All that you would need to do is change it to a font that wasn't extended to support full Unicode. Of course, I have no idea how to get fonts onto a smartphone.
(Just to put things in context -- I finally retired my Pre3 in February. I was using a Pre or Pre3 since the day after the Pre was released)
I blame the absolutely crap commercials for the fall of Palm. WTF were they thinking? It had multitasking! And copy & paste! And it actually showed you real websites rather than some stripped down 'mobile' version that were absolutely crap at the time. Why did they show some albino woman instead?
And when it didn't go so well, they sold themselves to HP. And HP screwed things up more -- not releasing the Pre3 in the US, but more importantly, that switch from Google Maps to Bing Maps. And then not maintaining the services, so I finally had to ditch the Pre3 when websites just started going blank on me. (I think it was related to expired root certificates, as we hadn't had updates in years). And no Unicode updates meant that I just saw rectangles when people sent emoji, but I could deal with that. (although GChat or one of the others would end up as nothing but rectangles)
And yes, swapping 'exclusive' providers was a pretty dumb move, too. Likely made by the same person (or group) who approved the commercials. Exclusivity itself wasn't that bad of a move -- fewer customers at the release is good when you're dealing w/ a new OS that might need some tweaks.
I think what I miss the most are the notifications -- iOS insists on telling me EVERYTHING. WebOS would tell me how many text messages I had gotten, and what the last one was. Same with mail. I didn't have 50+ alerts popping up every hour as each and every mail message went by.
(and is there some way to have it just give me the subject line? I tried reducing how many lines of text it showed me, and instead of it taking up less screen space, it now just says 'mail message' or some crap like that.)
I *might* switch if it has a physical keyboard on it. (being able to actually read text messages while writing responses, as the keyboard doesn't eat 2/5ths of the screen). And if they go back to the old notifications. A wireless charger + the dock screen behavior would clinch it. Even better if it can be as durable as the old one (sure, the plastic might break, but that thing survived dozens of falls onto concrete and asphalt, and a trip through my recliner before it finally cracked the screen... without needing some case on it)
Not the ones that you tuck into your pants like you see being pushed for travelers -- you can get money belts that are legitimate belts, with a zipper on the back side. Search for 'leather money belt', and you should find lots.
But as I've gone through quite a few through the years, some tips:
Don't buy the 'cut it down to size yourself' ones. They're a PITA to get everything right, and I've had one rip free on me when I tightened it down too much
You want the pull to be on the buckle side when closed. This lets you loosen the belt, pull less than a foot of your belt out, and get to your money. The other side, you have to unbuckle, then pull the side with the holes... and there is no zipper where the holes are, so you're pulling out more belt, so you end up having to reach part way behind you.
Look at the thickness of the belt. Money's going to make it even thicker. I've had some with cloth on the back side, but I like the ones with medium-thick leather on the front and thin leather on the back.
Width of the belt matters -- too wide and it won't work with all pants, but too narrow and you have to fold the bills that much smaller for them to fit in
The longer the zipper, the more bills you can fit. If you double-stack (but I stagger, so it doesn't roll up strangely when I take it off for TSA), you can get between 20 and 30 US bills in them... which is potentially $1000 difference.
Avoid using it. You want to take out as much money as you're likely to need that day, and then keep the rest stashed. If you need to break $100s into smaller bills, hotel (not motel) conceirge desks will often do it (tell 'em it's to leave a tip for housekeeping if they look at you strangely), and grocery stores don't blink at it... especially if they have the 'self-scan' lines. If you run down your wallet too far, find a bathroom to pull some out before you need to do it while at a check-out.
For times when I'm not wearing a money belt, I'll fold some bills up, and put them in my sock. (but up high on the shin, so it's not in an area that's going to get sweaty. If they do get damp, pull from the inside first).
If it's the cops, there might be some safeguards against improper use of the data. There might even be rules about how long until it has to be purged.... if the contractor is allowed to record every time they see a license plate, they could sell it to anyone who was interested in it. Repo men, PIs, stalkers, etc. Going through a divorce? Good news, your spouse's lawyer can get a map of every place you've been in the state for the last 5 years (or whatever their retention is).
But well, the obvious answer is -- this one's only for rich people, and it helps to make his family rich.
The other one's for smart people, and they're probably 'elitist', and realize the emperor has no clothes. (but not like they'd be allowed to vote, as this has no direct path to that... whereas I'm pretty sure the EB-5 does)
Your selection stayed until you closed the application.
So say for instance that you started up Safari, and something tries to get your location. It will ask you if that's acceptable. If you say no, it rejects Safari from getting your location until you close Safari and re-open it.
This also meant that you didn't have applications complaining that you go to the 'Settings' app and find the application in the list, and give it permission to get your location -- it just prompted you the first time you used it (and you could tell it to give permission, deny, or only for this session). You didn't have to keep going into the 'Settings' app and allow that app, then remember to go back in afterwards to revoke the permission.
Of course, WebOS also had a concept of 'cards' not just apps... so each card (equiv. of a tab) in the web browser could be closed independently, so you didn't have to close down the full thing just to reset permissions.
(and they had multitasking, copy & paste, and other features before iOS... which they NEVER MENTIONED in those stupid albino ads. Apple's mail app can't even open two messages at once when you need to refer back to other messages when replying)
In iOS, if enter Safari & open a web page, then another one, then you click the 'share' icon, you have to use different methods to go back for each step
To exit the sharing, it's a 'cancel' button at the bottom of the screen. To close a given web page, it's click the 'tabs' icon, then the 'x' in the upper left corner of the tab in question. To exit the app, you click the 'home' button.
In WebOS, you just kept swiping left. (although, that would also go 'back' in navigation). If you wanted to quickly go back, you tap the gesture area, and then you see a stack of cards that you swipe up to throw away. (one for each 'tab' that was open).
You didn't have to go searching through the screen trying to figure out how to get out of a preferences screen for each given application. (if they even have one, and you don't have to go through the 'settings' app to configure it).
There was an option that you could select so that when an app tried to get your location, it would ask you if it was okay. And it'd stick until you closed it.
Once you opened the app again, the next call to get your location would trigger the prompt again.
Unfortunately, after HP bought them out, they then decided to scrap Google Maps (which was part of the advertising when I bought it) for the f'n useless Bing Maps. And somehow, their hack job resulted in every time that maps got called up, it insisted that I had to download Bing Maps, so I'd have to wait 10-15 minutes for their crappy interface. (search for 'gas station'... and it would give you some place with 'station' in the name in China)
I still blame Palm for the HP buyout -- WTF were they thinking with those commercials? But the OS was way ahead of its time.
I wouldn't be surprised if auto insurance companies start putting in exceptions for that one, just like the 'act of god' clauses in home owners insurance.
I read an article recently that said there are a few people who make a living wage out there just entering competition... it's work, but it's work where you can pick and choose what you want to take a stab at, and don't have to deal with people telling you how to do your job & changing requirements as the project drags on.... but you have to be good at it, or you don't get paid for anything.
And I know that people have worked CUDA support into IDL (Interactive Data Language), and IDL reminds me a hell of a lot like Fortran w/ matrix support.
(and note -- FORTAN was all upercase through FORTRAN 77... I think it went to 'Fortran' in Fortran 90.)
I've been arguing for years that if telecommunications companies take public money for expanding infrastructure, they need to be designated as common carriers.
in the 1990s, back when it was Bell Atlantic (before Bell Atlantic-NYNEX, before Verizon) got public money to build out infrastructure in the general I-95 corridor. They then didn't do it for YEARS.
We need to go back to the old ISP days -- line (physical connection) was separate from port (data to the internet), and the ILECs (incumbent local exchange carriers... ie, phone companies) were required to publish tariff rates at which people could buy dedicated lines from them.... and I believe common carriers, they're not sell information on their users other than basic directory to third parties.
They've had the ability to have multiple apps open at once, and to copy & paste between them for some time now.
The change to 'push home button to unlock' is relatively recent, and the switch to a lack of button had been done 5+ years ago on the Pre3. (might have been on the Pre2 as well, I only had the Pre & Pre3). And they finally get wireless charging, which was an upgrade for the Pre (released in 2009).
The UI became more WebOS-like, switching to cards that you can sort through rather than the strip of icons at the bottom of the screen. (although it's still one card per app, not one stack of cards per app, with related windows stacked together, even if it's the MS Word reader and the web browser stacked w/ mail, as that's how you opened those windows).
Now they just need to make the notifications less crappy. An alarm that you can shut off by grabbing for you phone while half asleep? Who's stupid idea was that?.... and I'm wishing I had held out for the blackberry. Finally made the cutover to iPhone this weekend, after trying to get used to it for a few months while the Pre3 was my main phone.
I admit, I've mostly done it for speed purposes, but my understanding is that the record limit is per partition, so you could also use it to deal with record limits.
They could either partition based on user IDs (might be faster to select by for the bulk of the queries), or by date (making it easier to manage autonumber fields).
Give me a WebOS phone with a real keyboard, and I'll be happy to wait in line all night for it.
(I don't even care about the lack of third party apps. Well, except for the crap HP pulled when they hobbled the Google Maps app, and replaced it with Bing Maps.)
My theory on Qwikster was that Netflix signed something w/ the movie publishers saying that they had to pay an amount based on how many Netflix customers there were... and so they tried to make it so millions of people no longer qualified as 'Netflix customers'.
If Netflix had come out and said 'yes, the name's stupid, but we're doing this to say FU to the movie industry', people would've loved them. (but they would've shot themselves in the foot for whenever they had to renew those contracts)
Specifically they like the space weather data from STEREO, which comes down highly compressed on 30m dishes, rather than the larger Deep Space Network dishes. (70m?).
They keep insisting that image artifacts are evidence of space ships larger than earth that travel million of miles an hour. This of course assumes that what's being seen in the images are 1 AU away, and not simply particles that are inches away from the telescope (or even hitting the detector directly)
(I was designated 'Emergency On-Call' in the last government shutdown, because I manage services for distributing data that's used for space weather forecasting... including STEREO)
I remember messing w/ SuperCard when it first came out. (if I remember correctly, it was like Hypercard, but with support for color).
Based on the wikipedia page on it, they added MacOS X support in 2002, and it now runs natively on Intel macs.
There's also a note that there's a windows runtime for it. (but not an editor).
Of course, the basic version is $179, and the one w/ extra stuff is $279... but if you have any HyperCard materials lying about (box, manual, install disk, etc.), they'll knock it down to $129/$199.
And it looks like you can grab the beta or 30 day demo to try it out.
The only thing that I can't figure out is how you get people the player -- do you have to distribute it w/ your stack, or is there somewhere people can download it from once and be done w/ it?
I'm guessing that they've read the BOFH, but realized that there's much more reporting on solar-induced radiation... so just decided to go with 'galactic' instead..... completely forgetting that if this were the case, it would happen more frequently at high latitudes, due to the magnetosphere. And we'd also see a higher incidence rate after solar x-ray flares and solar particle events.
(and the disclaimer: I work for the Solar Data Analysis Center, but I'm not a scientist, and don't speak for my place of work, etc, blah blah blah)
Now, it's possible that this technique manages to kill every rat in the colony, so they don't scatter... but as rats that weren't in the burrow would realize that something is up when they come back, this could be a problem.
I'd think they'd want to use carbon monoxide, not dioxide, at the very least... assuming that rats have the same problems w/ humans in detecting it.
OR bagels! OR bagels! We don't LIKE bagels around here! We want no bagels, no toast, no teacakes, no buns, baps, or baguettes, no croissants, no crumpets, no muffins, no pancakes, no potato cakes and no hot-cross buns and *definitely* no smegging flapjacks!
From what I've read, this is a net wash for Apple, because they get to reduce their US taxes by the amount they pay in foreign taxes.... but foreign taxes would be paid out of foreign money... whereas the US tax refund would be in US money.
Therefore, Apple would get $14B or so re-patriated, without having to pay US taxes for doing so.
Currently, Apple has a huge cash reserve, but it's not in US money... so they take loans against it, rather than repatriate it (and pay 35% on it, minus the taxes that have already been paid on it)
Actually, they were following instructions. There were a few articles shortly after the incident that said that LANL had updated their procedures documentation, and somehow the LANL documentation specified 'organic' instead of 'inorganic':
A typographical error in a revision to a LANL policy manual for repackaging waste led to a wholesale shift from clay litter to the wheat-based variety.
The revision, approved by LANL, took effect Aug. 1, 2012, mere days after the governor's celebratory visit to Los Alamos, and explicitly directed waste packagers at the lab to "ENSURE an organic absorbent (kitty litter) is added to the waste" when packaging drums of nitrate salt.
"Does it seem strange that the procedure was revised to specifically require organic kitty litter to process nitrate salt drums?" Freeman, Nuclear Waste Partnership's chief nuclear engineer at WIPP, asked a colleague in a May 28 email.
Freeman went on to echo some of the possible reasons for the change bandied about in earlier emails, such as the off-putting dust or perfumed scents characteristic of clay litter. But his colleague, Mark Pearcy, a member of the team that reviews waste to ensure it is acceptable to be stored at WIPP, offered a surprising explanation.
"General consensus is that the 'organic' designation was a typo that wasn't caught," he wrote, implying that the directions should have called for inorganic litter.
Officials at LANL declined to comment about whether a typographical error led to the switch to organic kitty litter.
I don't know what they're planning, but subsidizing to ensure the availability of taxis is likely enough.
In many areas (I don't know about Massachusetts), taxis aren't legally allowed to refuse fares, while there's no such restriction on Uber and similar companies. So when your flight doesn't get in 'til 2am and you live in a slightly sketchier neighborhood, but none of the Uber drivers are willing to take you there, the taxis need to still be available.
(I've even had trouble w/ getting the SuperShuttle to take me home from the airport -- they're perfectly willing to pick me up at 6am to go to BWI... but for some reason, reluctant to take me home from National at 1am)
Of course, there are likely still problems in many areas with taxi drivers passing by people of color who are trying to flag them down... but we need to make sure that taxis who do that get reported.
Slashdot Mirror
All that you would need to do is change it to a font that wasn't extended to support full Unicode. Of course, I have no idea how to get fonts onto a smartphone.
(Just to put things in context -- I finally retired my Pre3 in February. I was using a Pre or Pre3 since the day after the Pre was released)
I blame the absolutely crap commercials for the fall of Palm. WTF were they thinking? It had multitasking! And copy & paste! And it actually showed you real websites rather than some stripped down 'mobile' version that were absolutely crap at the time. Why did they show some albino woman instead?
And when it didn't go so well, they sold themselves to HP. And HP screwed things up more -- not releasing the Pre3 in the US, but more importantly, that switch from Google Maps to Bing Maps. And then not maintaining the services, so I finally had to ditch the Pre3 when websites just started going blank on me. (I think it was related to expired root certificates, as we hadn't had updates in years). And no Unicode updates meant that I just saw rectangles when people sent emoji, but I could deal with that. (although GChat or one of the others would end up as nothing but rectangles)
And yes, swapping 'exclusive' providers was a pretty dumb move, too. Likely made by the same person (or group) who approved the commercials. Exclusivity itself wasn't that bad of a move -- fewer customers at the release is good when you're dealing w/ a new OS that might need some tweaks.
I think what I miss the most are the notifications -- iOS insists on telling me EVERYTHING. WebOS would tell me how many text messages I had gotten, and what the last one was. Same with mail. I didn't have 50+ alerts popping up every hour as each and every mail message went by.
(and is there some way to have it just give me the subject line? I tried reducing how many lines of text it showed me, and instead of it taking up less screen space, it now just says 'mail message' or some crap like that.)
I *might* switch if it has a physical keyboard on it. (being able to actually read text messages while writing responses, as the keyboard doesn't eat 2/5ths of the screen). And if they go back to the old notifications. A wireless charger + the dock screen behavior would clinch it. Even better if it can be as durable as the old one (sure, the plastic might break, but that thing survived dozens of falls onto concrete and asphalt, and a trip through my recliner before it finally cracked the screen ... without needing some case on it)
Not the ones that you tuck into your pants like you see being pushed for travelers -- you can get money belts that are legitimate belts, with a zipper on the back side. Search for 'leather money belt', and you should find lots.
But as I've gone through quite a few through the years, some tips:
For times when I'm not wearing a money belt, I'll fold some bills up, and put them in my sock. (but up high on the shin, so it's not in an area that's going to get sweaty. If they do get damp, pull from the inside first).
If it's the cops, there might be some safeguards against improper use of the data. There might even be rules about how long until it has to be purged. ... if the contractor is allowed to record every time they see a license plate, they could sell it to anyone who was interested in it. Repo men, PIs, stalkers, etc. Going through a divorce? Good news, your spouse's lawyer can get a map of every place you've been in the state for the last 5 years (or whatever their retention is).
That's what I thought of immediately as well.
But well, the obvious answer is -- this one's only for rich people, and it helps to make his family rich.
The other one's for smart people, and they're probably 'elitist', and realize the emperor has no clothes. (but not like they'd be allowed to vote, as this has no direct path to that ... whereas I'm pretty sure the EB-5 does)
Your selection stayed until you closed the application.
So say for instance that you started up Safari, and something tries to get your location. It will ask you if that's acceptable. If you say no, it rejects Safari from getting your location until you close Safari and re-open it.
This also meant that you didn't have applications complaining that you go to the 'Settings' app and find the application in the list, and give it permission to get your location -- it just prompted you the first time you used it (and you could tell it to give permission, deny, or only for this session). You didn't have to keep going into the 'Settings' app and allow that app, then remember to go back in afterwards to revoke the permission.
Of course, WebOS also had a concept of 'cards' not just apps ... so each card (equiv. of a tab) in the web browser could be closed independently, so you didn't have to close down the full thing just to reset permissions.
(and they had multitasking, copy & paste, and other features before iOS ... which they NEVER MENTIONED in those stupid albino ads. Apple's mail app can't even open two messages at once when you need to refer back to other messages when replying)
I miss WebOS's swipe left.
In iOS, if enter Safari & open a web page, then another one, then you click the 'share' icon, you have to use different methods to go back for each step
To exit the sharing, it's a 'cancel' button at the bottom of the screen. To close a given web page, it's click the 'tabs' icon, then the 'x' in the upper left corner of the tab in question. To exit the app, you click the 'home' button.
In WebOS, you just kept swiping left. (although, that would also go 'back' in navigation). If you wanted to quickly go back, you tap the gesture area, and then you see a stack of cards that you swipe up to throw away. (one for each 'tab' that was open).
You didn't have to go searching through the screen trying to figure out how to get out of a preferences screen for each given application. (if they even have one, and you don't have to go through the 'settings' app to configure it).
There was an option that you could select so that when an app tried to get your location, it would ask you if it was okay. And it'd stick until you closed it.
Once you opened the app again, the next call to get your location would trigger the prompt again.
Unfortunately, after HP bought them out, they then decided to scrap Google Maps (which was part of the advertising when I bought it) for the f'n useless Bing Maps. And somehow, their hack job resulted in every time that maps got called up, it insisted that I had to download Bing Maps, so I'd have to wait 10-15 minutes for their crappy interface. (search for 'gas station' ... and it would give you some place with 'station' in the name in China)
I still blame Palm for the HP buyout -- WTF were they thinking with those commercials? But the OS was way ahead of its time.
This might go well ... until the next solar storm comes that emits enough radio noise for cars to lose GPS satellite lock:
http://gpsworld.com/defensenew...
I wouldn't be surprised if auto insurance companies start putting in exceptions for that one, just like the 'act of god' clauses in home owners insurance.
I read an article recently that said there are a few people who make a living wage out there just entering competition ... it's work, but it's work where you can pick and choose what you want to take a stab at, and don't have to deal with people telling you how to do your job & changing requirements as the project drags on. ... but you have to be good at it, or you don't get paid for anything.
And I know that people have worked CUDA support into IDL (Interactive Data Language), and IDL reminds me a hell of a lot like Fortran w/ matrix support.
(and note -- FORTAN was all upercase through FORTRAN 77 ... I think it went to 'Fortran' in Fortran 90.)
I've been arguing for years that if telecommunications companies take public money for expanding infrastructure, they need to be designated as common carriers.
in the 1990s, back when it was Bell Atlantic (before Bell Atlantic-NYNEX, before Verizon) got public money to build out infrastructure in the general I-95 corridor. They then didn't do it for YEARS.
We need to go back to the old ISP days -- line (physical connection) was separate from port (data to the internet), and the ILECs (incumbent local exchange carriers ... ie, phone companies) were required to publish tariff rates at which people could buy dedicated lines from them. ... and I believe common carriers, they're not sell information on their users other than basic directory to third parties.
They've had the ability to have multiple apps open at once, and to copy & paste between them for some time now.
The change to 'push home button to unlock' is relatively recent, and the switch to a lack of button had been done 5+ years ago on the Pre3. (might have been on the Pre2 as well, I only had the Pre & Pre3). And they finally get wireless charging, which was an upgrade for the Pre (released in 2009).
The UI became more WebOS-like, switching to cards that you can sort through rather than the strip of icons at the bottom of the screen. (although it's still one card per app, not one stack of cards per app, with related windows stacked together, even if it's the MS Word reader and the web browser stacked w/ mail, as that's how you opened those windows).
Now they just need to make the notifications less crappy. An alarm that you can shut off by grabbing for you phone while half asleep? Who's stupid idea was that? .... and I'm wishing I had held out for the blackberry. Finally made the cutover to iPhone this weekend, after trying to get used to it for a few months while the Pre3 was my main phone.
How long does it take to get the pitch right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
I admit, I've mostly done it for speed purposes, but my understanding is that the record limit is per partition, so you could also use it to deal with record limits.
They could either partition based on user IDs (might be faster to select by for the bulk of the queries), or by date (making it easier to manage autonumber fields).
It's a crowded market.
Give me a WebOS phone with a real keyboard, and I'll be happy to wait in line all night for it.
(I don't even care about the lack of third party apps. Well, except for the crap HP pulled when they hobbled the Google Maps app, and replaced it with Bing Maps.)
My theory on Qwikster was that Netflix signed something w/ the movie publishers saying that they had to pay an amount based on how many Netflix customers there were ... and so they tried to make it so millions of people no longer qualified as 'Netflix customers'.
If Netflix had come out and said 'yes, the name's stupid, but we're doing this to say FU to the movie industry', people would've loved them. (but they would've shot themselves in the foot for whenever they had to renew those contracts)
Specifically they like the space weather data from STEREO, which comes down highly compressed on 30m dishes, rather than the larger Deep Space Network dishes. (70m?).
They keep insisting that image artifacts are evidence of space ships larger than earth that travel million of miles an hour. This of course assumes that what's being seen in the images are 1 AU away, and not simply particles that are inches away from the telescope (or even hitting the detector directly)
(I was designated 'Emergency On-Call' in the last government shutdown, because I manage services for distributing data that's used for space weather forecasting ... including STEREO)
I remember messing w/ SuperCard when it first came out. (if I remember correctly, it was like Hypercard, but with support for color).
Based on the wikipedia page on it, they added MacOS X support in 2002, and it now runs natively on Intel macs.
There's also a note that there's a windows runtime for it. (but not an editor).
Of course, the basic version is $179, and the one w/ extra stuff is $279 ... but if you have any HyperCard materials lying about (box, manual, install disk, etc.), they'll knock it down to $129/$199.
And it looks like you can grab the beta or 30 day demo to try it out.
The only thing that I can't figure out is how you get people the player -- do you have to distribute it w/ your stack, or is there somewhere people can download it from once and be done w/ it?
I'm guessing that they've read the BOFH, but realized that there's much more reporting on solar-induced radiation ... so just decided to go with 'galactic' instead. .... completely forgetting that if this were the case, it would happen more frequently at high latitudes, due to the magnetosphere. And we'd also see a higher incidence rate after solar x-ray flares and solar particle events.
(and the disclaimer: I work for the Solar Data Analysis Center, but I'm not a scientist, and don't speak for my place of work, etc, blah blah blah)
... like how killing city rats may cause diseases to spread faster:
http://nautil.us/issue/38/nois...
Now, it's possible that this technique manages to kill every rat in the colony, so they don't scatter ... but as rats that weren't in the burrow would realize that something is up when they come back, this could be a problem.
I'd think they'd want to use carbon monoxide, not dioxide, at the very least ... assuming that rats have the same problems w/ humans in detecting it.
OR bagels! OR bagels! We don't LIKE bagels around here! We want no bagels, no toast, no teacakes, no buns, baps, or baguettes, no croissants, no crumpets, no muffins, no pancakes, no potato cakes and no hot-cross buns and *definitely* no smegging flapjacks!
Look, *I* don't want any toast, and *he* doesn't want any toast. In fact, no one around here wants any toast. Not now, not ever. NO TOAST.
From what I've read, this is a net wash for Apple, because they get to reduce their US taxes by the amount they pay in foreign taxes. ... but foreign taxes would be paid out of foreign money ... whereas the US tax refund would be in US money.
Therefore, Apple would get $14B or so re-patriated, without having to pay US taxes for doing so.
Currently, Apple has a huge cash reserve, but it's not in US money ... so they take loans against it, rather than repatriate it (and pay 35% on it, minus the taxes that have already been paid on it)
Actually, they were following instructions. There were a few articles shortly after the incident that said that LANL had updated their procedures documentation, and somehow the LANL documentation specified 'organic' instead of 'inorganic':
From http://www.santafenewmexican.c...
I don't know what they're planning, but subsidizing to ensure the availability of taxis is likely enough.
In many areas (I don't know about Massachusetts), taxis aren't legally allowed to refuse fares, while there's no such restriction on Uber and similar companies. So when your flight doesn't get in 'til 2am and you live in a slightly sketchier neighborhood, but none of the Uber drivers are willing to take you there, the taxis need to still be available.
(I've even had trouble w/ getting the SuperShuttle to take me home from the airport -- they're perfectly willing to pick me up at 6am to go to BWI ... but for some reason, reluctant to take me home from National at 1am)
Of course, there are likely still problems in many areas with taxi drivers passing by people of color who are trying to flag them down ... but we need to make sure that taxis who do that get reported.