Supporting net-metering requires adding additional complexity to all the billing, customer service, and other IT systems at a utility.
That leads to more things to build and test when making changes to those systems -- the cost of which could be very much out of proportion with the number of customers who have net-metering.
The supply of good writers is only a factor if you assume that the supply of ebooks is limited by the production of new books.
We've reached a point where the current supply of existing content exceeds the average person's lifespan by several orders of magnitude.
If authors were to stop writing books tomorrow, there would be no shortage of books available to read. The world might be at a loss, but the supply would still be far greater than the ability of readers to consume.
Sounds to me like a pretty clear case where something like this really needs to be balanced by heavy penalties for stripping metadata without permission.
Reminds me of an issue I've had with some intersections while driving.
The sign says "Left turn only on green".
The light changes to flashing red after 11pm.
Taken literally, the sign would seem to require waiting until morning.
creating an image
Wouldn't geo-tagging photos be considered having "assistance" from a satellite?
I'd tried accessing a 401k account with JP Morgan a while back and had to call their 800 #.
Interestingly enough, their voice system asked for my password. Not only had they dropped case out the window, but for each character in the password they'd also managed to condense from 3 letters and 1 number down to just 1 number.
Quite a while back I came across the following two rules for development:
1. The code written by the guy who came before is junk.
2. Eventually you will be "the guy who came before".
Rule #1 tends to work because it's rare to be unable to find some way to improve code when you come back to it again with more experience or a fresh perspective.
Rule #2 helps keep you humble.
And two things I have to say:
1) If you get the least bit motion sick, don't go see it at the high frame frate in 3D. Normally I don't, even when seeing IMAX/OMNIMAX, but this film I did.
As a counter point, I went on Friday with my sister and another friend who are prone to feeling motion sickness when watching 3d movies.
They both found that with the HFR actually made the movie as a whole easier to watch. (For my sister in particular, it was the first 3d movie she'd been able to watch without feeling motion sick throughout.)
They did, however, have some vertigo from some of the pan shots looking downward.
And the rich could probably avoid being taxed on some stuff by attending more company promotional and marketing events. You'll still get them on private dinners at expensive restaurants etc, but not on the big ticket items - yachts, planes, maybe even property (Disney won't have to pay tax on Disneyland, the tax is just on the people buying the tickets right?).
Haven't you just described things being flipped? In your corporate yacht scenario the individual doesn't get taxed, but the company pays tax when they purchase the yacht.
In the Disneyland example, they're being taxed on the materials for every new ride they build, the fabric for the costumes they buy, etc.
If you're going to be leaving drawings out where they'll be exposed to sunlight, whether or not the inks are light fast is going to be important if you want to use your drawings in the future.
Some cheap pens will fade rapidly and be difficult to read (especially for thin lines) in a matter of months.
(As a note, this is why I tend to stick to pencil)
There's also the finding that many types of thermal paper contain much larger amounts of BPA than food packaging:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/07/28/study-finds-bpa-in-store-receipts-health-effects-as-yet-unclear/
Would be interesting if the link between obesity and eating fast food was only partly due to the food itself and partly due to handling the receipts.
- Bring US patent law in line with other countries
- Emphasize just how much easier we're making it for inventors in other countries to file in the US
- Add a little more to US patent law
- Put pressure on other countries to follow our lead
- Wake up and all the world has adopted our model
Each of those examples calls for more than just a barometer:
a) Measure the height of the barometer, and carefully laying it end to end on the side of the building, find how many barometer-lengths high the building is.
Requires the barometer, some type of measurement device, and a ladder or other way of scaling the building.
b) Measure the length of the shadow of the barometer and the length of the shadow of the building. Using proportions, work out the height of the building
Requires the barometer and some type of measurement device.
c) Locate the custodian of the building. Say to him, 'If you tell me how high your building is, I'll give you this barometer".
Requires the barometer and a custodian.
What pet store would have a rent-a-dog program?
It's at least been tried:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/nyregion/30dogs.html
Though apparently they ran into problems (not due to liability, though):
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/07/28/a-dog-for-a-day.html
My neighbor's dog come into my yard and damage my yard...my neighbor has to pay for restitution
Except Monsanto didn't plant it or own the original seed, a neighboring farmer did. If your neighbor's dog digs up your yard, the dog's owner is liable, not the pet store where he bought it.
Except from Monsanto's perspective the neighboring farmer doesn't own the seed -- he just licenses it.
Say we modify the analogy a little -- assume the neighbor's dog is attacking someone in your yard.
If the pet store knows the dog has a history of attacking people and rents the dog to your neighbor without telling him of the dog's history, who should be liable when the dog attacks someone?
"Experience has proved that some people indeed know everything." -- Russell Baker
