Making something affordable by making it more expensive for others isn't a sustainable solution, IMHO. The ACA (first part being 'Affordable'), did NOTHING to control out of control healthcare costs. But they did manage to pile it on to the middle class... Again.

"If you like your healthcare plan, you can...", oh what the hell. it doesn't actually matter what the man says - just pull that Blue Lever again.

And you clearly missed the point of A.I. if you think those beings at the end of the film were 'space aliens'. Do some Googling. I missed that too... :/

Just imagine - for five seconds what our response would be if, instead of illegals, Mexico decided to lob rockets at us.

The idea of 'proportional response' becomes a bit fuzzy. You want it to stop. You want them to understand that the consequences will NOT be proportional. You want them to fully realize the fist of God that is our military might. The fact remains that Hamas provokes the situation because of people like you. People who seem to think singing 'Imagine' at them will cause a sudden peace to breakout. People who provide aid and comfort to those who start lobbing rockets at civilian areas, who excuse their actions, and then expect Israel to just sit there and take it.

What would you suggest? That Israel lobs a proportional amount of rockets at random locations in Gaza? Look, these people don't WANT peace. I know that's hard for your type to understand this mindset, but from a young age, Palestinians are taught that Jews are the enemy. There is no peace to be gained in this situation, now or in the visible future.

And the provocations will continue. And the response to said provocations will continue.

Tell me, do you think Hamas is somehow surprised at Israel's response? Really? Where is this compassion for the Palestinian people when it comes to the actions of Hamas? Why aren't we calling for war crimes on these provocateurs?

MSFT stock goes up a few points...

God I wish I had mod points right now... :)

Also in reference to the 2010 movie, after reading the title to this article, all I could here was Curnow screaming, "It's shrinking, IT'S SHRINKING!!!"

...they did the whole 'we're going back in time to change everything' thing.

This is when I get all nostalgic for the 'old' Slashdot and wish they'd never replaced the Monty's stamping foot for this sort of thing. :/

Ever seen the metallic material completely stripped off of the plastic of the disk? I have. Some companies were better than others are producing quality disks - who knows what might have happened otherwise? Better not to take the chance of damaging something not restorable and doing it the hard way rather than the easy and quick method.

Perhaps. But if they can't get a permit to build the pipeline, I suspect there's a chance only slightly greater than 0 that they'd get one to build a refinery. :/

This isn't so much about a paid subscription as it is not having to pay Apple for each copy of Office sold. This is their way of getting around that. Wonder how long it'll take Apple to close this loophole in the future...

What you say sounds good, but the reality is, not everyone is cut out for anything other than 'menial labor'. When the low wage (think: menial) jobs are replaced by robotics, where do those people go?

I have a number of friends who work in the trucking industry as drivers. Surely, their jobs are in jeopardy as robotized trucking is right around the corner (so to speak). These are guys who love what they do, and really have no skill in anything else.

Maybe the next generation will have a greater chance at higher skilled work, but I believe that not everyone will be cut out for it, and then... What then?

I agree with you, and perhaps my comment was poorly placed in the stream. But I'm not sure an FCC-mandated Net Neutrality would apply to the 'little' guys anyway.

Let's say there was a complaint from, oh, I dunno, Aereo, for instance. You know, the guys who re-stream live TV from tiny antennas? Now here's a great example of a startup that ISP's (especially the cablecos), would LOVE to de-prioritize. So they do. And Aereo goes to the FCC and complains.

Just how long do you suppose the process will take when you take into account the government's notoriously slow moving processes, and then everyone lawyering up with 'he said/she said' testimony, tech demos and the like? My guess is that it could be held up for YEARS, and meanwhile, who's paying for those government lawyers and bureaucrats all so someone can watch Monday Night Football or some reality show over their Internet connection?

Not saying it's fair, just saying it sucks all the way around...

What about: Netflix defending it's own turf? Why must the government step into everything?

Now before you mark this as 'flamebait', consider this: What does Netflix and other providers have, that ISPs generally do not? A direct line of sight. Their own apps.

Consider: What if Netflix decided to provide an 'ISP test', presented to the user when playback is poor? Or, conversely, what if Netflix just pulled a 'Time Warner' and displayed something like: 'Your ISP purposely limits the quality level of your connection to Netflix. Here's their number, and here are other ISPs in your area who do not'...

Just an idea, and something the ISPs would have difficulty justifying.

This is my first thought... ;)