sorin's Profile

The Rabbit Air works well. I've had one for about 2 years. My only complaints are the display is too bright and can't be dimmed (I have a piece of paper folder over it) and the beeps it makes when changing settings or the filter needs cleaning are too loud. It does however run whisper quiet at the lowest setting, and automatically ramps up when it detects air quality problems.

The company also provides good support. Mine arrived with a dead remote, and they sent a new remote immediately.

Overall, I'd recommend it.

I like the ascetic of the Apple displays, and they are certainly well made and engineered, but they are still too expensive compared to a good quality Dell, and lack the versatility. As mentioned, this new one only works with the new Macbooks, and is about as close as Apple seems to get to a notebook dock.

Thus, I have my Mac Mini, as well as a PS2, and occasionally a Macbook connected to a 24" Dell display that cost about half as much at the time as Apple's far less versatile 23".

Built for $200k two years ago, but currently for sale with an asking price of only $475k!

http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/310-25th-Ave-S-98144/home/16904819

Many people are better off renting, particularly if they may need to move in a few years. The costs to move between rentals are minor compared to selling one house and buying another. There is a 6% loss from real estate commissions, and at least another 3% loss for excise taxes and mortgage origination. That's 9% of the value of the house lost, not counting actual moving expenses.

Real estate is also not a good financial investment outside of cashing in on a now deflating bubble market, or a willingness to become a long term landlord. From the 1930s on, the average return has only been about 3% annually, making a home a store of value against inflation, not an investment (vs. 8% for the stock market). You'll of course pay at least 1.5% just in property taxes and maintenance.

The real issue is that many americans are not financially savvy or even financially literate. They also have a ridiculous sense of entitlement. The housing bubble demonstrates this very clearly.

I make about 1.5x the median income for where I live, and even I would just barely be able to afford a starter home (townhouse) or 1 bedroom condo in this area. Some things like housing and healthcare have gotten out of whack with reason. The wage scale has definitely been distorted as well. I know a coworker whose parents are having to sell their house because the annual taxes have become as much as they paid for the house 30 years ago.

But at the same time as all of that, there is a huge sense of individual entitlement in the Gen X and Y folks (I fall onto the former). They all seem to think they are *entitled* to a fancy new car, a big house, the latest cell phone, a european vacation, etc, etc. I see this with my coworkers. And yeah, that's created massive consumer debt that contributed to the current mess in credit and housing. (BTW, when did it become acceptable to be called a "consumer"? There is nothing positive about that word.)

So are we poorer than our parents? Yes, particularly in the sense of placing too much importance on individual wants over common needs. It's pretty hard to call this one of the greatest countries in the world when we have by far the largest number of citizens in prison (over 2 million) of any country including China, India, and Russia. There is a social need at the core of this, but our culture today is obsessed with "I want" at the expense of what "we need".

I walked by the store the other day and, um, yeah, I was confused how they could sell nothing but different colored otherwise identical glasses. At $40, I really don't get it. They don't look at all impressive to me.

I guess this must be the fashionista equivalent of beanie babies.

Love what you did with the curtains and the loft bed. I'd agree with several other comments on the color of it, but rather than just paint, I think it would look great with a whitewash. Furniture layout on the floor plan would have been helpful. Looks not quite as refined in some of the other shots, but I still think super cool!

While a lot of the decor isn't really my style, it's hard for a nice loft not to be cool.

This one is more about the space than the decor, which apart from the living room shot is pretty sterile. The contract in style between the living space and kitchen/bath really threw me. Would have been interesting to see the bedrooms.

That's disappointing that they have only 2 photos of the finished product, neither of which are at all impressive.