I do find what you are talking about interesting, but you also have to understand that not every solution works for everyone. Square peg into round hole. I don't claim to know whether or not that would work best for us or not, but just because it works for you doesn't mean automatically that it is the best way for everyone. That's why the US was originally supposed to have more powerful state governments. The reason being that someone in Washington doesn't know jack shit about the people over in AZ and CA. They're too far removed. They have different priorities than we do. Not to mention that quite frankly, if you want to build better public transportation, I'd more than welcome that. Just not by you screwing with my current mode of transportation. I need that. I have NO choice in the matter...I HAVE to get to work.
I have no alternative to get to work and "just get another job" is a really snide and unrealistic sentiment that I see thrown around a lot (not that you're saying that...straw man etc, just a thing I see a lot here). I started my job almost 6 years ago a year or so after high school (I dropped out of college) when I lived closer and worked my way up through 3 promotions. I've made a name for myself at my company and the raises I got allowed me to be able to afford a house out on the other side of the city where the rest of my family lives. Why would I want to have to go through that shit all over again just to live closer to work? Plus...I live in the suburbs because this is where housing is affordable (and again, family is over here). There aren't a whole hell of a lot of office jobs out here. I have a good job for a big company, great benefits, and pretty decent pay now (recently got another promotion that might enable me to flip over this SUV after I save up some money for a nice car). I quite enjoy being able to go see my little sisters and cousins and not having to drive 30 miles to do it now.
It just feels like a lot of people here are out of touch with reality. Ideals are nice. I have those too and I can be just as stubborn as the rest of you, but this shit just gets ridiculous sometimes.
Oh and another thing...it's not like this tax only affects gas guzzlers too. That's what gets me about the audacity of this suggestion. I also have a CAR with really good gas mileage (~35 give or take) and I'd get screwed there too. So how exactly is that rewarding those who responsibly went out and actually DID try to get something with good gas mileage? And when the people with SUVs get cars, they'll be doing it just to get back to where they were previously budget-wise while those of us that do have cars have to just take it on the chin. Wonderful.
Not every gas guzzler is an SUV. Some people, believe it or not, legitimately need a truck for work and some cars are just shitty. Hint: that's why those cars are cheaper.:p
How much more expensive would you expect a car to be up front with this anyways? They still have competition. There's a better chance of them just having to suck it up and do it than trying to gouge us.
As for buying a used subcompact for $1500...first off, I didn't have 1500 just laying around. Secondly, what kind of piece of crap do you think $1500 can buy? I'm being completely serious here. My first car was relatively meh and reliable (also a manual) and I got it at a steal for 2500 and that was about 7 years ago. I'd say I picked the best option available. Interest free loan to aunt with a car I know the history of and can get help from the owner with vs $1500 for god knows what car and what is wrong with it. Probably not the best example, but it's an example nonetheless.
Yes, but is it necessary to cancel your ENTIRE account over a transgression in ONE service? I don't know about you, but I'd be pretty pissed off if my gmail and Android phone were suddenly gone because of something I did on Picasa or Google Plus. I've been gung ho for Google since my Junior year of highschool (2002-2003) and this is honestly the first thing about them that has REALLY given me pause. This seriously disturbs me. I get that I shouldn't keep all my eggs in one basket, but quite frankly doing something like this is just mean spirited. Ban the guy from Picasa...don't disable his entire account. That is just spiteful. Also...I mean what gets you banned on Google Plus? The requirements there seem pretty ominous. That's the one that really scares me. It makes me not even want to use Google+ and I've been an almost evangelical supporter of it up until I started reading these articles. It makes me sad to be honest.
Forgive me if I sound really hostile in this post, but I've seen this same thought repeated over and over again and it is just exhausting. God how I rage when I read that.:p
Yeah, that's what everyone needs. We need all the poor people that can't afford a decent car to get raped on gas prices. Let's not pretend that public transit is a good alternative either because in a lot of places (like Phoenix where I live) it's a joke. You cannot function here without a car. I keep seeing everyone present this as a solution and I'm sorry, but I just don't understand the logic here. Not everyone buys that gas guzzler because they don't care about the environment...a LOT of people buy whatever they can afford. I bought my aunt's old SUV because she sold it to me cheap and I could pay her directly without interest. Did I WANT an SUV? Fuck no, but you know what, I needed a car NOW that I knew worked and I didn't have tons of money to do it (my wife and I got jobs on different sides of the city). We don't all have the luxury of choices. Sometimes you don't have the time and money to dance around and get the perfect fit.
I understand the need to get people away from gas guzzlers...I do...but how is raising taxes to make it prohibitively expensive to drive at all any different from using the government to just mandate better mileage from the auto makers? Honestly, either way the government is forcing someone's hand, so shouldn't it be the car companies rather than all of us? It must be great to preach this from your armchair there, but this kind of sentiment really pisses me off. Take a look around at the real world. Things don't quite work out as neatly as some of you seem to think. Shit sucks sometimes and punishing people for this kind of bullshit isn't doing anyone any favors.
Yeah, cars might get more expensive, but I think you paying more for a new car is considerably better than being immediately screwed by gas prices doubling. Especially right now...we're in a recession (yes, I know, it's getting old, but it is true). Do you really think raising the price on something you have no choice but to buy is really going to help? If they raised the price to 6 dollars today, you know what I'd do? I'd have to pay 6 dollars a gallon. And you know what's even better about that? It would be even harder for me to save for a new car. Lol. Great plan! Yes, I find this situation distasteful as well, but give me a break. This "solution" is ridiculous.
This. A thousand times this. Windows 7 "boots" really quick but it seriously takes several minutes before I can actually get Firefox opened. Yeah, it boots quick "to the desktop" but to a useable state? Pretty much the same as ever. Instead of staring at a loading screen or a Welcome screen, you are instead staring at your desktop wallpaper for longer.
I'd seen some snobby reviews on Metacritic at the outset but most people I talk to seem to really like this. I am glad. I can't wait to see it...going tomorrow. I am a huge Cap fan. I started reading with Ed Brubaker's run that started a few years ago and never looked back.:)
Seriously dude, just get used to it. The ribbon has been out for 4 years now, for crying out loud. It is actually quite convenient if you take the time to familiarize yourself with it. Or you could just whine and never learn anything, I guess.
This is bullshit even if they advertise it up front. They should be spending all that money they make on upgrades instead of dicking us all around with this. I'm lucky that Cox Cable in Phoenix hasn't gone all nazi on us, but I'm sure it's coming. I know they must be salivating watching all these other companies impose data limits and rake in the dollars.
See the thing about this is that people who wouldn't otherwise do this stuff can now. That's the difference. The people like us that keep backups, make our own websites, and genuinely have curiosity about the way things in the world around them work...we still do what we've always done. The difference is that the huddled masses are now in our space and they don't know OR care how it works...just that it DOES work...until it doesn't. When it doesn't work, they still have no idea what to do...just like they always have. They could take the time to learn how these things work and make sure that there won't be any critical failures that will completely screw them...but they don't. Maybe they don't care enough to learn more. Maybe they don't have the intelligence to grasp these concepts. It's the same story it's always been, but now these people have finally migrated to the internet. It isn't just for nerds anymore.
tl;dr: Stupid or lazy people will continue being stupid or lazy no matter what we tell them. Facts of life.
No kidding, holy shit. There's a person on Slashdot that kind of doesn't like something and is reasonable about it. What the hell are you doing here?:p
Everyone keeps complaining about icons on the desktop and you specifically mention keeping files there...you DO know that you can turn the desktop into a view of a folder on your PC or use the folder widget, right? I haven't been in Linux much lately, but I specifically remember this could be done and was happy.
I'm amazed these comments don't constantly get marked as troll. Yes, you WERE screwed by Sony. Yes, someone will still buy your PS3. Some people buy gaming systems to *gasp* play GAMES ON. It is irritating, to be sure, by let's tone down the hyperbole a tad?
I'm not apologizing for Sony being a bunch of fucking idiots, but let's not dance around and pretend that everyone else is prefect or that Sony is the devil. I hear so much great stuff about the XBOX, blah, blah, but it's still the same company that you guys have been complaining about since Slashdot came into existence. With a choice between them and Sony...I'll STILL pick Sony. At least they don't hide what fuckwads they are. They pretty much tell you flat out how things are going to be. Better the devil you know, I suppose.
Nintendo is better by far (and they're printing money to boot) but they still aren't perfect. No one is.
So true. Every single time. This version and the last have that insane preview window thing going on that takes all of eternity to load so I make sure my entire post is on the clipboard or I might get boned. I literally do this with every single thing I type on a website. I even do it for emails I write at work sometimes.:p
Case in point, I went to submit this, noticed I wasn't logged in. Went to login and the page doesn't work right here at work (they're probably blocking something important). I accidentally clicked something that took me to the main page. On a side note, for some reason the login page wouldn't work...luckily I correctly remembered that they use.pl files and went to login.pl and managed to get in. It's shit like this....
Slashdot was my Javascript test site due to how ridiculously overloaded the damn thing was. There was a noticeable difference between Firefox versions and different computers loading it because it would just rape as much power away as it could.
On a serious note, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I actually like the new look. Less busy looking. I suppose the sidebar is pretty much useless though. Looks nice and loads 1000000x faster.
Comment preview is still slow as shit though. Guess they'll never fix that one.:p
You know, it actually shows you all that. It will take up a pretty large portion of the address bar to do it. If I recall correctly, the status bar frequently cut these off short as well. When I hover links, I notice that it basically puts... in the middle allowing you to see the protocol, domain, and file extension pretty well. I've been hovering over a whole bunch of links after you said this and this universally seems to be the case.
So actually, there IS enough space to display all these things and they SPECIFICALLY display actually every single thing you said you wanted to see. I'm not sure if you're just knee jerking or if you actually tested this yourself, but yeah. It works exactly the way you say you want it to work.
What? When did they take away already existing PS2 backwards compatibility? I don't recall seeing anything about this. My launch 60gb still does it...did they remove the one for the few PS3s that had software BC? o_O
No kidding. Visa bigger than they are. Sounds nice until you can plainly see that he's pulling this information out of his ass. I'm pretty none of what he says is even remotely true. I really do wonder WHY they cut Wikileaks off. I honestly think they WERE pressured by the US government and just don't want to say anything. Why the hell would they cut off a cash cow like that unless they were forced to?
You're arguing AGAINST the regulations and then expecting us to someone get from that post that you're still okay with them? This isn't actually a free market. You can't give government granted monopolies a fair pass as a free market nor can you give something like this industry that, even without the government, would STILL be a monopoly because of the high costs associated with building the lines in the first place. Furthermore, having to suffer the ridiculous abuses while we wait for them to (hopefully) tank isn't really a fair option for the people. We aren't talking about your favorite brand of soda using something you don't like...we're talking about companies affecting OTHER companies and the people themselves by fucking with the internet. That isn't fair to anyone and serves only to line their pockets more. If we want the internet to continue being a place for innovation and freedom, we can't let this shit continue. If we wait for the market to decide, it will take too long. Things come and go MUCH quicker on the internet and you can destroy good ideas long before they have time to mature by messing around with who gets the best access to us. We don't want that and THEY don't want that. We just have some asshole middle man attempting to extract as much money from being the middle man as he possibly can.
Normally you can at least see SOME sort of legal justification but I don't really see anything beyond "we're really mad he's making our jobs harder" and I'm not sure HOW they have legal grounds to sue him or have sanctions placed...he hasn't done anything illegal or even...WRONG in this case. WTF?
I think you're being a bit dramatic. It's not perfect, but it isn't a mess. I'm not sure why you'd think that. I use my phone constantly and I only have problems crop up now and again...no different than a regular Windows install. And as for data loss...I've actually never lost any data before outside of me actual doing a factory reset. The bugs I completely agree on (though with less frequency than you imply) but I'm at a loss for what you're looking at as far as "data loss" is concerned. What data have you lost? As for the freezing and crashes...I can normally pin that on a rogue app. I haven't had my phone actually freeze and require a reboot for some time now. Crashes, I've definitely had for some apps. Flash is a complete mess on my Droid. Crashes all my browsers pretty much within seconds of it playing a video unless I start it and then don't move at all.
I will, however, say that the upgrade process for Android is an effing mess. Pretty much the only way to upgrade and have it not run like complete shit is to back up your shit and do a factory reset. I will agree with you there. My wife upgraded her Droid Eris to 2.1 and it's been a buggy mess since then. I had the same problem when I upgraded my Droid to 2.2. Required a wipe and I was good to go. They REALLY need to work on that process. It's really bad.
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I do find what you are talking about interesting, but you also have to understand that not every solution works for everyone. Square peg into round hole. I don't claim to know whether or not that would work best for us or not, but just because it works for you doesn't mean automatically that it is the best way for everyone. That's why the US was originally supposed to have more powerful state governments. The reason being that someone in Washington doesn't know jack shit about the people over in AZ and CA. They're too far removed. They have different priorities than we do. Not to mention that quite frankly, if you want to build better public transportation, I'd more than welcome that. Just not by you screwing with my current mode of transportation. I need that. I have NO choice in the matter...I HAVE to get to work.
I have no alternative to get to work and "just get another job" is a really snide and unrealistic sentiment that I see thrown around a lot (not that you're saying that...straw man etc, just a thing I see a lot here). I started my job almost 6 years ago a year or so after high school (I dropped out of college) when I lived closer and worked my way up through 3 promotions. I've made a name for myself at my company and the raises I got allowed me to be able to afford a house out on the other side of the city where the rest of my family lives. Why would I want to have to go through that shit all over again just to live closer to work? Plus...I live in the suburbs because this is where housing is affordable (and again, family is over here). There aren't a whole hell of a lot of office jobs out here. I have a good job for a big company, great benefits, and pretty decent pay now (recently got another promotion that might enable me to flip over this SUV after I save up some money for a nice car). I quite enjoy being able to go see my little sisters and cousins and not having to drive 30 miles to do it now.
It just feels like a lot of people here are out of touch with reality. Ideals are nice. I have those too and I can be just as stubborn as the rest of you, but this shit just gets ridiculous sometimes.
Oh and another thing...it's not like this tax only affects gas guzzlers too. That's what gets me about the audacity of this suggestion. I also have a CAR with really good gas mileage (~35 give or take) and I'd get screwed there too. So how exactly is that rewarding those who responsibly went out and actually DID try to get something with good gas mileage? And when the people with SUVs get cars, they'll be doing it just to get back to where they were previously budget-wise while those of us that do have cars have to just take it on the chin. Wonderful.
Not every gas guzzler is an SUV. Some people, believe it or not, legitimately need a truck for work and some cars are just shitty. Hint: that's why those cars are cheaper. :p
How much more expensive would you expect a car to be up front with this anyways? They still have competition. There's a better chance of them just having to suck it up and do it than trying to gouge us.
As for buying a used subcompact for $1500...first off, I didn't have 1500 just laying around. Secondly, what kind of piece of crap do you think $1500 can buy? I'm being completely serious here. My first car was relatively meh and reliable (also a manual) and I got it at a steal for 2500 and that was about 7 years ago. I'd say I picked the best option available. Interest free loan to aunt with a car I know the history of and can get help from the owner with vs $1500 for god knows what car and what is wrong with it. Probably not the best example, but it's an example nonetheless.
Yes, but is it necessary to cancel your ENTIRE account over a transgression in ONE service? I don't know about you, but I'd be pretty pissed off if my gmail and Android phone were suddenly gone because of something I did on Picasa or Google Plus. I've been gung ho for Google since my Junior year of highschool (2002-2003) and this is honestly the first thing about them that has REALLY given me pause. This seriously disturbs me. I get that I shouldn't keep all my eggs in one basket, but quite frankly doing something like this is just mean spirited. Ban the guy from Picasa...don't disable his entire account. That is just spiteful. Also...I mean what gets you banned on Google Plus? The requirements there seem pretty ominous. That's the one that really scares me. It makes me not even want to use Google+ and I've been an almost evangelical supporter of it up until I started reading these articles. It makes me sad to be honest.
Forgive me if I sound really hostile in this post, but I've seen this same thought repeated over and over again and it is just exhausting. God how I rage when I read that. :p
Yeah, that's what everyone needs. We need all the poor people that can't afford a decent car to get raped on gas prices. Let's not pretend that public transit is a good alternative either because in a lot of places (like Phoenix where I live) it's a joke. You cannot function here without a car. I keep seeing everyone present this as a solution and I'm sorry, but I just don't understand the logic here. Not everyone buys that gas guzzler because they don't care about the environment...a LOT of people buy whatever they can afford. I bought my aunt's old SUV because she sold it to me cheap and I could pay her directly without interest. Did I WANT an SUV? Fuck no, but you know what, I needed a car NOW that I knew worked and I didn't have tons of money to do it (my wife and I got jobs on different sides of the city). We don't all have the luxury of choices. Sometimes you don't have the time and money to dance around and get the perfect fit.
I understand the need to get people away from gas guzzlers...I do...but how is raising taxes to make it prohibitively expensive to drive at all any different from using the government to just mandate better mileage from the auto makers? Honestly, either way the government is forcing someone's hand, so shouldn't it be the car companies rather than all of us? It must be great to preach this from your armchair there, but this kind of sentiment really pisses me off. Take a look around at the real world. Things don't quite work out as neatly as some of you seem to think. Shit sucks sometimes and punishing people for this kind of bullshit isn't doing anyone any favors.
Yeah, cars might get more expensive, but I think you paying more for a new car is considerably better than being immediately screwed by gas prices doubling. Especially right now...we're in a recession (yes, I know, it's getting old, but it is true). Do you really think raising the price on something you have no choice but to buy is really going to help? If they raised the price to 6 dollars today, you know what I'd do? I'd have to pay 6 dollars a gallon. And you know what's even better about that? It would be even harder for me to save for a new car. Lol. Great plan! Yes, I find this situation distasteful as well, but give me a break. This "solution" is ridiculous.
This. A thousand times this. Windows 7 "boots" really quick but it seriously takes several minutes before I can actually get Firefox opened. Yeah, it boots quick "to the desktop" but to a useable state? Pretty much the same as ever. Instead of staring at a loading screen or a Welcome screen, you are instead staring at your desktop wallpaper for longer.
I'd seen some snobby reviews on Metacritic at the outset but most people I talk to seem to really like this. I am glad. I can't wait to see it...going tomorrow. I am a huge Cap fan. I started reading with Ed Brubaker's run that started a few years ago and never looked back. :)
Seriously dude, just get used to it. The ribbon has been out for 4 years now, for crying out loud. It is actually quite convenient if you take the time to familiarize yourself with it. Or you could just whine and never learn anything, I guess.
This is bullshit even if they advertise it up front. They should be spending all that money they make on upgrades instead of dicking us all around with this. I'm lucky that Cox Cable in Phoenix hasn't gone all nazi on us, but I'm sure it's coming. I know they must be salivating watching all these other companies impose data limits and rake in the dollars.
Right on. Thank you for that. I had a good laugh. :)
See the thing about this is that people who wouldn't otherwise do this stuff can now. That's the difference. The people like us that keep backups, make our own websites, and genuinely have curiosity about the way things in the world around them work...we still do what we've always done. The difference is that the huddled masses are now in our space and they don't know OR care how it works...just that it DOES work...until it doesn't. When it doesn't work, they still have no idea what to do...just like they always have. They could take the time to learn how these things work and make sure that there won't be any critical failures that will completely screw them...but they don't. Maybe they don't care enough to learn more. Maybe they don't have the intelligence to grasp these concepts. It's the same story it's always been, but now these people have finally migrated to the internet. It isn't just for nerds anymore.
tl;dr: Stupid or lazy people will continue being stupid or lazy no matter what we tell them. Facts of life.
No kidding, holy shit. There's a person on Slashdot that kind of doesn't like something and is reasonable about it. What the hell are you doing here? :p
Everyone keeps complaining about icons on the desktop and you specifically mention keeping files there...you DO know that you can turn the desktop into a view of a folder on your PC or use the folder widget, right? I haven't been in Linux much lately, but I specifically remember this could be done and was happy.
I'm amazed these comments don't constantly get marked as troll. Yes, you WERE screwed by Sony. Yes, someone will still buy your PS3. Some people buy gaming systems to *gasp* play GAMES ON. It is irritating, to be sure, by let's tone down the hyperbole a tad?
I'm not apologizing for Sony being a bunch of fucking idiots, but let's not dance around and pretend that everyone else is prefect or that Sony is the devil. I hear so much great stuff about the XBOX, blah, blah, but it's still the same company that you guys have been complaining about since Slashdot came into existence. With a choice between them and Sony...I'll STILL pick Sony. At least they don't hide what fuckwads they are. They pretty much tell you flat out how things are going to be. Better the devil you know, I suppose.
Nintendo is better by far (and they're printing money to boot) but they still aren't perfect. No one is.
I love you for posting this. I did not know this extension existed. 3
So true. Every single time. This version and the last have that insane preview window thing going on that takes all of eternity to load so I make sure my entire post is on the clipboard or I might get boned. I literally do this with every single thing I type on a website. I even do it for emails I write at work sometimes. :p
.pl files and went to login.pl and managed to get in. It's shit like this....
Case in point, I went to submit this, noticed I wasn't logged in. Went to login and the page doesn't work right here at work (they're probably blocking something important). I accidentally clicked something that took me to the main page. On a side note, for some reason the login page wouldn't work...luckily I correctly remembered that they use
Slashdot was my Javascript test site due to how ridiculously overloaded the damn thing was. There was a noticeable difference between Firefox versions and different computers loading it because it would just rape as much power away as it could.
:p
On a serious note, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I actually like the new look. Less busy looking. I suppose the sidebar is pretty much useless though. Looks nice and loads 1000000x faster. Comment preview is still slow as shit though. Guess they'll never fix that one.
You know, it actually shows you all that. It will take up a pretty large portion of the address bar to do it. If I recall correctly, the status bar frequently cut these off short as well. When I hover links, I notice that it basically puts ... in the middle allowing you to see the protocol, domain, and file extension pretty well. I've been hovering over a whole bunch of links after you said this and this universally seems to be the case.
So actually, there IS enough space to display all these things and they SPECIFICALLY display actually every single thing you said you wanted to see. I'm not sure if you're just knee jerking or if you actually tested this yourself, but yeah. It works exactly the way you say you want it to work.
What? When did they take away already existing PS2 backwards compatibility? I don't recall seeing anything about this. My launch 60gb still does it...did they remove the one for the few PS3s that had software BC? o_O
No kidding. Visa bigger than they are. Sounds nice until you can plainly see that he's pulling this information out of his ass. I'm pretty none of what he says is even remotely true. I really do wonder WHY they cut Wikileaks off. I honestly think they WERE pressured by the US government and just don't want to say anything. Why the hell would they cut off a cash cow like that unless they were forced to?
Quick and dirty search:
Products: (Mastercard) Payment systems (Visa)Payment systems
Revenue: US$5.10 Billion (FY 2009) US$6.91 Billion (FY 2009)
Operating income: US$2.26 Billion (FY 2009) US$3.54 Billion (FY 2009)
Net income: US$1.46 Billion (FY 2009) US$2.35 Billion (FY 2009)
Total assets: US$7.47 Billion (FY 2009) US$32.3 Billion (FY 2009)
Total equity: US$3.50 Billion (FY 2009) US$23.2 Billion (FY 2009)
Employees: 5,000 (2008) 5,700 (Q1 2010)
(http://www.diffen.com/difference/Mastercard_vs_Visa)
You're arguing AGAINST the regulations and then expecting us to someone get from that post that you're still okay with them? This isn't actually a free market. You can't give government granted monopolies a fair pass as a free market nor can you give something like this industry that, even without the government, would STILL be a monopoly because of the high costs associated with building the lines in the first place. Furthermore, having to suffer the ridiculous abuses while we wait for them to (hopefully) tank isn't really a fair option for the people. We aren't talking about your favorite brand of soda using something you don't like...we're talking about companies affecting OTHER companies and the people themselves by fucking with the internet. That isn't fair to anyone and serves only to line their pockets more. If we want the internet to continue being a place for innovation and freedom, we can't let this shit continue. If we wait for the market to decide, it will take too long. Things come and go MUCH quicker on the internet and you can destroy good ideas long before they have time to mature by messing around with who gets the best access to us. We don't want that and THEY don't want that. We just have some asshole middle man attempting to extract as much money from being the middle man as he possibly can.
Because they shouldn't be doing this anyway? This shouldn't happen regardless of whether we have a choice or not.
Normally you can at least see SOME sort of legal justification but I don't really see anything beyond "we're really mad he's making our jobs harder" and I'm not sure HOW they have legal grounds to sue him or have sanctions placed...he hasn't done anything illegal or even...WRONG in this case. WTF?
I think you're being a bit dramatic. It's not perfect, but it isn't a mess. I'm not sure why you'd think that. I use my phone constantly and I only have problems crop up now and again...no different than a regular Windows install. And as for data loss...I've actually never lost any data before outside of me actual doing a factory reset. The bugs I completely agree on (though with less frequency than you imply) but I'm at a loss for what you're looking at as far as "data loss" is concerned. What data have you lost? As for the freezing and crashes...I can normally pin that on a rogue app. I haven't had my phone actually freeze and require a reboot for some time now. Crashes, I've definitely had for some apps. Flash is a complete mess on my Droid. Crashes all my browsers pretty much within seconds of it playing a video unless I start it and then don't move at all.
I will, however, say that the upgrade process for Android is an effing mess. Pretty much the only way to upgrade and have it not run like complete shit is to back up your shit and do a factory reset. I will agree with you there. My wife upgraded her Droid Eris to 2.1 and it's been a buggy mess since then. I had the same problem when I upgraded my Droid to 2.2. Required a wipe and I was good to go. They REALLY need to work on that process. It's really bad.