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Old 2011-04-08, 05:26   Link #12941
Tsuyoshi
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintessHeart View Post
I know about housing lol. My parents bought our house (a 4-room studio apartment) for $168k many years back, and I did a consultation with my friend (a top-rated property agent at 5-stars), and he valued it as $580k++ today. My parents have finished the downpayment and instalments and every now and then we have assholes offering $600-700k for our house which we live in, so they could sell and profit from it (I called the police ).

Standardisation of products isn't that bad if -branding- and -innovation- are left out of the picture, it keeps quality in check and is highly destructive towards corner-cutting in favour of profits. The problem is the organisations keeping in check of them - they either want to :

1. Consolidate copyrights for eternity
2. Skew corner-cutting to avoid paying for safety measures
3. Lobby for branding as innovation (those are two separate ideologies)
4. Cut costs as much as possible, even to the extent of outsourcing to places like Cambodia (where kids are chained to machines and worked to their deaths - child labour).

Instead of maintaining quality, it has become a game of maintaining the profits of the top executives. What bull.
That's what inflation does. It's crazy anywhere you go. I'm quite lucky myself because at the price I pay for my 1 bedroom flat (which is quite spacious and high quality too), I'd only get a cheap studio flat instead. Many years ago, the same flat I'm in wouldn't even cost half of what I'm paying. And your parent's situation is another reason I want to try avoid buying my own place

Indeed, if it wasn't for the ideal of constant innovation (practically translated to trying to make a product that seems better and costs less every 10 minutes), then standardization wouldn't be too much of an issue. The problem is that each country has its preferences and its gimmicks in how businesses operate. Making it so that every country works the same is a double-edged sword.

The keyword there is "game," particularly because large businesses are treating people's lives like some kind of game without really trying to understand what really makes life easier and better for them and prefer to think about how much money they can spend on them
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Old 2011-04-08, 05:29   Link #12942
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tsuyoshi View Post
That's what inflation does. It's crazy anywhere you go. I'm quite lucky myself because at the price I pay for my 1 bedroom flat (which is quite spacious and high quality too), I'd only get a cheap studio flat instead. Many years ago, the same flat I'm in wouldn't even cost half of what I'm paying. And your parent's situation is another reason I want to try avoid buying my own place

Indeed, if it wasn't for the ideal of constant innovation (practically translated to trying to make a product that seems better and costs less every 10 minutes), then standardization wouldn't be too much of an issue. The problem is that each country has its preferences and its gimmicks in how businesses operate. Making it so that every country works the same is a double-edged sword.

The keyword there is "game," particularly because large businesses are treating people's lives like some kind of game without really trying to understand what really makes life easier and better for them and prefer to think about how much money they can spend on them
It is actually fine if it is a game. I have always viewed that if it is a game, everyone shares experiences, make friends, close deals and to some extent, everyone wins without sacrificing too much.

I think a better word would be bloodfest in your context. Either that or the terminology of the "game" you are referring to is the type Romans watch at the Colosseum thousands of years ago - profit maximisation has become such a key point that competing teams are willing to make others bleed for their own benefit.
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Old 2011-04-08, 05:30   Link #12943
synaesthetic
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Without the need for "constant innovation," we'd all still be dancing around a fire and chasing deer with sticks...
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Old 2011-04-08, 05:32   Link #12944
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Well yes, it's pretty much like in the Colosseo, except this time the arena is the entire world, especially when you consider people's lives depend on how well they do in this game. If the idea of this game was not unlike Monopoly then maybe the context would be rather different, and people wouldn't be after getting rid of competition, but cherishing it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by synaesthetic View Post
Without the need for "constant innovation," we'd all still be dancing around a fire and chasing deer with sticks...
Agreed, tho that's not the type of innovation I was referring to. There's "innovation" that turns kites to planes, and there's "innovation" that turns the iPad to the iPad2 (which aren't too different but is a clever way to earn more money from people).
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Old 2011-04-08, 05:34   Link #12945
SaintessHeart
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Quote:
Originally Posted by synaesthetic View Post
Without the need for "constant innovation," we'd all still be dancing around a fire and chasing deer with sticks...
If that attributes to less academic recognition and more of physical and/or mental abilities, I don't mind. Or if it brings forth the simplicity of life through ignorance, I don't mind too.

At least I can eat, cooking and hunt my own food in the flavour I want, dance around the fire with my fellow human beings instead of stabbing them in the back for my own survival, and do any girl I want in the village behind the bush by just simply scratching her palm of her hand. *sarcastic*

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tsuyoshi View Post
Well yes, it's pretty much like in the Colosseo, except this time the arena is the entire world, especially when you consider people's lives depend on how well they do in this game. If the idea of this game was not unlike Monopoly then maybe the context would be rather different, and people wouldn't be after getting rid of competition, but cherishing it.
People need to get rid of the fear of losing out to others, but rather they need to fear losing to something called time - after all, your human capital depends very much on it instead of the money you earn every month.
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When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
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Old 2011-04-08, 05:34   Link #12946
synaesthetic
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The problem with that is, when people's lives don't depend on it, they tend to get lazy. There's a reason why huge amounts of technological advancement came as a result of trying to kill other people or trying to avoid being killed by other people.

When there's no price for failure, nobody much really has a problem with failing. Constantly.

The problem now isn't that there's no price for failure, or that there's not enough price for failure. The problem now is the price of success is stratospheric and disproportionately difficult to pay. It should be bad if you fail--which makes you not want to fail--but it shouldn't also be bad if you're competent and useful to society!
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Old 2011-04-08, 05:39   Link #12947
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Quote:
Originally Posted by synaesthetic View Post
The problem with that is, when people's lives don't depend on it, they tend to get lazy. There's a reason why huge amounts of technological advancement came as a result of trying to kill other people or trying to avoid being killed by other people.

When there's no price for failure, nobody much really has a problem with failing. Constantly.

The problem now isn't that there's no price for failure, or that there's not enough price for failure. The problem now is the price of success is stratospheric and disproportionately difficult to pay. It should be bad if you fail--which makes you not want to fail--but it shouldn't also be bad if you're competent and useful to society!
Granted, without their life on the line, you wouldn't be as lazy. I take issue with the fact that people profit from putting people's lives on the line that way without taking consideration of what it would be like in their shoes and seek to make these lives their plaything. I also condone technological advancement, but I don't condone the fact that in a lot of cases, it cost people's lives.
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Old 2011-04-08, 06:06   Link #12948
MrTerrorist
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Here's something interesting.

Glenn Beck ending his daily Fox News show

Somewhere out there, Americans are either booing, crying, celebrating with joy or just going "meh". While the rest of the world is saying: "Glenn who?"


And now...this.

Trump hammers away at Obama's citizenship question

Three words to the Trump; Give. It. Up.
No matter how much you claim that Presiednt Obama wasn't born in the US, you just end up looking more foolish than you ever been since many of these Birther theories have debunked. (Note: Do not post any absurd Birther theories!)

Here's a tip: If you want to run for President, then make legitimate goals on how you want to help America, not telling absurd conspiracy theories that have no actual claim. Doing the latter means your a man of talk, not a man of action.
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Old 2011-04-08, 09:11   Link #12949
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GE bets $600 million on solar, sees plant up by 2013

Quote:
(Reuters) - General Electric Co made a big push in solar power, saying it will invest $600 million to build a new factory as it pursues what it thinks could be an up to $3 billion business by 2015.

The largest U.S. conglomerate, which over the last decade has made itself a leader in renewable energy, said it has designed a thin-film solar panel that converts sunlight to electricity more efficiently than rival products today.

The move is likely to ramp up already intense price competition, particularly for First Solar Inc, which uses the same thin-film technology as GE has focused on.

"Over time, there is going to be a lot of pricing pressure and the margins probably will not be what they are today," said John Segrich, portfolio manager of the Gabelli SRI Green Fund. "Solar will be a very big market on a megawatt basis, but it's a question of at what price?"

GE said it is focused on driving prices down.

"The biggest challenge today for the mainstream adoption of solar is cost, and the way you move cost is efficiency," said Victor Abate, vice president of GE's renewable energy unit. "We see ourselves continuing to push that.

GE, also a leading maker of wind- and natural gas-powered electric turbines, aims to open by 2013 a U.S. factory in a yet-to-be-chosen location that will employ 400 and produce enough solar panels each year to meet the needs of 80,000 homes.

The company also landed more than 100 megawatts of orders for solar thin-film products, which Abate said would generate "hundreds" of millions of dollars in revenue.

Under Chief Executive Jeff Immelt, GE has been aggressively building out its renewable energy portfolio, starting with the wind turbine business, which it entered in 2002 and now generates about $6 billion in annual sales.

The company has been exploring solar since 2007 and Immelt told investors in December that he believed it could be a $2 billion to $3 billion business for GE by 2015.

Renewables are just a slice of GE's $37.5 billion energy unit, which also makes coal-burning power plants and nuclear reactors, including the design used at Japan's quake-hit Fukushima power plant that is the site of the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

SOLAR GROWTH COULD STALL

Global demand for solar panels has grown more than 30 percent annually in recent years, topping 15 gigawatts in 2010 largely due to a boom in business in Germany.

But key European markets are trimming subsidies for solar, leading some industry experts to worry that growth could stall just as manufacturers ramp up their capacity.

That could lead to a glut in supplies, pressuring prices and squeezing profit margins for key companies such as First Solar, Germany's SolarWorld AG, China's JA Solar Holding and Suntech Power Holdings.

But the modest size of GE's initial move -- a 400 megawatt plant would meet just 3 percent of current global demand of 15 gigawatts per year -- may limit the effect GE has on its established rivals.

"They're going to have a lot of catch-up to do here ... First Solar's output will be somewhere around 2-1/2 gigawatts by the end of this year," said Adam Krop, solar analyst with Ardour Capital Investments in New York. "In terms of scale, First Solar is still well ahead of them, but obviously GE has very deep pockets."

FOCUS ON THIN FILMS

GE said it bought the remaining stake in PrimeStar solar, in which it first took a stake in 2008.

The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company is targeting large-scale utility solar projects, and plans to highlight its production of equipment to connect solar panels to the grid.

GE shares were down 1.3 percent at $20.28 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of First Solar were down 2 percent at $147.57, JA Solar was off 2.6 percent at $6.76 and Suntech was down 1.3 percent at $9.49 on the Nasdaq.
Let's wait for next US stock market crash (probably next year after the elections and swearing-in of the new Prez) to start buying up GE. It is going to be a hot commodity, but not now.

Besides, it will only be twice its amount only if the Republicans start privatising the energy sector. Otherwise, it is going to stay at 1.5 or 1.75, making it affordable for everyone.
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When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
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Old 2011-04-08, 10:51   Link #12950
ganbaru
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Prospects fade for military overthrow of Gaddafi
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7270JP20110408
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Old 2011-04-08, 11:38   Link #12951
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Quote:
Originally Posted by synaesthetic View Post
Without the need for "constant innovation," we'd all still be dancing around a fire and chasing deer with sticks...
As much as I like technology and my (sometimes) comfortable lifestyle... it would probably be for the best that we were all dancing around a fire and chasing deer.
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Old 2011-04-08, 12:53   Link #12952
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Hmmm. I imagine that if tactics from 70 years ago were in use stll, those issues with loyalist Libyan forces wouldn't be issues...since they'd just carpet bomb the city or use whatever they can from fighter-bombers and just accept civilian losses to get the job done.
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Old 2011-04-08, 13:05   Link #12953
SeijiSensei
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Thank kami-sama we don't feel comfortable doing that any more.
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Old 2011-04-08, 15:54   Link #12954
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Originally Posted by SeijiSensei View Post
Thank kami-sama we don't feel comfortable doing that any more.
which is why the US haven't won a real war since ww2.
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Old 2011-04-08, 15:55   Link #12955
Anh_Minh
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChainLegacy View Post
As much as I like technology and my (sometimes) comfortable lifestyle... it would probably be for the best that we were all dancing around a fire and chasing deer.
Best for whom?
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Old 2011-04-08, 15:56   Link #12956
Haak
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Obviously not the poor deer.
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Old 2011-04-08, 16:18   Link #12957
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Originally Posted by Haak View Post
Obviously not the poor deer.
but good for bear chasing the man chasing the deer.
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Old 2011-04-08, 16:30   Link #12958
ganbaru
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With no budget deal, government shutdown looms
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7321P120110408
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Old 2011-04-08, 16:31   Link #12959
Anh_Minh
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Originally Posted by Haak View Post
Obviously not the poor deer.
You think? Nowadays, we hunt it with rifles. And there are so many of us, needing so much room for our fields instead of forests. Oh, and let's not forget roadkills. If 99% of us died due to absent medical care and famine, and were reduced to running after animals with sharpened sticks, don't you think said animals would fare a lot better?
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Old 2011-04-08, 17:48   Link #12960
synaesthetic
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At least until the sun ran out of hydrogen to fuse, entered the red giant stage and sterilized the planet.

Face it, we're better than animals because without us, they're doomed. We're the only species capable of leaving the planet. We're the only hope of every lifeform on this planet after the end of our star's main sequence stage.
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