I imagine such a device would be invaluable on small vessels at sea such as sailboats, etc. It sounds as though you could power this from a solar panel easily enough, so it could be used even without fuel if you prepared properly. I know that getting drinking water is often an issue for smaller boats which may not have room or power for desalination or reverse osmosis units.
According to the manufacturer's website, these things will produce "up to 12 liters of water per day". Generally, an adult needs a couple liters a day and we can assume from the "up to" the manufacturer is overstating the actual output by a bit. Still, a small boat with 3 or 4 adults could probably rely on one of these things reasonably well, I think.
What you describe sounds like a cow magnet to me. I also had some as a kid and they were, indeed, very cool. I've always been fascinated at the thought of their intended use, though.
I would suggest that Saturday Night Live running her into the ground (portrayed by Tina Fey) did more to hurt her than most people think. I'm not sure of her true intelligence but SNL sure made her look like an idiot and she was probably seen by more people on there (and via you-tube) than all news clips and debate coverage combined. Very funny though!
Rather accurate, from what I've seen. It's positively frightening to me how many people I spoke to brought up quotes from NSL as though Palin herself had said them. I'm one of the first to admit that Tina Fey nailed the impression but, I think, it was almost too good when I consider the sheer lack of fact checking done by the average American citizen.
I remember seeing this in PDF format some years back. As a former employee of MS, in the group that supported End Users of those products (We used to be called Home Productivity, but who knows what they call it now), I was, at first, shocked that BillG would consider using external sites for such things. Every single app is available on internal servers so long as you have network access. There's an intranet site that tells you where to go for them, too, as I recall. The fact that Bill tried to install such things via Microsoft.com was just odd, in my opinion. Surely he should have been aware of the internal availability os such apps, one would think. That he wasn't just astounds me. How is he supposed to be "in charge" if he, or someone on his staff doesn't know of this?
Then, after thinking about it for a while longer it hit me: Bill's still a geek and does his own installs! When you consider it from that perspective, I think it's freaking awesome! Here we have a billionaire taking his time (worth how much a second, I wonder) to screw around with Windows Update. One would tend to think he has "a guy" just to handle such things but, instead, he does them himself. Awesome-sauce. (Mr G., if you're reading this, I wish you'd look me up as I could do that for you! Hehe; like that'd ever happen in a million years.)
Ok, so I'm rambling a bit but still, it's still kind of neat when you look at it right.
The biggest complaints about the iPhone are the lack of 3G, lack of GPS and no current support for cut and paste or MMS.
This is somewhat true. The average consumer simply isn't aware of the security issues with most things they use. It doesn't matter whether it's their phone, their computer or their front door locks. This is actually kind of the guy's point. Companies are able to keep people in the dark at will, generally.
I've never seen someone anywhere complain that its insecure and vulnerable to hackers.
That's funny. Here's a link to a Forbes article from last summer regarding a lack of security. http://tinyurl.com/2huxru
Here's another link regarding an actual exploit vector, reported by the New York Times:
http://tinyurl.com/2uk6vy
Here's the link to the discussion of this exploit by the very guys who discovered it: http://securityevaluators.com/iphone/ (A short URL... woot!)
This is with a very cursory search via Google. I've certainly read of these, and other, exploits and issues on the iPhone since its release. What's interesting is most people that actually own an iPhone don't seem to give a rat's ass about security on it.
Heh; or the place I worked once upon a time where the dress code was so lax the only required item was your nametag/badge. My co-worker and I (the entire IT staff) tried so hard to convince others to adher strictly to the dress code.:-D
An AC mentioned this but it bears repeating by someone less likely to be ignored.
You've neglected to account for sales taxes (local taxation) and property taxes. Property taxes aren't avoided by not owning property. If you rent, I guarantee you pay property taxes. Do you think your landlord pays those out of pocket?
Property tax paid by renters and the employer "contribution" of payroll tax that could have been paid to employees had it not been taken by the government are great examples of hidden taxation. Sales tax is also frequently ignored because it's not accounted for on every check stub. Start tracking every penny you pay the government and you'd end up much closer to 40% or 50% than you think.
"Given the situation above, the issue of identifying passengers becomes a Federal one"
This will be my last post on this topic. It's obvious tome that many simply don't "get it".
While I see your point, such as it is, the US Constitution doesn't work that way. Powers not specifically enumerated for the federal government are explicitly granted to the people nd/or the states. Congress does a lot using interstate commerce as a justification but this is stretched thin to the breaking point on the RealID issue.
The fact that people in the US don't really understand the Constitution is what allows Bush and his ilk to get away with pretty much whatever they like. The Constitution doesn't simply set forth the rights of citizens. It recognizes certain rights as inalienable but much more importantly it sets forth limits on the powers of government.
Without such limits, governments tend to take more and more freedoms until one day the citizens have little left at all. This isn't always done in the interest of being "evil"; often the freedoms are abrogated for what seem to be good reasons. If this is allowed to continue, however, eventually few will be left, if any.
Does this sound a bit odd? Perhaps. I don't believe, however, that giving up our rights is ever a good idea. I don't believe the government should be allowed to exceed its authority in any area. I'm in a minority on this, I know.
Regardless of there being other modes of travel available, there are times when air's the only realistic way.
Aside from that, there's the constitutionality of the federal government mandating this. This is not a power enumerated in the US Constitution and is, therefore, specifically reserved to the states to handle.
It's not an expense issue that makes me object the the passport issue. The main issue for many folks is the lead time required. I have a passport personally as well but let's say I don't for a moment. I'm self employed and don't plan my schedule four months out, generally.
Say I find my wife and I both manage to have a weekend off at the same time our son's visiting his grandmother. If we needed a passport to board a flight and one of us didn't have one, we'd be unable to take a spur of the moment flight up to the San Juan islands from Seattle, where we live. Well crap, there goes that romantic weekend. Say, for example, a relative in Florida dies. If you lack a passport, you're supposed to miss a funeral?! Bah.
The issue is what right the federal government has to say what MY state decides is appropriate information to determine I am who I say I am? I'm pretty sure that's not a power granted to the federal government in the US Constitution. The right to travel freely within my nation's borders is potentially at risk. This is not a small issue yet many don't really seem to get it. This is a basic freedom.
This law will be challenged as unconstitutional if it's not overturned before it's supposed to be enforced, mark my words.
The one problem with this is that not everyone has a passport. It's not the sort of thing we traditionally go out and get unless we're planning to travel abroad. In addition, don't felons have their passports taken away or something? I could be wrong but I think a passport is one of those things felons lose. I know each state is different but that'd be a difficult thing to handle as felons don't lose the right to travel within their own state.
Domestic flights are extremely common. How's someone supposed to board a domestic flight if they've got no passport? Should I wait 12 weeks (the current wait-time) to be allowed to travel within my own state? Passports are a requirement for international travel, not for domestic travel. I can't see that changing easily.
The real problem with RealID is once a tool exists that government and corporations can use exists, it's rarely given up. Typically it's use is soon extended to other, previously unrelated, areas. Witness the abuse of the Social Security Number in our modern age. I, for one, have little to hide from the government but I still don't want my everyday life linked so easily for all the world to access.
The simple fact is our government's agencies have shown themselves to be incapable of properly managing technology and data in a secure way. Why would I want all of my data assembled in one place for the wrong folks to steal or misuse? I certainly don't want my driver's license tied to any more than it already is. This is just a bad idea all around and won't really solve the problem they claim it's supposed to solve.
A quote from your link: " Cell towers, remote installations, and mobile facilities are forced to use noisy, inefficient diesel generators. We invite you to try our solution." The reason this is so expensive is they're directly targeting customers with deep pockets and fewer choices.
Someone else below also pointed out that the home version is in development (meaningless without details, of course). It's important to keep in mind the target audience of a product such as this; there may well be code issues with installing the linked items in a residential environment.
Eventually we'll probably see something along these lines become available for home use. Who knows what technology they'll really use, of course, but it'll happen since demand seems to be growing. What's exciting to me is the energy market right now appears comparable to the automobile industry of the early 20th century where there are many options opening up that weren't heard of even 5 years ago.
I've done this once or twice where there was an existing Cat5 run but, as the other reply says, then you're out of luck later for Gigabit Ethernet. The other issue with this is that someone may split the pairs at some stage, crossing network and phones together.
All around, if you're actually running new cable and want phone plus data you are better off pulling 2 separate cables. It's a bit more expensive but in the long run it's much easier to manage.
Sure but how many users have that installed already? It's a matter of native support if they want mass adoption, not some third party option being available that grandma won't or can't figure out how to load.
They're competing with essentially plun-n-play stuff now. If people have a choice between plug-n-play and "install drivers, hope it works, reboot and then plug" there's no need to guess which one the average consumer will go for.
Maybe I should just stop using IM and force my friends to use email.
That's what I did a while back. IM is just too much of an interuption. If it's not worth picking up a phone to call me for or typing out an e-mail for then I likely don't want to be bothered anyhow.
I think e-the real issue boils down to the fact that many feel an obligation to be plugged in 24x7. They forget that voice mail was invented for more than when they were on the other line. They forget that the e-mail can be replied to in half an hour or half a day if need be.
Any client of mine that doesn't understand "business is closed for the day" isn't a client I'll be working with for long. If one doesn't unplug, one becomes nothing but a drone.
My first thought when I read that description was this:
1. Monkey finds money laying around. 2. Monkey brings the money home and shows it to his wife. 3. Wife is impressed and, after a little heavy petting, puts out. 4. Guy's happy, wife goes shopping.
Sounds to me as though the researcher's proved monkeys essentially get married. Nothing new there as far as I know.
That's funny. I keep my CueCat on a shelf for giggles. It's one of my favorite pieces of "stupid tech" in my little collection and never fails to get a chuckle from folks after I explain what it was for. I though I was the only one.
I didn't see this in here yet: Print version of the article. I found it ironic that an article about annoying tech had so many annoying ads and clutter alongside.
The AOL CDs have always been one of my personal big annoyances. I still get the freaking things because my in-laws lived here years ago and had AOL for about 12 seconds. Overall, however, I find multi-page articles loaded with ads the biggest frustration in tech. When will they learn that if only the ads weren't annoying, I wouldn't object?
Seriously... He says he went to the effort to build a technological solution to this problem, including assembling and configuring a MythTV box, editing the shows, and purchasing a MediaGate player to keep the kids entertained whilst in transit.
No. What he posted was that he set it up so they can have their choice of programming while in hotels on the road.
If I sound bitter, I am. I was raised in front of the TV. I had Sesame Street and Nintendo to entertain me whilst my parents and other guardians smoked up a storm and played Yahtzee till it was time to retire--at an hour that was arguably way past the time I should have been put to bed.
Ah, I see. So you're interpreting everyone's parenting skills based on your parents' lack thereof. This is not an intelligent debate, then, it's the personal crusade of one. Using the same basis for your argument, parents should also not play Yahtzee.
Waaah. If you know something is fucked up, keeping your yap shut and hoping the problem will go away is the last thing anyone should do. Keeping your yap shut is among the worst of evils. People keping their yaps shut is responsible for so much bad stuff that could have otherwise been averted, it's quite impossible to even begin a list in this little box. But I guess we should stick our collective asses up in the air and hum the Star Spangled Banner so we can get gang-banged by the evil bastards out there, because they're the only ones who can be arsed to do something, or anything for that matter.
Yeah, that's an intelligent point ya have there. Somehow you miss that keeping yer yap out of other people's choices is way different than ignoring "evil bastards". No one suggested we keep our yaps shut about evil bastards. What I suggest is it's NOT any of your business how much television others allow their kids to consume. Contrary to what you (and many others) seem to feel, your rights end exactly where others' rights begin. Doing something "wrong" does not always mean abusing a child whereas abusing a child is always wrong. Stand up against actual abuse, not your personal pet peeves, and I might lend your words some credence. Until then, I'm done arguing about it with you.
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I imagine such a device would be invaluable on small vessels at sea such as sailboats, etc. It sounds as though you could power this from a solar panel easily enough, so it could be used even without fuel if you prepared properly. I know that getting drinking water is often an issue for smaller boats which may not have room or power for desalination or reverse osmosis units.
According to the manufacturer's website, these things will produce "up to 12 liters of water per day". Generally, an adult needs a couple liters a day and we can assume from the "up to" the manufacturer is overstating the actual output by a bit. Still, a small boat with 3 or 4 adults could probably rely on one of these things reasonably well, I think.
What you describe sounds like a cow magnet to me. I also had some as a kid and they were, indeed, very cool. I've always been fascinated at the thought of their intended use, though.
or the first time I played SoF and actually shot the gun out of the bad guys hand(is there even a game you can do that trick with now?)
Fallout 3 allows this, both in VATS and in realtime combat. Doing so even destroys the weapon, making it useless until repaired.
I would suggest that Saturday Night Live running her into the ground (portrayed by Tina Fey) did more to hurt her than most people think. I'm not sure of her true intelligence but SNL sure made her look like an idiot and she was probably seen by more people on there (and via you-tube) than all news clips and debate coverage combined. Very funny though!
Rather accurate, from what I've seen. It's positively frightening to me how many people I spoke to brought up quotes from NSL as though Palin herself had said them. I'm one of the first to admit that Tina Fey nailed the impression but, I think, it was almost too good when I consider the sheer lack of fact checking done by the average American citizen.
My impression from the article is that the AV app was on the server, not the voting machines. I don't, however, see it spelled out either way.
I remember seeing this in PDF format some years back. As a former employee of MS, in the group that supported End Users of those products (We used to be called Home Productivity, but who knows what they call it now), I was, at first, shocked that BillG would consider using external sites for such things. Every single app is available on internal servers so long as you have network access. There's an intranet site that tells you where to go for them, too, as I recall. The fact that Bill tried to install such things via Microsoft.com was just odd, in my opinion. Surely he should have been aware of the internal availability os such apps, one would think. That he wasn't just astounds me. How is he supposed to be "in charge" if he, or someone on his staff doesn't know of this?
Then, after thinking about it for a while longer it hit me: Bill's still a geek and does his own installs! When you consider it from that perspective, I think it's freaking awesome! Here we have a billionaire taking his time (worth how much a second, I wonder) to screw around with Windows Update. One would tend to think he has "a guy" just to handle such things but, instead, he does them himself. Awesome-sauce. (Mr G., if you're reading this, I wish you'd look me up as I could do that for you! Hehe; like that'd ever happen in a million years.)
Ok, so I'm rambling a bit but still, it's still kind of neat when you look at it right.
This is somewhat true. The average consumer simply isn't aware of the security issues with most things they use. It doesn't matter whether it's their phone, their computer or their front door locks. This is actually kind of the guy's point. Companies are able to keep people in the dark at will, generally.
I've never seen someone anywhere complain that its insecure and vulnerable to hackers.That's funny. Here's a link to a Forbes article from last summer regarding a lack of security.
... woot!)
http://tinyurl.com/2huxru
Here's another link regarding an actual exploit vector, reported by the New York Times: http://tinyurl.com/2uk6vy
Here's the link to the discussion of this exploit by the very guys who discovered it:
http://securityevaluators.com/iphone/ (A short URL
This is with a very cursory search via Google. I've certainly read of these, and other, exploits and issues on the iPhone since its release. What's interesting is most people that actually own an iPhone don't seem to give a rat's ass about security on it.
Heh; or the place I worked once upon a time where the dress code was so lax the only required item was your nametag/badge. My co-worker and I (the entire IT staff) tried so hard to convince others to adher strictly to the dress code. :-D
An AC mentioned this but it bears repeating by someone less likely to be ignored.
You've neglected to account for sales taxes (local taxation) and property taxes. Property taxes aren't avoided by not owning property. If you rent, I guarantee you pay property taxes. Do you think your landlord pays those out of pocket?
Property tax paid by renters and the employer "contribution" of payroll tax that could have been paid to employees had it not been taken by the government are great examples of hidden taxation. Sales tax is also frequently ignored because it's not accounted for on every check stub. Start tracking every penny you pay the government and you'd end up much closer to 40% or 50% than you think.
"Given the situation above, the issue of identifying passengers becomes a Federal one"
This will be my last post on this topic. It's obvious tome that many simply don't "get it".
While I see your point, such as it is, the US Constitution doesn't work that way. Powers not specifically enumerated for the federal government are explicitly granted to the people nd/or the states. Congress does a lot using interstate commerce as a justification but this is stretched thin to the breaking point on the RealID issue.
The fact that people in the US don't really understand the Constitution is what allows Bush and his ilk to get away with pretty much whatever they like. The Constitution doesn't simply set forth the rights of citizens. It recognizes certain rights as inalienable but much more importantly it sets forth limits on the powers of government.
Without such limits, governments tend to take more and more freedoms until one day the citizens have little left at all. This isn't always done in the interest of being "evil"; often the freedoms are abrogated for what seem to be good reasons. If this is allowed to continue, however, eventually few will be left, if any.
Does this sound a bit odd? Perhaps. I don't believe, however, that giving up our rights is ever a good idea. I don't believe the government should be allowed to exceed its authority in any area. I'm in a minority on this, I know.
Regardless of there being other modes of travel available, there are times when air's the only realistic way.
Aside from that, there's the constitutionality of the federal government mandating this. This is not a power enumerated in the US Constitution and is, therefore, specifically reserved to the states to handle.
It's not an expense issue that makes me object the the passport issue. The main issue for many folks is the lead time required. I have a passport personally as well but let's say I don't for a moment. I'm self employed and don't plan my schedule four months out, generally.
Say I find my wife and I both manage to have a weekend off at the same time our son's visiting his grandmother. If we needed a passport to board a flight and one of us didn't have one, we'd be unable to take a spur of the moment flight up to the San Juan islands from Seattle, where we live. Well crap, there goes that romantic weekend. Say, for example, a relative in Florida dies. If you lack a passport, you're supposed to miss a funeral?! Bah.
The issue is what right the federal government has to say what MY state decides is appropriate information to determine I am who I say I am? I'm pretty sure that's not a power granted to the federal government in the US Constitution. The right to travel freely within my nation's borders is potentially at risk. This is not a small issue yet many don't really seem to get it. This is a basic freedom.
This law will be challenged as unconstitutional if it's not overturned before it's supposed to be enforced, mark my words.
The one problem with this is that not everyone has a passport. It's not the sort of thing we traditionally go out and get unless we're planning to travel abroad. In addition, don't felons have their passports taken away or something? I could be wrong but I think a passport is one of those things felons lose. I know each state is different but that'd be a difficult thing to handle as felons don't lose the right to travel within their own state.
Domestic flights are extremely common. How's someone supposed to board a domestic flight if they've got no passport? Should I wait 12 weeks (the current wait-time) to be allowed to travel within my own state? Passports are a requirement for international travel, not for domestic travel. I can't see that changing easily.
The real problem with RealID is once a tool exists that government and corporations can use exists, it's rarely given up. Typically it's use is soon extended to other, previously unrelated, areas. Witness the abuse of the Social Security Number in our modern age. I, for one, have little to hide from the government but I still don't want my everyday life linked so easily for all the world to access.
The simple fact is our government's agencies have shown themselves to be incapable of properly managing technology and data in a secure way. Why would I want all of my data assembled in one place for the wrong folks to steal or misuse? I certainly don't want my driver's license tied to any more than it already is. This is just a bad idea all around and won't really solve the problem they claim it's supposed to solve.
A quote from your link: " Cell towers, remote installations, and mobile facilities are forced to use noisy, inefficient diesel generators. We invite you to try our solution." The reason this is so expensive is they're directly targeting customers with deep pockets and fewer choices.
Someone else below also pointed out that the home version is in development (meaningless without details, of course). It's important to keep in mind the target audience of a product such as this; there may well be code issues with installing the linked items in a residential environment.
Eventually we'll probably see something along these lines become available for home use. Who knows what technology they'll really use, of course, but it'll happen since demand seems to be growing. What's exciting to me is the energy market right now appears comparable to the automobile industry of the early 20th century where there are many options opening up that weren't heard of even 5 years ago.
I've done this once or twice where there was an existing Cat5 run but, as the other reply says, then you're out of luck later for Gigabit Ethernet. The other issue with this is that someone may split the pairs at some stage, crossing network and phones together.
All around, if you're actually running new cable and want phone plus data you are better off pulling 2 separate cables. It's a bit more expensive but in the long run it's much easier to manage.
Sure but how many users have that installed already? It's a matter of native support if they want mass adoption, not some third party option being available that grandma won't or can't figure out how to load.
They're competing with essentially plun-n-play stuff now. If people have a choice between plug-n-play and "install drivers, hope it works, reboot and then plug" there's no need to guess which one the average consumer will go for.
Sheesh, no kidding. Is there anything else, though, that's read/write on pretty much all OSs?
That's what I did a while back. IM is just too much of an interuption. If it's not worth picking up a phone to call me for or typing out an e-mail for then I likely don't want to be bothered anyhow.
I think e-the real issue boils down to the fact that many feel an obligation to be plugged in 24x7. They forget that voice mail was invented for more than when they were on the other line. They forget that the e-mail can be replied to in half an hour or half a day if need be.
Any client of mine that doesn't understand "business is closed for the day" isn't a client I'll be working with for long. If one doesn't unplug, one becomes nothing but a drone.
Damn. Funny AND insightful. We need the ability to mix points ... (+.5 Funny and +.5 Insightful).
I think it's more along the lines of "Unplugged the coffee maker; please feel free to restart the server now."
I suspect he's currently preparing his lawsuit against his god for breach of contract.
My first thought when I read that description was this:
1. Monkey finds money laying around.
2. Monkey brings the money home and shows it to his wife.
3. Wife is impressed and, after a little heavy petting, puts out.
4. Guy's happy, wife goes shopping.
Sounds to me as though the researcher's proved monkeys essentially get married. Nothing new there as far as I know.
That's funny. I keep my CueCat on a shelf for giggles. It's one of my favorite pieces of "stupid tech" in my little collection and never fails to get a chuckle from folks after I explain what it was for. I though I was the only one.
I didn't see this in here yet: Print version of the article. I found it ironic that an article about annoying tech had so many annoying ads and clutter alongside.
The AOL CDs have always been one of my personal big annoyances. I still get the freaking things because my in-laws lived here years ago and had AOL for about 12 seconds. Overall, however, I find multi-page articles loaded with ads the biggest frustration in tech. When will they learn that if only the ads weren't annoying, I wouldn't object?
Hey! You've got a hidden microphone in my house! I had almost this exact conversation recently with my own wife. Talk about deja vu.
Seriously... He says he went to the effort to build a technological solution to this problem, including assembling and configuring a MythTV box, editing the shows, and purchasing a MediaGate player to keep the kids entertained whilst in transit.
No. What he posted was that he set it up so they can have their choice of programming while in hotels on the road.
If I sound bitter, I am. I was raised in front of the TV. I had Sesame Street and Nintendo to entertain me whilst my parents and other guardians smoked up a storm and played Yahtzee till it was time to retire--at an hour that was arguably way past the time I should have been put to bed.
Ah, I see. So you're interpreting everyone's parenting skills based on your parents' lack thereof. This is not an intelligent debate, then, it's the personal crusade of one. Using the same basis for your argument, parents should also not play Yahtzee.
Waaah. If you know something is fucked up, keeping your yap shut and hoping the problem will go away is the last thing anyone should do. Keeping your yap shut is among the worst of evils. People keping their yaps shut is responsible for so much bad stuff that could have otherwise been averted, it's quite impossible to even begin a list in this little box. But I guess we should stick our collective asses up in the air and hum the Star Spangled Banner so we can get gang-banged by the evil bastards out there, because they're the only ones who can be arsed to do something, or anything for that matter.
Yeah, that's an intelligent point ya have there. Somehow you miss that keeping yer yap out of other people's choices is way different than ignoring "evil bastards". No one suggested we keep our yaps shut about evil bastards. What I suggest is it's NOT any of your business how much television others allow their kids to consume. Contrary to what you (and many others) seem to feel, your rights end exactly where others' rights begin. Doing something "wrong" does not always mean abusing a child whereas abusing a child is always wrong. Stand up against actual abuse, not your personal pet peeves, and I might lend your words some credence. Until then, I'm done arguing about it with you.