Comments for And Still I Persist http://andstillipersist.com Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:12:50 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc Comment on The earthquake will be televised… by Baja Earthquake http://andstillipersist.com/2010/04/the-earthquake-will-be-televised/comment-page-1/#comment-640 Baja Earthquake Sat, 03 Jul 2010 21:12:50 +0000 http://andstillipersist.com/?p=4105#comment-640 [...] of breaking news, and even video from California. The effect on the pool was very [...] [...] of breaking news, and even video from California. The effect on the pool was very [...]

]]> Comment on Mid-week mandatory reading by When Hanlon’s Razor breaks down | familylifeboat.com http://andstillipersist.com/2010/02/mid-week-mandatory-reading/comment-page-1/#comment-637 When Hanlon’s Razor breaks down | familylifeboat.com Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:21:25 +0000 http://andstillipersist.com/?p=4039#comment-637 [...] Mid-week mandatory reading | And Still I Persist: “In other words, established ‘liberal’ policies actually hurt those whom the liberals would most like to protect.” For all the quacking about Bush being stupid and Obama being brilliant, they just don’t matter, because they aren’t really in charge. The ones really in charge of what is happening are all those little invisible bureaucrats that individually make tiny changes in the regulations of our country. No. What I think is: These are the people who go to the wall when the cost of employing someone gets too high. We’ve spent the last seventy years increasing the hidden overhead and downside risks associated with hiring a worker — which meant the minimum revenue-per-employee threshold below which hiring doesn’t make sense has crept up and up and up, gradually. This effect was partly masked by credit and asset bubbles, but those have now popped. Increasingly it’s not just the classic hard-core unemployables (alcoholics, criminal deviants, crazies) that can’t pull enough weight to justify a paycheck; it’s the marginal ones, the mediocre, and the mildly dysfunctional. I am also sure that almost all of them are well-meaning but since they bear none of the weight of their petty little regulations they don’t mind adding just one more little thing to someone else’s back. But now it looks like those with malice in their hearts are smelling blood in the water. I love one commenters “Regulation is a luxury good” quip. A lot of survivalist talk about TEOTWAWKI or SHTF as if it will be a quick or surprising incident. It might be but I doubt it. Right now it looks like things are like Venice, the tide comes in and floods everything, things continue for the long term with various annoyances. It’s just the annoyances may be sewage. America is a very big machine and there are some people throwing sand into the works. I mean who wants 20% unemployment. Sure, some people will vote for those who kept the government handout checks coming. I think most people would rather vote for someone offering them a job. A lot of people talk about how the politicians in Washington DC are doing all these things out of a desire for power. Power is ephemeral, the slightest thing can make it evaporate. Look at the Iron Curtain, I was there less then a year before it fell. It looked like it would stand forever, and with one badly written speech, it came tumbling down. A teleprompter can’t help you with that one. Some people don’t want to prepare because someone else might take it away. In some potential scenarios just being alive will make you a target, would you kill yourself now to avoid that? Of course not, that would be silly in the extreme. Life has a lot to offer, it may be hard from time to time but it is worth it. [...] [...] Mid-week mandatory reading | And Still I Persist: “In other words, established ‘liberal’ policies actually hurt those whom the liberals would most like to protect.” For all the quacking about Bush being stupid and Obama being brilliant, they just don’t matter, because they aren’t really in charge. The ones really in charge of what is happening are all those little invisible bureaucrats that individually make tiny changes in the regulations of our country. No. What I think is: These are the people who go to the wall when the cost of employing someone gets too high. We’ve spent the last seventy years increasing the hidden overhead and downside risks associated with hiring a worker — which meant the minimum revenue-per-employee threshold below which hiring doesn’t make sense has crept up and up and up, gradually. This effect was partly masked by credit and asset bubbles, but those have now popped. Increasingly it’s not just the classic hard-core unemployables (alcoholics, criminal deviants, crazies) that can’t pull enough weight to justify a paycheck; it’s the marginal ones, the mediocre, and the mildly dysfunctional. I am also sure that almost all of them are well-meaning but since they bear none of the weight of their petty little regulations they don’t mind adding just one more little thing to someone else’s back. But now it looks like those with malice in their hearts are smelling blood in the water. I love one commenters “Regulation is a luxury good” quip. A lot of survivalist talk about TEOTWAWKI or SHTF as if it will be a quick or surprising incident. It might be but I doubt it. Right now it looks like things are like Venice, the tide comes in and floods everything, things continue for the long term with various annoyances. It’s just the annoyances may be sewage. America is a very big machine and there are some people throwing sand into the works. I mean who wants 20% unemployment. Sure, some people will vote for those who kept the government handout checks coming. I think most people would rather vote for someone offering them a job. A lot of people talk about how the politicians in Washington DC are doing all these things out of a desire for power. Power is ephemeral, the slightest thing can make it evaporate. Look at the Iron Curtain, I was there less then a year before it fell. It looked like it would stand forever, and with one badly written speech, it came tumbling down. A teleprompter can’t help you with that one. Some people don’t want to prepare because someone else might take it away. In some potential scenarios just being alive will make you a target, would you kill yourself now to avoid that? Of course not, that would be silly in the extreme. Life has a lot to offer, it may be hard from time to time but it is worth it. [...]

]]> Comment on A guide to World Cup soccer by deirdrew http://andstillipersist.com/2010/06/a-guide-to-world-cup-soccer/comment-page-1/#comment-636 deirdrew Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:25:13 +0000 http://andstillipersist.com/?p=4172#comment-636 Pre-wrath warning - there shall be little - if any grammer or sentence structure in what you are about to read - deal with it. Please commence with said wrath now. You are officially warned you are calling down the wrath of the eldest Webster Woman Grandchild aka a soccer player for the last 33 years!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Although I am not without humor (I yell at the screen for the guys who flop on the ground in dying agony to "FIX YOUR SOCKS!" aka - get off your duff and get back to playing) - but just because you don't understand the pitch or the rules or the ref or the stop clock.... doesn't mean the sport is without merit.... and oh yah - that whole defender thing - don't even get me started - I am the defense - I am the one who covers the big guy in co-ed.... I am the one who protects my keep from foes far and wide. I run my patootie off for anywhere from 48 (arena soccer) to 90 minutes (outdoor soccer) covering for the front line when they can't run anymore and STILL coming back to cover my post after doing their job too. My injuries - the things that fell me - are not the oops my shin types of injuries, not a foot that has been stepped on... not a broken nose or an elbow to the jaw. Nay. I'm talking torn ligaments - foot, knee, shoulder and ankle... And Still I Persist. YOU MY DEAR UNCLE HAVE CALLED DOWN THE THUNDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get your buns into town and come see me play. Oh and we'll go have those yummy carne asada nachos we talkeda bout a few weeks ago. Loves and smooches, Little Deirdre. :-) Pre-wrath warning – there shall be little – if any grammer or sentence structure in what you are about to read – deal with it. Please commence with said wrath now.

You are officially warned you are calling down the wrath of the eldest Webster Woman Grandchild aka a soccer player for the last 33 years!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Although I am not without humor (I yell at the screen for the guys who flop on the ground in dying agony to “FIX YOUR SOCKS!” aka – get off your duff and get back to playing) – but just because you don’t understand the pitch or the rules or the ref or the stop clock…. doesn’t mean the sport is without merit…. and oh yah – that whole defender thing – don’t even get me started – I am the defense – I am the one who covers the big guy in co-ed…. I am the one who protects my keep from foes far and wide. I run my patootie off for anywhere from 48 (arena soccer) to 90 minutes (outdoor soccer) covering for the front line when they can’t run anymore and STILL coming back to cover my post after doing their job too. My injuries – the things that fell me – are not the oops my shin types of injuries, not a foot that has been stepped on… not a broken nose or an elbow to the jaw. Nay. I’m talking torn ligaments – foot, knee, shoulder and ankle… And Still I Persist.
YOU MY DEAR UNCLE HAVE CALLED DOWN THE THUNDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get your buns into town and come see me play. Oh and we’ll go have those yummy carne asada nachos we talkeda bout a few weeks ago. Loves and smooches,
Little Deirdre. :-)

]]> Comment on A eulogy for my father (republished) by Thumps and reboots : Bruce F. Webster http://andstillipersist.com/2008/06/a-eulogy-for-my-father-republished/comment-page-1/#comment-635 Thumps and reboots : Bruce F. Webster Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:58:35 +0000 http://brucefwebster.com/asip/?p=4#comment-635 [...] dad, John Webster, got involved in electronics nearly 70 years ago. He enlisted in the Navy in 1941 and after [...] [...] dad, John Webster, got involved in electronics nearly 70 years ago. He enlisted in the Navy in 1941 and after [...]

]]> Comment on I just canceled my iPad order by brucehoult http://andstillipersist.com/2010/06/i-just-canceled-my-ipad-order/comment-page-1/#comment-634 brucehoult Thu, 03 Jun 2010 04:52:08 +0000 http://andstillipersist.com/?p=4158#comment-634 The iPad is not a phone but it's still on the same phone network with both radio spectrum and cell sites as a very finite resource. The same goes for tethering your phone to your laptop. Both of those going to put a lot more load on to an already overloaded system. It's only fair that you pay for the privilege [1] if you can't leave the big downloads until you're on WIFI somewhere. [1] but I can't understand the logic in AT&T charging $20 a month just to enable tethering, when it's just another way to use the data you already paid for. Here in NZ we've hat iPhone tethering for a year now and it's just data use the same as any other. The iPad is not a phone but it’s still on the same phone network with both radio spectrum and cell sites as a very finite resource. The same goes for tethering your phone to your laptop. Both of those going to put a lot more load on to an already overloaded system. It’s only fair that you pay for the privilege [1] if you can’t leave the big downloads until you’re on WIFI somewhere.

[1] but I can’t understand the logic in AT&T charging $20 a month just to enable tethering, when it’s just another way to use the data you already paid for. Here in NZ we’ve hat iPhone tethering for a year now and it’s just data use the same as any other.

]]> Comment on I just canceled my iPad order by bfwebster http://andstillipersist.com/2010/06/i-just-canceled-my-ipad-order/comment-page-1/#comment-632 bfwebster Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:48:10 +0000 http://andstillipersist.com/?p=4158#comment-632 I have an Acer netbook with an unlimited AT&T data plan. I've used it for a year; I don't know what my data loads are, but I haven't cared. A few months ago, because of my travel, I bought a Sprint 3G/4G 'net dongle for my HP laptop. I assumed (yeah, yeah, I know) that it was likewise unlimited, which made the $300+ (instead of $59) monthly bill a real surprise. It has a 5GB limit; I've worked really hard to stay within that, but am likely to fail, since I regularly get document attachments from lawyers, have to download software, etc. I don't really care about unlimited plans for my phone, but I'm not talking about a phone. I'm talking about an iPad, a device that I could actually use to download and read said attachments, stream videos, etc. ..bruce.. I have an Acer netbook with an unlimited AT&T data plan. I’ve used it for a year; I don’t know what my data loads are, but I haven’t cared.

A few months ago, because of my travel, I bought a Sprint 3G/4G ‘net dongle for my HP laptop. I assumed (yeah, yeah, I know) that it was likewise unlimited, which made the $300+ (instead of $59) monthly bill a real surprise. It has a 5GB limit; I’ve worked really hard to stay within that, but am likely to fail, since I regularly get document attachments from lawyers, have to download software, etc.

I don’t really care about unlimited plans for my phone, but I’m not talking about a phone. I’m talking about an iPad, a device that I could actually use to download and read said attachments, stream videos, etc. ..bruce..

]]> Comment on I just canceled my iPad order by brucehoult http://andstillipersist.com/2010/06/i-just-canceled-my-ipad-order/comment-page-1/#comment-631 brucehoult Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:19:10 +0000 http://andstillipersist.com/?p=4158#comment-631 For what it's worth, I think unlimited data plans are a really really bad idea. Unlimited or all-you-can-eat is never a sign of a high quality service. Invariably it means poor quality product, bad service, and slobs doing their very best to gorge themselves. It's not a very attractive thing even in the case of food, where everyone eats basically the same amount within a factor of two or maybe five. It's just plain stupidity for internet data where two people both using it in a perfectly reasonable and justifiable way can easily have usage differing by four orders of magnitude, if not more. Even just using myself as an example, a typical[1] month can see 20 MB used on my iPhone (using it away from the house/office WIFI at some point on pretty much every day) and 200 GB on my cable modem. That's a factor of 10,000. I pay for every byte downloaded, btw, currently at NZ$100/GB on the phone and NZ$1.50/GB on the cable modem. (that's about US$70 and US$1 respectively). With this kind of — perfectly reasonable — difference in usage, how can you charge one fair price to everyone? If you price to withstand the guy downloading video continuously (whether pirated or paid for) then the grandmother who only wants to check for email once a day is paying far too much. On the other hand, if you price for the grandmother, then the video guy is getting a free ride and is going to be labelled as an "abuser" or the like when in fact they should be regarded as your best customer! Bandwidth does cost money. Sure, the pipes are paid for and ISPs pay a fixed amount per month for a given bandwidth, but when customers fill the current size pipe then the ISP has to pay good money to increase the size of the pipe. Where is their incentive to do so if customers won't be paying more as a result? There is none. The result is rationing by scarcity and frustration instead of rationing by the market. I frankly don't see why people in the USA (especially) are so insistent that they want or need unlimited deals. Can you say why you think you do? Last year I checked the iPhones belonging to a bunch of Mozilla and Google employees in Mountain View and not one of them had averaged more than about 80 MB/month over the time they'd owned them (most didn't know how to check it so I had to guide them). Most were down in the 20 - 50 MB/month range, just like me. But they all insisted that they needed unlimited data and that they couldn't possibly stand to have a mere 250 MB/month like plans in other countries. It's a real puzzle to me. [1] those are extremes, but do happen. 30-50 MB on the phone and 100 GB on the cable modem are more typical, and the cable modem is used by several people. For what it’s worth, I think unlimited data plans are a really really bad idea.

Unlimited or all-you-can-eat is never a sign of a high quality service. Invariably it means poor quality product, bad service, and slobs doing their very best to gorge themselves.

It’s not a very attractive thing even in the case of food, where everyone eats basically the same amount within a factor of two or maybe five. It’s just plain stupidity for internet data where two people both using it in a perfectly reasonable and justifiable way can easily have usage differing by four orders of magnitude, if not more.

Even just using myself as an example, a typical[1] month can see 20 MB used on my iPhone (using it away from the house/office WIFI at some point on pretty much every day) and 200 GB on my cable modem. That’s a factor of 10,000. I pay for every byte downloaded, btw, currently at NZ$100/GB on the phone and NZ$1.50/GB on the cable modem. (that’s about US$70 and US$1 respectively).

With this kind of — perfectly reasonable — difference in usage, how can you charge one fair price to everyone? If you price to withstand the guy downloading video continuously (whether pirated or paid for) then the grandmother who only wants to check for email once a day is paying far too much. On the other hand, if you price for the grandmother, then the video guy is getting a free ride and is going to be labelled as an “abuser” or the like when in fact they should be regarded as your best customer!

Bandwidth does cost money. Sure, the pipes are paid for and ISPs pay a fixed amount per month for a given bandwidth, but when customers fill the current size pipe then the ISP has to pay good money to increase the size of the pipe. Where is their incentive to do so if customers won’t be paying more as a result? There is none. The result is rationing by scarcity and frustration instead of rationing by the market.

I frankly don’t see why people in the USA (especially) are so insistent that they want or need unlimited deals. Can you say why you think you do?

Last year I checked the iPhones belonging to a bunch of Mozilla and Google employees in Mountain View and not one of them had averaged more than about 80 MB/month over the time they’d owned them (most didn’t know how to check it so I had to guide them). Most were down in the 20 – 50 MB/month range, just like me. But they all insisted that they needed unlimited data and that they couldn’t possibly stand to have a mere 250 MB/month like plans in other countries.

It’s a real puzzle to me.

[1] those are extremes, but do happen. 30-50 MB on the phone and 100 GB on the cable modem are more typical, and the cable modem is used by several people.

]]> Comment on Some Thoughts on Emergency Preparedness by As a new month starts… | And Still I Persist http://andstillipersist.com/2006/12/some-thoughts-on-emergency-preparedness/comment-page-1/#comment-630 As a new month starts… | And Still I Persist Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:00:09 +0000 http://and-still-I-persist.com/?p=145#comment-630 [...] start working on your emergency preparedness.  ..bruce w.. Share and [...] [...] start working on your emergency preparedness.  ..bruce w.. Share and [...]

]]> Comment on About Bruce F. Webster by The DUP in Ireland and US Mormons | Adventures in Mormonism http://andstillipersist.com/about-the-author/comment-page-1/#comment-628 The DUP in Ireland and US Mormons | Adventures in Mormonism Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:04:54 +0000 http://brucefwebster.com/asip/?page_id=6#comment-628 [...] election posters proclaiming they were going to vote for the party. I don’t know – that beard on the guy is kind of suspicious.  ..bruce.. Share and [...] [...] election posters proclaiming they were going to vote for the party. I don’t know – that beard on the guy is kind of suspicious.  ..bruce.. Share and [...]

]]> Comment on Denver Tea Party — photos by TEA Partiers Root Out Infiltrators « Fellowship of the Minds http://andstillipersist.com/2010/04/denver-tea-party-photos/comment-page-1/#comment-627 TEA Partiers Root Out Infiltrators « Fellowship of the Minds Sat, 17 Apr 2010 11:45:38 +0000 http://andstillipersist.com/?p=4120#comment-627 [...] another lefty infiltrator being led away in Denver. And Still I Persist blog sent this from the Denver [...] [...] another lefty infiltrator being led away in Denver. And Still I Persist blog sent this from the Denver [...]

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