The Linux Printer Idea

You know, if there's one thing that Linux needs way above anything else, it needs to have better printing. The problem is that Linux works best with Postscript-style printing, and that unfortunately means that printer manufacturers must pay a tax to Adobe for the licensing of the latest version of that protocol, right? That brings the cost up, and thus you don't see so many Postscript-ready printers in the low-end of the market. It also takes a pretty darn sophisticated printer chip to be able to print that. So, they come up with a cheap, proprietary protocol that gets the job done, minus some features that Postscript gives people. But then the problem is that the Linux guys have to jump through hoops to "clean room" this logic (of sorts) and get a working driver that won't land them in jail.

Therefore, I'd like to propose two initiatives to the Linux community:

1. Create a new printing protocol not even remotely based on Postscript so there's no chance of copyright or software patent infringement. Work with the Linux-friendly guys at IBM to make this happen and to get widespread support for it. IBM can then lean on their relationship with Lexmark to get those guys to support it too.
2. Figure out how to reprogram the circuitry on many of the popular printer brands so that they run the other half of this new printing protocol (the other half being on your PC). Share the plans with people on the web so that they can reprogram their own printers. Because you can purchase a cheap inkjet printer for like $35 USD these days, it seems like an easy thing to experiment with and yet not be an expensive bit of experimentation as well.
   

It seems inevitable that this would be a natural direction for the Linux community. I mean, if IBM is really serious about promoting Linux, it seems to me that this would be an obvious change.

Cusp of a Revolution

Dear Government. I have a voice and I wish to be heard.

Is it me, or does it appear in the USA that we're on the cusp of a revolution? I mean, look at the injustices:

- 9/11. Even if you don't believe it was an inside job, although I do -- why so much coverup about vital information we need to know about? For instance, the government confiscated a hotel security tape that would have explained what put the hole in the Pentagon. And what were the passengers in the Metro Station told before the CIA could move in to create this fake situation? Were they told to get down into the station because it was closed? If not, then surely someone saw what really happened?

- Without any of us seeming to have any power to stop it, Congress is taking our tax dollars and giving it to these banker/credit crooks who go on lavish vacations with their private jets and take gilded exits from the companies after the cash comes in, when you and I both know a tax holiday would put the cash directly in our hands to pay off our own debt ourselves.

- How come the autoworker unions never said a word when the automaker CEOs went to Washington to ask for a bailout? I mean, if I were in charge of the union, wouldn't it be my role to be very vocal on behalf of 70,000 pensions? Yet we never hear a word. It's as if the unions cut a deal with someone in Washington and they're just waiting for the whole thing to play out like they were promised. That's dirty business.

- So we're going to lose our retirement savings, our housing prices have collapsed tremendously, food prices will continue to the point that we start to go hungry, layoffs will continue at an alarming rate, the USA will STILL keep our money-sucking military machine fighting worthless wars, we're on the edge of needing a draft in the USA to keep feeding the military munching machine, and still no benefit to the middle class like we were promised. I mean, even in Obama's latest promises, do you really feel the middle class will benefit? I mean, I do web development -- there's not a single part of Obama's New Deal 2 plan that will benefit me one bit. I bet there are a lot of people like that in the Middle Class. What we need is a FairTax, or a tax holiday, or a tax cut, and there's no way we're ever going to get one. Obama says we will, but I won't hold my breath. I mean, it will be easy for Obama to either postpone or delay those cuts indefinitely, in the name of trying to get these other initiatives through. And those initiatives will only benefit the super wealthy. I mean, c'mon, cheaper broadband, more broadband? Who cares? Sure, I'd like cheaper broadband, but it won't save my country and more accessible broadband, assisted by the government, will only line the wallets of the ISPs. And what of the roads? Sure, they need to be fixed, but fixing them will have the side effect of lining the wallets of big corporations, not helping the middle class.

- And I hate to think about these people who rent homes or have houses to sell right now. It's almost suicidal unless you're just getting into the market right now and can buy up stuff that's cheap. But even then you end up with assets at half their value, let's say, and even then you're speculating and these may lose half their value yet again.

- So now we have cases in the news where people are being incarcerated on drug crimes they did not commit, such as people using cellphones to make drug deals, or people's homes being raided with the use of illegal FLIR cameras only to find it's just Christmas trees inside and it's a setup. The justice system in America is in a frightful state and I for one am glad that police are being taken to task on the injustice.

- There's talk of firewalls going up now all around the world, and crazy laws that now ensnare innocent people on child porn when they are not pedophiles. It's only a matter of time before this comes to the USA.

- Things have also gotten out of hand for people who are innocent, who serve time, and then exit, only to find they are abused by the justice system even more, given ridiculous goals, and if they do not complete those goals exactly as laid out, they go right back in prison again to serve time for something they didn't commit in the first place.

- The Patriot Acts 1 and 2 are not patriot acts at all. They trample on our rights. It's only a matter of time before we start seeing "Strength through Unity" signs going up all over the place. The religious right and Republicans scare me in this. But the fix is in -- even Democrats are supporting this nonsense. So, among a mountain of other injustices in these Acts, it's not okay to take a video camera and film sightseeing places anymore in the USA?

- Even peaceful protesters are now being locked up and hauled off, and this has been caught on camera.

- I think now even mid-sized businesses, which were hiding their debts previously from their stockholders, are now manufacturing excuses and uncovering their hidden debts to vet them out into the public while everyone else is vetting their dirty laundry. Where were the laws to prevent this previously so that now we don't have everyone claiming that they are distressed and need a bailout?

- And has Russia lost its mind? There's talk of taking back Alaska, that it was only a loan (in their history books, not ours). There's rumblings of Taiwan being taken by the Chinese. There's odd Russian negotiations going on with Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, and China.

- And why do we constantly give billions to the Israelis? By now, haven't they made enough interest on those gifts that they can take care of their own needs? When we have people here in the USA needing a helping hand, who have lost their jobs, why do we still have the cash to give billions to Israel, which is a fairly modern country capable of defending itself?

- And while we all bathe in all this cheap fuel, just you watch what will happen next. We'll all be bathing in fuel that costs like 78 cents to $1 per gallon soon, and then the prices will climb, and climb, and climb, and eventually will be paying $6 a gallon again. This will be matched with rising fuel costs.

- What's up with the food prices in the USA? They say they were tied to ethanol subsidies and high fuel costs, but with fuel costs down, these prices are still artificially high and show no signs of going back down again. To feed my family every night I'm having to spend $30 to $40 for dinner. The $30 is for eating at a restaurant. The $40 is if I go to the grocery store. And then I probably spend $1 in electricity costs for cooking and washing up. So that's like $11,000 to $15,000 a year in food, and that's doing it cheap. I would reason to bet that some families are spending double that amount. That's ridiculous! Hell, if it's that expensive, I could almost justify growing and harvesting the crops, and hunting the animals by myself for food.

- What's up with retail and vehicle prices in the USA? They should be heavily discounted now. It should be a fire sale. But everything is still artificially high. I hear on the radio, TV, and print ads that I'm going to get deals, but you arrive in the stores and vehicle showrooms and there are no deals at all. (But to tell you the truth, even if there were deals, I'd be spending my cash on paying down credit debt instead.)

So, in summary, this adds up to us being on the cusp of some very argumentative, very angry people in the USA, wanting to get some justice as well as financial stability here.

Now That Obama Has Won

Well, it appears clearly that Obama has won, and that many seats in the House and Senate will go the way of the Democrats. Not that the Republican phonies don't deserve a lesson here, but I wanted to share with you what I think will happen now that the Marxists are moving in.

1. Remember that Obama tax calculator? Yeah, there's no way that will come true.
2. I am a sole proprietor, barely scraping by. I'm sure Obama is going to make my life very uncomfortable. First, he'll probably force me to pay higher taxes to pay for his healthcare plan. Second, he'll raise my taxes because I'm a small business owner.
3. The coal industry generates like 50% of the power in the USA. And Obama is going to bankrupt them with energy controls. Look, I'm all for a wonderful environment of clean air and water, but not at the risk of causing our electric bills to shoot through the roof.
4. Nuclear power is actually still a great power source, and the Democrats don't like nuclear power. And now there's something new called Thorium. Yeah, you should google up the benefits of thorium and realize that if we mix thorium into our future nuclear plans, it solves a lot of our problems. And if Iran and North Korea would mix thorium into their nuclear plans as well, the world would either be a whole lot safer, or if they don't, it would show Iran and North Korea for the scoundrels they truly are.
5. Look, I'm all for the pullout of Afghanistan and Iraq. We came over there, told them who we are, tried to help them, and now it's time to step aside and let the guys in nightshirts go back to their prehistoric ways and kill each other in their fuedal eye-for-an-eye battles. So the Democrats will pull our troops back home. But the situation in the Middle East will grow even worse, and the Democrats then will not do anything to squelch terrorist training camps that will arrive just as soon as we pull out.
6. I hear all this emphasis to get off of foreign oil. Yeah, I'm all for it. Heck yeah! But I know what will really happen. Nothing. The Democrats will say all this and that and the reality fact checks will show the complete opposite. No movement.
7. The Dept. of Education, a department that has not lived up at all to its mandate, should be disbanded. But the Democrats will merely fatten its coffers and nothing will ever change in that department. We will continue to get poor marks for education in America.
8. I recently read stats that said that most of the USA's top businesses don't pay a decent 30% or 40% tax rate like the Middle Class pays. This is because they have clever tax accountants, lobbyists, and loopholes to keep their taxes low. I can't afford tax accountants, lobbyists, or dare risk a loophole. So I actually have to pay my taxes. Therefore, I actually think a progressive tax system would actually catch these jerks. But I tell you what will really happen under Obama. These upper-end corporations will skirt the system and nothing will ever change.
9. Of course, I'm actually a fan of eliminating property and income taxes and sticking everythiing into a sales tax. I believe in the FairTax program. But now this movement is completely dead. I wish it weren't so, but I'm I expect this program to die out and fizzle into nothing in the future. Too bad, too. The stats show it would have done our country a whole lot of good.
10. Those people that had failed mortgages? Yeah, I've been laid off, actually, before I became my own sole proprietor. And I've had a tough time paying my mortgage. But I pay it, darn it. So those sons of bitches out in California and wherever who can't pay it, they piss me off. So now they're going to get a handout. And what I'm thinking is, why pay my own mortage? Heck, why don't I just skip my own mortgage and let the government bail me out? If we're going to have a Marxist regime where the government owns the banks and the big mortgage companies, then why don't they give me a handout too? Don't I pay my taxes? Why should it only be those mortgage speculators who lost who get the handouts? Why not me?
11. Good bye SUVs. Look. With logging trucks all over the road, and needing to lug my kids around with all their gear, or ride across muddy South Carolina roads, an SUV is the only way to go. So, now I bet Obama and the Democrats are going to tax the crap out of me for it. And do you know what I feel like doing if they do that? Taking them to court. That's right. The moment an SUV tax goes into place, I'm filing a class action lawsuit with the best lawyer in the country and fighting those sons of bitches in the House and Senate who voted it in.
12. If we're going to wait in line for handouts, and taxes are going to have to go up to pay for these things, then we better see these decrepit roads and bridges fixed. I've got a bridge near my house that's like 1/3 of a mile long, and it's got road expansion joints in it and shows clear sign of falling apart. Some people are going to get killed on that bridge. That damn bridge better get fixed or I'm going to raise some Cain. So, I don't like a handout, but if they're going to be giving out handouts, then that damn WPA-era bridge better get fixed.
    
13. We're going to start to see crazy stuff going on in this country. Remember that Muslim in Florida who wanted to wear that complete hijab to get her driver's license picture taken, and refused to take off her garb? Yeah, under the Obama regime, people like that will be able to wear that junk for religious purposes. So if that's true, I'm going to form my own religion and wear a ski mask for my next driver's license photo.
14. We're going to start seeing gays everywhere. They'll be holding hands at the mall, kissing each other, sneaking in sex on the beach -- everywhere. It's going to get disgusting.
15. We're going to see late-term abortions shoot the roof. More disgusting.
16. Wall Street is going to take a nose dive with the news, and we're going to move into the Great Depression II. Obama will do what he can -- we'll have WPA all over again -- but it won't help.
17. North Korea, China, and Iran will continue to move into a more sinister direction, and Democrats will close their eyes at it. Heck, they may even bring Madeline Allbright back. She'll be saying, "They're all such nice people. I don't know what people think the problem is."
18. The USA automakers are toast. Heck, I hear the world's automakers are having trouble, but ours will completely fold up shop and shut down.

So there you have it, failed promises, higher taxes, no jobs, more homeless than ever before, failed businesses, the Great Depression II, and the widening gap between rich and poor will grow even wider. Once again, the Middle Class, and small businesses, will get screwed.

Thank you, American voters.

How Do I Attain Wealth?

I'd like to ask millionaires and billionaires of Reddit something. How do I rapidly pay off my debts and get out of the rut I've been in for the past 15 years?

I mean, I don't want to be super wealthy. I just want to have nothing left in my debt but my house and one vehicle. But it seems like every time I almost get something accomplished, some computer is programmed against me to push me back down again.

Here are my current debt problems. First, though, some background. I'm 41 years old, married, and have two children. One is about to enter college on almost a complete scholarship program (she's gifted). The other is in junior high. I have a house, 1 car, and one SUV. As you read below, I actually have a second SUV, but I don't have to pay on it right now. My occupation is a freelance web developer. My wife's occupation is a school teacher.

My debt problems...

House. The back of my 4500 sq. foot house sunk 2 inches after I built it and after a construction accident by one of our contractors. Unfortunately after we looked at options, because we were the general contractors of sorts on building it, we had no insurance options to fix it. We also had no way to get the contractor to pay because, well, he lied when he said he was bonded. We didn't feel like sending him to jail, so we cracked an IRA to pay it. That cost me $17,000. Unfortunately I was working hard in another city that week and couldn't supervise the repairs. When I returned home, I was angered to find that the foundation contract firm wanted an additional $20,000 to finish it and had only achieved the middle part, not the serious problem in the rear of the house. BTW, we built this 4500 sq. foot house on free land through a family trust, built it during the dot com era where things were going great for us, and when contract labor was cheap. But then the bank rushed us near the end and I was suddenly laid off on 9/11. We built the house for a mere $150K, but then had to absorb a $50K loss from the sale of our old house. So, we have a mortgage of $200K. We then had to tack on a second mortgage of $50K to absorb some credit card debt we had accumulated over the years and during the 5 months I was unemployed, looking for work. Some may say, get a loan to fix the house and then sell it. If we had done this perhaps one year ago before the housing bubble popped, we probably could have gotten, say, $400K for it. We had a lawyer that did real estate transactions stop by two years ago, and he said that houses like ours normally would go for about $400K. However, I doubt we could probably even get $150K for it now that the housing bubble has occurred. So, we have $200K in our mortgage, and then $50K in a second mortage. This is also followed by more credit card debt up to $20K, and two vehicle loans of $900 that will probably owe for another 3 years.

Income. My wife earns $55K a year. I was an IT sysop and programmer earning $65K but then got laid off last year. I wanted to move away so that I could fix the job problem, but because of the house issues, I knew I couldn't afford it. So, the only option left was to become a freelance programmer over the web. I started in January and have managed to accumulate $75K here. By the end of the year, my salary will be $80K, so I'd say I've been very fortunate. We plan to write off a tremendous amount of deductions in order to not owe much in business income tax.

Savings & Retirement. My wife has her teacher's pension retirement. As for my retirement, we've had to dwindle it to pay down debt and it's now down to $19,000. However, because even though I made a good amount of cash as a freelancer, we had unmanageable debt last year that we've been tackling this year with any higher salary I have achieved this year. And when we've needed to ride out rough periods, we started borrowing from my IRA instead of using credit cards. The IRS will let us borrow cash from the IRA as long as we put it back within 60 days and have it paid up by the end of the tax year. Each draw we do, we put it back before 60 days. And we've done like 2-3 draws in a given quarter of this year.

Efforts. My wife has worked hard to pay things on time, reduce late fees, and eliminate debt as much as possible. She said that all this year we have been successful for the first time in 15 years in not using our credit cards. She also took our third vehicle, gave it to her sister for awhile, and her sister will make payments on it for 6-8 months and then give it back after she gets a new vehicle. My wife also managed to put her sister on our insurance plan somehow and so miraculously this brought our car insurance down by $200 a year. When we receive the SUV back in 6-8 months we won't owe much left on it.

More Efforts. I am working on a joint equity website project with one other person and we hope it will pay off my auto loans within two years. The idea behind a joint equity website is that I get paid a little to make it, and then get paid about 20% of its profits after it's built. If it starts to tackle my $20K credit card debt, I'll be really impressed. However, this will be a chain of joint equity website projects that I do with my favorite client.

Risk. As for business insurance, I'm running a bit of a risk right now. I have none. I just pick good clients and hope for the best. I've landed 3 bad clients this year, but somehow managed to get away from them without getting too scuffed up. One bad client refused to pay me $1500 he owed me, and I decided not to refer him to a collection service and just forget about it. And the other risk I have is that my retirement saving had halted while we try to pay down debt and stay afloat right now.