"Not only do you grossly overestimate your intelligence, you don't even pass the self-awareness test."
Well put.
the part where they write "I'm right. Period...." seemed pretty arrogant.

If you are hitting slashdot's required time between posts, it might be a hint that you are posting too much?

Look up the meaning of the word "argument"...
"a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong."

So you were not trying to persuade others?

Oh boy, you resorted to name calling so you clearly won the argument.

So you honestly don't think this process is intentionally deceptive? If so, why do the games all have some sort of "abstraction mechanism" for money (money becomes Smurfberries, coins, tokens, balloons, etc) "Smurfs' Village" has an age rating of 8. Does someone who is only 8 understand that when they are spending what are now "Smurfberries" are actually real money?

If this is the case, why does almost every country in the world have special laws around children and their inability to enter into contracts? I think there is some truth to the fact the parents are not careful, but the game makers and "stores" also do what they can to help facilitate this sort of thing.

How hard is it to open an account on some platforms without entering in your CC number? If the game is "free" why do you need a CC at all?

PS. Agree with you on the lack of accepting responsibility. Ever since the 1990's the world has moved to a "its not my fault because" stance. This is not just about not accepting responsibility, it is about targeting kids with "in-app" purchases.

As I read your post it confuses me.
So while many in the US do not have healthcare, their tax dollars was used to fund a "carrier group" (sounds costly?) to provide healthcare to foreign nationals?

In return for this, you got a "maybe" for building a base (doesn't sound like you are after "soft power") but yet you also state the constitution prohibits this? This makes me think of the classic "the check is in the mail" line. Hey, thanks for the help, we will consider letting you open a base even though it is prohibited by our constitution?

Are you saying funding a "carrier group" full of staff, and providing medical care was less then "a couple of million dollars in tents"?

If this is the case, why not spend "just a few million" to provide medical care to your own citizens who also need it?

Perhaps when the Philippines was hit by a typhoon China had their own problems to deal with and focused on those instead They later decided (pressured?) to give tents and such to try to be helpful without really expecting something in return (reopen military bases)?

Apple updates are available to all compatible devices on the day of release.
So just make some devices incompatible right?

Why doesn't IOS 7 work on an iPhone 3GS?
https://discussions.apple.com/...

When apple does it, it is fine because the hardware is "too old for the new OS" but when android does the same thing for similar reasons "Few Android phones get more then one update". There is a huge difference between Android and IOS. Apple makes both the hardware and software. It is not a function of "android" when hardware manufacturers don't release new updates for their devices, that is the manufacturers doing that.

BTW, How many updates did the 3GS get before it was EOL?

You said "Apple OS updates are free of charge". OSX updates were not always free of charge.

PS, Apple did a similar "EOL" for Mavericks, two models, released fairly close together, one gets the update the other doesn't.

"Quite possibly. Neither of us have Apple TV, and it's not what we were talking about."

Really, so because this device does 'auto updates' it is OK because here are no third party risks? isn't the same true for all IOS devices since they all use the app store?

Man, you work for Apple's PR department or what?

1) The updates are actually made available, and promptly, unlike Android.
What exactly does this mean? Android has updates as well. (FUD on your part)?

2) The users are all informed that they are available, and the installation made simple.
Yeah, because clicking on the "update" box in android is challenging?

3) All OS updates are free of charge.
Perhaps true now, but in the past apple charged a fee for its updates.

4) There's a buzz around new versions. Not just amongst enthusiasts and tech media, but in the mainstream media.
Some call it buzz, others call it hype.

Apple TV doesn't just download them, it installs as well, unless Apple's website is incorrect in which case you can have them update it with the correct info.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht...
Keep your Apple TV always up to date by automatically installing software updates when available.

I dont own a lot of Apple products so take this with a grain of salt...

My OSX desktop does the same thing as windows, and tries to download updates nightly, as does my Apple-TV. I guess they are not "forced" as i can turn those options off, but the default was to have them ON.

I notice you neglected to address the extent to which Apple makes it hard to "roll back" an update, instead focusing on the "forced update" angle?

1. If iOS 7 was so bad, why was the adoption rate so high so fast?
Forced updates and no way to go back to the previous version thanks to encrypted downloads?

Obviously the bar to use the word "hacked" is really low. Attracts more page clicks then "teens read manual and found default password to ATMs"

Not an american, but this is among the things i find more troubling. Many tend to be very patriotic and proudly wave the flag everywhere. Said flag bearing item is almost always "made in China".
Open challenge to anyone living in the US, can you find something with the flag on it and was actually made in the USA (not "finally assembly in the US" or "printed in the US").
Why on earth would you patriotically wear something "Made in China"?

" it is the over-zealous DRM that is killing the format."

See my post above on he minidisc...

Welcome to Sony, where DRM comes first and customers a distant second.

Just because they sold the bluray player, and made the new disks in some "version X" format doesn't mean one should expect them to release a firmware which allows you to the newer disks. They just abandon the player and move on to the next big thing.

MiniDisc was actually a pretty good system at the time and the discs were fairly cheap. what killed it was the ATRAC format. Since Sony music was so concerned with piracy they introduced their proprietary format to prevent copying. A good example of one division of sony killing another i guess.

While it might have been a workable solution had they spent any money/time building a proper converter (mp3->actrac) instead of the garbage they released.

I've been burned by Sony twice (moved to Yamaha long ago) and buying the minidisc which said "mp3 support" right on the box, but having to wait an excessive amount of time to convert to actrac was too much to ask. The wait time naturally assumes the atrac conversion software SonicStage didn't crash/hang...

Each time you respond it just more more and more out there.

"My reasons for going with my purchase isn't relevant to this discussion"
You said you purchased the terrible devices, not me. Do your home work and generally avoid the $50 tablets at walmart.

"You may be happy to carry around 5 different devices depending on what you want to do. I have no interest in giving myself back strain hauling myriad electronics on top of my day to day stuff."

Yeah, because at 10.2 oz (290 g) the kindle is a real backbreaker...
Oddly enough, your "ipad air" weights in at 469 g (1.034 lb) so i guess you must hire someone to carry it for you since it is almost 5 times as heavy?

Even more unusual, is that my tab 2 (581g) and the kindle total 871G which is still less then your "air".

you must really be straining your back hauling your heavy "ipad air".

Android also asks about permissions.

jailbreak, isn't that a nice way to say your OS has a SERIOUS security issue which allows "hackers" full access to the device (root)?
Do you remember how secure it was when you could jailbreak it just by going to a website? Man, that is SUPER safe right?

Android doesn't need to fix "jailbreaks" as you don't need to jailbreak the device to make it useful, it comes that way. If Apple devices were so awsome, why is the jailbreak community so large? One of the first things i did when i got my apple TV's was jailbreak them so they can run XBMC and not be tied to itunes.

"Guess which one is more secure? " - BSD, you know the "opensource" unix IOS and OSX are heavily based on? People might think Linux is a marsupial because Apple does a better job marketing. They don't call OS-X "Darwin plus our fancy GUI" do they? Go to your mac and check the version of XNU (Carnegie Mellon University MACH kernel) and FreeBSD you are using.

if you want to talk security, people dont use apple or android but the old standard blackberry which has government approvals.

You are right, when you own the app store you can put anything you want "through a sieve" and filter out anything which :
Competes with you
Could compete with you
somethign you want to steal later