Well, that explains why we started treating app stores like IPv4.

Obviously at some point in the past "coders" worried we were gonna run out of the damn things, and started churning out hundreds of thousands of them.

Oddly enough, we think the answer today is we need more of those.

Just curious when we were going to focus on quality instead of quantity. Do we really need a generation of paper coders that were forced into a profession? We already kind of know the end result when anyone half-asses coding.

Not sure why we're discussing this. With this feature, Facebook will eventually become more dead than alive (animals are well on their way), and I'd have to question the intent of advertisers when Facebook becomes a "social" cemetery. I would hope they would too.

Oh look, another banner ad for 3D-printed tombstones. I'm gonna wait until Black Friday when they have that killer sale...

While it might be difficult to prove, tell me again how this would not be construed as destruction of evidence in every legal way?

Oh yeah, that's right. Law Enforcement did it. I forgot they don't actually have to abide by the laws they enforce upon the rest of us...silly me.

Let's not bullshit ourselves. The only line that is consistently being blurred here by law enforcement is the line between legal and illegal, particularly at the level most critical the the People.

This IS the reason they're slightly hesitant to reveal information ironically (and allegedly) protected by a Freedom of Information Act. Oddly enough, I'm not sure why they even hesitate. They might as well brag about it. Not like we can do a damn thing about it. There are no mechanisms left.

All I have to say to this kind of activity is it's a dangerous precedent when law enforcement thumbs their nose at the law. Tends to set a rather bad example that can lead to chaos.

Not sure how paying monthly for a portable device and wireless service that hardly ever leaves your house is feeding common sense or logic here. Sorry. Either own one, or don't.

Ironically, that kind of increase would suggest NSA monitoring streams were somehow being misrouted...

Well, this is...rather inspiring.

I currently run a Mac Mini, but I will keep this in mind for a future project. Thanks!

My current project is tackling this issue from the other side, by culling my data down to what is essential. I mean hell, I was staring at 300 CDs and DVDs in my closet burned of various backups over the years. Grabbed 10 - 15 discs a day and tackled it. Got through it all, now I'm culling down the RAID array.

When we're carrying around 100TB pocket-sized SSDs in 10 years, I know this effort won't mean much, but it's more for my data inheritors. Kinda knew what anyone else was going to do staring at 300 discs; not go through any effort and trash them.

And how many people currently shield their smartphones from bluetooth, NFC, WiFi, IR, radio, or GPS? (you know, that technology we use to track things) Obviously the majority of post-Snowden society today has no problem carrying around devices capable of tracking them.

Activated without the users knowledge? Well, only if they didn't take the time to read every page the 37 EULAs they've accepted, along with the other 27 auto-accepted when they activated their new smartphone. I'm certain data is being slurped with every GPS refresh and radio pulse. And it was agreed to by the owner.

Society is so accepting to this that a kids game theme (follow the leader, tag-you're-it) could be tied to the marketing and people would buy it.

Doubly so if Apple did it.

When every piece of marketing-subsidized hardware in the future looks and smells like today's whored-out smartphones, attempting to secure said hardware will be rather difficult, or impossible.

Point is, you won't be able to ensure you "keep" your data anywhere, much like a smartphone today. Unless you're going to enjoy maintaining that offline system locked in a vault powered off 99% of the time. Doesn't smell very useful.

(Whips out smartphone and fires up real-time language translator...)

Man, remember waaaaaay back in 2015 when people were still bitching about educators mandating humans to learn a foreign language the hard way?

Things change over time. Perhaps so should our educational requirements.

At one point our country felt there must be a line between Church and State.

Ironically, the dissolving of that line led to the issues we now face today.

The problem is not that we don't feel there should be a line. The problem is enforcing the damn thing with some science and common sense.

You're right, parents are granted a lot of leeway. The problem these days is they come armed with a lawyer to defend that leeway, and we allow it rather than override for the common good.

Seems like a 99.7% vaccination rate would be the perfect data pool in which to prove or disprove your paranoia.

What say you, Mississippi statistics? (taking into account the McFood Pyramid that is quite popular in the south of course)

In accordance to the EULA you agreed to, we will now be charging your credit card on file a fee of $2500 for the hardware. Have a Nice Day.

Laugh it up. Chances are you will agree to something like this to use this kind of service.

Of course, the alternative to fines would be facing legal charges and/or jail time for interfering with corporate delivery services. They'll likely make those charges a felony too, since everyone seems to be focused on the delivery of legal controlled substances with this service.

Performing puppets, eh?

So, I'm curious, do you feel Jim Henson is an artist, or is he just some hack who performs with puppets on stage?

The artist is what is represented in voice and on stage. Many artists have VERY unique voices, and they also have VERY unique tastes. It's not the song itself that makes art. It's the entire presentation.

If we can't call entertainment sprayed all over the stage in a visual orgasm art, then I don't know what the hell we're doing labeling people who slap paint on a canvas and hang it on a wall the same thing. Is the painter who paints a building an artist, or just some hack who likes to copy the art of the architect? Who is the true artist in that scenario? Slippery slope indeed.

Well now...that is certainly some creative logic you've got there.

So tell me again how you smoke the cigarettes, but don't consider yourself a smoker...?

You know, admitting you watch TV isn't going to get you cast out on an island somewhere.