If they are watching, I hope they are impressed by my Firefighter achievement.

I have to go to the DEQ for an emission check every two years in order to get new tags in the Portland area. I can't remember if recording mileage is part of the process. This seems like a low-tech problem that could be solved with a change to a form.

I want some of what this guy is having.

Exactly. Prepaid cell phone service just got 61 cents a month more attractive.

Don't believe the lie that AT&T will always unlock off contract phones when asked. I own an iPhone 3G. This was a hand-me-down from a relative. The phone contract that was connected to the purchase was satisfied nearly two years ago. I am also a AT&T (prepaid) customer. According their own rules, they should unlock my phone, but they denied my request. My guess is that they don't recognize me as the owner.

I shouldn't need AT&T's cooperation to unlock my phone, but as it stands now, unlocking it without their permission is a DMCA violation.

I'm a cheapskate. Because I'm a cheapskate, I don't buy subsidized phones. You pay more for them in the long term,

Jailbreaking is still legal regardless of how the phone was purchased/subsidized. The only thing that changed on January 26th was that unlocking without carrier approval is no longer a valid exception to the DMCA, and is now illegal.

Carriers will generally unlock a phone if you are traveling, even if you are within the contract, which makes their own argument about recovering their subsidy hollow. Network locks are unnecessary, anti-competitive, and diminish the resale value of perfectly good used phones.

Either way, I'm pleased that this petition is on course to qualify for a response.

I've always thought that electric cars should have gas generator trailers available as an option. If you need extended range, you just attach the trailer (purchased or rented), fill up with gas, and off you go. It sort of turns a car into a diesel/electric train.

Pinky and Brain.

I second this. My wife has a iPhone 4S on AT&T using their prepaid GoPhone service. For about $10 a month, she gets 200 texts and 50 voice minutes. Clearly she isn't a power-user, but with the abundance of WiFi available (home, work, Starbucks) she doesn't notice the absence of cellular data.

I have never signed a cell phone contract, so I need some help understanding this. Is there a provision in the contract that says that the carrier can repossess the phone for defaulting on the contract? If not, I don't see how a phone that was resold under contract is stolen goods.

Has anyone tried to do this with an incorrect phone number? If the call is locating you based on your Facebook ID, then the phone number shouldn't matter, but who knows how Facebook implemented the feature.

I don't have an iPhone, or I would check this myself.

I understand that AT&T is trying to argue that since FaceTime is a bundled app, they can restrict it however they like. If Apple cared, they could just make a FaceTime Pro app that is available in the app store and tell AT&T to go pound sand.

Let it go Carly.

My favorite Dazed and Confused quote: "That's what I like about high-school girls. I keep getting older, and they stay the same age." So creepy, yet so true.