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Negative option exists in varying degrees of 'scammy'.
When I was a kid, my friends and I would join Columbia House or BMG, get our 12-for-a-penny, buy four more, cancel, rinse, repeat.
We were high-school kids and we knew the 'negative option' part of it was BS. But the 16 for the cost of 4 was a good deal.

It was a good deal for the record company, too. The albums we received were 'special' labeled ones--it was obvious they were not the same as you'd get off the shelves at a record store. Our theory was that BMG or Columbia would just run off ten or twenty thousand more than they expected to sell once the machines were set up. Pure profit for them; probably didn't pay the artists either. No way of knowing if this was true; this was just our guess.

Anyhow, there you have it--it was very clear up front what the deal was, we all agreed to it and we all got what we expected.

This surprise negative option--this is sneaky and deceptive. To me it smells fishy, and I know if it smells fishy, don't eat it.
I bought 'USB3' memory sticks from Amazon because they were a good brand at a good price and they were "USB3" sticks.
Oh, in my hurry I didn't read the review--They're USB2, but they work in USB3 ports. Well, hell, all USB2 works in USB3 ports. Oops.
Well, shit. They got me.

Blaming the victim is self-delusion. "They won't get me because I'm smart. Those people were dumb. Or greedy. Or whatever...."
Awareness means knowing I might not smell the next one; the scammers do this all day every day and they're good at it.

How much time and attention do I need to devote to not getting ripped off? It's fucking exhausting. Sometimes the scammers win. Sometimes they miss.
A number of times, the scammers simply get thrown into a wood chipper feet first.

They should have used the Leonardo drone; it would have saved them four bucks.

Or the "Pocket Fisherman" line of small fishing rods.

            http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-F...

Suitable for downing drones at surprising ranges, with far more range than a garden hose and much more safely than a firearm.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Agenda for a New Economy covers the issues of what the author calls "phantom wealth".

It's an excellent read and I highly recommend it.

There's this. Or you could always jailbreak an Amazon Fire.

There were no iodine supplements in the drug stores, or the health-food stores.

This website has iodine pills, and lots of other stuff: amazon.com.

But the only parts of libertarian thought I consider valuable are the bits that say no one has any justification in interfering with the personal and consensual choices of others with regard to non-macroeconomic and non-contractual behaviors. The rest is, as far as I'm concerned, bunk.

It sounds like you're talking about social versus economic libertarianism. They're really two different animals. I'm a pretty big believer in social libertarianism myself, but there's a pretty good portion of the left ("liberals") who believe the same thing, they just don't call themselves "libertarians". (BTW, these aren't the same liberals who believe in "microaggressions", "safe spaces", that speech which offends someone should be banned, etc.) Social libertarianism is pretty simple: (non-economic) laws shouldn't be based on morality or religion, and only based on whether an action abridges someone's rights, so basically don't ban something unless it's affecting someone else. So (adult) sexuality for instance can't be regulated here, and you probably won't find any liberals (including the "safe spaces" ones) who would disagree with this notion. But you can also make a case that environmental regulation is justified because we all breathe the same air and are affected by pollution.

It's the economic part where the liberals and the libertarians diverge, since (economic) libertarians don't believe in almost any government regulation of industry or commerce.

I will not regret not having to clean the catbox, not having to mow the lawn, not having to shop, etc

"will not"???
Here's your litter box. It's a little pricey, but accept nothing less; all the other automated boxes suck. This one is fantastic.
There's robotic lawn mowers out there too, but those are a lot more money than this admittedly expensive litter box; it's understandable if you're not ready to shell out $1500 for a Robomow, or for larger lawns a $4500 LawnBott. But they're here.

However, I can't see people ever giving up shopping. It's not that easy to "browse" on a computer screen, and you certainly can't touch and feel things or try clothes on remotely (we don't have holodecks yet, those aren't coming until the 24th Century; the 23rd Century ones suck and are visual-only). The whole way a lot of small shops survive in artsy districts is that people go there to just browse around and look at stuff, without any idea of what they're looking for, just to see what suits their whimsy. That's not going to go away, though more and more stuff is showing up online.

But the only parts of libertarian thought I consider valuable are the bits that say no one has any justification in interfering with the personal and consensual choices of others with regard to non-macroeconomic and non-contractual behaviors. The rest is, as far as I'm concerned, bunk.

It sounds like you're talking about social versus economic libertarianism. They're really two different animals. I'm a pretty big believer in social libertarianism myself, but there's a pretty good portion of the left ("liberals") who believe the same thing, they just don't call themselves "libertarians". (BTW, these aren't the same liberals who believe in "microaggressions", "safe spaces", that speech which offends someone should be banned, etc.) Social libertarianism is pretty simple: (non-economic) laws shouldn't be based on morality or religion, and only based on whether an action abridges someone's rights, so basically don't ban something unless it's affecting someone else. So (adult) sexuality for instance can't be regulated here, and you probably won't find any liberals (including the "safe spaces" ones) who would disagree with this notion. But you can also make a case that environmental regulation is justified because we all breathe the same air and are affected by pollution.

It's the economic part where the liberals and the libertarians diverge, since (economic) libertarians don't believe in almost any government regulation of industry or commerce.

I will not regret not having to clean the catbox, not having to mow the lawn, not having to shop, etc

"will not"???
Here's your litter box. It's a little pricey, but accept nothing less; all the other automated boxes suck. This one is fantastic.
There's robotic lawn mowers out there too, but those are a lot more money than this admittedly expensive litter box; it's understandable if you're not ready to shell out $1500 for a Robomow, or for larger lawns a $4500 LawnBott. But they're here.

However, I can't see people ever giving up shopping. It's not that easy to "browse" on a computer screen, and you certainly can't touch and feel things or try clothes on remotely (we don't have holodecks yet, those aren't coming until the 24th Century; the 23rd Century ones suck and are visual-only). The whole way a lot of small shops survive in artsy districts is that people go there to just browse around and look at stuff, without any idea of what they're looking for, just to see what suits their whimsy. That's not going to go away, though more and more stuff is showing up online.

That supports your argument that HP's servers were shit, but not that Compaq's are actually any good.

Comparatively good, then. Dell didn't have much for servers at the time, and there weren't too many choices for Wintel. Compaq was the server leader at the time. It's obvious you didn't like them, but they were more popular than anything else. And HP was not popular, at all.

You are arguing that HP could have acquired someone better than Compaq, not that Compaq was a bad acquisition.

HP never had a handheld worth a fuck outside of calculators, and calculator sales are basically nonexistent today.

Even over 20 years after introduction, the HP 200LX is still in use in mission-critical places. A device the size of a cell phone that ran DOS, and had a serial port. If they had kept up the miniturization on that and kept it small and cheap, http://www.amazon.com/Hewlett-... You can still buy used ones for more than the cost of new, back when they were made. Had HP not been idiots, they could have had 100% of the DOS market, in a PC that runs on AA batteries (or forever off a low-power wall wart).

Yes, their WinCE devices were shit, but mainly because WinCE was shit.

Then use this bluetooth to FM transmitter

My old Jeep doesn't have an aux jack, but the bluetooth-to-FM transmitter works great.

Consumers already let themselves get screwed over hugely by accepting HDMI incorporating HDCP; they're probably about to do it again with this,

Yes, I know. I have to use a $20 HDMI splitter to remove the HDCP. http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-P... Trouble is, some manufacturers are quite happy making audio boards with analog outputs (Creative Labs, still). Intel will have to (1) Force Microsoft to stop supporting analog audio cards (2) convince software writers that they need to drop analog audio support. (3) figure out how to stop the HDCP circumvention - I could output audio via HDMI through same said splitter to my amplifier, and out the headphone jack.

If someone's current car happens to support neither Bluetooth audio nor an ISO 7736 aftermarket head unit, I don't see who's willing to spend thousands of dollars for a new car or a newer used car just for Bluetooth audio.

You can buy a bluetooth adapter that plugs into the aux jack of your car for as little as $40. I have done just that and it works great. Even Dewalt makes them. No need to buy a whole new car just for bluetooth since it is trivial to add it to almost literally any existing car with a stereo.

False. First freaking "FREE" app I found on their site has this silly little link right at the top called "See all Application Permissions". This of course happens to be just below the text "Offers in-app purchases".

Since it appears that Amazon doesn't have even that basic level of security,

Set Parental Controls for In-App Purchases

You're right. It would be easy to do that.

So easy, in fact, that it's already been done.

Amazon even put instructions for disabling in-app purchases on their web site for those users who have never bothered to explore what's in the settings menu on the tablet.

What isn't easy is making people take time to look at a manual before complaining about missing features.

So when my 5 year old son sees a screen pop up with a button that says "Purchase the in game upgrade" he automatically clicks on the button. There are no settings to prevent that.

You're wrong. There are settings specifically meant to prevent that.

There's a setting that disables in-app purchases and you can use parental controls to prevent purchases without entering a password if you don't want to disable them entirely.

The following is my, not his, take. But my view is heavily influenced by his book. Please do read his book or at least the summaries and reviews.

He argues that like in any system, in Capitalism too, the current generation of winners will do everything possible to stay on top and make it difficult for others to dislodge them. Without a strong government to break up cartels, trusts, de facto monopolies, the current winners will take too much of the fruits of the economy, it will stagnate and it will be in dangers of sliding back to a feudal system. But government, powerful enough to break such large corporations is also a threat to the liberty of citizens. Government can end up as a weapon in the arsenal of the current winners. That is why democracy, that keeps the government is check is so important. Again, democracy too can end up as a weapon in the same arsenal too. If the democracy is so undermined the pressure will build up and the system of governance will break down in a revolution, the current winners will lose it all. So it is in the best interests of the current winners to lock in their gains, not to get too greedy, allow next generation of winners to come up in a level field. The winners are already very powerful with money and market share, they should not also try to usurp the government, in their own self interest.

Just a reminder, the entire point of this was 4 years ago when people pointed out there was a cabal fixing the hugo awards behind he scenes based on people's political ideology. To wit: If you weren't a far left leaning progressive, don't bother, you weren't welcome in science fiction.

It honestly was getting a bit stupid. Best reference book: "Queers Dig Time Lords." Really? "If you were a dinosaur, my love?" Wouldn't even rate a 3 out of 10 on Fanfiction.net -- it was shit, but had the right politics.

Last year they proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they were right. Not only were they able to out-influence the people trying to fix the Hugos -- forcing such horrible monsters such as Jim Butcher onto the ballot -- but then the group of people who were fixing them for decades before this pushed a no-award slate (despite insisting slates don't exist) in order to derail them.

The unspoken thing from last year's controversy is that the Sad Puppies were proven absolutely fucking right, but the Regressive Left moved the goalposts and everyone kinda ignored that.

This year, the Puppies are taking a different stance. Sad Puppies 4 has sadly faded into the woodwork, while Rabid Puppies has decided to destroy the Hugos. How? Simple. Flood the nomination with things the regressive left will abhor, and then help vote No-Award so NO ONE gets a Hugo this year. And the idiots on the Regressive Left are falling right into their hands. Again.

Then maybe Worldcon will change the goddamned voting system to prevent this kind of fixing -- which again, I'll point out the moralists in the regressive left have been abusing for decades -- which was the original goal of the Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies in the first place.

But the best part about this?

Space Raptor Butt Invasion is now a Hugo Nominated Short Story. And they can't ever take that back.

The response is the same today as it was then. Standard connectors have are different from Apple's designs. Which one is better is mostly subjective at this point, and Apple's chosen to follow the path that best aligns with its business model.

Consider, for example, USB-C cables. They're a great idea, and have so much promise... until a faulty one fries your device. To engineers, that's the cable's fault. To an average user (Apple's target market, mind you), a cable is just a cable, and the now-dead device is just unreliable. Another example is a MicroSD card slot. There are fast cards and slow cards, and Apple has absolutely no way to control the quality of what could impact their reputation.

The old sales tactic is to not just sell a product, but an experience. Apple is actually following through on that. For years, they didn't just sell a computer. They sold a computer and the promise that all of your hardware upgrades would be compatible and correct, because they would come directly from Apple... for a price. For the customers who weren't technically-inclined, that's precisely what they wanted.

I agree with you regarding there being no number at which it would be ok for our rights to be not just trampled on but removed entirely. Encryption, the whole thing, I couldn't agree more, literally, I couldn't.

However, the terrorist thing is a meme that is trotted out and put forth to drive fears. They may not inflate the numbers but they do drive the level of hysteria. They also talk about terror attacks being on the rise without mentioning that they are rising from a very low number. They use the bogeyman regardless of the numbers to provide cover for more of our rights to be trampled upon, if the numbers aren't motivating enough, they just describe isolated instances as view of a rising epidemic. A good book on this is a "A Culture of Fear" http://www.amazon.com/Culture-...

Worldwide terror attack numbers are pretty meaningless, cause I don't live there. Terrorist attack death numbers are also probably massively inflated since they regard ISIS/Daesh as a terrorist organization while it is more of a de-facto government which happens to be in its formative phase.

Well some people just want to watch a movie once, and that's pretty much the standard price across the various services.

http://store.steampowered.com/...

https://store.playstation.com/...

http://smile.amazon.com/Hunger...

http://www.vudu.com/movies/#!c...

https://play.google.com/store/...

> Random guy on Internet claims physicists are wrong,

Riiiight, because you know more then Halton C. Arp, a professional astronomer who, earlier in his career, was Edwin Hubble's assistant, and that you've personally verified he made mistake in every object documented in his "Quasars, Redshifts and Controversies", right?

And you're published papers are where again?

Professor Gerald Pollack at University of Washington has been studying exactly this "new state" of water for over a decade and has written a very good book about it... http://www.amazon.com/Gerald-H...

"And we screwed up again in Iraq."

stabiesoft, respectfully, there is no "we". The people who started the Iraq war did it for money, and because they deal with life by being aggressive. They kill, or try to destroy the life of, anyone who tries to limit their aggression. Two of hundreds of sources:

House of Bush, House of Saud: The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties

9 Ridiculous Passages From Former Vice President Dick Cheneyâ(TM)s New Book

Thanks of the extra information, it's interesting, but you keep telling me that I'm not using SIP and that it's no good. But I was simply sharing an anecdote regarding my experience, and SIP is the easiest way to explain what I did, as you can see below:

1) I created an account with a SIP gateway (SIPGate)

2) I then installed a SIP client on my Android mobile. I did find out that a later upgrade to Android support SIP natively, they call it "Internet Phone", so I don't need the SIP client any more.

3) My personal experience is that the call quality has been much much better than with cellular calls. For a while I still had my cellular plan and could compare a voice call, followed by a SIP call over the 3G data link, in the same area. The difference was always dramatic and the SIP call was always better.

4) I liked it so much I bought a VOIP box for home (an "unlocked" and unaffiliated one of these) and configured it for SIP and it works brilliantly.

Anyway, that's my anecdote, make of it what you will.

If you think I should try a more modern protocol, can you recommend a provider and name the technology to make it easier? Thanks.

I bought an unlocked dual SIM GSM phone for $29. I use it with a T-Mobile account that costs $10 per year (after paying $100 the first year). It works well for answering phone calls when my FreedomPop Samsung Galaxy phone (no monthly charge) is away from Sprint coverage.

Now it it possible to get an unlocked Blu phone for $20. Or, if you think that is too expensive, $18.

An advantage of the less-capable phones: More than thirty days of stand-by time. ($74)

One of the nice advantages of being heavily involved with technology is that you can feel comfortable saying no to technology. I've met people who felt they had to have the latest iPhone because other people bought the latest.

I am not, of course, saying anyone else on Slashdot would make the same choices.

I bought an unlocked dual SIM GSM phone for $29. I use it with a T-Mobile account that costs $10 per year (after paying $100 the first year). It works well for answering phone calls when my FreedomPop Samsung Galaxy phone (no monthly charge) is away from Sprint coverage.

Now it it possible to get an unlocked Blu phone for $20. Or, if you think that is too expensive, $18.

An advantage of the less-capable phones: More than thirty days of stand-by time. ($74)

One of the nice advantages of being heavily involved with technology is that you can feel comfortable saying no to technology. I've met people who felt they had to have the latest iPhone because other people bought the latest.

I am not, of course, saying anyone else on Slashdot would make the same choices.

There's a bit more to the cat paradox than what you have stated.

Particles with undetermined quantum states (whether the cat is alive or dead) behave as though they exist in both states simultaneously. What you have proposed is the "hidden variable" theory, where the particles actually have a state (dead or alive) and act accordingly, but we don't know what it is until we make the observation (open the box).

The general consensus among physicists today is that the hidden variable approach is unlikely, and that the states truly are superimposed.

Of course it doesn't make any sense in the thought experiment with the cat, and deliberately so, since the cat (a large macro object) does not have any superimposed states. But the atomic quantum world behaves very differently, and as uncomfortable as it may make us, these ideas of superposition, entanglement, tunneling, and so on, are actually measurable, observable, and part of a cohesive theory, which in my book makes them "real".

More reading here and here if you're really keen.

Great quote. A comprehensive exploration of the topic is in: Nothing to Hide by Daniel J. Solove, a legal scholar.

Gray Matters by Hjortsberg?

http://www.amazon.com/Gray-Mat...

as an FYI, I pre-ordered Sony's VR stuff a few weeks ago....

Sony VR pre-order

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-NU...

No couch multiplayer,

There are games with couch multi.

required internet connection

No console REQUIRES the internet, perhaps you are thinking of those early Xbox gaffes before release?

long boot times,

What do you mean by this?

frequent software updates,

They're not that frequent, why do you think they are?

input selection (PCs support keyboard/mouse, console controllers, etc, up to full HOTAS setups with rudder pedals and such).

Did you just time travel from 1999? The PS2/PS3/PS4 have USB ports for a reason. I've even hooked a Saitek x52 HOTAS up to a console.

https://store.playstation.com/...

https://store.playstation.com/...

http://www.amazon.com/Apache-A...

https://store.playstation.com/...

Consoles also lack the markets like Steam, GoG, GMG and Humble Bundle.

Because they have their OWN online markets, and places like Wal-mart, Amazon, etc etc.

Given the hardware specs of the current phone, along with wifi and LTE, I could see myself using this phone for years and years to come if I can get replacement batteries for it.

My wife has this extended battery in her S5, and I have this larger one in mine. Both work great, and last longer than the stock batteries do. Mine lasts longer than hers, but of course the larger battery makes the phone heavier. Also, the non-standard back cover that my larger battery requires makes my phone no longer waterproof.

If you are concerned about the size that you need being discontinued, it might be worth buying one before you really need it.

Given the hardware specs of the current phone, along with wifi and LTE, I could see myself using this phone for years and years to come if I can get replacement batteries for it.

My wife has this extended battery in her S5, and I have this larger one in mine. Both work great, and last longer than the stock batteries do. Mine lasts longer than hers, but of course the larger battery makes the phone heavier. Also, the non-standard back cover that my larger battery requires makes my phone no longer waterproof.

If you are concerned about the size that you need being discontinued, it might be worth buying one before you really need it.

"deterrent depends less on the severity than it does on the certainty, and immediacy"

http://www.amazon.com/review/R...

When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment
by Mark A. R. Kleiman
August 1, 2010
http://www.amazon.com/o/asin/B...

"deterrent depends less on the severity than it does on the certainty, and immediacy"

http://www.amazon.com/review/R...

When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment
by Mark A. R. Kleiman
August 1, 2010
http://www.amazon.com/o/asin/B...

At first I thought this was a clever Islamophobe troll, given the general quality of the comments lately, that was going to conclude by claiming that Christians and Jews are the farmers and Muslims are the herders. [...] Then I looked up and saw your nick, so I kept reading.

I cannot for the life of me find the book that presents this theory. It might have been this one. I think this might link to the original paper somewhere.

The study had students fill out a form and then walk down a long corridor to submit the form to the researcher. Along the way they had to slide past another student moving a locker.

After sliding past, the student moving the locker mumbled "asshole" under their breath. When the student got to the end to deliver the form, their stress hormones were measured.

(The student moving the locker was in on the research, and the student delivering the paper wasn't aware of any of this.)

The study found that people whose ancestors were farmers tended to let the insult go, while people whose ancestors were herders were more apt to take offence.

The book was quite engaging, especially the sections about the hill people of Tennessee. We only hear about the Hatfields and McCoys, but there was apparently a *lot* of killing going on in those small communities. Something like 14% of *everyone* died by violence in that small area during that time.

[Will's Mom:] “Die like a man, like your brother did!” She belonged to a world so well acquainted with fatal gunshots that she had certain expectations about how they ought to be endured. Will shut his mouth, and he died.”

It puts an interesting perspective on human behaviour.

OUYA and GameStick consoles run Android/Linux, and Steam Machine runs a customized Debian GNU/Linux.

Does anyone, anywhere, have good numbers for Steam Machine sales? Because I can't find anything that suggests any movement there. Sales through Amazon.com are at rock bottom. Alienware ASM 100 Desktop Console

But between news and sports, the things that we do watch just aren't available on any of these streaming sites.

You may want to check out Sling TV. Their basic package has ESPN, ESPN2, CNN, and quite a few other channels built into it for $20/month, and they offer a la carte extras such as a sports package with additional channels (e.g. ESPNU, SEC, etc.) for $5/mo., which looks to be right up your alley.

As for news, what are you getting that's any different than what you can get online or OTA for cheaper/free? For pretty much anything at a national scale, their content is available via their apps, their site, or streaming services like Sling for significantly less than a cable bill and can generally be viewed while away from home. For stuff like the local CBS/NBC/ABC affiliate, why not pay once for something like a Mohu Leaf and just get the signal for free OTA? It'd likely pay for itself in less than a month and can either be hidden out of sight or painted so that it's not an eyesore. It's not all rabbit ears and lightning rods these days with antennas.

All of that said, your needs don't match mine in the least (I get all of my news online and don't care about sports), so there may be perfectly valid reasons why these suggestions don't work for you. If so, I'd love to hear them so that I can make better recommendations in the future, since the last thing I want to do is mislead someone into making a bad choice.

The trick is to get the right kind. When my wife got a Keurig, I really didn't want to contribute to the k-cup trash pile so I looked around for a re-usable filter. I found the ekobrew one (which was stainless steel instead of plastic). I fill it to 3/4 full of Kirkland brand fine grind that I pick up at Costco and it works great. Been using it for over a year now with no problems. I've heard that the plastic ones don't work as well.

There are already machines where you are able to do this. It is called an espresso machine. You put grounded coffee in it per 1 or 2 cups and that's it. About the same price as a Keurig. Or as expensive as you want to make it.

It's trashy, but Wilbur Smith's A Time to Die features them quite nicely, and in a "realistic" way for an action novel. Read that as a teenager, and yes you're right, they are hump-backed ugly insects of the skies, bristling with guns, and very cool indeed.

Sort of.

He probably can't do something that makes it seem like he has the endorsement of the campaign, but he can still do a LOT because the first Amendment is strongest when it comes to political speech. There's a reason you can buy Donald Trump toilet paper.

Or you could use a single cup Melitta and a permanent filter. Or the all-in-one Frieling.

Or you could use a single cup Melitta and a permanent filter. Or the all-in-one Frieling.

Or you could use a single cup Melitta and a permanent filter. Or the all-in-one Frieling.

http://www.amazon.com/Ekobrew-...

Someone came up with the idea of a refillable K-Cup

You really want to do something about the "Problem" there you go. Otherwise you can buy "Recyclable" K-Cups that never will be.

Me I just use these things

http://www.amazon.com/Braun-Pe...

Damned if I am going to pay two bucks a cup when all is said and done for coffee I make myself.

http://www.amazon.com/Ekobrew-...

Someone came up with the idea of a refillable K-Cup

You really want to do something about the "Problem" there you go. Otherwise you can buy "Recyclable" K-Cups that never will be.

Me I just use these things

http://www.amazon.com/Braun-Pe...

Damned if I am going to pay two bucks a cup when all is said and done for coffee I make myself.