Mule, people move to Cal, NY and Mass because of the job opportunities and the big cities have a fair amount to do. Will people spend more for a higher class of living that's more exciting? Many will. I've lived in NJ, NY, MA, MI, CA and currently TX. It's expensive in NY, but why? Because there is a huge job market and people want part of that market. Same in LA, the San Francisco Bay area, and San Diego. And there are lots to do in the cities as well. Just having your money doesn't mean as much to many people as having fun with it does. I think your IDIOTS! comment might be due to your not having lived in the places you are ridiculing. California leads the nation with a GDP just behind the entire country of France. People want a part of that and the lifestyle they think it will give them.
I moved from San Francisco to Texas about 3.5 years ago. Simply put, houses are not affordable in the SF Bar area. Everyone wants to be there and it forces prices up. Now living next to Dallas, I have a mortgage for less than what my rent was for a house 2 times the size. It's not 100% awesome though. They still have smoking in bars in much of Texas and religion is way too prevalent around here. There is no state income tax but prepare to make up for that with property tax. California is a great place to live for a while if you're making over 250,000 a year. Then you can afford a house. But in California, especially the SF area you've got beautiful outdoors and pretty good nightlife, no matter what your inclination is.
Bonnie, Al did secure the funding that lead to the creation of the internet - whether he claimed it or not. Ask Vint Cerf, the creator of TCP/IP and he'll tell you that.
From: vinton g. cerf
Subject: Al Gore and the Internet
Dave and Declan,
I am taking the liberty of sending to you both a brief summary of Al Gore's Internet involvement, prepared by Bob Kahn and me. As you know, there have been a seemingly unending series of jokes chiding the vice president for his assertion that he "took the initiative in creating the Internet."
Bob and I believe that the vice president deserves significant credit for his early recognition of the importance of what has become the Internet.
I thought you might find this short summary of sufficient interest to share it with Politech and the IP lists, respectively.
Fantastic topic. One that is missing is "the moon". We always refer to our moon as the moon, while the moon's name is Moon. I'm sure my argument is not entirely appropriate as we are referring to "the moon" as a name of the thing. We don't call Mars, the Mars, as it is a planet and a noun. Also, we have "The United States" but have Russia or the (former) Soviet Union. Is it Congo or the Congo? This leads to the topic that knowing when to use "a" or "the" in front of a noun (most always) is a huge stumbling block for many non native speakers in understanding the English language. What is even odder, is in Great Britain, as I hear it on the BBC, I find that definite/indefinite articles are often dropped in front of nouns They don't say they are going to "a hospital" or "the hospital" but simply "hospital". Honestly, it seems pretty odd.
Wow. He looks seriously fussy in that pic. Did widdwe Adolph have a baaad day? Awwww. Whatsa matter? Wanna play fetch? Wanna take a walk? Awwwww. Poor widdwe Adolph.
yafortier - curiously, why do you like it? The item I am referring to is the molecule like tower that has a ball and stick structure. It's obviously cast concrete and its structure doesn't really serve a purpose except to look different. It takes up space and visually affronts the form follows function approach.
In the Shanghai of last year, I'm sure the skyline is more developed then when you were there in 2004. Building is going on at an insane rate. But what really confused me is that many of the new buildings have hats or structures on the top that look like headgear. It's completely weird.
Cheers,
- Alex
From: vinton g. cerf
Subject: Al Gore and the Internet
Dave and Declan,
I am taking the liberty of sending to you both a brief
summary of Al Gore's Internet involvement, prepared by
Bob Kahn and me. As you know, there have been a seemingly
unending series of jokes chiding the vice president for
his assertion that he "took the initiative in creating
the Internet."
Bob and I believe that the vice president deserves significant
credit for his early recognition of the importance of what has
become the Internet.
I thought you might find this short summary of sufficient
interest to share it with Politech and the IP lists, respectively.
Softwares is not a word. The word, software, is both singular and plural.
Keen's mah boye!
In the Shanghai of last year, I'm sure the skyline is more developed then when you were there in 2004. Building is going on at an insane rate. But what really confused me is that many of the new buildings have hats or structures on the top that look like headgear. It's completely weird.