PeterB

VoIP Sales Top $20 Billion in First Half, More Growth to Come

I continue not to understand why VOIP discussions never mention the solution I and my US-based kids use. The landline is local only (<$20/mo), and calls further than that are via a local number to a VOIP provider, 1.9c/min to any number in the US, no monthly fee, low rates to Europe (2.5c/min to UK, 5c/min to Czech Rep). Our cell phones use the same provider for all non US calls, same rates. Emergency 911 service is normal, no special issues (we had to use it a week ago), 1-800 type calls are normal, etc. Our total phone costs are <1/3 of the lowest rate I could find before.

Google Redefines GPS Navigation Landscape

I don't want your phone next to your ear at all when you are driving! In many states it would be illegal anyway. Get a mounting thingy so it is in a convenient consistent place for both functions.


On Oct 29 09:48 AM bmesco1 wrote:

> I want my GPS device anchored to my car so I know where to glance
> at it. I don't want it next to my ear.

Adobe Blinks First in Flash Battle with Apple

Curious. The NeXT computer used a form of Adobe's PDF for the display, and the current MAC operating system is largely derived from the operating system used on that machine (a Unix variant). Old allies fall apart!

Can AT&T Handle the iPhone?

T-Mobile picking up the iPhone would only require a small phone fix (since they are also GSM), and maybe the rush from unhappy AT&T customers would help pay to upgrade their service. I cannot imagine buying a GSM phone without a SIM card (for cheap calls when visiting relatives etc. in Europe), but my T-Mobile service would presumably be better....

AT&T, Apple Can't Win Fight Against VoIP

I have not used Truphone, but Tel3 provides a VOIP service that we use for all international calls on both my cell phone (T-Mobile) and my wife's cell phone (Verizon), as well as our landline, and get rates about the same as Skype, and pretty good service. Our phone bill totals about 1/3 of what it did before. Namibia is not on our frequent-call list, but Canada, the UK, Czech Republic, Spain and Germany are.

Does Amazon Need to Be So Highly Regulated?

I for one am glad that my local water supply is regulated, since it protects me from the kind of cholera epidemics that used to devastate the populations of major cities like London just 150 years ago. And that the sewage system treats the outflow from me and my neighbors. Especially those upstream.
And I am glad that the local governments collect taxes to pay for the education of the future workers who will keep the economy going, so I can continue to get Social Security and my other retirement investments will continue to have value.
Of course it would be nice if such things could be provided free, but that is quite unrealistic. My relatives and friends who work in schools and government agencies, and their colleagues, need food and shelter too.
Now that Internet commerce, which has mostly so far escaped the normal taxation methods, has become a significant fraction of all commerce, there must be some method to replace the taxes so lost.
The intellectual underpinning of the American Revolution was largely based on the avoidance of taxation without representation, a principle well established in Britain at the time, but not extended to the colonies. It's success was followed by a revolt, "Shays Rebellion", based on economic problems, finally leading to the Constitutional Convention, to establish a stronger government.
Fortunately for most of us, probably even John100.

Will Amazon Insert Ads into Kindle E-Books?

Many paperback books have lists of similar or related books (for example by the same author) on the back few pages. Skipping them is trivial (you have finished the book, anyway), but could be useful if you are looking for another such book. An unobtrusive ad in a Kindle book would be not much different

Why I'm Buying Micron- Part II

Puzzled:- "Thursday after the close Micron reported May quarter EPS of $(0.36), above our $(0.53) and the Street’s $(0.43) estimate "

I will trade you $0.36 for your choice of $0.53 or $0.43 as many times as you like.

Apple Can Keep Secrets Even Without Steve Jobs

When Steve Jobs (and I) worked at NeXT the joke around the company was that the ship leaked from the top. So I laughed at your headline.

Key Telecom Trends: VoIP and Shift to Prepaid Wireless Plans

Why do articles on VOIP never mention companies offering VOIP service via a local number. We use Tel3 for such a service, call a local number from our landline for anything outside our free local zone, and get Skype-equivalent rates (or better: US 1.9c/min Ireland 1.5c/min, UK 2.5c/min, France 2c, Germany 1.5 to 3c, Italy 2 to 3c, Spain 3.3c/min etc. (Mobiles usual are significantly more). We no longer have any long-distance service on our landline, so that is cheap. From our mobile phones, we use the account for international calls at the same rates. I even used it from a pay phone at a State park (though the pay phone fee was heavy, the call itself was cheap). No monthly fee (unlike Vonage), no broadband connection needed (unlike Skype), no computer needed (except maybe to set up and check the account). Our total phone bill has dropped to about 1/4 what it was before (we were already using long-distance and international carriers cheaper than POTS), and we have many relatives and friends in Europe. Only problem is it does not do us much good from abroad, though I have used it by calling a US access number from one country to call another, saving one of the two roaming charges on the cell phone. Normally it is better to buy a local SIM card (what, you don't have a GSM phone, or it's an iPhone?) for such calls, though it took my ex-daughter-in-law, who now works for a Czech mobile company, to start me on that.

Obama (Should Say) to California: Drop Dead

The web site in my previous post was mangled. The URL is

www.couragecampaign.or...

Obama (Should Say) to California: Drop Dead

The failure of the ballot measures in California cannot purely be attributed to a refusal to pay more taxes, since the measures included future spending limitations seen as draconian by many "liberal" or left-oriented organizations. The complex measures included significant provisions anathema to each side, which probably overweighed those provisions attractive to each side, reflecting the growing extremism of politics in the state, also an apparent precursor of the same trend in national politics. As an example, I found items from two gay-rights organizations, one favoring a YES vote on most measures, the other a NO vote on most measures. See also www.couragecampaign.or... for a position listing of self-called progressive organizations, mostly opposed to the measures. Perhaps the most certain message being sent to the California political structure was to get its house in order, and actually make the budget and taxing decisions the state so sorely needs, rather than grand-standing incompatible positions, and shunting the decisions to the ballot.

Harris Interactive Reputation Survey: Corporate America Rates 'Terrible'

Wow!
" * Nearly all (98%) respondents believe it is important that corporations do evolve to more sustainable business practices.
* More than two-thirds (68%) believe American corporations are lagging behind companies in other countries.
* Only 16% of Americans believe that they will make these changes on their own.
* Most Americans (90%) give some consideration to sustainable business practices when purchasing a company’s products and and services."

Has anyone told Congress? Especially the Republicans there? Sounds like Obama (esp. the candidate version) has the country behind him. I am thrilled!

Amazon's Kindle 2.5 Doesn't Seem Worth the Buzz

Maybe as a college student, you don't see any application for a Kindle. However, maybe when you are old enough for your eyesight to be deteriorating, you will see some point in being able to read a book on an electronic device that will blow up the text to a readable level. And how would such a person, such as my late father-in-law, or my wife, handle reading a book three characters at a time on an iPod?

Yes, I agree that textbook prices are often disgustingly high, but I suspect the first publisher to offer a low-cost electronic form may force such a trend. Perhaps if you are studying Macroeconomics, you can start a new company to do that, and put the older companies on the spot, if not out of business. Incidentally, I do still refer to my old Physics textbooks from half a century ago from time to time.

High Frequency Trading Is a Zero-Sum Game: Impact on Intel, AMD

April 1st was nearly four weeks ago. So can one seriously think to program an FPGA to do NASDAQ's trading operations faster than a CPU? Naw, there is no way this makes sense. Yes, the I/O is a bottleneck for any computing system (just watch the disk drive light when you load or save a big spreadsheet), but it is not going to get better for an FPGA. Having more memory on the CPU itself is a better way to improve performance. I have been designing ICs for 46 years, and have programmed computers and FPGAs in passing.