Believe it or not, there are people with computers and databases that track this information and it all can be done automatically. You can obfuscate it if you're trying avoid paying tax or you can just pay the tax.
That "ridiculous lawmaking" is state and local governments trying to collect sales taxes. This is a whack a mole competition where corporations look for ways to avoid sales taxes and states try to patch up the loopholes. The corporations could just step up and acknowledge their civic responsibility to collect and pay sales taxes but they don't... hence the game.
The IRS was trying to enforce a rule (created by Congress) that groups applying for tax exempt status are not supposed to primarily engage in political activity so they looked for groups that might be engaging in political activity. They used keywords in the names of the groups (tea party, progressive, etc.) as an initial screening to deal with the large number of applications (and under-staffing due to cuts by that same Congress). This was perhaps not the best strategy but there is no evidence it was politically biased. These groups were singled out for further scrutiny. As it turns out, no applications were denied.
It looks like you have some serious process problems: - duplicate and triplicate data entry... really? - printing paper backups - transferring patients on paper A "good printing solution" will only make things worse. You should invest in improving your processes and providing more computers and solar power rather than printers. A well-designed solar system can provide 99%+ reliability. Low power computers (even tablets and smartphones) are a good option in many cases. Your goal should be to eliminate paper (and printers) completely. Don't invest in printers. Paper is a waste of time, money, supplies and effort. (Baobab had a good, completely electronic, low power EMR system running in Malawi... what happened to that?)
I was proposing that my smartphone should have a setting which would keep it from broadcasting my MAC address all of the time but only broadcast it when it "hears" a known wifi access point. My phone only needs to broadcast my MAC address when it wants to connect. The rest of the time, it should just listen and stay quiet. There is no need to broadcast my MAC until I want to connect. This would eliminate the ability of London garbage cans (as well as Macy's, Target, Walmart, etc.) to track me.
Reading skills... Sprint has pledged to release a device with the Mozilla OS... not this ZTE device, perhaps, but one that supports CDMA and which Sprint has gone through the headaches of configuring for their CDMA.
I am truly sorry to hear that you have to support Windows at work. I would think that you would have your hands full just dealing with Windows malware so I guess it would simplify to your life to reduce the number of browsers you support. One tip: Many businesses have standardized on IE v6... you might consider that. (IE 6 is still more popular than IE 10)
I was referring to the hardware specs which are similar to iPhone 3GS (and better for the processor and also expandable storage). I appreciate your comment on the user interface but we will just have to wait and see how that works out. Most of my use would be through the Mozilla browser and at this point in time, most browsers are about the same since the "user experience" is dictated by the HTML and the software just has to follow instructions. I'll buy one just to try it out.
Thanks for this explanation. I would think that one could have a setting for your phone wifi which would not broadcast your MAC and would only listen for SSIDs. When a "known" SSID is found, the the MAC could be sent to establish the connection. This would avoid the problem of walking around with a personally identifiable beacon in your pocket. This would still leave the problem of connecting to stations where they do not broadcast an SSID but this "feature" doesn't seem to be of much value to anyone.
1. Some people have had problems with some of the sellers on eBay but eBay itself does not conduct credit card fraud... "buyer beware" applies everywhere. Presumably the vendor of this phone, ZTE, will not defraud you (but you can never know with absolute certainty). 2. Verizon is a CDMA clusterfuck. This phone is GSM... it just works... everywhere and with everyone. 3. First I've heard of Firefox being banned for not fixing bugs... do you ban Windows also?
Distribution... While you may rather avoid eBay and PayPal, there are millions of people who have no problem with them. (I can find some reason to boycott just about every retailer/channel on earth... but I don't because I need to get on with my life... nose, face, spite)
There is something I don't understand here. If I have my WiFi turned on and it is set to automatically connect to "known" access points but not set to connect to random unknown access points, why would it broadcast my MAC? I can understand that it will listen for a "known" access point and when it finds one, send the MAC to connect and that is fine. However, why would it broadcast my MAC if it has no intention of connecting?
I think the goal here is to have something which recycles CO2 from the environment rather than releasing more CO2 into our already overheated climate. From this standpoint gas and oil are a complete fail and most anything else is better.
http://stores.ebay.com/ztemobileus You can bid on it starting this Friday... no word on when it will actually ship but presumably "real soon now" since they are already selling it in a few countries. I think I'll get one as a backup phone... for $80 I don't see a downside. The specs are not state of the art but similar to iPhone 3GS (with a faster processor).
Like most schemes to move off of this planet which we are in the process of destroying, this "solution" will be incredibly expensive and only accommodate a very small proportion of our 7 billion population. Of course, the rich will claim the space (along with a few essential maintenance people such as the phone sanitizers), leaving the rest of us stranded on Earth to deal with climate change, toxins, etc. So, yes, this could probably be done at great expense (paid for by all of us) for the benefit of the few, rich and powerful... but that's the way it usually works, isn't it?
I just filled out the form for myself and my wife for two lines... same voice, message and data limits on each line. Came out that T-Mobile is cheapest $80 for the two lines. First line is $50, second $30. Total $80. Seems like this family plan works for me. I'm already on T-Mobile, just need to change my wife's phone (unlocked Nexus 4). YMMV
Great idea but it's not gonna happen. The US won't admit it even made a mistake. The politicians (both R and D) are doubling down on the "national security" threat and they see nothing wrong with violating the 4th amendment. The Constitution is trash to them. At best, we may get some "reassurances" that they won't look at our data (unless we have something to hide). We do have to thank Snowden for exposing this surveillance... now we all know just where we stand (and hopefully will take personal measures to guard our privacy.) The US has been a superpower-bully for many years and will hang on to that role to the end.
Some people find the conditions under which some farm animals are raised to be ethically questionable. Some people think it is unethical to kill animals. You are entitled to your own ethical compass. Enjoy your meat.
I'm not sure that it was a good idea even in 1781. Basically, the mercantile class wrote the constitution and early laws. The American Revolution was a mercantile uprising against the "tyranny" of England and it's taxes and regulations. Today, of course, the mercantile "class" are the corporations who have completely captured the government. Numerous studies have demonstrated that patents slow the process of invention and only provide benefits for the entrenched last generation of science and technology.
We use motion sensor lights to keep the bears away. They tend to break into the cars and the house looking for food but the motion sensor lights seem to have them fooled (for now).
I don't know about these particular "settlements" but typically a patent troll will have a clause in the settlement contract that specifies that even if the patent is invalidated later, the payment is still due.
My congressman is McClintock who is a libertarian type in a very conservative (mostly ignorant, rural) area of California. I agree with him on just about nothing except this one issue. I call him (always get some office drone who doesn't know anything) often about lots of stuff even though I know he will ignore me. I called him about this issue (where I know he is against NSA spying) and the office drone as usual said he didn't know how McClintock would vote. We'll see if he buckles under to the Republican leadership or if he votes for the amendment.
Slashdot Mirror
Believe it or not, there are people with computers and databases that track this information and it all can be done automatically.
You can obfuscate it if you're trying avoid paying tax or you can just pay the tax.
That "ridiculous lawmaking" is state and local governments trying to collect sales taxes.
This is a whack a mole competition where corporations look for ways to avoid sales taxes and states try to patch up the loopholes.
The corporations could just step up and acknowledge their civic responsibility to collect and pay sales taxes but they don't... hence the game.
The IRS was trying to enforce a rule (created by Congress) that groups applying for tax exempt status are not supposed to primarily engage in political activity so they looked for groups that might be engaging in political activity. They used keywords in the names of the groups (tea party, progressive, etc.) as an initial screening to deal with the large number of applications (and under-staffing due to cuts by that same Congress). This was perhaps not the best strategy but there is no evidence it was politically biased. These groups were singled out for further scrutiny. As it turns out, no applications were denied.
It looks like you have some serious process problems:
- duplicate and triplicate data entry... really?
- printing paper backups
- transferring patients on paper
A "good printing solution" will only make things worse.
You should invest in improving your processes and providing more computers and solar power rather than printers.
A well-designed solar system can provide 99%+ reliability.
Low power computers (even tablets and smartphones) are a good option in many cases.
Your goal should be to eliminate paper (and printers) completely.
Don't invest in printers. Paper is a waste of time, money, supplies and effort.
(Baobab had a good, completely electronic, low power EMR system running in Malawi... what happened to that?)
I was proposing that my smartphone should have a setting which would keep it from broadcasting my MAC address all of the time but only broadcast it when it "hears" a known wifi access point. My phone only needs to broadcast my MAC address when it wants to connect. The rest of the time, it should just listen and stay quiet.
There is no need to broadcast my MAC until I want to connect.
This would eliminate the ability of London garbage cans (as well as Macy's, Target, Walmart, etc.) to track me.
Reading skills... Sprint has pledged to release a device with the Mozilla OS... not this ZTE device, perhaps, but one that supports CDMA and which Sprint has gone through the headaches of configuring for their CDMA.
I am truly sorry to hear that you have to support Windows at work. I would think that you would have your hands full just dealing with Windows malware so I guess it would simplify to your life to reduce the number of browsers you support. One tip: Many businesses have standardized on IE v6... you might consider that. (IE 6 is still more popular than IE 10)
I was referring to the hardware specs which are similar to iPhone 3GS (and better for the processor and also expandable storage).
I appreciate your comment on the user interface but we will just have to wait and see how that works out. Most of my use would be through the Mozilla browser and at this point in time, most browsers are about the same since the "user experience" is dictated by the HTML and the software just has to follow instructions.
I'll buy one just to try it out.
Thanks for this explanation.
I would think that one could have a setting for your phone wifi which would not broadcast your MAC and would only listen for SSIDs. When a "known" SSID is found, the the MAC could be sent to establish the connection. This would avoid the problem of walking around with a personally identifiable beacon in your pocket.
This would still leave the problem of connecting to stations where they do not broadcast an SSID but this "feature" doesn't seem to be of much value to anyone.
1. Some people have had problems with some of the sellers on eBay but eBay itself does not conduct credit card fraud... "buyer beware" applies everywhere. Presumably the vendor of this phone, ZTE, will not defraud you (but you can never know with absolute certainty).
2. Verizon is a CDMA clusterfuck. This phone is GSM... it just works... everywhere and with everyone.
3. First I've heard of Firefox being banned for not fixing bugs... do you ban Windows also?
Distribution...
While you may rather avoid eBay and PayPal, there are millions of people who have no problem with them.
(I can find some reason to boycott just about every retailer/channel on earth... but I don't because I need to get on with my life... nose, face, spite)
Better than an iPhone 3GS... woo hoo!
There is something I don't understand here.
If I have my WiFi turned on and it is set to automatically connect to "known" access points but not set to connect to random unknown access points, why would it broadcast my MAC?
I can understand that it will listen for a "known" access point and when it finds one, send the MAC to connect and that is fine.
However, why would it broadcast my MAC if it has no intention of connecting?
I think the goal here is to have something which recycles CO2 from the environment rather than releasing more CO2 into our already overheated climate. From this standpoint gas and oil are a complete fail and most anything else is better.
http://stores.ebay.com/ztemobileus
You can bid on it starting this Friday... no word on when it will actually ship but presumably "real soon now" since they are already selling it in a few countries.
I think I'll get one as a backup phone... for $80 I don't see a downside.
The specs are not state of the art but similar to iPhone 3GS (with a faster processor).
Like most schemes to move off of this planet which we are in the process of destroying, this "solution" will be incredibly expensive and only accommodate a very small proportion of our 7 billion population. Of course, the rich will claim the space (along with a few essential maintenance people such as the phone sanitizers), leaving the rest of us stranded on Earth to deal with climate change, toxins, etc.
So, yes, this could probably be done at great expense (paid for by all of us) for the benefit of the few, rich and powerful... but that's the way it usually works, isn't it?
I just filled out the form for myself and my wife for two lines... same voice, message and data limits on each line.
Came out that T-Mobile is cheapest $80 for the two lines. First line is $50, second $30. Total $80.
Seems like this family plan works for me.
I'm already on T-Mobile, just need to change my wife's phone (unlocked Nexus 4).
YMMV
Great idea but it's not gonna happen.
The US won't admit it even made a mistake. The politicians (both R and D) are doubling down on the "national security" threat and they see nothing wrong with violating the 4th amendment. The Constitution is trash to them.
At best, we may get some "reassurances" that they won't look at our data (unless we have something to hide).
We do have to thank Snowden for exposing this surveillance... now we all know just where we stand (and hopefully will take personal measures to guard our privacy.)
The US has been a superpower-bully for many years and will hang on to that role to the end.
In Ghana, winter is the same as summer.
Some people find the conditions under which some farm animals are raised to be ethically questionable.
Some people think it is unethical to kill animals.
You are entitled to your own ethical compass.
Enjoy your meat.
Meat, cows, dairy.
All contain animal fat which is bad for you, bad for the environment and ethically questionable.
Someone here uses Facebook?
What war?
Do I get a vote?
Are there drones involved?
I'm not sure that it was a good idea even in 1781.
Basically, the mercantile class wrote the constitution and early laws. The American Revolution was a mercantile uprising against the "tyranny" of England and it's taxes and regulations.
Today, of course, the mercantile "class" are the corporations who have completely captured the government.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that patents slow the process of invention and only provide benefits for the entrenched last generation of science and technology.
We use motion sensor lights to keep the bears away.
They tend to break into the cars and the house looking for food but the motion sensor lights seem to have them fooled (for now).
I don't know about these particular "settlements" but typically a patent troll will have a clause in the settlement contract that specifies that even if the patent is invalidated later, the payment is still due.
My congressman is McClintock who is a libertarian type in a very conservative (mostly ignorant, rural) area of California.
I agree with him on just about nothing except this one issue.
I call him (always get some office drone who doesn't know anything) often about lots of stuff even though I know he will ignore me.
I called him about this issue (where I know he is against NSA spying) and the office drone as usual said he didn't know how McClintock would vote.
We'll see if he buckles under to the Republican leadership or if he votes for the amendment.