In the U.S., if you're working independently, or even trying to, you're not eligible for unemployment.

There's a lot of push-back against people ``double-dipping'' by both drawing un-employment and working independently --- actually, it's considered fraud. I've always been somewhat offended by Judy Chicago having at least one of her ``workers'' working on the ``The Dinner Party'' while he was on unemployment (and she couldn't even see the need to have him teach others how to do what he was doing).

The big difference is the U.S. tax rate is about a quarter of the G.D.P., while in Europe it's over a third, but the number of government checks in the U.S. is going up as noted in a recent story.

not by Alexis de Tocqueville though:

``The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.''

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A...

earliest known occurrence is as an unsourced attribution to Tytler in "This is the Hard Core of Freedom" by Elmer T. Peterson in The Daily Oklahoman (9 December 1951): "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the majority discovers it can vote itself largess out of the public treasury. After that, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits with the result the democracy collapses because of the loose fiscal policy ensuing, always to be followed by a dictatorship, then a monarchy."

using mirrors and lenses from disposable cameras:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thi...

Interesting examination of that in the novella _Manna_ by Marshall Brain: http://marshallbrain.com/manna...

They also didn't have the discipline which Jobs imposed to not market a product until the technological infrastructure was in-place to support it:

  - Apple waited on the iPod until there were enough machines w/ FireWire so that it could synch in a reasonable timeframe and they had sufficient content deals lined up to make it work --- Microsoft released the Zune before they could find a compelling reason for people to buy them.
  - Apple deferred on the iPad, instead first releasing the iPhone 'cause battery technology wasn't adequate to all-day usage, and processors made the machine larger than seemed reasonable --- Microsoft instead jumped on the bandwagon w/ Windows for Pen Computing (competing w/ Go Corporation's PenPoint)

I've actually been kind of surprised that someone hasn't worked up a single-board computer which plugs into USB and runs a Linux distribution which will archive a Windows drive, then install Linux, then restore everything but Windows into a user directory.

Actually, I can usually find HDMI cables at one of the local remaindering stores such as Five-Below, Ollie's Bargain Outlet, or Big Lots.

Problems w/ that business model:

  - have to compete on price-point w/ on-line since your customers are tech savvy
  - have to have a lot of SKUs, since precision counts and when someone comes in for a 50mm M3 SCHS, they're probably not going to be able to make do w/ a 45mm
  - some elements of the stock are subject to obsolescence, so stocking levels are an issue

I've tried going to Radio Shack for things for my ShapeOko (open source CNC milling machine) and they've never had anything I could use at a price I'm willing to pay (and I've been willing to be gouged by Lowes and Home Depot on metric washers and aluminum spacers).

Failure to have filled out that one is beginning to use the equipment in the log book is grounds for immediate dismissal.

How can they keep earning money on government contracts when such contracts are resulting in lawsuits and getting them fired?

http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskf...

::raises hand::

That's me --- I can't move off of Mac OS X 10.6.8 until I find a replacement for Macromedia FreeHand --- I suppose at some point in time I'll just have to resort to running it in a virtual machine (there was a recent post about doing that: http://www.freehandforum.org/f... ), but for now, it's simpler to just stick w/ 10.6.8

An interesting point. Supporting math in ``Exponential Economist Meets Finite Physicist'':

https://physics.ucsd.edu/do-th...

Another option would be to use a monochrome LCD instead of e-ink --- almost as good on the power department --- look into the Asus EEE Note and the free software for it: http://www.freeenote.org/pages...

You want a device w/ an active stylus and decent software support for that --- unfortunately, these haven't faired well in the market.

The Icarus Excel is one which seems to still be available --- 9.7" E-Ink Pearl screen, for a paperlike reading experience
Supports handwritten notes and annotations with Wacom technology: http://blog.the-ebook-reader.c...

I just always use a Tablet PC as my main machine --- I do have a Sony PRS-600, but it's not easy to get the annotations off of it.

Given that what 20 years ago wasn't even a notable winter is being treated as the end-of-the-world-winter-storm, one can instead use it w/ a bit of perspective to see how global warming has crept up on us:

http://www.xkcd.com/1321/

William
(who made it into work in south-central PA w/o difficulty in a front-wheel drive Cavalier w/ all-season radial tires, but only saw 4-wheel drives and snow plows and vehicles w/ tire chains on the road)