I would like to see a serious, distilled, non-biased discussion of the Kyoto treaty, I really don't know much about it. All I know is that I dislike the name, it sounds like something you catch on you way to Japan.
If you could point me to any discussion on this I would be happy. I am willing to read a good bit about this, so it if is long that is fine.
Do not bother telling me tech central has any articles, I will probably search there myself.
thanks
cube
Friday, October 01, 2004
The AWB (assault Weapons Ban)
This is a recent poll on the Assault weapons ban. I thought it was interesting.
Created: Sunday, September 12, 2004, at 18:31:45 EDT
Is it right to let the assault weapons ban expire?
Yes 26% 49642 votes
No 74% 143908 votes
Total: 193550 votes
cube
Created: Sunday, September 12, 2004, at 18:31:45 EDT
Is it right to let the assault weapons ban expire?
Yes 26% 49642 votes
No 74% 143908 votes
Total: 193550 votes
cube
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Games
On of my favorite sayings is, "I am not a Navy seal, but I have played one in a video game." I play though games very slowly and do not play many of them. Honestly, I am not very good at video games, I tired of them very quickly when I was younger and never really developed the skills necessary to do well at the early Nintendo games.
The present generation of video games are more my style. They incorporate tactics, problem solving, and some video game skill. My favorite type of video games the realistic military rpg. I have really only played two of them: Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon. Both games are fairly old (for technology) and carry Tom Clancy's logo. I knew I had reached a certain level of expertise because when I read through walk through my solutions to the problems where better than the walk through's solutions. Presently, I am in the middle of a recon mission with the Ghosts (4th or 5th mission out of 50 missions), and once I finish that game I have picked out the next in line for my conquest.
Close Combat: First to Fight
Close Combat: First to Fight is an authentic, team-based first-person shooter created under the direction of active-duty United States Marines fresh from the front lines of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Set in a modern mid-eastern urban battleground, players lead a four-man Marine fireteam through the perils of modern urban combat. Together with the United States Marine Corps and Atomic Games, Destineer is creating First to Fight as a training simulation for use by the Marine Corps and will make it available to consumers in late 2004 for Xbox®, Macintosh®, and Windows®. According to Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Sharp of the United States Marine Corps, Marines from the First Marine Expeditionary Force have been working closely with Destineer and Atomic throughout development to ensure as much realism as possible in these games. Peter Tamte, Destineer's president adds, There is no guesswork on how to make the games realistic since we are developing First to Fight and Red Phoenix with significant input from Marines who, just weeks before, were being shot at in Iraq and Afghanistan.
First to Fight is brought to life by a visually advanced 3D engine created from the ground up by Destineer. This engine, filled with next-generation features like volumetric shadows, normal maps, natural skin lighting and specularity, promises to give players a first-hand look at the chaos and terror of modern urban combat.
First to fight follows in the tradition of Full Spectrum Warrior which was developed by the army. Full Spectrum Warrior was "Based On A Training Aid Developed For The U.S. Army."
I personally think, if I cannot have brand new full automatic weapons, the very least I can do to prepare for the eventual use of the weapons when the world goes post apocalyptic. I want to become proficient at acquiring targets, eliminating tagets, squad tactics, and blowing stuff up. It is a shame that the federal government has decided to regulate the buying, purchase, and use of machine guns and explosive material to the extent that it has.
On a more serious note, as games become more realistic training with them will increase. Why build a flight simulator, when on can be put on a CD and hand it out to your pilots. Additionally, the most successful training tools will probably be commercial successes also, at least for a niche market.
My question is, what are the disadvantages\advantages to having normal people access these training tools on every day basis?
Will a group of teenagers take over a school, using things they practiced in a video game. Many PC video games have tools where you can build levels. For a senior project on 3-D graphics, a friend of mine built a model of a well known landmark at my school. That model happened to be a building that could then be imported into the video game and played in. If teenagers built a exact replica of their school then practiced squad based tactics in a realistic video game, how effective would their preparation be? What effective offense (that they have not countered virtually) could be mounted against them from a law enforcement standpoint?
I have seen video games advertised for PC were you could download levels of actual missions that were performed recently by the US military, such as the situation with Saddam's sons.
Do these video games represent something about American culture? Do the show the brain washing of the military industrial complex that we have created?
I suspect in the next 20 years that society will have to decide if these are just fun and games or something more dangerous.
cube
The present generation of video games are more my style. They incorporate tactics, problem solving, and some video game skill. My favorite type of video games the realistic military rpg. I have really only played two of them: Splinter Cell and Ghost Recon. Both games are fairly old (for technology) and carry Tom Clancy's logo. I knew I had reached a certain level of expertise because when I read through walk through my solutions to the problems where better than the walk through's solutions. Presently, I am in the middle of a recon mission with the Ghosts (4th or 5th mission out of 50 missions), and once I finish that game I have picked out the next in line for my conquest.
Close Combat: First to Fight
Close Combat: First to Fight is an authentic, team-based first-person shooter created under the direction of active-duty United States Marines fresh from the front lines of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Set in a modern mid-eastern urban battleground, players lead a four-man Marine fireteam through the perils of modern urban combat. Together with the United States Marine Corps and Atomic Games, Destineer is creating First to Fight as a training simulation for use by the Marine Corps and will make it available to consumers in late 2004 for Xbox®, Macintosh®, and Windows®. According to Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Sharp of the United States Marine Corps, Marines from the First Marine Expeditionary Force have been working closely with Destineer and Atomic throughout development to ensure as much realism as possible in these games. Peter Tamte, Destineer's president adds, There is no guesswork on how to make the games realistic since we are developing First to Fight and Red Phoenix with significant input from Marines who, just weeks before, were being shot at in Iraq and Afghanistan.
First to Fight is brought to life by a visually advanced 3D engine created from the ground up by Destineer. This engine, filled with next-generation features like volumetric shadows, normal maps, natural skin lighting and specularity, promises to give players a first-hand look at the chaos and terror of modern urban combat.
First to fight follows in the tradition of Full Spectrum Warrior which was developed by the army. Full Spectrum Warrior was "Based On A Training Aid Developed For The U.S. Army."
I personally think, if I cannot have brand new full automatic weapons, the very least I can do to prepare for the eventual use of the weapons when the world goes post apocalyptic. I want to become proficient at acquiring targets, eliminating tagets, squad tactics, and blowing stuff up. It is a shame that the federal government has decided to regulate the buying, purchase, and use of machine guns and explosive material to the extent that it has.
On a more serious note, as games become more realistic training with them will increase. Why build a flight simulator, when on can be put on a CD and hand it out to your pilots. Additionally, the most successful training tools will probably be commercial successes also, at least for a niche market.
My question is, what are the disadvantages\advantages to having normal people access these training tools on every day basis?
Will a group of teenagers take over a school, using things they practiced in a video game. Many PC video games have tools where you can build levels. For a senior project on 3-D graphics, a friend of mine built a model of a well known landmark at my school. That model happened to be a building that could then be imported into the video game and played in. If teenagers built a exact replica of their school then practiced squad based tactics in a realistic video game, how effective would their preparation be? What effective offense (that they have not countered virtually) could be mounted against them from a law enforcement standpoint?
I have seen video games advertised for PC were you could download levels of actual missions that were performed recently by the US military, such as the situation with Saddam's sons.
Do these video games represent something about American culture? Do the show the brain washing of the military industrial complex that we have created?
I suspect in the next 20 years that society will have to decide if these are just fun and games or something more dangerous.
cube
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
On my own two feet
I am concerned with growth of the Parent state.
Some children are going to school longer, especially the ones who need it the most. In some charter schools, which have had great results, the children are going to school nearly 30 to 50 percent longer. They are going to school longer because they are behind others in their age group and because it takes time to teach what these children are missing. One of our solutions for the children, whose parents did not know how to raise them, was to take them out of their environment more, enforce discipline, and push them harder in their studies. The parent government treats these people as if they are children, which the irony is that they are.
The government is presently taking your money for retirement to pay for other's retirement and has been doing it for the past 70 or so years. Now the government has come up with a better idea of letting you keep your own money for retirement, instead of giving it to the government, but mandates, via federal law, what you can and cannot do with the money. The government also provides incentives to suggest what you should do with you own money. The parent government has moved from being treating me like a child to treating me like a teenager. I have more freedom, but I am bribed or threatened into doing the things which are good for me. It is better, by far, but still short of standing on my own two feet.
My question, to the pro-democratic anti-capitalists, is what becomes of these children who did not have parents? What happens to the children whose main teacher was the government? What do the parents, who are semi-responsible, but whose retirement decisions are strongly suggested by the parent government, teach their own children about saving?
In other words, once the government becomes your parent, how do you go back to standing on your own two feet?
cube
Some children are going to school longer, especially the ones who need it the most. In some charter schools, which have had great results, the children are going to school nearly 30 to 50 percent longer. They are going to school longer because they are behind others in their age group and because it takes time to teach what these children are missing. One of our solutions for the children, whose parents did not know how to raise them, was to take them out of their environment more, enforce discipline, and push them harder in their studies. The parent government treats these people as if they are children, which the irony is that they are.
The government is presently taking your money for retirement to pay for other's retirement and has been doing it for the past 70 or so years. Now the government has come up with a better idea of letting you keep your own money for retirement, instead of giving it to the government, but mandates, via federal law, what you can and cannot do with the money. The government also provides incentives to suggest what you should do with you own money. The parent government has moved from being treating me like a child to treating me like a teenager. I have more freedom, but I am bribed or threatened into doing the things which are good for me. It is better, by far, but still short of standing on my own two feet.
My question, to the pro-democratic anti-capitalists, is what becomes of these children who did not have parents? What happens to the children whose main teacher was the government? What do the parents, who are semi-responsible, but whose retirement decisions are strongly suggested by the parent government, teach their own children about saving?
In other words, once the government becomes your parent, how do you go back to standing on your own two feet?
cube
Back to the basics
If I personally were to come and take your house and give it to my friends, that would be stealing. If the city\county\state were to take your house and give it to a local business, which happened to donate a good bit toward my campaign last year, it would be legal in some states.
The supreme court is going to hear a case about eminent-domain. I love the way Reuters says it:
The U.S. Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would decide whether the government can take an individual's private property for business development intended to boost tax revenues and revitalize a local economy.
In other words, the US supreme court is going to decide if it can lower the importance of the individual and increase the importance of the government/state/local economy/society.
Lets hope they choose wisely. I stand on the side of personal liberty and power.
Presently we have a system that works ok. It has a checks and balances because the government must pay a fair price. This will keep them from taking land in prime areas, hopefully.
Reuters points out the importance of this decisions.
The U.S. Constitution allows governments to take private property through their eminent-domain powers in exchange for just compensation, but only when it is for public use.
In other words, the supreme court could change the Constitution. That is how IMPORTANT this court case is.
I love how the socialists hate corporations, but are willing to work with them once the corporations want the exact same thing the local government wants.
Off topic rantings
What is good for the person is good for society. My idea of social responsibility is for everyone else to handle their shit, so that no one else has to.
The socialists want to control the market and bend it to their will for the good of society.
This is universal: Money and power corrupt. The socialist think that giving that money and power to the government will remove corruption from the market place, and make the world a better place. That is illogical, naive, and dangerous.
cube
The supreme court is going to hear a case about eminent-domain. I love the way Reuters says it:
The U.S. Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would decide whether the government can take an individual's private property for business development intended to boost tax revenues and revitalize a local economy.
In other words, the US supreme court is going to decide if it can lower the importance of the individual and increase the importance of the government/state/local economy/society.
Lets hope they choose wisely. I stand on the side of personal liberty and power.
Presently we have a system that works ok. It has a checks and balances because the government must pay a fair price. This will keep them from taking land in prime areas, hopefully.
Reuters points out the importance of this decisions.
The U.S. Constitution allows governments to take private property through their eminent-domain powers in exchange for just compensation, but only when it is for public use.
In other words, the supreme court could change the Constitution. That is how IMPORTANT this court case is.
I love how the socialists hate corporations, but are willing to work with them once the corporations want the exact same thing the local government wants.
Off topic rantings
What is good for the person is good for society. My idea of social responsibility is for everyone else to handle their shit, so that no one else has to.
The socialists want to control the market and bend it to their will for the good of society.
This is universal: Money and power corrupt. The socialist think that giving that money and power to the government will remove corruption from the market place, and make the world a better place. That is illogical, naive, and dangerous.
cube
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
This is a little odd
"O'Brien signed a new contract on Monday that guarantees he will assume the job as host of America's top-rated late night talk show, "The Tonight Show," sometime during the 2009 season. Leno took over the show from Johnny Carson in May 1992. "
I love O'Brien,and think he is great. He could very well do a great job on the tonight show. I do not have access to the entire contract, but it seems to me that O'Brien ended up with the good end of the deal. If he gets cancer and dies in the next five years, NBC will be forced to follow though with their end of the deal. That means that they will have to use a clone, make a deal with God, or make a deal with the Devil. I can't see how making a deal four years in advance is really that good for NBC. O'Brien could screw up and say something real dumb, and get fired and he would still have job. What if O'Brien brings out some fake documents which discredited by fox?
cube
Update: Tilted Fish has a better take, though i think mine is funnier.
I love O'Brien,and think he is great. He could very well do a great job on the tonight show. I do not have access to the entire contract, but it seems to me that O'Brien ended up with the good end of the deal. If he gets cancer and dies in the next five years, NBC will be forced to follow though with their end of the deal. That means that they will have to use a clone, make a deal with God, or make a deal with the Devil. I can't see how making a deal four years in advance is really that good for NBC. O'Brien could screw up and say something real dumb, and get fired and he would still have job. What if O'Brien brings out some fake documents which discredited by fox?
cube
Update: Tilted Fish has a better take, though i think mine is funnier.
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Lazy man's workout
Well I started my patented work out plan. I started it a couple weeks later than I wanted to, but it is not called a lazy man's workout for a reason.
Here is my revolutionary idea that will change the way America works out. I decided that when people work out that they are working too hard. I know this sounds strange, crazy, or even dangerous. I tend to think it is counter intuitive, like women. My theory is that for me to get on a plan that works for me I need to work out less. I do not mean putting less time in, i mean being able to move four days after working out. In the past when I have worked out would workout out every other day. Day one would be bi's and tri's, day two would be chest and back, day three would be shoulders and legs. To work out each of those muscles properly, you would have to spend a lot of time on workout days working out (like an hour and a half). The day after you would be tired, and on the third day you would be really sore. So I came up with a better way.
The plan
Only work out one muscle group a day. For example, today all I did was bi's. Then I rode the bike for 15 mins. My bi's are tired, but the rest of me feels fine. Essentially, the goal of this workout is not to work out to many muscle groups at once. In fact you should limit you work to once muscle group. Your goal should be to visit the gym at least every other day, if not every day. Also, do not expect to get big and cut on this plan, this plan is otherwise known as the "don't get fat before you are 30" plan. As far as the time frame you should actually see benefits. Since I have only been on the plan for one day I would say probably never. Though I think that you will not see any further depreciation of your best asset.
cube
Here is my revolutionary idea that will change the way America works out. I decided that when people work out that they are working too hard. I know this sounds strange, crazy, or even dangerous. I tend to think it is counter intuitive, like women. My theory is that for me to get on a plan that works for me I need to work out less. I do not mean putting less time in, i mean being able to move four days after working out. In the past when I have worked out would workout out every other day. Day one would be bi's and tri's, day two would be chest and back, day three would be shoulders and legs. To work out each of those muscles properly, you would have to spend a lot of time on workout days working out (like an hour and a half). The day after you would be tired, and on the third day you would be really sore. So I came up with a better way.
The plan
Only work out one muscle group a day. For example, today all I did was bi's. Then I rode the bike for 15 mins. My bi's are tired, but the rest of me feels fine. Essentially, the goal of this workout is not to work out to many muscle groups at once. In fact you should limit you work to once muscle group. Your goal should be to visit the gym at least every other day, if not every day. Also, do not expect to get big and cut on this plan, this plan is otherwise known as the "don't get fat before you are 30" plan. As far as the time frame you should actually see benefits. Since I have only been on the plan for one day I would say probably never. Though I think that you will not see any further depreciation of your best asset.
cube
What is inflation?
Well Andrew and I have different points of view on this matter.
You will have to read this entire post to find out the differences.
According to Webster here is the official definition.
"an increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods and services resulting in a continuing rise in the general price level"
Well that finishes out econ lesson today kids, lets go and play video games.
cube
You will have to read this entire post to find out the differences.
According to Webster here is the official definition.
"an increase in the volume of money and credit relative to available goods and services resulting in a continuing rise in the general price level"
Well that finishes out econ lesson today kids, lets go and play video games.
cube
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Metals
My parents came up for a short trip this weekend. My mom gave me a call earlier this week and asked if was doing anything this weekend. I told her that I was not. She then proceeded to tell me that she had a present for me, and I explained that I was coming home next weekend. She is getting old and might have forgotten this fact. She then told me that her and dad had a gift for me that would not fit in my car. I said that her coming up sounded great, but once I found out that they were only staying one night, I realized that it was really a waste of time to clean so I just straightened up some stuff.
I had guessed that they were bringing a book case. I had only tried to buy a book case once online. It turned out that they shipping would have been over three times as much as the book case, so ended that idea. People also always complained about my lack of a book case, all my books were on the floor in the corner. Additionally, I was talking to some people once, and told them that I had been in my apartment for a couple years, and they were astounded because it looked like I had just moved in. That made me proud. It turns out I was right.
In the process of putting up my books, I was talking to my father about the up coming election. He was saying that he did not see why what Kerry did in Vietnam was such a big idea. I told him some of the history of the swift boats, and how they have hated Kerry for a long time. Secondly, it would not have been a big deal if Kerry had not brought it up himself, and I quoted the "Reporting for Duty" line from the convention.
As we were talking, I mentioned to my dad that as I understood it they handed out metals a lot in Vietnam to increase morale. My dad mentioned that he was up for a purple heart at one time. I thought this was weird because my dad was a clerk in the army, not a fighter. It turns out that the base that my dad worked at was under a motor attack. My much younger day was running around the corner, and he gashed his leg on an ammunition can that was being used to hold cigarette butts. When he was called in to review the recommendation with a higher superior than recommended him, he told them that he did not deserve it. He also mentioned that they had medal competition between officers to see who could get the most metals for the guys under them.
I thought that was very interesting and thought that I would pass that along.
cube
I had guessed that they were bringing a book case. I had only tried to buy a book case once online. It turned out that they shipping would have been over three times as much as the book case, so ended that idea. People also always complained about my lack of a book case, all my books were on the floor in the corner. Additionally, I was talking to some people once, and told them that I had been in my apartment for a couple years, and they were astounded because it looked like I had just moved in. That made me proud. It turns out I was right.
In the process of putting up my books, I was talking to my father about the up coming election. He was saying that he did not see why what Kerry did in Vietnam was such a big idea. I told him some of the history of the swift boats, and how they have hated Kerry for a long time. Secondly, it would not have been a big deal if Kerry had not brought it up himself, and I quoted the "Reporting for Duty" line from the convention.
As we were talking, I mentioned to my dad that as I understood it they handed out metals a lot in Vietnam to increase morale. My dad mentioned that he was up for a purple heart at one time. I thought this was weird because my dad was a clerk in the army, not a fighter. It turns out that the base that my dad worked at was under a motor attack. My much younger day was running around the corner, and he gashed his leg on an ammunition can that was being used to hold cigarette butts. When he was called in to review the recommendation with a higher superior than recommended him, he told them that he did not deserve it. He also mentioned that they had medal competition between officers to see who could get the most metals for the guys under them.
I thought that was very interesting and thought that I would pass that along.
cube
Cat Stevens
"The musician, now known as Yusuf Islam, said in a statement he had "now initiated a legal process to try to find out exactly what is going on, and to take all necessary steps to undo the very serious, and wholly unfounded, injustice which I have suffered."
interesting...This makes me think that he is completely innocent. Though he made just be so self righteous that he forgot about a large terrorist group that he gave money to back in 1983.
Secondly, he may also think that they don't have any evidence, or that the evidence they have is shaky. It will be interesting if the federal government releases all they have, and then bust him while he is in court and on American soil. Though I don't see why it is helpful from outing him like that, it would seem to me that it would be better to watch him and find out what he is up to while he is in the US.
cube
interesting...This makes me think that he is completely innocent. Though he made just be so self righteous that he forgot about a large terrorist group that he gave money to back in 1983.
Secondly, he may also think that they don't have any evidence, or that the evidence they have is shaky. It will be interesting if the federal government releases all they have, and then bust him while he is in court and on American soil. Though I don't see why it is helpful from outing him like that, it would seem to me that it would be better to watch him and find out what he is up to while he is in the US.
cube
This is worth mentioning
I seldom blog on what others have blogged on, because what is the use. This is funny though.
"For the duration of his term, George Bush has ignored and failed to offer any kind of viable solution for addressing the record energy costs," said Phil Singer, a spokesman for Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry. "When a few oil refiners come along, he snaps to."
Via Vodkapundit who put some spin on it. Read the article think about it and make you decsion, i said all i wanted to in the comment section of Vodkapundit's post.
Cube
"For the duration of his term, George Bush has ignored and failed to offer any kind of viable solution for addressing the record energy costs," said Phil Singer, a spokesman for Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry. "When a few oil refiners come along, he snaps to."
Via Vodkapundit who put some spin on it. Read the article think about it and make you decsion, i said all i wanted to in the comment section of Vodkapundit's post.
Cube
The video
Gruesome Video of Armstrong Beheading Widely Available on Internet
I just wanted to publish this in case anyone wanted to see it. When you are more likely to see the dead bodies of American soldiers and the civilians they kill, I think it is important to know why we are fighting.
I personally have not watched it, mainly because it will only move me to an more extreme position of wanting revenge.
Eventually blame is going to shift for the beheadings, the democrats have been trying to shift the blame to bush. Some people will belief that this is his fault. Every one agrees that enemy is the one doing this. If these beheadings continue, for some people, our definition of the enemy will widen. The enemy will not just the ones doing the attacks, but the ones hiding them, supporting them, in words and deeds, and they ones who will not stand up and remove them from their own soil.
cube
I just wanted to publish this in case anyone wanted to see it. When you are more likely to see the dead bodies of American soldiers and the civilians they kill, I think it is important to know why we are fighting.
I personally have not watched it, mainly because it will only move me to an more extreme position of wanting revenge.
Eventually blame is going to shift for the beheadings, the democrats have been trying to shift the blame to bush. Some people will belief that this is his fault. Every one agrees that enemy is the one doing this. If these beheadings continue, for some people, our definition of the enemy will widen. The enemy will not just the ones doing the attacks, but the ones hiding them, supporting them, in words and deeds, and they ones who will not stand up and remove them from their own soil.
cube
Friday, September 24, 2004
Evil Oprah
"According to a spokeswoman for Harpo Productions Inc., Oprah's company, the recipients must pay a tax on the winnings, just like any prize.
For a brand new Pontiac G-Six, the model given away on the show, the sticker price is $28,500. The $28,500 would need to be claimed as income so, depending on the individuals tax bracket, the tax could be as high as $7,000. And that was after Pontiac agreed to pay most of the local charges, including state sales tax and licensing fees. "
I think this is great, not because some of the people are going to lose their cars, not because this was a good deed that turned out not so good, not because I dislike Oprah. When it comes down to it whose fault is this. Is it Oprah's fault? I mean she was the one who gave the cars away. She is also a person who has played poor people in movies so she knows how they feel. She also has huge amounts of people who should know the results of giving cars away. I don't think this is Oprah's fault. I do think it is the government's fault, which have taxed our income.
If their was ever an argument for repealing the Amendment XVI, this is it.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
Just because Oprah did something good for these people, they are going to have to pay the taxes on a car that is worth more than some of them make.
cube
For a brand new Pontiac G-Six, the model given away on the show, the sticker price is $28,500. The $28,500 would need to be claimed as income so, depending on the individuals tax bracket, the tax could be as high as $7,000. And that was after Pontiac agreed to pay most of the local charges, including state sales tax and licensing fees. "
I think this is great, not because some of the people are going to lose their cars, not because this was a good deed that turned out not so good, not because I dislike Oprah. When it comes down to it whose fault is this. Is it Oprah's fault? I mean she was the one who gave the cars away. She is also a person who has played poor people in movies so she knows how they feel. She also has huge amounts of people who should know the results of giving cars away. I don't think this is Oprah's fault. I do think it is the government's fault, which have taxed our income.
If their was ever an argument for repealing the Amendment XVI, this is it.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
Just because Oprah did something good for these people, they are going to have to pay the taxes on a car that is worth more than some of them make.
cube
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Come on
I have been apart of this as much as anyone. The conspiracy theories: Karl Rove did it, Kerry did it. The rather bashing, the rather frisking,and the calling for him to resign. I have not sent an email to CBS, but that is mainly because I was too busy (I love sending those emails). I admit that I was part of these groups, I even gleefully danced on the grave of Dan Rather, just like every other conservative in America. I admit that I was nice to see the story defunct before I had even read it Monday morning.
I fell I have seen the truth and I would like to be the first person to propose to everyone stop, Collaborate, and listen. Stop bashing Rather for a second and you will realize the truth of what he did, why he did it, and you will also receive the deep understanding of God while you are at it.
The reason why Dan when to press with that story, is not because he is a liberal, hates bush, or is incompetent.
Dan rather is old and has alzheimers. It is as simple as that. This is just like back in the 1980's when Reagan threatened the Soviets. What sane person would so something like that? Same thing with rather. What kind of of sane person would go on national television and use fake documents? Rather is insane in the membrane, if you know what I mean.
You heartless conservatives who are attacking a frail old man make me sick. You politically motivated liberals who ignored one of you own to suggest a conspiracy make me sick.
cube
I fell I have seen the truth and I would like to be the first person to propose to everyone stop, Collaborate, and listen. Stop bashing Rather for a second and you will realize the truth of what he did, why he did it, and you will also receive the deep understanding of God while you are at it.
The reason why Dan when to press with that story, is not because he is a liberal, hates bush, or is incompetent.
Dan rather is old and has alzheimers. It is as simple as that. This is just like back in the 1980's when Reagan threatened the Soviets. What sane person would so something like that? Same thing with rather. What kind of of sane person would go on national television and use fake documents? Rather is insane in the membrane, if you know what I mean.
You heartless conservatives who are attacking a frail old man make me sick. You politically motivated liberals who ignored one of you own to suggest a conspiracy make me sick.
cube
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
I was scarred
But his worries were about how children would handle the dark events in the second installment of his Star Wars saga, including Han Solo being frozen in a block of carbonite and Darth Vader slashing off Luke Skywalker's hand, then revealing that he was Luke's father.
Before releasing the film, Lucas talked to psychologists about whether Vader's revelation might emotionally scar children, he reveals on the commentary for the new Empire Strikes Back DVD in the Star Wars Trilogy box set out today (suggested price is $70, but it's available for $45 or less).
I have been asking myself my entire life: Why wasn't my father a dark jedi? Why don't I have the force? Why can't I be cool like Luke? (Yes he kissed his sister, but that was an honest mistake, one that I am willing to forgive.)
cube
What would the effect of this be?
When the worlds 5th largest economy starts doing things like this what is the effect of it going to be for the rest of us?
"A bill to raise California's minimum wage to $7.75 an hour over the next two years is headed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, providing a major test of his pledge to reject bills that "harm the state's business climate."
Is it going to drive businesses out of California to near by states? Will national businesses keep prices the same in California, but raise them slightly elsewhere? Will national businesses raise prices in California and leave them the same else where? Could a change like that increase inflation?
unfortunately, we will never have the chance to find out because Schwarzenegger terminated that bill.
Cube
update: parallel posting
From what I can deduce, if you raise minimum wage locally these things happen.
I think the two things about economics were forgotten along the way: incentives matter and there is no free lunch.
Andrew,
"And lastly--productivity worth less than minimum wage?!?!"
This could infact happen. If you raised min wage to grocery stores, it could become cheaper to hire one tech savvy person to manage several automated checking machines. Will this happen on a massive scale? I have no idea, but it will happen to some people. Will that be the net affect? I have no idea.
"I thought "adjusted for inflation" does take into the increase in buying power for necessary goods. Inflation adjustment is based on an index measuring the cost of basic goods like food, housing and transportation."
Actually, I thought inflation was set by the base interest rate. See when you save money and receive interest, and create money out of then air. The sum effect is your dollar is worth less.
For example, ten men on an island with eleven men all get 10 dollars. The poor guy is the bank and pays 10 percent interest. All put their money in the bank. At the end of one year the all have eleven dollars (the banker creates the money out of thin air, or invests it overseas what every you prefer). So one dollar is less of the total amount of money in circulation after one year, with compound interest the effect could be great.
I have not looked up the definition, but I have a feeling that both things play a part. Though ask yourself the question: Why do prices rise, and I think you will come around to this definition of inflation. :)
Just thought that I would bring that up.
Summary
So far I am against the min wage, mainly because the government is doing it. Every single statement predicting the next step in the money trail, also has a contrasting next step. So I end up not being against the min wage for economic reasons, but morefor philosophical ones..
"A bill to raise California's minimum wage to $7.75 an hour over the next two years is headed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, providing a major test of his pledge to reject bills that "harm the state's business climate."
Is it going to drive businesses out of California to near by states? Will national businesses keep prices the same in California, but raise them slightly elsewhere? Will national businesses raise prices in California and leave them the same else where? Could a change like that increase inflation?
unfortunately, we will never have the chance to find out because Schwarzenegger terminated that bill.
Cube
update: parallel posting
From what I can deduce, if you raise minimum wage locally these things happen.
- poor people will get paid more (for the same job).
- Productivity could rise (but what are the incentives for it to rise).
- the people who got the raise will spend it locally, but will also be paying more also, though the gains will outweigh the losses (I think, though if it were a national thing I don't think it gains would out weight the losses).
- prices will rise for local businesses, because they absorb the cost locally.
- prices could rise for national businesses, but will be smaller than what the local businesses have to do because they spread the cost nationally.
- raising the min wage will change the way a business does business. It could increase productivity, or it could make it cheaper to out source to another state. Those in favor concentrate on the good points, those against concentrate on the bad points. Neither is right. Only the market decides what the outcome will be. You can predict all day long, but you will seldom be right.
- Money will flow in to a area with a high min wage and stay there longer, possibly generating growth. Though it could just get caught up in the high wage cycle of the area and not be released for growth.
I think the two things about economics were forgotten along the way: incentives matter and there is no free lunch.
Andrew,
"And lastly--productivity worth less than minimum wage?!?!"
This could infact happen. If you raised min wage to grocery stores, it could become cheaper to hire one tech savvy person to manage several automated checking machines. Will this happen on a massive scale? I have no idea, but it will happen to some people. Will that be the net affect? I have no idea.
"I thought "adjusted for inflation" does take into the increase in buying power for necessary goods. Inflation adjustment is based on an index measuring the cost of basic goods like food, housing and transportation."
Actually, I thought inflation was set by the base interest rate. See when you save money and receive interest, and create money out of then air. The sum effect is your dollar is worth less.
For example, ten men on an island with eleven men all get 10 dollars. The poor guy is the bank and pays 10 percent interest. All put their money in the bank. At the end of one year the all have eleven dollars (the banker creates the money out of thin air, or invests it overseas what every you prefer). So one dollar is less of the total amount of money in circulation after one year, with compound interest the effect could be great.
I have not looked up the definition, but I have a feeling that both things play a part. Though ask yourself the question: Why do prices rise, and I think you will come around to this definition of inflation. :)
Just thought that I would bring that up.
Summary
So far I am against the min wage, mainly because the government is doing it. Every single statement predicting the next step in the money trail, also has a contrasting next step. So I end up not being against the min wage for economic reasons, but morefor philosophical ones..
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
How bloggers hurt the Bush campaign
In the olden days of the MSM (Main Stream Media), we could have gone forever without knowing the memos CBS had were fake. We do have the bloggers to thank for that. Though the bloggers were so efficient, at the task in which they choose, the Democratic National committee did not have time to react to the CBS story. This story would be different the bloggers did not exist in the current form, but were stuck in a news cycle three days behind CBS. This is the timeline of what would have happened if bloggers got all their news three full days later than everyone else.
Day one: CBS breaks story
Day two: Rest of world hears said news story.
Day Three: DNC comes out against bush and cites the memos.
Day Four: (Enter Bloggers Stage Left) Bloggers bash memos, everyone feels really dumb, everyone gets mad, everyone tries to work around problem, DNC looks really bad, Kerry loses because of rathergate.
Notice the only thing different about the past part of the timeline is what the DNC would have said. Things on day two happened as normal, but the bloggers were a part of the story, not watching it happen. Day three instead of having the debate raging as it was in the real world, a member of the DNC or the DNC itself (I hope that they would have been smart enough to jump on it that quick) would have used the memo's against Bush. That sound bite would have really hurt them when the truth came out.
The bloggers where so good that their net was not cast any wider than CBS because the story did not have time to get wider than CBS. If they would have waited and played their cards at the right time, it could have been cited as the main reason bush won the election. They will just be a side note now.
I can see why the left is afraid of things like the free market and the market place of ideas, you cannot control them and bend them to your will. Even though the left's will is for the "greater social good", that does not negate the fact you cannot control bloggers.
If I was the left I would be afraid too.
cube
Day one: CBS breaks story
Day two: Rest of world hears said news story.
Day Three: DNC comes out against bush and cites the memos.
Day Four: (Enter Bloggers Stage Left) Bloggers bash memos, everyone feels really dumb, everyone gets mad, everyone tries to work around problem, DNC looks really bad, Kerry loses because of rathergate.
Notice the only thing different about the past part of the timeline is what the DNC would have said. Things on day two happened as normal, but the bloggers were a part of the story, not watching it happen. Day three instead of having the debate raging as it was in the real world, a member of the DNC or the DNC itself (I hope that they would have been smart enough to jump on it that quick) would have used the memo's against Bush. That sound bite would have really hurt them when the truth came out.
The bloggers where so good that their net was not cast any wider than CBS because the story did not have time to get wider than CBS. If they would have waited and played their cards at the right time, it could have been cited as the main reason bush won the election. They will just be a side note now.
I can see why the left is afraid of things like the free market and the market place of ideas, you cannot control them and bend them to your will. Even though the left's will is for the "greater social good", that does not negate the fact you cannot control bloggers.
If I was the left I would be afraid too.
cube
Do you know anyone...
..who has stopped watching Dan Rather all together?
Do you know anyone whose entire view of the world shifted because of rathergate?
I was just wondering if there are any people out there like that. If there are i think you should by them cable to watch fox news?
cube
Do you know anyone whose entire view of the world shifted because of rathergate?
I was just wondering if there are any people out there like that. If there are i think you should by them cable to watch fox news?
cube
Sunday, September 19, 2004
For the tech guys
If you are involved in the information technology scene you can read this, if not please jump to the funny part below.
I am a software developer at a relatively small company, and this weekend my company is migrating (although migrating does not seem to describe what we are doing) over to a SAN. Our company has lots of manual data entry. The data entry screen is what I maintain and update. We run a visual FoxPro front end and a SQL server backend for the data entry system (SQL server is fine, but who ever decided to use fox pro for the front end is not to bright) . We presently have around 20 clients that run on this current system, each client has their own database. For around three to four years we all our clients were on the same server and been growing our client base.
Our current configuration has worked well, but has some major draw backs. If one user for client X starts a major process, it uses up the pooled resources (CPU's and disk IO's) and affects other clients. The nature of the company is that large processes, which move very large amounts of data around start regularly, so the entire company was being affected negativity.
Our company decided to purchase a SAN and several servers. So we went from having all our databases on the same server to having the databases spread out among several servers. Some clients have their own server, other smaller clients are grouped together on the same server. All servers are connected to the san through fiber. All servers are under one subnet with the san.
EVERY SINGLE piece of code that this company has which touches SQL server had to be inspected to insure: a ado connection was built properly and that any of the client queries use the linked server names (if applicable).
Connections must be built dynamically because databases can be moved at a whim ( in order to balance CPU usage on the servers and IO's on the SAN). To build connections a table, which contains databases and server names for each databases, is pulled down by connecting to a server and performing the query to pull down the table. The servers are numbered, so you start at one and loop through until you get a connection.
Any queries in the client code must be checked to see if there are any cross database queries. While there are never any cross database queries between clients, there are databases which contains metric information and application information for every single client database, and many times queries from client access the metric data.
Their are several things my company has done correctly, and their are several things my company has not done so well. I fell our soft ware department(s) has done ok,but our infrastructure department seems a little weak.
We had the servers we purchased in test. The servers were built, windows server 2003 and SQL were installed, and one of our brand new servers kept crashing for no reason. That server had every single part replaced and still was crashing. We swapped databases with another server, and it still kept crashing. Dell had a lemon clause and they are working building that server right now. So we are going live with one less server than we wanted. Which in theory will be a good exercise to make sure everyone has updated their code correctly. We will move the databases that belongs on that server when the new server comes in, though I do not know how it is going to work in practice. Secondly, on the infrastructure side we don't have active directory and we really needed that today.
On the software side, I do not thing this idea of going to linked servers was researched very well. Yes it works, but Microsoft only suggests going to linked servers after building up as far as you can. Which we did not do that. Also linked servers are very inefficient,large amount of data is moved between servers, but that is something that can be worked around in most cases.
If you have every worked with linked servers in SQL or for large scale database, I would love to hear about you experiences.
FUNNY PART
I arrived at work at 7:30 am today (Saturday). I have been so busy the last two weeks I have not washed clothes. Today all I have left are whities tighties. Today is going to be a long sucky day.
cube
I am a software developer at a relatively small company, and this weekend my company is migrating (although migrating does not seem to describe what we are doing) over to a SAN. Our company has lots of manual data entry. The data entry screen is what I maintain and update. We run a visual FoxPro front end and a SQL server backend for the data entry system (SQL server is fine, but who ever decided to use fox pro for the front end is not to bright) . We presently have around 20 clients that run on this current system, each client has their own database. For around three to four years we all our clients were on the same server and been growing our client base.
Our current configuration has worked well, but has some major draw backs. If one user for client X starts a major process, it uses up the pooled resources (CPU's and disk IO's) and affects other clients. The nature of the company is that large processes, which move very large amounts of data around start regularly, so the entire company was being affected negativity.
Our company decided to purchase a SAN and several servers. So we went from having all our databases on the same server to having the databases spread out among several servers. Some clients have their own server, other smaller clients are grouped together on the same server. All servers are connected to the san through fiber. All servers are under one subnet with the san.
EVERY SINGLE piece of code that this company has which touches SQL server had to be inspected to insure: a ado connection was built properly and that any of the client queries use the linked server names (if applicable).
Connections must be built dynamically because databases can be moved at a whim ( in order to balance CPU usage on the servers and IO's on the SAN). To build connections a table, which contains databases and server names for each databases, is pulled down by connecting to a server and performing the query to pull down the table. The servers are numbered, so you start at one and loop through until you get a connection.
Any queries in the client code must be checked to see if there are any cross database queries. While there are never any cross database queries between clients, there are databases which contains metric information and application information for every single client database, and many times queries from client access the metric data.
Their are several things my company has done correctly, and their are several things my company has not done so well. I fell our soft ware department(s) has done ok,but our infrastructure department seems a little weak.
We had the servers we purchased in test. The servers were built, windows server 2003 and SQL were installed, and one of our brand new servers kept crashing for no reason. That server had every single part replaced and still was crashing. We swapped databases with another server, and it still kept crashing. Dell had a lemon clause and they are working building that server right now. So we are going live with one less server than we wanted. Which in theory will be a good exercise to make sure everyone has updated their code correctly. We will move the databases that belongs on that server when the new server comes in, though I do not know how it is going to work in practice. Secondly, on the infrastructure side we don't have active directory and we really needed that today.
On the software side, I do not thing this idea of going to linked servers was researched very well. Yes it works, but Microsoft only suggests going to linked servers after building up as far as you can. Which we did not do that. Also linked servers are very inefficient,large amount of data is moved between servers, but that is something that can be worked around in most cases.
If you have every worked with linked servers in SQL or for large scale database, I would love to hear about you experiences.
FUNNY PART
I arrived at work at 7:30 am today (Saturday). I have been so busy the last two weeks I have not washed clothes. Today all I have left are whities tighties. Today is going to be a long sucky day.
cube
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Prozac 'found in drinking water'
Traces of the antidepressant Prozac can be found in the nation's [great britian] drinking water, it has been revealed. An Environment Agency report suggests so many people are taking the drug nowadays it is building up in rivers and groundwater. A report in Sunday's Observer says the government's environment watchdog has discussed the impact for human health. A spokesman for the Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) said the Prozac found was most likely highly diluted. 'Alarming' The newspaper says environmentalists are calling for an urgent investigation into the evidence. It quotes the Liberal Democrats' environment spokesman, Norman Baker MP, as saying the picture emerging looked like "a case of hidden mass medication upon the unsuspecting public". He says: "It is alarming that there is no monitoring of levels of Prozac and other pharmacy residues in our drinking water."
Experts say the anti-depression drug gets into the rivers and water system via treated sewage water.
cool
cube
Experts say the anti-depression drug gets into the rivers and water system via treated sewage water.
cool
cube
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