I think that's part of the explanation, but it doesn't account for why the phone doesn't suck in other ways -- if manufacturers are lazy and cheap, why has the camera resolution, for example, evolved to the point where it's really pretty good? And I think the answer is that camera resolution is quantifiable in a standard way, so it puts more pressure on the manufacturers to compete, whereas usability and bugginess are not.

And I just noticed that all instances of the word "shit" were bleeped out in the article.

Original title that I submitted as "My LG Optimus Cellphone Sucks Worse Than It's Supposed To". Apparently "sucks" is now too profane for Slashdot :)

Ah. I think I threw away a few of those as well. But there must be more scum playing that game, as I got several of these via email.

Well, yes. The prison operator gets a small profit in exchange for huge damage to society and individuals. The very definition of fundamentally evil.

I was not aware of that functionality. I will give it a try. Thanks!

There is such a concept as aiding and abetting, or being an accessory to, a crime. Many people have been tried and convicted who themselves did not directly commit a crime.

If you don't believe that concept is applicable here, I'd like to know why. If someone else believes it does apply, I'd like to know their reasoning as well. I don't see how "liberal" or "conservative" has anything to do with it. It's a question of ethical responsibility, not political ideology. By failing to understand that, you're handwaving and dismissing a valid and worthy question about the nature of pervasive advertising and its effect on the population.

Hehe, no. I only do that for ads in videos. For normal ads I have almost everything blocked, and the web looks clean and clear.

I think it's more likely that more people are becoming obese because of exactly one factor: age. They are living artificially prolonged lifetimes due to access to adequate food and to medicine. It's easier to get fat when you are 50 than when you are 30 because of the natural changes in your metabolism.

I just repeat "fuck you, fuck you, fuck you", while the ad plays. If it is especially annoying, I make a note to never buy from the cretins responsible.

I think freedom of control is hugely valuable to artists. However are they going to experiment and evolve their craft without it?

That is how I published my PhD. The "publisher" took a small cut to get it an ISBN and to have it added to some catalogs, but proposed a very reasonably priced printer that he has a deal with for it. (Physical copies were mandatory.) All rights for electronic publishing remain with me. The book itself is LaTeX, and for proofreading, I paid $1000 to a lady that offers this as a service and did a pretty good job of it. A fiction author could possibly get away with having some loyal fans do the proofreading for free in exchange for early access. And these days, a fiction author does not need to produce physical copies, those that want one could easily be served by book-on-demand systems.

The only people that will suffer under this system is those that produce trash (not the genre) and the publishers that have become superfluous. Of course, editors still have value, and some authors will want to retain the services of one. But there is absolutely no reason to not hire them directly, either for a cut or for a fixed or per-effort fee.

It only takes something like 1000-2000 regular donors to keep a writer in reasonable comfort. In the age of the Internet, that is really not a lot. As good writers want to write and are typically not motivated by money unlike the publishers that just try to get rich on their backs, this is all it takes. Of course, publishers will fight this tooth and nail, as it threatens their existence. An existence that benefits absolutely nobody but themselves though, so their demise will be something eminently welcome. I predict this will not kill all publishers though. There are those that actually respect their authors and customers, are not primarily motivated by money, and have a positive effect on the overall process. These will remain. I doubt however that any of the large publishers will be among the survivors.

The primary value of currency is universal exchangeability. Remove that and it is worthless. Apparently Mr. Anderson is really, really stupid.