Simple maths says it will cost a couple of grand per person just to install it, let alone run it and maintain it.
Assuming that the average Aussie household won't want to pay more than about $80 per month max, or less than $30 per person per month (or $360 per person per year), does anyone wnat to hazard a guess how long it will take to repay the capital costs?
Portal - n. Origin: 1300-1350 4. Computers. a Web site that functions as an entry point to the Internet, as by providing useful content and linking to various sites and features on the World Wide Web.
I remember when Yahoo called itself a portal. It was anything but useful.
I was going to say "deus ex machina" means the eagles JRR Tolkien loved using so much in The Hobbit and LOTR. The books I loved as a 12 year old are actually pretty ordinary.
A friend has a Macbook that's a few years old and I have never ever liked the trackpad button that Apple put on those things. No finesse at all.
If I was going to buy a new Macbook I would have checked out the button first (I really hate it), but I've gotten the Dell.
In a fit of buyer's remorse, I went back to Apple's site and even forgetting the graphics card difference, just adding AppleCare, Office and RAM was going to make the macbook a grand more expensive. That's quite the premium.
I may lose points for this, but Dell offers too much choice.
I'm a Mac guy who is buying a Windows-based laptop and I find the Dell site damned confusing to get around. There are too many options, too many tiny variations on a theme.
Honestly, who knows the difference between an Intel WiFi Link 5300 (802.11a/g/n) Half Mini-card and an Intel WiFi Link 5100 (802.11a/g/n) Half Mini-card. Dell's little "? Help Me Choose" popup was no help at all. It didn't mention these products at all, but made vague references to networking. Why is there a difference and why is it even offered?
That would be "Segway rider-types". I'm pretty sure I have the hyphen in the right place, but I am 100% certain that you mean a personal transport device rather than a literary tool.
EVERYTHING seems to have a "subwoofer" these days but unless it's getting down to 20 Hz, it ain't no subwoofer. Realistically, it's probably not even a woofer, but just "less tinny than usual laptop speakers".
Mac man for years. My wife wants a laptop for work (well, I want a laptop for her so she stays off my mac:-) ).
Her needs are basic: MS Office (not OO or iWork), web browser, email client, 15" screen (not too small, not too heavy, just right).
The cheapest Dell is A$999 and the cheapest Macbook is A$2099 (not the old one Apple's still selling but the cheapest "new" one).
If I spec the Dell up to something decent, I'm up to about A$1700 but for that I'm getting 4 GB of RAM and a 3 year warranty, both of which would cost me another A$500 for the Macbook.
Pains me to say it but we'll be getting a Dell. Besides we can get a customised colour cover:-)
Apple Australia needs to pull their heads in and their prices down.
I think our laws require some sort of upfront money but if you get a certain percentage of the primary vote, the AEC gives you a bunch of money to cover costs.
This means you can have a go at running, but discourages frivolous candidates.
I have to be honest: the US system of voting is the most convoluted system for doing ANYTHING I have ever seen. From nominations, right through to counting the votes, it is just complexity for the sake of complexity. Combine that fact with the fact that it seems everyone from the president down to the dogcatcher is voted in, I think the complexity can only aid corruption: crooks can hide behind complex rules and when they're in power they can make up even more complex rules which won't get challenged by the populace because no-one can understand the existing ones anyway.
Having compulsory voting actually protects your voting rights since the government has to go to all sorts of lengths so that people are able to cast a vote, and woe betide an employer that tried to interfere with their employees voting.
It's run by the Australian Electoral Commission. Since they count all the votes, too, this keeps the political parties at least one pair of hands removed from the votes.
As others have said, voting isn't compulsory, but turning up at a polling station and getting your name crossed off is. Since they have polling stations at least at every state school, it's not that hard to find one.
I really don't get the "write in your own candidate" thing you guys have. If someone wanted to stand for office in an area, wouldn't they just register to do so, and so be on the voting slip?
I ride a motorcycle every day to work. it has a 750 cc 4 stroke engine.
It cost me a little less than a small car. Its rego is a little less than a small car. Its tyres cost twice as much per tyre than a car, so it works out the same. It (or me) isn't particularly fuel efficient.
Hi, although you don't know me, I do own an iPod Touch. I don't resent paying $10 for new functionality. Getting stuff for free is great, but it ain't always gonna happen. That software didn't write itself.
Be really cool if it did though.
Anyway, I have a bunch of credit at the Apple Store that I got buy buying iTunes cards with a 20 or 25% discount.
His job doesn't require more "discretion", it requires ethics and honesty. "Discretion" implies it's OK to be unethical and dishonest as long as you can get away with it.
My BIL knows plenty of cops, good and bad, and he tells me that if you're pulled over for a traffic offence, the cop will make up his mind in the first 10 seconds whether or not you'll be ticketed. It doesn't really matter if you did it, it's all about your attitude to the cop. Call him "Officer". That's a good start.
That's how it goes here in Queensland. In Victoria they'll just shoot you.
Now we say, "It's likely that you have this, although I can't say for certain. Here are the pros and cons of the treatments. Now what would you like to do?" Very dissatisfying to a lot of patients.
That'd be the ol' "1 in 10 000 patients having this surgery may get sympathetic blindness" rule.
Can't find a link but there was a case in 80s or 90s. Woman with a major vision disorder in one eye, everything OK in the other eye. Surgeon said he could fix the wonky eye. Woman's operation went according to plan but she lost vision in the eye that was being operated on and got sympathetic blindness in the other eye. Doc said 'sorry, that's a risk of this op'. Woman said "WTF?" and sued. Judge said 'WTF?'. Woman said 'if I knew there was a 1 in 10 000 risk of sympatheric blindness, I never would have had the op." Judge said "OK, you win, sort of." Doc said "Ulp". Insurers said "Damn". Docs associations said "There's your cut-off, people. 1 in 10 000. Now we shall flood you with information, lectures, pamphlets and decisions." Patients said "WTF..." And the cycle continues.
Maybe that's what other people do, but I buy albums. Lots of albums. From iTunes and eMusic. I make a big playlist and play it all day - I don't have time to stuff around with individual songs, but then again I'm not 13.
Anyway, isn't this just the same as Ye Olde Days of Vinyl? We had albums, we had singles. How is this different?
"... and here is your new PC with Windows Starter installed." "Wait, you mean Microsoft considers me to be living in a 3rd world country? Man, that's just insulting!"
Good luck selling this concept to, well, anyone outside North America.
That stuff about Morgellons was amazing. I occasionally have the sensation described, but I don't think any more of it. Our 4 year old son occasionally has "itchy all over" feelings, though. Sometimes it manifests acutely in times of high stress, so we figure he's putting it on, though it's possible he "feels" it. Maybe it could be a histamine release because of the high stress, which would make the sensation real physically and mentally. Making light of it and scratching him all over can both relieve any itching (real or imagined) and defuse the situation - who doesn't like an all over scratch?
Anyway, I am reminded of a case I learned about in Immunology. An older woman was on high dose corticosteroids. She developed red weeping eyelash roots. My description doesn't do the pic justice. Turns out the corticosteroids were having an immunosuppressive effect (no surprises there) and the small parasites living in the eyelash follicles were able to breed uncontrollably. This was confirmed microscopically and she was treated successfully. Kicker is, most people have these parasites but a well functioning immune system keeps them in check. Remember that next time you get itchy eyelids...
Aaron Copland wrote FFTCM. Apple codenamed an OS (never released) Copland. It seems the author named his Mac "Fanfare for the common Mac" (Mac, not Man) in the time of Copland (the OS not the composer).
It probably seemed funny at the time, and a lot funnier before my lengthy explanation.
It was heavy sci-fi. It's never going to have mass appeal. Star Wars, OTOH, was a western with space ships. Replace "bang bang" with "pew pew" and you've got a sure-fire winner.
I actually prefer the chopped up version with Ford's narration. He has such a great voice, it's like getting Morgan Freeman to do narration over Shawshank Redemption.
Slashdot Mirror
It's XenoPHon, not XenoFon. World of difference.
http://www.aph.gov.au/SEnate/senators/homepages/senators.asp?id=8iv
Sheesh, what are they teaching kids in school these days...
Simple maths says it will cost a couple of grand per person just to install it, let alone run it and maintain it.
Assuming that the average Aussie household won't want to pay more than about $80 per month max, or less than $30 per person per month (or $360 per person per year), does anyone wnat to hazard a guess how long it will take to repay the capital costs?
Twenty - thirty years?
Portal - n. Origin: 1300-1350
4. Computers. a Web site that functions as an entry point to the Internet, as by providing useful content and linking to various sites and features on the World Wide Web.
I remember when Yahoo called itself a portal. It was anything but useful.
I was going to say "deus ex machina" means the eagles JRR Tolkien loved using so much in The Hobbit and LOTR. The books I loved as a 12 year old are actually pretty ordinary.
The prices always seem so much worse here though.
A friend has a Macbook that's a few years old and I have never ever liked the trackpad button that Apple put on those things. No finesse at all.
If I was going to buy a new Macbook I would have checked out the button first (I really hate it), but I've gotten the Dell.
In a fit of buyer's remorse, I went back to Apple's site and even forgetting the graphics card difference, just adding AppleCare, Office and RAM was going to make the macbook a grand more expensive. That's quite the premium.
Maybe I'll try and Hackintosh the Dell.
Thanx. I couldn't glean this info even from Intel's site, and certainly not from Dell.
I may lose points for this, but Dell offers too much choice.
I'm a Mac guy who is buying a Windows-based laptop and I find the Dell site damned confusing to get around. There are too many options, too many tiny variations on a theme.
Honestly, who knows the difference between an Intel WiFi Link 5300 (802.11a/g/n) Half Mini-card and an Intel WiFi Link 5100 (802.11a/g/n) Half Mini-card. Dell's little "? Help Me Choose" popup was no help at all. It didn't mention these products at all, but made vague references to networking. Why is there a difference and why is it even offered?
That would be "Segway rider-types". I'm pretty sure I have the hyphen in the right place, but I am 100% certain that you mean a personal transport device rather than a literary tool.
EVERYTHING seems to have a "subwoofer" these days but unless it's getting down to 20 Hz, it ain't no subwoofer. Realistically, it's probably not even a woofer, but just "less tinny than usual laptop speakers".
Mac man for years. My wife wants a laptop for work (well, I want a laptop for her so she stays off my mac :-) ).
Her needs are basic: MS Office (not OO or iWork), web browser, email client, 15" screen (not too small, not too heavy, just right).
The cheapest Dell is A$999 and the cheapest Macbook is A$2099 (not the old one Apple's still selling but the cheapest "new" one).
If I spec the Dell up to something decent, I'm up to about A$1700 but for that I'm getting 4 GB of RAM and a 3 year warranty, both of which would cost me another A$500 for the Macbook.
Pains me to say it but we'll be getting a Dell. Besides we can get a customised colour cover :-)
Apple Australia needs to pull their heads in and their prices down.
Changing that sig (an original by me. An amalgam of that famous piece and something a Robert Heinlein/John Wayne hybrid would say) to:
The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule."
-- Henry Louis Mencken
I think our laws require some sort of upfront money but if you get a certain percentage of the primary vote, the AEC gives you a bunch of money to cover costs.
This means you can have a go at running, but discourages frivolous candidates.
I have to be honest: the US system of voting is the most convoluted system for doing ANYTHING I have ever seen. From nominations, right through to counting the votes, it is just complexity for the sake of complexity. Combine that fact with the fact that it seems everyone from the president down to the dogcatcher is voted in, I think the complexity can only aid corruption: crooks can hide behind complex rules and when they're in power they can make up even more complex rules which won't get challenged by the populace because no-one can understand the existing ones anyway.
Having compulsory voting actually protects your voting rights since the government has to go to all sorts of lengths so that people are able to cast a vote, and woe betide an employer that tried to interfere with their employees voting.
It's run by the Australian Electoral Commission. Since they count all the votes, too, this keeps the political parties at least one pair of hands removed from the votes.
As others have said, voting isn't compulsory, but turning up at a polling station and getting your name crossed off is. Since they have polling stations at least at every state school, it's not that hard to find one.
I really don't get the "write in your own candidate" thing you guys have. If someone wanted to stand for office in an area, wouldn't they just register to do so, and so be on the voting slip?
While #1 may be true, I can't agree with #2. I find Dell's site confusing and not at all easy to use.
I ride a motorcycle every day to work. it has a 750 cc 4 stroke engine.
It cost me a little less than a small car. Its rego is a little less than a small car. Its tyres cost twice as much per tyre than a car, so it works out the same. It (or me) isn't particularly fuel efficient.
I ride a bike because I like riding bikes. Fast.
Hi, although you don't know me, I do own an iPod Touch. I don't resent paying $10 for new functionality. Getting stuff for free is great, but it ain't always gonna happen. That software didn't write itself.
Be really cool if it did though.
Anyway, I have a bunch of credit at the Apple Store that I got buy buying iTunes cards with a 20 or 25% discount.
Well, going back a little further, FutureWave Softwave made FutureSplash Animator, which was bought by Macromedia and became Flash 1.0.
His job doesn't require more "discretion", it requires ethics and honesty. "Discretion" implies it's OK to be unethical and dishonest as long as you can get away with it.
My BIL knows plenty of cops, good and bad, and he tells me that if you're pulled over for a traffic offence, the cop will make up his mind in the first 10 seconds whether or not you'll be ticketed. It doesn't really matter if you did it, it's all about your attitude to the cop. Call him "Officer". That's a good start.
That's how it goes here in Queensland. In Victoria they'll just shoot you.
Now we say, "It's likely that you have this, although I can't say for certain. Here are the pros and cons of the treatments. Now what would you like to do?"
Very dissatisfying to a lot of patients.
That'd be the ol' "1 in 10 000 patients having this surgery may get sympathetic blindness" rule.
Can't find a link but there was a case in 80s or 90s. Woman with a major vision disorder in one eye, everything OK in the other eye. Surgeon said he could fix the wonky eye. Woman's operation went according to plan but she lost vision in the eye that was being operated on and got sympathetic blindness in the other eye. Doc said 'sorry, that's a risk of this op'. Woman said "WTF?" and sued. Judge said 'WTF?'. Woman said 'if I knew there was a 1 in 10 000 risk of sympatheric blindness, I never would have had the op." Judge said "OK, you win, sort of." Doc said "Ulp". Insurers said "Damn". Docs associations said "There's your cut-off, people. 1 in 10 000. Now we shall flood you with information, lectures, pamphlets and decisions." Patients said "WTF..." And the cycle continues.
Maybe that's what other people do, but I buy albums. Lots of albums. From iTunes and eMusic. I make a big playlist and play it all day - I don't have time to stuff around with individual songs, but then again I'm not 13.
Anyway, isn't this just the same as Ye Olde Days of Vinyl? We had albums, we had singles. How is this different?
"... and here is your new PC with Windows Starter installed."
"Wait, you mean Microsoft considers me to be living in a 3rd world country? Man, that's just insulting!"
Good luck selling this concept to, well, anyone outside North America.
That stuff about Morgellons was amazing. I occasionally have the sensation described, but I don't think any more of it. Our 4 year old son occasionally has "itchy all over" feelings, though. Sometimes it manifests acutely in times of high stress, so we figure he's putting it on, though it's possible he "feels" it. Maybe it could be a histamine release because of the high stress, which would make the sensation real physically and mentally. Making light of it and scratching him all over can both relieve any itching (real or imagined) and defuse the situation - who doesn't like an all over scratch?
Anyway, I am reminded of a case I learned about in Immunology. An older woman was on high dose corticosteroids. She developed red weeping eyelash roots. My description doesn't do the pic justice. Turns out the corticosteroids were having an immunosuppressive effect (no surprises there) and the small parasites living in the eyelash follicles were able to breed uncontrollably. This was confirmed microscopically and she was treated successfully. Kicker is, most people have these parasites but a well functioning immune system keeps them in check. Remember that next time you get itchy eyelids...
Aaron Copland wrote FFTCM. Apple codenamed an OS (never released) Copland. It seems the author named his Mac "Fanfare for the common Mac" (Mac, not Man) in the time of Copland (the OS not the composer).
It probably seemed funny at the time, and a lot funnier before my lengthy explanation.
It was heavy sci-fi. It's never going to have mass appeal. Star Wars, OTOH, was a western with space ships. Replace "bang bang" with "pew pew" and you've got a sure-fire winner.
I actually prefer the chopped up version with Ford's narration. He has such a great voice, it's like getting Morgan Freeman to do narration over Shawshank Redemption.