This is worth a read. To bad more young people don't know how their grandparents are riping them off.
Here is a story about Silicon Valley housing. Housing in Santa Clara was grouped into three catagories, and then the price for each catagory was plotted. It showed that low and moderate areas in Santa Clara county have steadily increased in value over the last few years, while the high end has dropped significantly from 2000 bubble highs.
In Santa Clara County's moderately priced and most affordable neighborhoods, where those tract homes are plentiful, median house prices have reached all-time highs in recent months.Prices in the most expensive towns, however, remain far lower than during the boom of 2000. And the median home price for Santa Clara County as a whole is still down from its peak in January 2001.
``This shows you that the median price for the county does not necessarily reflect what's happening in any given neighborhood or with your specific piece of property,'' said Richard Calhoun, owner of Creekside Realty in San Jose, who compiled and analyzed the data based on sales figures from the local Multiple Listing Service.
Prices in the county's mid-priced and most affordable neighborhood's have risen primarily because low mortgage interest rates have motivated many renters to purchase homes and prompted many homeowners to ``buy up'' into nicer homes.
I'll see if I can't find the graph that goes with this story.
Cue Darth Vader theme music.
December 11, 2003: Last month, the U.S. put a new kind of satellite into orbit, the XSS-11. This bird has robotic capabilities and was designed to change orbits so it can photograph other satellites, or just objects (like space junk) in orbit. The XSS-11 (Experimental Small Satellite) weighs about 230 pounds, uses a laser radar (lidar) to check out nearby objects, and is mobile enough to go after other objects in space.
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What is not said is that the XSS-11 could also destroy other satellites. Well, that has been said, but quietly.
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Proof that my understanding of the Japanese is limited. More.
Here is a script for when telemarketers call. Via Haight Speech.
This is definitely Not Safe For Work (NSFW) but it is mesmerizing.
This guy isn't the classiest member of the neighborhood.
From the SJ Mercury News:
But Blacker wants to talk about his business, which is selling, uh, stripper poles.
What do you mean, ``What's a stripper pole?''
``It's becoming extremely mainstream,'' says Blacker, a laid-off tech worker turned businessman. ``Everybody over the age of 10 knows what a stripper pole is.''
If you missed fifth grade that day, let me explain. Blacker's San Jose company sells home versions of the floor-to-ceiling poles used by erotic dancers.
I know what you're thinking. But Blacker's poles are meant for heart-healthy exercise. And, OK, also for what you're thinking.
``Not only can you do a great workout, it's basically a striptease for your significant other,'' Blacker, 37, says. ``It's a win-win.''
He parks his van with advertising on the side in his driveway. At least he's around the corner.