Posts by dssf 1750 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Aug 2010
But, clients ARE cattle: they get prodded, led around, feed what the sales engineer wants, they eat, they breath, they spew flatch, the burp, and they become the meal for the company taking them out to pasture. Some are "serviced" ("serviced", as in the pre-70's term, as in impregnating the animal) as test beds and alternative market mouths, and some are udderly milked to the bone.
Hahahaha, I dare say customers ARE cattle. They just THINK they are in control.
If a business model COMPELS people to do something against their wishes, or leaves them no out, or cuts them off from information, then why would that NOT be evil.
Advertisers who cannot penetrate need to find a better way to reach people rather than rely on or pressure Google to wholesale screw over those of us who want or need the ability to keep our devices stable, junk-free, and our concentration undisturbed. What's next, advertisers demanding to interrupt our non-querying sessions to force us to "inject" or "inhale" the adverts?
Korean:
무아 하, 하, 하
Chinese Simplified:
穆阿哈哈哈哈
Chinese Traditional:
穆阿哈哈哈哈
Traditional to Japanese:
MUAハッハッハ . The actual google translate app gives a hellatioously funny audio representation in Japanese, though... Listening to the Chin/Trad audio from Swahili is funny, too.
Toggling that to Chinese to Chinese Simplified is literal letter pronounciation, but is funny nevertheless.
I had to break up muahahaha to grouped syllables because gt could not parse it on its own.
Sigh... There must be 15,000 Chinese of various nationalities working for google. With all that 12%-15% time google allows key employees to pursue personal endeavors, one'd think that SOMEone in there would clean up the colloquial glitches in gt...
Is there any utility capability in these batteries for Boeing? Sounds like Boeing could string a dozen or so of these along the lower bay and have them power all sorts of things... Maybe they coud even be under a membrane on the skin of the fuselage so if they cause problems, just do a fly-by-wire yank and jettison the cap. Or, if it is not self-fueling, self-consuming, just kill the wire feeds.
Well, probably because it all sounded so.... "kewlllll".
But, I thought this would be more like a "chill, peel", as in freezing the phone, and then peeling back the layers of an encryption chip or component. Interesting article... Umm, I meant "kewl" article...
Will FB make a page and then promptly program a "Like" button to be "pressed" with 6,000,000,000 likes and 1 dislike?
If it does, it might see an enhancement to the lawsuit against it:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9862887/Facebook-sued-over-Like-button-patent.html
Sorry... Could... Not... Re... Zist...
This will be an interesting Journey for Apple:
(the lyrics are from memory, so, bear with me)
"It's been a MYSTERY
But STILL they TRY to SEE
HOW something GOOD could hurt so BAD
Caught on a ONE-WAY STREET
The TASTE of BITTERsweet
LOVE will SURVIVE SOMEhow, SOMEway....
Could also throw a few stanzas from Foreigner's "Urgent", hehehe...
Of course, if Apple throws around about US $600M, the lyrics could apply to the trademark holder AND the government of Brazil..
Not that Google needs the money, but suppose Google begins offering limited flights access (not enough to be commercial) to exclusive first-class fliers. Granted, there may not be frequent-flier miles and perks, but Google could probably do something like this:
Book a flight with us, and fly faster and more luxuriously if we're along or close enough to your route. What's the catch? You pay for the flight, but the money goes to charity, mostly 501 (c) 3, and to schools near your typical destination.
Then, Google could:
-- currry favor with those schools to buy Android-based tablets
-- set up physical Google Labs academies or "boot camps" of sorts
-- win affection of small nearby towns that get a boost in some way if creativity expands their way...
WTH did they not just offer to upgrade the NASA/ex-USN facilities?
The traffic access/exit is probably superior, and it would mean execs coming and going could probably be processed faster, since previous USN traffic purportedly had enough volume to competed with SJC.
I guess NASA/AMES was not as prestige-loaded. Hell, Google could probably have built their own Space:1999-like transport tube to get to the campus/es, lol!
Scary because if they can pull off SAAS in Windows, then, they can in real time screw around with emulators, especially with those running Win inside of Linux, and can disrupt those who are using short-lived installs of Windows as test beds, where for test beds, nobody in their right mind is going to pay (willingly) for testbed installs that are restored at the push of a button.
Worse than worse, this revives the decade-ago-or-so fear that MS could in almost-real-time snoop on people rather than potentially snoop at random, uncontrolled update times.
OTOH, maybe MS won't bugger up Linux installs running VMWare or VirtualBox -- it would be a HUGE PR disaster if caught masterminding, funding, or facilitating such a thing.
Then, there is the possibility that those who refuse to go SAAS might just get "crippled" versions of Windows, ones that work fine for some software, but mysteriously cranky or cantankerous for other apps, at random times, miraculously solved by "SAAS -- With Live Bug Killing and Slipstreamed Performance Enhancers"...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space:_Above_and_Beyond
I hope that this disgusting debacle causes a resurgence of airing of older, popular shows. Space: Above and Beyond was one I liked back in the 90s. See the subject "Production" to learn of the inspirations for S:A&B.
Also, see:
http://www.cyberpursuits.com/heckifiknow/saab/
And, what if someone aquires rights to write in the Universal Soldier property, but posit that they are updates in the year 2045, quelling uprisings and dealing with other sorts of things. It could be a blend of Aliens and Outland and other shows. Of course, they won't attack the big labels. Attacking smaller companies and individuals is just unctuous and cowardly. Someone should write of the BSG Colonial Marines quelling security and resurces issues on outer rim planets. That would put an end to this bullshit. With the reimagined BSG blended with the older BSG, but with references to Blood and Chrome, and with other BSG offshoots, but with the Colonial Admiralty running their own bio-cybernetics experiments (destined to go wrong), the Colonies could face troubles with Colonial Marines battling with rogue Admiraly machines...
Please ask the device makers how much it might cost to replicate a 1/350 scale model ship of, say, a destroyer or submarine, and a 1/72 airplane. It could give an idea of what THEY know their machines will do. The calculator is fine, but we need to know that the manufacturers of the devices know. Otherwise, the article really just seems to be a revisit/review. Nice, and informative, but doesn't help me since I want to figure out replicating airplanes and ships, what I can expect to expend, recoup, and charge.
But, these devices seem great for prototyping things like tablet and phone stands, tablets, future laptop designs, mugs, camera chassis, and so on, even bottles, bottle, and kitchen utensils. Not for actual use, but something to hold or manipulate before going to a mold maker or manufacturer who might hold inordinate leverage over entrepreneurs.
Nice devices!
Say WHAT? INT WTF?
How long before they and otherrs bribe government to coerce banks and credit unions to coerce people to sign up with "their facebook accounts"? Suppose they don't "hav" one, or refuse to use it? This is insidious and odious. WTF happened with the registration of dev apps via a direct tool of the dev, not a social site?'
I guess devs will have to create a dev account that is strictly business, not connected to personal.
Soon, ms will be deluged with, "Do you know a developer named "Basterdx"? We think you do. Would you like to upgrade your Sleuth account to see more information of "Basterdx"? Like us too!
http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/5/3603120/samsung-ativ-smart-pc-att-november-9-799
http://m.samsung.com/us/computer/tablet-pcs/XE700T1A-A01US
I saw one of these in Korea months ago, and I just saw one in SF a few nights ago. On the recent one, I saw a developer programming stuff on one. I didn't ask her what exactly she was programming, but she had a pen or wand, and was doing stuff on two on-screen keypads.
That device is cheaper than RT, if RT is really around $1100. But, then, the Samsung device in the first link is $1,099.99. I have not compared specs.
If a tablet finally gets to 17" so I can continue doing my CAD stuff, I'd be happy -- as long as it comes with a keyboard, supports and won't brick due to installation of Linux, and supports VirtualBox. 7lbs of 15" laptop is becoming wearying.
I saw an RT or something like it from MS, at Best Buy, and despite it being from MS, I felt it was reasonably attractive, and I am someone who generally will deride MS in certain cases. So, if MS is facing this much non-traction, I wonder how much of it is just bad karma, and not simply going opposite of the market. I certainly am not one of those in the 7" tablet market.
One of the staffers or interns must be a US football fan of a certain San Fransideshow team...., why not just say, "5,000", as the actual number will surge then ebb, then rise again for various reasons (payrolls, basing, housing costs, transportation, reassignments, automation, de-automation, etc...)?
You probably can/may use the comma before "but", but, then, "I'd probably place a comma after "but" and after "case" in my case, hehhehe.
Three things I really despise in written English:
-- intransigent, unforgivable failure (especially in news and other media) to place a comma in between the last and next to last clause in a sentence, which would prevent the stupid appearance that an "and" joins two clauses that are really items of a list
(Ministry of Land, Water and Power" to my mind is horribly flawed. It should read "Ministry of Land, Water, and Power" since it is fairly clear/likely that Water and Power are two distinct agencies within a government structure. "The suspects were detained due to possession of illegal narcotics, weapons and unattributable cash and credit cards" should read: "The suspects were detained due to possession of illegal narcotics, weapons, and unattributable cash and credit cards." Even better, to reduce confusion, it shoud read: "The suspects were detained due to possession of weapons, illegal narcotics, and unattributable cash and credit cards." That would remove the danger/risk that the modifier "illegal" in "illegal narcotics" could somehow apply to "weapons", which may or may not be illegal in this instance -- particularly since there would be a difference in suspects being detained while carrying modeling or sculpting knives versus carrying 250-lb force crossbows and 45 poison-tipped arrows...)
-- intransigent, and inexcusable refusal to separate paragraphs with white space or a whole line
(These days, despite "tradition" and "custom", there is really NO excuse to not make it easier for readers to read, and font sizes can be easily reduced to fit text onto a slightly smaller body of paper.
I have so much f*cking trouble trying to correct my Asian (generally Korean) friends who do this. Dunno where they learned it, but is is troublesome and forces a reader to intellectually figure out where a new topic is introduced when a paragraph's last sentence is too close to the end of the block of text, making a string of paragraphs appear as a huge, insurmountable sea of letters.)
-- confusion between "then" and "than"
(Imagine the humor in some cases.
"I'd rather eat a teaspoon of sh*t then do drugs." Oh, so, such a person would rather do BOTH, but not ONE. Nevermind that there is no comma inserted for effect between "sh*t" and "then", hahahaha
"It is faster to run then walk." Oh, really? )
But, who am I? I commit grammar errors, too.
Well, the IRA might delight in infusing Arabic with Gaelic, Welsh, and limerics.... With mandatory use of the fax tone as punctuation and pause indicators...
Wait... I think the NSA is with Section 31 to arrest me before this post completes...
How Quattro Pro got it's name?
I used to work with/for a former Ashton Tate/Borland employee/refugee and he told me it was a pun on "1-2-3", by using Spanish... Uno, Dos, Tres... Quatro, but they used two "t"s in the name. What a witty/comical use of a pun in a product name. Pity not many people caught on to the joke/pun without help.... Anyway, it was envisaged that Quattro Pro would decimate or supplant 1-2-3. History tells us...
WOW! That's got me laughing heartily for this day's start. I forgot all about the fact that people bought add-on cards JUST to get more columns. I am thinking that that is a separate issue from just getting more screen real estate. Am I recalling correctly?
Takes me back to the days of going to a BB to download the latesst Spider Graphics drivers. Ahh, the earlier days...
Word Pro is still pretty good. Of course, since so much time has passed that IBM/Lotus have done any justice to SmartSuite (aside from "maintenance mode" updates/patches/bug fixes), even OpenOffice.org's Write has some things I wish LWP had.
I love the default color scheme, and I love the tabs. Also, to me, the greatest feature of LWP is the ability to create "divisions", or in-file links or imports/embeds/inserts of external files. Having the tabs makes it a cinch to see what is going on. Also kewl is the ability to drag tabs (of other insterted documents that form "divisions") into other tabs. (To be honest, I have not made use of "Sections" becuase "Divisions" visually suit my workflow better, even though I know sections have a purpose... I just never quite wrapped my mind around Sections, and stuck with Divisions.)
As for WYSIWYG, in Lotus Approach and Lotus Word Pro, it is really nice to have not only WYSIWYG in the normal view, but in the various "Special Views" Word Pro offers: "PageWalker", "Panorama", "DocSkimmer", and "Zoomer". These helped make outstandingly excellent use of limited 14" displays of the earlier days, and are still even quite very useful for me on 17" and 22" displays. These views let the user drag and drop between panes and sychronize them. Not that that in itself is unique, but how it is done in LWP is slick and fun. More importantly that it being fun, it makes it vastly superior to most if not other word processing apps to see the page flow AND be able to read it without having to actually invoke print preview. That is a time saver.
A modern day update to that feature would include, to my mind, a left-or-right-side pane to do file overviews. Another would be to increase the lenght of text in the tabs. They should move or slide faster.
This making me angry.... I am fawning and waxing and waning over a product that deserves to be brought up to date in it's current form (mostly), and not transmogrified into Symphony. I realize and appreciate that the currrent Symphony may be IBM's/Lotus' backdoor way to give SmartSuite a rebirth and avoid patent litigation (purportedly, IBM and Lotus cannot "find" or "locate" the presumably still alive co-inventors of or rights-holders in SmartSuite, making it untenabler for IBM to release the code for updating.
The ability to edit the values in a cell simply by dragging a control point on a line chart. No other spreadsheet app I have used can do that. I wish 1-2-3 could do that.
I still use 1-2-3 as well. I also make heavvvvy use of Lotus Approach. I wish that Mitch Kapoor and Sue Sloan would team up and just take Approach off of IBMs hands, or cajole IBM into allowing them to fork it. If they could pull that off, and if Mitch still has any "startup mode" fire in him, I'd begggggggggggg him to do it. I have a screenplay app that I started building in 2006 and I am terrified to open it up to the public because it does a number of things that NONE of the other screenplay apps does. I would only trust opening that up to Julian Smart (of Anthemion Software, the writer developer of StoryLines, along with his wife Harriet), Sue Sloan, and Mitch. Too bad they are too busy, or I am a poor presenter, or have poor posting history and the like. If I knew how to program, or could win a lottery, I could just pay someone to mimic Approach and some of 1-2-3, then totally re-write my screenplay app and spin it out as OS-agnostic, Linux-Mac-Win friendly, no registry bullshit, but only proper app-and-user-folder-activation constraints with a distinc activation code based on installation hash results and user/licensee name (so the user could install it on multiple machines owned by him/her).
I am debating opening up my app this year, but I don't want to do it half-assed. The only way to non-half-ass it is if I had help from people such as the three I named, especially since if Approach were forked and made Linux-native, the existing and new users would all benefit from all the reasons Approach won awards in the 90s. The user forums (aside from bugs and workarounds) would still be highly useful to old and new users. And, a new and improved Approach, maybe borrowing bits of 1-2-3, would be like some of the earlier attempts of Lotus Symphony of the old days, where it was experimenting with what I called a spreadbase or datasheet -- except that such an endeavor would benefit from today's experience. (Would be nice for me if I could write wxWidgets...)
1-2-3 and Approach combined, however, make a very powerful database app, but asking users to install all of SmartSuite, or 1-2-3 and Approach would be too much, so, some things 1-2-3 would have offered had to be left out, and since I don't do Lotus Script, my Approach-based apps are all 100% Approach, but non-portable, no standalone executable, and so on.
Actually, around 2006, I think I wrote Mitch Kapoor, but without reviewing the email I cannot recall what, if any, response I got. I wrote Julian Smart, but, understandably, he was reluctant, as it is sometimes easy to be burned in collaborating with others, and he did not want to undergo that again. I have not directly asked Sue, but I think I was put off by the fact that IBM would not let her buy Approach and rejuvenate it. With IBM holding back, it seems the only way to bring the power AND simplicity of Approach out would be to clone it just shy of being sue-able by IBM. But, then it would still be great to tie in 1-2-3, since:
-- Approach text/data fields cannot handle italicized text
-- Approacch cannot handle Unicode, so, no Korean or Japanese characters (except Japanese in SuperBase, which is so localized to Japan it doesn't merit being called "Approach", hence SuperBase...)
-- Approach has no sliders on the detail tables/repeating panels
-- Approach fields or button controls cannot be collapsed or hidden except through LotusScript or tricky forms switching (sleight of hand, not elegant)
-- Approach lacks some 1-2-3 benefits
Sigh...
-- Because common words appear too often
-- Possibly fb are not using normalized tables, meaning that if they for some bizarre reason are not using linkable columns, then keywords in a sea of words won't help distinguish a "the" in one area from another. SCUBA gear in the about me might misinterpreded in a blog vs a commentary....
What is the weight of the older battery arrangement?
As for the savings Boeing is highlighting, is that over a flight or per aircraft lifetime?
Considering how much junk and extra luggage passengers can still get onboard, I wonder how much difference it is in using the new batteries.
Did not Saddam Hussein's people use cell phone towers to detect low-level stealth or other aircraft passing through valleys and in other areas?
I don't know what it would take to look down and mesh images with up-looking and beam-side-looking sensors, but, eventually this will lead to detecting so-called invisible aircraft.
As for flak, mentioned earlier, make acoustic or sonic flak. Maybe drones or missiles can vector out to an anomaly, then humans assessing the purported object could decide to lob acoustic explosives out toward the perimeter of the object to screw with the sonics. Or, just lob explosive dye markers of the radioactive kind, like radioactive, flourescent dye to make them trackable. Once they realize they've been found, but not actually killed, they'll probably bug out/bugger off.
Maybe there is an electronic version just the same, except once waves come back all out of sort, then sensing antenna could try to bathe the anomaly in increasingly hotter waves or beams if it is close enough to the antennal. Otherwise, it could cooperatively slave other radars to it to set up fire control freqs and prompt the anomaly to go hot and expose itself. Won't expose everything out there, but could give pause to the researchers.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/07/19/google-doesnt-know-what-to-do-with-its-money-but-dell-does/
Google could REALLY (even moreso than with Chromebooks, laser goggles, etc.) be in the hardware business if it buys up Dell:
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/a-show-and-tell-with-googles-hardware/
http://mobile.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-22/its-official-google-is-now-a-hardware-company
But, what would Google do with Alienware?
I would love to "Cynaogenmod" my galaxy tab 10.1, Korean market version, but I was told (by a guy who modded his mobile of the same model as mine multiple times, but is wholly uncomfortable modding some of the galaxy tab devices) it would become a brick.
I have to mod it to get any sort of firewall, IDS, and other tools onto it. For now, I give in, which is what google and other parties want.
But, in China, China cannot indefinitely allow widespread use the stock version if it wants to effectively and invasively control or monitor all the phones out there using Android or even iOS.
IIUC, China is the ONLY market where Apple conceded to government demand to modify the phones. But, such could be claimed about South Korea, Israel, the UK, and other countries...
Key thingy? I have a friend in China who is a foreigner, and he does all his banking via the RNG/lookup thingy. Even if his phone is cloned or the SIM card is cloned, the attackers still need a bit more to compromise him or his banking funds.
Now, for how long this remains so, I have no idea.
"Illegal" in Canadian Colleges? How can something a college declares illegal carry the weight of effectively banning him from colleges everywhere?
Somebody start a crowdfunding campaing for that student! No, make it two campaigns: one to fund him for self-education so he can later on audit his way out of that university, and a second campaign to fund his legal team.
Maybe a third fund to compel the school to stop acting the way it did. Once he found the hole, they should have plugged it, considering all the privacy info at risk. This is not some leisurely walk in the park to fix, but banking on security through obscurity, and letting the sci-fi named chummy vendor rest on its laurels is something ANY uni should be smacked and impaleld for.
A worse thought came to mind: the hole was engineered to allow privileged other parties (legal or criminal in intent) to backdoor intrude on the students and possibly the rest of the people on the campus. Someone should do a background investigation on the vendor, their relations to the school, and why they carried not enough clout to keep the school off the student's back.
By poking the second time, I think he had every right, since as a member of the campus, his own privacy data and that of friends and possibly faculty, staff, professors, and deans for whom he cared were at risk, too. SO, to my mind, he was exercising due diligence -- provided he was not instrumenting his own back doors or any booby traps. He seems to have wanted to be in a position to compel the school to fix the damned situation. All the money the deans and faculty and their alumni-oriented pet projects suck down, there could have been an emergency borrowing to plug the hole even if it meant using an outside auditor and repair team.
But, people LOVE to cover their own asses and those of their friends, lest those friends become frenemies.
Too bad most crowd funding sites don't seem to make it easy for mass actors to escrow a fund managed by a bank, so that angry people can support someone without having to directly manage the funds. Fire-and-forget funding campaigning should be possible, so long as the recipient is not a terrorist or paedophile or "banned" person who might be the vector of jailing of well-meaning actors.
So, due to someone's lack of imagination, I took a -1 hit on a probability of the battery landing on a roof, not a certainty? If the battery stays IN the plane and fully consumes itself, it could cause (I presume cause or contribute to) structural failure that might lead to lost of control or stability -- depending on where the fire is, what control lines or data lines run by it, and the like. I want to assume that at least one of the batteries would be low enough to burn and fall out (but I am already perilously assuming much as it is), although the engine APU battery might be back in the tail. I dunno. Maybe someone would be kind enough to provide a graphic? I could help straighten me out and aid others, too.
The idea is just the start (and, for all we know, Boeing may have run 3500 location permutation calculations and only accepted what is what is going wrong now).
-- Sacrificial cage falls
-- Cage-mounted Internal GPS takes over (if not burned up yet)
-- Burning cage is vectored away from likely populated areas by vanes
-- Cage Plumets down on projected course, again, assuming the cage is not fully burned up taking the control surfaces with it...
Variation on the theme:
-- Cage falls, battery assy is dangled below it
-- Cage and vanes steer the assy (hopefully without any crazy caternary effects on initial vector)
-- If cage assy burn-up is imminent enough to take out the control surfaces, then a charge blows the battery pack so it hopefuly accelerates in burn up (obviously, the charge itself could be a problem, but if it is a shaped charge, it might limit the radius of the self-destruct, and mabe just a sparkly light show happens with lots of smaller burning bits
I am not an engineer, obviously, but if the burning bits are of high enough altitude (engineers can calculate that; i cannot) they may extinguish before landing on Earth, but hopefully land where there are no population centers.
As far as an intact burning battery landing through the roof, we ALL accept (willingly or grudgingly) that aloft parts might land on us. Others have died from parts or even whole planes, so just what is wrong with my idea if the deaths involved are reduced? Well, changing the location of the deaths changes the actual victims. Maybe it's "playing God", maybe it's triage. But, why should a billion dollar plane (exaggeration, i know) and 300 lives face certain death if the plane is up too high and too far away from a safe landing field, when there is no guarantee that a burning battery will actually hit a house?
Why did Boeing NOT design the battery bay rack to be on a self-sacrificing rail system? Surely, they know the batteries of this type that burn would produce their own oxygen. So, once on fire, they would probably run through their casings. The flame would then burn hold-back clips meant to be sacrificed in the event of fire. The burning unit would drop out, down a chute guiding it out of the plane.
But, that idea definitely involves even MORE engineering -- either the skin of the fuselage has to be able to break away without tearing adjacent paneling, or a chute has to have a tube opening like the APU does in the tail.
The problem with a chemical suppressant is it might not work fully, or it might add an unacceptable weight penalty. With tthe burn-jettison-self manner, no explosives or ejection systems are needed, so long as gravity is on the side of the self-sacrificing racks and hold-back ties.
QUICK! Somebody patent a design and hold it over Boeing's head. Rememer me, please! I'd be happy to receive just US $30,000. Either Boeing will buy the patent, make their own, or ditch the battery type until it is made safer. Oh, and passengers will pay a few dollars extra for the privilege of having safer, but heavier (HOW MUCH HEAVIER???) batteries.
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Apple-pioneers-installment-plans-in-China-4200804.php
Apple will NOT likely lower prices, since to them that would devalue the upscaleness or premium branding. factors they see around their existence. More likely, Apple will make even MORE money, from earning interest income. And, since it will be offshore, probably it will pay lower taxes if it can find a way to Statesside "administer" the financing and administrative overrhead" while keeping the money in some offshore account. My assumptions in this para, though.
Anyway, from the article...
"Apple pioneers installment plans in China"
""Apple has introduced installment payment plans for buyers of iPhones and MacBook laptops in China as it struggles to compete with low-cost devices in the world's largest computer and mobile-phone market.
Payments on purchases costing from $48 to $4,800 made via the company's Chinese website can be spread over as long as two years, according to the site. The plan, which requires a China Merchants Bank Co. credit card, has fees ranging from zero to 8.5 percent.
Apple is trying to make its products more affordable in China after being surpassed by local suppliers such as ZTE Corp. and Lenovo Group Ltd. in the smartphone market. The iPhone 5, released in China last month, is priced at $850 on Apple's local site, equal to about six weeks' pay for the average urban worker.
"There is an enormous mid-range consumer market that they are not tapping into," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Marbridge Consulting, a Beijing market research firm. "They're trying to figure out how to make products more accessible to that market segment. This is a good step in that direction."
More at the URL
BTW, the Pepper Lunch is in Xuhui. It is in a new mall that recently opened, and it is very nice in the mall. LOTS of food shops, as well as Uniqlo and others from Japan and the USA. Pepper Lunch, IIRC, cost me about US $7 per meal, and the portion is large enough to parse into two servings if you're on a tight budget and have a sealable container (rather than use typical rupturable/pop-open-able types).
In Shanghai, the newer buildings have western-style toilets, but one often needs one's own TP. I recommend taking flushable sanitizer wipes, too, just in case. Be mindful that the doors may or may not have hooks for jackets and bags, and even if so equipped, they are not sturdy enough to support a 25lb backpack. Stalls can be a bit narrow, too. Curiously, in that mall where Pepper Lunch is, operators handle the lifts/elevators, as in the old days. Maybe it provides work, or is added security against wayward teens screwing around with things or engaging in mischief.
Well, hehehe, try on an UNlucky day to import from, say, Colorado, to California a small vehicle or a moving van full of household effects. IF you are diverted to a scale and to a quarrantine area, you'll be asked about pets, plants, meats, aquatic life, etc., that may or may not be part of your haul. IF you answer yes, you may find yourself pulled into an inspection shed or hall. If any items fail inspection (your vehicle, too) or quarrantine requirements, you may have to dispose of the meats, plants, or have them levied a fee for "import". And, CO and CA are in the same country.
I only learned of this in 2000 when driving back from CO to CA after a company business trip, when I used back roads to shoot lots of photos, rather than use the main long distance routes.
BTW, did the immigration/passport people at least complement you on your cunning "One Country" claim? Or were they just low-level functionaries covering their asses in the event of a revenue stamp audit?
McDonalds, KFC, Hanting Inn hotel, and plastic kit models definitely are the same price as in the USA. If you build kit models, go to a model hobby shop in People's Square station in Shanghai. Ship models are NOT cheap there. The "Trumpeter"-made models, especially of modern naval destroyers, cost around USD $30+, some around $60, and IIUC, that is to prevent mass-hoarding and resales outside of China by non-authorized distributors.
Western-style hotels I used, which I actually like MORE than USA-style hotels, have ample electrical outlets, easy-access toilets, glass-walled showers, free-standing wash bowls, remote control of TV as well as the AC unit, and credit-card-style room access. Roughly USD $35-45 per night short stay.
McDonalds was roughly the same price. In fact, McDonalds in SF is criminally more expensive than McDs in Korea. All over SF: Chicken Sandwich with fries, and substituting a milk shake instead of having the soda will generously set one back about $9.17. In Korea, a Shanghai Spice Chicken Sandwich set, having milk shake vic soda is only KRW 5,300. IIRC, in Shanghai, it was roughly Y15-21, depending on size and substitutions.
Thai food in Shanghai was also high, as well as Japanese food. In Shanghai, if you go there, check out Pepper Lunch. Only one in Shanghi, and if your stomach disagrees with the local cuisine, eat at Pepper Lunch, if your pay permits. I ate there 6 or 7 times in under 5 days, and had not one problem. MSG sprinkled liberally over food by street vendors and fixed-shop restaurants wrough havoc on my bowel tract. Pepper Lunch was far to go to, but was well worth itj -- even though I had to ride 20 minutes and walk 10 more to get to it. I understand Pepper Lunch imports all its ingredients. The Japanese Curry place (CoCo?) did not taste nearly as appealing as it would in Japan. Might have been store-specific, but for what I paid, I felt underwhelmed.
As a foreigner, you will find that even Starbucks or McDs, offering "free" wifi will demand your mobile number at the very least. So, even if you think you are MrMs cute-ass and will VPN out, think again. Your phone -- if not set up by some clandestine broker or facilitator -- will be tied to your passport, work visa, or something that will zero in on YOU.
If you bank foreign, be SURE to get one of those RNG devices from your banke BEFORE landing in China. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES use an open router if you value your privacy. Some death-worthy asshole injected him/herself between me and my friend in Korea in the middle of our Google chat. I for once in my life actually wanted to commit full-on murder. It was a surreal feeling. But, i had to accept that *I* chose to use the unsecure router because I *needed* to log in to some certain social site. Turns out that each passing day without fb was a damned blessing, and allowed me to achieve more without that fracking time vampire sucking away hours of my day.
The trains in Shanghai are awesome. Well, most of them. One line is particularly rail-car noisey, but most are newish. They have gasoline and bomb/incendiary detectors because some mental job took gasoline onto a bus and ignited it, reducing the transit bus to a twisted hulking shell. Do NOT be like one of the several local twit assholes who condescended the scanner operators -- that ass scoffed and refused to put his bag onto the scanner. ALL rail stations have them, display signs in multiple languages asking compliance, and the workers are non-intrusive. Or, they are bored, but, they tend to let travelers bring through all sorts of "stufff". I am surprised the USA and ROK do not employ these scanners. Wait.... They might -- the just might be embedded backscatter-types not disclosed to the public, in sensitive stations. WOULD create more jobs for DHLS and the scanner makers, though. Only requires the government staging a few bus-burnings by a "forgotten" cannister, but where SWAT in a "timely" manner uses a "tip" to clear the buses just before a SWAT-triggered or DHLS-triggered ignition. So long as no on dies, it would be a pretty nifty trick. Burn a half-mil bus to the ground a few times and in 4 months cause contracts that circulate a ffew billions of dollars in jobs and manufacturing. But, I die...Ummm, digress.
If you get the runs or have a weak bladder and mustt use the subways, then know that in Shanghai, you need not worry. Sanely, and heart-warmingly, the subways have on-platform toilets. Not necessarily 100% clean, but at leastt it is not something stupid like in SF where you must go up 2 or 3 levels from the platform just to get to the toilet level. IF the station is underground, then the toilet is either outside the paid area, locked, or both, "locked due to heightened security concerns" bullshit of an excuse. If China, with far more domestic terrrorists than the USA can allow u/g toilets in 2 to 3 locations, on platform, in almost every station, then BART/MUNI excuses are either outright lies, or are meant to reduce use of unionized cleaning crews. At LEAST Japan, South Korea, and PRC employ the elderly to sweep, mop, de-litter, and change overhead lighting. (Was impressive in Seoul to see 55+yo Ajummas not only changing lights and cleaning ventilation grilles in the overheads, they also pushed the damned rolling platforms, too.
What amount "half" is to someone's pay check determines how that "one" alters his or her spending habits.
If you sweat a lot, take with you at LEAST one stick per month of your favorite anti-perspirant or deodorant. In Shg, a stick is about US $11 -- and the only place i found it was in that ritzy, pricey, underground mall near Century Plaza. Be careful, though, as Customs might wonder whether you are trying to sell some illegally. But, Ii think that any government that restricts a sweat-maker to one stick per 3 months is insane. Duties on deodorant, used only by foreigners, pushing the price to $12 a stick, a stick that seems intentionally formulated by western companies to run down 2x as fast as the doomestic stick, is outlandish.
If you have to accept a pay cut, then import as household goods (or, demand tthat your prospective employer clears through customs your household or hygiene goods that you SHOULD REFUSE to pay duties on) as essential items and get them exempted from limitations as long as you can demonstrate them. Avoid toothpates having xyletol, or other sugar substitutes in them. You might get the runs if you swallow the stuff. But, at least getting the critical hygienic stuff in means you will save loads of money.
Smog was not terrible in Shg to the point of irritating me. Nights were interesting, as it appears to me that buildings are excessively mulit-color strip illuminated to compensate for the gray/terraforming-dome-like canopy of haze at night. By day, especially with rains, the skies were stunningly clear and it was possible to see more than 4 or 5 miles from 20-30-storeys vantage points.
I have heard of or talked with a few people who claimed they had dual citizenship, having the abilitty to freely travel between each country with whichever passport, work, and so on. I have no way to verify it.
But, if it is false, then there is some sort of duEl citizenship going on, hehehe....
Until this very moment, I never had a response to that cliche. But now...
Oh yes you can: Tap the shell with a syringe, suck out the contents, make omelette, patch shell after filling with density-equivalent.
Now, as for over easy, sunny side up, and similar, where the yolk cannot be malformed....
JKJKJKJK
Are Bob, Alice, and Kate a sort of Hybrid?
Sorry, but this just BEGS for a BSG segue, hehehehe:
"Two protons expelled at each coupling site creates the mode of force, the embryo becomes a fish that we don't enter until a plate, we're here to experience evolve the little toe, atrophy, don't ask me how I'll be dead in a thousand light years, thank you, thank you. Genesis turns to its source, reduction occurs stepwise though the essence is all one. End of line. FTL system check, diagnostic functions within parameters repeats the harlequin the agony exquisite, the colors run the path of ashes, neuronal network run fifty-two percent of heat exchanger cross-collateralized with hyper-dimensional matrix, upper senses, repair ordered relay to zero zero zero zero. (Torn)"
"Gestalt therapy and escape clauses. Throughout history the nexus between man and machine has spun some of the most dramatic, compelling and entertaining fiction. [2]
(Grasping Baltar) Intelligence. A mind that burns like a fire. Find the hand that lies in the shadow of the light. In the eye of the husband of the eye of the cow. [3] "
" Thus will it come to pass. A dying leader will know the truth of the Opera House. The missing Three will give you the Five who come from the home of the Thirteenth. You are the harbinger of death, Kara Thrace. You will lead them all to their end. End of line. (Faith) "
=========
When IT, Legal, HR, the Execs, and the Site Security caught up with him....
"At last, they’ve come for me. I feel their lives, their destinies spilling out before me. The denial of the one true path, played out on a world not their own, will end soon enough. Soon there will be four, glorious in awakening, struggling with the knowledge of their true selves, the pain of revelation bringing new clarity, and in the midst of confusion, he will find her. Enemies brought together by impossible longing, enemies now joined as one. The way forward at once unthinkable, yet inevitable. And the fifth, still in shadow, will claw toward the light, hungering for redemption that will only come in the howl of terrible suffering. I can see them all. The seven, now six [5] , self-described machines who believe themselves without sin, but in time, it is sin that will consume them. They will know enmity, bitterness, the wrenching agony of the one splintering into the many, and then they will join the promised land, gathered on the wings of an angel. Not an end, but a beginning. Come in Major. I've been waiting for you for a long time. "
============
And, just as they escorted him out the door, he had his final line:
"There are secrets within lies, answers within riddles. Lay off the ACS, you betcha Galen. Open your mind and hear what your heart wants to deny. End of line."
Hungry Sean, I gave you a thumbs up because you made me realize what a glaring flaw I made by not considering or positing that he had to know *something* or have decent skills to pull this off.
Actually, IIUC, in the USA, work assignments generally tell employees they must to their own tasks and if unable, seek out their manager or team leaders, etc.
In some countries, like South Korea, an egomaniac in a team might have the swagger and fearsome personality to induce others to produce impressive work, then he (usually a he) submits the work as his own. I have several Korean friends who said they eithr know of or were subjected to this themselves. They despise such people who take the credit and don't share it.
But, in Bob's case, he farmed out work, making those downstream contractors happy.
I wonder how many of his surviving bosses secretly wish they could rehire him and buy him rounds of drinks.
Employee calls boss, faking illness, sniffling, "Sorry, Mr. Smith, I cannot come in today. I've got this terrible cold..."
"Don't worry... BOB can handle it!"
"Who's 'Bob', sir?"
"Don't worry! We've got it COVERED!"
"Wh... Wh... (throat miraculously clears up) I am FEELING BETTER already. I can be in in 15 minutes."
"THAT'S OK. YOU stay home and recover. BOB will handle EVERYthing...."
Well, THAT IT BOB took his employers for an expensive, unaccountable and embarrassing ride.
But, this sort of thing is EXACTLY why management there needs to be called on the carpet, too. How can a star programmer at a presumably well-off company NOT randomly quiz him or drag him in on tough calls to deal with live, on-the-spot, not "I'll get back at cha in about 2 hours with some of "my" results or ideas", to prevent bullshit artists from deceiving all number of key personnel.
But, he should get an award of some sort for cunning. Wait, steady employment for a year was probably reward, since he had multiple employers. Now, if only other companies did that (or, do some?), it could become a weird pyriamid scheme for non-temp agencies.
I wonder whether he will be sued for breach of trust/faith; unlawful disclosure of proprietary info; falsification of work; misrepresentation of fact; etc.
This goes to show that NOT ALL companies monitor their staff as vigilently and regularly as they should. Legal will probably have a FIELD DAY with the execs, and maybe IT as well.
What *I* want is for Firefox on Android to work like it does on the desktop, and support:
-- Trueblock Plus
-- Adblock Plus
-- Better Privacy
-- Caffeine Security Secure Firefox
-- Flashblock
-- Google Privacy
-- Noscript
-- Request Policy
Any site operators and any development managers who would deny me these need a S-E-V-E-R-E ASS kicking.
Not every visitor will want these levels of security concurrently, but for those of us who bought tablets, only to find out Mozilla gives F*ckall a care for our needs, it is disheartening. Google can't be bothered to give an expeditious frack and so won't give us proper, built-in IDS, firewalls, and reporting toos having forensics quality so we who care can lob that information to law enforcement in a package they can read, sort, and format for case prosecution. I do NOT two F*CKS what marketing people want, what paid-for sponsors or sponsees want, or the like. There is way too much criminal activity going on against ordinary people who surf for any sort of priority to be granted to marketing people who put data scarfing above user protection.
Yes, I become extraordinarily livid when this vein of topic arises. Fortunately, I do not have a $25,000,000 pot from which to pay bounty hunters with K.O.S orders. Wait, in certain jurisdictions, that could get me arrested, right? That is why it is FORTUNATE I do NOT have the monetary or Houdini resources to pull off bounties and remain undetected.
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