Unless said aunt was in Korea I'd prefer the iPod. iRiver has nothing noteworthy in the American market. If I get iRiver it's going to be something nice like the D30.
You said "there are plenty of auction sites out there." Which neither Amazon or Craigslist are, which was I was referring to. And I came up with plenty of alternatives, none of which are accessible to people who don't speak one of the major Asian languages or have bank accounts/credit cards from said countries.
At any rate, I use Yahoo Auctions Japan or Eachnet. Loads more cool stuff and it handily trounces eBay (well, Eachnet used to be eBay China and still is, sort of, so I didn't want to bother mentioning it either), but as I said, it's not a viable alternative for most people.
Ever been anywhere where Comcast is the only ISP available? How do you propose THEY get another ISP? This isn't Japan, where there are 15 different ISPs competing nationwide for subscribers, this is America, where there are at most 5 different choices available to people. And that's in urban areas- go far enough and you'll find places with monopolies.
And Japan manages to have 100M symmetric fiber connections for approx. $60/month with no such throttling... how? If the cable companies decide to charge on a metered basis it will only be because of their own greed.
"I'm sure there were extensive illegal surveillance of private US citizens... Wait, I'm thinking of RFK keeping tabs on MLK." And what are the telcos being granted retroactive immunity for again?
I am currently a high school senior in Shanghai. You have summed up every reason why I am not staying in China for college despite my mom's insistence that I do so (why is she insisting this? Who knows- I was born and raised in the States and only go to school in China because she got sick while on summer vacation last year and is still recuperating- no need to go any further with my autobiography there). And I honestly thought I was crazy at first to think so because part of my grade is planning to go to college in China and like the idea (mostly white and Hispanic people, not the ethnic Chinese).
This is why I buy Panasonic. Their computers are not made in China. Plus, their extended warranty covers water, fire, and impact damage (actually, the fine print says that the only things not covered are war, animal, and earthquake-related damage. Same with cellphones (minus the warranty).
This can also be done with a normal PC and OSx86. My install will not boot into Mac OS without the install DVD in the drive. I do my work in Mac, put the DVD in my checked bag, then get on the plane. It'll boot straight into Windows without the disc, and since Windows can't read HFS+ it doesn't see the Mac partition.
"(notice the drastically increasing levels of tar and nicotine in the cigarettes sold in Africa and Asia)."
On the subject of Asia, I was browsing through the duty-free shop in Bangkok once. One look at a cigarette carton and... well, I don't think I'll be smoking... ever.
Ooook... Can't find any possible explanation for that that doesn't involve mind-altering "stuff"- I've met a lot of Italian people and they look nothing like the average Chinese person.
I have. I believe there's only been one time where someone could tell that I wasn't a local- everyone else spoke Japanese to me and assumed that I had spent too much time in America (and told me as much- I've been told as much once at a train station) when I started speaking English. It could just all be an act, though (but a very good one).
Of course, that was over many short-term visits as a tourist. One look at my name would give away the fact that I wasn't Japanese. I'll have to be honest- I'd rather deal with whatever glass ceilings Japan has in store for me if America goes any further downhill.
I'm turning 18 next year and I plan to vote- I still have hope for this place, and like you said, I don't want to make any rash decisions (I'm only a teenager, after all).
I've lived in America for a large part of my life (and China for a smaller part) and it's sad to see it go down this path.
I think it'd look suspicious and piss off a lot of people in the security screening line if they're actually taking apart people's laptops to get at the motherboard, just to get a password.
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Unless said aunt was in Korea I'd prefer the iPod. iRiver has nothing noteworthy in the American market. If I get iRiver it's going to be something nice like the D30.
What are you talking about? Ki is easily extracted from most modern SIM cards- that's how the first iPhone unlocks (pre-software unlock) worked.
You said "there are plenty of auction sites out there." Which neither Amazon or Craigslist are, which was I was referring to. And I came up with plenty of alternatives, none of which are accessible to people who don't speak one of the major Asian languages or have bank accounts/credit cards from said countries.
At any rate, I use Yahoo Auctions Japan or Eachnet. Loads more cool stuff and it handily trounces eBay (well, Eachnet used to be eBay China and still is, sort of, so I didn't want to bother mentioning it either), but as I said, it's not a viable alternative for most people.
Like what? Yahoo Auctions doesn't exist in the States anymore, what other reasonably-sized competitors are there?
What country would continue any kind of relations with China after they lock up one of said country's athletes for expressing themselves?
I have a felling that people are confused. That was not meant to be funny.
Well, get yourself a StarTAC III. That's a fairly nice non-cameraphone.
I suppose so. I moved- left America some time ago and only return for short-term visits now.
Ever been anywhere where Comcast is the only ISP available? How do you propose THEY get another ISP? This isn't Japan, where there are 15 different ISPs competing nationwide for subscribers, this is America, where there are at most 5 different choices available to people. And that's in urban areas- go far enough and you'll find places with monopolies.
And Japan manages to have 100M symmetric fiber connections for approx. $60/month with no such throttling... how? If the cable companies decide to charge on a metered basis it will only be because of their own greed.
"I'm sure there were extensive illegal surveillance of private US citizens... Wait, I'm thinking of RFK keeping tabs on MLK."
And what are the telcos being granted retroactive immunity for again?
What's the "Law of Return"?
I am currently a high school senior in Shanghai. You have summed up every reason why I am not staying in China for college despite my mom's insistence that I do so (why is she insisting this? Who knows- I was born and raised in the States and only go to school in China because she got sick while on summer vacation last year and is still recuperating- no need to go any further with my autobiography there). And I honestly thought I was crazy at first to think so because part of my grade is planning to go to college in China and like the idea (mostly white and Hispanic people, not the ethnic Chinese).
This is why I buy Panasonic. Their computers are not made in China. Plus, their extended warranty covers water, fire, and impact damage (actually, the fine print says that the only things not covered are war, animal, and earthquake-related damage. Same with cellphones (minus the warranty).
Well, how about a combination of the two? A jury of 9- 3 judges and 6 people.
This can also be done with a normal PC and OSx86. My install will not boot into Mac OS without the install DVD in the drive. I do my work in Mac, put the DVD in my checked bag, then get on the plane. It'll boot straight into Windows without the disc, and since Windows can't read HFS+ it doesn't see the Mac partition.
"(notice the drastically increasing levels of tar and nicotine in the cigarettes sold in Africa and Asia)."
On the subject of Asia, I was browsing through the duty-free shop in Bangkok once. One look at a cigarette carton and... well, I don't think I'll be smoking... ever.
I've only been through Nashville- that was fine.
There are alternatives that don't involve the sacrifice of anal virginity.
Ooook... Can't find any possible explanation for that that doesn't involve mind-altering "stuff"- I've met a lot of Italian people and they look nothing like the average Chinese person.
New excuse for all future leaks- "there was this time my laptop was searched at Customs..."
Not what I was thinking of, but thank you for the mental images...
I have. I believe there's only been one time where someone could tell that I wasn't a local- everyone else spoke Japanese to me and assumed that I had spent too much time in America (and told me as much- I've been told as much once at a train station) when I started speaking English. It could just all be an act, though (but a very good one).
Of course, that was over many short-term visits as a tourist. One look at my name would give away the fact that I wasn't Japanese. I'll have to be honest- I'd rather deal with whatever glass ceilings Japan has in store for me if America goes any further downhill.
I'm turning 18 next year and I plan to vote- I still have hope for this place, and like you said, I don't want to make any rash decisions (I'm only a teenager, after all).
I've lived in America for a large part of my life (and China for a smaller part) and it's sad to see it go down this path.
I think it'd look suspicious and piss off a lot of people in the security screening line if they're actually taking apart people's laptops to get at the motherboard, just to get a password.
Use microSD cards and a reader instead. There's nothing in the reader, and the microSD card is easy to put away.