Amen.

Exactly. It's extremely annoying having FB pick and choose what I see. I keep my news feed on "Most Recent" all the time. But every once in a while, without warning, they pull the ol' switcheroo and change it back to what they think are the "Top Stories". No FB, I actually know everyone in my friends list and I like to keep with with all of them, not just the few I communicate with most.

This is somewhat over-simplified but Google can also zero in on human faces in street view in order to slightly blur them. It's all automated. I think it has something to do with scanning for skin tone hues and corrosponding shapes. We recognize that an object we see is a human because of how they are put together: arms, legs, a torso, chest, head. Yes, all varying in sizes and hues but not by much. Parental control engines scan images for what they consider to have excessive skin tones, especially when those tones are interrupted with other skin tones that make up things like nipples, public hair, etc. It's quite sophisticated indeed, but when Facebook can do facial recognition, considering that Google can flag an image of something like a child with a dick in his mouth doesn't seem too far-fetched.

Which is why I don't use gmail and I find it rather alarming just how many people are/have switched to gmail. This is not to say Hotmail and Yahoo are any better at minding our privacy but I don't use them anymore either - for the same reason.

I don't need them to do "rich document rendering" (whatever the hell that is) nor do I need them (or anyone else to) index the contents of my files. All I want is for someone to STORE the shit and keep it synced between all my machines. Dropbox does this very well.

As for encryption, I don't have time for that nonsense. Anything sensative such as financials is kept locally on my own server or burned to a DVD and put in the closet. I couldn't care less if someone gets a hold of my vast collection of pictures and documents. It is private, but not going to hurt me if someone at the NSA starts snooping around.

So a business found a way to cut costs and thereby increase profits? For shame!

Why would you apply to work for the same company that just kicked you to the curb? I'd tell 'em to go to hell.

Privacy concerns and the black market will keep the cash alive.

It would be nice if Google had some competetition here. I went to openstreetmap.org and entered my address but it said nothing found. That's too bad.

Something similar happened to me recently. Google Maps led me to a business that was no longer there (if it ever was). A week or so later, I asked it about a Wells Fargo branch. It sent me to one about a mile away. Later on, I realized there was one just a block down the street from where I made the inquiry. Doh!

Their cost of living is 1/6 too.

Because Attorney General Eric Holder won't do his job and appoint a special prosecutor.

Maybe that's part of the problem. Too many cooks spoiling the broth? Perhaps I'm naive, but 18k seems a bit much for what they produce.

This. If I didn't have to worry about people torrenting movies or downloading kiddie porn, I'd be happy to share some bandwidth. Unfortunately, the real world dictates I not even consider this.

Problem is, the same people who initiate the prosecuting are in on it. Have you heard of a guy named Eric Holder?