Maybe it's because both solutions do not target the real problem: the distance between workplace, home, and other important destinations in your daily life.
If you live in suburbia, you're probably forced to commute every day, and also drive to shopping malls miles away.
Consider the averave New Yorker living in Manhattan (I know, expensive...), and you will probably see a sharp drop in miles traveled because they can walk/cycle to work (or use mass transit), and drop by Bed, Bath & Beyond on their way home.
My city (Germany) burns plastic (and other) waste for energy generation, too. Since our garbage collection system separates recyclable plastic from the start, they just have to collect and compress the yellow bags in front of my door (which happens anyway) - and burn them. Details (in German, just use Google Translate): http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCllheizkraftwerk_Bremen
So, only the compressed bags get moved around. Should not be too costly, since there are railways and rivers between Sweden and Romania...
that has not managed to build a proper land registry office so far? Just give them a little more time, they have only had time since 1830 to finish it.
Could be because people respond drastically different to the same amounts of bitter substances. I know I don't react to them that much, whereas an ex-girlfriend could taste 1/100th of the concentration I could taste.
There's something fundamentally wrong with the "there's a drug for everything!"-attitude in the U.S. I've been brought up by my parents to know that a) most small aches go away anyways, b) medication ALWAYS comes with side effects and c) I should go for the causes of my problems, not the symptoms.
So, in essence, even for most cases of diagnosed "depression" (not: clinical depression!) these days, I would rather look for changes to my life style (work environment, friends, family, sports, food...) than take medication.
ESPECIALLY considering the absurd cost of prescription drugs and the insane marketing pressure behind them.
I know of cases in Germany where - besides the usual "this law firm consulted us on writing the law", meaning "they wrote it entirely" - employees from law firms (acting for corporations) were simply put off-duty and temporarily hired by the government... Guess who's song they sung.
I wonder how people can actually do this kind of thing. I always feel relieved when I'm in the quiet sanctity of my bathroom, and the only thing I hear is water flowing and bubbles bursting. I still prefer actual books, too. They just work, and when I drop them, all I lose is a cheap paperback.
There's way too much noise (aka "entertainment") in the world anyways.
Before I start yawning at your numbers, just let me remind you that Fraunhofer is engaged in fundamental research. They are not trying to sell you tiles. They want to study the effects of this kind of office ceilings on human behaviour. They'll probably tell you to wait a few years and then replicate the thing with off-the-shelf AMOLED wallpaper from Home Depot.
I wonder what's so hard to understand about the motives for locking phones. - you get a heavily subsidized phone with a (sometimes) unfavorable contract. Your decision. Contract says: phone stays locked for the contract term. No problem. Caveat emptor. - you get an *unlocked* phone for €500 (like the Samsung Galaxy Note), and get a separate contract (if you're not completely brazen, you'll try to cash in on that one, too: get the dealer to share his commission with you).
Problem solved.
I've been doing that for many years. Right now, I'm even using a subsidized phone with a different contract: I found a phone+contract without SIM-lock.
That being said, I think it's perfectly legitimate to offer a deal that says: "While you're on this contract and enjoy this 1€ iPhone that comes with it, the thing STAYS locked! Because, you know, there's no such thing as a free lunch!".
[..] so even European phones capable of doing 3G on AT&T will be limping along at less than the max data rate (not 100% sure about this one, but I've seen it widely reported that only AT&T-branded phones can achieve the maximum HSUPA data rates)
Could well be - but Europe DOES have HSPA+, if that is what you meant. Vodafone Germany, for example, currently offers 21.6/5.7 MBit packages. Though I do admit I'm getting confused with all the abbreviations and their different uses and meanings.
Actually, there is economic reason to lock customers' handsets to a certain network.
Providers want to attract customers by selling highly subsidised handsets. They can only do so if the subsidies will subsequently be paid back during the contract term. Now, we have two models: model a) high monthly cost, "usable" contract (unlimited airtime etc). Not a problem, the providers WILL get their money back. b) low fixed costs, high per minute charges. This is where a SIM- or netlocked phone becomes necessary. I know many people who will get one of these contracts, cash in the high subsidies (the phone), then unlock the phone and use it with *another* contract.
So, while I would never want to buy a sim- or netlocked phone, there IS a basic rationale for this kind of behaviour.
That being said: Were the Chilean companies abusing this possibility by locking in *every* handset sold? Here (Germany), providers are mandated to remove the SIM- or netlock free of charge after the contract has expired (usually 24months).
Will be interesting to see what happens during the next ten to fifteen years after this has been in place for long enough to really get into the soil, the food chain and the poor saps who this rain falls on.
Are they going to use the extra precipitation for agriculture - and export the goods to other countries?
A controlling minority in Iran is doing really stupid things. That justifies bombing them back into the Stone Age?
Yep. Let them kill their religious minorities, their dissenting students & citizens, let 'em hang 13-year-olds (Iran has the highest ratio of death sentences per capita anyways!), let 'em export terror & kill dissenters abroad (like, in Germany). Nothing to see there. Independent country, you know. What does the world care?
All of the Iranians I met so far are really good people, so I definitely have no hatred against the Iranian people. But they were all refugees, you know? I met them in here in Germany. They had some really not-so-nice stories to tell (They were not Iranian students coming to get their engineering degrees).
Plus, I kind of remember that Germany had its own "controlling minority", too, at some point in history.
The customer is loyal to Groupon, not the businesses that sell via Groupon.
Any of these marketing devices do that. In my city, you can buy a coupon book for a (rather long) list of restaurants (usually two meals for the price of one). Behaviour? You buy the book, take your s.o. and then visit every place exactly ONE time. The book will last you a year. Next year: same procedure.
The restaurants in there put themselves in a horrible position, since they have no repeat customers. If they drop quality, they will have bad reviews, too! So it's only profitable for restaurant owners who did not think long enough about "location, location, location".
Isn't the "fit the word on the rest of this line"-thing a some-what ri-di-cu-lous ar-gu-ment? I do see your other point, though. But I think there are various work-arounds, like good ball-point pens, felt-tip-pens or writing arabic language. Or teaching yourself Leonardo's mirror writing.
Slashdot Mirror
Maybe it's because both solutions do not target the real problem: the distance between workplace, home, and other important destinations in your daily life.
If you live in suburbia, you're probably forced to commute every day, and also drive to shopping malls miles away.
Consider the averave New Yorker living in Manhattan (I know, expensive...), and you will probably see a sharp drop in miles traveled because they can walk/cycle to work (or use mass transit), and drop by Bed, Bath & Beyond on their way home.
"any /more/ anonymous". And sorry for not being logged in at the time of writing.
Does a photovoltaic system really increase resale value? And why not buy a cheap generator for backup? It also works at night and in winter...
My city (Germany) burns plastic (and other) waste for energy generation, too. Since our garbage collection system separates recyclable plastic from the start, they just have to collect and compress the yellow bags in front of my door (which happens anyway) - and burn them. Details (in German, just use Google Translate): http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCllheizkraftwerk_Bremen
So, only the compressed bags get moved around. Should not be too costly, since there are railways and rivers between Sweden and Romania...
that has not managed to build a proper land registry office so far? Just give them a little more time, they have only had time since 1830 to finish it.
source, German language: http://www.cicero.de/weltbuehne/auf-der-suche-nach-dem-katasteramt/52211
It's not tampering, it's forgery. How much of a tech/nerd guy do you have to be to NOT immediately see this?
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to Starbucks.
The active ingredient in Starbucks' products being sugar, not caffeine?
Could be because people respond drastically different to the same amounts of bitter substances. I know I don't react to them that much, whereas an ex-girlfriend could taste 1/100th of the concentration I could taste.
There's something fundamentally wrong with the "there's a drug for everything!"-attitude in the U.S. I've been brought up by my parents to know that a) most small aches go away anyways, b) medication ALWAYS comes with side effects and c) I should go for the causes of my problems, not the symptoms.
So, in essence, even for most cases of diagnosed "depression" (not: clinical depression!) these days, I would rather look for changes to my life style (work environment, friends, family, sports, food...) than take medication.
ESPECIALLY considering the absurd cost of prescription drugs and the insane marketing pressure behind them.
I know of cases in Germany where - besides the usual "this law firm consulted us on writing the law", meaning "they wrote it entirely" - employees from law firms (acting for corporations) were simply put off-duty and temporarily hired by the government... Guess who's song they sung.
I wonder how people can actually do this kind of thing. I always feel relieved when I'm in the quiet sanctity of my bathroom, and the only thing I hear is water flowing and bubbles bursting. I still prefer actual books, too. They just work, and when I drop them, all I lose is a cheap paperback.
There's way too much noise (aka "entertainment") in the world anyways.
You failed to mention the myriad wastes of taxpayer money that will now find even better funding thanks to this smart move.
Before I start yawning at your numbers, just let me remind you that Fraunhofer is engaged in fundamental research. They are not trying to sell you tiles. They want to study the effects of this kind of office ceilings on human behaviour. They'll probably tell you to wait a few years and then replicate the thing with off-the-shelf AMOLED wallpaper from Home Depot.
I wonder what's so hard to understand about the motives for locking phones.
- you get a heavily subsidized phone with a (sometimes) unfavorable contract. Your decision. Contract says: phone stays locked for the contract term. No problem. Caveat emptor.
- you get an *unlocked* phone for €500 (like the Samsung Galaxy Note), and get a separate contract (if you're not completely brazen, you'll try to cash in on that one, too: get the dealer to share his commission with you).
Problem solved.
I've been doing that for many years. Right now, I'm even using a subsidized phone with a different contract: I found a phone+contract without SIM-lock.
That being said, I think it's perfectly legitimate to offer a deal that says: "While you're on this contract and enjoy this 1€ iPhone that comes with it, the thing STAYS locked! Because, you know, there's no such thing as a free lunch!".
[..] so even European phones capable of doing 3G on AT&T will be limping along at less than the max data rate (not 100% sure about this one, but I've seen it widely reported that only AT&T-branded phones can achieve the maximum HSUPA data rates)
Could well be - but Europe DOES have HSPA+, if that is what you meant. Vodafone Germany, for example, currently offers 21.6/5.7 MBit packages. Though I do admit I'm getting confused with all the abbreviations and their different uses and meanings.
Actually, there is economic reason to lock customers' handsets to a certain network.
Providers want to attract customers by selling highly subsidised handsets. They can only do so if the subsidies will subsequently be paid back during the contract term. Now, we have two models: model a) high monthly cost, "usable" contract (unlimited airtime etc). Not a problem, the providers WILL get their money back. b) low fixed costs, high per minute charges. This is where a SIM- or netlocked phone becomes necessary. I know many people who will get one of these contracts, cash in the high subsidies (the phone), then unlock the phone and use it with *another* contract.
So, while I would never want to buy a sim- or netlocked phone, there IS a basic rationale for this kind of behaviour.
That being said: Were the Chilean companies abusing this possibility by locking in *every* handset sold? Here (Germany), providers are mandated to remove the SIM- or netlock free of charge after the contract has expired (usually 24months).
I remember using Citibank in the US in 2001/2002. Their online service WAS protected with a 4-digit pin. And it was my bank card's PIN, AFAIR.
At the time, my German account used a PIN/TAN combination. The 5-digit-PIN was, of course, not my card's PIN. And the TANs were 6 digits.
Guess what my stomach felt like with regard to Citibank.
Will be interesting to see what happens during the next ten to fifteen years after this has been in place for long enough to really get into the soil, the food chain and the poor saps who this rain falls on.
Are they going to use the extra precipitation for agriculture - and export the goods to other countries?
A controlling minority in Iran is doing really stupid things. That justifies bombing them back into the Stone Age?
Yep. Let them kill their religious minorities, their dissenting students & citizens, let 'em hang 13-year-olds (Iran has the highest ratio of death sentences per capita anyways!), let 'em export terror & kill dissenters abroad (like, in Germany). Nothing to see there. Independent country, you know. What does the world care?
All of the Iranians I met so far are really good people, so I definitely have no hatred against the Iranian people. But they were all refugees, you know? I met them in here in Germany. They had some really not-so-nice stories to tell (They were not Iranian students coming to get their engineering degrees).
Plus, I kind of remember that Germany had its own "controlling minority", too, at some point in history.
Unless you're playing the Taliban. Then you get extra points, or maybe a bonus stoning event.
The customer is loyal to Groupon, not the businesses that sell via Groupon.
Any of these marketing devices do that. In my city, you can buy a coupon book for a (rather long) list of restaurants (usually two meals for the price of one). Behaviour? You buy the book, take your s.o. and then visit every place exactly ONE time. The book will last you a year. Next year: same procedure.
The restaurants in there put themselves in a horrible position, since they have no repeat customers. If they drop quality, they will have bad reviews, too! So it's only profitable for restaurant owners who did not think long enough about "location, location, location".
As far as I know, German Fraunhofer Institute has a solution for this kind of problem: http://www.ipk.fraunhofer.de/component/content/category/167-autsicherheitstechnikstasischnipsel (p.8ff, German language).
Looks like they have few problems assembling torn pages, and geometrically correct results for shredded paper (yet not necessarily correct content).
In Germany, not even emergency calls are possible without an active SIM card. Law's been changed, supposedly because there were too many prank calls.
And to answer the naive guy before: also in Germany, police in Dresden tracked participants of a demonstration against nazis. Without a warrant. http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Bericht-Ueber-1-Million-Mobilfunkgespraeche-bei-Anti-Nazi-Demo-in-Dresden-erfasst-1268104.html (you know how to use translate.google.com)
Isn't the "fit the word on the rest of this line"-thing a some-what ri-di-cu-lous ar-gu-ment? I do see your other point, though. But I think there are various work-arounds, like good ball-point pens, felt-tip-pens or writing arabic language. Or teaching yourself Leonardo's mirror writing.
That comment just made me google "homeopathic emergency room video" again. Love it :-)