Apple will replace it under their service program, when the phone is out-of-warranty. $85.95 including postage.
That's all well and good for an iPod as I can handle giving up my music player for a short amount of time. However, am I really supposed to go without a phone for a week because they didn't feel like making this component user replaceable?
Ok, I know the first reaction to this story is to panic about the erosion of our civil liberties, but this really isn't anything new. Libraries have for years (at least libraries I've been to) required accounts to use computers. My local public library requires a SmartCard and password to get internet access. Is this because they want to track what you're doing? No. Their goal is to allow parents to have filters for their children, and also shield themselves from liability. This way, your average 3rd grader can't walk into the library and use a computer for anything he wants without his parent's permission.
Adding fingerprint scanners is just a more convenient way to enforce this policy.
I agree. Vonage does rock! As a college student living in an apartment for the year, it's much cheaper and quicker than getting a real phone installed. The 500 minutes are nation-wide, so long distance isn't an issue. And even if I go over them it's only about 3 cents / min.
The quality is very good. Even with 5 other people sharing our cable connection, I haven't had many problems. I did have a dropped call once, but I think a roommate was downloading from BitTorrent. This wouldn't be a problem if I could put the Vonage box in front of our router, since it prioritizes voice over data. But for some reason they don't think my phone calls are more important than their downloads;-)
One of the coolest options Vonage offers is the ability to have your voice-mail sent to your e-mail box. Whenever someone leaves a message for me, I get an e-mail with a WAV attachment!
Whether or not it's "just" to leave them out, I do agree with the practical result. In the last New York Governor's election, every candidate was allowed into the debate. That meant about 10 people got to answer ever question, even though everybody knew only two of them had a prayer of winning.
So I was treated to canned 30 second sound bytes from everybody who managed to get his name on the ballot, instead of longer, more thoughtful responses from the people who I really wanted to hear from. That debate didn't do a thing to help me decide who to vote for and was, in my opinion, a complete waste of time.
Even more scenario fun to demonstrate Arrow's Paradox.
A group of people go to a deli to decide on meats for a picnic. The man behind the counter tells them that they have Turkey and Ham. The group huddles together and votes and return to tell the man they voted in favor of Ham. Before they tell him their decision however, the man tells them he just realized they have Pork too! So the group goes and votes again, this time between Turkey, Pork, and Ham. They return to tell the man that they've voted in favor of the Turkey!
So... if you received such a letter you'd fight them to the bitter end? Tell us... how on earth would you pay for legal representation? Or would you attempt to defend yourself? In either case, I'm sad to say, you would loose, because you do not have the resources to fight.
Wouldn't you also likely loose because you're guilty. Granted I'm not saying that just because the RIAA sends you a subpoena it means you're guilty. But if you get sued and you know that you did what they say you did, wouldn't it be better to try to get the best settlement possible?
I agree there's a problem with them having unlimited resources, but that's probably not the only reason people are rushing to settlement.
It's really sad to me reading all these comments from people who see our government as totally corrupt and unable to do anything because of corporate donations and the like. Sure, this is a problem, there's no question about it. But I still believe that the majority (not necessarily all) of our leaders are good people who vote their conscience. Sometimes our representatives get donations from corporations because they vote in a way that the corporation likes, not the other way around. Maybe they aren't making IP issues a priority right now, but that isn't because they don't care, in many cases they don't know much about the issue and probably don't have a geek's understanding of why these things are so important in the way some of us do.
So take the time and write a thoughtful letter to your Congressman explaining (not ranting about) why these issues concern you. Make sure to mention that you want a response telling you what the Congressman thinks about the issue (I intern in a congressional office and it'll get your letter to a higher level than it would otherwise). It probably won't get read by the Member, but they will certainly hear from their staff if they start getting a lot of letters on a particular issue.
This kinda makes me wonder... I know they're trying to keep the cost as low as possible, but would it really break the budget to throw in a 1 Gig hard drive to cache the image from the CD? That way it wouldn't have to read the entire CD at startup and it could just check to see if the image on the disk is different than the cached one. All this for maybe $10 and a little extra space on the drive for storage. Sounds like a bargain to me.
Everyone is having a field day pointing out the potential security flaws, but it seems an important question is being ignored. Is this really fair to people who can't afford a computer or for a variety of other reasons, don't have one at home? Picture a rainy election day in Anytown U.S.A. where there's an election for Mayor.
It will be much more convenient for wealthy computer owners to point and click on their favorite candidate. It is more fair for everyone to have to vote in the same place in the same way at the same time.
P.S. - Please disregard this post if the online voting will never be applied to more than absentee voting as the article discusses.
Vote for the candidate that you think is best, not if they are republican, democrat, or some other party
I really really wish this was true, but I'm afraid it's not. Even if a candidate seems really great, 9 times out of 10 he's going to vote with his party buddies. As discouraging as it may seem, voting your party line has to be the way to go.
Sounds like the Wachowski borthers have gone for an all out action movie which is a shame if true. What I liked most about the original was the way it blended stunning action with a subtle philosphical theme about how we percieve reality.
A review in the Hollywood reporter suggests that there will be more than enough philisophical debate (which they claim stops, not motivates the plot) along with trite, repetitive action.
Let's just hope it turns out better than this review suggests.
Once I was talking to someone about the benefits of recycling and solar power and then I realized I was basing my entire discussion on what I had learned from playing Sim City 4.
The basis of Copyright Law is simple: A copyrighted work can not be used to make money by anyone but the copyright holder. If Mr. Peng were "bootlegging" copyrighted music - ie Making CDs and selling them for a personal profit - then yes, he would be in violation of Copyright Law. But this wasn't the case.
Unfortunately we're not talking about Copyright Law. This is the "Digital Millenium Copyright Act" which bears little resemblance to actual copyright law. We apologize for any confusion.
So as I understand it, these services simply provided a web index of any files that students on campus had in thier Windows shared directories. So doesn't this suit imply that it's illegal for Windows to allow said shared directories? I think we need to sue Microsoft for this one.
Slashdot Mirror
That's all well and good for an iPod as I can handle giving up my music player for a short amount of time. However, am I really supposed to go without a phone for a week because they didn't feel like making this component user replaceable?
Adding fingerprint scanners is just a more convenient way to enforce this policy.
Cornell has had The Game Design Initiative available for a while, although there is no actual major in game design.
I agree. Vonage does rock! As a college student living in an apartment for the year, it's much cheaper and quicker than getting a real phone installed. The 500 minutes are nation-wide, so long distance isn't an issue. And even if I go over them it's only about 3 cents / min.
;-)
The quality is very good. Even with 5 other people sharing our cable connection, I haven't had many problems. I did have a dropped call once, but I think a roommate was downloading from BitTorrent. This wouldn't be a problem if I could put the Vonage box in front of our router, since it prioritizes voice over data. But for some reason they don't think my phone calls are more important than their downloads
One of the coolest options Vonage offers is the ability to have your voice-mail sent to your e-mail box. Whenever someone leaves a message for me, I get an e-mail with a WAV attachment!
Whether or not it's "just" to leave them out, I do agree with the practical result. In the last New York Governor's election, every candidate was allowed into the debate. That meant about 10 people got to answer ever question, even though everybody knew only two of them had a prayer of winning.
So I was treated to canned 30 second sound bytes from everybody who managed to get his name on the ballot, instead of longer, more thoughtful responses from the people who I really wanted to hear from. That debate didn't do a thing to help me decide who to vote for and was, in my opinion, a complete waste of time.
Even more scenario fun to demonstrate Arrow's Paradox. A group of people go to a deli to decide on meats for a picnic. The man behind the counter tells them that they have Turkey and Ham. The group huddles together and votes and return to tell the man they voted in favor of Ham. Before they tell him their decision however, the man tells them he just realized they have Pork too! So the group goes and votes again, this time between Turkey, Pork, and Ham. They return to tell the man that they've voted in favor of the Turkey!
Wouldn't you also likely loose because you're guilty. Granted I'm not saying that just because the RIAA sends you a subpoena it means you're guilty. But if you get sued and you know that you did what they say you did, wouldn't it be better to try to get the best settlement possible?
I agree there's a problem with them having unlimited resources, but that's probably not the only reason people are rushing to settlement.
For once using Windows ME pays off!
It figures they'd use a catchy beat for the intro. Now the RIAA can sue me if I get the song stuck in my head.
So take the time and write a thoughtful letter to your Congressman explaining (not ranting about) why these issues concern you. Make sure to mention that you want a response telling you what the Congressman thinks about the issue (I intern in a congressional office and it'll get your letter to a higher level than it would otherwise). It probably won't get read by the Member, but they will certainly hear from their staff if they start getting a lot of letters on a particular issue.
Seriously, whenever a friend of mine needs his or her computer fixed I always find Gator and several other similar programs running.
This kinda makes me wonder... I know they're trying to keep the cost as low as possible, but would it really break the budget to throw in a 1 Gig hard drive to cache the image from the CD? That way it wouldn't have to read the entire CD at startup and it could just check to see if the image on the disk is different than the cached one. All this for maybe $10 and a little extra space on the drive for storage. Sounds like a bargain to me.
It will be much more convenient for wealthy computer owners to point and click on their favorite candidate. It is more fair for everyone to have to vote in the same place in the same way at the same time.
P.S. - Please disregard this post if the online voting will never be applied to more than absentee voting as the article discusses.
I really really wish this was true, but I'm afraid it's not. Even if a candidate seems really great, 9 times out of 10 he's going to vote with his party buddies. As discouraging as it may seem, voting your party line has to be the way to go.
If you have an 802.11b (Wi-Fi) card, Trepia will also identify other users on nearby wireless networks.
Perhaps they should work on identifying my internet connection first.
A review in the Hollywood reporter suggests that there will be more than enough philisophical debate (which they claim stops, not motivates the plot) along with trite, repetitive action.
Let's just hope it turns out better than this review suggests.
Once I was talking to someone about the benefits of recycling and solar power and then I realized I was basing my entire discussion on what I had learned from playing Sim City 4.
Unfortunately we're not talking about Copyright Law. This is the "Digital Millenium Copyright Act" which bears little resemblance to actual copyright law. We apologize for any confusion.
So as I understand it, these services simply provided a web index of any files that students on campus had in thier Windows shared directories. So doesn't this suit imply that it's illegal for Windows to allow said shared directories? I think we need to sue Microsoft for this one.
Just a thought
If you had a fleet of robots, would you use them for good or for awesome?
That isn't cheap??? Then why in the world am I paying over $30,000 a year at my school?