In other words, the electoral college system creates a distinction between types of voters depending on which state you're in. For example: a republican voter in CA is less represented than a liberal voter in TX due to the political "lean" of those states. And this is precisely what bothers me about the system.
wireless needs batteries and can be issues in a big office full of them.
Because all bluetooth means these will work with tablets and desktops alike, just like Win8.
why not?
Not really. Your $700K home, even if you get it for a cheap 4% interest rate, will cost you $3341.91 per month in mortgage. At the end of 30 years, you've paid an additional 1/2 million in interest, hundreds of thousands in taxes and maintenance, and then it you don't buy a home of equal or higher value Uncle Sam will tax you on the capital gains!
If you live in the house for at least 2 years then sell it for profit, you don't pay capital gains on the first $250k you made ($500k if you're married). Also, after age 55 you may "downsize" to a less expensive and/or smaller home and retain your property tax base from the previous home. Thanks, Prop 13.
nevermind, was comparing outs and strikes
(mod parent up +1 troll)
from the do-you-even-know-how-baseball-works dept
Q: How many outs are in an inning?
A: 6
so maybe they do know baseball...
The decline has been put down to [other reasons, and] the imminent launch of Windows 8, making people hold out on updating their PCs.
It seems more likely the imminent launch of Windows 8 would cause a rush to purchase Windows 7 PCs before you can't (without going custom).
If the US matches Chinas tarifs things would be very different.
Indeed, because we would likely be at war with China over it. Tensions flare up every time China senses even a hint of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods that aren't a result of an ongoing dispute (e.g. solar panels). Frankly I'm surprised the U.S. govt doesn't have bigger balls when it comes to growing trade deficit with China.
I'll start: Steve Jobs is God
Your move.
Exactly, the technology for anonymous virtual currency already exists. But the Govt would never back such a complete anonymity. Taxation, the backbone of the govt, would be tough to enforce. Hawalas and scammers would enjoy. Now if somewhere to develop a semi-anonymous currency (like cash, with enough effort, you could probably trace it), then we probably can hope for Govt backing.
The govt already backs an anonymous currency -- it's called cash. And before you bring up serial number tracking and fingerprint testing think about the resources required to trace a single bill. For that reason I think the govt might ultimately embrace a digital (at least semi-)anonymous currency. Way easier to track on a large scale than physical cash.
The taxation argument is a farce for the same reason: people get paid under the table in cash each and every day. They can't figure out a way to tax that income, and they certainly don't put forth the expensive effort tracing individual bills to enforce it. The most the IRS ever does is keep an eye on unusual bank deposits. If you don't use a bank, problem solved.
...until The Matrix came out.
Just this morning I read a seemingly unrelated article in which the author, a former Motorola Mobility employee, theorized that a little talked-about possibility for Google wanting to buy MMI centers around set-top boxes.
The Google/Motorola Deal is Done. What Now?
http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/240000845
According to the article linked above, Motorola moved their "home" division, which includes set-top boxes which Motorola manufacturers, over to Motorola Mobility in an attempt to "sweeten the deal" for Google to buy it. If that assertion is correct then one can conclude that Google is the real entity that just got the ITC to impose a ban on the xBox.
While this may look like another garden-variety patent battle I'll bet it has more to do with the upcoming TV battlefield that, rumor has it, already includes Apple and their yet-to-be-officially-announced AppleTV. The folks at Google appear to be well into their plans to compete with Apple (and Microsoft, which already has a set-top box in xBox).
Silicon Valley is betting huge on TV content streaming and gaming.
Porn-friendly monitors?
Responses and clarifications on the CSIRO patent lawsuits:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/04/op-ed.ars
I would say that, in general, sales tax (VAT, etc) caused the need for pennies in the first place. Not because of the need to collect tax on items purchased -- but because of how it's calculated. Most items are advertised with a price before adding tax. There are places like my local Starbucks where all prices include tax and are multiples of $0.05. So they already have zero need to handle pennies.
Get state and local governments to price things with tax included and you'll end up with the ability to price things to come out exactly what you intended. I think you'll also see more pricing set to whole dollars. What a concept -- charge $10.00 instead of trying to convince people that $9.99 is somehow not ten bucks.
E = MC ** 2 +- 3db
