Beta was superior to VCRs but it didn't catch on either. And Beta wasn't encumbered with frustrating and illconceived DRM "features". I'm in no hurry to run out and spend hard earned money on something that will not work with the rest of my stuff just so some fat cat can get richer.

And I would not go back if you paid me more!
Ok, it was kind of forced upon me. I got laid off and the best job I could get as the job market started to tank was a telecommuting job for a company that had no offices. It had to take a $20K salary cut but I was employed when my peers were not and was able to make ends meet. I'm still not back to my former salary but frankly, I'm turning down better offers just because I'd have to commute ~2 hours a day.

What's two hours of your life worth?
Aside from day care costs (which I have none), or the cost of commuting, or your pay rate... What is your time worth?

What is your blood pressure worth?
Getting in urban traffic and fighting with idiots with licenses to endanger lives is not my idea of a healthy endeavor. Forget about the financial cost of fuel, insurance, payments... driving is stressful!

I could go on and on but then I'd just be a bore. There is certainly a down side that should not be ignored. Telecommuting is not for everyone. It takes more self discipline than most of my former co-workers have (you are the only one keeping you off facebook all day). The hardest discipline is actually ending your work day. When the computer is just around the corner it's all to easy to "Just do that one task that's bothering you". I think the hardest part is a lack of social interaction. Try not talking to anyone at work about non work stuff for the next month (I give most of you a week at best). It's easy and healthy to chat over the cube walls while still tuning an ugly bit of SQL code. you don't get that opportunity when telecommuting. Chatting with your co-workers over IM about last night's game takes your attention away from your task resulting in longer less productive days so you eventually stop doing it (or go looking for a new job). Lately, I've taken to absconding the company conference line when not in use just so we can chat over the virtual cubicle walls. My boss would surely shit if he knew but I see it as a mental health hour.

I've been at the ass end of several transfers where I was told by my client (selling their web site) not to change the contact information since that would hold up the transfer. In all but one of these situations the new owners simple left me as the contact (in violation of ICAN policy). When the domains come up for renewal they will change only the billing contact and leave me as everything else.

I'm not really concerned that LEA is mining social web sites for intelligence.

What's really concerns me here is the lack of accountability for incompetence demonstrated here. Yes, I expect there to be disciplinary action taken but I fear it's no more than a statement in their next performance review. Here on the far side of the pond, if search and rescue is called out for me (even if I'm not lost) I get billed for the event. These bills can be tens of thousands of dollars. Perhaps we should start billing incompetent officers for the cost of their mistakes. Yes there needs to be due process and perhaps officers that get a warrant from the courts before making these raids can be indemnified.

You should be able to pick up basic components on the cheep or free if you scrounge, I'm talking old can transistors, LEDs and resistors. You may also be able to lay hands on some project boards by asking around for donations.

With this box and some batteries each student should be able to make basic logic circuits. That is, Have them actually make a flip-flop. Have them get together and hook up their individual flip-flop circuits into gates. This gives them an appreciation for what digital logic does and how to combine it to make more complex circuits. You also get an opportunity to discuss state logic and have them make simple state machines other than flip flops. (adder, counter, timer...)

What they're learning for this physics module:
    Ohms law (biasing the transistors)
    Semi-Conductor materials science
        Why different kinds of transistors need to be
        hooked up in different ways to do the same thing.
    Interface Design (how to make it so their circuits work together)
    Digital vs Analog logic (review of pre-digital systems)

It's cool, re-usable, relevant to their world, and you can complete the module in less than a week.

http://www.dnots.com/ - Best $10 spent this year!
and I don't even mind that shipping cost more than the media.

While I'm thinking about it...
I'll send another letter to my legislature asking why they have not demanded RIAA be investigated by DOJ...
Hell, even Uncle Bill had more scruples than those shysters.

I would rather pay this artist $10 for blank media than risk letting one Shekel of my money finding it way in to the greedy hands of those shysters at RIAA or their clients!

JMB 'Executive' Summary

A packaged cable from any vendor still has a ~2% failure rate even with the 900% markup.
Even a 'perfect' cable installed with incompetence will fail 100% of the time.

If You hired a professional to install your network perhaps you should trust his judgment...
You did hire a professional didn't you?

BINGO!

It's not about managing their network infrastructure. Their own numbers show network load is far below capacity. This is about new revenue streams AND strengthening their monopoly on your access to data and services. I'm complaining again to my elected officials as soon as I hit save here.

Cable has far outgrown the need for protection from regulation, Let them pay the same fees to government that coper and fiber carriers do ans see if they're still competitive. If it looks like a public utility and acts like a public utility it should be managed as a public utility! No More Exemption!

Agree with most of what Elvind says. Where he is wrong is that two 15 year olds sleeping with each other IS consent in all US states. For that matter, two 13 year olds sleeping together IS consent. In most states the two participants need to me more than 24 months difference in age for Non Consent laws to apply.

What I want to know is why the over zealous prosecutors are not charged with child abuse for subjecting these kids to this kind of treatment. These cases serve only one purpose. Generating free publicity for the up coming election cycle. I see these cases as sexual exploitation of children for political gain.

Remember District Attorney George Skumanick and vote him out next election. His behavior here is reprehensible.

Here is another example of western mobile carriers stifling innovation. It does not matter if the Dell platform was boring or not. It's up to the market to decide, NOT the carriers. It's time for the carriers to be required (as a Public Utility) to open their access rules. Locked devices and exclusive contracts are creating artificially high prices for wireless and blocking device manufacturers from entering the market on a level playing field. They have no problem operating in other countries that do not allow these practices but decry the fate of their industry when lawmakers suggest they open up here. I say Bull Shit! Let them compete by offering better coverage and services and not on who has the coolest gadget maker locked into an exclusive contract. US falls way behind other countries in wireless quality and diversity.

Young people don't think they can go in the streets and do anything they like because they listen to rap or play violent games. Young people go in the streets and commit violent crime because they feel frustrated and disenfranchised by the actions of the aristocracy and self righteous people like Richard Taylor! It's an act of rebellion against candy coated repression.

If you want to do something about the problem of violent street youth. Open a resource center providing services to homeless and disenfranchised youth. And for God sakes, stop listening to idiots like Richard Taylor.

This year I was able to join the ranks of Yet Another Generator User in my neighborhood. We live in a fairly rural area of Southern Maine so we were black for 8 days this season. As a telecommuter this was particularly painful. While the furnace is 120V the well is 240V and the furnace will not run if there is no water service.

When we were dark last season I found myself whining to my father about no power, heat, water. He informed me that he had an old Chicago Power 40411 portable generator he no longer used because it made so much noise all the other campers kept giving him dirty looks and rude comments whenever he fired it up. A couple weeks later I found box with generator parts in my driveway. It took some fussing but I finally got it running. Cost: three weekends of small engine repair and my pride.

On the first day of darkness this season my wife asked why I had not actually hooked up that generator so we could have heat and water. Um, so a few hours later and a trip to HD I added a HEMA L14-30 outlet near the cellar window and 20ft of 30A extension cord. Cost: $130 in parts, 5 hours, my manhood.

The key here is that the generator has a 4 connector outlet and is rated at 5.5kW @ 240V. This allows me to run both sides of the circuit breaker panel. So long as I remember to open the main breaker switch. Fortunately my main switch as 3 contact (red, white, black) so when it's open I'm isolated from the grid. I'm told this is not always the case so if you're going to back feed your circuit breaker panel like I did you need to check this or have an electrician install a cross over switch. Cost: ~$300 installed. While I don't need this I'm having my electrician friend come over and help me put it in so I'm code compliant.

I can't stress the safety of this enough. Back feeding a circuit panel is handy but can be dangerous. I put the plug I use on a separate thermal magnetic breaker with ground fault. The generator runs outside, under an awning behind the shed so we don't get exhaust gas back in the cellar. I'm installing a separate cross over switch so I can't get electricity from it unless I'm isolated from the utility grid.

That said, this little puppy has enough umph to run the well and furnace and a few lights. I get about 3 hours per gallon of gas which is less than ideal but this is a backup system that might see 2% usage. Unfortunately the power is not clean enough to run my home office. I have 4 systems on a 2kVA UPS to do Enterprise Software Development. Unfortunately, the UPS didn't like the generator's power and kept shutting off when the well kicked in. I ended up using a little Honda generator to drive my office that week.

Every time I see one of those 22kW propane generators with auto start outside HD my heart skips a beat and my trousers get a little tight but then I look at the price tag and think; Yea, for a few days a year I need this I can live with my hand me down generator a little longer.

My advice. keep an eye on craig's list this summer and pick up a cheap used generator. Get your electrician friend to help you install a cross over switch and the big extension cord. Shove the thing in the back of the garden shed and sleep easier knowing it's there.

It well may be that George W is the first president prosecuted for High Crimes and Misdemeanors after leaving this office of President. At least, I hope so.
I must take responsibility for my part in this travesty. I was angry and wished to unleash the dogs well supplied with cans of whoop-ass. I knew GW was a slime ball when I re-elected him but I wanted revenge (not retribution or justice) upon the fears in my mind. Now matters are worse.

I am responsible for cleaning up this mess I helped create with my vote. Fortunately, I have a strong Constitution. It's power lies in it's endurance and slow methodical workings. Our founding father's knew there was no way to prevent whack jobs like GW from taking control of a country. History is re pleat with examples. What they did was prevent them from holding power for long and ensuring that they could not permanently damage "This bold experiment". As these gag orders are lifted we'll learn the extent of the damage caused. Hopefully, our outrage will not be tempered by the fear and grief of September. I for one am demanding accountability for criminal acts.

If you'll excuse me now, I have to write my representatives and light a fire under their collective ass.