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User: illini_fan

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  1. Just silly... on State Lawmaker Wants To Ban Anonymous Posting Online · · Score: 1

    This is exactly what happens when non-technical politicians think too hard about technology. This is just a silly idea that never really has a chance at becoming reality.

  2. Re:Get a neighbor to help test your connection? on Verizon, Fiber Or Die? · · Score: 1

    This was a good analysis of the realities of consumer broadband services. Services such as DSL and Cable are best effort and and there are no Service Level Agreements in place, so you have little, if any, recourse when you believe you are not getting the performance you are paying for. If you really need a guaranteed level of performance, you have to get Dedicated Internet Access, such as a T-1 to the internet. You will get guarantees on availability, latency, packet loss, etc., but you will also pay for a business grade service, which means $400+ instead of $35. You get what you pay for in this world. Also, remember that many of the methods of determining the speed of your connection are far from perfect. That sort of traffic tends to be low priority and you will often get results that are lower than you would ordinarily expect. My advice to anybody that is not satisfied with their provider is to shop around and find a new company to do business with.

  3. missing the boat on 42-Volt Autos · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As far as the luxury market being the least profitable segment, that would depend upon perspective. First off, you must decide what is and what is not a luxury car. Let's assume we remove the near luxury market from the equation and peg the luxury market at 5 Series, E Class or equivalent and then on up from there. These cars definitely do not account for the majority of revenue or profit for the auto industry as a whole due to their relative limited production. However, these models tend to have a much higher margin. This is significant because the return on assets/investment for these products is superior to the more "bread and butter" cars. This is why a number of large auto companies such as Ford, GM, etc. have purchased foreign luxury marques. Higher margins normally translate to higher stock valuations. Just look at the successes that BMW, Toyota and others have had recently with their stock as a function of the operational performance of these companies due to increased margin. As far as the statement that luxury cars do not drive ANY portion of the auto industy, I do not think that is necessarily true. I fully agree with you that luxury cars are testbeds for new technology, but these advances often trickle down to "lower" vehicles over time as economies of scale and market preferences allow. One can only look to HID lamps, ABS, traction control, stability control, heated seats, etc. to see this process. It would be more correct to say that luxury cars drive the future of the auto industry. Your math is correct. At the end of the day, increasing voltage will give manufacturers more latitude for design as extremely high currents will not be necessary to achieve the same power output.