Yeah..
I lived in NY for a wonderful year, and I love the US. But I made the calculus: In Denmark, I would get a good pay and pay a huge tax. For that, I got a year at CUNY, all expenses paid, except those for my daughter's daycare: 1000 dollars a month. My school in Denmark also paid the medical insurances for me and my entire family. Did I mention: my whole education in Denmark was for free.

So when I added up the costs, it turned out that the high tax here in Denmark was cheap compared to the cost of education+healthcare+daycare in the US.
+ plus we have a level of security in our big cities you will never believe. I never lock my car or my house, and I live in the Danish equivalent of the Bronx.

This is not bragging. I love America beyond reason, and I only moved back here because I am divorced and I think my daughters have a right to see their father. I can live with the shortcomings of the US. But I will always wonder why you don't just change, so life can be simpler for you all.

quote:

Did I mention: my whole education in Denmark was for free.

UW costs >$10,000/year, with $6,000 of that consisting of tuition, the rest with room, board, fees, books and such. The government expects my family to pay $8,000 this year, which is where the $2,000 saving comes in if I stay at home. Of course, they'd still have to feed me and buy books, but we own our house, so no concern about rooming costs.

But, I turn 22 this July, feel like I should start living somewhat more adult-like. Plus, I have to deal with two little brothers, 11 and 6 years old. So, like I mentioned, I very much want to live on-campus.

And, with that, I should probably get off the computer and back to physics homework. We derived E = mc^2 for the last day of class. I, being a geek, thought that was awesome.

I just watched the video for the new Leopard 10.5 Finder. About halfway through I could feel the blood start to trickle out of my ears.

Migod, it's been sodomized by iTunes!

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But I will always wonder why you don't just change, so life can be simpler for you all.

Because we can't agree on what kind of country we want to become.

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Originally posted by InfinityCircuit:

quote:

But I will always wonder why you don't just change, so life can be simpler for you all.

Because we can't agree on what kind of country we want to become.

That's pretty much it, isn't it? Sometimes we outsiders forget just how big and diverse the US really is. It's a wonder that there has only been one civil war in its history.

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Originally posted by Pauline:
It's a wonder that there has only been one civil war in its history.

Indeed. Neighboring states largely hate each other.

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Originally posted by M:
In Europe, so many politicians are fascinated by the American system, and they forget how we feed the American system with our undergraduates and graduates who all had a free education of much higher quality than their American peers. (We know, because they compete on equal terms with American students).

I suspect your schools don't even mention Kegonsa
Stamped ceramics. Higher quality indeed.

quote:

Originally posted by heavyboots:
I just watched the video for the new Leopard 10.5 Finder. About halfway through I could feel the blood start to trickle out of my ears.

Migod, it's been sodomized by iTunes!

Well, I take it you hate iTunes, then? We'll probably be able to turn off that sidebar (I like it, myself). But the Finder and the degree to which Apple should Fix it already is a matter of deep division among the Apple faithful. I leave it alone.

In other news, I'm posting this from within Safari 3 Beta, which is holy-crap fast (at least at rendering the WGB), and lets you resize the text-box you're typing in.

Fuck it's slick.

And you can get it for Windows, now (hear that, web-designers? You can design for Safari directly, now, rather than assuming that Firefox is good enough!)

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And you can get it for Windows, now (hear that, web-designers? You can design for Safari directly, now, rather than assuming that Firefox is good enough!)

Too bad I like my plugins.

Which plugins? Just curious. My PDF plugin (the SchubertIT one) and my Flash plugin work fine. Or do you mean SIMBL plugins like PithHelmet or SafariStand?

Or (duh on my part) do you just mean that there aren't any plugins for Safari for Windows that match what is available for other Windows browsers?

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Originally posted by Justy:
Which plugins?

I guess the technical firefox term is extension,
but anyway the important one is Rikaichan.

I use it all the time.

Woo: Safari private browsing capability in Windows!

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Originally posted by Marshdrifter:

quote:

Originally posted by Justy:
Which plugins?

I guess the technical firefox term is extension,
but anyway the important one is Rikaichan.

I use it all the time.

I get you now.

Wow. Neat extension.

Well, I could be totally wrong about the new Finder. I'm just worried that moving and navigation will be even more jacked up then they are now... But it could be a thing of beauty. Who knows?

OTOH, if the new one is bad enough, maybe I'll try and code up something to recreate the OS9 Finder experience. I've already got a name--9inder!

quote:

Originally posted by Bravus:
Woo: Safari private browsing capability in Windows!

a friend asked me:

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Do you know any songs about cassette tapes or obsolete technology, that
kind of thing?

i'm drawing a blank passed "video killed the radio star" and reynolds "blank tapes". anyone here got any suggestions?

YAY!!!!! I just finished a new song on my palliDust site. It's called "Gibson's Rebellion", inspired by all you guys, actually. Unlike "Virtual Love" and "Ice Floe", it's more of an instrumental song. (You hear me oohing and aahing in the background, but that's all.)

I hope you like it. You are my inspiration. Thank you.

Well, there's Marzipan's 'Cool Tapes'.

quote:

Originally posted by Bravus:
Well, there's Marzipan's 'Cool Tapes'.

i can't check it from work. but i'll pass it on with reservations...