Unless your electric is insanely cheap or your gas furnace is insanely inefficient then gas should always be cheaper then electric. Do the numbers: 1 therm = 100,000 btus = 29.307107 kWh. At $0.08/kWh that therm costs $2.34 with electric. The highest I've ever seen gas prices around here was about $1.20/therm.
Now that calculation doesn't take into consideration how efficient your gas furnace is. New model gas furnaces can achieve >95% efficiency. They suck so much heat out of the combusted gas that the water vapor condenses and has to be drained away. Older model furnaces can really ruin your day though. The one in my apartment seems to manage
Electric heat is always 100% efficient (from the end users prospective) so this might explain why it seems to be cheaper to use electric. I'd consider buying a new gas furnace though. Unless the insanely cheap electric applies to you.... My electric runs about $0.045/kWh (hydro) and gas would still be cheaper if my landlord would get me a new furnance.
Not saying it's a realistic reason, but seriously, a lot of people are just afraid of gas.
It's not realistic at all. Ever light the pilot light on a furnace or hot water heater? Notice how the switch has three modes: off/on/light (or pilot, pilot-light). In the 'on' mode a thermocouple is enabled. This thermocouple generates a tiny current using the heat of the pilot light and uses that current to hold the gas valve open with an electromagnet. If you blow out the pilot light then the thermocouple stops generating that current and the gas valve closes automatically.
Only in the 'pilot' mode does it bypass the thermocouple and open the gas valve directly. So, yes, if you set it to pilot, lit the flame and forgot to turn it to 'on' your house might blow up. But not in normal operation.
Add to that the fact that a lot of modern gas appliances (stoves and furnaces) are using electronic ignition these days. Why? Because the pilot light is a huge waste of gas. The pilot light on my old furnace alone uses about 6-8/therms a month of gas! That's more then half of what my hot water heater uses (10-12/therms) and it's actually doing something!
Yes, I have noticed that some people post such original thoughts quite frequently. If I thought he'd win, I'd love to see him (Gore) run. However, I don't think he'll win, so I think that if he ran it'd just detract from his environmental message.
I don't know if he'd win or not. I also didn't really like Kerry from the get-go although I voted for him anyway on the theory that he couldn't be worse then Bush.
A lot of/.'ers are known for suggesting electoral reform that includes IRV, easier access for third parties, etc, etc. What I'd like to see is a reform of the Presidential Primary process. It's absolutely infuriating that the combination of Iowa/New Hampshire and the media get to appoint presidential candidates. I didn't want to vote for Kerry -- but by the time the primary got to my state nobody else was running besides Edwards... and my state has a fairly early primary!
However, Al Gore (the anti-enviros favorite whipping boy) does. That was one of the things I really liked about him in 2000.
Be careful. Lest you provoke a "Al Gore invented the internet!" or "Democrats are the same as Republicans" rant that seems to pop up on/. anytime his name is mentioned. I actually respect the guy and wish he could get elected. Or should we give Kerry another try?
No, there is nothing wrong to see humor in something that is wrong and cruel because that is one way to make people aware that something wrong and cruel is also stupid.
It's that same logic that compels me to point out that my Grandfather died at Auschwitz every time somebody starts talking about the Holocaust. Poor bastard fell out of a guard tower:(
Now, that's still no justification or reason for saying "don't use Opera,"
Really? 0.6% marketshare? Can I complain because it doesn't render properly in Lynx?
Take my comment as flamebait if you want to. But I have much bigger things to complain about on the web. Like webpages that won't work without Javascript. Or webpages that use stupid flash interfaces. Or how about webpages that aren't dialup friendly? I suspect there's more dialup users out there then Opera users. Don't see anybody on/. jumping up to defend them.
no DRM great back to VHS.. I'll even pay a bit extra for the option it can play my old DVD collection
It's funny that I scanned the first group of posts and didn't see anybody else mention the 'D' word. The studios want DRM. The studios control which format the movies will be released on (i.e: no VHS of Ep III). Therefore, I would assume that all other issues are big fat moot points. The studios aren't going to release movies in a format that they can't control.
And Windows doesn't take LOTS of time to get working? Ever tried setting up IIS with LDAP and wikis?
You know, I hate Windows as much as the next guy and I really hate it in the business environment, but for just playing games (most of which don't exist for Linux) it's hard to argue with it. Install Windows, maybe update video & sound drivers, install game, play.
- ads can be personalized. Verizon will know when and what you watch.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the cable companies already know this with their set-top boxes that talk back to homebase for PPV/VoD. I'm not naive enough to think they aren't also collecting viewership stats.
An interesting point. What happens if the US tells China that we aren't gonna be making the payment this month. Are they gonna call a collection agency?
Is the POTS service on FiOS converted to digital and sent as packets or does it remain as an RF overlay on the fiber back to the CO? I've always wondered this -- I'd assume that if you can do an RF overlay for video then you could likewise do one for POTS service and avoid converting it into digital -- at least until it reaches the CO.
Competition is good, and hopefully they will force each other to make better product offerings.
It hasn't worked that way in the cellular industry. They all pretty much have the same rate plans, the same draconian early termination fees and the same lousy customer service. There's a handful of unique offerings (T-Mobile/Alltel's "myFavs", Sprint's 7pm N&Ws, VZW's pro-rated ETFs) but overall the industry ranks slightly above used car salesman for ethics and customer service.
If I have to choose between two incompetent bureaucracies, I'm going to choose the one that doesn't punish me for it.
I'm going to choose the one that's regulated by a state oversight commission.
I've had lots of problems with Verizon, both on a business and personal level. I ask for a supervisor. If the supervisor can't/won't resolve my problem I file a complaint with the NYS Public Service Commission. Typically within four business hours of filing that complaint I have an Executive Vice President on the phone who solves my problem in less then 15 minutes.
Not an option if you opt to receive your phone service from the cable company. Just food for thought....
I would never do business with Verizon because years ago, when I canceled my landline phone service to switch to cell only, they gave me 1 week to pay the last bill before they sent a collection agency after me.
They didn't send a collection agency after me but they did mark the final bill as "payable upon receipt" when all my previous bills were typically cut on the 15th of the month and due on the 10th of the following month. I waited until the 10th anyway and paid them with a credit card on their website. And yes, they send me a reminder notice.
Reading the FiOS article on Wikipedia, it seems as though Verizon's system in addition to the upstream and downstream data channels, also has a separate and distinct channel (1550nm) for RF video overlaid on an optical carrier. So conceivably they could be using data circuits for switching, and then send the video down the RF channel. This seems somewhat unlikely, but who knows.
My understanding is that it's not switched per say. Each fiber coming out of the CO is passively split into X number of fibers (32?) in the neighborhood that then go to the individual houses. Downstream is sent to everybody (encrypted - your terminal ignores packets not addressed to it) and upstream is shared with a TDMA scheme. With that setup I would assume that all the channels are being pushed down that fiber all the time -- regardless of what the end users are watching.
That's true, but there's a large percentage of people with more than one computer/game console/etc in their household, and roadrunner only provides one IP address unless you want to pay big money for business class service. Those people will buy a cheap NAT router at best-buy and plug it in so they can get more than one computer connected to the internet.
I don't disagree with you on that. I just disagree with your original statement of "most" home PCs being behind a NAT. Being the only techie at my company I've often been asked to help people with PC issues. Besides one person who had bought a combined router/ap for her laptop, I honestly can't name a single one of them that didn't just have Roadrunner plugged right into the PC.
Also, DSL modems these days almost universally provide a NAT inside them. All this adds up to most people being behind a NAT. Obviously there's still people NOT behind a NAT, but the numbers are shrinking every day.
I made that observation too. That's another reason that I steer people towards DSL over cable. Plus the fact that Verizon offers 768k service for $14.95/mo vs $34.95-$44.95 for Roadrunner. 768/128 service may not impress most people on/. but it's more then enough for Grandma to send pictures to her kids and do online banking.
In any case, you must be working with a different area or group of people then I am, because in my experience the overwhelming majority of people are not behind NAT until I put them there.
That may have been true 10 years ago, but these days most home PCs are at least behind a NAT.
Umm, I'd have to disagree with that statement. Around here the biggest provider of internet connectivity for home users is Roadrunner. They provide you with a cable "modem" that acts as a bridge between their network and your PC. The PC gets a globally valid address.
In fact the only Roadrunner home users I know (not counting geeks/techies) that have NAT routers are those that have more then one computer. Otherwise it's right into the PC and come and get it boys cuz I'm wide open!
Depends on your service provider. In my experiences most DSL providers use NAT routers -- even for single PC connections. Most cable providers seem to use bridges and your PC gets a globally valid address, which tends to be a problem for a Windows PC.
Then there's dialup users. But if you have to use dialup to do a complete set of Windows updates on a brand new PC it's an even money bet that you'll die from old age before they finish and in this scenario who cares about being pwned?
A quick search says that most US radio stations (and I assume tv stations) have a broadcast range of approximate 20 miles.
20 miles? Are you sure about that? I live in fairly hilly terrian at the bottom of a valley and can tune in even the low powered stations from further away then that -- using nothing more then a indoor wire antenna.
Whether or not someone is guilty should not hinge on their lawyer's price.
No, it should hinge on whether or not there is enough evidence to prove the states case beyond a reasonable doubt and whether or not that evidence was lawfully collected or not.
In every american cop series on TV they are afraid/annoyed with the "internal affairs" police unit. Looks like a job for them...
Yeah, because that always works. Oh and as much as I love Sam Waterston and miss Jerry Orbach, getting your opinions about law enforcement from TV might not be the most insightful way to go.
Isn't that the obvious solution? A state wide or nation wide unit that handles crimes among cops/DAs?
Why should cops be allowed to profit from crime (by convicting criminals)? How is that a solution?
People here talk about "the government" as if it's one organism - some omnipresent hive mind which is, with single minded intent, plotting against the defendant. What they miss is that government is a system of different groups (the courts, the police, the prosecution and defence lawyers) who very often don't particularly like each other. My experience of talking to people in the criminal law system is that they think that other parts of the system misunderstand a) the rules and b) the priorities.
And your point is? The Government (the people, by definition, in a common law criminal proceeding) has to follow certain rules of conduct. If you allow them to break these rules and still get convictions then what's the point of having the rules in the first place?
The GP was saying that people in America get away on technicalities too often - I would certainly agree that for anyone who can afford Dershowitz there is a different rule of law. Imagine a plot of the number of trials thrown out on technicality against the wealth of the defendant - which way do you think it would trend?
And again, your point is? Because rich people get off on technicalities more often (because they have better lawyers) that it's wrong? If the police, DA and judge all follow all the rules and do their jobs right then the defendant won't be slipping away on a technicality. If they don't, then they don't deserve the conviction because they didn't follow the rules. Why is that a bad thing?
James Kim did that, they think. Turns out that's not always the best bet, for the record. That's older-school survival technique, I guess.
I think the tennis shoes and his clothing might have had more to do with it then trying to follow water. Not that I'm bashing him -- you use what you have -- but this should be a warning to carry at least some supplies in your car if you are going to be in the wilderness.
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Gas was much more expensive than electric.
Unless your electric is insanely cheap or your gas furnace is insanely inefficient then gas should always be cheaper then electric. Do the numbers: 1 therm = 100,000 btus = 29.307107 kWh. At $0.08/kWh that therm costs $2.34 with electric. The highest I've ever seen gas prices around here was about $1.20/therm.
Now that calculation doesn't take into consideration how efficient your gas furnace is. New model gas furnaces can achieve >95% efficiency. They suck so much heat out of the combusted gas that the water vapor condenses and has to be drained away. Older model furnaces can really ruin your day though. The one in my apartment seems to manage
Electric heat is always 100% efficient (from the end users prospective) so this might explain why it seems to be cheaper to use electric. I'd consider buying a new gas furnace though. Unless the insanely cheap electric applies to you.... My electric runs about $0.045/kWh (hydro) and gas would still be cheaper if my landlord would get me a new furnance.
Not saying it's a realistic reason, but seriously, a lot of people are just afraid of gas.
It's not realistic at all. Ever light the pilot light on a furnace or hot water heater? Notice how the switch has three modes: off/on/light (or pilot, pilot-light). In the 'on' mode a thermocouple is enabled. This thermocouple generates a tiny current using the heat of the pilot light and uses that current to hold the gas valve open with an electromagnet. If you blow out the pilot light then the thermocouple stops generating that current and the gas valve closes automatically.
Only in the 'pilot' mode does it bypass the thermocouple and open the gas valve directly. So, yes, if you set it to pilot, lit the flame and forgot to turn it to 'on' your house might blow up. But not in normal operation.
Add to that the fact that a lot of modern gas appliances (stoves and furnaces) are using electronic ignition these days. Why? Because the pilot light is a huge waste of gas. The pilot light on my old furnace alone uses about 6-8/therms a month of gas! That's more then half of what my hot water heater uses (10-12/therms) and it's actually doing something!
Yes, I have noticed that some people post such original thoughts quite frequently. If I thought he'd win, I'd love to see him (Gore) run. However, I don't think he'll win, so I think that if he ran it'd just detract from his environmental message.
I don't know if he'd win or not. I also didn't really like Kerry from the get-go although I voted for him anyway on the theory that he couldn't be worse then Bush.
A lot of /.'ers are known for suggesting electoral reform that includes IRV, easier access for third parties, etc, etc. What I'd like to see is a reform of the Presidential Primary process. It's absolutely infuriating that the combination of Iowa/New Hampshire and the media get to appoint presidential candidates. I didn't want to vote for Kerry -- but by the time the primary got to my state nobody else was running besides Edwards... and my state has a fairly early primary!
However, Al Gore (the anti-enviros favorite whipping boy) does. That was one of the things I really liked about him in 2000.
Be careful. Lest you provoke a "Al Gore invented the internet!" or "Democrats are the same as Republicans" rant that seems to pop up on /. anytime his name is mentioned. I actually respect the guy and wish he could get elected. Or should we give Kerry another try?
No, there is nothing wrong to see humor in something that is wrong and cruel because that is one way to make people aware that something wrong and cruel is also stupid.
It's that same logic that compels me to point out that my Grandfather died at Auschwitz every time somebody starts talking about the Holocaust. Poor bastard fell out of a guard tower :(
Now, that's still no justification or reason for saying "don't use Opera,"
Really? 0.6% marketshare? Can I complain because it doesn't render properly in Lynx?
Take my comment as flamebait if you want to. But I have much bigger things to complain about on the web. Like webpages that won't work without Javascript. Or webpages that use stupid flash interfaces. Or how about webpages that aren't dialup friendly? I suspect there's more dialup users out there then Opera users. Don't see anybody on /. jumping up to defend them.
no DRM great back to VHS.. I'll even pay a bit extra for the option it can play my old DVD collection
It's funny that I scanned the first group of posts and didn't see anybody else mention the 'D' word. The studios want DRM. The studios control which format the movies will be released on (i.e: no VHS of Ep III). Therefore, I would assume that all other issues are big fat moot points. The studios aren't going to release movies in a format that they can't control.
And Windows doesn't take LOTS of time to get working? Ever tried setting up IIS with LDAP and wikis?
You know, I hate Windows as much as the next guy and I really hate it in the business environment, but for just playing games (most of which don't exist for Linux) it's hard to argue with it. Install Windows, maybe update video & sound drivers, install game, play.
I think he was referring to the RMS crowd, who won't.
You mean the GNU/Linux crowd, right?
- ads can be personalized. Verizon will know when and what you watch.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the cable companies already know this with their set-top boxes that talk back to homebase for PPV/VoD. I'm not naive enough to think they aren't also collecting viewership stats.
An interesting point. What happens if the US tells China that we aren't gonna be making the payment this month. Are they gonna call a collection agency?
Is the POTS service on FiOS converted to digital and sent as packets or does it remain as an RF overlay on the fiber back to the CO? I've always wondered this -- I'd assume that if you can do an RF overlay for video then you could likewise do one for POTS service and avoid converting it into digital -- at least until it reaches the CO.
Competition is good, and hopefully they will force each other to make better product offerings.
It hasn't worked that way in the cellular industry. They all pretty much have the same rate plans, the same draconian early termination fees and the same lousy customer service. There's a handful of unique offerings (T-Mobile/Alltel's "myFavs", Sprint's 7pm N&Ws, VZW's pro-rated ETFs) but overall the industry ranks slightly above used car salesman for ethics and customer service.
If I have to choose between two incompetent bureaucracies, I'm going to choose the one that doesn't punish me for it.
I'm going to choose the one that's regulated by a state oversight commission.
I've had lots of problems with Verizon, both on a business and personal level. I ask for a supervisor. If the supervisor can't/won't resolve my problem I file a complaint with the NYS Public Service Commission. Typically within four business hours of filing that complaint I have an Executive Vice President on the phone who solves my problem in less then 15 minutes.
Not an option if you opt to receive your phone service from the cable company. Just food for thought....
I would never do business with Verizon because years ago, when I canceled my landline phone service to switch to cell only, they gave me 1 week to pay the last bill before they sent a collection agency after me.
They didn't send a collection agency after me but they did mark the final bill as "payable upon receipt" when all my previous bills were typically cut on the 15th of the month and due on the 10th of the following month. I waited until the 10th anyway and paid them with a credit card on their website. And yes, they send me a reminder notice.
Reading the FiOS article on Wikipedia, it seems as though Verizon's system in addition to the upstream and downstream data channels, also has a separate and distinct channel (1550nm) for RF video overlaid on an optical carrier. So conceivably they could be using data circuits for switching, and then send the video down the RF channel. This seems somewhat unlikely, but who knows.
My understanding is that it's not switched per say. Each fiber coming out of the CO is passively split into X number of fibers (32?) in the neighborhood that then go to the individual houses. Downstream is sent to everybody (encrypted - your terminal ignores packets not addressed to it) and upstream is shared with a TDMA scheme. With that setup I would assume that all the channels are being pushed down that fiber all the time -- regardless of what the end users are watching.
That's true, but there's a large percentage of people with more than one computer/game console/etc in their household, and roadrunner only provides one IP address unless you want to pay big money for business class service. Those people will buy a cheap NAT router at best-buy and plug it in so they can get more than one computer connected to the internet.
I don't disagree with you on that. I just disagree with your original statement of "most" home PCs being behind a NAT. Being the only techie at my company I've often been asked to help people with PC issues. Besides one person who had bought a combined router/ap for her laptop, I honestly can't name a single one of them that didn't just have Roadrunner plugged right into the PC.
Also, DSL modems these days almost universally provide a NAT inside them. All this adds up to most people being behind a NAT. Obviously there's still people NOT behind a NAT, but the numbers are shrinking every day.
I made that observation too. That's another reason that I steer people towards DSL over cable. Plus the fact that Verizon offers 768k service for $14.95/mo vs $34.95-$44.95 for Roadrunner. 768/128 service may not impress most people on /. but it's more then enough for Grandma to send pictures to her kids and do online banking.
In any case, you must be working with a different area or group of people then I am, because in my experience the overwhelming majority of people are not behind NAT until I put them there.
That may have been true 10 years ago, but these days most home PCs are at least behind a NAT.
Umm, I'd have to disagree with that statement. Around here the biggest provider of internet connectivity for home users is Roadrunner. They provide you with a cable "modem" that acts as a bridge between their network and your PC. The PC gets a globally valid address.
In fact the only Roadrunner home users I know (not counting geeks/techies) that have NAT routers are those that have more then one computer. Otherwise it's right into the PC and come and get it boys cuz I'm wide open!
Home desktops aren't usually behind firewalls
Depends on your service provider. In my experiences most DSL providers use NAT routers -- even for single PC connections. Most cable providers seem to use bridges and your PC gets a globally valid address, which tends to be a problem for a Windows PC.
Then there's dialup users. But if you have to use dialup to do a complete set of Windows updates on a brand new PC it's an even money bet that you'll die from old age before they finish and in this scenario who cares about being pwned?
A quick search says that most US radio stations (and I assume tv stations) have a broadcast range of approximate 20 miles.
20 miles? Are you sure about that? I live in fairly hilly terrian at the bottom of a valley and can tune in even the low powered stations from further away then that -- using nothing more then a indoor wire antenna.
So, what is the accepted term for inhabitants of the two american continents?
Canadians, Latin Americans, Mexicans, South American, Brazillian, Venezuelan, blah, blah, blah?
Why does it bother you so much that Americans are called such? The name of our country is the United States of America.
Whether or not someone is guilty should not hinge on their lawyer's price.
No, it should hinge on whether or not there is enough evidence to prove the states case beyond a reasonable doubt and whether or not that evidence was lawfully collected or not.
In every american cop series on TV they are afraid/annoyed with the "internal affairs" police unit. Looks like a job for them...
Yeah, because that always works. Oh and as much as I love Sam Waterston and miss Jerry Orbach, getting your opinions about law enforcement from TV might not be the most insightful way to go.
Isn't that the obvious solution? A state wide or nation wide unit that handles crimes among cops/DAs?
Why should cops be allowed to profit from crime (by convicting criminals)? How is that a solution?
People here talk about "the government" as if it's one organism - some omnipresent hive mind which is, with single minded intent, plotting against the defendant. What they miss is that government is a system of different groups (the courts, the police, the prosecution and defence lawyers) who very often don't particularly like each other. My experience of talking to people in the criminal law system is that they think that other parts of the system misunderstand a) the rules and b) the priorities.
And your point is? The Government (the people, by definition, in a common law criminal proceeding) has to follow certain rules of conduct. If you allow them to break these rules and still get convictions then what's the point of having the rules in the first place?
The GP was saying that people in America get away on technicalities too often - I would certainly agree that for anyone who can afford Dershowitz there is a different rule of law. Imagine a plot of the number of trials thrown out on technicality against the wealth of the defendant - which way do you think it would trend?
And again, your point is? Because rich people get off on technicalities more often (because they have better lawyers) that it's wrong? If the police, DA and judge all follow all the rules and do their jobs right then the defendant won't be slipping away on a technicality. If they don't, then they don't deserve the conviction because they didn't follow the rules. Why is that a bad thing?
James Kim did that, they think. Turns out that's not always the best bet, for the record. That's older-school survival technique, I guess.
I think the tennis shoes and his clothing might have had more to do with it then trying to follow water. Not that I'm bashing him -- you use what you have -- but this should be a warning to carry at least some supplies in your car if you are going to be in the wilderness.