Slashdot Mirror

That only works in North Korea.

What really pisses me off about union workers is how selfish they are, when they claim to be otherwise - it's become a cartel. Did the (incredibly foul-mouthed) union worker think of the families of the other two drivers? Of course not - all that matters is their own well being and screw the rest of the company / people. I recall working for a top university not too long ago and I was supposed to get a new desk placed for me from an office next door. I offered to do it myself when my boss told me not to touch it, as there was a union guy in charge of that. Turns out that, had i moved the desk myself, we could have faced some serious fines for "taking away his job".

Here's another example: instead of getting fired, teachers are getting paid to do jack shit waiting their union "trial" to make sure they really should be fired. At times, this could take years - that's right, years that teachers are getting paid full salary for doing nothing (I actually think they created a parody of this in Futurama).

Or how in 2005(?) Union workers halted NYC public transportation, significantly affecting the entire economy. My brother was right: all they care about is increasing their share of the pie, not the total size. And people wonder why I'm so anti-union.

mod me troll if you like, i don't care.

yes because microsoft has never ever ever done anything that might give people reason to be skeptical of studies that essentially proclaim that microsoft products are pieces of heaven that have come down to earth.

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong but I was under the impression that we've never seen any of the light reflected by a planet outside of our solar system. I thought the only methods of planet detection we currently have were to see the light it blocks from its host star, or to see the pull it has on its host star.

Only a few planets have actually been imaged through reflected light, the first in 2008, but it has been done. The two alternative methods you mention have been going on for longer though, and have found many more planets than the imaging method.

Market cap is a completely nonsensical way of saying "what's the largest company". Market cap is simply whatever irrational price the market has placed upon a company, and has zilch to do with its actual value as a cash generating engine.

And to support your point I offer up PetroChina as an example.

Well there was a story a while back about Apple possibly becoming the first trillion dollar company by market cap which would provide some bragging for the Apple fans, but it wouldn't be true as there already was a company that reached the 1+ trillion dollar market cap. The company was PetroChina and did it on November 5, 2007

That would be General Electric.

Start shooting rioters and you'll end the riots right quick, it would be VERY different if there was popular support for the rioters or if they had an agenda.

Some did have an agenda (I doubt all did, however):

expressed by a Londoner when asked by a television reporter: Is rioting the correct way to express your discontent?

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"

The TV reporter from Britain's ITV had no response. So the young man pressed his advantage. "Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you."

Source: http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/07/7292281-the-sad-truth-behind-london-riot

Not saying that rioting was the correct way to go about it, but some of them seemed to think it was.

Failure to identify yourself to a police officer can result in arrest and imprisonment.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43867449/ns/us_news/t/mystery-prisoner-has-utah-jail-authorities-stumped/

But, aside from that, are you serious about Belgium being a totalitarian regime? That's just plain nuts.

slightly off-topic. this msnbc blog entry shows some interesting insight in the dynamics of the group:

a Londoner when asked by a television reporter: Is rioting the correct way to express your discontent?

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"

The TV reporter from Britain's ITV had no response.

That is because the reporter was not up to the work he was doing. He should asked the guy what he would like to say now that he has a possibility to speak. He would have produced a gush of drivel of leftist platitudes. They usually do and with the general idea that they are victims of "state" and "society" while they are completely ignorant about their own conduct that adds to their state of being bored.

And bored they are as they do not really have material poverty: They know not hunger, not cold from winter. That is what this is all about: This is about nihilistic, bored, self-centered people doing something. People who do not have a slightest interest in anything sensible. If they would, they would appreciate other people's life's work (like a small business shop) and would refrain from burning it down.

God, I fucking hate when people are being complete dicks and these lefties treat them like some fucking victims.

Don't try to say that there is a reason for this. Marches/sit-ins/hunger-strikes are peaceful, noble forms of expression. Rioting is juvenile and only hurts your fellow citizens.

There was one interview that said the rioting was becuase when they tried a peaceful expression, it was ignored:

As political and social protests grip the Middle East, are growing in Europe and a riot exploded in north London this weekend, here's a sad truth, expressed by a Londoner when asked by a television reporter: Is rioting the correct way to express your discontent?

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"

The TV reporter from Britain's ITV had no response. So the young man pressed his advantage. "Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you."

Source: http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/07/7292281-the-sad-truth-behind-london-riot

I'm not saying that the rioting is acceptable, nor that this is why everyone is doing so.

You people without a perspective and treated as second class citizens do not accept the state as their institution. They perceive the state as their enemy. [..] People get even more suppressed (at least they feel that way) which can erupt at any time.

slightly off-topic. this msnbc blog entry shows some interesting insight in the dynamics of the group:

a Londoner when asked by a television reporter: Is rioting the correct way to express your discontent?

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"

The TV reporter from Britain's ITV had no response. So the young man pressed his advantage. "Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you."

I don't think most of the people who are actually rioting are pissed at their government, they've probably paid pretty little attention to what the government has been doing in general. They're pissed at their society, because they're jobless and have no future prospects. That has very little to do with what the government has or hasn't done recently and a lot more to do with persistent problems that technology has brought about but society hasn't been very effective in dealing with.

At least that's certainly the impression that the writer of this article gives.

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"

The TV reporter from Britain's ITV had no response. So the young man pressed his advantage. "Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you."

source

Your argument is that they're not fighting for democracy, but the reality is that they are. They are given a choice to vote amongst candidates who do not represent them, and ignore them when they make peaceful demands to be heard.

Traditional wisdom on democracy is "1 vote, 1 voice" but when no one represents you your vote is wasted on a voice for someone else. As we continue to see stratification of the classes, fewer government officials will represent the common citizens and we will have a fake democracy akin to any democratic dictatorship. You can vote, but whom you elected didn't represent you, so are you really participating in a democratic system and will participating peacefully actually get results?

When a young man was asked by a reporter, if he thought rioting was the correct way to express disconsent, he answered with

"Yes," said the young man. "You wouldn't be talking to me now if we didn't riot, would you?"
The TV reporter from Britain's ITV had no response. So the young man pressed his advantage. "Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you."

http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/07/7292281-the-sad-truth-behind-london-riot

The US would never cause hyper-inflation to repay their debts... doing so would destroy their economy overnight.

QE1 - http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/library/chart-graph/monetary-policy-qe1-qe2-and-oil?library_node=25113
QE2 - http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article26376.html
QE3? - http://money.msn.com/market-news/post.aspx?post=d062663c-e5c3-4801-8aec-a3c5a5130bbe
QED

The Dow is rising and falling in time with these huge injections of newly minted electronic cash, and all that money has to go somewhere - it's causing huge fluctuations in global asset and commodity values, and consequent crashes when it is withdrawn. It could be argued that it is making things worse, not better, and it is certainly causing higher inflation.

In 10 years time $1000 will be worth less, and quite possibly close to worthless. The only other way out is to grow the economy huge amounts while under pressure from significantly cheaper or more efficient competitors (China, SE Asia etc), pull out of all those incredibly expensive foreign wars and foreign military bases, or default. Inflating their way out of it is the easiest way for the politicians.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41349653/ns/business-us_business/t/despite-chinas-might-us-factories-maintain-edge/

So much for "HARD FACTS" ...

The study found that during the time period studied, CNN and MSNBC each devoted roughly 16 minutes per night to the topic, compared with only three minutes on Fox.

In daytime coverage, CNN spent about four minutes per hour on the scandal, while MSNBC spent about half that much time. The total at Fox was closer to 30 seconds per hour.

All three channels carried live daytime coverage of Tuesday's hearing before the British Parliament, where Murdoch and his son James appeared.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43829568/ns/business-us_business/t/truthiness-fox-going-light-scandal-coverage/ This article is on MSNBC, but the study quoted is from the Pew Media Research Center.

For some other, more amusing examples, look at these Actual Headlines vs. Fox News Headlines

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/actual-news-headlines-vs-fox-news-headlines and http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/more-fox-news-headlines-vs-actual-news-headlines

So "AP Poll: Economic worries pose new snags for Obama" becomes "AP: Obama Has A Big Problem with White Women". This is not news, it's organized lying.

If you think this is "Fair and Balanced" and that it's OK because they "admit their bias" then you have serious mental problems. I suspect that you should be under professional mental health care. There are many treatment options that will address your delusional thinking. Current drugs along with cognitive therapy are very effective. I urge you get evaluated, because in your current state you are a danger to yourself and others. You should not be diving or operating heavy equipment, or be allowed access to sharp objects or guns without close supervision. It would be a shame if someone got hurt because of your untreated mental illness.

Yep, totally secure.... http://www.egmcartech.com/2011/01/19/thieves-can-easily-hack-keyless-entry-push-button-start-systems/ http://redtape.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2007/08/28/6345961-researchers-say-theyve-hacked-car-door-locks http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f19/keeloq-keyless-entry-system-hacked-gm-toyota-etc-62666/

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/09/30/1640223/Many-More-Android-Apps-Leaking-User-Data

http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/11/02/2238205/Serious-Security-Bugs-Found-In-Android-Kernel

http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/11/05/0229205/Researcher-To-Release-Web-Based-Android-Attack

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/10/android_malware_attacks/

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/11/27/213219/Security-Expert-Warns-of-Android-Browser-Flaw

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/12/30/1856242/Android-Trojan-Found-Spreading-From-Chinese-App-Stores

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/14/android_chinese_stealing/

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/01/20/1534236/Soundminder-Android-Trojan-Hears-Credit-Cards

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/29/android_data_disclosure_bug/

http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/01/29/1946202/New-Android-Exploit-Discovered-To-Steal-Data

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/17/android_trojan_click_fraud_scam/

http://search.slashdot.org/story/11/02/18/005247/New-Android-Malware-Robs-Bandwidth-For-Fake-Searches

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/02/23/1640252/Mobile-Spyware-Conferences-Into-Your-Calls

http://it.slashdot.org/story/11/03/01/0041203/Infected-Androids-Run-Up-Big-Texting-Bills

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/03/04/google_android_market_peril/

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/15/6475834-skype-android-app-can-expose-your-personal-information

http://www.bangobang.com/2011/04/android-phones-are-no-more-protected.html

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/jacks-blog-10017212/android-and-facebook-attract-more-malware-attacks-10022271/

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/137143/20110421/android-phones-track-users-movements.htm

http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=1718

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/16/android_impersonation_attacks/

have you so little faith in your network that you cant defend yourself from the users?

No, but often defending the network from the users means that certain things have to be handled in a way that you wouldn't do in someone's home network environment.

Believe it or not, IT security concerns for a University, Hospital, or large-scale (or even smaller-scale) business, from a law firm to department store chain, make it so that they are a completely different environment from the knocked-together, wide open "home network" involving someone bringing a $25 router home from Best Buy, plugging it into a DSL modem, plugging their home PC in and setting their laptop to talk to a wide-open wireless network that has named itself "Netgear", and never bothering to configure the security setup or even make sure that their laptop's administrator password isn't blank.

There are a whole mess of things you have to do. And you have to do them because there are severe legal consequences if something is exposed, on a federal-law level. It doesn't matter if anyone actually accesses something or not, the mere fact that it was exposed is enough to trigger potential legal hell.

No one is saying let any old cheap chinese crap android tablet on your network,

Actually, that seems to be exactly what they are saying.

but my question would be, where is your alternative you can point to when users demand more functionality?

It may be that the device does not exist yet. Remember, there was an amazing amount of furor involved in allowing Barack Obama to use a Blackberry while in the Office of the Presidency, including getting a custom model that didn't have a GPS chip. And he's got a hell of a lot of pull to get something like that done. You think that Blackberries are allowed for certain other people with high, high security clearances? Think again.

On a lower level, there's a large amount of things that an iPad (for instance) doesn't handle well. Security on it is basically a joke; a lost iPad's security code (you know, those nifty little 4-digit PINs or finger-swipe patterns?) can be broken trivially in a day or so. Once you're in, you are in User Mode and Jailbreak is only a website visit away. A Jailbroken iPad may be "more functional", but it's been rooted in such a way that the security on it is now compromised. The fact that the holder of the iPad is, at any time, able to assume SuperUser status fairly simply with the Jailbreak hacks makes it very difficult to clear the devices for use in a network where security is deemed to be of high concern.

Where is your answer to their cries?

Being a bit hyperbolic, are we? As I just said, sometimes the answer is, "there doesn't currently exist a device that can meet the legal and policy requirements of the network and still give the functionality you are looking for."

Or are you thinking that every IT department has a budget of millions of dollars to design and build one from scratch? Chances are they are operating on a shoestring, trying to keep everything running nominally well while waiting for the "other shoe" from a clueless PHB in management to drop on their upcoming budget.

Your facts and timelines are inaccurate - the spill happened April 20th 2010, on Apr 30th, Obama announced that BP would be held responsible including cleanup and restoration ( http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/04/30/4426189-obama-again-addresses-oil-spill ).
Tony Hayward announced BP acceptance of the cost and ultimate responsibility on May 3rd ( http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-bp-accepts-responsibility-for-oil-cleanup.html).

Sarah Palin was criticizing Obama and blaming environmetalists for the spill in late May; the National Republican Council had an attack ad against Obama airing by May 27th ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVehAAwh0gY ) and Bobby Jindal was calling for an overturn of the moratorium on offshore drilling by mid-June.

Also, BP USA is really an amalgam of several major companies, most home grown, including Amoco, Arco, Veco, Castrol and has tight relations with Halliburton, Kellogg_Brown_&_Root, etc. One other factor that probably made BP look bad was MSNBC ( Rachel Maddow ), in late May ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHmhxpQEGPo ) reviving a story from June 1979, showing that techniques hadn't changed in 30 years, drawing several unfortunate but accurate links to both stories, including that one company that was involved wad Sedco, which later became TransOcean.

Are you kidding? Do you have any clue as to the actual number of people in America today who are out of work? Add to that the virtual collapse of available jobs in government and public services, well you get the picture.

Tell me that every advance in productivity, every application of robotics, every technological enhancement that makes it possible for business to make more, better, cheaper products hasn't resulted in higher wages for the Board of Directors and lower wages for the common worker in real currency. We now live in a global economy that sees human labor as a commodity, and all of it is to serve a self obsessed, self indulgent, corporate elite.

You want unwavering indicators, here are a few that might help you hone in on an answer:

• The average income for a middle class American in adjust dollars over the last 50 years
• The ratio of income between the average worker and CEO of all American business over the last 50 years
• The number of patents issued to corporations per year over the last 50 years
• The number of patent attorneys employed per year over the last 50 years
• The number of exceptions, exclusions and abridgments to your civil rights enacted per year over last 50 years
• The number of people in prison per year over the last 50 years
• The number of people on food stamps, food lines, homeless and living with friends or relatives over the last 50 years

What you will see is a mass migration into poverty and population control. We are being herded into oblivion. You honestly tell me if you had a billion dollars how eager you would be to help the masses vs feathering your own nest. We've built a society of bottomless appetites, with fewer and fewer souls who can feed that hunger. Can you see any way for the common man to make out in such a world?

Let me put it another way. The greater people are responsible for the future. Until the masses hold wisdom more highly than gratification, dignity above notoriety, justice above animal revenge and compassion above dominion, we can pretty much predict how it will all turn out. We have done a spectacular job of teaching our children to be fat, stupid and ready to dance to any tune their corporate masters may choose to play. What indicators are you looking at?

If you work in a newspaper all you do is befriend a victim of crime, "donate" one to them out of the goodness of our heart and - wahay! - all your base are belong to us.

The idea behind this article is that, people are willing to pay $50+ in game, IF THE GAME IS FREE TO DOWNLOAD AND USE

In other words, it is a micro-payment scheme. Give the main game away for free (like say Bloons, or Farmville), then charge people for add-ons.

The 95% of people that want the game but won't pay, get what they want. A playable game for free.

The 5% of people willing to pay for extra's, will pay a lot of money for them, far exceeding the small payments they could have gotten if they charged to download/continued use of the game.

I wonder if the Smurfs game was included in this study. It is my understanding that people spent hundreds of dollars on this game. They did not "willingly" spend that money however. Must have Smurfberries.

I agree with reading about it on the Internet. I like RSS, but I've found it homogenizes my content so that things don't jump out at me and the really interesting stories get buried with all the mediocre ones. So I keep the following list of bookmarks to check on a weekly basis:

ABC (Australia) Science, ABC (US) Science, Air & Space Magazine, ARKive, Ars Technica, BBC SciTech News, CBS Sci-Tech News, Chet Raymo, Cosmos News, Current: Science, Discover, Discovery News, Edge, Economist Science, EurekAlert!, Flyp media, Futurity, h+, Inkling Magazine, LiveScience, Massimo Pigliucci, Mother Jones Environment, MSNBC Science News, National Geographic News, National Public Radio (US), Natural History Magazine, New Scientist, New York Times Science, New Yorker Science, Newsweek Science, Orion, PhysOrg, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, R&D Magazine, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Science Daily, Scientific American, Seed Magazine, Science Cheerleader, Science News, Schrodinger's Kitten, Slashdot Science, Smithsonian, Space.com, The Technium, Time Magazine Science, USA Today Science, US News & World Report Science, Wired News, World Changing

If you google around for "Skinny Steve", it turns out that they just edited his body to look smaller - he did his own movement for the "skinny" scenes because the directors couldn't find a double who moved similarly enough. Sample source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/43825044/ns/today-entertainment/t/brawny-captain-america-saved-skinny-steve/

And where does the iPhone store the encryption key protecting those passwords? On the device? Makes it a little bit useless then.

Um, the encryption key has to be on the phone at some point for it to work. Do you even understand encryption?

And the only way to keep it from being stored on the phone is to require some method for acquiring the key, either from the user, or from some external source (online, dongle, etc.).

You have severely misunderstood the article you linked to.

Go look at a blackberry to see disk encryption done properly - the key is not stored on the device, it's the derived from the user passphrase.

First off, I don't think you've described how it works on BlackBerry correctly. Second, the way it works on the iPhone is a key is generated, then it is encrypted with the user's passphrase. This is standard for encryption systems, including FDE.

And where does the iPhone store the encryption key protecting those passwords? On the device? Makes it a little bit useless then.

Go look at a blackberry to see disk encryption done properly - the key is not stored on the device, it's the derived from the user passphrase.

I had a Honda Civic DX hatchback (4-speed) and was able to achieve 53 mpg. It's EPA rating was 40mpg. It was routine to get 45-50 mpg and I usually drove 75mph on the interstate.

My 1996 Geo Prizm is rated for 27mpg, but typically gets 33 and has gotten 40.5.

My 2001 Toyota Prius gets 40mpg at 80+ mph and 60-ish mpg when going 48 mph.
It's rated for 41 mpg.
5500 mile cross country trip with 85mph interstate speeds - 45 mpg.

The ratings are wrong.
Your mileage will vary by 25-50% from the test numbers.
Not all drivetrains are equivalent, some will surge and waste fuel like the GMC Acadia. It's rated for 23 mpg and some people are only getting 13. (76% error)

Manual transmissions are best since you can see the road ahead and shift accordingly.
Being in top gear with the engine idling while going downhill is an excellent way to conserve fuel.
It also allows you to downshift just before going up a hill without having to step on the gas.

I bet a fuel-conscious driver in that mustang you linked could get 30-35 mpg.

I felt the same way when Leroy Petry, who just received the medal of honor, was showing off his artificial hand in an NBC Nightly News segment a night or two ago (couldn't find the video online). He said it learned to control its grasp in about 15 minutes because it uses the same nerves his hand did. And yes, it would be better if he didn't need it, it's not as good as the real thing, etc., but it sure is cool to see such futuristic technology make a difference in the real world!

Read
Understand.
Realize that Netflix would rather not lose money on that part of the service you rarely used and was likely costing them money.

Your comments highlight your ignorance of well known issues with the US Postal Service. The USPS has raised prices quite frequently over the past decade, and that cuts into netflix's profits. As you said, big media likely wants a bigger slice as well. The USPS is also looking to do away with saturday service as well. A good read is found at about the details that are pressuring Netflix. Enlighten yourself.

Nope
Not one single injury
EVER

Uh... he installed hidden software that took pictures every minute and sent them to him, without the permission of the owner. Things like that tend to get you into trouble. Just ask this guy.

If you really want to appreciate the power of PowerPoint, get the whole Army presentation: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/Afghanistan_Dynamic_Planning.pdf

California is the 3rd most expensive state in the US behind only Hawaii and Alaska. Try moving to somewhere that actually is inexpensive to live. I live in the midwest and it is FAR less expensive.

Sure, the Midwest is quite less expensive. That said, the OP was arguing about the US as an aggregate whole -- which I think is a mistake, as it depends where you are within the US as to how much things cost. Hence why I brought up prices in California.

It's not about population density, it's about profit margins, and what regulators and the competitive environment will allow.

You say that as if you think profit margins and population density are somehow unrelated. While there are highly dense areas, the phone companies have to expend capital to cover the not dense areas too. If you spend the money to improve connections in the high density areas you necessarily are taking it away from the less populated areas.

Except, as has been substantially covered here on Slashdot, the US telecom companies get sizable government subsidies and other public assistance to carry out such work. This muddies the waters and makes the zero-sum argument about high- vs. low-density areas a bit less tenable.

Furthermore there is the issue of return on investment. Presumably with enough cash they could make incredibly reliable connections but would they see a return on that investment in a competitive environment?

I can't speak much to ROI, except to point out that telecom companies elsewhere, some of them in significantly less densely populated countries and facing much more and fiercer competition, still manage to turn a profit.

Population density is by no means the only important factor but it IS important.

I do agree that it is a factor to consider. My issue with the population density argument is with how often it is invoked as some sort of ultimate reason as to why US internet speeds are falling behind the rest of the developed and developing world.

Cheers,

I honestly wasn't trying to exaggerate the impact. That's just how I read it. Apologies for misreading it.

Either way, apparently the risk of getting cancer from a single scan is approximately the same as boarding a plane that will get blown up by a terrorist, which is about 1 in 30 million. So, being the risk is "about the same", why do it at all (and let the terrorists win)?

Apologies for the misread.

But I will point to this, which puts the probabilities of getting cancer from a single scan about equal with the probabilities of boarding a plane that would get blown up by a terrorist.

I lived in Tokyo for three years. Moved back to the US, to California, and naively expected the cost of living to be lower.

California is the 3rd most expensive state in the US behind only Hawaii and Alaska. Try moving to somewhere that actually is inexpensive to live. I live in the midwest and it is FAR less expensive. My house would cost 4-5X as much anywhere remotely close to one of the bigger California cities. If you were looking for a place in the US to compare with Japan you could hardly have picked a worse example.

It's not about population density, it's about profit margins, and what regulators and the competitive environment will allow.

You say that as if you think profit margins and population density are somehow unrelated. While there are highly dense areas, the phone companies have to expend capital to cover the not dense areas too. If you spend the money to improve connections in the high density areas you necessarily are taking it away from the less populated areas. Furthermore there is the issue of return on investment. Presumably with enough cash they could make incredibly reliable connections but would they see a return on that investment in a competitive environment? Maybe, but anyone who claims to be certain of that is delusional. Population density is by no means the only important factor but it IS important.

that's not what they are talking about . they want CA residents to collect sales tax from ALL buyers no matter if they reside in the state of CA or not. when in fact .. the onus is on the buyer to pay sales tax to their local state government. Just because you bought it online and didn't pay sales tax doesn't mean you are not required to pay it. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23351894/ns/business-personal_finance/t/states-crack-down-tax-free-online-purchases/

And criminology is still in the dark ages, and we use leeches and blood letting as the main sources of medical treatment today.

Don't sell them short. The FDA cleared them for medical use seven years ago...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5319129/ns/health-health_care/t/fda-approves-leeches-medical-devices/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/leeches.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-07-07-leeches-maggots_x.htm
http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/videos/leeches-regain-hold-in-medicine

At my work, I'm responsible for various chunks of municipal infrastructure that carry Big Important Messages such as "We need a doctor right now," "This cop needs help," "This firefighter's in trouble," etc.

When I was hired, I had to sign a fifty-page document that agrees to the following. The cameras pick me up when I get within 100 feet of the office, they stay on me every minute of every day and the video is archived for years. I agree to audio recordings at any time. My ID badge is trackable and my movements recorded. While I am acting as a representative and employee of this company, all communications of any kind are company property. I have no expectations of privacy at all while I am acting on behalf of the company. All phone calls -- cell, landline and voip -- are recorded. Every keystroke is logged. All emails and IMs are stored. For the 9-12 hours a day that I am doing my job, there is no such thing as a "personal" conversation.

If I make a mistake of any kind -- whether it had consequences or not -- the company is within their rights to fire me on the spot without recourse. I have agreed to mediation, meaning I cannot take my employer to court and I will lose any disagreements. If I make a mistake anyone notices, the company will cheerfully feed me to the customer's lawyers.

All of this because my actions carry a risk of liability for the company and a theoretical risk to human life.

Why on Earth shouldn't someone who carries live ammunition be held to at least the same standard? If Seal Team Six can do their jobs on camera with a live mike, why can't local law enforcement?

And by the way, that "Slut Walk" comment came from a Toronto police officer who implied that a woman deserved to be raped because she dressed like a slut.

http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110217/police-slut-comment/20110217/?hub=OttawaHome

A Toronto police officer who told a gathering of university students that women could avoid sexual assault by not dressing like "sluts" has issued an apology.

Mark Pugash, director of communications for the Toronto Police Service, said the officer would send a written letter of apology to faculty and students at York University for inappropriate comments made at the university's Osgoode Hall Law School.

The officer in question sent a written apology to the school later on Thursday.

Pugash said the officer had also been disciplined internally.

The comments were reportedly made during a campus safety meeting on Jan. 24.

Speaking as a brother, a husband and a father of daughters, the boy that made that comment has no business being allowed out on his own, let alone wearing a badge.

I don't care if a woman is a professional crack whore, a rape victim deserves your utmost sympathy, respect and compassion. You treat both the victims and the topic at large as if God and Mary Magdalene were personally going to hold you accountable for absolutely everything.

If you can't understand that, you have no business being in mixed company, let alone mine. I hope to God you don't share a uniform with anyone in my family.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27559165/ns/msnbc_tv/t/watch-msnbc-tv-live/ for the first one.

I clicked play and waited at least a minute for "NBC NEWS: your video is loading" to go away. Then I scrolled and saw that it's available only from 10 AM to 3 PM, which doesn't cover the time when Y is at home to watch. Most notably, these time slots don't include Morning Joe, Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, or The Rachel Maddow Show.

I think TSN also has a streaming service (possibly paid, but probably cheaper than cable/ppv).

I searched Google for TSN and got this. I clicked "NHL Draft Live Streaming" and got this. I sat through the ad and got "Sorry, there was an error", and the video failed to start. Might it be for Canadians only?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27559165/ns/msnbc_tv/t/watch-msnbc-tv-live/ for the first one. I think TSN also has a streaming service (possibly paid, but probably cheaper than cable/ppv).

I thought US Airways already tried to do this with an old Airbus A-320 back in '09? It wasn't quite as popular back then because it was January and frigid,. . .

A state mirroring federal law, is anti-immigrant. I mean seriously here. You have the feds who refuse to enforce the law, you have a state creating a law that mirrors it, and they're anti-immigrant? Hardly. Anti-illegal immigrant indeed and I have no problems with that.

Close! Actually, The Obama Administration has reduced the number of illegals for the first time in 20 years. Contrast to the Bush Regime, which was openly attacked by members of the rabid right for not being hatemongery enough.

Oh, and the Dems re-introduced comprehensive immigration reform, but don't worry, the Republicans will kill it again, under the "No, we'll need that wedge issue in 2016" theory of government.

Not needing a car is not equivalent to not needing to travel.What, the buses and subway are free in NY now?

Yup. At least they are compared to needing a car. Many people continually pay a car payment, the average of which is around $500/mo. Add in $75/mo for basic insurance, then money for gas, tires, maintenance, air fresheners, &c, and you're easily up around $25/day, 7 days a week.

Buses cost money. But not that much money.

I may be splitting linguistic hairs here, but for my money full-fledged memorials are reserved for humanitarians or political, scientific, and military heroes.

You mean like Robocop?

The EPA is being sued.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23919234/ns/us_news-environment/t/states-sue-epa-move-global-warming/