When you say, "The Iraq war." If you mean Part 1, then yes. That was in 1991 which is a date before the date I repeat several times that we turned it off, 1994. If you mean part 2, then no. You're wrong. It's never been turned on since we turned it off. 17 years.... 17 years since we had it on. Really think we're turning it on? If so, get your tin foil hat ready.
You did read the part where I said I was one of the 4 guys (although I think we did have 1 female on crew at that time) who TURNED IT OFF back in the 90s, right? It's not simple. Just to turn it off, well... I'm not sure I want to put out how long it takes, but I'll stick to my original point: It's not trivial and takes over a huge part of ops that's better spent keeping the constellation accurate. Now, to try and do it off, on, off, on would not be sustainable.
All of this is moot because there are serious legal and political ramifications internationally. The "firmware" update just doesn't apply here. Electrical switches in space have a very finite lifetime. Eventually you will switch and it will cold arc. No more switching. This is why everything has redundancy, and there is a second switch. However, once the second relay arcs.....you're done. So, again, we're never going to just "start flicking switches," or turning things off and on for fun.
26 years ago! That program was cancelled 23 years ago. This is the equiv to you saying we'd also use a mortar fired or suitcase tactical nuclear weapon since we had one 50 years ago.:) Good luck getting anyone to fire a mortar delivered nuke these days.
The Solwind was in a low orbit where the debris falls naturally to the earth, just as the satellite we hit in 2008 did. Within 3 months all debris was gone, as its velocity decreased with time to the point it couldn't outrun gravity. The Chinese ASAT test still to this day, 4 years later, puts the ISS at risk, as it at nearly twice the height (orbital altitude) of the Solwind (300 miles as opposed to 532 miles).
In all of these examples, we're still way short of the context of my statement: GPS Satellites are at 11,000 miles and the debris would make the position in space unusable for centuries. Hell, the Sync orbits ( ~24,000 miles up) are so full with OPERATIONAL satellites that there's not enough room in the orbit, especially for spots above Europe and N. America.
Thanks for the kind reply. My grammar was horrible as I had 3 people waiting on me and I guess I was more distracted than I thought (e.g. "you've ever saw", WTF?). You're 99% likely to see me post on any Slashdot article about GPS because misconceptions constantly surround the most known, but least understood satellite in the US Air Force inventory. Oh, and the JPL guys are the real geniuses. I was just a lucky 20 year old who was at the right place (Air Force basic training, "Career Field Open: Electrical") at the right time (AF transitioning GPS satellite operators from officers to enlisted) back in 1990.
My favorite stories are from when I pulled crew in the early 90s. Some how some crazy lady got the commercial phone number for the GPS Operations Floor, Satellite System Operator (SSO). My buddy got the call, "Why are you following me?" Senior Airman, "Excuse me, ma'am. I don't understand your question." "I have this GPS thingy that shows where I am. Why are you following me and how do you know where I am?" We laughed a long time about that one. Shortly after the ground war ended, I got a call from a US Army Colonel who was in the middle of the desert, "Which way do I point my GPS?" "Excuse me sir, what's the question?" "I have a GPS Set [Plugger], which way do I point it in the sky?" *pause to retain military bearing* "Up.........sir. Just stand in an area where you can see sky, and point it upwards." Today we can laugh, but back then it was completely new (and to the Col's credit, it's a valid question for SATCOM). To this day, we have no idea how they got the Ops Floor number. It's normally never given out.
Ahh, the infamous mod pic. Everyone knows that pic. The left patch on the flight suits (and our previous "Space Jammies" which are similar but dark blue, phased out about 12 years ago) are commonly "Morale Patches". She's on Charlie Crew, which chose to be called the Centurians, and that's the saying their crew chose. Our crew was Bravo Crew, and ours was "Striking Accuracy" since we chose to be "Bravo Crew Vipers". I'm logged into FB and a member so that link may not work for you or others. I can't remember the call signs for the others, but all crews on the schedule were referred to alphabetically from A through E or F (I forget). Alpha, Bravo, Charlie...etc. Since those are boring names around the early 90s we started going by the nicknames. Delta crew was Delta Dawgs at one point and later Delta Dingos.
The official squadron motto for the 2 SOPS is, "Pathways for Peace." (Obligatory Wiki link)
I'm surprised you didn't find anything. Here's one I found in 30 seconds using "Nortel DMS Timing GPS" in Bing (sorry, default search in my IE) Motorola M12+ Timing Oncore GPS Timing Module
Sigh...if its on the internet, it must be true. I'll first point out one glaring misstatement. The NRO is not military. They provide Intel to the DoD, but they're not part of it.
Next, the fail is at not reading all of what you cited, so let me continue it and then explain:
...and intercepted USA-193 about 133 nautical miles (247 kilometers)[25] above the Pacific Ocean. The satellite was travelling with a velocity of about 17,500 mph (around 28,000 km/h or 7.8 km/s). The velocity of the impact was about 22,000 mph. The Department of Defense expressed a "high degree of confidence" that the fuel tank was hit and destroyed.[27] The satellite's remnants were expected to burn up over the course of the next 40 days, with most of the satellite's mass re-entering the atmosphere 24 to 48 hours after the missile strike.[25][28]
So, within three months the debris will have burned up and no longer be a threat to space operations. Unlike a GPS satellite, which is not at 130 miles up but rather 11,000 miles up. See the difference? Space begins aound 100 miles up so the satellite, when it was hit, was barely across the threshold of even being considered "space". And to couch anyone else who quotes out of context Wikipedia, yes, you get your spaceflight wings at 50nm, but that's because it takes special apparatus to sustain human life at that altitude.
I'm at work so don't have the time to look it up, but look at tech's on Nortel DMS 100, 250, etc for their switches, base site controllers, etc. For the other "biggie", Lucent 5ESS. Those were (at least 5 -6 years ago when I was still in telecom) the two biggest switch networks deployed in the US. For T1s, look up Alcatel, and Tellabs for digital cross connect, and...ok hit brick wall.. there's one other I'm forgetting.
Yes, we command and control GPS from Shreiver AFB, in Colorado Springs, CO. They have dedicated antennas, as well as can use AFSCN (Air Force Satellite Control Network). The backup is at the Vandenberg Air Force Base Tracking Station (Cook, I believe is it's call sign). We can degade the precision (SA), the timing, and encrypt it to totally deny GPS use. Only problem is: Pres Reagan opened it up to civilian use in the 80's. Pres Bush/Clinton decreed no degraded precision. As I've mentioned on a few other threads, I was one of 4 SSO's who turned off (effectively.. I won't go into how because I'm not sure if its still classified) GPS in the early 1990s. So, it's been off for nearly two decades.
I apologize if I gave an impression we physically go up. When I say, "Go up on a bird," it's meaning, contacting the Ground Antenna, establishing C2 (S-band) and going "active", which means transmitting S-bits, etc. At 11,000 miles (plus change) there's no practical way to ever physically get to one of the GPS satellites. When we're done iwht them, we spin them up for physical stability, and then boost them out of their operational orbit. It's also referred to as "super syncing a bird."
If we ever get to a point where the US is so unstable it can't Command and Control GPS satellites, the world will be worried about a ton more pressing things than our GPS satellites. For what it's worth a high school student with two week's pay at minimum wage could have the technical and fiscal ability to jam GPS for a large area. The US Gov isn't your boogey man in this scenario. If we didn't touch GPS on 9/11, I think it's a pretty clear indication it's not on the table.
SA has been off since 1993-1994. I know because I was one of four SSOs who turned it off. 17 years have passed with no change. If we were turning it on, we would have at some point. It's not a trivial matter to turn it on and off. There are also international politics involved now which make this nearly moot. Yes, it was take not only more than a "second thought," it takes quite a bit of effort.
As much as GWB is everyone's new devil pariah most-loathed person, he can't rewire satellites already in space. And before you quote me Wiki again, no the space shuttle can't go out to 11,000 miles to do an upgrade. It's A) No longer flying B) Not capable of going even close to that distance.
Ignore every movie you've ever saw about space. We don't "flick stuff off and on" at a whim. We don't reposition satellites real time, at least not GPS, DSP, DMSP, or EHF (Milstar) birds. Spy satellites are even harder since they're in a highly elliptical orbit which is travelling at exceptionally high speeds when it's at perigee (the nearest point, which is usually where they're spying on). It's a matter of physics.
We've had many terrorist attacks since SA was turned off: Khobar Towers, USS Cole, 9/11, etc. Still off and no degradation.
They will adhere to the ruling, but one thing jumps out at me. They allow "non-content" information which includes who you email. How is that not content? Paying method is obviously not content and IRS related clearly. However, allowing to see WHO I email seems a slippery slope. It seems it opens the door to guilt by association warrants. Maybe I'm wrong.
Not just some, almost all. Stratum's tied to GPS signals are standard fare in a switch room at Sprint PCS and Nextel. Everything in the realm of high speed digital data transmission needs reliable timing. GPS is a free, easy reference that's accurate to a nanosecond. Those that don't go down will start to drift in timing. Modulation that's not time-reliant will be ok, but others will have issues.
Wow there's a lot of misinformation floating on this relatively simple subject. First, Block I, II, IIA, IIF, and IIRs do not have the capability to switch off zones. GPS satellite antennas are also not electronically steerable, as say a Milstar EHF comm bird, so you can't "turn off a zone," electrically/RF wise (or to ignore jamming). The satellites are a semi-sync bird, which means 12 hour orbit time around the entire Earth. They're only over regions a short period, and so physically going up on every satellite to turn them on and then off would be insanity on the ops floor (2 SOPS, Shreiver AFB, CO) and unsustainable beyond a day or two. Simply stated, not practical or really necessary. Using $15 in parts from Radio Shack I can jam GPS for small areas, if I didn't mind potentially going to jail.
For the comments, "We can shoot them down." Completely irresponsible. It's like saying, "If we want to destroy their bridge, we can just Nuke it." If you destroy a satellite, that position in space becomes unusable due to debris for centuries. We're not going to do it. This is why we were very angry with the Chinese for testing ASAT awhile back. Completely unnecessary and very irresponsible. We don't test GBU's on busy highways in the middle of urban cities (unless you include Iraq, but I kid).
Your questions (and those from others) bothered me. With as much business education and capabilities, I should be able to answer your questions better. However I type a reply and realize, I haven't really addressed the underlying fundamental question, "Where is that money going?" If the owners are pulling it out, then it has to go SOMEWHERE and usually there's taxable income. So at least the government benefits somewhat, however, their tax income isn't. One could say, "Loopholes", but given I'm only one step from the highest tax bracket and paying every penny, I'd love to know what those are. I'm a "3%"er and unlike Google, I'm getting hammered. I digress.
Then I hit, this article, "Labor's Share of Non-Farm Business Income," with this graph(it's below in the comments, which are all very insightful. I wish every on-line comment section was this civilized), and you can quantify clearly what is happening now, versus previous recoveries. To date, I've seen no explanations other than those who sound a lot like the politicians. "Blame Wall Street." "Blame the 1% Rich," etc. To me that's not meaningful because it's too close to false logic. This article shows that the difference is that clearly corporations are holding onto the profit more than at any other time in history. Now again, I don't agree capitalism has failed. If it was a failure, then why did it rebound EVERY other time. You can't define the majority by the minority in my opinion. So the meaningful dialogue is, "What changed?" You can't say people all of a sudden got greedy. Well maybe you can. But WHY did they get greedy when EVERY other time they didn't? We didn't invent greed in 2006. As I articulated in a different reply, you hand a company a $1 so that you can get $1.07 or more back (assuming 10 Yr T-Bills are paying 6%). Likewise, companies that have retained earnings (read: profits) should want to take the $1.07 THEY brought in to make ANOTHER $1.07 (or more). Holding onto it get's you $1.06 OR LESS (again assuming Tbills 6%) unless you start speculating, which no CFO worth a lick wants to do. I'll stop here but here is another article along the same lines, Income Redistribution: The Key to Economic Growth?.
What's the solution? NOT the government. If we rely on the government to be the watchkeeper of income distribution, than we will all suffer. To give an example, I read the Obama Stimulus Package being pushed through the Senate. It's been a few years so I won't have the numbers exact in spending, but I will have the percentages. For $30B in increased Food Stamps, they carved off $10.5B for "overhead." I'll let you define what that means to you, but apply it to income redistribution. If we're trying to take $15B from retained earnings sitting on the side (not investing or distributed to workers), do you want $5B spent by the government on "overhead"? No. You can regulate the behavior, but don't dictate it. For example, the government doesn't force you to buy a house, or have kids, but they do make your tax burden insanely easier (until you earn a magic number around $200k combined household) when you A) Get married w/ kids B) Buy a house. These are just ideas. Keep in mind during there are other contrary that might work as well. Under Reagan or Bush (can't remember) we lost deductions for credit card interest, and yet consumer borrowing skyrocketed.
I'm familiar with balloon payments as they are a reason I will not ever do business with a specific mortgage lender ever again. I bought a new home in 2000 that was a new development by a small home builder. To have high end custom upgrades, you had to pre-pay for them, however you don't technically own the home yet. We put in cherry cabinets, granite countertops in the kitchen, all modern black appliances, extra Cat 5E runs to every room, etc. So we borrowed from nearly every relative to pay the $15-20k. The home took awhile to build, and all during this time period I kept calling ****** and saying, "Loan is still good, right?" Answer was always yes. When the house finally passed final permits (which means you can move in), we sat down to sign papers. Nothing was the same. Balloon payment, prepay penalty, etc. When I caught it, I asked, "WTF?" They said, "Well your FICA dropped so we couldn't get the original terms." Seems paying off several credit cards (their requirement for approval) made the score drop. So I had to choose: Lose the house on principle (also losing $15k-20k of relatives money) or agree to this massively bad mortgage and move in. Since the house had passed final permits, the contract with the builder said we had to secure financing within 3 days or they can re-list it (which they would, our $280k house was now selling for mid 300s). There's no way to shop and be confident you'll get a loan in two days. So we signed.
I immediately refinanced a short term later and paid a nearly $30k pre-pay penalty (one year's payments roughly), but I was glad to get out of the horrible mortgage. This is why I'll never again consider or use Northwest Mortgage or certain branch of theirs in California.
To be fair, it didn't pay for MOST of it. It paid for very little of it. Pepperdine MBA classes back in 1997-1999 was around $3-4,000 each (12 classes to graduate) from what I recall. Tuition asistance was supposed to be 75%, however, the cap was $250 per credit hour. You'd think there's $1,000 then for a 4 credit hour class, however, there was ANOTHER cap of $750 regardless of how many hours the class was. So, I paid for a majority of the classes. The real rub is in the fact I didn't understand what subsidized versus unsubsidized loans meant. I just thought subsidized had a better rate. When I realized interest was racking up, a $50,000 student loan had balooned to $70,000. It's 11 years later and I'm still paying them off. If you look at interest, I've definately paid more than $750 times 12 classes:) So like a few of the Big Banks, I paid off my educational "bail out.":)
We do have gauranteed minimum income. It's called Minimum Wage.
I did a quick Google to show you the link I read on a news report with, reportedly, "a list of their demands," which did include equal pay regardless. However, the Wikipage mentions a forum posting was misrepresented in the media as an official list of demands. It appears there is no such document, so I am mistaken (misled?).
I appreciate the joking label of Socialist. It's amazing how uncivilized on-line discussions are about politics. Since I've been on-line since CompuServe in the early-80s, I am used to trolls, pot stirrers, etc, but it's just amazing the hate online over the last 10 years. I post something non-political on a Yahoo comment and I get, "Tea Party slave," etc. I had to laugh because using their criteria, I'm not the "slave", I'm the "master" since at the time I fall in Obama's tax sights (household income over $200-250k) for increases. However, to be fair, I had them going up under Bush, and have been since Clinton.
I guess you have me there. It is my assumption most people are responsible and can do simple math. You said she was a college student, so I was doubly certain this was a safe assumption. To me, the whole point of a college education isn't necessarily WHAT you learn but HOW you learn. (The notable exceptions to this are Electrical and Mechanical Engineering degrees). For example, my MBA didn't make me any smarter than the average man (although this argument is making me rethink this position), but it did give me more tools to learn faster, better and more reliably. Most importantly, it taught me to know what I DON'T know, but have a big picture. For example, a CPA accountant will be able spin me in circles with tax preparations, income statement generations, etc, but if he hands me a balance sheet where Assets, Liabilities, and Equity aren't right, I'll spot it.
Let me put this a different way, a large majority of Fortune 500 company CEOs are Bachelor of Arts graduates. They didn't go to a school of "Science" or get a business degree (usually a Science school, if you see a business degree listed as a Bachelor of Arts, don't enroll...). You learn critical thinking skills, such as, if I agree to a $1500 a month mortgage but A) Don't have a job B) Have a job but I only make $2,000, then it's probably something I should run by a neutral third party. At the least, Google "mortgage calculator". Put in your loan amount and the term (e.g. 120 months, 6%, $200,000). I just bought a 2010 Camaro and I ran the numbers at least 5 or 6 times (online) even though I could figure the numbers in my head from previous car loans. I go back to my banking statement (online) and look at my lowest balance for the whole year. Does it cover it? Or, if you have a trade in, how much more will I spend? I commuted 130 miles a day for work, and I figured the gas savings alone would cover the difference between my existing car payment and a new Prius. Plus I get to use the carpool lane.
But I've digressed. To me, these are normal. You're saying it's not. I'm half joking when I say you might want to warn her the Prince of Narobia from the English Wales Bank of Commonwealth does not have $5 Mil pounds that he wants her to help due to the unfortunate demise of the late Sir Paul McCarthy, who has no living heirs to his estate, and that by helping she'll get 10% if she sends her banking route and account numbers.:)
I'll leave the Euro debate alone for now. Back in 1999 I was taking part in a study exchange between Pepperdine and Oxford University in the UK. I met the actual "head guy" who made the decision to NOT join the Euro. I think if you walked up to the average person on the street in the US, ok maybe from your point I can't ask the average person this, but let's say I could, and asked them, "Do you think it'd be a good idea to tie your US dollar's value to Mexico and Cuba's GDP?" I'd think people would have a hard time stopping their laughter to answer the question. This issue is complex, and to me points out a glaring strength of the US versus Euro monetary problems. In Europe the monetary problems are political. In the US, we've purposely decoupled it from politics. Recently we've seen political pressure to influence monetary policies (e.g. Senators saying the Fed should do blah blah blah), but the awesome thing is that they can't touch it! So instead of political pandering, you've got (until very recently) a PH.D in Economics who understands what the hell is going on making currency decisions. Tons of people try to blame Greenspan, but he was shooting all the warning shots loud and clear for anyone competent and listening. "Irrational Exuberence" ring any bells? He called the dot com three years before it hit. He called the housing crisis two years before it really hit full tilt. I guess I didn't leave the Euro argument totally alone. Hahah... My p
If that's where the money goes, and that's how to become rich, then why don't you do it? If it's really that simple, and you think the rich all get richer by "playing" the stock market, playing derivatives, and currency speculation, then just pick your favorite rich dude, and follow his investments.
The reality of the real world is those are the equiv to a millionaire walking to Vegas and betting it all on black. The millionaire was a millionaire BEFORE, and he surely doesn't get his income from those sources. Can he make a few mil there? Possibly, but most, meaning 99.9999% do not.
Rich people got rich through smart investing and going with what they know. If you want to make money, get smart on something and then go for it. Start small, taking smaller risks to get a feel. Then when you've built up experience and the ability to intuitively read markets, then you go bigger. Steve Jobs didn't get rich his first time out, and he didn't get it from the company you most know him from: Apple. He watched as M$ pummelled him in market share and every bench mark, but he still stuck to what he knew. Eventually, he walked, formed the company eventually sold to Disney (now known as Pixar), etc. This is a fairy tale example, but it's how you do it. No one hands you anything. You work your way through it. Not 100% of the people will get it, and that's just life. The dodo bird went exinct for a reason. Do I fault the protestors for protesting the bailouts? No. Let the weak banks die. I bet you $1M they don't make the mistake again of loaning $200k to a student on student loans without a job a second time ( from a previous reply). You learn from the painful experiences what NOT to do a second time. 80% of small businesses fail, but the smart ones try again.
They say financial cycles last 7 years because that's as long as people can remember with any clarity. The same goes here. "Capitalism" is "broken" because we're going on nearly 7 years since it did ok. So we're ignoring over half a DECADE of it beating the dog snot out of the rest of the world, and focusing on the recent failings. Was some of it self-inflicted? Sure. Students with no income should not be given a $200k loan, just as I won't hire you to manage my store right out of college. So, we'll get increased regulation on mortgage blending, investing, etc, and it'll go the other way too far (needlessly adding costs), and then eventually get fine tuned. That's also life. You fine tune and tweak. What we're contemplating here is replacing our car just because the spark plugs fouled. The US beats the living daylight out of most of the rest of the world in every visual measurement I can see. And yes, I'm sitting in Europe (Belgium to be exact) as I write this. I've been in Asia, the Middle East, Western and Central Europe. I've been to South America and Canada. There's a reason everyone emulates us.
It's sad we can't see our own strengths and just focus on weakness.
The point wasn't so much to point to one country or another. The point is to get out of the isolated United States and see what is working and what isn't. I'm sitting in Belgium right now. It's 100% different than, say, Romania, but it some ways completely the same. Point is, you won't know unless you get out and actually see what it is that works and doesn't work. Basing GDP and taxes on natural resources is very short sighted. To give a domestic example, Alaska's oil will eventually run out. If the state doesn't modify their spending and taxes beforehand, they're screwed. If the government shifts to a high tax model, businesses that can choose where to operate will not open there, effectively muffling their income potential. I am perpetually surprised people don't understand government is a, "less than zero sum." If you put a $1 into it, you will never get $1 in utility back. If you tax the rich more, where do you think that money would have gone? It would have been spent, reinvested, etc, which keeps capitalism going. If you tax it, then the $1 sees 10 cents lopped off here, there, and everywhere. You're suck wondering why you're getting crap for your 30 cents.
She has no job, living off student loans and you blame the bank? I'm curious. Why did she apply for the loan and how was she planning on paying for it? Was it also the student loan office's job to tell her student loans are not intended for short term income?
You can say Robosigners, corporate greed, etc all day and all night long. However, only ONE side is obligated to future performance. It's the borrower. When you apply for a loan, you are stating in writing you can make the payments. It doesn't matter if a one-eyed monkey rubber stamped your application, cut and paste with huge plastic scissors, and 6 year olds handed you the half million you borrowed. If you borrow $500,000, and see your payments close to $4,000 a month, it doesn't take a mathematical genius to say, "Do I really have $4,000 left over in my checking account at the end of every month? Or if I don't could I comfortably get there?" No math involved...just look at your bank statement for this month, and this month minus one. Do you see your average daily balance increase? Of course, if your rent is already there, no math needed. Another scenario: Paying $2k a month rent? Adjust. Do I have $2,000 left.
Back in 2000, I bought my home for $280,000. I knew it was tight, but I knew between my wife and I we could do it. 4 or 5 years later, we had 2nd mortgage lenders trying to talk us into huge loans, and I knew we couldn't easily afford it. I walked from them. Could I have gotten approved? Easily. Did I notice they were practically begging you to take their money? Sure. However, it's MY signature on the line, and MY credit. I am the one responsible for my actions and my debts.
Back to the OT, the same goes for my outlook on the protestors. You are responsible for your career and life. Life is not guaranteed nor should it be. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. When I was 18, I decided I didn't want a near-minimum wage job and wanted to provide for my soon to be wife. I enlisted in the Air Force, and earned my B.S degree before getting out 7 years later. I had my MBA half done. I took student loans, which 11 years later are still painful, but I pay them and am grateful I earn 6 digits to provide for my family. They live comfortably at my sacrifice. No one gave me anything. I worked from minimum wage, to near minimum wage (junior enlisted through most of the 90s). I positioned myself, got an education and worked my way up. Engineer. Senior Engineer. Senior Engineer II. Director.
Corrupt as Wall St may or may not be, you can still drive your destiny. Don't like corporate greed affecting your lives? Wall Street is the wrong address. Congress and the White House are your destinations for direct change. When you hear Obama is "far exceeding campaign goals," where do you think that money is coming from? What do you think it's intent is for? When you see in California moves to block reform of education and litigation, why do you think you see union and trial lawyer association donations jump up? Just these two items alone have deep, profound impacts upon your daily lives.
So to summarize, they're misguided and utopian. I don't want them to succeed because if one of their primary demands is, "Equal pay regardless of work," then that reeks of decay and socialism. If they really feel that way, I would encourage them to spend some time, say about 2-3 years, working in European countries that heavily legislate pay, benefits, etc and see how that's working for them.
I've thought of that, but with my luck it would also be the circuit for something needed, such as the fuel pump. I haven't ventured over to the Camaro forum lately, but you're likely right. It might just be a fuse pull. I just haven't looked.
Here is what I was about to post to the original article here....
Initially, I read the TOS very quickly, and didn't notice the rewrite specifics. Due to reading the actual TOS a second time, I called all the way from Europe to cancel the service on my car that sits idle (pardon the pun) in Southern California. When I get back, I plan to rip the RF device out of the car.
Insurance can't be trusted, and I know they'll be buying the data. Geo spatial analysis will make it insanely easy to un-anonimize the data, and as we've seen very recently, when a company is bought or sold, the new owners like to re-define the rules of engagement. Right now, insurance asks for all your medical data during a claim, what's to stop them from pooling, analyzing, and/or asking for this data pertaining to your driving? Nothing.
The interesting thing is the On-Star support person said three times, "The information is only released with your consent." I replied all three times, "That's what your old TOS said. With all due respect, I appreciate your efforts, however I have an exceptionally firm grasp of the English language, and it very specifically states the data can be sold at GM's discretion OR with my consent. Please cancel."
Hmmm...oh well... It's sorta funny they actually corrected course. Netflix obviously didn't learn this lesson or execute a course correction nearly as well.
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When you say, "The Iraq war." If you mean Part 1, then yes. That was in 1991 which is a date before the date I repeat several times that we turned it off, 1994. If you mean part 2, then no. You're wrong. It's never been turned on since we turned it off. 17 years.... 17 years since we had it on. Really think we're turning it on? If so, get your tin foil hat ready.
All of this is moot because there are serious legal and political ramifications internationally. The "firmware" update just doesn't apply here. Electrical switches in space have a very finite lifetime. Eventually you will switch and it will cold arc. No more switching. This is why everything has redundancy, and there is a second switch. However, once the second relay arcs.....you're done. So, again, we're never going to just "start flicking switches," or turning things off and on for fun.
26 years ago! That program was cancelled 23 years ago. This is the equiv to you saying we'd also use a mortar fired or suitcase tactical nuclear weapon since we had one 50 years ago. :) Good luck getting anyone to fire a mortar delivered nuke these days.
The Solwind was in a low orbit where the debris falls naturally to the earth, just as the satellite we hit in 2008 did. Within 3 months all debris was gone, as its velocity decreased with time to the point it couldn't outrun gravity. The Chinese ASAT test still to this day, 4 years later, puts the ISS at risk, as it at nearly twice the height (orbital altitude) of the Solwind (300 miles as opposed to 532 miles).
In all of these examples, we're still way short of the context of my statement: GPS Satellites are at 11,000 miles and the debris would make the position in space unusable for centuries. Hell, the Sync orbits ( ~24,000 miles up) are so full with OPERATIONAL satellites that there's not enough room in the orbit, especially for spots above Europe and N. America.
My favorite stories are from when I pulled crew in the early 90s. Some how some crazy lady got the commercial phone number for the GPS Operations Floor, Satellite System Operator (SSO). My buddy got the call, "Why are you following me?" Senior Airman, "Excuse me, ma'am. I don't understand your question." "I have this GPS thingy that shows where I am. Why are you following me and how do you know where I am?" We laughed a long time about that one. Shortly after the ground war ended, I got a call from a US Army Colonel who was in the middle of the desert, "Which way do I point my GPS?" "Excuse me sir, what's the question?" "I have a GPS Set [Plugger], which way do I point it in the sky?" *pause to retain military bearing* "Up.........sir. Just stand in an area where you can see sky, and point it upwards." Today we can laugh, but back then it was completely new (and to the Col's credit, it's a valid question for SATCOM). To this day, we have no idea how they got the Ops Floor number. It's normally never given out.
Ahh, the infamous mod pic. Everyone knows that pic. The left patch on the flight suits (and our previous "Space Jammies" which are similar but dark blue, phased out about 12 years ago) are commonly "Morale Patches". She's on Charlie Crew, which chose to be called the Centurians, and that's the saying their crew chose. Our crew was Bravo Crew, and ours was "Striking Accuracy" since we chose to be "Bravo Crew Vipers". I'm logged into FB and a member so that link may not work for you or others. I can't remember the call signs for the others, but all crews on the schedule were referred to alphabetically from A through E or F (I forget). Alpha, Bravo, Charlie...etc. Since those are boring names around the early 90s we started going by the nicknames. Delta crew was Delta Dawgs at one point and later Delta Dingos.
The official squadron motto for the 2 SOPS is, "Pathways for Peace." (Obligatory Wiki link)
Motorola M12+ Timing Oncore GPS Timing Module
Gotta run back to work
Next, the fail is at not reading all of what you cited, so let me continue it and then explain:
So, within three months the debris will have burned up and no longer be a threat to space operations. Unlike a GPS satellite, which is not at 130 miles up but rather 11,000 miles up. See the difference? Space begins aound 100 miles up so the satellite, when it was hit, was barely across the threshold of even being considered "space". And to couch anyone else who quotes out of context Wikipedia, yes, you get your spaceflight wings at 50nm, but that's because it takes special apparatus to sustain human life at that altitude.
I'm at work so don't have the time to look it up, but look at tech's on Nortel DMS 100, 250, etc for their switches, base site controllers, etc. For the other "biggie", Lucent 5ESS. Those were (at least 5 -6 years ago when I was still in telecom) the two biggest switch networks deployed in the US. For T1s, look up Alcatel, and Tellabs for digital cross connect, and...ok hit brick wall.. there's one other I'm forgetting.
clarification: We didn't "turn off GPS. I meant "turned off Selective Availability."
I apologize if I gave an impression we physically go up. When I say, "Go up on a bird," it's meaning, contacting the Ground Antenna, establishing C2 (S-band) and going "active", which means transmitting S-bits, etc. At 11,000 miles (plus change) there's no practical way to ever physically get to one of the GPS satellites. When we're done iwht them, we spin them up for physical stability, and then boost them out of their operational orbit. It's also referred to as "super syncing a bird."
If we ever get to a point where the US is so unstable it can't Command and Control GPS satellites, the world will be worried about a ton more pressing things than our GPS satellites. For what it's worth a high school student with two week's pay at minimum wage could have the technical and fiscal ability to jam GPS for a large area. The US Gov isn't your boogey man in this scenario. If we didn't touch GPS on 9/11, I think it's a pretty clear indication it's not on the table.
As much as GWB is everyone's new devil pariah most-loathed person, he can't rewire satellites already in space. And before you quote me Wiki again, no the space shuttle can't go out to 11,000 miles to do an upgrade. It's A) No longer flying B) Not capable of going even close to that distance.
Ignore every movie you've ever saw about space. We don't "flick stuff off and on" at a whim. We don't reposition satellites real time, at least not GPS, DSP, DMSP, or EHF (Milstar) birds. Spy satellites are even harder since they're in a highly elliptical orbit which is travelling at exceptionally high speeds when it's at perigee (the nearest point, which is usually where they're spying on). It's a matter of physics.
We've had many terrorist attacks since SA was turned off: Khobar Towers, USS Cole, 9/11, etc. Still off and no degradation.
They will adhere to the ruling, but one thing jumps out at me. They allow "non-content" information which includes who you email. How is that not content? Paying method is obviously not content and IRS related clearly. However, allowing to see WHO I email seems a slippery slope. It seems it opens the door to guilt by association warrants. Maybe I'm wrong.
Not just some, almost all. Stratum's tied to GPS signals are standard fare in a switch room at Sprint PCS and Nextel. Everything in the realm of high speed digital data transmission needs reliable timing. GPS is a free, easy reference that's accurate to a nanosecond. Those that don't go down will start to drift in timing. Modulation that's not time-reliant will be ok, but others will have issues.
For the comments, "We can shoot them down." Completely irresponsible. It's like saying, "If we want to destroy their bridge, we can just Nuke it." If you destroy a satellite, that position in space becomes unusable due to debris for centuries. We're not going to do it. This is why we were very angry with the Chinese for testing ASAT awhile back. Completely unnecessary and very irresponsible. We don't test GBU's on busy highways in the middle of urban cities (unless you include Iraq, but I kid).
Your questions (and those from others) bothered me. With as much business education and capabilities, I should be able to answer your questions better. However I type a reply and realize, I haven't really addressed the underlying fundamental question, "Where is that money going?" If the owners are pulling it out, then it has to go SOMEWHERE and usually there's taxable income. So at least the government benefits somewhat, however, their tax income isn't. One could say, "Loopholes", but given I'm only one step from the highest tax bracket and paying every penny, I'd love to know what those are. I'm a "3%"er and unlike Google, I'm getting hammered. I digress.
Then I hit, this article, "Labor's Share of Non-Farm Business Income," with this graph(it's below in the comments, which are all very insightful. I wish every on-line comment section was this civilized), and you can quantify clearly what is happening now, versus previous recoveries. To date, I've seen no explanations other than those who sound a lot like the politicians. "Blame Wall Street." "Blame the 1% Rich," etc. To me that's not meaningful because it's too close to false logic. This article shows that the difference is that clearly corporations are holding onto the profit more than at any other time in history. Now again, I don't agree capitalism has failed. If it was a failure, then why did it rebound EVERY other time. You can't define the majority by the minority in my opinion. So the meaningful dialogue is, "What changed?" You can't say people all of a sudden got greedy. Well maybe you can. But WHY did they get greedy when EVERY other time they didn't? We didn't invent greed in 2006. As I articulated in a different reply, you hand a company a $1 so that you can get $1.07 or more back (assuming 10 Yr T-Bills are paying 6%). Likewise, companies that have retained earnings (read: profits) should want to take the $1.07 THEY brought in to make ANOTHER $1.07 (or more). Holding onto it get's you $1.06 OR LESS (again assuming Tbills 6%) unless you start speculating, which no CFO worth a lick wants to do. I'll stop here but here is another article along the same lines, Income Redistribution: The Key to Economic Growth?.
What's the solution? NOT the government. If we rely on the government to be the watchkeeper of income distribution, than we will all suffer. To give an example, I read the Obama Stimulus Package being pushed through the Senate. It's been a few years so I won't have the numbers exact in spending, but I will have the percentages. For $30B in increased Food Stamps, they carved off $10.5B for "overhead." I'll let you define what that means to you, but apply it to income redistribution. If we're trying to take $15B from retained earnings sitting on the side (not investing or distributed to workers), do you want $5B spent by the government on "overhead"? No. You can regulate the behavior, but don't dictate it. For example, the government doesn't force you to buy a house, or have kids, but they do make your tax burden insanely easier (until you earn a magic number around $200k combined household) when you A) Get married w/ kids B) Buy a house. These are just ideas. Keep in mind during there are other contrary that might work as well. Under Reagan or Bush (can't remember) we lost deductions for credit card interest, and yet consumer borrowing skyrocketed.
So in summary, you're right. Although, your phantom corps sounds more like tin foil hat fodder, since the IRS or someone would love to catch someone being stupid with switching money around.
I immediately refinanced a short term later and paid a nearly $30k pre-pay penalty (one year's payments roughly), but I was glad to get out of the horrible mortgage. This is why I'll never again consider or use Northwest Mortgage or certain branch of theirs in California.
We do have gauranteed minimum income. It's called Minimum Wage.
I did a quick Google to show you the link I read on a news report with, reportedly, "a list of their demands," which did include equal pay regardless. However, the Wikipage mentions a forum posting was misrepresented in the media as an official list of demands. It appears there is no such document, so I am mistaken (misled?).
I appreciate the joking label of Socialist. It's amazing how uncivilized on-line discussions are about politics. Since I've been on-line since CompuServe in the early-80s, I am used to trolls, pot stirrers, etc, but it's just amazing the hate online over the last 10 years. I post something non-political on a Yahoo comment and I get, "Tea Party slave," etc. I had to laugh because using their criteria, I'm not the "slave", I'm the "master" since at the time I fall in Obama's tax sights (household income over $200-250k) for increases. However, to be fair, I had them going up under Bush, and have been since Clinton.
I guess you have me there. It is my assumption most people are responsible and can do simple math. You said she was a college student, so I was doubly certain this was a safe assumption. To me, the whole point of a college education isn't necessarily WHAT you learn but HOW you learn. (The notable exceptions to this are Electrical and Mechanical Engineering degrees). For example, my MBA didn't make me any smarter than the average man (although this argument is making me rethink this position), but it did give me more tools to learn faster, better and more reliably. Most importantly, it taught me to know what I DON'T know, but have a big picture. For example, a CPA accountant will be able spin me in circles with tax preparations, income statement generations, etc, but if he hands me a balance sheet where Assets, Liabilities, and Equity aren't right, I'll spot it.
Let me put this a different way, a large majority of Fortune 500 company CEOs are Bachelor of Arts graduates. They didn't go to a school of "Science" or get a business degree (usually a Science school, if you see a business degree listed as a Bachelor of Arts, don't enroll...). You learn critical thinking skills, such as, if I agree to a $1500 a month mortgage but A) Don't have a job B) Have a job but I only make $2,000, then it's probably something I should run by a neutral third party. At the least, Google "mortgage calculator". Put in your loan amount and the term (e.g. 120 months, 6%, $200,000). I just bought a 2010 Camaro and I ran the numbers at least 5 or 6 times (online) even though I could figure the numbers in my head from previous car loans. I go back to my banking statement (online) and look at my lowest balance for the whole year. Does it cover it? Or, if you have a trade in, how much more will I spend? I commuted 130 miles a day for work, and I figured the gas savings alone would cover the difference between my existing car payment and a new Prius. Plus I get to use the carpool lane.
But I've digressed. To me, these are normal. You're saying it's not. I'm half joking when I say you might want to warn her the Prince of Narobia from the English Wales Bank of Commonwealth does not have $5 Mil pounds that he wants her to help due to the unfortunate demise of the late Sir Paul McCarthy, who has no living heirs to his estate, and that by helping she'll get 10% if she sends her banking route and account numbers. :)
I'll leave the Euro debate alone for now. Back in 1999 I was taking part in a study exchange between Pepperdine and Oxford University in the UK. I met the actual "head guy" who made the decision to NOT join the Euro. I think if you walked up to the average person on the street in the US, ok maybe from your point I can't ask the average person this, but let's say I could, and asked them, "Do you think it'd be a good idea to tie your US dollar's value to Mexico and Cuba's GDP?" I'd think people would have a hard time stopping their laughter to answer the question. This issue is complex, and to me points out a glaring strength of the US versus Euro monetary problems. In Europe the monetary problems are political. In the US, we've purposely decoupled it from politics. Recently we've seen political pressure to influence monetary policies (e.g. Senators saying the Fed should do blah blah blah), but the awesome thing is that they can't touch it! So instead of political pandering, you've got (until very recently) a PH.D in Economics who understands what the hell is going on making currency decisions. Tons of people try to blame Greenspan, but he was shooting all the warning shots loud and clear for anyone competent and listening. "Irrational Exuberence" ring any bells? He called the dot com three years before it hit. He called the housing crisis two years before it really hit full tilt. I guess I didn't leave the Euro argument totally alone. Hahah... My p
If that's where the money goes, and that's how to become rich, then why don't you do it? If it's really that simple, and you think the rich all get richer by "playing" the stock market, playing derivatives, and currency speculation, then just pick your favorite rich dude, and follow his investments.
The reality of the real world is those are the equiv to a millionaire walking to Vegas and betting it all on black. The millionaire was a millionaire BEFORE, and he surely doesn't get his income from those sources. Can he make a few mil there? Possibly, but most, meaning 99.9999% do not.
Rich people got rich through smart investing and going with what they know. If you want to make money, get smart on something and then go for it. Start small, taking smaller risks to get a feel. Then when you've built up experience and the ability to intuitively read markets, then you go bigger. Steve Jobs didn't get rich his first time out, and he didn't get it from the company you most know him from: Apple. He watched as M$ pummelled him in market share and every bench mark, but he still stuck to what he knew. Eventually, he walked, formed the company eventually sold to Disney (now known as Pixar), etc. This is a fairy tale example, but it's how you do it. No one hands you anything. You work your way through it. Not 100% of the people will get it, and that's just life. The dodo bird went exinct for a reason. Do I fault the protestors for protesting the bailouts? No. Let the weak banks die. I bet you $1M they don't make the mistake again of loaning $200k to a student on student loans without a job a second time ( from a previous reply). You learn from the painful experiences what NOT to do a second time. 80% of small businesses fail, but the smart ones try again.
They say financial cycles last 7 years because that's as long as people can remember with any clarity. The same goes here. "Capitalism" is "broken" because we're going on nearly 7 years since it did ok. So we're ignoring over half a DECADE of it beating the dog snot out of the rest of the world, and focusing on the recent failings. Was some of it self-inflicted? Sure. Students with no income should not be given a $200k loan, just as I won't hire you to manage my store right out of college. So, we'll get increased regulation on mortgage blending, investing, etc, and it'll go the other way too far (needlessly adding costs), and then eventually get fine tuned. That's also life. You fine tune and tweak. What we're contemplating here is replacing our car just because the spark plugs fouled. The US beats the living daylight out of most of the rest of the world in every visual measurement I can see. And yes, I'm sitting in Europe (Belgium to be exact) as I write this. I've been in Asia, the Middle East, Western and Central Europe. I've been to South America and Canada. There's a reason everyone emulates us.
It's sad we can't see our own strengths and just focus on weakness.
The point wasn't so much to point to one country or another. The point is to get out of the isolated United States and see what is working and what isn't. I'm sitting in Belgium right now. It's 100% different than, say, Romania, but it some ways completely the same. Point is, you won't know unless you get out and actually see what it is that works and doesn't work. Basing GDP and taxes on natural resources is very short sighted. To give a domestic example, Alaska's oil will eventually run out. If the state doesn't modify their spending and taxes beforehand, they're screwed. If the government shifts to a high tax model, businesses that can choose where to operate will not open there, effectively muffling their income potential. I am perpetually surprised people don't understand government is a, "less than zero sum." If you put a $1 into it, you will never get $1 in utility back. If you tax the rich more, where do you think that money would have gone? It would have been spent, reinvested, etc, which keeps capitalism going. If you tax it, then the $1 sees 10 cents lopped off here, there, and everywhere. You're suck wondering why you're getting crap for your 30 cents.
She has no job, living off student loans and you blame the bank? I'm curious. Why did she apply for the loan and how was she planning on paying for it? Was it also the student loan office's job to tell her student loans are not intended for short term income?
You can say Robosigners, corporate greed, etc all day and all night long. However, only ONE side is obligated to future performance. It's the borrower. When you apply for a loan, you are stating in writing you can make the payments. It doesn't matter if a one-eyed monkey rubber stamped your application, cut and paste with huge plastic scissors, and 6 year olds handed you the half million you borrowed. If you borrow $500,000, and see your payments close to $4,000 a month, it doesn't take a mathematical genius to say, "Do I really have $4,000 left over in my checking account at the end of every month? Or if I don't could I comfortably get there?" No math involved...just look at your bank statement for this month, and this month minus one. Do you see your average daily balance increase? Of course, if your rent is already there, no math needed. Another scenario: Paying $2k a month rent? Adjust. Do I have $2,000 left.
Back in 2000, I bought my home for $280,000. I knew it was tight, but I knew between my wife and I we could do it. 4 or 5 years later, we had 2nd mortgage lenders trying to talk us into huge loans, and I knew we couldn't easily afford it. I walked from them. Could I have gotten approved? Easily. Did I notice they were practically begging you to take their money? Sure. However, it's MY signature on the line, and MY credit. I am the one responsible for my actions and my debts.
Back to the OT, the same goes for my outlook on the protestors. You are responsible for your career and life. Life is not guaranteed nor should it be. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. Plan for the worst and hope for the best. When I was 18, I decided I didn't want a near-minimum wage job and wanted to provide for my soon to be wife. I enlisted in the Air Force, and earned my B.S degree before getting out 7 years later. I had my MBA half done. I took student loans, which 11 years later are still painful, but I pay them and am grateful I earn 6 digits to provide for my family. They live comfortably at my sacrifice. No one gave me anything. I worked from minimum wage, to near minimum wage (junior enlisted through most of the 90s). I positioned myself, got an education and worked my way up. Engineer. Senior Engineer. Senior Engineer II. Director.
Corrupt as Wall St may or may not be, you can still drive your destiny. Don't like corporate greed affecting your lives? Wall Street is the wrong address. Congress and the White House are your destinations for direct change. When you hear Obama is "far exceeding campaign goals," where do you think that money is coming from? What do you think it's intent is for? When you see in California moves to block reform of education and litigation, why do you think you see union and trial lawyer association donations jump up? Just these two items alone have deep, profound impacts upon your daily lives.
So to summarize, they're misguided and utopian. I don't want them to succeed because if one of their primary demands is, "Equal pay regardless of work," then that reeks of decay and socialism. If they really feel that way, I would encourage them to spend some time, say about 2-3 years, working in European countries that heavily legislate pay, benefits, etc and see how that's working for them.
It's not.
I've thought of that, but with my luck it would also be the circuit for something needed, such as the fuel pump. I haven't ventured over to the Camaro forum lately, but you're likely right. It might just be a fuse pull. I just haven't looked.
Initially, I read the TOS very quickly, and didn't notice the rewrite specifics. Due to reading the actual TOS a second time, I called all the way from Europe to cancel the service on my car that sits idle (pardon the pun) in Southern California. When I get back, I plan to rip the RF device out of the car.
Insurance can't be trusted, and I know they'll be buying the data. Geo spatial analysis will make it insanely easy to un-anonimize the data, and as we've seen very recently, when a company is bought or sold, the new owners like to re-define the rules of engagement. Right now, insurance asks for all your medical data during a claim, what's to stop them from pooling, analyzing, and/or asking for this data pertaining to your driving? Nothing.
The interesting thing is the On-Star support person said three times, "The information is only released with your consent." I replied all three times, "That's what your old TOS said. With all due respect, I appreciate your efforts, however I have an exceptionally firm grasp of the English language, and it very specifically states the data can be sold at GM's discretion OR with my consent. Please cancel."
Hmmm...oh well... It's sorta funny they actually corrected course. Netflix obviously didn't learn this lesson or execute a course correction nearly as well.
Really? Hacking telecom manufacturers to see source code for cell phone firmware is legal, PC and clean? HA! I bet he wishes you were the prosecutor.