I've resisted the smartphone thing for a long time. I finally caved in because I'm a software developer and am eager to get into mobile phone development because the wages are better and also because it's hard to convince people of your coding skills when you have a cheap nokia phone. So far the great advantage it brings is that I can stay on top of my email communications wherever I happen to be which allows me to stay in touch with clients and bill more hours. The increased productivity easily justifies the extra cost for me.
I don't have cable -- I don't like TV. I do have broadband at home which is $55 a month after taxes -- and I live in the middle of Los Angeles. I don't really have a choice of providers here for broadband because the only company that can provide me with a reasonable speed (4mpbs) is Time Warner Cable. One provider? In the MIDDLE Of Los Angeles!!? Also, my bill has increased twice in 2 years.
One thing I neglected to mention about my cool phone is that it can share its 3G internet access either by tethering (i.e., I plug it into my laptop with a usb cable) or via wifi hotspot -- the phone can act as a wifi hotspot and share its internet connection with several devices for no extra charge! AT&T charges extra in order for one to use these services. Not that it makes any difference. My phone won't work with AT&T's network anyway.
The idea that US telecom markets are competitive is ludicrous. It's no secret that we are falling behind in the speed and cost of our broadband connections.
I'm a T-mobile customer with a Nexus S phone that I bought 2 weeks ago. I have learned that my phone won't work on the AT&T network -- at least not for data. That phone cost me over $600 with tax and accessories. It's supposed to take awhile for regulatory review and there's supposed to be some phase out period blah blah blah but I'm losing roughly half of the useful life of my phone -- and I'm the kind of guy that hangs onto my gadgets for a long time so this pisses me off. I cannot switch to another provider in the US because there will be no other GSM provider. If I choose a CDMA provider then my phone won't work abroad.
More importantly, my bill right now for unlimited minutes and 5GB of data per month (one GB more than AT&T's top-of-the-line data plan) plus 400 text messages is a mere $95 per month -- and that's the whole bill taxes and all. I'm not sure how much that'll go up because when I called AT&T to inquire about rates, the poor girl on the phone couldn't figure it out due to the byzantine service options/restrictions imposed by management. From the information I did get, I believe I can expect this to increase to anywhere between $125 and $150 *before* taxes.
T-Mobile is the low cost leader in our phone market. They provide excellent customer service. The were the first to offer an Android phone. AT&T was the last. For those who moan about big government hampering business, I invite you to prepare yourself to deal with the bureaucratic nightmare that AT&T will become. When you are only one of 130 million customers, dealing with your phone company is going to make a trip to the DMV feel like a vacation.
And by the way, I've been to AT&T's headquarters in New Jersey. I attended a business meeting there in the mid 90's as a management consultant. The building was in the middle of a *private golf course* left over from the monopoly days when a long distance call cost around a dollar a minute. The so-called strategists that we met with had no clue what the Internet was all about. In those days, the only reason AT&T was making money was because they had millions of aging customers who didn't realize that they could switch to a different long distance provider and slash their bill by roughly 75%.
This merger sucks for all of us except the fat cats at the top of AT&T and T-Mobile.
If spectrum were unregulated, you wouldn't be able to make a call because every tom, dick, harry, fong, dieter, and sandeep would be broadcasting willy-nilly on whatever spectrum they liked and your phone calls would be interrupted with snatches of porn. Let one big wireless company run amok, and it would be like AT&T prior to 1984 when they charged a dollar a minute for long distance service and if you didn't like it then you didn't call long distance.
I am not under contract, but I'm a T-Mobile customer and just purchased a Nexus S *last week*. I don't want to be an AT&T customer -- is there any other company I can switch to with my expensive new phone?
Me too. I loathe AT&T and avoided getting an iPhone for years because I didn't want to have an account with them. I wasn't crazy about T-mobile's signal strength at my house, but stuck with them because my phone bill was so low. I just bought a Nexus S last week and then this happens. I'm so unhappy. This is most definitely NOT going to improve either prices or service for communications in the United States.
The situation for Internet service to my home office is even worse. There is literally only ONE company that can provide a reasonable broadband speed to my home: Time Warner Cable. TW Cable has raised my bill twice in 3 years. This might not sound so bad if I lived in East Cow Butt, AR but I live in the middle of Los Angeles.
His post was definitely informative so I don't mind the pedantry which I detected in the section reading "please at least don't confuse copyright and patents...etc.". It's not so much a genuine plea as a hint of patronizing irritation followed by an ostensible clarification which is not clear at all. I appreciate the corrections. I'll tolerate the tone as long as I'm permitted to be snarky about it.
OK so I didn't pay attention. Like I said, the book was dull.
Another significant difference between IP and patents is that patents typically expire whereas IP rights may not, if owned by a corporation -- or at least that's my armchair lawyer's understanding. Feel free to pedantically correct me again.
Probably a while, but it's definitely possible. Michael Crichton wrote a rather dull book on the issue of corporations copyrighting DNS sequences: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_(novel)
If it's IP, though, I'd like to point out the fact that you can't sue anyone for playing the twelve-bar blues in A because it's a traditional piece. Maybe this guy will become a 'traditional' DNA number.
Some of the visuals were delightful and the audio was remarkable for its amazing rumbling low end, but as a story this movie really stank. A young CGI bridges is hardly a worthy villain. The plot was just hollow and boring. I hope I never see the lead actor again. Other redeeming factors: fine girls in tight, fetishy outfits and smokey eye makeup, daft punk, linux commands on Flynn's computer, and the English guy. Really irritating: Tron magically changes his mind and what little suspense they had managed to create immediately dissipates. I give it a "D".
Dumbasses world wide have been tricked into clicking malware! And--AND HERE IS THE MOST FASCINATING PART--the malware peddlers lie to the users, telling them that they are going to scan for viruses!
I'd be willing to bet it has something to do with the fact that you have an entire hive of bees each attempting to find the shortest path and then sharing their experience via that 'bee dance' thing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg). Each bee is a thread with its own particular solution to the problem. Each bee's behavior contributes random heuristic alterations to the nectar-gathering path based on bee instincts evolved over millions of years. The bees periodically exchange solutions via the bee dance. It's a classic Genetic Algorithm.
Slashdot Mirror
Awesome! I can't wait to shell out several hundred dollars for *another* phone!
Why would they shut them down? Ask Ralph De La Vega over at AT&T:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42195939/ns/business-us_business/
According to Ralph De La Vega, head of consumer and wireless services, the plan is in fact for t-mobile customers to 'upgrade' :
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42195939/ns/business-us_business/
I've resisted the smartphone thing for a long time. I finally caved in because I'm a software developer and am eager to get into mobile phone development because the wages are better and also because it's hard to convince people of your coding skills when you have a cheap nokia phone. So far the great advantage it brings is that I can stay on top of my email communications wherever I happen to be which allows me to stay in touch with clients and bill more hours. The increased productivity easily justifies the extra cost for me.
I don't have cable -- I don't like TV. I do have broadband at home which is $55 a month after taxes -- and I live in the middle of Los Angeles. I don't really have a choice of providers here for broadband because the only company that can provide me with a reasonable speed (4mpbs) is Time Warner Cable. One provider? In the MIDDLE Of Los Angeles!!? Also, my bill has increased twice in 2 years.
One thing I neglected to mention about my cool phone is that it can share its 3G internet access either by tethering (i.e., I plug it into my laptop with a usb cable) or via wifi hotspot -- the phone can act as a wifi hotspot and share its internet connection with several devices for no extra charge! AT&T charges extra in order for one to use these services. Not that it makes any difference. My phone won't work with AT&T's network anyway.
The idea that US telecom markets are competitive is ludicrous. It's no secret that we are falling behind in the speed and cost of our broadband connections.
I'm a T-mobile customer with a Nexus S phone that I bought 2 weeks ago. I have learned that my phone won't work on the AT&T network -- at least not for data. That phone cost me over $600 with tax and accessories. It's supposed to take awhile for regulatory review and there's supposed to be some phase out period blah blah blah but I'm losing roughly half of the useful life of my phone -- and I'm the kind of guy that hangs onto my gadgets for a long time so this pisses me off. I cannot switch to another provider in the US because there will be no other GSM provider. If I choose a CDMA provider then my phone won't work abroad.
More importantly, my bill right now for unlimited minutes and 5GB of data per month (one GB more than AT&T's top-of-the-line data plan) plus 400 text messages is a mere $95 per month -- and that's the whole bill taxes and all. I'm not sure how much that'll go up because when I called AT&T to inquire about rates, the poor girl on the phone couldn't figure it out due to the byzantine service options/restrictions imposed by management. From the information I did get, I believe I can expect this to increase to anywhere between $125 and $150 *before* taxes.
T-Mobile is the low cost leader in our phone market. They provide excellent customer service. The were the first to offer an Android phone. AT&T was the last. For those who moan about big government hampering business, I invite you to prepare yourself to deal with the bureaucratic nightmare that AT&T will become. When you are only one of 130 million customers, dealing with your phone company is going to make a trip to the DMV feel like a vacation.
And by the way, I've been to AT&T's headquarters in New Jersey. I attended a business meeting there in the mid 90's as a management consultant. The building was in the middle of a *private golf course* left over from the monopoly days when a long distance call cost around a dollar a minute. The so-called strategists that we met with had no clue what the Internet was all about. In those days, the only reason AT&T was making money was because they had millions of aging customers who didn't realize that they could switch to a different long distance provider and slash their bill by roughly 75%.
This merger sucks for all of us except the fat cats at the top of AT&T and T-Mobile.
If spectrum were unregulated, you wouldn't be able to make a call because every tom, dick, harry, fong, dieter, and sandeep would be broadcasting willy-nilly on whatever spectrum they liked and your phone calls would be interrupted with snatches of porn. Let one big wireless company run amok, and it would be like AT&T prior to 1984 when they charged a dollar a minute for long distance service and if you didn't like it then you didn't call long distance.
Before we shell out the cash, let's write our elected reps in congress and the justice department and try to halt the merger.
http://senate.gov/
http://house.gov/
http://justice.gov/
It totally sucks. My bill will go up about 30% and the Nexus S I bought JUST LAST WEEK will apparently be useless:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42195939/ns/business-us_business/
Not only that, I can't switch to any other provider with my phone because nobody else in the US is GSM.
Does anyone know who we should write letters to in order to shut this down??
The problem is that you cannot switch to another GSM provider because AT&T will *the only one in the United States*. This is bad, nothing else.
Same here.
I am not under contract, but I'm a T-Mobile customer and just purchased a Nexus S *last week*. I don't want to be an AT&T customer -- is there any other company I can switch to with my expensive new phone?
Me too. I loathe AT&T and avoided getting an iPhone for years because I didn't want to have an account with them. I wasn't crazy about T-mobile's signal strength at my house, but stuck with them because my phone bill was so low. I just bought a Nexus S last week and then this happens. I'm so unhappy. This is most definitely NOT going to improve either prices or service for communications in the United States.
The situation for Internet service to my home office is even worse. There is literally only ONE company that can provide a reasonable broadband speed to my home: Time Warner Cable. TW Cable has raised my bill twice in 3 years. This might not sound so bad if I lived in East Cow Butt, AR but I live in the middle of Los Angeles.
His post was definitely informative so I don't mind the pedantry which I detected in the section reading "please at least don't confuse copyright and patents...etc.". It's not so much a genuine plea as a hint of patronizing irritation followed by an ostensible clarification which is not clear at all. I appreciate the corrections. I'll tolerate the tone as long as I'm permitted to be snarky about it.
OK so I didn't pay attention. Like I said, the book was dull.
Another significant difference between IP and patents is that patents typically expire whereas IP rights may not, if owned by a corporation -- or at least that's my armchair lawyer's understanding. Feel free to pedantically correct me again.
Probably a while, but it's definitely possible. Michael Crichton wrote a rather dull book on the issue of corporations copyrighting DNS sequences:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_(novel)
If it's IP, though, I'd like to point out the fact that you can't sue anyone for playing the twelve-bar blues in A because it's a traditional piece. Maybe this guy will become a 'traditional' DNA number.
live_free() or die();
Woman's mind restored after linux transplant.
Like Mr. Paycheck said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPrSVkTRb24
Actually he's a pre- and post-reagan *democrat* who was famous for balancing the budget back in the 70s by refusing to cut taxes.
Some of the visuals were delightful and the audio was remarkable for its amazing rumbling low end, but as a story this movie really stank. A young CGI bridges is hardly a worthy villain. The plot was just hollow and boring. I hope I never see the lead actor again. Other redeeming factors: fine girls in tight, fetishy outfits and smokey eye makeup, daft punk, linux commands on Flynn's computer, and the English guy. Really irritating: Tron magically changes his mind and what little suspense they had managed to create immediately dissipates. I give it a "D".
Dumbasses world wide have been tricked into clicking malware! And--AND HERE IS THE MOST FASCINATING PART--the malware peddlers lie to the users, telling them that they are going to scan for viruses!
Since when is Marissa Meyer google's CEO?
I'd be willing to bet it has something to do with the fact that you have an entire hive of bees each attempting to find the shortest path and then sharing their experience via that 'bee dance' thing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg). Each bee is a thread with its own particular solution to the problem. Each bee's behavior contributes random heuristic alterations to the nectar-gathering path based on bee instincts evolved over millions of years. The bees periodically exchange solutions via the bee dance. It's a classic Genetic Algorithm.
For the record, I did not say that. Watching her get 'punished' by some grim copulator might be.