I prefer to think that this - and the social media outcry that landed the story on the front of every major English-language news outlet - is how democracy works nowadays.

It's a lot less bloody than the French Revolution.

Fiat notes are just paper and ink, yet we still prosecute their theft.

Even Dice hates it now.

I'm a cranky old curmudgeon, and I hate change. Nothing I say will actually influence the corporate overlords.

That said, I don't like this. And I am your audience.

The worst case is that Time Warner continues to gouge consumers and offer worse and worse service. A merger may be better than that.

For reference, current business pricing is:
$501.95/mo for 100/5 from Time Warner in Dallas
$199/mo for 100/20 from Comcast (not in DFW)
$99/mo for 100/7 from Charter in Ft Worth

You can't have less competition in broadband unless you start with some.

According to ASCI's 2014 poll of Internet Service Providers (see coverage by Ars), Time Warner had the lowest satisfaction of all broadband companies (54% and dropping faster than any other company). Comcast was 2nd-worst (57% and dropping 2nd-fastest), and Charter was 3rd-worst (and dropping 3rd fastest). So, this may lessen Time Warner's decline.

Personally, I have used both companies for coax services in the DFW area, and I prefer Charter. Business services are similar, but Charter is much cheaper (currently $40/mo promo for 60M/4M versus Time Warner at over $300/mo for 50M/5M). Time Warner's aging infrastructure in Dallas definitely does not warrant the premium. Plus, Charter service is no-contract.

In other news, a survey of members of the American public conducted on behalf of the United Auto Workers Union reveals support among those surveyed for buying new American-made cars.

We had plans to launch the camera feature. At least, enough to actually bother paying for cameras to be installed. But (now that our intent has been covered in the media), we no longer have such plans.

Companies are allowed to value donations are fair market value for tax purposes.

Regulations 1.170A-1(c)(2) and (3) states:
"The fair market value is the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts. If the contribution is made in property of a type which the taxpayer sells in the course of his business, the fair market value is the price which the taxpayer would have received if he had sold the contributed property and, in the case of a contribution of goods in quantity, in the quantity contributed. The usual market of a manufacturer or other producer consists of the wholesalers or other distributors to or through whom he customarily sells, but if he sells only at retail, the usual market consists of his retail customers."
Source: http://www.nchv.org/images/upl...

It should be possible for Apple to actually make money from these donations.

In 2013, IHS estimateed Apple's costs to produce an iPad were between $274 and $361. Current retail price on an iPad Air w/ cellular is $829. Add in high-margin accessories and software, and it is quite possible that Apple could write-off a donation of around $1000 per device against $350 in cost. This $650 reduction in taxable income could save Apple about $227.50 in taxes... if they actually paid a typical 35% corporate tax rate.

This is on the heels of the City Council in Lexington, KY voting recently to oppose the Comcast/Time Warner merger.

Story on Ars: http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/10/kentucky-city-threatens-to-block-comcasttime-warner-cable-merger/

Perhaps there is a way to find ideas for this on the interwebs?
Ah yes! https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=information+technology+conference

Is stupidity common? Yes. Yes it is.

In my experience, the stupid people tend to get fired eventually. But the mess they leave behind can be tremendous.

My point is not that you should never automate things. Rather, when you automate things, you should make sure your managers know (1) that you were smart enough to improve processes and are therefore valuable to future projects and (2) that the things you automate could one day break (process changes, etc.).

At very least, the poster should be able to articulate a better reason for automation than "I wanted to sleep in".