Usually, someone buys the rights to those products, even if it's only $5. If no one is willing to pay a dollar for it, is it really of any value anyways?

And here I thought that was a real place.

Seeing just what was cut doesn't tell us much. We'd really need to also look at what wasn't cut to see if our tax dollars are being spent intelligently or not. But, the fact that none of what was cut seemed like it was working anyway indicates that there must be tons more fluff that hasn't been cut yet.

It's amazing how many people that know something better than me--say, fixing a car or being a web developer--assume that they know everything better than me and everyone else in the world. Those people are the most dangerous stupid and if they don't have morals will often land in jail.

But, on the other hand if everyone else is giving it away for free, eventually there'll only be a few left. And then they'll be able to charge....

I generally agree with that, but not in this case.

Lots of companies have foreign cash that they've earned that they are unable to bring back into the states (for fear of it being taxed at a high domestic rate). If it's going to be taxed at that high rate anyways, maybe they decide that instead of investing it in some international savings account, they can re-patriate it and invest it in US jobs.

At least that's what would *hopefully* happen. The international tax idea is much better than just raising US domestic earning taxes or income taxes. Seriously, this ain't that bad (and I'm a Republican).

The whole system needs to be blown up.

1) Teachers need to work hours comparable with other full time jobs - 40 per week, 3 weeks vacation.
2) Teachers need to be paid much, much more. This will make it attractive to a wider, more talented pool of individuals.
3) No reliable way to judge individual teachers on a massive scale, so don't do it.
4) Judge districts on performance, rely on district managers to manage out the poor principles/teachers. Give district managers/principles incentive pay based on this and the power to actually do it.

Result: Fewer teachers that work longer, are brighter, and are better paid. I don't think the "small classroom" is as important as a bright, hardworking teacher. Despite popular opinion, we actually invest a whole lot in our education system. The problem is we currently do it very poorly.

Verizon is supposedly rolling out LTE (same as GSM providers) in late 2010-2011. But it will require more towers than the EVDO technology so LTE technology will be spotty if it doesn't also include an EVDO chip (which runs into the CDMA/GSM problem).

So it won't exactly be a $ vs $ comparison. Apple will also have many other choices:
1) Stick with ATT for full LTE/GSM compatibility in countries without 4th Gen?
2) Go with ATT LTE, but have spotty coverage in non-LTE areas around the world and the US? Could hurt iPhone/Apple Brand
3) Go with ATT LTE and have GSM AND CDMA chips, for full coverage? Could be an engineering/battery/royalty nightmare

Either way, there are many factors in place other than just the $ bid.

While Arnold has made some mistakes, he's actually been our hardest working governer in decades. Oh, and he works for free. He might not be perfect, but I really like having a governor who is following his conscience as a leader.

This is a double-edged sword. They'll probably need to re-do their pricing structure, because many people who currently pay $60 for a game do so knowing they can get half of that expense back on the used market.

You need to upgrade to Eel 2.0. Plug it into your USB port and it doubles as a mouse with exciting haptics.

Unless you work FOR the bank. Then the authorities send you more money to replace what you lost.

Offshoring is good when done right.

However, many companies that start embracing offshoring are doing it out of desperation... and that usually is just as much a failure as the strategies that got them into their mess in the first place.

To avoid the risk of Last blocking streams to services like Witopia, and then having to pay Last anyways?

I don't see it. I still see a lot of value in games worth me spending money for a high-production value game. On the other hand, I don't think I'd be willing to put up with as much advertising as would be necessary to offset what I'm willing to pay WITHOUT ads.

That said, variable game pricing needs to happen. I should be able to buy the *new* physical copy for $60 or a digital copy for $30 (no resale) or digitally rent it for a week for $5. The game publishers don't make much on me buying used games or renting from blockbuster. I'd rather see more of my money go to the publishers/developers than to the middle-men who currently have a pretty over-priced service.