TECHNOLOGY: QIPIT down

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Thanks for signing up for the Qipit online service, the company that specializes in high quality mobile copy solutions. We are making a change in the focus of the company toward the development of smart phone applications and technology for the enterprise. In fact, our first application Qipit White, is available now for the iPhone, with more applications and platforms to follow. Starting this past Wednesday (October 21, 2009), the Qipit online mobile copy service stopped accepting new user registrations.

What this means to you?

As an existing user, you can still use the service as normal until November 9, 2009, at which time the ability to create new copies (using Web upload, our facebook applications, Shozu, copy@qipit.com, and color@qipit.com) and to share (by sending faxes and emails) will be discontinued. On December 6, 2009, the service will be completely taken offline. We encourage users to download all of the information you would like to keep, prior to this date. After the service is taken offline, your information will no longer be available.

As we say goodbye to Qipit the online service, Qipit will live on in a series of smart phone applications and as a technology for the enterprise. Back in September we launched our first smart phone application, Qipit White, for the iPhone, it shares much of the same functionality of the online service, but works much faster! We will continue to support Qipit White and future applications based on the technology behind Qipit for the iPhone, Android and other smart phone platforms. Be sure to keep an eye on http://www.qipit.com and the Qipit Blog for the latest news on new applications.

You can read more about the changes at Qipit at our blog. Please feel free to share your thoughts and farewells to the Qipit online service.

Many thanks,

~ the Qipit team

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Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: A cost effective $23 stove

Monday, October 26, 2009

Wall Street Journal
Tuesday 20 Oct 09
Page A1 and A18

(behind a paywall)

Has an article about selling things to the poor at prices they can afford.

Here’s two of the products.  

http://www.instructables.com/community/Oorja-Stove-taking-off-in-India/ $28

http://www.naaptol.com/brands/WO-Brands-W77O-Brands-shopping-W139O/Godrej/Refrigerators.html $70

“Marketing ice to eskimos”?

Here are companies making stuff for poor people.

Since we in the good old US of A are poor, (just look at the dollar), maybe someone should be doing this here?

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Posted by reinkefj

INSPIRATIONAL: One hill; one marine

Monday, October 26, 2009

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/in-1942-it-came-down-to-one-marine-65931412.html

VIN SUPRYNOWICZ: In 1942, it came down to one Marine

*** begin quote ***

It’s hard to envision — or, for the dwindling few, to remember — what the world looked like on Oct. 26, 1942, when a few thousand U.S. Marines stood essentially stranded on the God-forsaken jungle island of Guadalcanal, placed like a speed bump at the end of the long blue-water slot between New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago, the most likely route for the Japanese Navy to take if they hoped to reach Australia.

On Guadalcanal, the Marines struggled to complete an airfield. Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto knew what that meant. No effort would be spared to dislodge these upstart Yanks. Before long, relentless Japanese counterattacks had driven supporting U.S. Navy vessels from inshore waters. The Marines were on their own.

As Platoon Sgt. Mitchell Paige and his 33 riflemen set about carefully placing their four water-cooled .30-caliber Brownings, manning their section of the thin khaki line that was expected to defend Henderson Field against the assault everyone expected on the night of Oct. 25, 1942, it’s unlikely anyone thought they were about to provide the definitive answer to what had previously been a mainly theoretical question: How many able-bodied U.S. Marines does it take to hold a hill against a desperate attacking force of 2,000?

*** and ***

Is the lesson that we should fund a permanent expensive worldwide empire of military occupation? I don’t think so — doesn’t seem compatible, somehow, with a republican government of limited powers. Overstretched empires have a tendency to collapse from the center, anyway. In fact, our forces were pretty far-flung, as it was, in 1941 — though their apparent strength, in places like the Philippines, proved hollow.

But once, 85 long years ago, the arrogant victorious allies quibbled about whether bankrupt Germany should be made to pay them $4 billion or $10 billion in reparations over the next 60 years, as frustrated German veterans in Bavaria grew fed up and marched down to join the German Workers’ Party, an outfit that promised them a rebirth of Aryan glory, a “New Deal,” if you will.

Once, those who sought “peace, peace at any price” sold scrap steel to the Japanese, attended “peace conferences,” stood by and hoped for the best as Hitler re-militarized the Rhineland and then grabbed Austria and the Sudentenland in what we now know were a series of huge bluffs — the fuhrer started out using “tanks” that would barely have stood up to a cap pistol.

We gave away our advantages, one by one, based on our trust in the good will of man. Till it came down to one Marine.

Shall we have to cut it that close, again?

*** end quote ***

One Marine?

Is this like the Texas Ranger slogan, “one riot; one Ranger!”?

We have a lot to learn. And, peace at all costs is a losing strategy. As Heinlein said: “An armed society is a polite society.” That goes for the community of nations as well.

Requiescat In Pacem Marine Corps Col. Mitchell Paige.

Where will we find more of men like him? In the playstation generation?

Not bloody well likely.

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Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: The dollar is done

Monday, October 26, 2009

http://www.lewrockwell.com/schiff/schiff53.1.html

Dollar Forced to Abdicate by Peter Schiff

*** begin quote ***

To save our currency, the Fed must get very aggressive with interest rate hikes and reign in the supply of dollars that have flooded the world over the past few years. The federal government must also do its part by cutting spending, which means no more stimulus and no more bailouts. Undoubtedly, these actions will have unpleasant economic and political consequences. A student who studies harder may have to miss a party or two. A simple analogy, but unfortunately it is that simple.

*** end quote ***

BUT, (there is always a big butt), it will never happen.

The “patient” (i.e., the dollar) is a “dead man walking”. The only question is when.

The congress critters killed it. And, us.

Like the line from the movie “Red October”, “You killed us, you arrogant ass!”

Only in this case, it’s the political class.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Gooferment goof for liberty

Sunday, October 25, 2009

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125597721400194603.html?mod=yhoofront

EUROPE NEWS
OCTOBER 21, 2009
Did Brinkmannship Fell Berlin’s Wall? Brinkmann Says It Did
Reporter Claims He, Not an Italian Competitor, Caused an Apparatchik to Err and Open Border
By MARCUS WALKER

*** begin quote ***

Pressed on the meaning of the new travel policy — When did it come into force? Did it apply to West Berlin? Did people need a passport? — the flustered apparatchik rustled his papers and gave confusing answers that led the news media to believe the border was open, with immediate effect.

The result, once East Berliners had seen that night’s news on West German television, was chaos at border crossings across the city.

At Bornholmer Strasse, one of the main checkpoints in central Berlin, confused border guards couldn’t get clear orders on how to deal with the crush, and debated whether to open fire. Instead, they opened the barrier, and the Berlin Wall was history.

*** end quote ***

I love a good “gooferment” story. Especially when it means a victory for liberty! LOL!!

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Earhart

Sunday, October 25, 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart

Saw the movie. Swank did a good job and even looked like her. Hollywood made her into an adulteress. (I don’t know if she was, but never speak ill of the dead.) Gere was a distraction.

All in all “interesting”.

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Posted by reinkefj

NEWJERSEY: Mob rule in SBTWP

Saturday, October 24, 2009

http://centraljersey.com/articles/2009/10/21/opinions/doc4adf8e896a7e2524530393.txt

DISPATCHES: Power to the people
Farm’s preservation shows that engaged citizens can effect change
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 6:47 PM EDT
By Hank Kalet, Managing Editor

*** begin quote ***

The lesson of all these efforts is fairly simple: If you want members of your local town council, county freeholder board, state Legislature or Congress to act on your behalf, you can’t sit on your hands. You have to get involved.

*** end quote ***

Ahh, the madness of crowds.

There is no way that the individual can stop the mob frenzy to do “something”.

Preserved farmland. How can someone be against that.

Too bad if you are, because your taxes have been used for it. You write as if these “governing bodies” have assets to “invest” in “preserving” farm land. They don’t. They only have that which was taken by force from one’s fellow taxpayers. TO pay for someone’s pet project.

Argh!

If those involved were to form a non-profit and raise money by donations to pull this off, then I’d be impressed.

Perform a mental experiment. How do you think effort would go? Would people VOLUNTARILY chip in? In the amounts you needed to pull this off.

(We both know he answer to that!)

No, see, all you can do is steal what you could not raise voluntarily. And, then the robbers — some of whom may not even realize what they have done — expect kudos for doing it.

Then, you go an urge us to do more of it.

Argh!

The Dead Old White Guys were very right to fear the mob rule of democracy.

Throwing in “health care” is just more of the same. In this case, you and the rest of the mob are stealing from future generations — just as the socialists did with Social Security. And, it is all not going to end pleasantly as the socialists are destroying the country.

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Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: $500 Mapleseed Drone

Saturday, October 24, 2009

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/video-500-mapleseed-drone-takes-flight/

Video: $500 Mapleseed Drone Takes Flight
    * By Noah Shachtman
    * October 21, 2009

*** begin quote ***

Last year, the Pentagon’s mad science arm let expire a Lockheed contract to build a mini-drone in the shape of a maple seed. Lord knows how much the project costs. But it’s a good bet the Lockheed ‘bot had a price tag several orders of magnitude higher than this $500 maple-drone, put together by students at the University of Maryland.

*** end quote ***

Neat. Pioneering work done by a grad student team?

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Posted by reinkefj

JOBSEARCH: Rejection

Friday, October 23, 2009

AN EMAIL I RECEIVED

*** begin quote ***

This email address is used for outgoing messages only. Replies will be undeliverable.

Thank you for your interest in employment with Prudential! On September 30, 2009, Prudential upgraded to a new electronic job application system.

If you would like to be considered for a position at Prudential, please create a new profile. Any job applications, resumes, and/or cover letters that you submitted to Prudential prior to September 30th, were not converted to the new system. Going forward, you can check the status of your application by logging in at any time.

Thank you.

Prudential Staffing

*** end quote ***

(1) Don’t you just love the “caring”. It just screams “we control the monologue”.

(2) Not me. I haven’t applied there in a long time. Bet everyone got the same date.

(3) Create a new profile? Ya gotta be kidding. It takes a half hour to answer all the screens. No, not that desperate for rejection.

(4) “Thank you”. My data wasn’t important enough for you to migrate. Some thanks.

Why would anyone want to deal with them?

Just wait until the economy turns around and the good candidates are scarce again. (Assuming the gooferment gets out of the way!) People have long memories.

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Posted by reinkefj

POLITICAL: Fixing healthcare? Not gonna happen with the gooferment involved

Friday, October 23, 2009

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig10/scott-m1.1.1.html

Your Doctor Serves The State, Not You
by Michael Scott, MD

*** begin quote ***

While I agree that physicians commonly order tests and perform procedures that are medically unnecessary, this fact is due to two main reasons the author completely fails to mention: first, the tort system, which terrorizes doctors in their practices on a daily basis, and second, that patients have minimal if any financial stake in their care. As a consequence, they demand everything in excess, and are often angry when we suggest a desired test or treatment is not indicated, no matter how much time we spend trying to educate them. When people don’t pay for something with their own money, they hardly care about costs. They just milk others for all they’re worth, because after all, that’s what they perceive everybody else is doing to them, too.

*** end quote ***

Clearly, the current insurance system is broken. And, isn’t going to get fixed anytime soon.

We clearly have to get the lawyers out of suing the doctors for everything that goes wrong. They are docs ; not gods.

We clearly have to return to the days of yesteryear, when insurance was insurance. Car insurance doesn’t insure oil changes. And, patients have to pay a percentage of the true cost; not a “co-pay”!

We have to make health care insurance like auto or life; disconnected from employment.

Finally, we have to get the gooferment OUT of health, health care, and health care insurance completely. They can’t do anything right. It’s in their nature. (I still haven’t heard of then doing ANYTHING effectively. Never mind efficiently!)

Argh!

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Posted by reinkefj

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