While I don't shop there... or really get Whole Foods, it seems like a very smart strategy by Amazon. My guess is that it fits into their very complex logistics puzzle somehow where they see drivers being able to do more, and using the Whole Foods brand to help both sides. Key factors are their nationwide coverage and high income areas, although the latter might not be that important in the end.
Well, as a non- rich, self employed person, your extra 8% of self employment tax, along with other overhead and benefit costs need to come from your gross margin. If you don't charge more than 165% of your direct salary equivalent, being self-employed is stupid.
As a self-employed individual, you are able to deduct other costs that would not likely be legal otherwise. It may or may not offset the self employment tax.
Do you take advantage of the mortgage interest deduction? That is a loophole!
Do you deduct state taxes? Same.
Do you deduct your basis from stock sales? Same.
401k?
High net worth individuals make investments, like a company would. How should these investments be taxed?
There are plenty of things that could be eliminated from the tax code with a revenue-neutral reduction in marginal tax rates... but the reason the deductions are there is to encourage "responsible" and economically advantageous behavior. Mostly, it is fair-- but when you are paying over 30% effective federal income tax rate, you are squandering your money.
The important element is actually the thermal mass of the refrigerator, which allows the compressor to cycle. You could do the same thing for a computer, but it is an extra piece to make it work-- roughly 5 gallons of water in the fridge would be enough mass for a 200W computer.
There are pumped liquid refrigerant systems that can do what OP is thinking... at least in concept. The problem is that you would want the refrigerant to be at about 100F in liquid state, and one particular refrigerant would be very well suited: R11. Unfortunately, production ceased 20 years ago in the US as an ozone depleting gas.
Actively cooling a cabinet is silly though unless the ambient environment is over 100F; liquid (water) cooling is pretty effective up to an ambient around 105-110F if you can use heat sinks on all major loads.
I get fake mucinex from Amazon. (Happened twice.) Packaging looked correct, even the holograms... but it was completely ineffective. Store-bought stuff works fine.
Which gets down to the bottom line: even if you legalize drugs, you are still going to have people buying illegally to save a buck. You can hurt their margins, but if the taxes are meaningful the criminal dealers will still be around. Same goes for convenience and privacy.
That is actually the letter of the law for exempt employees. If you are exempt, it is simply a day off; if you are non-exempt then it is the number of scheduled hours off. When you do something different you run the risk of the department of labor considering your exempt employees to actually be non-exempt.
Look up the TVM (time value of money) formulas; your variables are the total number of "payments", (n), interest rate per year, (i), number of payments per year, (np), present value, (PV), annuity payment, (PMT), and future value, (FV).
If your battery is good for 10,000 cycles, that is n, if you use the battery 85 times per year that is np, your initial cost is $400, so that is PV, and your savings is (say) -$0.15 per cycle, and that is PMT. We can assume for discussion that the salvage value is equal to the demolition cost for simplicity, so FV=0. Solve for i, which is your Minimum Attractive Rate of Return.
How does computer land plane back at airport without power for said computer? You can say "batteries" but that is a failure mode you also need to address.
Also, the "smart" part about landing was to do it near where the ferries are stationed so you have a chance at rescue. There isn't really a lot of empirical data on forces as you land on water...
As graceful as the landing looks in the videos, I am sure a computer would have been able to manage air speed and angle of attack better, it is the unforeseen secondary issues that really made the difference though.
Current battery technologies pencil out at about $300-400/kWh / 10,000 cycles.
Using California tariffs as an example, you have 85 days per year of "on-peak" energy in the summer, with a $0.06/kWh price differential between on-peak and off-peak rates. At these tariffs, your break-even point is energy storage at $77/kWh/10,000 cycles with 6% MARR (loosely subsidized), or $323/kWh at 1% MARR (subsidized).
In the UK, it seems like TOU rates are a new concept, but they have a very low rate year-round at night and a higher rate weekdays 4-7PM, with a 15p delta. Mid-peak rates are about 5p delta. With that rate structure, batteries make a lot of sense (15% rate of return!). I couldn't find the data for German quickly...
Smart grid is one approach; lends itself to local thermal storage, car charging, running the washer/dryer/dishwasher, etc. Usually it only happens late at night, so when loads are queued up the prices remain a little more stable even if discounted.
My perspective may be limited and biased, but we will switch from using consultants to in-house IT over the next few months because the consultants are not offering us business value. We don't want to be cutting edge, but we do want innovation and systems geared for the challenges we will face in 3-5 years, and not just focused on the problems of the day. Everything goes in cycles, but an external consultant cannot have your company's business as their first priority. At a point in the value equation this matters.
Right... but the network effects aren't that difficult to address because the incremental challenges of supporting a second, third, or fourth currency are minimal, and the exchanges inherently benefit from those added transactions and complexity.
British offshore wind is getting down to a fully amortized cost of production around $50/MWh. Nuclear's best case projections were at $20/MWh, but reality (still ignoring waste disposal) is closer to $100/MWh. Coal is at $70/MWh; not sure where natural gas is currently; the last reasonably reliable number I had was $70/MWh, but I understand it has dropped.
Yes, research improves all technologies, and natural gas could improve substantially, but coal's flaws would require much more to deal with all the extra carbon and other trace elements in the system. Nuclear's only real hope is small scale (<100MW) modular breeder reactors, which are a long way off.
The Tesla has a built-in timer and can schedule charging start times to take advantage of off-peak rates. I don't know if it has a rate-limit feature though, but it would surprise me if it didn't.
Moreover, although it is slow there is a standard 120V, 20A charger for Tesla, providing 29 miles/hour of range.
Very low. That's ok. It is people like us that should be educating them on what it is, why it is important, and making sure we are active in voicing our opinion to the companies and government.
Dumbing down the discussion to "remember how Netflix used to go to really bad resolution when you tried to watch TV?" or "If there is no Network Neutrality, your ISP could decide to make it too slow to go to NRA.org, FoxNews, or Brietbart without paying extra money."
No... while I do own stock in T and VZ, I am very much in favor of Network Neutrality. Comcast/Charter could be different, but I believe the big telco's are best served with an advanced, educated population and a growing economy. Short-sighted profit seeking with "fast lanes" does not fit into this scenario.
Slashdot Mirror
Aldi a "new entrant?" They have been around forever, and actually own Trader Joe's.
Amazon would push prime more with this... somehow. Costco/Sams Club model?
While I don't shop there... or really get Whole Foods, it seems like a very smart strategy by Amazon. My guess is that it fits into their very complex logistics puzzle somehow where they see drivers being able to do more, and using the Whole Foods brand to help both sides. Key factors are their nationwide coverage and high income areas, although the latter might not be that important in the end.
Well, as a non- rich, self employed person, your extra 8% of self employment tax, along with other overhead and benefit costs need to come from your gross margin. If you don't charge more than 165% of your direct salary equivalent, being self-employed is stupid.
As a self-employed individual, you are able to deduct other costs that would not likely be legal otherwise. It may or may not offset the self employment tax.
Do you take advantage of the mortgage interest deduction? That is a loophole!
Do you deduct state taxes? Same.
Do you deduct your basis from stock sales? Same.
401k?
High net worth individuals make investments, like a company would. How should these investments be taxed?
There are plenty of things that could be eliminated from the tax code with a revenue-neutral reduction in marginal tax rates... but the reason the deductions are there is to encourage "responsible" and economically advantageous behavior. Mostly, it is fair-- but when you are paying over 30% effective federal income tax rate, you are squandering your money.
The important element is actually the thermal mass of the refrigerator, which allows the compressor to cycle. You could do the same thing for a computer, but it is an extra piece to make it work-- roughly 5 gallons of water in the fridge would be enough mass for a 200W computer.
There are pumped liquid refrigerant systems that can do what OP is thinking... at least in concept. The problem is that you would want the refrigerant to be at about 100F in liquid state, and one particular refrigerant would be very well suited: R11. Unfortunately, production ceased 20 years ago in the US as an ozone depleting gas.
Actively cooling a cabinet is silly though unless the ambient environment is over 100F; liquid (water) cooling is pretty effective up to an ambient around 105-110F if you can use heat sinks on all major loads.
I get fake mucinex from Amazon. (Happened twice.) Packaging looked correct, even the holograms... but it was completely ineffective. Store-bought stuff works fine.
Which gets down to the bottom line: even if you legalize drugs, you are still going to have people buying illegally to save a buck. You can hurt their margins, but if the taxes are meaningful the criminal dealers will still be around. Same goes for convenience and privacy.
That is actually the letter of the law for exempt employees. If you are exempt, it is simply a day off; if you are non-exempt then it is the number of scheduled hours off. When you do something different you run the risk of the department of labor considering your exempt employees to actually be non-exempt.
We do a 4-9-4 schedule year round at my company-- 9 hours Monday through Thursday and 4 on Friday. I don't think I could do Friday afternoons again...
For people with long commutes, we let them work from home for the short Fridays as well.
There is an efficiency hit for sure, but it is nice to see the office empty on a Friday afternoon.
Actually, it is exactly how it works in California. Final paycheck is due on last day of employment... no paycheck and you are still employed.
That isn't how Sully tells the story; they had two or three potential locations to land and it was a deliberate choice according to him.
Look up the TVM (time value of money) formulas; your variables are the total number of "payments", (n), interest rate per year, (i), number of payments per year, (np), present value, (PV), annuity payment, (PMT), and future value, (FV).
If your battery is good for 10,000 cycles, that is n, if you use the battery 85 times per year that is np, your initial cost is $400, so that is PV, and your savings is (say) -$0.15 per cycle, and that is PMT. We can assume for discussion that the salvage value is equal to the demolition cost for simplicity, so FV=0. Solve for i, which is your Minimum Attractive Rate of Return.
Works the same as a loan calculation.
How does computer land plane back at airport without power for said computer? You can say "batteries" but that is a failure mode you also need to address.
Also, the "smart" part about landing was to do it near where the ferries are stationed so you have a chance at rescue. There isn't really a lot of empirical data on forces as you land on water...
As graceful as the landing looks in the videos, I am sure a computer would have been able to manage air speed and angle of attack better, it is the unforeseen secondary issues that really made the difference though.
Current battery technologies pencil out at about $300-400/kWh / 10,000 cycles.
Using California tariffs as an example, you have 85 days per year of "on-peak" energy in the summer, with a $0.06/kWh price differential between on-peak and off-peak rates. At these tariffs, your break-even point is energy storage at $77/kWh/10,000 cycles with 6% MARR (loosely subsidized), or $323/kWh at 1% MARR (subsidized).
In the UK, it seems like TOU rates are a new concept, but they have a very low rate year-round at night and a higher rate weekdays 4-7PM, with a 15p delta. Mid-peak rates are about 5p delta. With that rate structure, batteries make a lot of sense (15% rate of return!). I couldn't find the data for German quickly...
Geographic diversity, source diversity, and energy storage are also viable for reducing that percentage to something less than 100%.
Smart grid is one approach; lends itself to local thermal storage, car charging, running the washer/dryer/dishwasher, etc. Usually it only happens late at night, so when loads are queued up the prices remain a little more stable even if discounted.
My perspective may be limited and biased, but we will switch from using consultants to in-house IT over the next few months because the consultants are not offering us business value. We don't want to be cutting edge, but we do want innovation and systems geared for the challenges we will face in 3-5 years, and not just focused on the problems of the day. Everything goes in cycles, but an external consultant cannot have your company's business as their first priority. At a point in the value equation this matters.
Right... but the network effects aren't that difficult to address because the incremental challenges of supporting a second, third, or fourth currency are minimal, and the exchanges inherently benefit from those added transactions and complexity.
British offshore wind is getting down to a fully amortized cost of production around $50/MWh. Nuclear's best case projections were at $20/MWh, but reality (still ignoring waste disposal) is closer to $100/MWh. Coal is at $70/MWh; not sure where natural gas is currently; the last reasonably reliable number I had was $70/MWh, but I understand it has dropped.
Yes, research improves all technologies, and natural gas could improve substantially, but coal's flaws would require much more to deal with all the extra carbon and other trace elements in the system. Nuclear's only real hope is small scale (<100MW) modular breeder reactors, which are a long way off.
The Tesla has a built-in timer and can schedule charging start times to take advantage of off-peak rates. I don't know if it has a rate-limit feature though, but it would surprise me if it didn't.
Moreover, although it is slow there is a standard 120V, 20A charger for Tesla, providing 29 miles/hour of range.
Add solar and a powerwall at the same time, and it is effectively free.
Maybe no advertisements, but they are spending a hell of a lot of money on marketing with flashy stores in the highest rent locations.
Very low. That's ok. It is people like us that should be educating them on what it is, why it is important, and making sure we are active in voicing our opinion to the companies and government.
Dumbing down the discussion to "remember how Netflix used to go to really bad resolution when you tried to watch TV?" or "If there is no Network Neutrality, your ISP could decide to make it too slow to go to NRA.org, FoxNews, or Brietbart without paying extra money."
No... while I do own stock in T and VZ, I am very much in favor of Network Neutrality. Comcast/Charter could be different, but I believe the big telco's are best served with an advanced, educated population and a growing economy. Short-sighted profit seeking with "fast lanes" does not fit into this scenario.