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Dear Lazyweb: As we'll probably end up buying a house in the near future in some sun-drenched corner of the Bay Area, I'd like to learn more about solar panels. Please enlighten me.
Matt Cutts, Hutch Carpenter, Kishore Balakrishnan and 7 other people liked this
What are good solar panel brands? what are brands that I should avoid? Any particularly good or bad experiences with installers?
- Tudor Bosman
Where are the sweet spots in the 3-D graph of wattage / area / cost?
- Tudor Bosman
Are there any developments that could change the market significantly in the next few years?
- Tudor Bosman
Where can I learn more?
- Tudor Bosman
From what I've heard, the number one influence of economy of home solar is the tax incentives you get to install it. All these other little details like panel efficiency and sub angles are minor compared to the fat rebate you get from the government. Perhaps Steve Lacy could comment?
- Brian Johns
I asked the same question on Ask Metafilter; here's a link to the thread. http://ask.metafilter.com/126586...
- Tudor Bosman
Actually the main advantage is that solar cuts off the part of your bill that is most expensive. Top tier usage is much more expensive so even partial production by solar panel sharply reduces your bill. But you need a high electric bill to justify solar.
- Michael Muller
In sunny places you can actually get enough wattage during the day to offset all of your usage and sometimes put more energy on the grid then you use, so the power company pays you. You can also use a solar water heater system. Consumer Reports: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home... California: http://www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov/index...
- Heather
U.S. Shifts Strategy on Illicit Work by Immigrants - NYTimes.com - http://www.nytimes.com/2009...
Parth Awasthi and Anika Malone liked this
"Immigration authorities had bad news this week for American Apparel, the T-shirt maker based in downtown Los Angeles: About 1,800 of its employees appeared to be illegal immigrants not authorized to work in the United States."
- Tudor Bosman
via Bookmarklet
American Apparel: "Made in downtown LA". By illegal immigrants.
- Tudor Bosman
Could be worse... ""There is no evidence of any exploitation of workers or violation of labor laws," he said. "And there is not a single allegation that the company knowingly hired an undocumented worker.""
- Andrew C
I have to giggle and them "unknowingly" hiring undocumented workers. I grew up among the sweatshops of downtown LA. I don't think I've ever met a person who was in this country legally. For so many women, it's the first rung on the ladder to succeeding in this country.
- Anika Malone
In my opinion, the implicit point (if any) of preferring goods made in America is that the manufacturing proceeds in accordance with our environmental and labor (wrt working conditions) laws. If the manufacturer is disobeying the immigration laws, then the whole implicit guarantee collapses--even if they do have good working conditions.
- Ruchira S. Datta
There are some companies out there (I naively assume) who do try their legal best to ensure their workers are legal...
- Andrew C
Distress - http://www.goodreads.com/review...
Have you read the _Dark Integers_ collection?
- ⓞnor
No; is it good? The only Greg Egan short stories that I read were the ones included in Axiomatic and Luminous (two of his story collections). Apparently, he has another short story collection out ("Dark Integers and Other Stories") and a new novel ("Incandescence"), both in hardcover. Hmm. Amazon might get $33 of my heard-earned money :)
- Tudor Bosman
I usually try not to buy hardcover books, given that I have such a large reading backlog. Amazon needs a "notify me when this book comes out in paperback" feature.
- Tudor Bosman
_Dark Integers ..._ is in my to-read queue; I was hoping to set its priority. _Incandescence_ isn't out quite yet. I generally like his stories better than his novels, because they let him explore cool ideas without fussing over characters or narrative drama (which he's not very good at).
- ⓞnor
Agreed. Still, I'll probably deal with his fussing over characters and narrative drama, and buy (and read) Incandescence anyway.
- Tudor Bosman
I've always wanted the "notify me when this comes out in paperback". I assume Amazon doesn't do this for the same reason the hardcover/paperback distinction exists: if you're interested enough in a book that just came out, you're a good candidate for the price discrimination. Even better might be a box with the maximum price I'm willing to pay: when a seller drops to that price, order the book and send it to me.
- Larry Greenfield
It's not just the money; I actually find hardcover books to be less convenient to hold and handle (and unnecessarily heavy). The "trade paperback" format feels best to me, and I often pay $3 or $4 more over the mass-market paperback edition, even if both are available.
- Tudor Bosman
Joshua Schachter made a prototype service where you would list want-to-buy and willing-to-sell, with prices, and a crossing engine would notify counterparties. I think there's some wacky auction startup now operating on a similar principle (standing limit orders to buy or sell goods at some price). But somebody should create such a service and hook it up to existing retailers, rather than waiting for people to directly add liquidity to their weird little market.
- ⓞnor
Book markets? I still like this idea. I think I have a much better sense of how to build social software now. But Dan's being way too kind.
- joshua schachter
It would be even better if such a book market hooked into something that used the Android barcode scanning tools to help people catalogue their books. That way I never have to type in my list of books into the book market or remember to update the book market with new books I've bought. It would merely fall out of my regular book cataloguing.
- Adewale Oshineye
Tudor, admit it, you need a Kindle. Incandescence is not worth the money: http://piaw.blogspot.com/2009..., even for the $6 DRM-free electronic edition.
- Piaw Na
Piaw: I did buy one, and I love it.
- Tudor Bosman
via email
Tuxedo: check. Wedding band: check. Almost there!
Kol Tregaskes, Paul Buchheit, Alex Scoble and 7 other people liked this
YouTube - O.M.G.I.G.P. - Internet Explorer 8 - http://www.youtube.com/watch...
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Rahsheen ™, Jérôme Flipo, Holger Eilhard and Ross Miller liked this
WTF. Apparently, this is a real ad for IE8, not a parody.
- Tudor Bosman
via Bookmarklet
Warning: gross.
- Tudor Bosman
WAT
- donor
I think this whole campaign is brilliant. This particular one is the weakest of the lot, but they're all far better than the "We'll give you $2000 to buy a laptop if you deride Apple" campaign.
- Kevin Fox
Kevin, the rest of the campaign is ok (not brilliant, but ok). This one, though, is so insanely gross. I'd like to unsee it.
- donor
Thankfully I didn't have sound while viewing this video...
- Holger Eilhard
And the campaign is better than the Gates/Seinfeld ads, but that doesn't mean much. I wonder if Microsoft's ad strategy is to raise awareness by raising the WTF factor.
- Tudor Bosman
via email
Does it run on TV or exclusively online?
- Jérôme Flipo
If it would be possible, I'd *like* Donor's comment.
- Sebastian
That was totally unnecessary. Had I not know ahead of time, I would have no clue what the ad was about because I was too busy not looking at this chick throw up.
- Rahsheen ™
The new Depeche Mode album is okay, but it's no Violator. I hope they play a lot of their classic songs on the tour -- we'll see them on August 12th at Shoreline!
Kol Tregaskes, Clare Dibble, AJ Kohn and Brett Kelly liked this
Mmm... Violator...
- Brett Kelly
via BuddyFeed
I loved their earlier stuff. People are People, Music for the Masses, Working Time Again. When they play songs from that era in concert, the kids go 'What is that, and why is DM covering it?'
- Kevin Fox
I didn't think much of the new Depeche Mode album. One or two good songs the rest were poor.
- Kol Tregaskes
Restaurant Name Fail « FAIL Blog: Pictures and Videos of Owned, Pwnd and Fail Moments - http://failblog.org/2009...
Willem and Diego Barros liked this
Fail or fair warning?
- Willem
Starcraft lessons from authentic Korean - http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc...
iAdramelk, Albert Bachand, Richard Chen and 8 other people liked this
"I have been playing Starcraft since 1998 and I was born and raised in Korea. I'm 100% full blooded Korean, meaning I have been gifted with unparallel talent to master any video game, particularly, Starcraft: Brood War. I'm also experienced in Counter-Strike, I am able to perform bunny hops, my best score on a public 32 player game was 171-2 with 170 kill streak. I'm offering my expertise in Starcraft to be taught to non-Koreans that wishes to have the skill of a Korean player."
- Tudor Bosman
via Bookmarklet
"Korean girls will be intrigued that you're such a good Starcraft player."
- Tudor Bosman
(via Mike Sego's Facebook page)
- Tudor Bosman
What's up with the Korean Starcraft obsession? We just talked about this a couple days ago.
- τorƍue
Chobos.
- τorƍue
Ha! I'm not Korean and I bet I would totally pwn this guy in Counter-Strike. :)
- Ray Cromwell
FriendFeed team lunch
Felicia Yue, April Buchheit, Simon Wicks and 3 other people liked this
Sake is the new Mojito
- Jérôme Flipo
Ah, sake to celebrate the theme launch?
- Stephen Mack
The strange, underground world of Chinese counterfeit cigarettes. - By Te-Ping Chen - Slate Magazine - http://www.slate.com/id...
"Ringed by thickly forested mountains, illicit cigarette factories dot the countryside, carved deeply into caves, high into the hills, and even buried beneath the earth. By one tally, some 200 operations are hidden in Yunxiao, a southwestern Fujian county about twice the area of New York City. Over the last 10 years, production of counterfeit cigarettes has soared in China, jumping eightfold since 1997 to an unprecedented 400 billion cigarettes a year—enough to supply every U.S. smoker with 460 packs a year."
- Tudor Bosman
via Bookmarklet
"As of last year, though, Chinese counterfeiters were manufacturing separate versions of Marlboro tailored for some 60 countries—down to the specific details of tax stamps and regional health warnings."
- Tudor Bosman
Sick at home, I blame last week's #3martinilunch for making me susceptible to infection
Ross Miller and Anne Bouey liked this
but it was all worth it
- Tudor Bosman
xkcd - A Webcomic - Idiocracy - http://xkcd.com/603/
Igor Poltavskiy, Ade, Mo Kargas and Mona Nomura liked this
"People aren't going to change, for better or for worse. Technology's going to be so cool. All in all, the future will be okay! Except climate; we fucked that one up."
- Tudor Bosman
via Bookmarklet
Supreme Court Says Child’s Rights Violated by Strip Search - NYTimes.com - http://www.nytimes.com/2009...
Michael Muller, ǝuǝƃnǝ, Tamar Weinberg and 13 other people liked this
"In a ruling of interest to educators, parents and students across the country, the Supreme Court ruled, 8 to 1, on Thursday that the strip search of a 13-year-old Arizona girl by school officials who were looking for prescription-strength drugs violated her constitutional rights."
- Tudor Bosman
via Bookmarklet
“it does not require a constitutional scholar to conclude that a nude search of a 13-year-old child is an invasion of constitutional rights of some magnitude.” Well, that's good, then.
- Tudor Bosman
yay, poor girl!!
- Susan Beebe
via BuddyFeed
Damn right.
- Ayşe E.
I am appalled at the fact that we needed the Supreme Court to weigh in on this. The people involved should have been summarily dismissed at the school or school district level. But no, the school district maintains with impunity that they're allowed to strip search 13 year olds, and fights all the way up to the Supreme Court. Something is wrong with the world.
- Tudor Bosman
Unbelievable that this had to go to the Supreme Court for the school officials to be told they can't do this.
- Trish R
But, by a vote of 7 to 2, the Supreme Court held that the individual officials in the case should not be held liable, because “clearly established law” at the time of the search did not show that it violated the Fourth Amendment.
- Tudor Bosman
I can't even believe there was a dissenting opinion on this!
- vicster
Yeah, well, Justice Thomas can suck it :)
- Tudor Bosman
+1 Tudor.
- Yuvi
Going off topic for a second: Did you ever see the episode of Boston Legal where Shatner went before the Supreme Court and he did something outrageous to force Clarence Thomas to speak? That was hilarious. But back to the topic, yes, Justice Thomas can suck it (about his stand on most issues -- that is, when he actually takes one).
- Trish R
I and two friends argued both sides of this case in moot court. Sadly, the school had the better legal argument, but the facts were clearly on Savana Redding's side. I'm not at all surprised at the split nor that the Court found the search to be unconstitutional without subjecting the school to civil liability. The former is a win (ridiculous that it went this far), but the Court split the baby, to the dissatisfaction of all.
- O.Shane
This case brings up a lot of bile in me. School officials that did the search were wrong and should be punished for it. Kicking them out of the system completely is maybe a bit harsh. But some kind of punishment. Then there is the parents of this girl who insist to sue over this matter. Probably because I come from a much less "sue happy" country, I think this is ridiculous. I read...
more...
- Rasmus Lauridsen
@Rasmus: I really wish that the US was less litigious as well. However, in this case, the parents were most likely forced to sue, because the school adamantly maintained that they were in the right (which is absurd, but probably a standard "circling the wagons" response). In that scenario, you're left with little choice but to sue, or just roll over. I couldn't do that if it were my oen daughter.
- Joel Webber
I wonder what Thomas was thinking...probably "That sounds pretty hot!"
- Gabe
It kind of upsets me that the vote wasn't unanimous.
- Tamar Weinberg
@joel yes you are most likely right about the reason. But was she hurt to the same extend by the strip search as she was by the years and years of being pulled through this whole process? I'm not a parent and I still feel that I would most likely do the same as her parents. But sometimes you just have to choose your battles. In this case it seems fairly obvious the process has hurt her more than the strip search itself. I'm happy that they won though but I hope everybody involved take a good at themselves.
- Rasmus Lauridsen
Michael Jackson's death made me realize that yes, it's important to be able to separate someone's work from their personal life (and personal beliefs). I'm considering ending my Orson Scott Card boycott.
Kol Tregaskes, Parth Awasthi, Tamar Weinberg and 9 other people liked this
Worth thinking about. I too am troubled by Card, but love his work. Coincidentally, did you know that c.S. Lewis's death received almost no coverage because it was the same day JFK was assassinated?
- Kevin Fox
Separating an artist's work from who they are is always difficult. I have the same issue with Card - he's such a nutter but ... some of his work is pretty interesting.
- AJ Kohn
Entertainment is the one industry where ignorance is truly bliss. I have an extreme love hate relationship with music and tv because I've seen and know too much. Sigh.
- Mona Nomura
OSC drives me nuts, because he represents the lunatic fringe of people who happen to be in our religion (like Glenn Beck) and it doesn't help to have folks like that being so visible.
- Louis Gray
Orson Scott Card supported Bush and is against gay marriage. What's the problem?
- Cristo
You should still skip "Magic Street" all the same.
- Andrew C
Definitely skip "Magic Street." Man that was a bad book.
- Matt Cutts
I've struggled with the idea of separating people's work from who they are my whole life. Many of my favourite musicians are or were despicable human beings. But that doesn't mean their music should not hold value.
- Jason Clarke
Most artists are hot messes, but that is what makes them imprint such artistic genius in history. Actors/actresses are the same, too... how and why would one be so good at pretending to be another person? Athletes - oh lord. don't even get me started. UGH.
- Mona Nomura
My theory: vodka and gin (in sufficient amounts) will cure any infection. Any bacteria that can thrive in strong alcohol deserves to live.
Sean McGee, Mattie Kenny, Anika Malone and anna liked this
Many people share this theory with you- in Russia we collected different medical advice that included "a shot, just this big" that cures a long list of ailments.
- anna
This is probably part of my Eastern European heritage, then. (I was born, and lived for the first 20 years of my life, in Romania)
- Tudor Bosman
via email
Hey, Tudor, my husband is from Oradea!
- Anika Malone
Cool! I'm from Bucharest, which means that your husband probably thinks I'm an arrogant snob :)
- Tudor Bosman
(people from Bucharest don't have a great reputation in the rest of the country, as they think everything revolves around them and no one else *really* matters. I won't say whether I think that's true or not.)
- Tudor Bosman
Probably not, his mom used to play in the Bucharest Orchestra in the 50s and 60s and I understand he lived there for some time as a kid.
- Anika Malone
And I like your theory.
- Anika Malone
Mothers Against Drunk Driving - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...
Steven Bryden, Bret Taylor and Ross Miller liked this
I'm fixing the article, but as of now, the "Aims" section includes: "Generally MADD favours: Education, Strict Policy, ..., To suck as much ass as possible"
- Tudor Bosman
via Bookmarklet
[citation needed]
- Jim Norris
My edit (removing "To suck as much ass as possible") was reverted.
- Tudor Bosman
Sociological Images » “Rules and Regulations for Public Dance Halls” - http://contexts.org/socimag...
Paul Buchheit, Sam Webb, Gary Etie and Bret Taylor liked this
via http://www.dnalounge.com/backsta..., which you should read if you care about how California's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control is on a crusade to shut down (or at least neuter) established clubs in San Francisco.
- Tudor Bosman
"MUSIC: No beating of drum to produce Jazz effect will be allowed."
- Andrew C
The California ABC stuff is also crazy. "Not enough Mexican food on the menu to qualify as a Mexican restaurant" (paraphrased) - since when is that up to the State ABC?
- Andrew C
Yeah. If I were to guess (without any data to back my claim), I'd say that the ABC has been taken over by MADD and/or religious nutjobs.
- Tudor Bosman
Similar moves against live music here in Austin, Tx, too. - http://austincitypermits.com/blog...
- Gary Etie
Paul has better balance than expected after 3 martinis
Louis Gray, Alfredo, Hutch Carpenter and 29 other people liked this
That's impressive.
- Cecily
Seriously, I need to work there.
- Josh Haley
I was also able to push over Ana, who did not meet the three martini minimum (while standing on the bosu).
- Paul Buchheit
I don't think i would do well on that thing stone sober, which is my only state.
- Josh Haley
No no, you lost while I was on foot. You pushed me over while we were both on the bosu, but only because you crowded me. This is not fair.
- Ana
I cannot respond fast enough on FriendFeed to all these libelous claims!
- Ana
That's not what I remember.
- Paul Buchheit
*slowly backs out of thread*
- Josh Haley
Need to get the #3martinilunch tag in here... :)
- Stephen Mack
Is he on a Touchstone?
- aldenoneil
Does this count as "productive"?
- April Buchheit
you guys rock, what a cool bunch you guys are!!
- Susan Beebe
April's comment killed me, that's totally what my wife would say. More importantly did you guys get a wii in there yet?
- Steve C
Capybara - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...
Maggie, PR Graffiti, Mona Nomura and 14 other people liked this
"During the Christian celebration of Lent, capybara meat is especially popular as it is claimed that the Catholic church, in a special dispensation, classified the animal as a fish in the 16th century. There are differing accounts of how the dispensation arose. The most cited refers to a group of 16th Century missionaries who made a request which implied that the semi-aquatic capybara might be a fish and also hinted that there would be an issue with starvation if the animal wasn't classified as suitable for Lent."
- Tudor Bosman
via Bookmarklet
It's a rodent of unusual size.
- Tudor Bosman
I don't believe they exist!
- Stephen Foskett
They're fake! Like the MOON! And New Zealand!
- Akiva Moskovitz
I'm reserving "capybara" as the internal codename of my next FF project :)
- Tudor Bosman
Not just "unusual size"... they're the largest of the rodent family! I have pictures of them from zoos if you'd like to see :)
- Ana
Wait. Fish?
- Ha3rvey
zoos? i've seen wild ones... around 20 capybaras at the place i work.. i took some pics.. the pics are bad because it was getting dark and i was very distant.. i used 4x zoom.. i couldn't get closer because they run away easily. http://www.flickr.com/photos...
- Leandro Koiti Sato
Nice documentary here: http://www.joost.com/02000ht...
- Jérôme Flipo
这是什么动物啊 没见过撒
- 佛陀
After three martinis, all couches are comfortable.
Mona Nomura, Kate Schmidt, Jérôme Flipo and 3 other people liked this
Just close your eyes, Tudor. You'll feel better when the room stops spinning. #3martinilunch
- Stephen Mack
That was SO 30 minutes ago.
- Tudor Bosman
Not for Paul.
- Jim Norris
Firefox 3.5rc2 for Mac is so much faster than Firefox 3.0.11!
Amit Patel, Jérôme Flipo, Roberto Bonini and Ross Miller liked this
I'd use Chrome if it supported Flash (the Mac pre-release doesn't, yet).
- Tudor Bosman
I wonder if the new firefox releases always seem so much faster because they A) force us to restart the browser and B) aren't compatible with most of our extensions.
- EricaJoy
Erica: A) I close my browser at least once a day, and B) the only extension I'm using is Firebug, which is supported (after an upgrade) in 3.5rc2.
- Tudor Bosman
Erica: No.
- Tudor Bosman
via email
And Firefox 3.5 has my favorite Chrome feature -- the ability to drag tabs between windows without reloading the page.
- Tudor Bosman
Ana and Wolverine
Louis Gray, Jeanette Martinez, Felicia Yue and 18 other people liked this
Notice her adamantium ring.
- Dan Hsiao
Friendfeed Elvis mascot
- Petr Buben
Break out the piñata cam!
- April Buchheit
in the smaller thumbnail pic, it looks like you're hugging a blow-up doll.
- eviltom
The piñata cam was awesome.
- Josh Haley
Jim says: "we need to stuff Wolverine's ass with candy" #3martinilunch
Jérôme Flipo, Michael Muller, Steve C and 2 other people liked this
++ whoever says that.
- Jenna Bilotta
We had to educate Ana: the hole isn't actually in Wolverine's ass. It's in an altogether more uncomfortable place.
- Kevin Fox
Sounds like Jim
- Steve C
D:
- Jess Lee
To be clear, Wolverine (the Piñata), can only be accessed through the bottom.
- Ross Miller
Too late now Ross, and to think i was gonna stay with Jim next time I'm up there. hmmpff
- Steve C
Looking for suggestions for wedding favors that don't suck. Discuss.
Kol Tregaskes, Bindu Reddy, Morton Fox and 3 other people liked this
food never fails. chocolate or your favorite delicacy.
- Jenna Bilotta
One of my friends gave lego "put it together" kits as wedding favors. It was so great. In fact, it was almost addictive, as people at our table (all geeks) focused on putting together their lego kits instead of pre-dinner banter. Oh wait, they weren't going to do pre-dinner banter anyway. :-)
- Piaw Na
Piaw - that is so clever. I'm also a huge fan of instant cameras / films. :)
- Mona Nomura
Wine and Cupcakes. Worked great this last weekend.
- ‘-.-’ Tutivillus Grift
We are doing xmas ornaments because it's a winter wedding.
- Alex Scoble
But I liked it when I got chocolates or truffles for favors.
- Alex Scoble
We made rosemary and peppercorn olive oil and bottled it. Picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos...
- Rochelle
Alex, what about the JEWS?!
- Rochelle
Jews need ornaments for their Hanukkah bush too, Rochelle. :)
- Alex Scoble
Alex, this is true.
- Rochelle
the last wedding I went to they put cake inside of small little mason jars, and a sticker on top with their wedding information, and a pretty ribbon. (they also had 6-7 different little cakes, so they had jars with each kind)
- Aden
Consumables are the way to go. Cutesy items with the couple's names/dates on them will be disposed of within days. I've used candles... but they're iffy at best.
- Jen (SquirrelGirl)
Friends of mine made jam in little jars and decorated them with lego men. You got to pick your own http://www.flickr.com/photos...
- Janice Banser
I say pick something that means something to you. kevin and I custom made playing cards because we love games, poker, cribbage, etc. So it just made sense to us. I say look for something in your lives that you both like and see if there is a favor that works with that.
- Rachel Lea Fox
Personaized iPod Shuffles and FriendFeed t-shirts. :)
- Louis Gray
I went to a wedding where we were given little plants as the wedding favors. :) Edit: I think it was aloe or something similiar
- Zulema ◕ ◡ ◕
Similarly my sister gave small trees. There are companies that pre-package them for you. both she and her husband are big environmentalists.
- Rachel Lea Fox
I've gotten lucky bamboo or prosperity plants before, and another wedding favor was a personalized bottle of wine and individually boxed petit fours.
- Trish R
I was thinking about doing a plant or seeds of some sort.
- joey
A friend of mine gave a salt and pepper shaker that was peas in a pod...aka, 2 peas in a pod. I thought it was cleaver. They also gave out a mixed CD which was new and interesting (at least for me).
- Justin Korn
Oh yeah, I've gotten the mix CDs before, too. Those are great, with a label on them of a picture of the couple and the date.
- Trish R
Oh yeah, I have really liked getting mix cd's before.
- Rachel Lea Fox
Not just any disposable camera, how about a lomolito? http://www.unicahome.com/p23314...
- Rick Cogley
I have to disagree on food. Someone will invariably dislike or not be able to eat what you give.
- Rick Cogley
Each person's name written on a nice card, in chinese characters.
- Rick Cogley
Does anyone have any experience with MiFi? The good, the bad, the ugly? Sprint vs Verizon? (speed and coverage in the SF Bay Area) Price without a contract? (I don't want to sign another 2 year agreement and/or move my phone service from T-Mobile)
Daniel Rowley, Steve Rubel, Ken Sheppardson and 4 other people liked this
I wish there was a pricing structure that matched my usage pattern: I won't use it at all for days or weeks, then use it a lot for a day. Maybe a low monthly maintenance fee + you can buy unlimited traffic in 24-hour increments.
- Tudor Bosman
Anyone?
- Tudor Bosman
I believe Dave Winer was looking into it. I have not used it myself.
- Louis Gray
Rodfather has been testing quite a bit, maybe he will see this.
- jcunwired
my cousin uses - loves it
- Jeremy Toeman
I think Verizon has a plan where you pay $270 for the device and can purchase 24hr access for $15. Whatever plan you're on, you don't have to move your number... you can just get a stand-alone device on it's own plan. I've seen more than one iPhone+MiFi user mention they've been in situations where they have MiFi connectivity via Verizon when they didn't have iPhone connectivity via AT&T.
- Ken Sheppardson
$15 is quite expensive; if you use the card for 4 days every month, you end up paying the same as their highest plan ($60/month). "$15/day capped at $60/month" would be acceptable, though.
- Tudor Bosman
By "capped" you mean once you've used it 4 days in a month you get the rest of the month "free"? Yeah, that'd be a nice way to do it. I think if I had to make up a plan it'd probably be a free device + metered access, i.e. a flat rate per MB.
- Ken Sheppardson
We liked the review unit so much that we bought one: http://jkontherun.com/2009...
- Kevin C. Tofel
The problem with "flat rate per MB" is that there is an overhead of collecting micropayments from users with low usage, and this inflates the rate. "Free device" also means that the device is subsidized by metered payments, which pushes the rate even higher.
- Tudor Bosman
I guess one big advantage of the $15/day plan is you're not tied to a contract. You might pay more than $60 one month, but you might still come out ahead over 24 months @ $40 or $60/mo.
- Ken Sheppardson
Overage charges are evil. If you have multiple plan levels, overuse should automatically be capped at the next highest plan, maybe with a small convenience fee. Example, using Verizon's real plans: $30/month gives you 250MB, with $.10/MB for extra usage. At this rate, 5GB would cost $505, but you can switch to the higher plan and get it for $60. So how about you cap it at, say, $75 or so? You'll still make money (presumably, the $60 for 5GB plan is profitable, too) but you won't anger the hell out of me.
- Tudor Bosman
But then there'd be no reason for anyone to get a $60/mo plan, Tudor.
- Ken Sheppardson
Ken: yes, people who regularly use a few GB per month would still save $15. Adjust the "convenience fee" upwards until it makes more sense; I just think that $445 is just a little excessive.
- Tudor Bosman
Oh... wait... capping it at $75... sorry... skimmed right by that... :-/ Selling MB in chunks might be a neat way to go. You just pre-pay for block of data, and the rate is lower the more you buy up front.
- Ken Sheppardson
my cousin uses it - loves it
- Jeremy Toeman
I have the Verizon Mifi and it's amazing - even worked in the NYC subway and the DC metro. If Skype gets push notifications you could drop AT&T and go iTouch.
- Steve Rubel
Interesting: the Verizon MiFi price is $270 without contract, or $100 with a 2-year contract. So, buying a 2-year contract saves you $160. The early termination fee is $175, and goes down by $5 every month -- so if you plan to keep the device for longer than 3 months, it makes sense to get a 2-year contract.
- Tudor Bosman
(This might change in a few months when you'll be able to buy used MiFi devices on eBay)
- Tudor Bosman
Rodfather has one...I wonder if he does vanity searches. If not, I'll link him here.
- Mona Nomura
We finally mailed the wedding invitations!
DGentry, ☠ Tyler Gillies ☠, Mona Nomura and 7 other people liked this
The receipt from the post office is slightly over 6 feet long.
- Tudor Bosman
via email
Wow congrats! :)
- Susan Beebe
We're sending Twitter DM's.
- DeWitt Clinton
One down, x to go on your 'wedding to do' list
- April Buchheit
holy cow... what are you sending out? a pony in an envelope? I can't wait to see one!
- Rachel Lea Fox
it's a pony in a folder in a ribbon in a box in another ribbon in wrapping paper, actually.
- Tudor Bosman
Tudor, awesome!!!
- Rachel Lea Fox
Yay!! :)
- Mona Nomura
OMG! SLOW DOWN! « Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures of Cats – I Can Has Cheezburger? - http://icanhascheezburger.com/2009...
Jenna Bilotta, Christopher Harley, FFing Enigma (aka Tina) and Frankie Warren liked this
Beware of the, er... kitten: Terrified postmen threaten to boycott house after vicious attack by six-month-old kitten | Mail Online - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news...
M♥hammad, Kol Tregaskes, M F and Louis Gray liked this
"To postmen, Illy the kitten might as well be a snarling rottweiler. They say that the six-month-old moggie once jumped up at the letterbox and delivered a painful scratch to a postwoman's hand. So fearful are they of a repeat performance that they have sent a strongly worded letter to Illy's owners - warning them to discipline her or face a delivery ban."
- Tudor Bosman
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