And the absence of any pesky gotta-show-you-the-code GPL cruft has nothing to do with it.

There are a few "hacks" that do that in linux as well. Basically the network driver is in userland, with a kernel shim to handle DMA and IRQ which isn't available to userland. (in fact, I use that same mode to deal with broadcom SoC's -- not for network traffic, just to configure and monitor) There are advantages to pulling packets direct to userland.

Right, because they all put $100k worth of tech in a scope for $4k, and get the rest of it when you pay to use that tech. The hardware costs what it costs; if they can afford to put dormant hardware in the thing, then they're just screwing over their customers. It's like a lot of networking vendors being dicks by including a 10G interface put only allowing to link at 100M unless you pay them $$$$$. Or a fiber channel switch with 32 ports, but only 8 enabled in software.

Of course, you have to know exactly where in the eeprom to put the SKU's. (which wouldn't take long to figure out, btw.)

Indeed. Somewhere circa 1997(?) -- It was a dark day for the internet: people too stupid to be on the internet were now pooping all over it.

Did you look at the picture? A magnet is what's holding the "heavy" plate. The worker's hands are merely guides; they aren't supporting the weight at all. (assuming it was balanced when it was lifted.)

It's chain of custody. And it only applies to law enforcement. Tamper with evidence is illegal all the time.

The problem/question here is why was Google nosing through his email in the first place / what right do they have to do so?

Right, because Verizon doesn't do this, or AT&T, or Sprint, or T-mobile. Bottom line, every major cellular operator in the US does this.

Verizon was spanked litely for this. Yet they still do it. However, they aren't allowed to stop you from loading apps to enable it anyway. Except on an Apple device, where the provider lock cannot be broken on a stock device.

BS. You had to root it to get CM loaded. You could've stopped with rooting the stock firmware and used any of the HUNDREDS of apps and tweaks to disable the vendor bloat and security. (are we talking Samsung and KNOX perhaps. There are entire corners of the internet devoted to that shit.)

By "customizing" he means "loaded CM on it" (or someother AOSP based build) that doesn't know how to be efficient.

what's in the Apple-disapproved and really useful file for the unofficial app stores to offer?

- Apps to enable the f'ing hotspot that the greedy as hell service provider won't allow you to turn on. (without paying them some idiotic fee to allow me to use my already capped data however I d*** well please.)
- Full filesystem access
- Add bluetooth capabilities Apple doesn't think anyone needs
- WiFi scanning apps
(I could go on...)

Hosting isn't free. Bandwidth isn't free.

Sure, the hard drives could be left sitting on a shelf for 50 years, but won't do anyone any good.

Your credit score is a measure of credit worthiness -- how responsible you are with your debts. The money you have is not credit and not reported to anyone. Likewise, your paycheck is not credit, and it's contents are not published to anyone.

Have you ever read your credit report? They do report CC usage (balances), zero use is bad.

Nope. The $1 charge is "pending"; they have received authorization to charge you, but they never complete it. This is how they verify the card information. The gas you pump is charged immediately after the transaction is completed -- i.e. as soon as there's a final amount to charge. Most places will show up within minutes; if they wait for hours, the card could be over the limit and the charge refused.