Hell, lots of people in our generation just plop it onto a credit card without any futher thought (delayed struggle).
Non-subsidized Treos are in this price range, and lots of other unsubsidized smart phones are in this price range and above.
>> You most certainly do NOT have to "prod" the Finder to show new files. Kernel file notifications were added in 10.4 and work fine. Go ahead, open a window then "touch foo" in the terminal - the file will appear as soon as you hit enter.
I haven't tried the touch foo, but I don't use touch for much. I still do have to prod Finder to show files, and usually I do the grandparent's method of create new folder and then delete it. Sometimes clicking on the enclosing folder brings it back, but it's definitely not instant like in System 9. At least in Windows I can hit F5 for a forced refresh.
Well, even the vast majority of *American* cars aren't that way, either. Sure, they have lower corporate average fuel economies, but they sell a lot more trucks. If you look at averages for product offering -- discounting trucks -- the Asians, Europeans, and Americans are very, very similar. Unfortunately averages included volume, and trucks make the Americans look like gas hogs.
What big, V8's still exist on the mass market for non-trucks? Mustang, but that's a fun car (and most are sold as V6's I think). Corvette, but that's a fun car.
I happen to have a big V8 car (no longer made), and I still get a very respectable 23 mpg in mixed driving (when I'm not driving aggressively or made to drive too defensively).
The others make V8's, too, but because of the anti-American demagogy in the USA, no one really notices that. The real fact is, American cars do quite well outside of the United States, and it's not because of big V8's, bad design, fuel guzzling, bad quality, or anything else.
Uh... I wasn't trying to discredit academics. My question was simply why *only* academics. Maybe the adjective "schlub" threw some of you for a loop... it doesn't mean stupid or unqualified; it's more like disheveled, kind of unsightly, kind of like a lot of the academics that I knew and do know now.
I'm an automotive engineer without an.edu address. I'm probably more qualified to edit content related to my particular field of study than some academic schlub that's never built a thing in his or her life.
I'm from the States, but working in the GTA. When I had a problem with my iMac 17" under US warranty, without AppleCare, they simply directed me to their list of authorized dealers. The one I found was a guy working out of his house. I brought him iMac, we went to his basement, and he swapped out the failing drive. (It also showed me how to do the job, so when I upgraded to a 250 Gb a bit later, it was a piece of cake.)
When I was talking about the SMART problem to Apple, they wanted me to purchase AppleCare or pay a troubleshooting fee before talking any further. I asked "what if it's a hardware problem." At that point the tech/salesperson asked me what was wrong, and (astoundingly) took my word for it (rare thing these days!). I'd fully expected the DHL mailer deal like we do in the States, i.e., they send an empty box with return postage paid; I'd drop it off; and I'd have it back in a couple of days. I was kind of peeved when the Apple rep told me it didn't work that way in Canada, and was directed to the aforementioned list of servicers. But looking back on it, I got this thing fixed the same day. I'm most pleased.
In the past I took my PowerBook to the local (US) Apple Store. That was a longer process than the DHL process, plus I had to go all the way back and forth to the Apple Store. Prior to that with a different PowerBook, I'd used the DHL service and was mostly happy with the turnaround time.
I'm a non-business user, FWIW (Windows and Solaris all day at work).
I grew up on the US border, and I just finished working most of the past year in Canada. And you know what? There's nothing really to see here.
(1) These are existing laws; they're just now able to enforce them. (2) Not just Canadians will need passports to get into the United States. Americans will need them to get back home, too. You already do by sea or air, and late this year you'll need one by car or foot, too. (3) Not all Canadians hate Americans, just not as all Americans hate Americans. The same political mindset that are America-haters in the USA are the America-haters in Canada. (4) Canada actually requires some pretty strict qualifications for foreign workers to earn a work permit, unlike the USA where almost anyone can be sponsored for an H1-B. (5) It usually takes me less than five minutes of waiting to get into Canada at Port Huron-Sarnia. It often takes 20 to 30 minutes to get into the USA at the same border. That's travelling with a foreign-to-both-countries wife. (6) They're a lot stricter about commercial goods entering than the Americans, but the historically weak Canadian dollar and high Canadian sales taxes have conditioned them to have to worry about things coming across the border. (7) Canadian TV sucks. Yeah, so does a lot of American TV. So consider their "sucks" as relative to our "sucks" and you know what you've got. Of course they do air a lot of our "sucks" so there's sometimes less relative suckiness, but Canadian laws mandates certain amounts of Canadian suckiness to be aired anyway. Yeah, this applies to crossing the border because, well, the signal is the traveller this time.
How do the use the XBox 360? I thought it only worked with Windows Media Center edition on the back end? If there's anything like XBMC for the 360, I'd jump onto a 360 right away (can't view HD with my old school XBoxes).
I love my work-issued RSA SecureID. The thing is, I don't want to have to carry one for work, one for my bank, one for my car loan bank, one for my mortgage bank, one for my HELOC bank, one for my airline credit card bank, one for eBay, one for PayPal, and one of each for all of my other assorted (but unused!) credit cards in case I should decide I want to check in with them one of these days. I'd actually be willing to pay a reasonable rate for a universal SecureID given that it were truly universal. Since RSA presumably runs the backend, I don't see that this would be an impossible task or require mutual cooperation from all of the different financial institutions.
I always hear about other people having problems with their SecureIDs, but my keyfob version has been washed more than once, run over, and subject to other maladies without any problems. I won't say they're indestructible, but they're at least solid. I've never had a problem with drift. My understanding is the server works around this by keeping track of a few previous and next codes and can correct for drift based on when you use the current code. I've only ever had to enter the "next" code a couple of times in the five years I've had it.
>>Wouldn't it make things easier for your company though? When you deal with other companies, they will use the same units as you. If you want to buy parts from them, they are in the same standard.
We specify to our suppliers what we want, using the metric system. What metric proponents always fail to mention is that the United States is already highly metricized. For some reasons, these proponents won't be happy until highway signs are metric and 12 penny nails are called 88.9mm nails. The cultural use of metric/English units has no bearing on scientific/industrial use of such units. In fact, the anti-Slashdot sentiment of capitalism has some bearing here: we use the metric system because market forces cause us to use the metric system, or to paraphrase you, it does make things easier for my company. All of Americans and Canadians in my company grew up with US and imperial units, but it doesn't affect our ability to work with metric units in context and US units in their context, i.e., a measuring system is a measuring system. (In fact the only place we don't use metric units is when we have to meet consumer expectations and show references to "miles" and "gallons" and "psi" on our products and product literature.)
I'll go back to my question above, then -- what is the cost/benefit analysis for forcing the general public to use metric units?
No they don't! At least I can't find 'em anywhere. When I first came to this country, it was frustrating as hell to buy milk. They only had these damnable four liter bags of milk, but all of the milk pitchers were obviously only slightly larger than liter. WTF? So I only bought 1 liter jugs for while until I got the nerve to ask a lady in the store how the hell one is to use these friggin' 4 liter bags. The answer?: There are three smaller bags of 1.333 liters inside of the large four liter bag, and these fit quite well into the little pitcher.
Actually, I'm liking this milk method quite a bit -- the unopened bags stay fresher quite a bit longer, and as they're bags, they can fit anywhere in the refrigerator that I want them to. The only tough part is taking a swig out of the bag-in-pitcher; it doesn't flow flawlessly as if it were a jug/carton, and I often end of spilling it upon myself. Of course now I use a glass to prevent that (must be some plot of the nationalized health insurance scheme to reduce spread of disease or something, even though I'm the only one who drinks the milk).
Incidentally I did find a gallon of milk at a 7-Eleven. It was a US gallon, not a Canadian gallon, and it was labelled "1 US GALLON / 3.79 litres".
>>Ease of calculations is the key. If you don't do much actual mathematics in your daily life, you won't see the need for the metric system. If you're a scientist, you do, and you will.
Well, yeah, that's my point. I'm an engineer, and my American (global) Fortune 5 company is completely metric in its operations. So as a scientist (you) or engineer (me) we see the value of and use the metric system. There's no US law prohibiting us from doing so. Why, then, should we mandate that the country switch to the metric system? You and I already use it; why make Joe Blow purchase lunch meat priced at $x per 100/g?
Simply, what's the cost-benefit analysis of changing our society to the metric system?
Why bother? Seriously -- why bother? What real, practical value is there in forcing the general public to use one arbitrary (to them) set of measurements versus another arbitrary set of measurements? What does the public's use of miles, Fahrenheit, pounds, and acres have to do with business or government? Sure, sometimes there are mishaps when using mixed units, but they're rare enough that their widely-published details stick out in your mind because it's so rare. A good engineer realizes that units are arbitrary and can work with whatever measurement system she's given. Besides that, whether my car gets 22 mpg or 7.2 L/100km doesn't have an impact on people in the laboratory or the layout room. The scales, force gauges, and AutoCAD all switch back and forth effortlessly. Businesses already use the metric system when it suits them (it usually does). In fact our American units (they're not imperial units) are officially defined by the NIST in terms of metric units. Our land surveying system west of New England is irrevocably tied to the use of feet and acre systems.
I'm working in Canada now. Despite the fact that their government forced metric units on them, do you realize that virtually everyone (well, immigrants from metric countries notwithstanding) continues to use Imperial units (in this case, they are Imperial units -- 4.4L/gallon, etc) in their daily life? It's 82 outside, not 28. I weigh 190, not 86. I had a fever of 101, not 39.
What's really strange is working in Mexico, where they never officially use US units. Milk is sold in galones (gallons, yup, right on the label). Talking about small measurements is quite often done in pulgadas (inches). They don't use millas (miles) in normal conversation, but they all seem to have a general sense of what they are. Yardas may be well know because of American football, and Fahrenheit makes no sense to them, but they're fairly well versed in libras (pounds).
Me? I like the metric system, and use it where it makes sense to use it. But going through the expense of wholesale conversion to the metric system makes no sense and will cause more problems than it solves. Think of the sheer amount of measurements that would have to change. There's the mundane -- 37" TV's will have to change. But what about construction materials? Plumbing? Lumber? Fasteners? What about highway sytems? Exit signs, mile markers, speed limit signs, maps, documentation? The US survey system, then? Acres, townships, counties, baseline locations, meridian locations, title and deed documents? What about food packaging? Why eliminate US measurements when metric measurements are already there?
Interstate 19 between Tucson and Nogales, Arizona is labelled in km/h for some inexplicable reason. Is there a benefit to anyone there?
I want it as a geek -- screw fashion. For me, though, it means dumping the MP3 player, the Sony Clie, and the Sony-Ericsson phone for a single phone. I'm already a couple of years out of contract with Cingular, so June seems like a good time to "upgrade" and sign a new contract.
Actually, it's not as easy as I make it seem: first, I don't walk around with an iPod. I leave it in my car. I have a Shuffle, but it's primarily a USB drive for me now. Next, will the iPhone sync with Outlook using the Windows iTunes? I have special GPO's and can install iTunes at work, but will corporate IT let everyone else install iTunes (they currently allow Palm Desktop, even though it's not part of our corporate load).
If it'll sync with both Outlook at work and with my iApps at home, then this is the holy grail I've been looking for in PDA's -- as is I only ever sync the Clie at work with Outlook because too much gets disorganized between syncs if I try to make Outlook look like a close of Address Book/iCal and Entourage (so basically, all my contact management and calendaring is done at work now).
My web provide luckily has port 26 available for SMTP, otherwise I'd be stuck using Comcast's SMTP server and break my use of mail folders with universal IMAP access.
In that I'm currently in a hotel that also blocks 25, it's especially nice that 26 is available for this knowledgeable user.
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If I have a hybrid (say an Escape), I'm paying fewer gasoline taxes for the same use of the road as the non-hybrid escape driver. So the government should come after me for using my fuel in an alternative way (charging a battery)?
Not the best analogue. Okay, I decide I'm going to drop in a diesel engine to run my Escape hybrid, and use recycled oil from the cafeteria at work. Now I'm subject to the tax as per the T.F.A.
Still not the best analogy. Suppose I decide to dispense with the internal combustion engine altogether and adapt my Escape hybrid to use only power off the grid (my commute will support it). What's the tax man's angle for coming after me now, now that I'm not contributing anything to the road infrastructure?
Actually, that'll be a serious tax problem as we transition to plug-in electrics.
I used Virtual PC for ages and ages. It was dog slow ("emulation"), but it let me run the few Windows apps that I absolutely need. In most cases, it was quicker and easier to VNC into my bona fide Windows box.
When the Intel Macs came out, and then Parallels, I dumped the PC and replaced it with an iMac, saved my dollars and dumped my workhorse QuickSilver for a bigger iMac. Parallels was *that* damn fast. I've never tried BootCamp and don't intend to (dual boot? please), so I honestly don't know what the performance hit is, but it's still fast enough that I don't care. Parallels runs faster than my Dual Xenon 2.4 (ca. 2005 machine, not state of the art) engineering workstation at work does.
While I don't need 3D for most things, I'd love the ability to run the XBMC emulator for tinkering with my XBMC installation. I have a DirectX 9.0 emulator installed (from the *legal* DirectX dev kit), but it's reminiscent of VirtualPC all over again with how slow it is. So an upgrade for $40? Hell, I'm in.
FWIW, my Windows XP Pro license was free (as in beer), so the cost wasn't an issue for me -- I can see how it may be an issue for others, though.
Double ditto. I played a couple of games a little bit when I first bought my Xboxes, but that was just out of curiosity's sake.
KnoppMyth backend, Xbox front ends, and I'm all set. Well, except for high resolution video. But you -- the Xbox upsamples reasonably well.
I don't use Linux, either*. I'm a heavy user, a power user, and I choose to use Mac OS X, and sometimes I fire up Windows. In fact, when Apple went Intel, it was a perfect chance to get rid of my home-brewed, whitebox PC and my PowerMac and replace them with an elegant pair of iMacs capable of running Parallels way the hell faster than VPC ever did.
This post would go on forever if I explained why I used Mac OS X versus Windows, so I won't. But I choose Mac OS and Windows over Linux because of lack of need for Linux. Mac OS X does *almost* everything I could want it to do, and Windows XP in a VM takes care of my needs for the few things Mac OS X can't do (certain personal applications, certain work applications, probably the same stuff that doesn't work in Linux, which would probably already be ported to Mac OS X anyway). I'm aware Windows has its security problems, but I don't really care; it's insulated from most of the world in the VM anyway, and any miniscule, potential exposure is only when it's running. Really, now, what's my need for desktop Linux over existing solutions?
*Oops, had to add a qualifier to this. My MythTV backend is a Linux box, of course, and it also serves as my my NAT store, and my home gateway for ssh access while I'm not at home. I guess I could have cludged together something under Windows, but then I wouldn't trust it for the job (and Mac OS doesn't run [officially] on non-Apple hardware). So, I'm a Linux user after all, just not a desktop Linux user, which kind of transforms my point into something about choosing tools for the job.
I guess the more common term for "partial" would be "mild," as in "mild hybrid." You can see how I made the mistake -- full hybrids are still called "full hybrids" so what's a mild hybrid if not a partial hybrid? ;-)
Actually, the license is to avoid patent disputes. Ford uses their own tech. Think of it as avoiding 1-Click lawsuits. GM in the meantime only currently offers partial hybrids, and Chrysler has nothing.
To the Hummer guys, I just wonder what happened to their good taste (and Escalade guys, too).
/. perception relates to why I had the Expedition in the first place.
I sold my Expedition recently because I wanted to pay the conspicuous consumption of a new kitchen. It actually improved the kitchen functionally rather than just a crass face lift of the "it's not in fashion sort." I feel I have to mention that because the obvious
It didn't have to do with male organ compensation (duh, my Continental does that).
Feeling safe? Who the hell cares? *All* cars are safer now that they were years ago. I'm not some stupid idiot that's going roll my car or truck because I actually pay attention to how I drive and others drive.
Pull a trailer? Yeah, only sometimes, but nothing my Continental couldn't pull.
Cargo? Hell, no, and tear up the interior?
Self esteem? No, because every time I was out driving the thing, I know that 5% of everyone around me just thought I was an asshole, polluting, environment-hating, gun-toting snob, and I was actually self-conscious of that fact.
So despite all of the lack of utility or perceived need in my Expedition, why did I have it? I *liked* it. It was a personal choice, a pleasure to drive. Not unlike the fact I'll spend a little more for a Mac (yeah, not every Mac guy is a leftie weenie). Or the fact that my house is a little larger than I need. Or the fact that my TV is slightly larger than is necessary (it's only 37", but all I *need* is a 9" screen, right?).
I guess I'm asking, why does it always have to be a phallic symbol or conspicuous consumption? Is it suddenly forbidden to own things that give you pleasure?
Yeah, the USSR was certainly fighting this thing out of a duty to mankind.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty prior to the start of the war certainly exudes their altruism.
In general, why is it assumed that only the elite of the elite and business executives (in general) are going to be the primary owners of these? Sure, at $500 it's pricey and I don't see myself opting to have one of these, but it's less than 1/3 the price of my computer, and I was able to scrounge the pennies up for it because it's something I really wanted. If I thought that the iPhone would finally allow me to dump (a) my Clie, (b) my personal, Cingular phone, and (c) my work phone (Sprint) for a single device that syncs with Windows Outlook and with my Mac at home, I'd probably spring for it. I'm by no means an executive, but I admit to having a pretty damned good job where I would only have to struggle temporarily for a $500 purchase. Hell, lots of people in our generation just plop it onto a credit card without any futher thought (delayed struggle).
Non-subsidized Treos are in this price range, and lots of other unsubsidized smart phones are in this price range and above.
>> You most certainly do NOT have to "prod" the Finder to show new files. Kernel file notifications were added in 10.4 and work fine. Go ahead, open a window then "touch foo" in the terminal - the file will appear as soon as you hit enter.
I haven't tried the touch foo, but I don't use touch for much. I still do have to prod Finder to show files, and usually I do the grandparent's method of create new folder and then delete it. Sometimes clicking on the enclosing folder brings it back, but it's definitely not instant like in System 9. At least in Windows I can hit F5 for a forced refresh.
Well, even the vast majority of *American* cars aren't that way, either. Sure, they have lower corporate average fuel economies, but they sell a lot more trucks. If you look at averages for product offering -- discounting trucks -- the Asians, Europeans, and Americans are very, very similar. Unfortunately averages included volume, and trucks make the Americans look like gas hogs.
What big, V8's still exist on the mass market for non-trucks? Mustang, but that's a fun car (and most are sold as V6's I think). Corvette, but that's a fun car.
I happen to have a big V8 car (no longer made), and I still get a very respectable 23 mpg in mixed driving (when I'm not driving aggressively or made to drive too defensively).
The others make V8's, too, but because of the anti-American demagogy in the USA, no one really notices that. The real fact is, American cars do quite well outside of the United States, and it's not because of big V8's, bad design, fuel guzzling, bad quality, or anything else.
Uh... I wasn't trying to discredit academics. My question was simply why *only* academics. Maybe the adjective "schlub" threw some of you for a loop... it doesn't mean stupid or unqualified; it's more like disheveled, kind of unsightly, kind of like a lot of the academics that I knew and do know now.
I'm an automotive engineer without an .edu address. I'm probably more qualified to edit content related to my particular field of study than some academic schlub that's never built a thing in his or her life.
I'm from the States, but working in the GTA. When I had a problem with my iMac 17" under US warranty, without AppleCare, they simply directed me to their list of authorized dealers. The one I found was a guy working out of his house. I brought him iMac, we went to his basement, and he swapped out the failing drive. (It also showed me how to do the job, so when I upgraded to a 250 Gb a bit later, it was a piece of cake.)
When I was talking about the SMART problem to Apple, they wanted me to purchase AppleCare or pay a troubleshooting fee before talking any further. I asked "what if it's a hardware problem." At that point the tech/salesperson asked me what was wrong, and (astoundingly) took my word for it (rare thing these days!). I'd fully expected the DHL mailer deal like we do in the States, i.e., they send an empty box with return postage paid; I'd drop it off; and I'd have it back in a couple of days. I was kind of peeved when the Apple rep told me it didn't work that way in Canada, and was directed to the aforementioned list of servicers. But looking back on it, I got this thing fixed the same day. I'm most pleased.
In the past I took my PowerBook to the local (US) Apple Store. That was a longer process than the DHL process, plus I had to go all the way back and forth to the Apple Store. Prior to that with a different PowerBook, I'd used the DHL service and was mostly happy with the turnaround time.
I'm a non-business user, FWIW (Windows and Solaris all day at work).
I grew up on the US border, and I just finished working most of the past year in Canada. And you know what? There's nothing really to see here.
(1) These are existing laws; they're just now able to enforce them.
(2) Not just Canadians will need passports to get into the United States. Americans will need them to get back home, too. You already do by sea or air, and late this year you'll need one by car or foot, too.
(3) Not all Canadians hate Americans, just not as all Americans hate Americans. The same political mindset that are America-haters in the USA are the America-haters in Canada.
(4) Canada actually requires some pretty strict qualifications for foreign workers to earn a work permit, unlike the USA where almost anyone can be sponsored for an H1-B.
(5) It usually takes me less than five minutes of waiting to get into Canada at Port Huron-Sarnia. It often takes 20 to 30 minutes to get into the USA at the same border. That's travelling with a foreign-to-both-countries wife.
(6) They're a lot stricter about commercial goods entering than the Americans, but the historically weak Canadian dollar and high Canadian sales taxes have conditioned them to have to worry about things coming across the border.
(7) Canadian TV sucks. Yeah, so does a lot of American TV. So consider their "sucks" as relative to our "sucks" and you know what you've got. Of course they do air a lot of our "sucks" so there's sometimes less relative suckiness, but Canadian laws mandates certain amounts of Canadian suckiness to be aired anyway. Yeah, this applies to crossing the border because, well, the signal is the traveller this time.
>>but can we please be absolute when using the word "easy"?
Actually, speaking absolutely, it *is* easy. Relatively speaking (in relation to how we think it should be) is when it becomes difficult.
They don't and didn't. They tied state speed limits to federal funding.
How do the use the XBox 360? I thought it only worked with Windows Media Center edition on the back end? If there's anything like XBMC for the 360, I'd jump onto a 360 right away (can't view HD with my old school XBoxes).
I love my work-issued RSA SecureID. The thing is, I don't want to have to carry one for work, one for my bank, one for my car loan bank, one for my mortgage bank, one for my HELOC bank, one for my airline credit card bank, one for eBay, one for PayPal, and one of each for all of my other assorted (but unused!) credit cards in case I should decide I want to check in with them one of these days. I'd actually be willing to pay a reasonable rate for a universal SecureID given that it were truly universal. Since RSA presumably runs the backend, I don't see that this would be an impossible task or require mutual cooperation from all of the different financial institutions.
I always hear about other people having problems with their SecureIDs, but my keyfob version has been washed more than once, run over, and subject to other maladies without any problems. I won't say they're indestructible, but they're at least solid. I've never had a problem with drift. My understanding is the server works around this by keeping track of a few previous and next codes and can correct for drift based on when you use the current code. I've only ever had to enter the "next" code a couple of times in the five years I've had it.
>>Wouldn't it make things easier for your company though? When you deal with other companies, they will use the same units as you. If you want to buy parts from them, they are in the same standard.
We specify to our suppliers what we want, using the metric system. What metric proponents always fail to mention is that the United States is already highly metricized. For some reasons, these proponents won't be happy until highway signs are metric and 12 penny nails are called 88.9mm nails. The cultural use of metric/English units has no bearing on scientific/industrial use of such units. In fact, the anti-Slashdot sentiment of capitalism has some bearing here: we use the metric system because market forces cause us to use the metric system, or to paraphrase you, it does make things easier for my company. All of Americans and Canadians in my company grew up with US and imperial units, but it doesn't affect our ability to work with metric units in context and US units in their context, i.e., a measuring system is a measuring system. (In fact the only place we don't use metric units is when we have to meet consumer expectations and show references to "miles" and "gallons" and "psi" on our products and product literature.)
I'll go back to my question above, then -- what is the cost/benefit analysis for forcing the general public to use metric units?
No they don't! At least I can't find 'em anywhere. When I first came to this country, it was frustrating as hell to buy milk. They only had these damnable four liter bags of milk, but all of the milk pitchers were obviously only slightly larger than liter. WTF? So I only bought 1 liter jugs for while until I got the nerve to ask a lady in the store how the hell one is to use these friggin' 4 liter bags. The answer?: There are three smaller bags of 1.333 liters inside of the large four liter bag, and these fit quite well into the little pitcher.
Actually, I'm liking this milk method quite a bit -- the unopened bags stay fresher quite a bit longer, and as they're bags, they can fit anywhere in the refrigerator that I want them to. The only tough part is taking a swig out of the bag-in-pitcher; it doesn't flow flawlessly as if it were a jug/carton, and I often end of spilling it upon myself. Of course now I use a glass to prevent that (must be some plot of the nationalized health insurance scheme to reduce spread of disease or something, even though I'm the only one who drinks the milk).
Incidentally I did find a gallon of milk at a 7-Eleven. It was a US gallon, not a Canadian gallon, and it was labelled "1 US GALLON / 3.79 litres".
>>Ease of calculations is the key. If you don't do much actual mathematics in your daily life, you won't see the need for the metric system. If you're a scientist, you do, and you will.
Well, yeah, that's my point. I'm an engineer, and my American (global) Fortune 5 company is completely metric in its operations. So as a scientist (you) or engineer (me) we see the value of and use the metric system. There's no US law prohibiting us from doing so. Why, then, should we mandate that the country switch to the metric system? You and I already use it; why make Joe Blow purchase lunch meat priced at $x per 100/g?
Simply, what's the cost-benefit analysis of changing our society to the metric system?
Why bother? Seriously -- why bother? What real, practical value is there in forcing the general public to use one arbitrary (to them) set of measurements versus another arbitrary set of measurements? What does the public's use of miles, Fahrenheit, pounds, and acres have to do with business or government? Sure, sometimes there are mishaps when using mixed units, but they're rare enough that their widely-published details stick out in your mind because it's so rare. A good engineer realizes that units are arbitrary and can work with whatever measurement system she's given. Besides that, whether my car gets 22 mpg or 7.2 L/100km doesn't have an impact on people in the laboratory or the layout room. The scales, force gauges, and AutoCAD all switch back and forth effortlessly. Businesses already use the metric system when it suits them (it usually does). In fact our American units (they're not imperial units) are officially defined by the NIST in terms of metric units. Our land surveying system west of New England is irrevocably tied to the use of feet and acre systems.
I'm working in Canada now. Despite the fact that their government forced metric units on them, do you realize that virtually everyone (well, immigrants from metric countries notwithstanding) continues to use Imperial units (in this case, they are Imperial units -- 4.4L/gallon, etc) in their daily life? It's 82 outside, not 28. I weigh 190, not 86. I had a fever of 101, not 39.
What's really strange is working in Mexico, where they never officially use US units. Milk is sold in galones (gallons, yup, right on the label). Talking about small measurements is quite often done in pulgadas (inches). They don't use millas (miles) in normal conversation, but they all seem to have a general sense of what they are. Yardas may be well know because of American football, and Fahrenheit makes no sense to them, but they're fairly well versed in libras (pounds).
Me? I like the metric system, and use it where it makes sense to use it. But going through the expense of wholesale conversion to the metric system makes no sense and will cause more problems than it solves. Think of the sheer amount of measurements that would have to change. There's the mundane -- 37" TV's will have to change. But what about construction materials? Plumbing? Lumber? Fasteners? What about highway sytems? Exit signs, mile markers, speed limit signs, maps, documentation? The US survey system, then? Acres, townships, counties, baseline locations, meridian locations, title and deed documents? What about food packaging? Why eliminate US measurements when metric measurements are already there?
Interstate 19 between Tucson and Nogales, Arizona is labelled in km/h for some inexplicable reason. Is there a benefit to anyone there?
I want it as a geek -- screw fashion. For me, though, it means dumping the MP3 player, the Sony Clie, and the Sony-Ericsson phone for a single phone. I'm already a couple of years out of contract with Cingular, so June seems like a good time to "upgrade" and sign a new contract.
Actually, it's not as easy as I make it seem: first, I don't walk around with an iPod. I leave it in my car. I have a Shuffle, but it's primarily a USB drive for me now. Next, will the iPhone sync with Outlook using the Windows iTunes? I have special GPO's and can install iTunes at work, but will corporate IT let everyone else install iTunes (they currently allow Palm Desktop, even though it's not part of our corporate load).
If it'll sync with both Outlook at work and with my iApps at home, then this is the holy grail I've been looking for in PDA's -- as is I only ever sync the Clie at work with Outlook because too much gets disorganized between syncs if I try to make Outlook look like a close of Address Book/iCal and Entourage (so basically, all my contact management and calendaring is done at work now).
My web provide luckily has port 26 available for SMTP, otherwise I'd be stuck using Comcast's SMTP server and break my use of mail folders with universal IMAP access.
In that I'm currently in a hotel that also blocks 25, it's especially nice that 26 is available for this knowledgeable user.