flat taxes are definitely more efficient, and a great idea. but, politically they are unpopular and won't ever see the light of day as long as gov't wants to try to be benevolent-... the argument against the flat tax is this... if there's a 20% flat tax and 2 ppl- say one guy makes $10,000 per year and the other $100,00 per year. the $2,000 coming out of the $10,000 dude's income is a lot more detrimental to his cost of living than the $20,000 coming out of the guy earning $100,000. and the gov't sees that as unfair. so, they want to redistribute the $20,000 coming out of the rich guy's income to subsidize the poor guy's income. that's why we have one of the most confusing and messed up progressive tax systems. <shrugs>

CA's debacle started with Enron, Gray Davis, the deregulation of utilities, greed of labor unions, and the growth of state gov'ts... Although Arnold entered office with the best of intentions, he is a pretty naive guy to think that his earnest, business-favoring tactics would raise tax revenues & win over the votes and support of THE worst, THE most corrupt, and THE most incompetent state legislature you can imagine.

what they ought to do is open the books and look at the budgets BEFORE gumby Davis took over and tanked our state. CA had a surplus of something like 400+ million. (i forget the exact figures.) they should immediate roll-back gov't expenditures & sizes back to the levels they were back then, and start figuring out how to raise tax revenues creatively- which is going to take some serious thought & design. it's by no means an easy job...

but, all i know is that taxing working families to death by way of raising food, gas, car, pet, sales taxes and increasing state income tax rates & withholdings is just going to drive people out of the state and wreak havoc to business investment & the tourism industry here. no one is going to want to come to California for vacation, or wanna live here for the long haul, or bring their business investments (jobs) here either...

 

for you technology geeks

http://www.theonion.com/content/vide...tupid_piece_of

 

 

happy FRIDAY everyone...

rec'd my pair of Logitech wireless PS2 controllers yesterday... they seem to work fine, except on one of them the LED doesn't light up, so i guess i won't know when to change the battery out. >=( i'm too lazy to go thru the hassel of exchanging it, since it was only $25. i tested it and everything else seems to work fine on it- ie gameplay, vibration etc. so, guess i'll just live with it.

how's everyone doing?

 

doing pretty good actually, just messing around with the new software on my phone.

Happy Friday the 13th!

 

friday the 13th....i should just call off work today!!!

 

question for everybody. is anybody here a psychologist? keith? i think i remember reading something like that about you a while back???

 

keith can psycho-analyze you just by LOOKING at you. It's creepy...

 

TGIF13th

 

OK I am back, go or no go for launch?
1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009125
or
2. http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...21*&lang=en-US
or
3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=kds%2026%22

1, 2 ,or 3 answers only.

 

they're 3 completely different sizes Loren, kinnda tough to pick just one.
What are you really looking for is the question I guess.
Size over quality?
HDMI 1080p a must?
Max price your'e willing to pay around $350?

 

here's a 24 that looks pretty nice http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...9&sku=320-7345

I know you said only those 3 but it's more or less in the price range you were looking at

 

I dont need 1080P, yes $350 max and i know they are different sizes that is the hard part. if they were the same size for different prices it would be easy, not too mention that dell is ugly, sorry. i would rather do the larger high quality if it was in my price range.

 

I found a 1080p 28" for $365 if I remember correctly... It's on dealmac.com

 

Update on the economy
THe MR2 community is BROKE.

I just offered up a fully rebuilt engine, I mean FULLY rebuilt, new seals, new rings, new gaskets, new pistons, new head, new tranny . . blah blah blah, for $100 and NO ONE even bit.

So it has now been stripped and scrapped.





If some offered up a fully rebuilt Renesis for $100, how long would the line be to get it?
I guess there is a huge difference between RX8 people and old school MR2 people

 

wait, what?!
no one would buy a fully rebuilt engine for $100?!

 

maybe cuz they knew who built it? or, maybe they are just cheap?

 

came with axles
a tranny
exedy clutch

the whole bit.
They are all such low ballers that I decided to pull it back to pieces and ebay it.
But the block (fully honed and topped) is getting melted tomorrow.

 

bummer rotary or not that is a good deal, just a bad economy. i would think if it was listed longer SOMEONE would bite.

Everyone have a safe weekend.

 

damn, i'd buy that for $100 in a heartbeat!

 

So my cell phone contract is up

I kinda asked this question before . . but



Why not just get a netbook for $300. (less than most cell phones)
then pay sprint or verizon $99/month for one of their unlimited access web cards.
Then find a service like vonage (mobile style obviously) that would handle all voice calls.

Wouldn't this give you a full use computer instead of a BS palm or windows mobile POS?
THen you can actually websurf without getting frustrated. And once you are at home, it would pick up your wireless to make for another web machine in home.



Is this a feasible option to a $100/month program for 1/2 the service on a tiny screen from a cell phone company?

 

let my power up my netbook... i gotta make a phone call...

just dont seem so practical :/

 

because it's more convinient to carry something that can fit into your pocket witha battery life of appx. 3hrs. (total talk time) or 1.5hrs. (total internet time), vs. carrying around a device the size of a medium sized book, the wires needed for the head set, and the air card needed to plug into the netbook for your internet access could break while installed in the netbook. besides, a lot of the newer phones, the iPhone is a good example, can give you both 3G internet based internet connection and WLAN connection.

don't forget that a VOIP service, such as Vonage or Skype, requires a rather fast internet connection. like, at least 756kbps DSL in order for the large packets to be efficiently enough sent to and from to have decent voice quality. Using an air card is about half that speed.

so just like Kevin said, it's just impractical.

 

New tail light mod

 

nice, how do they look illuminated?