So you're the first person to reply without reading the full length of the JE. Well done.

The abstract link from the summary goes to a page that has the full-text of the paper, however the paper refers to another paper for the actual methods. Digging into that paper (which is helpfully available full-text from anywhere - or at least from my home which certainly has no journal subscriptions) gives us:

So really, this is about the overall health risks of a substance. Certainly important but that is far from being an endorsement of any of the substances for routine use.

In the case of the Lenovo systems, there is an option D. Option D is put your own OS on it. If you're not inclined to use a *nix OS, you could even have someone else install your favorite version of Windows on it. Considering in the class-action you'd be lucky to get $5 - and you're still on the hook to get rid of superfish somehow through your own action - this would likely be a better option for a lot of people.

I wish we could up-vote your and tepples posts as the "Best Answer" to this thread. You two win.

That's not true. I didn't say don't do anything, I just said the lawsuit seems pointless. The payout from the lawsuit could be effectively zero for the consumer. They could find more useful ways to exert pressure on the company than this (and when one considers that Lenovo is Chinese, which severely reduces the likelihood of getting a verdict against them enforced).

All that the class action suit would do is line the pockets of some opportunistic attorneys (who get paid regardless of the outcome).

I thought the first playstation came about when Nintendo decided not to have Sony make a CD drive for their console. Did Sega really have a chance to make the same mistake?

We've seen how much energy is wasted when customers try to sue to get refunded for the Windows license they don't use on their PC. Why would this turn out better? Yeah, it sucks that they did it but the big difference here is someone caught them doing it.

TurboTax's use-per-download limit is just as bad as these artist models. Alternatives like H&R Block @ Home's downloadable software have unlimited paper filings, but provide reasonable limits on services like electronic filings (five per activation code). And of course one download is only good for one tax year; you have to buy again for the next year, but that's not just to rip you off but to account for the ever-changing tax code.

It's simple how such little changes like that convert the license from "total bullshit, I hate them!" to "well, that seems reasonable". Also, one of them requires overbearing copyright law to enforce, while the other doesn't.

Then artists should look to make money on the tour that follows their new album, and be done with it. Instead of paying a 100-man crew and bringing in 10 trucks of custom sound and lighting equipment, then splitting the take 6 ways with the other band members, how about writing music that can be played on a rested grass lawn with minimal overhead and a four-piece band? And if that still doesn't work, how about just doing this on the weekends while you have another job during the week?

Nobody has a right to earn a living doing something. A subset of craftsmen we call "artists" have forgotten this.

How about a model where the artists only continue to get paid if they continue to work. You know, like the rest of us? Let's call that model the "Touring and Selling T-Shirts and Actually Writing New Material" model. Couple that with a crazy strategy called "Setting Up an IRA and Actually Saving for Retirement Like Everyone Else" and they might be viable.

Of course, that assumes enough people want to see them play and buy their T-shirts that they can afford to save for requirement. If they can't, I suggest that they instead try the "Get a Real Damn Job Because No One Owes You The Right To Chase Your Dream If You Aren't Good Enough to Make A Living At It" model.

I will suspect that much like smitty (and, as best I have seen, every conservative to ever write on slashdot), you also have not read the Communist Manifesto, and hence have no clue what the ideals of Communism actually are.

There is no joke there.

But yet now the crusades and the Inquisition weren't Christian, Reagan wasn't conservative, etc... Funny reality some people like to project.

You are describing someone who was themselves lying about studying a communist society. A vastly more correct term for what your buddy is describing would be totalitarian, which is not compatible with the ideals of communism. It is no more fair to look at the USSR as an example of communism than it is to look at the US or Somalia as examples of free-market libertarianism.

The article says that his previous post went viral. This is not nearly the same as being slashdotted - at least, not any more. We don't have enough users on slashdot any more to bring down even a hobbyist website, let alone a hosted blog. How many years has it been since slashdot users last successfully slashdotted a website (at least, one that wasn't hosted on an intentionally low-powered system?)?

And, since the employees are not employed in Massachusetts, they are not violating the agreement in Massachusetts. I think A123 is going to need to sue them in California where the contracts are being violated (and are void due to superseding state law). The employees just need to be sure not to visit MA for business until the non-compete term wears out.