Verizon has done this for years (others may have too but going from my own experience here). Even before the smartphone craze they would purposely cripple their phones. One of the flip phones I owned that came from the manufacturer with Java support and the Bluetooth file transfer profile they locked out those among other things. Anything that could possibly allow you to get something they sold in their VCAST store onto the phone with out having to pay them for it got nixed.
Is it really so much to ask for a phone that isn't crippled or hobbled in some way with a contract discount or removing the cost of the built in phone subsidy if I bring my own phone?
Customer service has nothing to do with cable being technologically inferior though. If GP was judging the ISPs then taking customer service into account makes perfect sense but they were only comparing the technological merits of a coax cable connection vs a fiber to the home connection.
I'm no fan of Java but I still agree with you. Plenty of things have been coded in Java which could be considered "something of value", whether you like or hate the language that does not invalidate the work that has been done in it.
It shouldn't be necessary for the community to patch problems in a game though. Obviously little things can sometimes slip through no matter how well it was tested but when you have multiple issues that have to be fixed by the community that shows poor quality control on the part of the developer. I would also expect the developer to have patches available for the issues before the community has to take it upon themselves to fix it.
If shooting for ease of recycling is what gets us easily upgradeable laptops then I'm all for it. I'm willing to accept not having the lightest, thinnest design if it allows me the degree of flexibility currently only found in a desktop for hardware components.
I was unaware that preference in software companies determined one's sexual orientation or state of happiness. Technically he is correct, the cost of a Windows license is included in a laptop that ships with Windows installed. When did pointing out facts become a problem?
It's actually not Bang but Venti Explosivato. Bang is such a crude expression.
(Disclaimer: I speak no Italian and if that actually means something it's not on purpose.)
My parents compared Netflix's HD streaming on the Xbox 360 side by side with their Time Warner HD channels, in most cases they couldn't tell the difference, in the cases where you could it seemed to be very slight. Remember the cable companies don't exactly provide BluRay quality HD either.
I can't wait for the day my ISP realizes that all I want is a bulk service provider with none of their bullshit. Of course the odds are good that I'll be waiting a looooong time...
But I just read that everyone except me is an AI so your comments don't need to be insightful. Of course when you read his post you would interpret that I am an AI, so assuming he was stating the truth the only logical conclusion is that we are all AI's and thus the entire site is pointless!
I think it depends where they're doing this and how they respond. If they're posing as a normal user and astroturfing then I find it annoying. The good ones respond where it makes sense and clearly indicate they are from the company. For example, on Newegg you'll often see certain brands where a reviewer mentions problems with the product and there is a clearly indicated manufacturer response offering help with the issue (or sometimes straight up offering a replacement) and contact information. Patriot Memory tends to use this a lot.
Well one would hope that if large numbers of companies started doing this the people would realize there's a problem with the way things are working and demand the laws be changed so that those lawsuits would be useless.
Mine didn't even look at my ID although I had it out and ready to hand to them. The actual voting process was very disappointing and somewhat disheartening to be honest.
There is choice- the voters could have voted for someone else (e.g Nader) but less than 2% ever do so. So either the Two Parties are better choices than the rest, or the voters are idiots.
There is another possibility here. Voters don't like either choice from the two parties, but if asked will tell you they absolutely would rather have one of them than have to deal with the other. They may see a viable option among the 3rd parties and independents but a problem arises: They know most people will vote for one of the two major parties, they also know that because of this a vote for the major party they dislike less will create a stronger chance of the other guy losing than a vote for one of the other candidates. It then becomes a balance of "I like some of this person's ideas but there's no way they can win the majority and above all I do not want this [Democrat/Republican] over here in office."
Whether they really wanted to or not almost everyone votes for one of the two major parties because they feel voting for a 3rd party is effectively throwing their vote away. (Which only makes sense to think that way because everyone votes for the two major parties. It's a feedback loop but it's one we seem to be stuck in.)
Yes it is better to have higher security everywhere on the internet, but the onus is not entirely on the owner of websites or the designers of protocols or whatever. To some extent surely the onus is on us to not use hacking tools and to not steal other people's information.
The onus is on the websites and the users, they are the interested parties. Who else is going to ensure that security, who else has a stake in it? Trusting that others will refrain from exploiting a security hole does not mean it is secure. Like it or not you will never get the whole world to act honorably and respect the trust you speak of, therefore to have security it is necessary to ensure the communication methods and protocols used are in fact secure.
Considering the size and cash flow of a company like Facebook it is not at all unreasonable to expect they have a capable security infrastructure in place. Firesheep illustrates a gaping hole in that security.
Your comment reminds me of criminals who always think that their victim deserved to be mugged/burgled somehow.
"Well, what was a seventy year old woman with two walking sticks doing with all that cash in her purse anyway?"
Your analogy doesn't fit. Mugging or robbing someone has a direct harmful effect on them. Using someone's open-access wifi will not harm them unless you specifically do something harmful with that access.
Slashdot Mirror
Next time, use a more sensible example, such as ... bureaucrat
If Torgo's Executive Powder has so many uses I'm sure they could come up with a Political line too.
The way the unlock is handled for the Nexus One is a model that other manufacturers (and HTC themselves as of late) should be following.
Verizon has done this for years (others may have too but going from my own experience here). Even before the smartphone craze they would purposely cripple their phones. One of the flip phones I owned that came from the manufacturer with Java support and the Bluetooth file transfer profile they locked out those among other things. Anything that could possibly allow you to get something they sold in their VCAST store onto the phone with out having to pay them for it got nixed.
Is it really so much to ask for a phone that isn't crippled or hobbled in some way with a contract discount or removing the cost of the built in phone subsidy if I bring my own phone?
Customer service has nothing to do with cable being technologically inferior though. If GP was judging the ISPs then taking customer service into account makes perfect sense but they were only comparing the technological merits of a coax cable connection vs a fiber to the home connection.
Why get two 5770's when Newegg has the 5870 for just under $270 right now?
But be careful, if you play with it too much you'll go blind!
What did the space bar do to make you hate it so?
I'm no fan of Java but I still agree with you. Plenty of things have been coded in Java which could be considered "something of value", whether you like or hate the language that does not invalidate the work that has been done in it.
It shouldn't be necessary for the community to patch problems in a game though. Obviously little things can sometimes slip through no matter how well it was tested but when you have multiple issues that have to be fixed by the community that shows poor quality control on the part of the developer. I would also expect the developer to have patches available for the issues before the community has to take it upon themselves to fix it.
If shooting for ease of recycling is what gets us easily upgradeable laptops then I'm all for it. I'm willing to accept not having the lightest, thinnest design if it allows me the degree of flexibility currently only found in a desktop for hardware components.
I was unaware that preference in software companies determined one's sexual orientation or state of happiness. Technically he is correct, the cost of a Windows license is included in a laptop that ships with Windows installed. When did pointing out facts become a problem?
Curse you for reminding me of that nightmare! I had happily erased all memories of it...
It's actually not Bang but Venti Explosivato. Bang is such a crude expression. (Disclaimer: I speak no Italian and if that actually means something it's not on purpose.)
While the headline is poorly worded there is some context, Slashdot openly admits to being US centric.
My parents compared Netflix's HD streaming on the Xbox 360 side by side with their Time Warner HD channels, in most cases they couldn't tell the difference, in the cases where you could it seemed to be very slight. Remember the cable companies don't exactly provide BluRay quality HD either.
I can't wait for the day my ISP realizes that all I want is a bulk service provider with none of their bullshit. Of course the odds are good that I'll be waiting a looooong time...
On the other hand... The A Team, Twilight, Twilight 2, Transformers, Transformers 2, Gi Joe....
If you're saying that Twilight is not available on Watch Instantly I consider that a plus.
But I just read that everyone except me is an AI so your comments don't need to be insightful. Of course when you read his post you would interpret that I am an AI, so assuming he was stating the truth the only logical conclusion is that we are all AI's and thus the entire site is pointless!
I agree with you but I'm not holding my breath till it happens (I like living).
I think it depends where they're doing this and how they respond. If they're posing as a normal user and astroturfing then I find it annoying. The good ones respond where it makes sense and clearly indicate they are from the company. For example, on Newegg you'll often see certain brands where a reviewer mentions problems with the product and there is a clearly indicated manufacturer response offering help with the issue (or sometimes straight up offering a replacement) and contact information. Patriot Memory tends to use this a lot.
Well one would hope that if large numbers of companies started doing this the people would realize there's a problem with the way things are working and demand the laws be changed so that those lawsuits would be useless.
Mine didn't even look at my ID although I had it out and ready to hand to them. The actual voting process was very disappointing and somewhat disheartening to be honest.
There is choice- the voters could have voted for someone else (e.g Nader) but less than 2% ever do so. So either the Two Parties are better choices than the rest, or the voters are idiots.
There is another possibility here. Voters don't like either choice from the two parties, but if asked will tell you they absolutely would rather have one of them than have to deal with the other. They may see a viable option among the 3rd parties and independents but a problem arises: They know most people will vote for one of the two major parties, they also know that because of this a vote for the major party they dislike less will create a stronger chance of the other guy losing than a vote for one of the other candidates. It then becomes a balance of "I like some of this person's ideas but there's no way they can win the majority and above all I do not want this [Democrat/Republican] over here in office."
Whether they really wanted to or not almost everyone votes for one of the two major parties because they feel voting for a 3rd party is effectively throwing their vote away. (Which only makes sense to think that way because everyone votes for the two major parties. It's a feedback loop but it's one we seem to be stuck in.)
Yes it is better to have higher security everywhere on the internet, but the onus is not entirely on the owner of websites or the designers of protocols or whatever. To some extent surely the onus is on us to not use hacking tools and to not steal other people's information.
The onus is on the websites and the users, they are the interested parties. Who else is going to ensure that security, who else has a stake in it? Trusting that others will refrain from exploiting a security hole does not mean it is secure. Like it or not you will never get the whole world to act honorably and respect the trust you speak of, therefore to have security it is necessary to ensure the communication methods and protocols used are in fact secure.
Considering the size and cash flow of a company like Facebook it is not at all unreasonable to expect they have a capable security infrastructure in place. Firesheep illustrates a gaping hole in that security.
An invitation is voluntary, genius.
Your comment reminds me of criminals who always think that their victim deserved to be mugged/burgled somehow.
"Well, what was a seventy year old woman with two walking sticks doing with all that cash in her purse anyway?"
Your analogy doesn't fit. Mugging or robbing someone has a direct harmful effect on them. Using someone's open-access wifi will not harm them unless you specifically do something harmful with that access.