> Can anyone think of a reason calls shouldn't be FREE?
Yes.
Any more stupid questions?
Or did you mean can anyone think of a 'good reason' why calls shouldn't be free? That's a whole other subject, of course. There are also lots of reasons why they might not want to make them completely free - starting with the lack of availability, security, and things of that nature. If they're free then everyone will want to be on the phone all the time.
Somewhere between free and fucking retarded (which is the current situation) is probably a reasonable number.
Why not these companies? Err... The distinct lack of competition, perhaps? It's not like they can just meander down to the store and sign up for a better plan or buy a pay-as-you-go phone.
> Prison administrators, state governments, all have interest in increasing prisons contact with family, why they allow this is beyond my imagination.
Two things...
You have a shitty imagination and they're not interested in reducing recidivism. Gotta keep those beds full, it keeps the budget justified and growing. (The whole for-profit thing is an aside and not really important, all told, those are only less than 10% and, while retarded, they're not the driving force.)
> Replying anonymously because I'm modding in this thread.
There's a reason why one doesn't post in threads they moderate. They list this reason - as I recall. (I stopped moderating a long time ago. I'd rather speak than decide what others should or should not read.) At any rate, they designed the system that way for a reason - I'd like to think it's a valid reason. Disrupting the game, by changing the rules, just seems low. I lack a better word. Low, lowly, pathetic? They all work.
If you don't like the rules, don't play the game. Don't take it personal, you're not the only "sneaky" person.
At home, I pay for 12 and get about 14. Honestly, that's more than adequate for my needs.:/
I do wish I could actually throttle it back a little and use some of it for upload as upload is only about 1.5 Mb/sec, averaged out. I'd go down to 10 down for 5 up. I'd still be fine. I host all sorts of things off it. I hang stuff off the network like a Christmas tree - though I do have three disparate lines and everything on the network is actually heavily locked down BUT I am, technically, using it right now.
Right now, I'm connected via VNC and sending this to you. I've been doing this since September of last year when I hit the road. (It helps to have a static IP but that's not required.) Of course, only a certain subset of IPs are allowed to connect at all - the rest get dumped to the bit bucket - but, damn it, there's all sorts of neat things running. I just don't want *you* to access 'em without permission.;-)
As an aside, in the lower-right... Sometime in the past few days, a 1x1 pixel called js.gif has appeared. Doth the tracking pixel of doom rear its ugly head? (It's blocked by default so it's a silly looking failed loading icon - I've not yet masked it with uBlock.) Web beacons haven't died an ugly death yet? *sighs* I'm in the process of building a new site - in fact, a network of 'em (ideally). One of the things I'm trying really hard to do is to keep everything hosted locally. However, it's gonna end up with the almighty Google AdSense on it so I'll probably have that and the damned analytics. They're just too damned handy. However, I'll go so far as to tell everyone how to block 'em.;-) (It's the principle, not the money - and a long story.)
No, seriously, I do. I like it when I have to double click to highlight a word, right click, search, and then figure out which result is most meaningful. I learn new and interesting ways to break things.
Well, to be fair, we suck at understanding lots of things - such as large numbers. You can't, well probably can't, picture the difference between 18,953,535,535,353 and 18,953,535,535,354 - and neither can I. Mostly, humans just suck. I'm glad I'm not a human.
And yes, it's the Medicaid. You're correct in that. The rules are (at least as I'm understanding them) quite exactly like I describe. It's not just go ask and get it. There's a shit ton of people who are not covered. I know some of them. Chances are good that you do too.
Hmm... Define for me, if you will, fascism? For bonus points, what has jaywalking got to do with fascism?
It might be all sorts of things but I'm having a hard time seeing why you'd say it is "literal fascism." Unless, of course, you're using your own definition of the word that we're not privy to.
Actually, in that area the speed limit is 25 MPH, in most States, and the speed limit is the maximum speed you are allowed to travel under optimal conditions - that includes weather, pedestrians, obstructed vision, and traffic.
I'm not sure you're qualified to determine who is and who is not a bad driver. Almost every single accident that occurs is because someone was driving too fast for the conditions.
How can you let that exist without asking why? I'd have to ask... "Excuse me, ma'am? I see you walking backwards frequently and I'm a curious person. Why are you walking backwards?"
I do, indeed, get some interesting conversations out of life. I could not just let that happen - I'd have to ask her why.
It's like the age-old question, "If you see a crazy person smashing their head against a wall, would you help them?" Nope. I most certainly would not. For starters, they're crazy but more importantly, I want to see how the story ends.
It will be awesome. Well, it's awesome in the picture I have in my head. That counts for something, right?
Yeehaw!
(For the record, I own an obscene number of firearms - as in I've dug pictures out before and had people assume I'm some sort of bunker-living freak who wants to equip a small nation for a revolution. Really, I just like shooting stuff and I hunt. I also have a friend who used to own a firearm shop and is a gunsmith so he unloads a whole bunch to me at great prices.)
Nope, someone beat me to it. Ah well... It's still really kind of neat that there's so little excitement about this sort of thing. This would have been televised, across the globe, not that many years ago. Now, it's a thirty second blurb on the television news - if you're lucky and there's nothing major going on.
That this is first post is awesome. It has been here for a while and nobody has commented.
Why is that awesome? It is so routine that we don't even get excited any more. I was a kid when we walked on the moon. Now, it's trivial to dock with a space station that's been in orbit for years and continuously occupied for the duration.
That's kind of neat. (I have no idea if this is still first post.)
No. And that's the problem. *sighs* Sadly, you're right - but you SHOULDN'T be.
Reality shouldn't give two shits what we think about it. Unfortunately, people will consider reality whatever they believe it to be. People are stupid.
> Don't the poor get a form of socialized healthcare?
Not so much, no. Look at the requirements for Medicare. I seem to recall you need to have kids, be under 21, or have gone through the process of getting legally declared disabled to qualify as well as all the other restrictions. It's not just a default thing - just like food stamps aren't a default thing that lasts indefinitely.
What would give you reason to think otherwise? Did you *not* pay attention during the whole debate about health care?
> The US public pays dearly when the 2A "comes into play" multiple times each day.
You are correct. Yet, some of us feel that it is a risk worth taking. Liberties carry inherent risks. We could do even more to be "safe" by restricting ownership of many things and many activities. I'll stick with accepting the risks, thanks.
Clips? There are clips but the AK-47 doesn't normally use a clip, at least not in the traditional sense. It being an AK-47, there's probably some sort of way to affix an attachment to it that enables it to use clips but I've never seen one. Magazines and even drums, yes. No clips that I know of.
Slashdot Mirror
> Can anyone think of a reason calls shouldn't be FREE?
Yes.
Any more stupid questions?
Or did you mean can anyone think of a 'good reason' why calls shouldn't be free? That's a whole other subject, of course. There are also lots of reasons why they might not want to make them completely free - starting with the lack of availability, security, and things of that nature. If they're free then everyone will want to be on the phone all the time.
Somewhere between free and fucking retarded (which is the current situation) is probably a reasonable number.
Why not these companies? Err... The distinct lack of competition, perhaps? It's not like they can just meander down to the store and sign up for a better plan or buy a pay-as-you-go phone.
> Prison administrators, state governments, all have interest in increasing prisons contact with family, why they allow this is beyond my imagination.
Two things...
You have a shitty imagination and they're not interested in reducing recidivism. Gotta keep those beds full, it keeps the budget justified and growing. (The whole for-profit thing is an aside and not really important, all told, those are only less than 10% and, while retarded, they're not the driving force.)
> Black children have, on average, more than twice the lead levels as whites.
Then stop shooting them! ;-)
> Replying anonymously because I'm modding in this thread.
There's a reason why one doesn't post in threads they moderate. They list this reason - as I recall. (I stopped moderating a long time ago. I'd rather speak than decide what others should or should not read.) At any rate, they designed the system that way for a reason - I'd like to think it's a valid reason. Disrupting the game, by changing the rules, just seems low. I lack a better word. Low, lowly, pathetic? They all work.
If you don't like the rules, don't play the game. Don't take it personal, you're not the only "sneaky" person.
I think you entirely misread my post. My reply is in response to your latter paragraph/sentiment.
At home, I pay for 12 and get about 14. Honestly, that's more than adequate for my needs. :/
I do wish I could actually throttle it back a little and use some of it for upload as upload is only about 1.5 Mb/sec, averaged out. I'd go down to 10 down for 5 up. I'd still be fine. I host all sorts of things off it. I hang stuff off the network like a Christmas tree - though I do have three disparate lines and everything on the network is actually heavily locked down BUT I am, technically, using it right now.
Right now, I'm connected via VNC and sending this to you. I've been doing this since September of last year when I hit the road. (It helps to have a static IP but that's not required.) Of course, only a certain subset of IPs are allowed to connect at all - the rest get dumped to the bit bucket - but, damn it, there's all sorts of neat things running. I just don't want *you* to access 'em without permission. ;-)
As an aside, in the lower-right... Sometime in the past few days, a 1x1 pixel called js.gif has appeared. Doth the tracking pixel of doom rear its ugly head? (It's blocked by default so it's a silly looking failed loading icon - I've not yet masked it with uBlock.) Web beacons haven't died an ugly death yet? *sighs* I'm in the process of building a new site - in fact, a network of 'em (ideally). One of the things I'm trying really hard to do is to keep everything hosted locally. However, it's gonna end up with the almighty Google AdSense on it so I'll probably have that and the damned analytics. They're just too damned handy. However, I'll go so far as to tell everyone how to block 'em. ;-) (It's the principle, not the money - and a long story.)
I love it when you talk dirty. ;-)
No, seriously, I do. I like it when I have to double click to highlight a word, right click, search, and then figure out which result is most meaningful. I learn new and interesting ways to break things.
The human brain is capable of mental gymnastics that would make an Olympian proud.
This just gets more awesome in my head the more I think about it. Now, I kind of want to go.
Well, to be fair, we suck at understanding lots of things - such as large numbers. You can't, well probably can't, picture the difference between 18,953,535,535,353 and 18,953,535,535,354 - and neither can I. Mostly, humans just suck. I'm glad I'm not a human.
Here's one implementation:
https://www1.maine.gov/sos/cec...
And yes, it's the Medicaid. You're correct in that. The rules are (at least as I'm understanding them) quite exactly like I describe. It's not just go ask and get it. There's a shit ton of people who are not covered. I know some of them. Chances are good that you do too.
Laws don't, by themselves, "fix" much of anything. Even though there are laws against it, people still murder.
"literal fascism"
Hmm... Define for me, if you will, fascism? For bonus points, what has jaywalking got to do with fascism?
It might be all sorts of things but I'm having a hard time seeing why you'd say it is "literal fascism." Unless, of course, you're using your own definition of the word that we're not privy to.
Actually, in that area the speed limit is 25 MPH, in most States, and the speed limit is the maximum speed you are allowed to travel under optimal conditions - that includes weather, pedestrians, obstructed vision, and traffic.
I'm not sure you're qualified to determine who is and who is not a bad driver. Almost every single accident that occurs is because someone was driving too fast for the conditions.
This backwards walking woman...
How can you let that exist without asking why? I'd have to ask... "Excuse me, ma'am? I see you walking backwards frequently and I'm a curious person. Why are you walking backwards?"
I do, indeed, get some interesting conversations out of life. I could not just let that happen - I'd have to ask her why.
It's like the age-old question, "If you see a crazy person smashing their head against a wall, would you help them?" Nope. I most certainly would not. For starters, they're crazy but more importantly, I want to see how the story ends.
It will be awesome. Well, it's awesome in the picture I have in my head. That counts for something, right?
Yeehaw!
(For the record, I own an obscene number of firearms - as in I've dug pictures out before and had people assume I'm some sort of bunker-living freak who wants to equip a small nation for a revolution. Really, I just like shooting stuff and I hunt. I also have a friend who used to own a firearm shop and is a gunsmith so he unloads a whole bunch to me at great prices.)
As if there's a difference... If people weren't stupid then they'd... *sighs* Sometimes I hate this planet for the people it has on it.
I sudo *everything*! (Not really, I'm just used to typing it with apt. Fortunately, it is harmless.)
Nope, someone beat me to it. Ah well... It's still really kind of neat that there's so little excitement about this sort of thing. This would have been televised, across the globe, not that many years ago. Now, it's a thirty second blurb on the television news - if you're lucky and there's nothing major going on.
I find that incredible and inspiring.
That this is first post is awesome. It has been here for a while and nobody has commented.
Why is that awesome? It is so routine that we don't even get excited any more. I was a kid when we walked on the moon. Now, it's trivial to dock with a space station that's been in orbit for years and continuously occupied for the duration.
That's kind of neat. (I have no idea if this is still first post.)
No. And that's the problem. *sighs* Sadly, you're right - but you SHOULDN'T be.
Reality shouldn't give two shits what we think about it. Unfortunately, people will consider reality whatever they believe it to be. People are stupid.
> Don't the poor get a form of socialized healthcare?
Not so much, no. Look at the requirements for Medicare. I seem to recall you need to have kids, be under 21, or have gone through the process of getting legally declared disabled to qualify as well as all the other restrictions. It's not just a default thing - just like food stamps aren't a default thing that lasts indefinitely.
What would give you reason to think otherwise? Did you *not* pay attention during the whole debate about health care?
> The US public pays dearly when the 2A "comes into play" multiple times each day.
You are correct. Yet, some of us feel that it is a risk worth taking. Liberties carry inherent risks. We could do even more to be "safe" by restricting ownership of many things and many activities. I'll stick with accepting the risks, thanks.
Clips? There are clips but the AK-47 doesn't normally use a clip, at least not in the traditional sense. It being an AK-47, there's probably some sort of way to affix an attachment to it that enables it to use clips but I've never seen one. Magazines and even drums, yes. No clips that I know of.