Taxes are put in place by the government, but they are, in fact, administered by an independent company (Universal Services Administrative Company), with a board of directors made up of "interested stakeholders".
There's really nothing governmental about the actual disbursement of money.
I would like to see ATT say this, with the knowledge that they would have to provide the equivalent of "Universal Access", be it with broadband or cellular.
Frankly, I don't think they're capable of doing such a thing (technically, yes, they're capable, but I highly doubt they'll want to subsidize Universal Access, particularly with cell service).
Probably the most annoying thing I've seen was someone claiming that the iTablet was better than anything out there. Yes. A non-existent product is better than anything out there.
... just to make sure they didn't bring any Big Macs with them.
Why worry about bringing Big Macs in when they are so readily available there?
Yes, it's fun to make fun of fat Americans and their fast food, but consider that you wouldn't find so many McDonalds (or any other American chains) if it weren't economically viable - meaning consumers actually want it.
And I've said this before - there are plenty of fatties waddling around Europe these days too. It's no longer and American phenomenon.
I don't think any chosen field has a lot to do with anything, tech-wise.
As we let more of our daily tasks (and even specialized tasks) be done with computers, people end up learning bits and pieces of software programs, sometimes becoming "experts" with whatever program is used.
As much as people would like to view all computer-related work as just using an appliance, we're jut not there and I don't believe we'll ever be there.
The biotech profession - particularly drug discovery - comes to mind, but there are many other professions that depend on sophisticated programs.
I wrote a review on Yelp once. It was very unfavorable towards what was probably the worst restaurant I have ever eaten at. The only other review was glowing (I'm assuming the restaurant owner wrote it). Yelp deleted my unfavorable review (which, I should add, contained no offensive material, obvious flames, or anything else that could warrant a deletion).
I can't remember where I read it - it may have even been linked here on slashdot - exposing Yelp's sales tactics to restaurants advertising on the site. Basically, they were guaranteed no adverse ratings and higher ranking in searches.
I think Yelp is a good idea gone wrong considering the exposé. If only they'd found a less sleazy way of getting restaurants signed up.
They knew damn well she wasn't planning on doing anything, they just wanted to remind everyone that they own your ass and you can't take a shit without their permission.
So she'll learn what it's like to be responsible for both herself andd to someone else. Like in any corporate job. Hell, I'm a freelancer and I constantly have to deal with "power hungry asshole" clients (I once got 15 calls in one day from a client to "just check on the status" of a document I was working on).
That's pretty much how life works when you depend on someone else for something (payment in my case, education in her case).
Everything was prepaid and the SIM cards 'never' expired (They had an expiration sometime in 2025). Meaning I could add $1-2 and it would never expire. Compare that to the US where if I want to get the cheap $10 prepaid plan I have 30 days to use that before it expires.
Tracfone offers what you describe in the US. I used one all summer/fall in a fairly remote area of northern Wisconsin because my ATT Blackberry got no coverage there - the remaining minutes and number are good for another two years without having to purchase any more minutes.
Then with the advent of JS common etc for server apps and nosql databases; installing your software on your home Ubuntu Linux server will be a drag and drop exercise. i can image many people running their own Google like apps at home. gmail, documents, etc Ged
You must not have to support ANY family or friends when it comes to their PCs.
Most are not capable of doing such a thing. And frankly, if they were, they wouldn't bother. Hell, *I'm* capable and wouldn't go to such trouble. Just give me a netbook that runs what I want and I'm a happy camper.
It sounds like he did take responsibility already. Being denied employment for something trivial isn't "taking responsibility for one's actions," it's being screwed over.
Not really. We're in a bad economy right now, and as such employers are extremely picky. It won't always be that way. It just happens to be that way at the moment.
Those with some years on us realize that it'll get better and past actions won't matter so much.
And just maybe this person has learned to moderate his/her online behaviour because of it. That's not a bad thing.
You know, since this was announced, I've looked up and down my settings and can't find anything that's changed. And I have most everything set to "Only Friends".
Granted, I didn't go through the walk-through of the new settings - personally, couldn't be bothered with the tutorial - but from what I can see, it doesn't look like a single thing was changed.
If you visit any sort of tech site, you see the same stories/pictures/videos on many, many sites (this is from a blog, but I read the same story over on Gizmodo this morning).
I remember when you could come to slashdot and truly read original content. Now all these sites just seem to regurgitate the same thing.
And you have to recoup the cost somewhere, meaning from attendees or exhibitors.
Figure out how to do that in a recession, you're golden.
If you can't do that, reduce costs by producing an online/virtual conference.
A couple of months ago, I attended a virtual conference. It was quite successful, all things considered. The had 4000 + attendees, good exhibitors, good raffles, etc. And judging from the forum entries by attendees, everyone got something positive out of it.
But, (admittedly) technical users are seeing several different options now and each option has something the other doesn't, whether it's just a trivial game, itunes, better contacts/calendar, whatever. Like it or not, phones are used for so much more than just making calls.
I can see having the ability to use more than one of those options simultaneously as somewhat desirable.
But yeah, this would probably only be useful to the more power users.
Yahoo is still relevant, but probably not how you'd imagine.
Pretty much any new (and existing) ATT and Comcast accounts use Yahoo for mail services, not to mention they set Yahoo as the homepage that most users don't bother to change.
The constantly being called at 2:30 am was what finally pushed me out of the IT world (well, I was getting burnt out in general, after 20 years of it).
Now I work for myself (another profession altogether) and can tell you that I still may get called in the middle of the night or have to work through the night. The difference is that I know that anything I'm doing is formy customer and for me, not some CEO or shareholders who have absolutely no clue what I do.
Slashdot Mirror
There's really nothing governmental about the actual disbursement of money.
Frankly, I don't think they're capable of doing such a thing (technically, yes, they're capable, but I highly doubt they'll want to subsidize Universal Access, particularly with cell service).
Seriously, every young generation says this about their parents' generation.
Once you grow up, you realize that every generation has tended to adapt - quite well and willingly - to many new technologies.
Cue the "Oh wait..." jokes.
Why worry about bringing Big Macs in when they are so readily available there?
Yes, it's fun to make fun of fat Americans and their fast food, but consider that you wouldn't find so many McDonalds (or any other American chains) if it weren't economically viable - meaning consumers actually want it.
And I've said this before - there are plenty of fatties waddling around Europe these days too. It's no longer and American phenomenon.
As we let more of our daily tasks (and even specialized tasks) be done with computers, people end up learning bits and pieces of software programs, sometimes becoming "experts" with whatever program is used.
As much as people would like to view all computer-related work as just using an appliance, we're jut not there and I don't believe we'll ever be there.
The biotech profession - particularly drug discovery - comes to mind, but there are many other professions that depend on sophisticated programs.
I can't remember where I read it - it may have even been linked here on slashdot - exposing Yelp's sales tactics to restaurants advertising on the site. Basically, they were guaranteed no adverse ratings and higher ranking in searches.
I think Yelp is a good idea gone wrong considering the exposé. If only they'd found a less sleazy way of getting restaurants signed up.
So she'll learn what it's like to be responsible for both herself andd to someone else. Like in any corporate job. Hell, I'm a freelancer and I constantly have to deal with "power hungry asshole" clients (I once got 15 calls in one day from a client to "just check on the status" of a document I was working on).
That's pretty much how life works when you depend on someone else for something (payment in my case, education in her case).
Tracfone offers what you describe in the US. I used one all summer/fall in a fairly remote area of northern Wisconsin because my ATT Blackberry got no coverage there - the remaining minutes and number are good for another two years without having to purchase any more minutes.
Why do I hear Comic Book Guy in my head when I read this?
You must not have to support ANY family or friends when it comes to their PCs.
Most are not capable of doing such a thing. And frankly, if they were, they wouldn't bother. Hell, *I'm* capable and wouldn't go to such trouble. Just give me a netbook that runs what I want and I'm a happy camper.
If I can run everything I currently run on my x86-based netbook/laptop, I'm all for it.
Unfortunately, I don't think I can run everything I need just yet.
Forget the "Cloud" - it doesn't interest me.
Not really. We're in a bad economy right now, and as such employers are extremely picky. It won't always be that way. It just happens to be that way at the moment.
Those with some years on us realize that it'll get better and past actions won't matter so much.
And just maybe this person has learned to moderate his/her online behaviour because of it. That's not a bad thing.
That's a perfectly valid point.
Just realize that it hasn't affected the VAST majority of, well, anyone else (consumers).
That's exactly what must have happened. I bypassed that whole thing - cancelled out of it adjust went to my settings to check.
Granted, I didn't go through the walk-through of the new settings - personally, couldn't be bothered with the tutorial - but from what I can see, it doesn't look like a single thing was changed.
This was modded off-topic, but it nicely pokes fun at the "original content". Something the moderator apparently missed.
If you visit any sort of tech site, you see the same stories/pictures/videos on many, many sites (this is from a blog, but I read the same story over on Gizmodo this morning).
I remember when you could come to slashdot and truly read original content. Now all these sites just seem to regurgitate the same thing.
Seriously, how many people do you know that actually search like that?
Figure out how to do that in a recession, you're golden.
If you can't do that, reduce costs by producing an online/virtual conference.
A couple of months ago, I attended a virtual conference. It was quite successful, all things considered. The had 4000 + attendees, good exhibitors, good raffles, etc. And judging from the forum entries by attendees, everyone got something positive out of it.
I've honestly not ever heard that before.
I can see having the ability to use more than one of those options simultaneously as somewhat desirable.
But yeah, this would probably only be useful to the more power users.
Do you just load the page and wait to see what happens?
There's a lot you can filter if you take two seconds to look.
Pretty much any new (and existing) ATT and Comcast accounts use Yahoo for mail services, not to mention they set Yahoo as the homepage that most users don't bother to change.
Now I work for myself (another profession altogether) and can tell you that I still may get called in the middle of the night or have to work through the night. The difference is that I know that anything I'm doing is formy customer and for me, not some CEO or shareholders who have absolutely no clue what I do.