IANAE - Yes, you can't trust corporations - but it's more insidious than just that. As most large corporations are driven by their share holders and stock value, a lot of this greed is driven by Wall Street analysts, the same ones that caused this economic meltdown we're still in. They announce how much a corporation should make, rate them lower if they don't meet the expectations they set, then the board sues the corporation if they fail to perform, so all round everything conspires to screw the consumer as much as possible - until they revolt, stop buying the product, the corporation lowers the price to entice them back... and the whole cycle starts again!
I think a Federal law should be passed requiring not only web sites but all TOS documents to produce a diff version so it's easy to see what has changed since the last version. Who has time to re-read all the credit card, phone company, etc. lengthy TOS documents to find the one or two line that have subtly changed.
... you don't know what the cop's financial situation is or how many times this can happen and he/she is out of pocket. There again the police department spent 11 hours x number of officers x hourly salary to track the guy down so maybe there should be a petty cash fund - but I bet they'd get flack for wasting tax-payer's money if there was. Bottom line is that a multi-billion dollar company like Verizon, that provides 911 services to the community, chose $20 over helping find someone in trouble is reprehensible!
I'm sure with the processing bandwidth we have these days the scanners could be made to show only articles of interest: weapons, drugs, etc. and not invade peoples decency/modesty values.
and by extension as Microsoft apps are so big and bloated taking so long to load, are bug prone, and not as integrated as they pretend, causing work on a task to take longer... all we need to do is outlaw Microsoft products and everything will be dandy! Of course the power companies will complain because power use will decline.
I think the widget is a interesting concept to make the desktop more dynamic, though I can see your reservation that the widget would present a deluge of unwanted traffic. Some people who like mentoring the masses would want this, others who want more targeted interactions probably wouldn't. Then it would be up to the community to come up with filters, voting, & preference mechanisms to make the widget, and presumably others that will follow, customizable to different strata/verticals of users.
Agreed, it's not just the UK, as we've recently seen what the Australians are planning and the Americans, Chinese, and probably others, already have in use.
I agree that the amount of the executive bonuses is inconsequential in the larger picture, it's just infuriating that these executives don't have the integrity to have refused/returned them initially. But then again I guess it's that attitude that created this mess in the first place... and the lack of will of the politicians to put some constraints in place to stop rampant greed. At least executives in the '30s had the decency to jump! I guess it's time we all get together outside AIG headquarters with our "Jump! You Fuckers!" placards
Apple's Software Update pissed me off so much when I wanted to use QuickTime and didn't want iTunes... not what you'd expect from a company that prides itself on NOT acting like Microsoft! But I guess they're just trying, like most large corporations, to increase market share of their apps and thus profits. At least now that I do use iTunes they've changed their policy and it only updates what you've installed. I would have expected more of Google.
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Community Comments by Psyc0lops, jwclark, Caiged, and others, dispute the accuracy of the contract and pricing info contained in the article.
don't forget diabolically deliberate acts of biological contamination such as "V for Vendetta"
IANAE - Yes, you can't trust corporations - but it's more insidious than just that. As most large corporations are driven by their share holders and stock value, a lot of this greed is driven by Wall Street analysts, the same ones that caused this economic meltdown we're still in. They announce how much a corporation should make, rate them lower if they don't meet the expectations they set, then the board sues the corporation if they fail to perform, so all round everything conspires to screw the consumer as much as possible - until they revolt, stop buying the product, the corporation lowers the price to entice them back... and the whole cycle starts again!
Great! Not only has the promise of computer technology not reduced the working day but now medical science will probably end up extending it!
It will change when you have kids - the surest way to destroy a DVD is to have a 3 year old who can reach the DVDs and the DVD player Eject button.
"Idiocracy"... now there's a movie that I wouldn't care if I had a tool to crack the DRM!
Seems like the bumper stickers that say "My Goldendoodle is smarter than your honor student" are correct!
Next we'll be seeing words randomly redacted from newspapers on newsstands to protect passersby from accidentally breaking copyright laws!
Sponge Blob!
I think a Federal law should be passed requiring not only web sites but all TOS documents to produce a diff version so it's easy to see what has changed since the last version. Who has time to re-read all the credit card, phone company, etc. lengthy TOS documents to find the one or two line that have subtly changed.
or at least send a very sincere apology to the Martian Ambassador
... you don't know what the cop's financial situation is or how many times this can happen and he/she is out of pocket. There again the police department spent 11 hours x number of officers x hourly salary to track the guy down so maybe there should be a petty cash fund - but I bet they'd get flack for wasting tax-payer's money if there was. Bottom line is that a multi-billion dollar company like Verizon, that provides 911 services to the community, chose $20 over helping find someone in trouble is reprehensible!
I'm sure with the processing bandwidth we have these days the scanners could be made to show only articles of interest: weapons, drugs, etc. and not invade peoples decency/modesty values.
and by extension as Microsoft apps are so big and bloated taking so long to load, are bug prone, and not as integrated as they pretend, causing work on a task to take longer... all we need to do is outlaw Microsoft products and everything will be dandy! Of course the power companies will complain because power use will decline.
Maybe they'll cripple all the functionality of their operating system even without payment... oh, wait, they have prior art for that with Vista!
I think the widget is a interesting concept to make the desktop more dynamic, though I can see your reservation that the widget would present a deluge of unwanted traffic. Some people who like mentoring the masses would want this, others who want more targeted interactions probably wouldn't. Then it would be up to the community to come up with filters, voting, & preference mechanisms to make the widget, and presumably others that will follow, customizable to different strata/verticals of users.
Agreed, it's not just the UK, as we've recently seen what the Australians are planning and the Americans, Chinese, and probably others, already have in use.
I agree that the amount of the executive bonuses is inconsequential in the larger picture, it's just infuriating that these executives don't have the integrity to have refused/returned them initially. But then again I guess it's that attitude that created this mess in the first place... and the lack of will of the politicians to put some constraints in place to stop rampant greed. At least executives in the '30s had the decency to jump! I guess it's time we all get together outside AIG headquarters with our "Jump! You Fuckers!" placards
Apple's Software Update pissed me off so much when I wanted to use QuickTime and didn't want iTunes... not what you'd expect from a company that prides itself on NOT acting like Microsoft! But I guess they're just trying, like most large corporations, to increase market share of their apps and thus profits. At least now that I do use iTunes they've changed their policy and it only updates what you've installed. I would have expected more of Google.