After they closed off the Kalang River, I thought they were pretty much set on water now. I'm sure that is about the eighth tier of water you would want to use, but still less energy than desalinization, and a little more politically friendly than recycled waste water. Ultimately though desalinization is going to be needed, even if just as a backup.
Good luck with that. As an individual with W2 income, you are going to have trouble deducting more than ~10% of your income. As a corporation, entertainment and meals are capped at 50% of cost, but pretty much anything else the company wants to spend money on is deductible.
If you are an individual with 1099 income and not set up as a corporation, you also end up paying tax on some things that you wouldn't otherwise need to. "Tax Loopholes of the Rich" goes into a lot of the logic of it.
This vehicle can be operated as all electric, but expecting 50-100W energy output from a 60-year old in average shape for 20-30 minutes isn't high exertion. I think that is around 150 calories per hour.
In California, "Neighborhood Electric Vehicles" are limited to roads with a posted speed limit of 35MPH or less. If the eWAW is lumped into the same classification, I can't imagine any 10-mile commute routes you could possibly use it for. In LA, if there was a way to get from the beach to Riverside in one of these I would be up for one.
(Don't own a car, ride bike 3 miles to work every day... and rent a car when I need one for work.)
Bolts concentrate stress in the base plate; straps distribute the stresses and more directly transfer load to bearing surfaces for uplift. When you do both, you run the risk of the base/sill plate failing before the straps can take the load. The house wouldn't collapse, but it might need major repairs.
Despite being a huge Apple fan, things like this really piss me off. It is such a wasted opportunity that there is no small-scale developer interface with the serial communications systems of the iPhone. Why the hell use the iPhone as an analog modem via the headphone jack to create a serial interface for something else, when you should be able to do it directly from the dock...
Which gets back to why it is an exercise in diminishing returns; site selection becomes more important, then site fortification, then building fortification. Anything like this should likely be done in layers: no damage/impact from 20-year events, cosmetic damage and minor loss of functional use for portions of the building for 100-year events, and something adequate to provide shelter and comfort when prepared for 500-year events. Think Pentagon with the rings; outermost is sacrificial in this context.
Backup power is a similar issue-- to withstand 7 days of utility outage a house might want 300 gallons of diesel. But, that diesel needs to be used within 3 months to avoid the need of polishing. So, you need to use about 100 gallons per month in your car to rotate through it. That is pretty much fuel to have around the house.
For a small business owner in the US (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or S-Corp), company profits are taxed as income. If the profits are re-invested in the company, only what is left after taxes is available. Re-investment could be either for growth or stability; both are generally important to running a successful business.
If your business has a 20% margin and a 10% growth rate then you need to re-invest 8% each year, which is not a problem if you pay less than about 50% taxes on profit-- you still get to take home 2% of revenue or 10% of profits.
BUT, if you have 20% margin and 25% growth, you will not have enough capital to reinvest in the business if you are paying 50% taxes-- you will need to limit growth. This translates to hiring fewer people, buying less equipment, etc.
Of course this analysis isn't looking at actual cash flow-- if you work in terms of cash flow, too high of a tax rate will limit your ability to build a cushion for slow months, seasons, or years. This creates a less healthy business.
One alternative, used in some countries, is to only tax money when it is taken out of the company. ---- All that said, and despite the huge pain in the butt dealing with taxes is today, tax rates (especially on capital gains) are too low, and it clearly has the effect the report concludes.
What's the purpose of the GPS time server? I understand what it does, but why do you need microsecond level accuracy to a server that distributes time via NTP with an accuracy of about 2-3 milliseconds? The only purpose I understand is when you need to synchronize time with greater accuracy across distances, or with the same accuracy without a network.
Let's try my math: 1 Gallon Diesel = 7.15# HP = # x ft / (33,000 x min) => Gallons x 7.15 x rise/min = HP =>GPM = HP/( 7.15 x Rise) 150W/746 = 0.2HP
Assuming no friction losses in the pipe and perfect mechanical efficiency, with a 100 ft rise you get: GPM =.2 x 33,000 / (7.15 x 100) = 0.92 So, that puts us at 55GPH, or enough to support a 750kW generator. Realistically, with efficiency, you are down to ~300kW
The bigger problem is usually the pumps. You generally try to use turbine-type submersible pumps with the motor above the tank and the inlet down low to avoid problems with priming the pump. If the place where the pump motor floods, you are pretty much SOL.
If you place a suction pump 25' above the bottom of the tank to avoid flooding risks, you have the problem of priming the thing and maintaining suction. You could do a submersible pump with a really long shaft so the motor is high enough... but that would look really stupid.
Ultimately, you have backups on backups in most data centers (and hospitals), but you often have a limited window to respond. We have an (illegal) 15-gallon gas can in one facility up by the generator. That can will give them about 9 minutes extra run-time if the day tank runs dry. There is a hand pump in the basement that can be used to manually pump the fuel up 50' to the generators, but if the room it is in is flooded what can you do?
Big enough problems need disaster recovery plans; you will go down, the issue is how quickly you can return to normal operations.
If I recall correctly, NYC requires emergency generators to be at roof level so that a mid-rise fire would not cut off power to the upper floors. Most generators in flood prone areas are well protected-- we jumped through some odd little hoops to make generators work in Florida.
HOWEVER, there is a limit to what you can economically protect against. Usually, you are looking at 100-year events as a basis, not 500 year events or 500 years plus 10%.
There is a lesson learned that is rarely applied though-- keep a fuel polisher upstairs at the generator. I might also consider a compressed air displacement pump at this point as well, although that is gawdawfully inefficient. But, for either of these to work, you need enough time on your day tanks to allow for some manual operations and time to allow for the water to be removed from the fuel. I'm trying to think of how you could pipe in a pneumatic displacement pump on the fly to get things restarted, but it is pretty hard unless you had access to an unused port on the tank.
Most data centers I've worked on have a hand pump in the basement as a backup to pump failure, but it is almost as hard to use as the bucket brigade, especially for a tall building. Your general hope is that you can get the generators running long enough to get the pumps operating to clear the water... but you have to have a way to stop more water from coming in.
I never liked Stark's boats... But I was hoping for something more like the Maltese Falcon as well. It is hard for me to imagine Jobs building something so ugly, impractical, and frankly unimaginitive.
I you really want that much power, you really should have done a three phase service instead-- keeps you at a 400A panel rather than 600/800A construction.
No fiber though? That is the most useful thing you can provide-- easier to run your 4k display remotely off that than use 2-3 Cat 6 cables.
Spot on. It is the favored tax status that does it.
Our accountant advised us to start a closely held insurance company (not medical) to cover all our life, general and professional liability needs. It is an amazing scam...
Health "insurance" though isn't really in the same category. (Well, scam, but...)
Many employers shy away from H1Bs for different reasons. For the situation that the OP is in, where he can gap up above the competition is really in selling himself. The key, as another poster mentioned, is to fix problems. Be a problem solver, and seeking out opportunities is what sets the "go-getters" apart.
My guess is that programming for big companies in the US is a dying profession. But, there is all kinds of things you can do in small businesses.
My personal example: we have an engineering company with 25-30 people. Things work, but there are inefficiencies and opportunities to improve them. A young independent contractor IT guy that can establish himself as being in it for the long haul has huge opportunities. If you don't have experience, charge by the project. Keep project goals small and measurable, ideally with fees under about $800, and done in less than a week. Do what it takes to make them work and be successful. Build a network of companies that you find 5-6 $800 projects per year with, and you are set! Today we pay a guy $135/hour through a company to take care of stuff... But at this point his purpose is more as a backup plan in case I get hit by a bus-- only because he lacked initiative to figure out where our problems were and how to solve them.
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After they closed off the Kalang River, I thought they were pretty much set on water now. I'm sure that is about the eighth tier of water you would want to use, but still less energy than desalinization, and a little more politically friendly than recycled waste water. Ultimately though desalinization is going to be needed, even if just as a backup.
Good luck with that. As an individual with W2 income, you are going to have trouble deducting more than ~10% of your income. As a corporation, entertainment and meals are capped at 50% of cost, but pretty much anything else the company wants to spend money on is deductible.
If you are an individual with 1099 income and not set up as a corporation, you also end up paying tax on some things that you wouldn't otherwise need to. "Tax Loopholes of the Rich" goes into a lot of the logic of it.
Corporations inherently pay less tax-- their expenses count against revenue, while individuals are taxed on "revenue."
This vehicle can be operated as all electric, but expecting 50-100W energy output from a 60-year old in average shape for 20-30 minutes isn't high exertion. I think that is around 150 calories per hour.
In California, "Neighborhood Electric Vehicles" are limited to roads with a posted speed limit of 35MPH or less. If the eWAW is lumped into the same classification, I can't imagine any 10-mile commute routes you could possibly use it for. In LA, if there was a way to get from the beach to Riverside in one of these I would be up for one.
(Don't own a car, ride bike 3 miles to work every day... and rent a car when I need one for work.)
How many of these impacted you directly?
Bolts concentrate stress in the base plate; straps distribute the stresses and more directly transfer load to bearing surfaces for uplift. When you do both, you run the risk of the base/sill plate failing before the straps can take the load. The house wouldn't collapse, but it might need major repairs.
Warning... The pics are a little scary....
Despite being a huge Apple fan, things like this really piss me off. It is such a wasted opportunity that there is no small-scale developer interface with the serial communications systems of the iPhone. Why the hell use the iPhone as an analog modem via the headphone jack to create a serial interface for something else, when you should be able to do it directly from the dock...
Which gets back to why it is an exercise in diminishing returns; site selection becomes more important, then site fortification, then building fortification. Anything like this should likely be done in layers: no damage/impact from 20-year events, cosmetic damage and minor loss of functional use for portions of the building for 100-year events, and something adequate to provide shelter and comfort when prepared for 500-year events. Think Pentagon with the rings; outermost is sacrificial in this context.
Backup power is a similar issue-- to withstand 7 days of utility outage a house might want 300 gallons of diesel. But, that diesel needs to be used within 3 months to avoid the need of polishing. So, you need to use about 100 gallons per month in your car to rotate through it. That is pretty much fuel to have around the house.
For a small business owner in the US (sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC, or S-Corp), company profits are taxed as income. If the profits are re-invested in the company, only what is left after taxes is available. Re-investment could be either for growth or stability; both are generally important to running a successful business.
If your business has a 20% margin and a 10% growth rate then you need to re-invest 8% each year, which is not a problem if you pay less than about 50% taxes on profit-- you still get to take home 2% of revenue or 10% of profits.
BUT, if you have 20% margin and 25% growth, you will not have enough capital to reinvest in the business if you are paying 50% taxes-- you will need to limit growth. This translates to hiring fewer people, buying less equipment, etc.
Of course this analysis isn't looking at actual cash flow-- if you work in terms of cash flow, too high of a tax rate will limit your ability to build a cushion for slow months, seasons, or years. This creates a less healthy business.
One alternative, used in some countries, is to only tax money when it is taken out of the company.
----
All that said, and despite the huge pain in the butt dealing with taxes is today, tax rates (especially on capital gains) are too low, and it clearly has the effect the report concludes.
What's the purpose of the GPS time server? I understand what it does, but why do you need microsecond level accuracy to a server that distributes time via NTP with an accuracy of about 2-3 milliseconds? The only purpose I understand is when you need to synchronize time with greater accuracy across distances, or with the same accuracy without a network.
Let's try my math: /min = HP =>GPM = HP/( 7.15 x Rise)
1 Gallon Diesel = 7.15#
HP = # x ft / (33,000 x min) => Gallons x 7.15 x rise
150W/746 = 0.2HP
Assuming no friction losses in the pipe and perfect mechanical efficiency, with a 100 ft rise you get: .2 x 33,000 / (7.15 x 100) = 0.92
GPM =
So, that puts us at 55GPH, or enough to support a 750kW generator. Realistically, with efficiency, you are down to ~300kW
Not perfect, but they last and have ready supply of replacement ink, all the great colors... Just need pocket protector.
The pumps are kind of like a hydraulic floor jack. You have quite a bit of head pressure to overcome.
You are never allowed to carry fuel in an elevator. The fire department would red tag the building if you were caught doing it.
Spilling fuel in an elevator shaft makes for a very effective chimney.
The bigger problem is usually the pumps. You generally try to use turbine-type submersible pumps with the motor above the tank and the inlet down low to avoid problems with priming the pump. If the place where the pump motor floods, you are pretty much SOL.
If you place a suction pump 25' above the bottom of the tank to avoid flooding risks, you have the problem of priming the thing and maintaining suction. You could do a submersible pump with a really long shaft so the motor is high enough... but that would look really stupid.
Ultimately, you have backups on backups in most data centers (and hospitals), but you often have a limited window to respond. We have an (illegal) 15-gallon gas can in one facility up by the generator. That can will give them about 9 minutes extra run-time if the day tank runs dry. There is a hand pump in the basement that can be used to manually pump the fuel up 50' to the generators, but if the room it is in is flooded what can you do?
Big enough problems need disaster recovery plans; you will go down, the issue is how quickly you can return to normal operations.
If I recall correctly, NYC requires emergency generators to be at roof level so that a mid-rise fire would not cut off power to the upper floors. Most generators in flood prone areas are well protected-- we jumped through some odd little hoops to make generators work in Florida.
HOWEVER, there is a limit to what you can economically protect against. Usually, you are looking at 100-year events as a basis, not 500 year events or 500 years plus 10%.
There is a lesson learned that is rarely applied though-- keep a fuel polisher upstairs at the generator. I might also consider a compressed air displacement pump at this point as well, although that is gawdawfully inefficient. But, for either of these to work, you need enough time on your day tanks to allow for some manual operations and time to allow for the water to be removed from the fuel. I'm trying to think of how you could pipe in a pneumatic displacement pump on the fly to get things restarted, but it is pretty hard unless you had access to an unused port on the tank.
Most data centers I've worked on have a hand pump in the basement as a backup to pump failure, but it is almost as hard to use as the bucket brigade, especially for a tall building. Your general hope is that you can get the generators running long enough to get the pumps operating to clear the water... but you have to have a way to stop more water from coming in.
I never liked Stark's boats... But I was hoping for something more like the Maltese Falcon as well. It is hard for me to imagine Jobs building something so ugly, impractical, and frankly unimaginitive.
You have to go to 1"C for anything over 4 Cat6a. Half-inch will only hold one cable.
I also prefer doing zone boxes for a cross-connect to keep runs from becoming unmanageable.
I you really want that much power, you really should have done a three phase service instead-- keeps you at a 400A panel rather than 600/800A construction.
No fiber though? That is the most useful thing you can provide-- easier to run your 4k display remotely off that than use 2-3 Cat 6 cables.
Spot on. It is the favored tax status that does it.
Our accountant advised us to start a closely held insurance company (not medical) to cover all our life, general and professional liability needs. It is an amazing scam...
Health "insurance" though isn't really in the same category. (Well, scam, but...)
Law is all about specificity.
Many employers shy away from H1Bs for different reasons. For the situation that the OP is in, where he can gap up above the competition is really in selling himself. The key, as another poster mentioned, is to fix problems. Be a problem solver, and seeking out opportunities is what sets the "go-getters" apart.
My guess is that programming for big companies in the US is a dying profession. But, there is all kinds of things you can do in small businesses.
My personal example: we have an engineering company with 25-30 people. Things work, but there are inefficiencies and opportunities to improve them. A young independent contractor IT guy that can establish himself as being in it for the long haul has huge opportunities. If you don't have experience, charge by the project. Keep project goals small and measurable, ideally with fees under about $800, and done in less than a week. Do what it takes to make them work and be successful. Build a network of companies that you find 5-6 $800 projects per year with, and you are set! Today we pay a guy $135/hour through a company to take care of stuff... But at this point his purpose is more as a backup plan in case I get hit by a bus-- only because he lacked initiative to figure out where our problems were and how to solve them.
Sounds like a good spot for a data center then...