Author Topic: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page  (Read 11584 times)

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Offline StonentTopic starter

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Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« on: June 14, 2013, 06:54:23 pm »
It's cool and all but hasn't the "Minty Boost" been around for a while? http://learn.adafruit.com/minty-boost

I guess reporters don't use google?

Quote
Teens build cell phone charger using Altoid tins

Using a pair of batteries, an Altoids tin and a few other pieces, three Texas teenagers build a USB charger for cell phones that can hold several charges. KVEO’s Kevin Lu reports.

 http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nbc-news/52205351
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Offline Bored@Work

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2013, 07:08:45 pm »
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Especially not in Texas.
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Offline StonentTopic starter

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2013, 07:13:47 pm »
Hey! I live in Texas  :box:
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Offline MikeK

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2013, 07:15:52 pm »
And it always struck me as a silly product.

Where would you ever be that you would need your cellphone, but not have access to means of charging only access to AA cells.
 

Offline StonentTopic starter

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2013, 07:17:49 pm »
And it always struck me as a silly product.

Where would you ever be that you would need your cellphone, but not have access to means of charging only access to AA cells.

Well you could be spending the day at an amusement park, going on a nature hike, a long bike / motorcycle ride.
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Offline Bored@Work

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2013, 07:21:26 pm »
Hey! I live in Texas  :box:

My condolences.
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Offline StonentTopic starter

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2013, 07:24:06 pm »
Hey! I live in Texas  :box:

My condolences.

Hey we're one of the few states that has no income tax and a balanced budget opposed to Michigan where I was born. I read today that Detroit was defaulting on 2.5B in debt.
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Offline c4757p

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #7 on: June 14, 2013, 07:29:56 pm »
Sure, but you also have Texans.

I'm just kidding, the worst Texas ever did to me was rain on me when I flew through a Dallas airport  :P
« Last Edit: June 14, 2013, 07:39:53 pm by c4757p »
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Offline staxquad

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #8 on: June 14, 2013, 11:16:59 pm »
Sure, but you also have Texans.

I'm just kidding, the worst Texas ever did to me was rain on me when I flew through a Dallas airport  :P

Just don't try to sing the National Anthem in Texas during an NBA finals game if you ain't WHITE, even if you're an 11 year old boy born in Saint Tony.
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Offline EEVblog

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #9 on: June 14, 2013, 11:22:15 pm »
Hey we're one of the few states that has no income tax

Umm, how does that work?  :-//
 

Offline justanothercanuck

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #10 on: June 14, 2013, 11:42:14 pm »
And it always struck me as a silly product.

Where would you ever be that you would need your cellphone, but not have access to means of charging only access to AA cells.

I think the idea behind them is that they're meant to be DIY, as opposed to buying one of those emergency cell chargers.

eg: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/eb7b/?srp=4
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Offline gxti

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #11 on: June 15, 2013, 12:05:32 am »
Hey we're one of the few states that has no income tax

Umm, how does that work?  :-//

Several states do it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_income_tax#States_with_no_individual_income_tax

Most still tax corporations, most also have sales tax, all have one or the other. And don't forget that the federal government still taxes everybody.
 

Offline c4757p

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Offline MikeK

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #13 on: June 15, 2013, 12:20:06 am »
Hey we're one of the few states that has no income tax

Umm, how does that work?  :-//

It's state-level income tax.  There is still the federal income tax.  And Texas has one of the highest property tax rates in the union.
 

Offline StonentTopic starter

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #14 on: June 15, 2013, 12:34:30 am »
Hey we're one of the few states that has no income tax

Umm, how does that work?  :-//

We have a state sales tax that varies by county, but roughly 8 to 8.75% that generates the majority of the internally generated income. Most, but not all states that have an income tax have a lower sales tax rate.

Food is not subject to taxation unless it is junk food (candy, drinks, prepared hot foods). Some states do not tax any form of food.

We do have sales tax on clothing which some states do not, but medications are not taxed (these are all subject to the normal 8 to 8.75% tax rate) But we designate certain weekends before the start of the school year as tax free where clothing, school supplies and many other school related items are not taxed.

I found a breakdown from 2004 of the state's income in a quick google search. Population at that time was 22.5 million.

Quote
More than one-third of the $62 billion in state revenues in Texas in fiscal 2004 came from federal payments for programs administered by the state such as Medicaid, No Child Left Behind, and Temporary Aid to Needy Families. Another quarter was generated by the state sales tax. Excluding federal funds, of the $40 billion from Texas sources, the sales tax accounted for nearly forty percent. Taxes on sales of motor vehicles and fuel compose an additonal fourteen percent of in-state revenue and revenue from licenses, fees, permits, fines, and penalties has grown to nearly fourteen percent as well.

Meanwhile on the other end of the spectrum, California has a roughly 9% sales tax and around 10% income tax.
New York city is 8.875% sales tax and a 4 to 9% income tax based on income.

US Federal income tax varies from about 15% to 38% for most normal people.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2013, 12:44:59 am by Stonent »
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Offline StonentTopic starter

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #15 on: June 15, 2013, 12:36:46 am »
Quote
And Texas has one of the highest property tax rates in the union.

True... But we also have a much lower housing cost.

You can pick up a basic 1700 Sq.ft house for about $130,000
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Offline c4757p

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #16 on: June 15, 2013, 12:42:20 am »
You can pick up a basic 1700 Sq.ft house for about $130,000

Meh. There are a number of them about that size down the road from me, for sale for half that. Yes, you read right, $65k. Now, it's not the nicest area in the world (nor the worst), but we have more than two seasons and no Texans, so for me it makes up for it  ;)

If you want a more populated area, there appear to be a number for sale in the nicer areas of Rochester for $80-100k.
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Offline StonentTopic starter

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #17 on: June 15, 2013, 12:48:56 am »
You can pick up a basic 1700 Sq.ft house for about $130,000

Meh. There are a number of them about that size down the road from me, for sale for half that. Yes, you read right, $65k. Now, it's not the nicest area in the world (nor the worst), but we have more than two seasons and no Texans, so for me it makes up for it  ;)

If you want a more populated area, there appear to be a number for sale in the nicer areas of Rochester for $80-100k.

Here's a quote from an e-mail to a business counterpart in Montreal, Canada when we got on the subject of weather.
I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Quote
In January we had a monthly low of 27F and a high of 81F. The same in February.
March was 30F to 81F.
April was 38F to 87F.
May was 39F to 92F.

As far as June, our first 100+ day is expected to be on the 12th with it hitting a high of 102 with estimated lows being in the 60s.

As far as "Texans" most of them are fairly decent don't believe everything you see in the media. The majority of the jerks I've dealt with are transplants from other states.

If you're talking about religious stuff, we have a lot of Southern Baptists but they're all around the south followed by Methodists, non-denominationals, Lutherans and Catholics. There's some pentacostal chuches in the more rural areas, I haven't met any of them in person.

I've lived here for nearly 35 years and have not met a single "earth is only 6000 years old", or "Jesus rode dinosaurs" person.
I don't recall ever having a conversation with anyone who felt evolution and their faith were incompatible. I've always felt that the science was there so that must have been how God intended it.  That and my family was big into fossil collecting and IIRC my grandfather discovered a completely new species of Trilobite.

I know Dave's an atheist and I've met a few atheists over the years. Most of them once they hear you don't have odds with evolution really don't seem to care any more about arguing with you and tend to get along ok with them.

Radio host Dennis Prager said something one time that I though summed it up perfectly (He's Jewish)
Quote
I believe there are atheists that have gone to heaven, and Christians and Jews that have gone to hell and also vice versa.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2013, 01:09:42 am by Stonent »
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Offline c4757p

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #18 on: June 15, 2013, 12:51:41 am »
Jesus, you've got all four seasons in one day! We only have to put up with that crap for a small portion of spring and fall, or as we like to call them, "still winter" and "almost winter"  ;D
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Offline smashedProton

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #19 on: June 15, 2013, 12:55:43 am »
20 dollars for a 7805 and an Altoids tin.  The most expensive thing in their BOM is Altoids...  I wonder who is eating the mints!
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Online Smokey

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #20 on: June 15, 2013, 01:09:06 am »
I love how this degraded into a thread about Texas. 
 

Offline c4757p

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #21 on: June 15, 2013, 01:10:28 am »
Everything's bigger in Texas, including the thread tangents.  :)
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Offline StonentTopic starter

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #22 on: June 15, 2013, 01:13:07 am »
Jesus, you've got all four seasons in one day! We only have to put up with that crap for a small portion of spring and fall, or as we like to call them, "still winter" and "almost winter"  ;D
One year, I distinctly remember snow and 90 degree temperature in the same week.

Another one of Texas's fun little things is playing games with physics. It can be 24F (A few degrees C below zero) out side and pouring rain. Sure the water freezes as soon as it hits the ground, but sometimes it happens.
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Offline smashedProton

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #23 on: June 15, 2013, 01:27:06 am »
http://www.garrettbaldwin.com/

Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple.
 

Offline vk6zgo

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #24 on: June 15, 2013, 01:41:13 am »
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Especially not in Texas.

Or in Oz! ;D

Journos are mainly nice folk,but they don't really know much about anything but Journalism! ;D
 

Offline StonentTopic starter

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #25 on: June 15, 2013, 02:14:45 am »
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Especially not in Texas.

Or in Oz! ;D

Journos are mainly nice folk,but they don't really know much about anything but Journalism! ;D

Everything I know about Oz I learned from Tv shows about dangerous animals, Paul Hogan, Steve Irwin, Fosters commercials, "The Outback Steakhouse" and Dave Jones.    :-+
Oh yeah and random news broadcasts about people getting eaten by sharks.   :D

(Mostly Dave Jones)
« Last Edit: June 15, 2013, 02:16:55 am by Stonent »
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Offline vk6zgo

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #26 on: June 15, 2013, 03:27:40 am »
People get eaten by crocodiles,too! ;D
Not much that can eat you on land,though--maybe feral pigs!!

Just think Texas,but much,much,bigger,& with a smaller population!
 

Offline PeteInTexas

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #27 on: June 15, 2013, 04:04:20 am »
Quote
And Texas has one of the highest property tax rates in the union.

True... But we also have a much lower housing cost.

You can pick up a basic 1700 Sq.ft house for about $130,000

If its not in the Austin area, its not worth it.  And be prepared to commute 60 mins to go 15-20 miles as mass transit is not a priority.  Toll roads is the preferred solution to traffic woes  :palm:.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2013, 04:09:49 am by PeteInTexas »
 

Offline Bored@Work

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Re: Teens making cell chargers makes MSNBC front page
« Reply #28 on: June 15, 2013, 05:39:53 am »
I love how this degraded into a thread about Texas.

Well, when you give people the chance to discuss bad journalism or Texas they apparently prefer Texas. That must mean something. Eight out of ten cats prefer ...
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