Every ballot creates a new Bitcoin address (polling locations keep track of the generated ballot addresses) with a negligible fraction of bitcoins.. Every vote sends a tiny fraction of bitcoin to whatever addresses are represented by candidates. Only transactions from ballot-list addresses are counted. Candidates with the highest amount of bitcoins in their voting addresses from verified ballots win. Any screwups or attempts at fucking with the votes could be seen on the blockchain.
There's probably 1000 different ways voting can be done anonymously while still being verifiable using the blockchain. Don't ask me to solve all the problems - but they are solvable.
I believe the whole point of the 'closed source' ballot bullshit we have now is the same reason we have a ridiculously bloated war on terror. The real purpose is to concentrate power in the hands of the few. They make us believe our votes are counted.. but they haven't been counted right in years.
One day, scientists are going to play the wrong frequency and it is going to re-arrange all our brains.. then.. zombie apocalypse..
However, that can be circumvented if the scientists at one of those large colliders create the wrong matter that turns us all into zombies and starts a different zombie apocalypse..
I had a better story.. but it's Halloween.. go out of your house and look at the women that dress sexy. Happy Halloween!
That kind of argument can go both ways. When one single power line goes out, whole neighborhoods go without power. If the average household had a solar array with a Tesla (or other battery powered car plugged in), it could keep on running whether or not there were major interruptions in the power grid.
Your analogy of lighting a stadium with a bunch of shitty Christmas Tree bulbs makes no sense here.. especially if the stadium was covered in solar panels with a battery storage unit.
You're basically trying to argue that a centralized power grid is better than a decentralized power grid.. It certainly isn't going that direction in computing (depending on how you view the cloud).
Both IBM and Oracle are introducing the latest and greatest in truly non-migratable legacy software. IBM and Oracle are both neck and neck in developing the largest locked-in IT budget footprint and most proprietary upgrade path. We'll see who wins this eventually - but right now, it's nice to see that the cost per user has never been higher. It's an exciting time to be in the last best thing!
I agree with that sentiment. As far as business laptops go, Thinkpad went from the best laptop you could possibly buy (especially their 'p' models) to a sub-average brand that gets beat by both Dell and HP. Of course, Lenovo, Dell, and HP all make shitty consumer versions in their race to the bottom. Now, Mac has the clear premium laptop crown and it does not look like anyone is close to catching up.
It sucks to see a company buy a brand and to know their full intention is to ride that brand into a lower quality venue. There is no fucking way Lenovo plans on buying the IBM server brand and increasing the quality.
This.. Amending the Constitution means they are abiding by it and admitting it is authoritative. Without amending it, it means they are attempting to subvert it.
The fact that the federal, state, and local governments are going out of their way to create all sorts of circumstances where the Bill of Rights are ignored shows that there is a widespread attempt at completely removing the Constitutional framework. Peoples' rights are only violated when those rights are needed most.
My initial impression of articles like this are to make readers feel good about being effeminate out-of-shape doughboys that comply with authority and never think about the obvious inconsistencies and corruptions of society. It's just like the 'food pyramid' that says people should eat a diet rich in stuff that makes you fat (carbohydrates) while de-emphasizing the importance of proteins (expensive, scarce relatively).
Let's go ahead and blame the hormone that makes men muscular and strong and act like docility is a positive trait. If you've ever been in a room full of powerful people - men and women - there is a hell of a lot of energy flowing around and you can feel it. I bet commanding women like Hillary Clinton have more testosterone flowing than most men.
There is nothing to be proud about physical or mental weakness. Weakness is a choice - just like cooperation. It is an error in reasoning to blame testosterone as a hinderance to civilization - correlation does not imply causation.
The big manufacturers are all too busy competing with Apple to actually notice there might be a market for something else.. For example, I want a Motorola Razr running Android. I don't care if it's slower, worse resolution, smaller screen than todays' big fat candy bar phones. I'm a guy and I don't carry a bag. The phone has got to fit in my pocket.
In typical Microsoft "All heads in our asses" fashion, they release Windows 8 with two completely separate UI's.. One doesn't work at all for desktop.. and the other barely works for desktop. Hell.. opening a PDF in Windows 8 is still a goddamn nightmare.
Now that they're unifying Windows, we know exactly what the customer wants: 1. UI separate from kernel (vector graphic UI for desktops, 2d UI for battery-powered devices) 2. Ability to customize installation (ie.. Windows embedded version, Windows business edition, Windows uber Gamer edition, Windows "I install Weatherbug and other stupid applications" edition, Windows "Gimme the shitty Widnows 8 UI" edition) 3. Ability to control data usage (ie.. Windows "I'm being charged for the amount of data because AT&T and Verizon are shitty companies edition")
What will we get: 1. METRO 80's colors EDITION 2. Cannot multitask edition 3. Super fucking bloated edition 4. We changed shit because we wanted to change shit and good fucking luck finding it edition 5. We give you errors if you're not connected to the Internet edition 6. We update your computer when you're trying to turn it off and take it with you edition
Bleh.. this was a minimal effort bitch session.. Microsoft already knows they suck and we only buy Windows because it's pretty much forced on us
Throw $50 at it and see if you get 'taken to the cleaners'. Of course, I would not recommend betting your house on Bitcoin. It IS a speculative investment - but I would hardly say it is a speculative bubble.
Also, as most Bitcoin advocates, I would not recommend storing any sizable amount of Bitcoins in anything other than encrypted wallets you control directly.
That 'small percent' of online vendors is growing about the same percentage rate as Google and Facebook when they first started. Your incredulous attitude will only prevent you from getting into Bitcoin and realizing the benefits before it becomes ubiquitous.
Bitcoin started as an experiment.. Now you can buy anything on Overstock, Tiger Direct, Newegg, Cheapair.com, and Expedia with Bitcoin. You can also pay your Dish Network bill with Bitcoin. There is an organic infrastructure growing around Bitcoin - US government regulations, payment innovations, website integrations - and that infrastructure is increasing momentum.
Of course it's not ubiquitous yet.. But god damn, your questions are meant to criticize Bitcoin - but they are awfully dimwitted. First, maybe 10 years ago it was seen as limiting market exposure if users needed to own a smartphone. But, there isn't a company left that worries about being out of the huge capital markets of 'users without smartphones' except maybe Walmart.
And, 'how will you buy gas and food with that?'.. Good question there. Wow.. You found one huge flaw in Bitcoin. It's impossible to buy gas or food with Bitcoin.
I am so sick of seeing this damn argument.. The bottom line is Verizon is slowing down and dropping packets that go to specific areas. It does not matter how they do it or what they are saying to justify it. It is intentional and they are lying when they're saying it's not. The fix, for a network provider, is simple and low cost - and it should be part of maintaining the network.
Verizon wants more money to fix their own network problems that they created intentionally because it allows them to extort money from their competition. Also, Verizon is lobbying to further legalize what they are doing since it is a fairly grey area right now. So.. they are both lobbying for the right to slow down competitor traffic and they are claiming that the existing slow-downs in competitor traffic are a 'technical issue' that is not their fault when they are in full control of the means to fix the technical issue.
I have Fios and I called about Netflix and Youtube issues. The customer service rep actually told me I should use Redbox Instant instead. I ended up saving the chat log because I was so incensed. I paid for the packets of data I request on the Internet. Verizon is trying to charge twice for those very same packets. The only reason I have Verizon is because it's one of two horrible choices I have for Internet access.
Further, I went ahead and flashed an old wireless access point to DD-WRT and set up an account with hidemyass.com (VPN provider) to see if that helped Netflix and Youtube. Sure enough, it did. Netflix was in HD every time after that and Youtube almost never had a hiccup or buffering issue in the middle of the video - as long as the traffic through the device was going to the VPN.
Netflix, please keep talking trash. Verizon, please go to hell.
I do industrial automation programming for a living. Usually I am just troubleshooting if I am in a weird area - but sometimes I have to write a whole new routine in an area that you'd never expect a guy with a laptop.
For example, I worked on an energy savings project on the Queen Victoria. I was in the engine room next to the noisy diesel generators while we were at sail for a lot of the time. I just put in my custom ear buds (blocks most of the sound) and over-the-ear muffs and I was in my own little world listening to music while banging away at my laptop and sweating bullets since the warmer I made it in the room, the more energy we saved. The crewmen had no clue I was the reason it was now 5 degC warmer in there than normal and it's usually already warm.
Also, while on the Ventura, we had ridiculously rough weather off the coast of Portugal for a whole day - the day I realized the specs I received and what was installed were very different. So, I spent the day in my crew cabin, somewhat sea sick, rewriting my program.
Right now, I sit in a power plant's MCC room waiting for a server to update. An office is nice - but it gets boring. I like what I do.
Smartphones already have a fucking kill switch - it's up to the networks to provide service. If the networks wanted (or a law required them), they could make it so phones are disabled immediately at the request of the user who OWNS the phone.
The only point to making this a law (and industry standard) is to be able to quell widespread protest.
Some people still try to debate things that are already settled and others look for solutions before everything becomes a problem. Mankind has a huge list of fuckups to fix - but we either continue as is or we continue to try to improve things. Your viewpoint is incredibly pessimistic. Very few people would say life was better 200 years ago than it is today. Let's take that viewpoint and move forward with it.. We need more Star Trek and less Water World.
Either way, we should be investigating options like these.. You're being pessimistic during the initial stages of discussion - so it brings very little to the table.
There is no way to morally or technically side with the ISPs on this one. It is a revenue grab - simple as that. These fucking horrible companies - mainly AT&T and Verizon - have been double and triple charging customers for data on the cell phone side and now they are trying to bring it to the wired side. For example, they charge customers for text messages differently than voice calls. They charge customers for a metered amount of data accessed through their cellphones and then another set of metered charges for accessing via tethering. It's bullshit. It's the same fucking data. It's encapsulated data packets.. Don't forget that the US has some pretty shitty home Internet connection speeds compared to our standing in the world as a 'technology leader.' Don't forget that the ISPs in the US have received hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars over the years to upgrade their networks. Don't forget that these companies are 'entitled' to your own property to run their data lines. Also, don't forget that these ISPs have relatively zero competition. Also, do not forget that these ISPs run competing media providing entities. They would prefer to control your access to content - force you to watch commercials or pay monthly fees for channels - or force you to pay for 10 channels when you only watch one. When these companies are given an inch, they take a mile. I write to my lawmakers telling them we need to look at gutting these companies - breaking them up and separating their media companies from the data providing part. Also, lawmakers need to understand that all data on the Internet is broken into packets. You can always tell who paid for the packets. In this case, AT&T and Verizon are trying to say they want more than the sending and receiving entities to pay for the packets - they want to charge extra for these packets to go in and out of their networks. Once that happens, they will just create more routes and more tolls. I don't believe AT&T or Verizon deserve to exist as they currently do - they are putting the US at a huge disadvantage. Also, their CEOs are awful human beings.
They ARE investors.. The whole point of Kickstarter is for people with a good idea to solicit capital from interested investors. If the original terms of the agreement are not honored, perhaps the original investors can sue for their percentage of ownership of the entire profits of the operation.
AltaVista was merely one search engine in a pool of many.. Yahoo, Hotbot, and Lycos were all around at the time and they did not all fail. Napster only failed because the government/court system took them down. If it weren't for Napster being forced to close up its business, there were no indications that people were leaving it. Napster was a disruption in the industry and major players moved in unison to take it down.
A direct contrast to this comparison is TCP/IP. Since the creating of TCP/IP, there have been numerous (arguably better) protocols. However, the whole Internet runs on TCP/IP and it does not look to be going away any time soon. Like most new technologies, I would guess that the first virtual currency to be widely adopted would be the virtual currency that becomes the standard. Any new currency has a huge uphill battle in trying to become more mainstream than Bitcoin at this point.
Bitcoin is designed so that governments or other entities cannot take it down. The fact that governments, corporations, or single powerful individuals cannot control it is a feature - not a flaw. Gus Hunt, along with every other powerful well-established individual, would naturally be against the adoption of Bitcoin. But, saying to expect it to fail looks more like wishful thinking on their part.
I have a little rant because I hate these little fucking problems like the OP is talking about. That is bullshit. What the fuck is the point of the highlighting feature if you cannot take it off and use it somewhere else? Seriously.. it would be like 4 hours of a Kindle programmers' time to implement that feature. I hate that shit.
Also, fuck the cloud. Every company wants to create their little own proprietary cloud that envisions you being locked into their half-assed limited selection of crap. Microsoft Skydrive.. now I'm stuck with only using Microsoft. Everyone else is the same. Where the fuck is my cloud that works on any device and lets me store any document there. Maybe dropbox is the best so far.. but something tells me I cannot store my Kindle books, Nook books, Itunes, or any other media on that cloud. It's my fucking media.. Let me store it wherever the fuck I want on whatever the fuck device I want to store it on. Maybe the new Kindle sucks and some other company makes a better implementation. Let me move my shit there.
Also, why the fuck can't all my devices just report back to a shared drive on my computer. Why can't I just have a 'pdb' (personal database) file that is constantly updating with any device I own. Let it encrypt the parts that need encryption. Let the interface pop up with a list of checkmarks and I (the GODDAMN USER THAT IS BUYING THIS CRAP) decide what I want my device to be able to access, copy, and modify out of my personal database. Seriously.. the idea that it's not just built-in to store files to a share drive on every new tablet and cell phone is as frustrating as watching someone try to be productive on Windows 8.
This ones for Android.. let me tell the fucking device when to update! I don't want it updating my apps when I picked it up to quickly read a pdf. I don't need it trying to use my internet connection when I'm at some fucking remote site 3rd world country with barely any cell phone coverage deciding it needs to update some bloated app I never use.
This one is for Windows.. updating when I want to turn off my laptop and telling me not to turn it off is retarded. Whoever decided that is the time to update should be slammed on the pavement like how Hulk smashed Loki.
I have a lot more to rant about.. but I am going to take a vacation away from technology for the next few hours.
I cannot believe people think we're innovating at this time.. We're taking 3 steps forward and 12 steps back. Fuck you, Kindle, for reminding me of this non-interchangeable mess that we call the technology world. Shit should work together. If we had a PDB that was universal (and with compatibility layers for all the proprietary shit - APPLE), then maybe the consumer wouldn't think it was such a pain in the ass to move to a new device.
Snowden has proved over and over that he is going to take the moral high ground no matter what. Give him the US Presidency and allow the corruption to be completely exposed and made vulnerable. This country is being run by criminals - and 'business as usual' is looking more and more like fascism every day.
Pardon Snowden.. give him a medal.. and then get behind him and ask him to run for President.
Slashdot Mirror
Every ballot creates a new Bitcoin address (polling locations keep track of the generated ballot addresses) with a negligible fraction of bitcoins.. Every vote sends a tiny fraction of bitcoin to whatever addresses are represented by candidates. Only transactions from ballot-list addresses are counted. Candidates with the highest amount of bitcoins in their voting addresses from verified ballots win. Any screwups or attempts at fucking with the votes could be seen on the blockchain.
There's probably 1000 different ways voting can be done anonymously while still being verifiable using the blockchain. Don't ask me to solve all the problems - but they are solvable.
I believe the whole point of the 'closed source' ballot bullshit we have now is the same reason we have a ridiculously bloated war on terror. The real purpose is to concentrate power in the hands of the few. They make us believe our votes are counted.. but they haven't been counted right in years.
One day, scientists are going to play the wrong frequency and it is going to re-arrange all our brains.. then.. zombie apocalypse..
However, that can be circumvented if the scientists at one of those large colliders create the wrong matter that turns us all into zombies and starts a different zombie apocalypse..
I had a better story.. but it's Halloween.. go out of your house and look at the women that dress sexy. Happy Halloween!
That kind of argument can go both ways. When one single power line goes out, whole neighborhoods go without power. If the average household had a solar array with a Tesla (or other battery powered car plugged in), it could keep on running whether or not there were major interruptions in the power grid.
Your analogy of lighting a stadium with a bunch of shitty Christmas Tree bulbs makes no sense here.. especially if the stadium was covered in solar panels with a battery storage unit.
You're basically trying to argue that a centralized power grid is better than a decentralized power grid.. It certainly isn't going that direction in computing (depending on how you view the cloud).
Both IBM and Oracle are introducing the latest and greatest in truly non-migratable legacy software. IBM and Oracle are both neck and neck in developing the largest locked-in IT budget footprint and most proprietary upgrade path. We'll see who wins this eventually - but right now, it's nice to see that the cost per user has never been higher. It's an exciting time to be in the last best thing!
I agree with that sentiment. As far as business laptops go, Thinkpad went from the best laptop you could possibly buy (especially their 'p' models) to a sub-average brand that gets beat by both Dell and HP. Of course, Lenovo, Dell, and HP all make shitty consumer versions in their race to the bottom. Now, Mac has the clear premium laptop crown and it does not look like anyone is close to catching up.
It sucks to see a company buy a brand and to know their full intention is to ride that brand into a lower quality venue. There is no fucking way Lenovo plans on buying the IBM server brand and increasing the quality.
This.. Amending the Constitution means they are abiding by it and admitting it is authoritative. Without amending it, it means they are attempting to subvert it.
The fact that the federal, state, and local governments are going out of their way to create all sorts of circumstances where the Bill of Rights are ignored shows that there is a widespread attempt at completely removing the Constitutional framework. Peoples' rights are only violated when those rights are needed most.
Bigger waist = bigger pockets. I shouldn't have to be a fat guy to carry my phone in my pocket.
My initial impression of articles like this are to make readers feel good about being effeminate out-of-shape doughboys that comply with authority and never think about the obvious inconsistencies and corruptions of society. It's just like the 'food pyramid' that says people should eat a diet rich in stuff that makes you fat (carbohydrates) while de-emphasizing the importance of proteins (expensive, scarce relatively).
Let's go ahead and blame the hormone that makes men muscular and strong and act like docility is a positive trait. If you've ever been in a room full of powerful people - men and women - there is a hell of a lot of energy flowing around and you can feel it. I bet commanding women like Hillary Clinton have more testosterone flowing than most men.
There is nothing to be proud about physical or mental weakness. Weakness is a choice - just like cooperation. It is an error in reasoning to blame testosterone as a hinderance to civilization - correlation does not imply causation.
The big manufacturers are all too busy competing with Apple to actually notice there might be a market for something else.. For example, I want a Motorola Razr running Android. I don't care if it's slower, worse resolution, smaller screen than todays' big fat candy bar phones. I'm a guy and I don't carry a bag. The phone has got to fit in my pocket.
In typical Microsoft "All heads in our asses" fashion, they release Windows 8 with two completely separate UI's.. One doesn't work at all for desktop.. and the other barely works for desktop. Hell.. opening a PDF in Windows 8 is still a goddamn nightmare.
Now that they're unifying Windows, we know exactly what the customer wants:
1. UI separate from kernel (vector graphic UI for desktops, 2d UI for battery-powered devices)
2. Ability to customize installation (ie.. Windows embedded version, Windows business edition, Windows uber Gamer edition, Windows "I install Weatherbug and other stupid applications" edition, Windows "Gimme the shitty Widnows 8 UI" edition)
3. Ability to control data usage (ie.. Windows "I'm being charged for the amount of data because AT&T and Verizon are shitty companies edition")
What will we get:
1. METRO 80's colors EDITION
2. Cannot multitask edition
3. Super fucking bloated edition
4. We changed shit because we wanted to change shit and good fucking luck finding it edition
5. We give you errors if you're not connected to the Internet edition
6. We update your computer when you're trying to turn it off and take it with you edition
Bleh.. this was a minimal effort bitch session.. Microsoft already knows they suck and we only buy Windows because it's pretty much forced on us
Throw $50 at it and see if you get 'taken to the cleaners'. Of course, I would not recommend betting your house on Bitcoin. It IS a speculative investment - but I would hardly say it is a speculative bubble.
Also, as most Bitcoin advocates, I would not recommend storing any sizable amount of Bitcoins in anything other than encrypted wallets you control directly.
Why would you ever want a cashless society? Cash is one option you have. Taking it out removes an option and therefore freedom.
So you can audit and authorize where it goes. I can't audit a guy stealing cash from my wallet.
Since you can't audit a guy stealing cash from your wallet, we will eliminate all cash! Brilliant! Then, after that, we will audit the Pentagon!
That 'small percent' of online vendors is growing about the same percentage rate as Google and Facebook when they first started. Your incredulous attitude will only prevent you from getting into Bitcoin and realizing the benefits before it becomes ubiquitous.
Bitcoin started as an experiment.. Now you can buy anything on Overstock, Tiger Direct, Newegg, Cheapair.com, and Expedia with Bitcoin. You can also pay your Dish Network bill with Bitcoin. There is an organic infrastructure growing around Bitcoin - US government regulations, payment innovations, website integrations - and that infrastructure is increasing momentum.
Of course it's not ubiquitous yet.. But god damn, your questions are meant to criticize Bitcoin - but they are awfully dimwitted. First, maybe 10 years ago it was seen as limiting market exposure if users needed to own a smartphone. But, there isn't a company left that worries about being out of the huge capital markets of 'users without smartphones' except maybe Walmart.
And, 'how will you buy gas and food with that?' .. Good question there. Wow.. You found one huge flaw in Bitcoin. It's impossible to buy gas or food with Bitcoin.
I am so sick of seeing this damn argument.. The bottom line is Verizon is slowing down and dropping packets that go to specific areas. It does not matter how they do it or what they are saying to justify it. It is intentional and they are lying when they're saying it's not. The fix, for a network provider, is simple and low cost - and it should be part of maintaining the network.
Verizon wants more money to fix their own network problems that they created intentionally because it allows them to extort money from their competition. Also, Verizon is lobbying to further legalize what they are doing since it is a fairly grey area right now. So.. they are both lobbying for the right to slow down competitor traffic and they are claiming that the existing slow-downs in competitor traffic are a 'technical issue' that is not their fault when they are in full control of the means to fix the technical issue.
I have Fios and I called about Netflix and Youtube issues. The customer service rep actually told me I should use Redbox Instant instead. I ended up saving the chat log because I was so incensed. I paid for the packets of data I request on the Internet. Verizon is trying to charge twice for those very same packets. The only reason I have Verizon is because it's one of two horrible choices I have for Internet access.
Further, I went ahead and flashed an old wireless access point to DD-WRT and set up an account with hidemyass.com (VPN provider) to see if that helped Netflix and Youtube. Sure enough, it did. Netflix was in HD every time after that and Youtube almost never had a hiccup or buffering issue in the middle of the video - as long as the traffic through the device was going to the VPN.
Netflix, please keep talking trash. Verizon, please go to hell.
I do industrial automation programming for a living. Usually I am just troubleshooting if I am in a weird area - but sometimes I have to write a whole new routine in an area that you'd never expect a guy with a laptop.
For example, I worked on an energy savings project on the Queen Victoria. I was in the engine room next to the noisy diesel generators while we were at sail for a lot of the time. I just put in my custom ear buds (blocks most of the sound) and over-the-ear muffs and I was in my own little world listening to music while banging away at my laptop and sweating bullets since the warmer I made it in the room, the more energy we saved. The crewmen had no clue I was the reason it was now 5 degC warmer in there than normal and it's usually already warm.
Also, while on the Ventura, we had ridiculously rough weather off the coast of Portugal for a whole day - the day I realized the specs I received and what was installed were very different. So, I spent the day in my crew cabin, somewhat sea sick, rewriting my program.
Right now, I sit in a power plant's MCC room waiting for a server to update. An office is nice - but it gets boring. I like what I do.
Smartphones already have a fucking kill switch - it's up to the networks to provide service. If the networks wanted (or a law required them), they could make it so phones are disabled immediately at the request of the user who OWNS the phone.
The only point to making this a law (and industry standard) is to be able to quell widespread protest.
Some people still try to debate things that are already settled and others look for solutions before everything becomes a problem. Mankind has a huge list of fuckups to fix - but we either continue as is or we continue to try to improve things. Your viewpoint is incredibly pessimistic. Very few people would say life was better 200 years ago than it is today. Let's take that viewpoint and move forward with it.. We need more Star Trek and less Water World.
Either way, we should be investigating options like these.. You're being pessimistic during the initial stages of discussion - so it brings very little to the table.
It's boring to those that see it but don't understand it.
There is no way to morally or technically side with the ISPs on this one. It is a revenue grab - simple as that. These fucking horrible companies - mainly AT&T and Verizon - have been double and triple charging customers for data on the cell phone side and now they are trying to bring it to the wired side. For example, they charge customers for text messages differently than voice calls. They charge customers for a metered amount of data accessed through their cellphones and then another set of metered charges for accessing via tethering. It's bullshit. It's the same fucking data. It's encapsulated data packets..
Don't forget that the US has some pretty shitty home Internet connection speeds compared to our standing in the world as a 'technology leader.' Don't forget that the ISPs in the US have received hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars over the years to upgrade their networks. Don't forget that these companies are 'entitled' to your own property to run their data lines. Also, don't forget that these ISPs have relatively zero competition.
Also, do not forget that these ISPs run competing media providing entities. They would prefer to control your access to content - force you to watch commercials or pay monthly fees for channels - or force you to pay for 10 channels when you only watch one. When these companies are given an inch, they take a mile.
I write to my lawmakers telling them we need to look at gutting these companies - breaking them up and separating their media companies from the data providing part. Also, lawmakers need to understand that all data on the Internet is broken into packets. You can always tell who paid for the packets. In this case, AT&T and Verizon are trying to say they want more than the sending and receiving entities to pay for the packets - they want to charge extra for these packets to go in and out of their networks. Once that happens, they will just create more routes and more tolls.
I don't believe AT&T or Verizon deserve to exist as they currently do - they are putting the US at a huge disadvantage. Also, their CEOs are awful human beings.
They ARE investors.. The whole point of Kickstarter is for people with a good idea to solicit capital from interested investors. If the original terms of the agreement are not honored, perhaps the original investors can sue for their percentage of ownership of the entire profits of the operation.
AltaVista was merely one search engine in a pool of many.. Yahoo, Hotbot, and Lycos were all around at the time and they did not all fail.
Napster only failed because the government/court system took them down. If it weren't for Napster being forced to close up its business, there were no indications that people were leaving it. Napster was a disruption in the industry and major players moved in unison to take it down.
A direct contrast to this comparison is TCP/IP. Since the creating of TCP/IP, there have been numerous (arguably better) protocols. However, the whole Internet runs on TCP/IP and it does not look to be going away any time soon. Like most new technologies, I would guess that the first virtual currency to be widely adopted would be the virtual currency that becomes the standard. Any new currency has a huge uphill battle in trying to become more mainstream than Bitcoin at this point.
Bitcoin is designed so that governments or other entities cannot take it down. The fact that governments, corporations, or single powerful individuals cannot control it is a feature - not a flaw. Gus Hunt, along with every other powerful well-established individual, would naturally be against the adoption of Bitcoin. But, saying to expect it to fail looks more like wishful thinking on their part.
After I do that, how do I say now is the time to update all my apps without going through them one by one?
I have a little rant because I hate these little fucking problems like the OP is talking about. That is bullshit. What the fuck is the point of the highlighting feature if you cannot take it off and use it somewhere else? Seriously.. it would be like 4 hours of a Kindle programmers' time to implement that feature. I hate that shit.
Also, fuck the cloud. Every company wants to create their little own proprietary cloud that envisions you being locked into their half-assed limited selection of crap. Microsoft Skydrive.. now I'm stuck with only using Microsoft. Everyone else is the same. Where the fuck is my cloud that works on any device and lets me store any document there. Maybe dropbox is the best so far.. but something tells me I cannot store my Kindle books, Nook books, Itunes, or any other media on that cloud. It's my fucking media.. Let me store it wherever the fuck I want on whatever the fuck device I want to store it on. Maybe the new Kindle sucks and some other company makes a better implementation. Let me move my shit there.
Also, why the fuck can't all my devices just report back to a shared drive on my computer. Why can't I just have a 'pdb' (personal database) file that is constantly updating with any device I own. Let it encrypt the parts that need encryption. Let the interface pop up with a list of checkmarks and I (the GODDAMN USER THAT IS BUYING THIS CRAP) decide what I want my device to be able to access, copy, and modify out of my personal database. Seriously.. the idea that it's not just built-in to store files to a share drive on every new tablet and cell phone is as frustrating as watching someone try to be productive on Windows 8.
This ones for Android.. let me tell the fucking device when to update! I don't want it updating my apps when I picked it up to quickly read a pdf. I don't need it trying to use my internet connection when I'm at some fucking remote site 3rd world country with barely any cell phone coverage deciding it needs to update some bloated app I never use.
This one is for Windows.. updating when I want to turn off my laptop and telling me not to turn it off is retarded. Whoever decided that is the time to update should be slammed on the pavement like how Hulk smashed Loki.
I have a lot more to rant about.. but I am going to take a vacation away from technology for the next few hours.
I cannot believe people think we're innovating at this time.. We're taking 3 steps forward and 12 steps back. Fuck you, Kindle, for reminding me of this non-interchangeable mess that we call the technology world. Shit should work together. If we had a PDB that was universal (and with compatibility layers for all the proprietary shit - APPLE), then maybe the consumer wouldn't think it was such a pain in the ass to move to a new device.
Snowden has proved over and over that he is going to take the moral high ground no matter what. Give him the US Presidency and allow the corruption to be completely exposed and made vulnerable. This country is being run by criminals - and 'business as usual' is looking more and more like fascism every day.
Pardon Snowden.. give him a medal.. and then get behind him and ask him to run for President.