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User: It+doesn't+come+easy

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  1. Imagine the possibilities... on P2P Set-top Boxes To Revolutionize Internet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Develop an application that can inject whatever you want to share (porn, movies, music, pictures, computer software, stolen identity data, the list is endless) and you would have instant and free worldwide delivery. All you would have to do is insert the data at a public box (one not tied to your house or account) and there's no way to track it back to you.

  2. Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... on AT&T To Offer No-Contract iPhone · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's better than I thought...current Terms of Service: ((4) iPHONE TERMS AND CONDITIONS): Terms Applicable to AT&T Nation/FamilyTalkî GSM Plans: Credit approval required. Subscriber must live and have a mailing address within AT&T's owned network coverage area. An early termination fee applies if service is terminated before the end of the contract term. The fee will begin at $175 per device and decrease by $5 each month for the term of the agreement. If phone is returned within 3 days, activation fee will be refunded. If phone is returned within 14 days in like-new condition with all components, early termination fee will be waived. Service may be cancelled after 14 days but within 30 days and early termination fee will be waived, but equipment may not be returned. All other charges apply. Some dealers impose additional fees. So they explicitly say that you can cancel the service between 14 and 30 days, avoid the early termination fee, but don't have to return the iPhone.

    So, we can buy the iPhone outright for $599/$699 or we can get a contract and cancel it after 14 days (but before 30 days) and pay a net of $235/$335.

  3. Re:now THAT is interesting on AT&T To Offer No-Contract iPhone · · Score: 1

    If this were code for a program, I would say that someone has been hacking at the code trying to work around a problem.

    It seems like no one at AT&T has reviewed the full contract and how it all works together. Or, as you say, there is could be a hidden issue that dictates those precise words. Maybe they're trying to avoid class-action lawsuits concerning unreasonable contract requirements?

    As to changing the contract, I assume that is possible. While they list the iPhone on their web site, you can't actually sign up for one yet, so change is still possible.

  4. Re:I don't think so... on AT&T To Offer No-Contract iPhone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is getting better and better...

    They have a special iPhone section ((4) iPHONE TERMS AND CONDITIONS): Terms Applicable to AT&T Nation/FamilyTalk® GSM Plans: Credit approval required. Subscriber must live and have a mailing address within AT&T's owned network coverage area. An early termination fee applies if service is terminated before the end of the contract term. The fee will begin at $175 per device and decrease by $5 each month for the term of the agreement. If phone is returned within 3 days, activation fee will be refunded. If phone is returned within 14 days in like-new condition with all components, early termination fee will be waived. Service may be cancelled after 14 days but within 30 days and early termination fee will be waived, but equipment may not be returned. All other charges apply. Some dealers impose additional fees.

    So they explicitly say that you can cancel the service between 14 and 30 days, avoid the early termination fee, but don't have to return the iPhone. As an aside, this section also implies that the "you may be required to return devices" in the other part of the contract indeed only applies to the first 30 day period, but the explicit iPhone section makes the various interpretations of the other section mute for this question.

    So, we can buy the iPhone outright for $599/$699 or we can get a contract and cancel it after 14 days (but before 30 days) and pay a net of $235/$335. As my son would say Sweeeet.

  5. Re:I don't think so... on AT&T To Offer No-Contract iPhone · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I see how you are getting this interpretation...

    It's interesting to see just how ambiguous this section of the contract seems to be. Obviously, AT&T would agree with your interpretation. A court may not. Of, course, we don't want to pay court costs just to argue to try and save $189 dollars.

    On the other hand, there have already been many iPhones bought and contracts cancelled, so if AT&T has NOT been demanding the hardware back after the 30 day period then they would be hard pressed to start doing so now. Anyone know if AT&T has been requiring the hardware back when a contract is cancelled?

  6. Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... on AT&T To Offer No-Contract iPhone · · Score: 1

    The contract reads: You may cancel your service, for any reason and without incurring the Early Termination Fee, within thirty (30) days of signing your Wireless Service Agreement, PROVIDED, however, that if you cancel service you will remain responsible for any service fees and charges incurred. If you cancel within three (3) days of signing your Wireless Service Agreement, you will be entitled to a refund of your activation fee, if any. If you exercise this option, you may be required to return devices and associated accessories purchased in connection with your Wireless Service Agreement.

    Now, one could argue whether the last sentence applies to the 3 days or the 30 days. To me it looks like it only applies to the 3 day period. However, since we're trying to get the iPhone for as cheap as possible, and therefore we really don't want to argue it in court, we can use the 30 days, pay for phone service for a month--cheapest plan of course (after all, you are going to pay SOMEONE for phone service so why not AT&T for the first month?) -- then cancel the service.

    As an aside, the $175 early termination fee for ALL contracts actually highlights that the fee has nothing to do with the supposed "charge to recover the cost of subsidizing the hardware". If it did then the fee would be tied to the cost of the hardware....but that's a soapbox for another time...

  7. Re:This is a response to iPhone unlocking... on AT&T To Offer No-Contract iPhone · · Score: 4, Informative

    Maybe but in the case of AT&T they do not:

    Cancellations/Early Termination Fee: An Early Termination Fee of $175 may be assessed against you in the event that you terminate your Wireless Service Agreement and/or selected plan before the expiration of its term. For Service activated on or after May 25, 2008, the Early Termination Fee will be reduced by $5.00 for each full month toward your minimum term that you complete. You may cancel your service, for any reason and without incurring the Early Termination Fee, within thirty (30) days of signing your Wireless Service Agreement, PROVIDED, however, that if you cancel service you will remain responsible for any service fees and charges incurred. If you cancel within three (3) days of signing your Wireless Service Agreement, you will be entitled to a refund of your activation fee, if any. If you exercise this option, you may be required to return devices and associated accessories purchased in connection with your Wireless Service Agreement.

    So you wait until the 4th day.

  8. This is a response to iPhone unlocking... on AT&T To Offer No-Contract iPhone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So I buy a phone outright for $599/$699, or I buy a phone for $199/$299 with a 2 year plan ($36 activation fee) then cancel the contract immediately for $175...net cost $410/$510. Hmmmm.....

  9. OK, so what's wrong with Deland and W. Palm Beach? on Google Trends vs. Community Standards On Obscenity · · Score: 1

    What are they, dead there??? Come on people, let's get with the program...

  10. Just a bit of overkill on HP Introduces First-Ever 30-bit, 1 Billion Color Display · · Score: 3, Informative

    Don't have time to find all of the references but most of the human race cannot distinguish that many colors, except possible the few who have the extra color rod in their eyes. Most of us cannot see more than about 1 million colors, I believe.

    Cool technology, though.

  11. Re:Caught between a rock and a hard place? on Windows XP Lives, Thanks to Linux · · Score: 1

    Actually, automatically developing an exploit is probably the next big thing for malware writers (if it doesn't already happen, who knows). And considering that better than 50% of all XP systems have known unpatched flaws (search Google -- some of the research puts the percentage at over 90%) and that a huge number of users don't know how to (or choose not to) update their system with the patches Microsoft puts out, it seems a foregone conclusion that matters will only get worse.

    It is inevitable -- assuming these conditions do not improve (and there's surely no evidence that things are improving) -- that XP will eventually be buried under the task load imposed by the malware running on the average user's machine.

  12. Caught between a rock and a hard place? on Windows XP Lives, Thanks to Linux · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So Microsoft has to keep XP going to slow the adoption of Linux? Yet malware writers are now using Microsoft's patch cycle for XP at least (and can Vista be far behind?) to rapidly create exploits. And of course XP is still rife with security issues. I wonder how long XP can stay afloat with malware on one side and Linux on the other? (especially if Microsoft stops fixing XP security issues)

  13. Re:Honestly, these problems are solveable on The Most Annoying Software Out There · · Score: 1

    Cool. I didn't know that Avast had a virus program for Linux. I always recommend Avast for Windows users (free for home use, automatic updates) so I think I'll look at what they have for Linux.

  14. Honestly, these problems are solveable on The Most Annoying Software Out There · · Score: 4, Informative

    Adobe Reader - Using open source PDF reader "Evince Document Viewer" instead. Result? Software does not annoy.

    Apple iTunes - Using open source music program "Amarok". Result? Software does not annoy (and works much better than iTunes as well).

    Windows Update - Using Genuine Linux Distro "Ubuntu". Result? No licensing restrictions, no DRM, no repeated system restarts, no service packs to fix the previous service pack, that fixed the previous service pack, that fixed months old critical bugs.

    RealPlayer - Avoiding RealPlayer like the plague it is (using "Amarok" for the same functionality, if not the same file format). Result? No privacy leaks, no ads, no reporting back to Real on what I listen to or where I visit on the web.

    Java - Using Sun's Java without the Yahoo toolbar. Result? Java is reasonably well behaved. Looking forward to truly open-sourced Java in the near future.

    Yahoo - Use Yahoo's maps to check up on Google results. Use Yahoo throw-away email when I need to be a little bit stealthy. Otherwise avoid Yahoo.com like the plague it is. Result? Happy camper.

    Norton Antivirus - Using upgraded OS "Linux" so that viruses are not a problem. Result? Viruses? I don't have no stinking viruses!

    Preinstalled software bundles - Using upgraded OS "Linux" so that preinstalled software bundles are not a problem. Result? Preinstalled software bundles? I don't have no stinking preinstalled software bundles!

    Outlook/Exchange - Using "Evolution". The jury is still out on whether "Evolution" is worth using verses online calendar and scheduling web sites.

    Flash - Using...nothing. Avoiding flash based websites like the plague they are. Results? Fast web page loading, no privacy issues, no vector for malware installation, only see web pages that actually provide links to relevant content.

  15. What will be the result of no recordings allowed? on NBC Activates Broadcast Flag · · Score: 1

    Easily 90% of the television shows I watch are first recorded on my DVR. I do not have time to sit and watch the show on the network's schedule. Consider this: If the broadcast flag is set so that I cannot record the show and watch it at a time when it is convenient to me, then I will simply not watch the show. If the concern is that viewers will skip some commercials when watching a recorded broadcast, imagine how many commercials will be skipped if they don't watch at all.

  16. Re:FIOS availability on Comcast Blocks Web Browsing · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Unfortunately, AT&T's "version" of FIOS isn't truly FIOS. They take fiber to the boxes you see them working on but from there to your house it is still the old copper. The result is essentially the same internet speed you see now. They may be able to essentially double the practical speed but there's no way they will ever be able to get to Verizon's 20mbps symmetrical service. And I also heard that AT&T will be reserving most of the added capacity for their HDTV channels (their technology sends up to 3 HDTV channels down the wire to your house at any given time -- and even then they have to reduce the quality in order to get three channels over the copper -- it also means you will not be able to watch/record more than three channels at the same time at any given time -- might be somehwat of a limit for large households). There's lots of technical details around AT&T's approach verses Verizon but sad to say AT&T's version is already obsolete and they haven't even gotten it out the door.

  17. Re:I'd tend to agree. on JP Morgan's Insider Trading How-To On Wikileaks · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's an old mainframe thing (you know, geeky). In the old days devices were controlled by directly embedding control codes in the characters sent to a device. Control H (that is ^H) was/is the code for the backspace key. So if you typed something and wanted to erase it, your character string would look like "John is the the REAL asshole^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hpower behind the scenes." In truth, you didn't really send strings like this for a text printout, at least not for devices like teletypes, because it would be too late for you bub!

    In any case, instead of ^W the original poster should have used ^H if he meant to backspace. A Control W is an End of Transmit Block. How a device responded to a End of Transmit block would vary for each device.

    I think he expected the imaginary device to erase a word for each control W. However, to know how the device would respond, we would have to know what the output device was.

  18. Huge database problem on Open US GPS Data? · · Score: 1

    Keeping the roads database up-to-date is a tremendously complicated task. First, you have to have timely updates from the people who make changes (governments, construction companies, etc.). Second, as with any database, the results are only as good as the data you enter. Do you really expect data input by millions of people (many who have no idea how important accurate data is) to be that good? The users of that data also have to agree on what should be stored, what it means, and how to use it (at least to some degree) to be consistent. How likely is it for various competing companies to agree to the same format and values? Not very.

    So we need an international approach to map the world. But of course now we have governments involved, which in itself is a disaster waiting to happen. The US typically will then declare the data a National Security issue -- so much for that idea.

    So we need an creative commons approach. Oh, wait, some cracker will want to corrupt the data just for grins so that all the big trucks are routed through Podunk, USA. Back to the same old problem.

    The only viable solution would be to have real-time data collection on streets, construction, speeds, addresses, etc., etc., using the soon to be available vehicle-to-vehicle network. Come to think of it, what a surveillance system that would be...the US Government might be interested in this after all...

  19. Re:What is Best Buy thinking? on Best Buy Hands Out Cease & Desist Letters for Christmas · · Score: 1

    I can see why Best Buy would not like the shirts -- it could allow anyone to pretend to be a Best Buy employee (someone might be able to get away with a lot of "stuff"). On the other hand, the improv moment was really funny and resulted in a lot of good service and good customer relations for the store that was involved. You would thing Best Buy would appreciate really cheap employees helping out their sales...

  20. This just in... on Recreating Cities Using Online Photos · · Score: 5, Funny

    Online photos of any physical location on any planet in the local galactic group are now forbidden due to the possibility that the photos might be used by terrorists or those who may be helping terrorists to plan terrorist attacks on said locations.

    By order of Ultra Super Secret Chief Intelligence Officer, Department of Homeland Security

  21. Re:Much as I love debian on Ubuntu May Be Killing Your Laptop's Hard Drive · · Score: 1

    Could you be more specific...exactly what bugger wouldn't install?

  22. Re:The Ubuntu on Ubuntu May Be Killing Your Laptop's Hard Drive · · Score: 1

    If you guys are talking about LCD monitor problems (not being able to boot the Live CD with a graphical interface), I have the same problem with my Sony SZ650N/C with an nVidia card. Feisty Fawn drops to the command line interface with the error that it cannot start the x-server (or something to that effect) and it's gone with Gutsy Gibbon as well. I think someone introduced a bug in Feisty Fawn that got fixed.

  23. Much bigger issue than that of marriage on Human-Robot Love and Marriage · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Marriage is a contract. It implies enforcible rights for all parties which are part of the contract. One can already have sex with a machine without requiring marriage. Marriage is much more than just sex. Were human society to allow "marriage" to a machine, it would also have to have accepted many other rights that go hand in hand with the concept of a "person". And even 40 years from now I would bet that human society will have a fundamentally difficult time giving a machine the same rights as a human. For example, imagine your 12 year old daughter being given a death sentence for deliberately turning an AI program off improperly and "killing" the program. Would you be willing to say the life of the AI program is equal to your daughter's life? Unlikely. People may call it marriage but it won't be, any more than wrecking an AI driven car will be involuntary AI-slaughter.

  24. Multilingual URLs... on ICANN Mulling Multilingual URLs · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well hippopotamus me, what will they think of next?

  25. Re:And the solution is... on PEBKAC Still Plagues PC Security · · Score: 1

    No doubt not installing the adware laden free programs helps a lot. However, I sometimes deliberately click a link that I know to be malware to see what will happen and (most of the time) it simply fails to do anything because it can't start one of the OS included ActiveX controls. The other times (usually a download) Avast catches it or I'm smart enough not to run that EXE file. And of course I have the file extensions displayed (hiding "known" file extensions is another stupid Windows trick that I always turn off). The protection comes from the fact that Firefox doesn't do ActiveX (at least not without a plugin).