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Comment Re:Oh happy day (Score 1) 449

Telco's have no interest in selling new hardware except as a means to attract new subscribers. Most smartphones sold in North America are heavily subsidized by the carrier, meaning they *lose* money every time they "sell" a new phone. The only people in North American telcos who will be upset at the loss of the upgrade imperative will be their marketing department - they'll lose their easiest grab on people's attention.

Comment Re:The myth that they want to "collect the oil" (Score 1) 593

uh...

revenue from 1000 barrels of oil they are collecting with their "straw" = $70,000/day

Cost to BP in the last 30 days for cleanup, drilling, etc = $33 million/day (http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2010/05/13/bp-cause-and-effect/)

Cost to BP if they don't get this sorted ASAP and scenes of oil slicked beaches up the eastern seaboard galvanize support to ban offshore drilling = priceless

I'm sorry but the idea that the "straw" is any sort of attempt to goose revenue from this situation is ludicrous.

As poster said, this hole is toast and everyone knows that. It cannot be rehabilitated or repaired.

Comment warned? (Score 1) 585

I fail to see why toll roads are a bad thing. The license plate photo idea has privacy and authentication concerns, but the economic case is rock solid.

I drive and I have driven on toll roads. Drivers, including myself, need to pay their way, that means as roads (supply) stay static, and demand (drivers) increase, prices to use those roads should go up high enough to either encourage more supply (infrastructure investment and/or private roads) and discourage demand (people realizing that cars suck).

There is a planned parking change in my city to have variable parking pricing. The price will continue to go up, until 15% of spaces are free at any given time. I think it's fabulous and should be applied to all drivers as some sort of traffic/congestion fee. Based on size of vehicle and continually jacked up until traffic decreases to your city's target level.

Everytime I've driving a toll road it's been a pleasure, as the high price kept traffic down and it was immaculately maintained. I would prefer to see all roads toll roads, it would be the fastest way to:
- reducing / eliminating traffic deaths
- reducing pollution
- eliminating congestion
- eliminating noise pollution
- eliminating road rage
- increase health/exercise

Bug

New Type of Fatigue Discovered in Silicon 108

Invisible Pink Unicorn writes "Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have discovered a phenomenon long thought not to exist. They have demonstrated a mechanical fatigue process that eventually leads to cracks and breakdown in bulk silicon crystals. Silicon — the backbone of the semiconductor industry — has long been believed to be immune to fatigue from cyclic stresses because of the nature of its crystal structure and chemical bonds. However, NIST examination of the silicon used in microscopic systems that incorporate tiny gears, vibrating reeds and other mechanical features reveals stress-induced cracks that can lead to failure. This has important implications for the design of new silicon-based micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) devices that have been proposed for a wide variety of uses. The article abstract is available from Applied Physics Letters."
Announcements

Submission + - SDF Public Access UNIX System Celebrates 20 Years (lonestar.org)

Stephen Jones writes: "The SDF Public Access UNIX System Celebrates 20 Years!
http://sdf.lonestar.org/

It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at
300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public
Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the
"Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest
and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet."

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