I think the point parent was trying to make is that although the percentages are different, there are many other factors which affect how much you pay. Standard deductions is the main one, although there are more. Flat percentage vs. percentage isn't always accurate.
In your original post you said nothing about "max" taxes, you simply said CA=9.3, MA=6. I was simply pointing out that 9.3 isn't the CA standard rate. It may be a rate but is not the rate. Neither I nor the person you responded too were taking shots at MA, or saying that CA is somehow better. We were simply trying to clarify.
Hmm, just did my state taxes in CA and it came out to about 5.1%. The sales tax in my county is 8.5%, of course this varies by county so it doesn't represent the state sales tax rate. Just an FYI.
Hmmm, the old "run for the safety of a peaceful area and let the people who can't afford to move suffer while we live safe in our ivory towers" defense. Unless you are suggesting that EVERYONE move to peaceful areas, but then they most certainly wouldn't be peaceful any more... Are you from New England?
I actually have a 12-gauge pump Mossberg at home, as well as a protective 50lb dog. The reason I took it off the list was to get some general advise for everyone concerned about home safety. Many people are either scared of guns, have young children or not physically strong enough to shoot a 12-gauge( like my SO ). Also I'd kind of like a "backup" in case I can't make it to my boomstick in time.:-)
I'll try it out on you if you really want to see what it does, as long as I get to post a digital pic of the results on slashdot afterwards.
Seriously tho, everyone is saying they aren't effective. So what is everyone's home defense preferences, beyond the obvious gun? Pepper spray? Katana? Chainsaw? Pure HCl in a vial by the bed? Tell me what is a good choice.
>Back to the right-wing AM radio talk shows: the only use they have for mentioning "the other side" is to denigrate it. However, all of their arguments are baseless, except if you consider that their ill-informed, blowhard points-of-view are, in fact, a base for reasoned discussion. Of course, they have no use for reasoned discussion, since they clearly do not care about facts.
Speaking of facts, do you have ANY to back these statements up at all? Don't you realize that conservatives feel THE EXACT SAME WAY about CNN, ABC, CBS and all of the mainstream news(except Fox) that you do about talk radio? Get down from your high horse and realize just because you believe something doesn't make it right. Rush, Sean, Michael Savage, et al use facts to back up their opinions frequently on their shows(which you would know if you listened to them).
A common thing they do is read a news article, and then tell THEIR OPINION on it. And it is VERY clear to anyone over a gradeschool education where the facts end and the opinion begins. So you can listen to the news and then think about the articles yourself while you are listening and decide if you agree or not.
Not like mainstream(excluding Fox which is slightly right of center) media where they slant articles to the left but never claim to have an agenda. I still remember a Katie Couric interview about 6 months after the US had taken Bahgdad when Katie's question to the interviewee was "So how bad are things in Iraq?" The don't make leading questions much worse than that...
Your post is the reason our democracy doesn't work. If you vote for Nader enough and the Democrats loose enough times they will finally catch on and attempt to realign themselves with their alienated voters. But if you vote for them they are going to keep putting up degenerates like Kerry over and over again. And they are going to assume you like his politics since you voted for him.
Take a long view on this, not a short view. Your vote is the only thing that matters to your party. Don't give it to them if they don't give you something you want(like a candidate worth voting for).
Of course, I don't think the majority of Dem's want Kerry to win anyway. He strikes me as a candidate set up to fail miserably, to allow for a Hillary run in '08, but that is just my opinion.
-Comedian
Re:Read the ARTICLE!
on
The Wrong Stuff
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
There is a thread further up called "1 Trillion Dollars" which debunks, or at least severely challenges that price tag. To summarize: the "almost 1 Trillion", or 820-900B as you say was the projected cost of 30 or more YEARS of both Moon and Mars exploration! NOT a single manned mission to Mars! You are comparing two vastly different things.
Also:
>don't sleep
The robots we have there now do indeed "sleep", as they are out of sight of earth for long periods of every day where they shut down and conserve power.
>don't age
Again, the robots we have there now have a projected life span of about 90 days or so. After that time, their batteries will probably die, they will cough their last sand filled breath and the mission is over.
The rest of your points are valid but also you need to remember that humans are vastly more adaptable than a robot is, therefore they can actually deal with contingencies rather than just performing a specific set of instructions, very very slowly.
>(I'm really angry about losing the Hubble.)
What the government isn't telling us is that Tom Servo and Crow are actually responsible. See Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie for details.
Agreed, but Apache is run on servers, usually by a sysadmin, whose job it is to update software. Plus that is Open Source, which is a whole other can of worms. The person you are responding too is talking about home PCs, run by computer illiterate people. It's two totally different things.
>All we need is a directory that can collate these sample sites, organised by genre, taste etc, and your justification for stealing music goes away.
I agree with most of what you say here except for two points.
1) If a band knows they only have 2-3 good songs on their album, they will only put those on their web site, then you buy the album and waste money. With a P2P you can download the whole album(sometimes) and give it a listen first, which is nice IMHO, then if you like it you go and buy it, for that high quality CD sound.
2) The organizational effort of doing this would be amazing. I say this because if each band has their own site, in their own format, some with pure HTML, some using cgi, some ASP(gag), etc. So the service can't just direct the user to "http://www.myawsomeband.com/samples.html" or something easy like that. And it would be a pain as the user to go to the music portal, find a band you might like, go to that band's site, and navigate to their samples, then download it. The advantage would still be with Kazaa, etc. for ease of use, IMHO. And if they tried to make a giant "MP3" samples repository site, where bands could submit their sample music for download, the RIAA would probably fight this company tooth and nail, by making artists sign some sort of "exclusive rights" clause in contracts, etc.
Just my $.02. I think the solution you give would be great, but there are a few problems that would have to be ironed out first. And for the record, since many people on this thread are giving their buying habits, I am a P2P user where I sample albums which look interesting then go and buy them if I like it. I usually buy 2-4 CDs per month.
>Aside from MMOGs, which include additional content and constant patching, name a game that charges for online play?
Almost ALL FPS games do not provide dedicated servers to play on, such as all the Half-life games, Quake series, UT, Tribes, etc. All the servers and bandwidth are paid for and provided by the gamers. Admittedly not EVERYONE has to pay for the servers, but someone does and it's not the company. Blizzard is one of the few companies that I know of which provides the servers and associated fees but does not charge a fee to play. However I only play FPS online so there may be games and companies in other genres which operate the way you describe, which I don't know about.
>Starcraft is Warcraft with a space theme, and requires about as much of a tactical mindset as walking and breathing at the same time do.
Now, I am nowhere near a "good" Starcraft player but even with my limited skills SC requires a tremendous amount of strategy. Choosing to expand too early, or making a wrong unit or building is often the difference between victory and defeat. Some of the things about it bother me, such as ranged units still being able to target enemy melee units which are engaged in combat with 100% accuracy, and a few other things, but in general I think it deserves all the accolades it gets. The rest of the games you mention, I haven't played so I can't comment on them.
Someone didn't read the post. He said he was a customer of theirs before he worked there. When he got hired rather than setting up a new "work" email he continued to use his old "personal" email for everything. He quit and they cut off access to his account, because it contained work related materials. Probably as simple as changing a password.
>If a private person can mod a car all the way they like
Unfortunately(or fortunately) you can't. Any car made after emmisions laws were put in place must pass those emmisions laws to drive on the highway. However, luckily for you I think a 73 may be old enough to predate the laws. I think 75 or so was the magic year. I had a 78 and it need to pass tests like a modern car(hence the HUGE drop in power from the 454s you are talking about and the 185HP 403ci engine mine had). Of course many people "side-step" the law by having a friend who does emissions testing.
One other thing you might look into if you are really interested in this is building a really fast, powerful car but also making it very efficient. I firmly believe that most cars today could run more efficiently(MPG) with much less emissions than they do but car manufactures keep them the way they are to save money. As an example the distributor, plugs, etc can be upgraded to provide a much hotter, longer spark than the OEM stuff which in theory cleans up the exhaust, and gives you more ponies. Why aren't ALL cars equiped with a high-performance electrical system? I think cost has a lot to do with it. I want to rebuild a 68-69 Charger once I get a house and I am thinking about converting it to EFI, etc. and making it as "modern" as possible.
I didn't realize that musicians often pay to perform. I guess that is how it is with the huge superstars on a tour also. All of the roadies, sound people, stage hands, advertisement, venue, lights, electricity, etc. all cost money so they need to charge enough to cover that and still make some money too. Hmmm, that $50/person I paid for my last concert ticket doesn't seem like that much after I consider how many people it takes to put on a show like that. Thanks a bunch for the insider's look at the music industry!
Vote for which ever candidate is closest to your views, especially if that person isn't Kerry or Bush. That is the only way Democracy works. Any time you vote for someone you are endorsing their beliefs with your signature. Don't take that lightly.
If you think Bush sucks, and Kerry is not much better, then vote Green or Libertarian or whatever. If the Dems loose enough elections by putting up people like Kerry eventually they will catch on and put up someone different. They care about 1 thing and 1 thing only, votes. Take that away and you will eventually get a response.
Since you are a musician, judging from you post, can I get you to explain how it all works a little more in depth? I keep hearing how musicians can't make much money on CDs, which I completely believe. But then I also hear how some musicians don't make money at concerts either, which I question. So I don't really see how and where musicians make money at all, except for the huge stars who get endorsement deals, etc.
If you have a minute I would really like to know what kind of percentages the musicians get from CD sales, shows etc. I assume it varys greatly depending on who you are, what kind of recording deal you have, etc. but just some overall facts and figures would be greatly appreciated.
Slashdot Mirror
Someone please mod the parent up. Please, please, please!!!
I think the point parent was trying to make is that although the percentages are different, there are many other factors which affect how much you pay. Standard deductions is the main one, although there are more. Flat percentage vs. percentage isn't always accurate.
In your original post you said nothing about "max" taxes, you simply said CA=9.3, MA=6. I was simply pointing out that 9.3 isn't the CA standard rate. It may be a rate but is not the rate. Neither I nor the person you responded too were taking shots at MA, or saying that CA is somehow better. We were simply trying to clarify.
>CA: 9.30% income tax, 6% sales tax
Hmm, just did my state taxes in CA and it came out to about 5.1%. The sales tax in my county is 8.5%, of course this varies by county so it doesn't represent the state sales tax rate. Just an FYI.
Hmmm, the old "run for the safety of a peaceful area and let the people who can't afford to move suffer while we live safe in our ivory towers" defense. Unless you are suggesting that EVERYONE move to peaceful areas, but then they most certainly wouldn't be peaceful any more... Are you from New England?
>I knew someone who kept constantly spilling the stuff on herself (accident prone).
:-)
LOL, I needed a good chuckle this morning. Thanks for that. Hopefully she is more careful around the other stuff you mention( H2SO4 and HF).
The Shorty looks like it would rip your arm off if you tried to shoot it one handed. I hope that is another grip below the magazine in the front.
I actually have a 12-gauge pump Mossberg at home, as well as a protective 50lb dog. The reason I took it off the list was to get some general advise for everyone concerned about home safety. Many people are either scared of guns, have young children or not physically strong enough to shoot a 12-gauge( like my SO ). Also I'd kind of like a "backup" in case I can't make it to my boomstick in time. :-)
I'll try it out on you if you really want to see what it does, as long as I get to post a digital pic of the results on slashdot afterwards.
Seriously tho, everyone is saying they aren't effective. So what is everyone's home defense preferences, beyond the obvious gun? Pepper spray? Katana? Chainsaw? Pure HCl in a vial by the bed? Tell me what is a good choice.
Special news bulletin, this just in: Muggers will steal something which looks valuable.
Boy I'm glad I read slashdot for these highly insightful news articles.
Tommorow's headlines: Eating too much may cause weight gain.
>Back to the right-wing AM radio talk shows: the only use they have for mentioning "the other side" is to denigrate it. However, all of their arguments are baseless, except if you consider that their ill-informed, blowhard points-of-view are, in fact, a base for reasoned discussion. Of course, they have no use for reasoned discussion, since they clearly do not care about facts.
Speaking of facts, do you have ANY to back these statements up at all? Don't you realize that conservatives feel THE EXACT SAME WAY about CNN, ABC, CBS and all of the mainstream news(except Fox) that you do about talk radio? Get down from your high horse and realize just because you believe something doesn't make it right. Rush, Sean, Michael Savage, et al use facts to back up their opinions frequently on their shows(which you would know if you listened to them).
A common thing they do is read a news article, and then tell THEIR OPINION on it. And it is VERY clear to anyone over a gradeschool education where the facts end and the opinion begins. So you can listen to the news and then think about the articles yourself while you are listening and decide if you agree or not.
Not like mainstream(excluding Fox which is slightly right of center) media where they slant articles to the left but never claim to have an agenda. I still remember a Katie Couric interview about 6 months after the US had taken Bahgdad when Katie's question to the interviewee was "So how bad are things in Iraq?" The don't make leading questions much worse than that...
-Comedian
Your post is the reason our democracy doesn't work. If you vote for Nader enough and the Democrats loose enough times they will finally catch on and attempt to realign themselves with their alienated voters. But if you vote for them they are going to keep putting up degenerates like Kerry over and over again. And they are going to assume you like his politics since you voted for him.
Take a long view on this, not a short view. Your vote is the only thing that matters to your party. Don't give it to them if they don't give you something you want(like a candidate worth voting for).
Of course, I don't think the majority of Dem's want Kerry to win anyway. He strikes me as a candidate set up to fail miserably, to allow for a Hillary run in '08, but that is just my opinion.
-Comedian
There is a thread further up called "1 Trillion Dollars" which debunks, or at least severely challenges that price tag. To summarize: the "almost 1 Trillion", or 820-900B as you say was the projected cost of 30 or more YEARS of both Moon and Mars exploration! NOT a single manned mission to Mars! You are comparing two vastly different things.
Also:
>don't sleep
The robots we have there now do indeed "sleep", as they are out of sight of earth for long periods of every day where they shut down and conserve power.
>don't age
Again, the robots we have there now have a projected life span of about 90 days or so. After that time, their batteries will probably die, they will cough their last sand filled breath and the mission is over.
The rest of your points are valid but also you need to remember that humans are vastly more adaptable than a robot is, therefore they can actually deal with contingencies rather than just performing a specific set of instructions, very very slowly.
>(I'm really angry about losing the Hubble.)
What the government isn't telling us is that Tom Servo and Crow are actually responsible. See Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie for details.
>a manned mission to mars will cost at least 1 $Trillion.
For a SINGLE manned mission? I doubt that. That is 66 years worth of 100% of NASA's budget going to a single mission. Kind of far fetched, no?
Mods please mod parent -1, Insane. Thx.
Agreed, but Apache is run on servers, usually by a sysadmin, whose job it is to update software. Plus that is Open Source, which is a whole other can of worms. The person you are responding too is talking about home PCs, run by computer illiterate people. It's two totally different things.
-Comedian
>Warcraft III routes all packets so your IP is not exposed to other players.
Probably does some data checking to catch cheaters, etc. too, although I don't know for sure.
>I think my point still stands, regardless of the difficulty/impracticality of that particular approach.
:-)
Agreed. I will definately use it as soon as someone makes it. I would make it myself if I had the time.
-Comedian
>All we need is a directory that can collate these sample sites, organised by genre, taste etc, and your justification for stealing music goes away.
I agree with most of what you say here except for two points.
1) If a band knows they only have 2-3 good songs on their album, they will only put those on their web site, then you buy the album and waste money. With a P2P you can download the whole album(sometimes) and give it a listen first, which is nice IMHO, then if you like it you go and buy it, for that high quality CD sound.
2) The organizational effort of doing this would be amazing. I say this because if each band has their own site, in their own format, some with pure HTML, some using cgi, some ASP(gag), etc. So the service can't just direct the user to "http://www.myawsomeband.com/samples.html" or something easy like that. And it would be a pain as the user to go to the music portal, find a band you might like, go to that band's site, and navigate to their samples, then download it. The advantage would still be with Kazaa, etc. for ease of use, IMHO. And if they tried to make a giant "MP3" samples repository site, where bands could submit their sample music for download, the RIAA would probably fight this company tooth and nail, by making artists sign some sort of "exclusive rights" clause in contracts, etc.
Just my $.02. I think the solution you give would be great, but there are a few problems that would have to be ironed out first. And for the record, since many people on this thread are giving their buying habits, I am a P2P user where I sample albums which look interesting then go and buy them if I like it. I usually buy 2-4 CDs per month.
-Comedian
>Aside from MMOGs, which include additional content and constant patching, name a game that charges for online play?
Almost ALL FPS games do not provide dedicated servers to play on, such as all the Half-life games, Quake series, UT, Tribes, etc. All the servers and bandwidth are paid for and provided by the gamers. Admittedly not EVERYONE has to pay for the servers, but someone does and it's not the company. Blizzard is one of the few companies that I know of which provides the servers and associated fees but does not charge a fee to play. However I only play FPS online so there may be games and companies in other genres which operate the way you describe, which I don't know about.
>Starcraft is Warcraft with a space theme, and requires about as much of a tactical mindset as walking and breathing at the same time do.
Now, I am nowhere near a "good" Starcraft player but even with my limited skills SC requires a tremendous amount of strategy. Choosing to expand too early, or making a wrong unit or building is often the difference between victory and defeat. Some of the things about it bother me, such as ranged units still being able to target enemy melee units which are engaged in combat with 100% accuracy, and a few other things, but in general I think it deserves all the accolades it gets. The rest of the games you mention, I haven't played so I can't comment on them.
-Comedian
Get a new job and quit that POS job as soon as possible. Your boss is an a$$hole and shouldn't be treating you like that. It's a simple as that.
-Comedian
Someone didn't read the post. He said he was a customer of theirs before he worked there. When he got hired rather than setting up a new "work" email he continued to use his old "personal" email for everything. He quit and they cut off access to his account, because it contained work related materials. Probably as simple as changing a password.
-Comedian
> Best not to stick the keyboard in your colon either.
Leave it to scientists to take all the fun out of life.
>If a private person can mod a car all the way they like
Unfortunately(or fortunately) you can't. Any car made after emmisions laws were put in place must pass those emmisions laws to drive on the highway. However, luckily for you I think a 73 may be old enough to predate the laws. I think 75 or so was the magic year. I had a 78 and it need to pass tests like a modern car(hence the HUGE drop in power from the 454s you are talking about and the 185HP 403ci engine mine had). Of course many people "side-step" the law by having a friend who does emissions testing.
One other thing you might look into if you are really interested in this is building a really fast, powerful car but also making it very efficient. I firmly believe that most cars today could run more efficiently(MPG) with much less emissions than they do but car manufactures keep them the way they are to save money. As an example the distributor, plugs, etc can be upgraded to provide a much hotter, longer spark than the OEM stuff which in theory cleans up the exhaust, and gives you more ponies. Why aren't ALL cars equiped with a high-performance electrical system? I think cost has a lot to do with it. I want to rebuild a 68-69 Charger once I get a house and I am thinking about converting it to EFI, etc. and making it as "modern" as possible.
-Comedian
I didn't realize that musicians often pay to perform. I guess that is how it is with the huge superstars on a tour also. All of the roadies, sound people, stage hands, advertisement, venue, lights, electricity, etc. all cost money so they need to charge enough to cover that and still make some money too. Hmmm, that $50/person I paid for my last concert ticket doesn't seem like that much after I consider how many people it takes to put on a show like that. Thanks a bunch for the insider's look at the music industry!
-Comedian
Vote for which ever candidate is closest to your views, especially if that person isn't Kerry or Bush. That is the only way Democracy works. Any time you vote for someone you are endorsing their beliefs with your signature. Don't take that lightly.
If you think Bush sucks, and Kerry is not much better, then vote Green or Libertarian or whatever. If the Dems loose enough elections by putting up people like Kerry eventually they will catch on and put up someone different. They care about 1 thing and 1 thing only, votes. Take that away and you will eventually get a response.
-Comedian
Since you are a musician, judging from you post, can I get you to explain how it all works a little more in depth? I keep hearing how musicians can't make much money on CDs, which I completely believe. But then I also hear how some musicians don't make money at concerts either, which I question. So I don't really see how and where musicians make money at all, except for the huge stars who get endorsement deals, etc.
If you have a minute I would really like to know what kind of percentages the musicians get from CD sales, shows etc. I assume it varys greatly depending on who you are, what kind of recording deal you have, etc. but just some overall facts and figures would be greatly appreciated.
TIA for your time.
-Comedian