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Comment Re:Tor compromised (Score 5, Informative) 620

It's not a "lucky coincidence". I'm Canadian and I buy some stuff online. Here's why they tend to open packages:

1. Canadian Border Services gets $5 for every package they open. (I call this the "putting their dick in it" fee.) You can not appeal this fee.
2. As you have more stuff sent to you, they tend to open more of your packages. My ex-wife ordered lots of stuff online (mostly knitting supplies) and towards the end of her interest in her hobby, they were opening 90% of her packages. Mine were rarely opened.
3. They get a little more openy when you're doing your own brokerage. FedEx and UPS charge about $40 for brokerage, so some people do it themselves for $10. This requires you to go down to the border (or quasi-border), which in my city is the airport.

So it wasn't a tip-off, it was just CBS looking for extra cash.

Comment Re:Uhmm...BlewBerry? (Score 1) 278

I guess the US phone network infrastructure was just simply so bad back in the day that special solutions were required?

Back in 2000, it was an incredible idea to get your phones to connect to servers or desktops. One of my first co-op jobs used a pile o' kludges to connect to Outlook (including a hilarious GUI hack), and we used some preset commands to get a pseudo-CLI on a Nokia.

The phones we have today are significantly more powerful than the desktops we had back when RIM was at the top of their game. Connectivity is remarkable -- I can connect my phone to my thermostat and stream music to my bicycle.

Comment Re:Uhmm...BlewBerry? (Score 2, Insightful) 278

Blackberry was killed by their failure to upgrade their infrastructure.

Do you guys remember when they lost all emails, not once but TWICE in a matter of a week? That was what got businesses to say "oh shit, this isn't something we can depend on" and get other phones working. I'll bet that they're still running all their services through that same fucked up server in Ontario, despite the failure they've had on the unit.

Once that seed of doubt got planted, compounded by the fact that people could start using their personal phones (i.e. free to corporate) for business, that was it. Stick a fork in them, they're done. The one thing they said they were good for they couldn't do anymore.

Of course, given that they were hilariously spied-on and infiltrated (not as much, but almost as badly as Nortel), who's to say if those failures were accidents or if they were pushed?

Comment Re:Piracy rationalizations in 3... 2... 1... (Score 5, Insightful) 348

I preordered Iron Man 3 on BR. It wasn't shipping yet, so I downloaded a copy.

What the fuck was their problem with making me wait to watch a movie I enjoyed with my kids?

They could just as easily sell the movies at the theatre. But they don't. It's still all about the buggy whips.

Comment Re:I wish it weren't so (Score 1) 621

This particular problem really irks me. My brother-in-law, who is otherwise a sensible and brilliant guy, let's his seven-year-old play these violent games. My child, also the same age, is not allowed to play them. I have a very hard time explaining to my child why his cousin can play these games, but he can't.

I tell my kids "different houses have different rules". Works great.

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