PC sales growth in the U.S. slowed considerably in the second quarter, although worldwide sales boosted some PC vendors, according to two reports that will be released today. Dataquest will report that U.S. sales grew 12 percent, while worldwide sales rose 18 percent. Meanwhile, International Data will announce that U.S. unit shipments increased only 7 percent, while global shipments jumped 15 percent. These figures compare to 29 percent growth in U.S. PC sales in the second quarter of last year, according to Dataquest. Last year's strong PC sales, driven by inexpensive and free PC deals, are now giving way to a long-term slump in sales, some analysts say. However, IDC analyst Anne Bui says the U.S. consumer PC market still has room for growth, with just 52 percent of U.S. households owning at least one PC. The corporate PC market has also slowed, although experts believe this trend will reverse later in the year as companies invest in Microsoft's Windows 2000. In the meantime, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Gateway are benefiting from strong sales in the worldwide PC market.http://www.msnbc.com/news/436913.asp

Several European nations, particularly Germany, are concerned that the U.S. National Security Agency may be using its gigantic intelligence presence in Europe--originally established to combat Russia during the Cold War--to conduct economic espionage for the benefit of U.S. companies. Germany has questioned why the U.S. needs to maintain its giant monitoring center in Bad Aibling 10 years after the demise of the Soviet Union. The U.S. government adamantly denies that it is spying on European companies, and says that its intelligence gathering is aimed at terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, money laundering, and corporate corruption. The European Parliament last month voted to open an inquiry into the "Echelon" system, a spying device rumored to be operated by the U.S. in conjunction with Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The system can supposedly intercept and monitor billions of emails, faxes, and telephone calls every hour, although the U.S. has never officially acknowledged its existence. However, European critics point to a 1994 incident where the U.S. persuaded Saudi Arabia to renege on a $6 billion contract with Airbus, showing the Saudi government intelligence information that confirmed that Airbus officials had engaged in bribery. The contract eventually went to Airbus rival Boeing, an American firm. The U.S. also similarly persuaded Brazil to award a large weapons contract to the American firm Raytheon after showing government officials intelligence information detailing corruption among executives at the French company Thomson-CSF, originally slated to win the Brazilian contract. http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31916-2000Jul23.html
For information regarding ACM's activities on behalf of privacy matters, visit http://www.acm.org/usacm/privacy.

There has been very little public debate over ICANN and its power over the Internet's future, but public policy groups are trying to change that trend. The Internet Democracy Project, with Hans Klein, consists of several organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Privacy Information Center and was created two weeks ago to assist in improving the standing of civil society online. The group and its publication, an online newsletter called The Cyber-Federalist that works to keep subscribers updated on ICANN's election processes, is one of a front of groups, including ICANNWatch and the Association for Computing Machinery's Internet Governance Project, that monitor ICANN and try to ensure the rights of non-commercial domains. These non-commercial interest groups are hampered from joining in on the process of creating new top level domain names and registries for those names because ICANN requires a non-refundable $50,000 application fee, a high enough figure to eliminate most applicants outside of the corporate environment. The non-commercial interest groups are also concerned that ICANN favors corporations in trademark disputes. Hans Klein, with individuals from Korea, Australia, Germany, Ecuador, and Burkina Faso formed the Civil Society Internet Forum last week that petitioned ICANN chair Esther Dyson to permit the new organization to be involved in ICANN actions. http://www.digitalmass.com/columns/internet/0719.html
For information regarding ACM's Internet governance work related to ICANN, visit http://www.acm.org/serving/IG.html.

The software industry is desperately seeking the programmers who will drive the next wave of software development. Microsoft, IBM, and other major software companies need programmers to design and build the systems that will power e-commerce platforms, a market that could be worth $100 billion within the next 10 years. Observers believe that e-commerce is only in its early stages, and that the companies that will succeed in this new software market are the companies that position themselves to deliver the operating platforms and technology to push e-commerce into the everyday dealings of both consumers and businesses. Both Microsoft and IBM, for example, estimate that they will each spend $2 billion to train programmers in the computer codes, such as extensible markup language (XML), necessary for e-commerce to reach its full potential. http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/biztech/articles/24deve.html

Speaking at the National Press Club, Lycos CEO Bob Davis said the FCC needs to create an oversight program to curtail activities on the Web such as the posting of violence, obscenity, and illegal pornography. Davis said he does not believe that online privacy has enough government oversight, and he urged resistance to the idea of Internet-only, discriminatory taxes. The accessibility of illegal music as provided by Napster was another issue he raised, claiming such abuses are inevitable. However, Davis did not slam the Internet itself for the crimes he wants the FCC to control. "You can't blame the Internet for what is malignant in our society," he said. Davis is also of the opinion that the Internet industry must come together to be a strong lobbying force, and to build "confidence in the Web through market-driven policies."
http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/152381.html

Network Solutions' competitors claim that NSI is retaining one million or more expired domain names that should be made available for others to register. NSI's actions are illegal and are an extension of the monopoly previously held by the company, according to Sasha Mornell, Register.com's senior vice president. After searching public databases to determine how many domain names should now be available for registration, BuyDomains.com found that 207,448 .com domain names expired in May but NSI kept those names off the market, which could mean that NSI is retaining about 300,000 names each month. NSI, which through May had deleted names from the central registry maintained by the company and made those names publicly available, now intends to auction domain names. At a 2 percent to 5 percent charge-back rate, NSI would have about 200,000 to 500,000 unpaid registrations annually, according to NSI senior vice president Roger Cochetti. However, NSI's competitors disagree strongly with this figure, quoting NSI's own annual report that states that "from September 1995 through December 1999, approximately 36.5 percent of registrations have ultimately been deactivated for nonpayment," which would result in at least 3.6 million unpaid domain names annually. NSI will only provide the number of paid registrations in the company's quarterly results, according to NSI spokeswoman Cheryl Regan. Although ICANN does say that NSI's intended domain name auctions might breach some agreements, ICANN has not concluded what action it will take. NSI did postpone the intended auction by 40 days due to ICANN's concerns, says Cochetti.
http://www.news.com/Perspectives/Column/0,176,465,00.html?tag=st.ne

Newspapers are poised to take advantage of the fact that by 2003, the handheald market will have made inroads into 36 percent of U.S. households. A content-hungry consumer base continues to grow, as a recent Forrester Research report reveals that wireless consumers will grow from 2 million in 2001 to 23 million by 2003. Initially anxious about declining circulation and the migration of classified ads online, newspapers are now more secure about their future in the high-tech marketplace due to partnerships with high-tech firms. Analysts say that newspapers continue to be the largest, most in-depth and trusted providers of local content, which is has been found to be the most valuable form of content. Palm already features content from USAToday.com and the Wall Street Journal. Armed with Palms, Visors, cell phones, and other handhelds, consumers will be increasingly checking store hours, sports scores, and restaurant locations. In October, the New York Times, Reuters, and other members of the Geneva-based International Press and Telecommunications Council will approve NewsML, an XML-based formatting protocol that allows multimedia news to be conveyed via various fixed or wireless platforms. CIBC World Markets executive director of equity research Rudolph Hokanson says that to accommodate communication with non-news content providers, newspapers must be "content-centric, platform agnostic."http://www.upside.com/texis/mvm/story?id=396f87e60

The largest business-to-business online marketplace in the airline industry, Aeroexchange, will be announced today by 13 airlines. Oracle has been chosen to supply the technology for the venture. Aeroexchange will launch in a few months, with transactions expected to reach $45 billion a year. The exchange will be open to all airlines, industry-related companies, and suppliers, allowing participants to reduce costs by using joint buying power and by streamlining the supply chain, according to the founding members. Aeroexchange will offer a range of aircraft components, maintenance services, and general goods and services. Founding airlines include America West, FedEx Express, Lufthansa German Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and several others.
Click Here to View Full Article

Online auctions and digital exchanges are transforming the business world by allowing small companies to compete more effectively with large corporations. Small companies looking to establish an online presence are often limited by their inability to make huge investments in Web infrastructure--an obstacle that is eliminated by online auctions and exchanges. Large companies are participating in auctions and exchanges as well. Sun Microsystems this week plans to announce that it will allow its resellers to obtain Sun hardware from auction sites like eBay, TecSell, and Mercata. In addition, Sun plans to offer its own auction business, which will be maintained by auction management firm Andale. Even as large companies move into the auction and exchange businesses, they are welcoming small competitors to take part in the trend. Large companies say they are helping smaller firms because auctions and exchanges benefit from having as many suppliers as possible. However, this open attitude might be motivated in part by the Federal Trade Commission's worry that exchanges will exclude smaller participants, thereby posing an antitrust concern. http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/00/07/17/000717hnbig2small.xml

Vendors are beginning to sell software based on subscription and limited term licenses, and experts predict that these new models will gradually replace perpetual licenses. The trend is disturbing to some CIOs, who believe the new models could be more expensive in the long run. Validating the CIOs' concerns, Gartner Group estimates that corporations will spend more on subscription-based software over time. Oracle's new limited term licenses, for example, cost users more than the traditional licenses after roughly five years, says Gartner's Marie Reeve. Meanwhile, users are complaining that Microsoft's new per-seat licensing is pricier than the old concurrent licensing. Another new pricing model is per-processor licensing, which makes software more expensive as it is moved to a more powerful system. Although some users are dissatisfied with the new licensing models, experts say the new terms can make administration easier and sometimes save money for users.
Click Here to View Full Article

Small manufacturing companies are not moving quickly to the Internet, according to a recent survey from the National Association of Manufacturers. E-commerce is not a high priority for small companies that do most of their business locally and have limited resources. Of those surveyed, 9 percent of companies carried out 10 percent of their total transactions online. Only 1.4 percent of respondents conducted more than 10 percent of sales transactions over the Internet. The sluggishness of small manufacturers with regards to the Internet concerns experts, who warn that a failure to embrace the technology now could leave small companies at a disadvantage in the future.

Federal authorities will soon establish a central agency to create standards for authenticating millions of digital certificates that have been issued to government workers and the public. These standards, which will support endeavors ranging from online patent applications to student aid applications, could eventually be adopted by the private sector. The impetus behind the standards creation was President Clinton's recent signing of the E-Sign Act, which is the private sector's version of the Government Paperwork Elimination Act of 1998, which gave electronic signatures the same legal validity as ink ones at federal offices. The E-Sign Act gives online contracts in the corporate world equal ranking with pen-and-paper contracts, requiring digital certificates to verify these e-signatures. Computer experts contend that the most difficult problem will be constructing a public key infrastructure (PKI) to manage the digital certificates used to sign and encrypt online data, because federal agency systems will have to be upgraded to accept digital certificates in lieu of personal identification numbers. Two firms, Digital Signature Trust and Operational Research Consultants, have been enlisted by the federal government to aid in deploying the PKI technology among the different agencies, and AT&T may sign on to the project next month. http://www.internetwk.com/lead/lead071400.htm

Analysts believe that secure document delivery services may be set to take off as companies become more comfortable with outsourcing various security functions. The recent passage of federal e-signature legislation that makes online documents legally valid as well as the technology's user-friendliness has contributed to the widespread use of secure document delivery. Companies such as CertifiedMail.com, PostX, Tumbleweed Communications, and Zipmail have all sprung up in recent months to provide services that protect the privacy and integrity of electronic documents. Most of the services also have tracking mechanisms that alert a sender when a document has been received. CertifiedMail's Bob Janacek contends that secure document delivery will be widely embraced by business because corporations find S/MIME and digital certificates too complicated and arduous, and would rather outsource encryption. Analysts also say outsourcing secure email is cheaper than using overnight delivery services, and businesses may be forced to outsource due to the widespread use of the Internet to conduct commerce, as well as the increased speed at which such commerce is conducted. The Aberdeen Group estimates that only 10 percent of U.S. firms currently outsource any of their security functions, but that the number will jump to 45 percent by 2002. http://www.informationweek.com/795/backup.htm
For information regarding ACM's activities related to encryption, visit http://www.acm.org/usacm/crypto.

Judging by the number of people in the business sector who attended the antitrust portion of the recent FTC workshop on business-to-business exchanges in Washington, the B2B industry is taking the issue seriously. Industries that are familiar with government antitrust scrutiny are moving cautiously into B2B exchanges. For example, MetalSite.com brought large metal makers together with thousands of customers in 1998, but not before the site had some strong safeguards in place. The site addressed antitrust issues by relying on specific antitrust policies and rules for information exchange, briefing every employee on antitrust issues, and signing up Arthur Andersen to audit antitrust compliance two times a year. Federal regulators hope the B2B industry will follow such a lead because exchanges can very easily turn into a forum for collusion. For example, in a B2B exchange it would not be difficult for a major block of an industry to jointly sell their goods at fixed prices. Meanwhile, regulators are just as concerned about joint buying. So far there has been little antitrust inquiry. The FTC is reviewing the exchange of the Big Three automakers, Covisint; the exchange set up in April by Cargill, Tyson Food and four other meat and poultry processors; and the major airlines' online ticket-selling venture Orbitz. Deputy assistant attorney general John Nannes urges companies at the outset to make sure that B2B exchanges are designed without anticompetitive effects and to establish rules or limits so that regulators will not have to get involved. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,16760,00.html


Bill Gates's house

Bill Gates owns a mansion, known as Xanadu 2.0, that overlooks Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. The  mansion is noted for its design and the technology it incorporates.

In 2009, property taxes were reported to be US $1.063 million on a total assessed value of US $147.5 million.

Design and features
The house was designed collaboratively by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and Cutler-Anderson Architects of Bainbridge Island, Washington.

The mansion is a modern design in the Pacific lodge style, with classic features such as a private library with a dome-shaped roof and oculus. The house also features an estate-wide server system, a  swimming pool with an underwater music system, a  gym, a  dining room, heated floors, and drive-ways.

References

External links

 Tax info on the house from the King County GIS website

House
Category:Gates family residences
Category:Houses in King County, Washington
Category:Houses in Washington (state)


The Programming Life: Experiences in DevelopmentGeorge shares and discusses real-time software development insight, experiences and solutions in this blog. He enjoys talking about anything that might be remotely related to IT and matters within every programmer's programming life. As he plays multiple roles and faces challenging situations in various stages of the SDLC in a global context, he's keen on developing a platform to exchange ideas, share insight and build a super network of developers and pundits.


Q:

Properties of Brownian motion and filtration, Exercise 6.22, Joshi Concepts and applications to mathematical finance

Let $W_t$ be a Brownian motion, and let $F_t$ be its filtration then for $t > s$ we are asked to compute
$$\mathbb{E}\left[W_t^2|F_s\right]$$
We have $$W_t = W_s + (W_t - W_s)$$
and
$$W_t^{2} = W_s^{2} + 2W_s(W_t - W_s) + (W_t - W_s)^2$$
So
$$\mathbb{E}\left[W_t^{2}|F_s\right] = W_s^{2} + t - s$$
I don't see how
$$2\mathbb{E}\left[W_s(W_t - W_s)|F_s\right] = t - s$$

A:

\begin{equation}
\mathbb{E} \left[ \left. W_s \left( W_t - W_s \right) \right| \mathfrak{F}_s \right] = W_s \mathbb{E} \left[ W_t - W_s \right] = 0
\end{equation}
The first step uses that $W_s$ is $\mathfrak{F}_s$-measureable and that the increment $W_t - W_s$ is independent of $\mathfrak{F}_s$. Next,
\begin{equation}
\mathbb{E} \left[ \left. \left( W_t - W_s \right)^2 \right| \mathfrak{F}_s \right] = \mathbb{E} \left[ \left( W_t - W_s \right)^2 \right] = \mathbb{E} \left[ W_{t - s}^2 \right] = t - s.
\end{equation}
Here we used again independence in the first step. In the second one we use that the unconditional distribution of $W_t - W_s$ is the same as that of $W_{t - s}$.


21 July 2006

Ford’s 2Q06 automotive sector results. Although North American results improved compared to 2Q2005, it remains a very large problem.

Ford Motor Company reported a net loss of $123 million for the second quarter of 2006—results worse than expected. This compares with net income $946 million in the second quarter of 2005. Ford’s second-quarter loss from continuing operations, excluding special items, was $48 million, compared with a profit of 936 million in the same period a year ago.

Ford’s second-quarter total sales and revenue was $42 billion, down $2.5 billion from a year ago.

The truck and SUV markets that sustained our profitability for so long are getting smaller and more competitive..the market shift continues to impact our revenue. The speed and magnitude of the market shift is putting added pressures on our costs...and the competitive landscape is continually shifting, as evidenced by the GM-Renault-Nissan discussion.

The external factors [market shift, commodity and fuel costs] I’ve outlined aren’t going to get any easier, so we need to go father and faster [in the restructuring].

—Bill Ford, CEO

On a pre-tax basis, worldwide Automotive sector losses in the second quarter were $808 million. This compares with a pre-tax loss of $245 million during the same period a year ago.

Worldwide automotive sales for the second quarter declined 2.6% to $37.7 billion from $38.7 billion in the same period last year. Worldwide vehicle unit sales in the quarter rose 0.8% to 1,732,000, up from 1,718,000 a year ago.

In the second quarter, Ford’s North America automotive operations reported a pre-tax loss of $797 million, compared with a pre-tax loss of $907 million a year ago. The improvement is more than explained by cost reductions in most areas of the business, partially offset by a mix shift from trucks to passenger cars, higher incentives and adverse foreign currency exchange. Sales were $19.2 billion, down 3.5% from $19.9 billion for the same period a year ago.

Ford is cutting its projected third-quarter production in North America to 670,000 units, down 58,000 units on a year-over-year basis, and 40,000 units less than what was previously announced. This drop mainly reflects reductions in truck production.

During the earnings conference call, Ford said the company will accelerate and revamp the “Way Forward” restructuring plan announced early this year.

If they had a better crystal ball, I’d go out and buy one. We don’t want to get into were we right or were we wrong. The issue is, how do we react? We baked in flexibility, and now we are going to use it.

Comments

Some of their North American "loss" is made up for in the financing side of the business -- give away the razor in order to sell the blades, or give away the cars in order to collect interest on the loans. The sale price of the car may book a loss, but the interest on the auto loan makes up for that. But seemingly not enough anymore. Ford and GM are sick, but I wouldn't count them out just yet. At minimum, they have enough ready cash on hand to keep chugging along for a few more years before the party grinds to a halt. Beyond that, they may be able to bail themselves out through their current restructuring efforts. We'll see.

My guess is that this is what you get with roomfulls of MBAs running the business. Nothing inspriational comes out any more - they are just crunching numbers in order to try to figure out how to squeeze more money out of consumers.

My thinking is that both GM and Ford are really top-heavy. To many highly-paid managers are leading us to the place where they can only make profits on big SUVs.

I see a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking here. Big car companies need to set up their plans years in advance. Ford is being crucified for not anticipating back in 2002 or 2003 that oil would be $75 today. They should have known that Hurricane Katrina would deal a blow to gulf oil production that would last for a full year. They should have anticipated that Israel and Lebanon would get into an undeclared war, that Saudi production would level off, that Nigerian rebels would attack oil infrastructure. Their crystal ball should have been perfect.

Ford managers weren't the only people who failed to anticipate these events. If you look at the commodities market from back then, you could buy 2006 oil for under $30. That was the market consensus for what the price would be in 2006. That was what the smart money was betting about the course of future events.

Ford is not to blame here. Like a lot of other companies, it is a victim of the inherent unpredictability of the future. The future is guaranteed to surprise us - sometimes favorably, sometimes unfavorably. And when surprises happen, there are always winners and losers. In this case, Toyota and Honda were winners and Ford and GM were losers. But because surprises are unpredictable (by definition!), we could just as easily have seen surprises in the other direction, which could have reversed the fortunes of these competitors. In that case we'd be praising Ford management for their farsightedness!

The truth is that people seldom deserve either as much praise or as much blame as their receive when unexpected events strike with good or bad results. The world is unpredictable, and people have to live with it. Sometimes you're lucky and sometimes you're not. Ford has been unlucky, that's all there is to it.

I will stipulate that part of the problem for Ford and GM is that they have pretty much assumed that what has worked in the past will work in the future. GM, certainly, still wants the past to work by trying to prolong American's love affair with big vehicles. Their latest strategy to keep this affair is to pretend that their big vehicles get good gas mileage by making them fuel flexible. They want to hang on to their big vehicle strategy because that's where the profits have been and they can't figure out any other way to make money.

So what are they going to do going forward? Hope that the future causes gas prices to plummet? While that is a strategy and might even work, it's probably not a good idea to bet the whole company on it.

Ford recognized over a year ago that one of the things they needed is predictability. They decided they wanted to start investing heavily in hybrids but they wanted an environment that would help that investment pay off. What this means is that the future needs to become more predictable by instituting gas taxes will keep gas prices at a high and increasingly high but predictable level.

Well, there nothing on the horizon that indicates that Government is going to play ball. If anything, we may end up with lower taxes at least for a time. Ford needs long term stability. The politicians are busily trying to find palliatives for those who are complaining about $3/gallon gas.

I think it is clear to Ford that the future remains a crap shoot, with prices maybe trending up but still enough volatility along the way to sink them if they make the wrong bets. Phase 1 was to cut jobs and save billions of dollars. This isn't good enough and now they realize they don't have the resources to beat Toyota, for example, by investing in a hybrid future.

Ford is running out of the ability to take risks that might pull their fat out of the fire. Now all they are left with is even more restructuring,i.e., more cost cutting.

Yeh, maybe Ford has just been unlucky. And I don't see their luck changing.

They staked everything on SUVs and trucks and did not have compelling small car solutions, at least for the US (they do in Europe, which is either bizarre or shows lack of vision in management.) In a time when anyone in the business could see the writing on the wall wrt oil (namely the consumption/discovery gap getting bigger and bigger every year) this looked like a high risk game of chicken which they lost. Doubly high risk given the time it takes to get a new product out. Honda and especially Toyota also have SUVs and trucks but they have a more balanced lineup. Ford US never believed in the Focus (how many ads did you see for the Focus and how many for the F150?), and they didn't take advantage of hybrid technology they'd been developing since 1994. Even now they're still fixated on the SUV, still fighting the last war.

You are right. “Professional managers”, who are trained to manage virtually anything without knowing particular industry they are working in, is the root of the problem. Look, for example, at air lines industry. But the most damaging is management aggressively trying to achieve better financial results every quarter at any price. Enron and current Yahoo mess are following.

As it is always happened, any success is presented as example of exceptional wisdom of management. Any defeat is because of “market volatility”, “rising oil prices”, “shifted demand”, etc.

Just stop making crappy vehicles and start to make good ones, cars or trucks – no matter, and you will post two-digit sales increase, like Toyota does.

Lucas: It's not the engineers. Not fifteen years ago when I was there, and not today. It's not engineers whose bonuses depend on making quarterly targets. It wasn't the engineers who cancelled the PNGV efforts because Bush pulled the money and the EPA changed standards to effectively prohibit their engines.

It wasn't the engineers who made heavy trucks into the most profitable market segment. It was the US public, voting for cheap gas at the pump, a vehicular arms race on the road, and pols who never talked about a tomorrow which might require us to consume smarter instead of more. The public kept voting out anyone who pushed policies that would have steered us away from this mess.

The nation as a whole is anti-intellectual and trusts feelings over facts. It's hard to argue that we are not getting exactly what we collectively deserve.

Engineer-poet:
You are probably right at all your points.
However, what we are talking about is that such companies as GM and Ford, being able to hire brightest from brightest, should lead the public, not blindly follow it (I am talking about management, not engineers). They miserably failed, and that was quite visible for long time even for outsiders.

Unfortunately, one company can't "lead" if that means another company is going to eat its market share. The UAW would have killed them for that. And two or more companies getting together is an anti-trust violation.

The whole point is moot; even Toyota went for the profitable guzzler segment with trucks like the Tundra and Tacoma. They built them because Americans would buy them; we failed as individuals. We could have voted to cut "light trucks" back to their historical share of perhaps 15% and raise gasoline taxes (the most effective thing we could do!), but we failed as a body politic also.

Well, you are right on this too. The whole ordeal is sad.
My impression is that Big Three way longer then other companies were selling cars with inferior technology: 3 and later 4 speed automatic transmission, 2 valves per cylinder engines, cast iron engine blocks, pushrod valvetrain. They failed timely and broadly introduce variable valve timing, independent rear suspension, 4-way ABS, side impact air bags, etc. Bright spot was Ford SVT initiative, but it was not expanded broadly. And when truck marked began to tank, they discovered that they lost the edge in car’s technology. One of the reasons of their demise.

I think Andrey hit the nail on the head. Most of this discussion had to do with Ford being unable to predict the rise in fuel prices. However, I think the biggest issue was Ford's (and GM's) unwillingness to keep up with the technologies being developed by other car companies. This is not as a result of a lack of engineering capability. It's as a result of a business model that favors cost cutting.

As Andrey pointed out, what was the last significant advancement that Ford (or GM) debuted before either a Japanese or German company had? They have to be dragged kicking and screaming at times, which resulted in them being years behind in terms of implementation.

I remember seeing all of these articles a couple months ago about Ford's "new" family of V6 engines that would make their debut in 2007 models. VVT on the intake valves. Capable of adding direct injection and turbocharging in the future. Wow. My 1999 Lexus RX has continuously variable valve timing. Direct injection and is already being used by their competitors.

Examples are everywhere, whether it's the engine, the transmission, or even convenience features. Maybe there was a time not too long ago that US companies could rely on consumers to just keep replacing their old vehicles with a newer version of the same thing. That time has gone. Maybe Ford/GM should start blaming the internet for making it too easy for consumers to compare vehicles and notice that they got much more for their money from other competitors? Oh, wait, maybe they had no way to predict that!

There are two things I believe Toyota saw 10 years ago but GM and Ford didn't. Toyota saw that world oil field discovery peaked in the 60s and that China and India were increasing oil demand. The facts were there to be seen and Toyota planned and designed vehicles in anticipation of what has happened.

Tom:
You may be right, but Toyota didn't have to recognize that peak oil was comming. They just had to recognize that some markets existed for small, fuel efficient cars -- like Japan and other Asian countries. US auto companies continue to see only the world around Detroit. They didn't learn anything from what has happened in the auto markets since 1973. They are still afraid of losing money on a little Nash Rambler -- Beep Beep.

Good point on Internet, Angelo. It changed market place dramatically. The time when whole sectors of the industry moved up and down together long gone. Ability of consumer to get instantly all information to choose the best product results in dramatic and fast rises of some companies with superior products, and corresponding demise of the companies at the moment does not offering product of comparable quality. And the situation could reverce at same lighting speed. And it is not only cars, it is electronics, software, services – virtually everything (probably aircraft only not). Too bad stock market could not comprehend this new reality.

I think corporate agility may be another useful factor to discuss here. Toyota, and to a lesser extent, Honda, have been able to latch on to the big ass SUV demand in the US and provide arguably a competitive if not superior gas guzzler product (e.g., Tundra, V8 Landcruiser, Ridgeline) in a period of a few years. At the same time Toyota and Honda have continued to improve their economy car offerings. GM and Ford have barely tweaked their bread and butter products over the past 30 years, namely the Suburban/Tahoe and the F150. Status Quo rules the day. Folks need to understand that it is in the mutual interests of high ranking corporate executives to perpetuate the status quo. It make the rich, richer. US automakers, oil/gas concerns, pavement/concrete firms, all have a joint interest in selling gas guzzling vehicles that will traverse any remaining piece of open space that can be paved over. I would concur most with engineer-poet, it is a temporal, myopic, short-sighted mentally of Americans that have landed us in our current situation. If ordinary people stop buying gas guzzlers, and start pressuring their electorate to focus tax spending away from Defense and sprawl projects toward sustainable programs, I'm sure that positive changes in our quality of life will result. Moreover, if consumers stop purchasing wasteful incipid products (e.g., Hummer, Expedition, etc.) and purchase more economical offerings (e.g., Prius, Insight) then automakers will produce the vehicles that the majority of consumers demand.

After 911 there is no such thing as luck in the automotive industries... They should have known to participate in the unknown of mid-east event where the oil prices are set but instead they choose to ignore all warning signs and go with consumer demand and concentrate on gas guzzling vehicles... SUV, PONY/MUSCLE cars resurrection!. Yeah those Excursions are BIG and ROOMY and those Mustangs can blow off your cheesy crap anytime, anywhere so better get out of my way! Now, have you see what’s on the used car lots lately; there full of them waiting for the next suckers. The sad thing is the term “one born every minute” applies. My question is if they’re going to build those vehicles then why not over-priced them for a small market segment and concentrate their effort on the fuel efficient not to mention better reliable cars?

There are technologies, which can reduce the cost of fuel, production of GHG to near zero( compared with fossil fuels).
There are technologies that can reduce the cost of bio fuels to about 50% at distillation and about another 50% in producing the feed stock.
But who is interested, they will make the existing Board Rooms redundant ( may be)


from typing import FrozenSet, List, Mapping, Set

import collections
import logging

from ..config import Config

from .k8sobject import KubernetesGVK, KubernetesObjectKey, KubernetesObject
from .resource import ResourceManager

class KubernetesProcessor:
    """
    An abstract processor for Kubernetes objects that emit configuration
    resources.
    """

    def kinds(self) -> FrozenSet[KubernetesGVK]:
        # Override kinds to describe the types of resources this processor wants
        # to process.
        return frozenset()

    def _process(self, obj: KubernetesObject) -> None:
        # Override _process to handle a single resource. Note that the entry
        # point for _process is try_process; _process should not be called
        # directly.
        pass

    def try_process(self, obj: KubernetesObject) -> bool:
        if obj.gvk not in self.kinds():
            return False

        self._process(obj)
        return True

    def finalize(self) -> None:
        # Override finalize to do processing at the end of the configuration
        # fetching.
        pass

class ManagedKubernetesProcessor (KubernetesProcessor):
    """
    An abstract processor that provides access to a resource manager.
    """

    manager: ResourceManager

    def __init__(self, manager: ResourceManager):
        self.manager = manager

    @property
    def aconf(self) -> Config:
        return self.manager.aconf

    @property
    def logger(self) -> logging.Logger:
        return self.manager.logger

class AggregateKubernetesProcessor (KubernetesProcessor):
    """
    This processor aggregates many other processors into a single convenient
    processor.
    """

    delegates: List[KubernetesProcessor]
    mapping: Mapping[KubernetesGVK, List[KubernetesProcessor]]

    def __init__(self, delegates: List[KubernetesProcessor]) -> None:
        self.delegates = delegates
        self.mapping = collections.defaultdict(list)

        for proc in self.delegates:
            for kind in proc.kinds():
                self.mapping[kind].append(proc)

    def kinds(self) -> FrozenSet[KubernetesGVK]:
        return frozenset(iter(self.mapping))

    def _process(self, obj: KubernetesObject) -> None:
        procs = self.mapping.get(obj.gvk, [])
        for proc in procs:
            proc.try_process(obj)

    def finalize(self):
        for proc in self.delegates:
            proc.finalize()

class DeduplicatingKubernetesProcessor (KubernetesProcessor):
    """
    This processor delegates work to another processor but prevents the same
    Kubernetes object from being processed multiple times.
    """

    delegate: KubernetesProcessor
    cache: Set[KubernetesObjectKey]

    def __init__(self, delegate: KubernetesProcessor) -> None:
        self.delegate = delegate
        self.cache = set()

    def kinds(self) -> FrozenSet[KubernetesGVK]:
        return self.delegate.kinds()

    def _process(self, obj: KubernetesObject) -> None:
        if obj.key in self.cache:
            return

        self.cache.add(obj.key)
        self.delegate.try_process(obj)

    def finalize(self):
        self.delegate.finalize()

class CountingKubernetesProcessor (KubernetesProcessor):
    """
    This processor increments a given configuration counter when it receives an
    object.
    """

    aconf: Config
    kind: KubernetesGVK
    key: str

    def __init__(self, aconf: Config, kind: KubernetesGVK, key: str) -> None:
        self.aconf = aconf
        self.kind = kind
        self.key = key

    def kinds(self) -> FrozenSet[KubernetesGVK]:
        return frozenset([self.kind])

    def _process(self, obj: KubernetesObject) -> None:
        self.aconf.incr_count(self.key)


- 5*t = 13, -5*s - l*t - 11 = -t for s.
-2
Suppose 0 = -3*u + 9. Let g be (1 + u)*(-49)/(-14). Suppose 5*q - g - 1 = 0. Solve -q*w - 5*z = w + 6, 5*w = -4*z - 12 for w.
-4
Let w be 24/(-14)*(-9 + 2). Solve 0 = 3*c + 3*n - 3, 3*n + n - w = 0 for c.
-2
Suppose 4 = 3*y - 2. Let v(d) = d**2 + d - 5. Let o be v(-5). Solve -2*k - k + t + o = 0, -k = y*t + 2 for k.
4
Suppose -3*c + 1 = -f, -c + 1 + 1 = 0. Suppose 8 = 4*a + f*b, 4*a = 2*a - 4*b + 4. Solve -4*o = a*t, o + 2 = -3*t - 3 for t.
-2
Suppose -42*l + 44 = -20*l. Solve -4*z - 5 = -w + 7, -16 = 2*z + l*w for z.
-4
Suppose 7 = 4*b + x - 0*x, 0 = 4*x + 4. Solve 5*q - t = -17, 3*q - b*t = 6*q + 5 for q.
-3
Let n = 9 + -7. Suppose 0 = s - 5*s + 8. Solve 2*r - 5*z - 4 = 12, -3*r = -s*z - n for r.
-2
Let q be (-5 - -4)/(2/(-12)). Suppose 2*j - 8 + q = 0. Solve -3*n + 4*i = -10, -4*n = -i - j - 8 for n.
2
Let k(a) = a**2 + 6*a - 7. Let z be k(-7). Let b = 8 - 10. Let c = b - -7. Solve -5*v + 24 + 11 = -5*l, z = 2*l + c*v - 21 for l.
-2
Suppose 0*f = 2*n - 4*f - 80, -3*n + 130 = -f. Suppose 4*i + 3*a = -a + n, -3*a = 2*i - 19. Solve -2 = u - 2*o, u + 2*o = -u + i for u.
4
Let i(t) = t - 4. Let z be i(6). Solve -4*h + 0*w - 12 = z*w, -h = -4*w + 21 for h.
-5
Let s(x) be the first derivative of -x**2/2 - 14*x - 1. Let z be s(-14). Solve -j - 15 = -4*m - 6, z = 3*m - 5*j - 11 for m.
2
Let i be 17 + 6*4/8. Suppose d - 4 - 6 = 2*l, -4*d + i = -4*l. Solve d = -p + 3*g + 15 - 2, 3*g = 2*p - 17 for p.
4
Suppose 0 = 7*s - 3*s - 52. Suppose 4*o + 0*t + 4*t - 16 = 0, 4*o - s = -t. Solve -2*l - l - 3*u + 6 = 0, -o*l - u = -6 for l.
2
Let a(n) = n**2 + 8*n - 1. Let j be a(-8). Let m = 4 - j. Solve -4*l + l + 5 = -m*g, -5*l + 3*g + 19 = 0 for l.
5
Let c = -61 + 66. Solve 5*a + 6 = 1, -c*w + 2*a = 23 for w.
-5
Suppose 8 = 2*v - 2. Solve -v = -3*h - 4*r, h = r - 4*r for h.
3
Let k be 6/(-15) - (-81)/15. Suppose 44 = k*v - 16. Solve -3 = 5*q + w + 1, 4*q + 3*w + v = 0 for q.
0
Let c = 55 + -55. Solve 4*n - 3*g = -4*g - 4, c = 4*n - 3*g + 20 for n.
-2
Let d = -4 + 8. Suppose -d*o + 11 = -1. Suppose -3*c + 3*w + 15 = 0, 3*w = -o*c + 5*w + 15. Solve -4*i - c*h = 5, -5*i + 3*h = 8*h for i.
5
Suppose -4*q + 11 = -5, 0 = -n + 3*q - 9. Solve 2*v - 35 + 15 = 3*p, -3*p = n*v for p.
-4
Let p = 4 + 0. Suppose -3*x - 4 = -5*c + x, 0 = p*x - 16. Solve -9 = -3*a - l, 3*l - l + c = 5*a for a.
2
Let m = 11 + -21. Let x = 17 + m. Suppose 5*r = 3 + x. Solve -5*k + 10 + 13 = -r*d, 7 = 2*d + 5*k for d.
-4
Let f(s) = -s**3 + 2*s**2 + 3. Let m be f(2). Let o be 4/(m/18*8). Solve -3 = o*j + 4*p - 31, -p + 8 = j for j.
4
Suppose 15*r - 26 = 2*r. Solve 5*b + r*h + 7 = 4*h, 2*h + 11 = -b for b.
-3
Let m = -6 - -11. Suppose m*f - 3 = l - 0, -l - 4*f = -6. Suppose -3*s = l - 8. Solve 12 = 4*k + 4, -s*a + 6 = 2*k for a.
1
Let u(q) = q**2 - 6*q - 3. Let z be u(7). Let x be (11/((-165)/72))/(4/(-20)). Solve 0*l + z*l = -4*y + x, 3*y - 10 = 5*l for y.
5
Suppose 10 = 2*z, 0 = -x - 4*z + 4 + 6. Let i be (-18)/45 - 94/x. Solve 2*a - i = s, -s = -5*a + 1 + 14 for a.
2
Suppose 0*i = -i + 4*n - 14, -2*i = -4*n + 12. Suppose i*s = -s + 15. Solve r = s*q - 22, 3*q = 5*r + 5 + 17 for r.
-2
Let s be ((-6)/4)/(1 - 26/20). Solve -4*g = -4*a - 16, a + 16 = 4*g + s*a for g.
4
Suppose -3*n - 3*y = -6, 0 + 6 = 3*n + 2*y. Solve -3*z - 4*q + 10 = 0, 7*z - n*q - 6 = 3*z for z.
2
Let n = -17 - -20. Solve 5*w = -n*l - 35, -2*w = -4*w - 3*l - 23 for w.
-4
Let p be (1/(-1) - 0)*-5. Solve -2*k - 3*q + 0*q - 18 = 0, -k - p*q - 23 = 0 for k.
-3
Let q(h) = -3*h**3 - 3*h**2 - 3*h - 3. Let y be q(-2). Solve 4*z + 20 = 3*l, l - 4*l = -3*z - y for l.
0
Suppose 5*a + 2*u - 35 = u, -4*u - 7 = -a. Let g = 2 + 1. Solve -g*z = 3*v - 6, -3*v - 2*z + a*z = -22 for v.
4
Suppose 0 = 2*b - 5 + 1. Suppose -3 = -2*x + 27. Suppose b*c - 35 = -x. Solve 2*n + 1 - 3 = 4*w, c = 5*n - 5*w for n.
3
Suppose 0 = 5*u + 5, -2*u + 66 = 4*s. Let q = -2 + s. Solve -w + 5 = 3*b, b - q = 3*b - 3*w for b.
0
Suppose 21 = 3*t - 3*q, 2*t - 3 = q + 9. Solve -5*a - 5 = t*w, -4*a = -2*w - w - 17 for w.
-3
Suppose o + 0*o = 0. Solve -4*i - 6 - 2 = -5*r, o = -5*r - 2*i + 26 for r.
4
Let c(d) be the second derivative of -d**3/6 - 3*d**2/2 - d. Let t be c(-6). Solve q - 4*v - v - 6 = 0, 2*q - v = t for q.
1
Let u be (90/(-25))/((-3)/10). Let k = u + -10. Solve 3*r - 3 = 3*p - 0*p, 0 = -r + k*p for r.
2
Suppose 6 = t - 0*t. Let p = t - 4. Solve 2 + p = -2*j - 5*w, 2*w = 5*j - 19 for j.
3
Let f = 16 - 11. Suppose -a + f = -j - 0, -5*a + 43 = 4*j. Solve a = -3*v + 2*u, -3 = -2*v - 3*u + 1 for v.
-1
Let l(s) = s**2 - 6*s - 4. Let n be l(7). Suppose 12 = -b + n*b. Solve -3*m - b = -2*u, -6 = -u + 2*m - 1 for u.
-3
Let j be (-1)/((-2)/4) - 2. Suppose j = t + 4*i - 6, -5*i + 0 + 7 = t. Let a(n) = -n + 3. Let m be a(0). Solve -5 = 2*o + 3*y - t*y, -2*o = -y + m for o.
-2
Let k(x) = x + 15. Let r be k(0). Suppose -r = -5*t - s, 2*s - 16 + 2 = -2*t. Solve 2*n = 4*p + 8, -t*p + 4 = -4*n + 8 for p.
-2
Suppose -7*t - 16 = -3*t. Let p = 8 + t. Solve -y - 1 - 1 = -s, -2*s = y - p for s.
2
Let p(v) = 3*v**2. Let c be 1/(-3 - (-4)/2). Let o be p(c). Solve -7*j = -w - 2*j + 10, o*w - 12 = -3*j for w.
5
Suppose 0 = b - 4, b + 104 = -0*p + 4*p. Solve -5*j + 3*w + w - p = 0, -3*j = 4*w - 3 for j.
-3
Let m be 49 - (0 + 3 - 4). Let h be (m/(-30))/((-10)/36). Solve -5*z + h = -4*j, 2*z - 2*j = 2*j for z.
2
Let m be 2/6 + 276/36. Solve 0 = -t + 5, p + 4*t - 10 - m = 0 for p.
-2
Let q(t) = t**2 + t + 4. Let h be q(-4). Let z = 19 - h. Solve 4*b = -3*y - 10, b - y - y = z for b.
-1
Let k be (-6)/4*(-14)/3. Suppose 10*x - 17*x + 42 = 0. Solve 2*j = g - k, x*j + g = j for j.
-1
Let b = 3 - 1. Suppose 0 = -2*y + 2 + b. Solve 5*m + 5 = 7*l - y*l, 3*l + 5*m - 19 = 0 for l.
3
Let m = 7 + -4. Suppose m*l + l = 0. Solve -3*r = -2*o + 4*o + 17, -4*o - 16 = l for r.
-3
Let h = 3 + -1. Let k be ((-2)/(-5))/(3/90). Suppose -o + k = h*o. Solve -2 = -a + q - 1, 0 = -o*a - 5*q - 5 for a.
0
Let k = 37 - 16. Solve 3*b + 4 = 4*j + k, 8 = 2*b - j for b.
3
Suppose 0 = -7*n + 3*n + 4*w + 52, 0 = -4*n + w + 40. Let c = n - 9. Solve -2*a + 10 = -5*o - c*o, 3*a - o + 11 = 0 for a.
-5
Suppose 5*m + 49 = 2*w, 0*w + 2*m = -4*w + 38. Solve -5*g + w = -2*r, -2*r + r + g = 3 for r.
-1
Let b(s) = -s**2 + 8*s + 11. Let f be b(9). Solve f = 5*r + 2*h + 5, 10 = -5*r + 5*h for r.
-1
Let p(b) = -b**2 - 7*b - 6. Let a be p(-5). Solve -4*q - 4*y = a, -2*q + 0*y - 3*y - 4 = 0 for q.
1
Let s(o) = o. Let m be s(0). Suppose m = -k - 4 + 8. Suppose 0 = v - 2*v - 2*g + 3, 38 = 2*v - k*g. Solve -i + n = 0, -4*i + n = 2 - v for i.
3
Let n(g) = g**3 + 0*g + g - 2 - 5 - 7*g**2. Suppose 4*o = -0*o + 28. Let z be n(o). Solve 2*w - w + 3*d + 19 = z, -3*w + 3 = -3*d for w.
-4
Let h(i) be the second derivative of 0 - i - 1/2*i**2 + 1/20*i**5 - 3/4*i**4 + 1/6*i**3. Let r be h(9). Solve 3*n + r = -7, 0 = -2*l + 5*n + 15 for l.
-5
Let n = 18 + -12. Solve 3*o = -3*b - n, -b + 4*b - 14 = o for o.
-5
Suppose 3*u + u = 12. Solve -u*m - 5*y - 1 = 0, 0 = -m - 3*y - 1 - 2 for m.
3
Suppose 13 = 3*p + 7. Solve z + 4*b - 1 = -13, -p*z - 12 = 2*b for z.
-4
Suppose -15 - 15 = 5*z. Let x = z + 4. Let y be (-4)/(12/(-21)) + x. Solve a = 5*r - 29, 0 = y*r - 27 + 2 for a.
-4
Suppose -14*t + t + 195 = 0. Solve -5*w + 2*x = t, -5*w + 5*x - 12 = -w for w.
-3
Let c(v) = v**3 - 2*v**2 - 2*v - 1. Let x be c(3). Suppose 4*d - 3*u = 95, -x*d + 5*u - 16 = -81. Suppose -w = w. Solve o - 16 = 3*s + 1, -4*s - d = w for o.
2
Suppose 3*v = -0*c + c + 5, 3*v - 2*c = 4. Solve 0 = v*z - 4*q + 14, -z = -5*q + q + 15 for z.
1
Suppose q - 3 = 0, w - 4*w + 45 = 3*q. Solve -2*v = -3*o - w, 3*v = -3*o + v for o.
-2
Suppose 4*u = -2*u + 30. Solve -5*m + 27 = -4*r, -4*m + u = r - 4 for m.
3
Let b(p) = 4*p - 6. Let l be b(5). Let y = l - 10. Solve 0 = 2*m + y*x - 22, 5*x - 18 = -4*m + 14 for m.
3
Suppose 4*u = 4, 4*f = -2*u + 15 + 15. Solve 3*g - 4 + f = 0, 0 = i + g + 3 for i.
-2
Let t be (-590)/(-22) - 4/(-22). Solve -3*j - 5*o + t = -3, -5*o = -3*j for j.
5
Let s = -10 + 4. Let c be ((-14)/s)/((-4)/(-12)). Solve 2*i + 2 = -3*g - 2, i = g - c for i.
-5
Let z = 20 + -8. Let g be (3/6)/(2/z). Solve -4*f - 13 = -5*u, -2*f - u - 6 = -g for f.
-2
Suppose 3*y - 73 = 3*k + k, 3 = y. Let d = -23 - k. Let t = 7 + d. Solve 4*j - 2*i - 22 = t, -


Q:

Automating A Function / Statement To Excute After Each PHP Statement

I'm not sure if it's present in PHP or not, or you might think of it a crazy or a wild idea. But somehow, it would be very convenient for me if I can make a function to execute after each statement in a PHP script.
For example:-
Normal Case:-
<?php

$a = 1;
$b = 2;
echo $a . "\n";
echo $b . "\n";

?>

This should result in:-
1
2

I want a case where I can write a function:-
function should_excute_after_each_php_statement() {
   echo 'a statement completed' . "\n";
}

and the script should result:-
a statement completed
a statement completed
1
a statement completed
2
a statement completed

Possible?

A:

From what I understand from your question I'd say phps "ticks" are exactly what you are looking for:. They usually come in handy for debugging purposes. Give 'em a look!


Toyi-Toyi-ing to freedom : the endgame in the ANC's armed struggle, 1989-1990

Abstract:

This article focuses on the twelve-month period between August 1989 and August 1990 which
proved to be the final year of the African National Congress’s (ANC) armed struggle against
the South African government. This period is interesting because it dramatised the central
paradox that existed throughout the ANC’s armed struggle, namely its material weakness that
was belied by its immense symbolic strength. In August 1989, the ANC’s proposals for
negotiations were accepted by African leaders, while in South Africa, F.W. de Klerk acceded
to the South African state presidency. These events considerably improved the prospects of a
negotiated settlement. However, by August 1990, the ANC and the South African government
had still not begun formal negotiations, and the bone of contention between them was the
ANC’s continued commitment to violence. This highlights the second key theme: namely, the
immense symbolic significance carried by the question of violence in the conflict. At stake was
the credibility of the ANC’s claims to be South Africa’s national liberation movement.
The ANC needed to perpetuate the notion of MK as an effective fighting force in order to
sustain its claim that negotiations had been achieved through its actions, and that it was
entering into talks on its own terms. Meanwhile for the government, these considerations
operated in reverse: it was anxious to counter the notion that the ANC had fought its way to
the negotiating table. This article will discuss how the two sides jostled over this question in
the period leading to the ANC’s unilateral suspension of its armed struggle in August 1990.


oakleysteel.co.uk› Structural Steel PlateS355J2G3 steel plates available ex-stock. 5 ... Structural Steel Chemical ... This table provides the main features of the mechanical properties of different offshore ...[PDF]

property) ! Chemical properties describe the way a substance can change or react to form other substances. These properties, then, must be

Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter - IU Northwest

Physical and Chemical Properties: All substances have properties that we can use to identify them. For example we can idenify a person by their face, ...

What are some chemical properties of phosphorus ...

reference› …› Chemistry› Atoms & MoleculesFull Answer. One of the most important chemical properties of phosphorus to remember is that the waxy form is very poisonous. This is because this form is very ...[PDF]

Some General Physical and Chemical Properties of …

PROPERTIES OF PROTEINS ... chemical properties will not only be influenced by which amino acid ... Some General Physical and Chemical Properties of Proteins ...


Q:

C++ Overtime and Payroll Calculations

when you execute my code you'll notice the regular pay for the first example will calculate to $500 when it is only supposed to calculate to $400. I'm also having a problem adding up the totals of the regular pay and overtime pay to get a total payroll which is displayed in one cout statement. 95% of my code is correct, I'm just having these two issues, any help is appreciated. To make it more clear hear is my assignment:
The regular working hour for an employee is 40 hours a week. Sometimes employees work over   time. When the employee works 40 or less hours, the regular pay is calculated as number of hours worked times the hourly rate. When the employee works over time i.e. beyond 40 hours then the employee’s pay has two components a) regular pay (40 hours X hourly rate), and 2) overtime pay (the    overtime hours beyond 40 X time and half of the hourly rate).
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
#include <fstream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

struct incomeInfo {
    string id;
    string name;
    int hours;
    double hRate;
    double regPay = 0;
    double otPay = 0;
};

const int ARRAY_SIZE = 25; // Array size
incomeInfo income[ARRAY_SIZE]; // array variable declaration

void getIncome(incomeInfo[], int&);
void compute(incomeInfo *, int);
void display(incomeInfo[], int);
void summary(incomeInfo[], int);

int main()
{

    incomeInfo income[ARRAY_SIZE];
    int count = 0;                          //Initialize count to 0

    getIncome(income, count);
    compute(income, count);
    display(income, count);
    summary(income, count);
    return 0;
}

void getIncome(incomeInfo income[], int &count)
{

    ifstream inputFile;                 // declare input file variable
    char line[50];                      // Variable to read data

    // Open data File to read data
    inputFile.open("Payroll.txt");

    // test if data file opened correctly
    if (inputFile.fail())
    {
        cout << "\n\n\tError openning file: " << "\n\n\t";
        system("pause");
        exit(1);
    }

    else
    {
        while (!inputFile.eof())    //Check end of file
        {
            inputFile.getline(line, 50, ',');       // The data are separated by comma
            income[count].id = line;
            inputFile.getline(line, 50, ',');
            income[count].name = line;
            inputFile.getline(line, 50, ',');
            income[count].hours = atoi(line);       // Convert string to integer
            inputFile.getline(line, 50, ',');
            income[count].hRate = atof(line);           // Convert string to float

            count++;
        }
    }
    inputFile.close();

    return;
}

void compute(incomeInfo *ptrI, int count)
{
    for (int i = 0; i<count; i++)

    if (ptrI->hours <= 40)
    {
        ptrI->regPay = ptrI->hours * ptrI->hRate;
        ptrI++;
    }

    else if (ptrI->hours > 40)
    {
        ptrI->regPay = ptrI->hours * ptrI->hRate;
        ptrI->otPay = (ptrI->hours - 40) * (ptrI->hRate + (ptrI->hRate* .5));
        ptrI++;
    }
        return;
}

void display(incomeInfo income[], int count)
{
    cout << fixed << showpoint << setprecision(2);
    cout << setw(15) << left << "ID" << setw(16) << "Name";
    cout << left << setw(8) << "Hours" << setw(14) << "Hourly Rate" << setw(14) << "Regular Pay" << setw(14) << "Overtime Pay" <<endl;

    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
    {
        cout << setw(14) << left << income[i].id << setw(15) << income[i].name;
        cout << right << setw(6) << income[i].hours << setw(12) << income[i].hRate;
        cout << setw(14) << income[i].regPay << setw(14) << income[i].otPay << endl;
    }

    return;
}

void summary(incomeInfo income[], int count)
{

    for (int i = 0; i < count; i++)
        cout << endl << endl << "Total payroll amount for the company = " << income[i].regPay + income[i].otPay <<endl;

    system("PAUSE");
}

A:

I think this is the solution you want. In the else if part of compute(), you need to write ptrI->regPay = 40 * ptrI->hRate;. I have commented out your previous line. Also you may use only else instead of else if (ptrI->hours > 40) if you want. Please check and let me know:
void compute(incomeInfo *ptrI, int count)
{
    for (int i = 0; i<count; i++)
  {
    if (ptrI->hours <= 40)
    {
        ptrI->regPay = ptrI->hours * ptrI->hRate;
        ptrI++;
    }

    else if (ptrI->hours > 40)
    {
                    //ptrI->regPay = ptrI->hours * ptrI->hRate;

        ptrI->regPay = 40 * ptrI->hRate;
        ptrI->otPay = (ptrI->hours - 40) * (ptrI->hRate + (ptrI->hRate* .5));
        ptrI++;
    }
  }
        return;
}


Occurrence of Orientia tsutsugamushi in small mammals from Thailand.
Extensive sampling of small mammals was conducted in eight provinces of Thailand between September 9, 1992 and April 29, 2001. A total of 3,498 specimens representing 22 species were collected. Eighty-eight percent (3,089 of 3,498) of the animals were collected from a region in Chiangrai Province, which is commonly recognized as endemic for human scrub typhus. Blood and tissue samples from each animal were tested for the presence of Orientia tsutsugamushi, the etiologic agent of scrub typhus. The predominant species collected were Rattus rattus (53%, n = 1,863), R. losea (18%, n = 638), Bandicota indica (16%, n = 564), and R. exulans (4%, n = 146). Orientia tsutsugamushi was detected in 10 of the 22 species of mammals that included R. bukit (25% infected, 1 of 4), R. rattus (23%, 419 of 1,855), R. argentiventer (22%, 5 of 23), R. berdmorei (22%, 2 of 9), R. losea (13%, 82 of 638), B. indica (9%, 52 of 564), R. koratensis (8%, 1 of 12), B. savilei (3%, 1 of 30), R. exulans (1%, 2 of 146), and Tupaia glis (2%, 1 of 49). Infected animals were found in Chiangrai (18% infected, 563 of 3,084), Bangkok (11%, 1 of 9), Sukothai (3%, 1 of 30), and Nonthaburi (1%, 1 of 69) Provinces. The implications towards scrub typhus maintenance and transmission are discussed.


Modafinil in the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness in children.
Modafinil is an alerting agent approved for the treatment of narcolepsy in adults. There are no studies examining the long-term effects and safety profile of modafinil in children with excessive daytime somnolence (EDS). To determine the effects of modafinil on clinical manifestations of narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia. A systematic chart review was conducted for 13 children (mean age 11.0+/-5.3 years, six males, 10 with narcolepsy and three with idiopathic hypersomnia) receiving modafinil. The mean modafinil dose was 346+/-119 mg/day, with a mean treatment duration of 15.6+/-7.8 months. For approximately 90% of the children treated, parents reported a favorable response with the reduction in sudden sleep attacks, as documented by sleep-wake diaries. One child failed to improve on 400 mg/day modafinil and was switched to methylphenidate. Two other children showed only partial improvement and required additional stimulant medication to control EDS symptoms. Seven children underwent repeated nocturnal polysomnography and multiple sleep latency tests (MSLT). Compared to baseline MSLT measures (mean sleep latency: 6.6+/-3.7 min), modafinil prolonged mean sleep latency (10.2+/-4.8 min, p=0.02) without significant alteration in nocturnal polysomnographic measures. However, a trend towards REM sleep reduction was noted (16.8+/-5.1%TST vs. 11.8+/-6.2%TST). Exacerbation of seizures and psychotic symptoms was reported with modafinil therapy in two children with preexisting conditions. Hematological and hepatic functions assessed every 3 months remained unaltered. Modafinil has a modest, yet significant effect on EDS in children and appears to be safe and well tolerated.


Technological Stagnation

We are talking bout technology.
The most important criteria for judging it are 'does it work?' and 'what can it do?'. NOT 'how flashy it is?' or 'how many quantum mechanical tricks does a device incorporates?':

If incremental advances will get us cheaply to LEO, then, at that point, these advances will transmute into a technological revolution.
If whatever newly discovered physical principle has little application in the technological field, then this principle does NOT constitute a technological revolution.

As for incremental technological advances - I merely pointed out how only slow, snail-paced advancements (nothing revolutionary) have been taking place in transportation since the seventies. This remains the case, regardless of whether some like this fact or not.

Click to expand...

This is true really, transportation lags behind on an everday level..though there is a lot of research behind the scenes. Basically it seems as if our normal mode of transport is so ingrained there has been no need for a quantum leap from concept to commercial use. There is in fact some good development with flying cars (but I don't think these will ever be very useful). Also with efficient cars and robot vehicles; hyperloop is bringing an old tech that never matured back out with a potential to revolutionize med-range travel; Virgin Galactic is looking to bypass SST altogether and go straight to spaceplane commercial flights; space travel development is busier than it's ever been with multiple countries developing heavy lift rockets, as well as commercial companies easing into the new space race. The revolution there is in making it common and therefore cheaper.

The technology you're working with seems to be made to stimulate leftover retinal cells.

I've seen two other variations. One which is similar to the one you showed me, except that an entire artificial retina is placed and connected to the optic nerve directly.

The other one is where they hook up electrodes directly to the visual cortex, and a camera/computer combination translates the data from the camera to impulses that stimulate the brain to "see" patterns.

What's your take on these technologies compared to the one you're working with?

I'm wondering if the day will come when they can grow new eyeballs for people and do a successful transplant "Minority Report" style.

I would gladly give up the dream to own a phaser if it meant that a successful technology to give the blind their eyesight back were possible.

Flying Cars and Technology to make the blind see would both be kick ass second choices.

Click to expand...

Do a google search, while hand lasers are out of the question in the next few decades, the tech is proliferating around the world. Germany, Russia, CHina, US all have battlefield lasers in heavy development.

^ Wasn't talking about explosives, as such. Just the extreme danger of having a flying car coming right for your house or your own self. Think about it - at any time, a car could come dropping out of the sky and land on you. If that's not a weapon, what is?

^ Wasn't talking about explosives, as such. Just the extreme danger of having a flying car coming right for your house or your own self. Think about it - at any time, a car could come dropping out of the sky and land on you. If that's not a weapon, what is?

Click to expand...

If you're determined to crash a flying object into a person you don't need flying cars to do it.

If you're talking about accidents, then you don't really mean "weapon" as such. Threat, possibly.

Without getting into a huge gun control debate (what's even the point?), I have been a "weapons" fan for over a decade, owning several firearms, knives, and even a couple of cool toys, such as really powerful hand held lasers (I have a 2W flashlight sized blue laser, which will light matches and pop balloon immediately, and burn thru most plastics in seconds) and even a sonic cannon (will generate a sound up to 140db at adjustable frequencies and will scare the shit out of any backyard pest)

In short, I believe in self defence, and I believe in making it as intimidating as fuck, and at the same time as safe as possible.

Even if I load really soft rounds on my 12 gauge (like 7 1/2 birdshot let's say), a potential thief would probably not receive a lethal hit, but he'd sure fucking bleed like gushers and permanent scars might be left, and worse, he'd probably still come lunging at me or my family. The only way to "stop" him, is most likely to use more powerful shells that will likely "stop him" forever.

Firing my laser at him would be intimidating as hell (picture a bright blue beam being fired at your chest) but not likely to do anything. If he is armed and insists on coming towards me, only option is to fire at his eyes and permanently blind him. Not acceptable.

A perfect phaser as depicted in Star Trek, on the other hand, would be an excellent non lethal weapon. It would have the incredible intimidation factor of seeing a huge motherfuckin' energy beam being fired at you, capable of completely disabling the perp, with the added bonus that he is extremely unlikely to have suffered any permanent damage at all.

I'm not sure if that is ever going to be possible, but for what it represents, I think it's an amazingly cool technology that I'd love to have.

Flying Cars would be as safe as Helicopters and Planes are, once they get a viable technology mass produced, but I admit true "Delorean style" flying vehicles are not likely to appear in the next 40-50 years, except with very niche organizations (Police, airports, high end transportation?)

A perfect phaser as depicted in Star Trek, on the other hand, would be an excellent non lethal weapon. It would have the incredible intimidation factor of seeing a huge motherfuckin' energy beam being fired at you, capable of completely disabling the perp, with the added bonus that he is extremely unlikely to have suffered any permanent damage at all.

Click to expand...

Police have access to the next best thing - Tasers which essentially do the same as a phaser set on, "stun."

Flying Cars would be as safe as Helicopters and Planes are, once they get a viable technology mass produced, but I admit true "Delorean style" flying vehicles are not likely to appear in the next 40-50 years, except with very niche organizations (Police, airports, high end transportation?)

Click to expand...

Boeing is supposidly working on anti-gravity technology for the US Defense Department. The flying car isn't happening until any such tech is not only declassified but also introduced comercially.

BTW to the original poster. If Boeing has actually tested anti-gravity technology successfully that would represent a qunatum leap in aviation technology. I wouldn't expect the defense dept however to declassify any such technology soon.

Boeing, the world's largest aircraft manufacturer says it is working on anti-gravity propulsion, which could revolutionize conventional aviation.
If the science underpinning the program can be made into reality, it will be the biggest thing to hit the aviation industry since the Wright Brothers.
"GRASP," or Gravity Research for Advanced Space Propulsion, was only recently reported in Jane's Defence Weekly, but the U.S. military may have had the technology for years.
The National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), based in Nevada, say that mysterious U.S. military craft using this kind of technology have been skirting the skies since the 1980s.
And NIDS is now calling for the military to unveil its secrets for commercial benefit.
Although no-one yet drives cars or flies commercial planes made from radar-avoiding, stealth bomber material, over the years there have been spin-offs that have had business applications.

Flying Cars would be as safe as Helicopters and Planes are, once they get a viable technology mass produced, but I admit true "Delorean style" flying vehicles are not likely to appear in the next 40-50 years, except with very niche organizations (Police, airports, high end transportation?)

Click to expand...

If there were as many private helicopters and planes as there are cars, helicopters and planes would not be safe anymore. Even with fancy antigravity technology. You simply can't have flying things in city streets. If things go wrong, you have cars crashing into the 50th floor of a building, or dropping straight on the ground on people from 200 meters.

Air traffic works the way it does because it is dominantly a public transport that takes place mostly outside the cities.

If there were as many private helicopters and planes as there are cars, helicopters and planes would not be safe anymore. Even with fancy antigravity technology. You simply can't have flying things in city streets. If things go wrong, you have cars crashing into the 50th floor of a building, or dropping straight on the ground on people from 200 meters.

Click to expand...

The FAA will obviously have to regulate such technology and autopilot tech would obviously have to guide any such devices for the most part. Commercial airplanes can take off and land today without the aide of the pilot In fact they believe the Korean Airlines accident that occured a few months back at SF International airport was because the pilot turned off the auto navigation.

It's worth noting that the FAA estimates there will be 30,000 + private drones whizzing over our heads at any given time by 2020 which is just 6 years from now.

If there were as many private helicopters and planes as there are cars, helicopters and planes would not be safe anymore. Even with fancy antigravity technology. You simply can't have flying things in city streets. If things go wrong, you have cars crashing into the 50th floor of a building, or dropping straight on the ground on people from 200 meters.

Click to expand...

The FAA will obviously have to regulate such technology and autopilot tech would obviously have to guide any such devices for the most part. Commercial airplanes can take off and land today without the aide of the pilot In fact they believe the Korean Airlines accident that occured a few months back at SF International airport was because the pilot turned off the auto navigation.

It's worth noting that the FAA estimates there will be 30,000 + private drones whizzing over our heads at any given time by 2020 which is just 6 years from now.

If there were as many private helicopters and planes as there are cars, helicopters and planes would not be safe anymore. Even with fancy antigravity technology. You simply can't have flying things in city streets. If things go wrong, you have cars crashing into the 50th floor of a building, or dropping straight on the ground on people from 200 meters.

Click to expand...

I don't think we're anywhere near having things flying around inside urban canyons.

Air traffic works the way it does because it is dominantly a public transport that takes place mostly outside the cities.

Click to expand...

Outside the cities, yes. Dominantly a public transport? That depends on how you define it. In terms of person-miles flown, sure. In terms of pure number of aircraft, maybe not. There are a *lot* of private planes up there. Still nowhere near as many as there are cars on the ground, but they tend to outnumber the commercial aircraft in many areas on a nice day. (In the weather, things change a bit.)

Police have access to the next best thing - Tasers which essentially do the same as a phaser set on, "stun."

Click to expand...

A phaser is guaranteed to stun a person, and has different stun settings. Usually a stunned person will stay down for a few mins at least. Also you can spray phaser a whole crowd and stun them all if necessary. That would be an awesome defense strategy if, let’s say, a group of 8 thugs was ganging up on you.

IMO though, the best part of it is the fact that you might be able to stop people from ganging up on you simply by firing a warning shot in their direction (I’m sure people who are not hopped up on drugs would definitely be intimidated by a motherfuckin’ beam of light being fired in their direction)

A taser has to be aimed properly, you only get to shoot it at one person at a time, it has no intimidation value at all, since it’s just a couple of wires with dart probes, and thick clothing is likely to completely negate the effects of it. Also if a person is high on some crazy shit, it’s not likely to take them down at all.

Boeing is supposidly working on anti-gravity technology for the US Defense Department. The flying car isn't happening until any such tech is not only declassified but also introduced comercially.

Click to expand...

That’s pretty cool. Working anti-gravity technology is the key to make flying personal vehicles commercially viable.

If there were as many private helicopters and planes as there are cars, helicopters and planes would not be safe anymore. Even with fancy antigravity technology. You simply can't have flying things in city streets. If things go wrong, you have cars crashing into the 50th floor of a building, or dropping straight on the ground on people from 200 meters.

Click to expand...

I don’t disagree. It will be a tough thing to setup safety wise, even if the technology is possible.


The social media connection program aims to engage people with county government and to provide them with information they can use, such as road closures.

Since his last update to County Board members in May, Nagel said the initiative's total reach has grown to about 13,000 – a number that includes about 3,100 followers on WordPress, more than 1,600 followers on Facebook and 171 followers on Twitter. Additionally, he said, the WordPress site had more than 17,700 visitors and more than 50,600 page views in July.

"I cannot express how happy I am with these numbers," he told the Executive Committee Wednesday.


Q:

Smoothly scroll an overflowed divv to a particular position inside it

I have a scrolling div containing different sections of content. I am trying to make the div scroll to a particular section when i click on heading. My div is as below:
Here is fiddle link: http://jsfiddle.net/4Fx4a/1/
Here is a look at my code:

          Event cum exhibition

            Series 1

          Series 2

         Series 1

          Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text

         Series 2

          Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text Text

So when somebody clicks on the "Series 2" header, it should make the div scroll to "Series 2." How can I make the div scroll its content to that point smoothly (i.e. not as a single jump, but with an actual scrolling animation)?

A:

Using jQuery you can make a scroll Function
(function($) {
    $.fn.goTo = function() {
        $('html, body').animate({
            scrollTop: $(this).offset().top + 'px'
        }, 'fast');
        return this;
    }
})(jQuery);

Then a quick way to call it
$('#series1').goTo();

then add an onclick event to the heading and bam
   onclick="$('#series1').goTo();"

Here is a JSFiddle
you can alter the speed by changing fast to slow, etc