Correct, it's a feature. As I read it, the software was optimized for fast charging, a major customer concern. The patch doubtless increases charging time, but is more forgiving of non-optimal power delivery. A "charges slower / blows up more" selector switch would be nice, but not for public perception.
Convicted and fined in the USA for price fixing.
Are you talking about the eBooks thing? If so, it's a little more complex, and far less clear cut, than "guilty of price fixing." If not that, then what?
Note that the linked article didn't say Apple actually influenced the pricing up or down; just that they asked to review and approve the plans. I think there's a fair chance they were, as stated, trying to prevent gouging. I've worked for plenty of Apple authorized dealers; the profit margin (often less than 10%) on Apple hardware just isn't enough to allow discounts. The only real influence Apple can offer is co-op advertising. That is, you sell below a certain price and Apple doesn't reimburse you for promoting their products.
I suspect that advertising allowance (and it's influence) doesn't exist in Taiwan. So, they want to maintain some control, to avoid shady dealers (any of THOSE in Taiwan?) from sullying the brand.
Y'know, I'd assumed it was well known that every government program is named exact opposite of what it actually is, e.g. "Patriot Act." Misdirection of stupid people is de rigueur. Now, call it the "Financially Penalize Citizens For Not Buying a Retail Product Act" and I'm 100% behind it!
I mean, you folks at Slashdot should have called it the Affordable Care Act website then reminded us that it's also known as Obamacare. But to call it what it isn't in the first sentence of introduction is [very] unfortunate!
Disclaimer: I am neiter Democrat nor Republican.
Actually, I prefer "Colossal, Unconstitutional F*ck Up" as being completely descriptive... but I think we have far larger problems than nomenclature, don't you?
I live in a house with resistance electric heating; and I prefer the quality of light from incandescent lamps. So, I swap them twice a year. Winter, incandescent lamps approach 100% efficiency for me. I also use them outdoors, in places where I need instant start in cold weather, and in specialty uses, like my range hood with an inbuilt and CFL-incompatible dimmer. Point is, I do it intelligently. I love the way politicians think they know better than I do.
This is now managed with drugs, just like someone who lost their leg has their "balance issues" managed with a false limb. I don't think anyone would condone blocking entry to a country because that person had lost a leg in the past.
The decision was appalling, and the fact that it is clear that Canada is giving up private medical records to US authorities is disgusting.
A false limb? There could be a bomb in there! Oh, Noes! And what makes you think the Canadians "gave up" the records? More likely, the American just took them.
Step 1 : Dismantle the NSA, and file criminal charges against their leadership.
Step 2 : There is no step 2.
Sure there is, and more. Restoring trust at this point would entail the above, plus destroying the office facilities, computers, equipment, and network infrastructure used by the NSA. Followed by a decade or two of unlimited access and inspection of any similar government assets by a neutral outside party. Then, maybe, someone will trust USA, data, and security in the same sentence.
I can easily see pushing back the borders of the "secure" area. My girlfriend suggested making it the entire airport building complex, not just the terminals. Guards at every outside door, and security searches. Then again, people congregate at the shuttle bus stations in the parking lot... and there are a lot of people on the highways, a bomb or a shooter would be bad there, too. People often live in apartments, they have lots of residents, tightly packed. Probably best to have an armed guard search you as you get out of bed, thern drive you to the airport. Can't get any safer than that!
what could a TSA agent possibly do that would be justification for shooting?
Truly justified in a legal sense? Nothing. But if you're already twitchy and you've had say, a girlfriend or your mother, scanned/groped/made to partially undress, etc. it could easily set you off. Heck, 80% of what these guys do would, in another setting, get you slapped or punched in the mouth.
After hearing of the guy who was left alone because he wasn't working for the TSA, it seemed like this guy wasn't just out for a killing spree or some anti-government nut job, but had a very specific reason to hate the TSA.
I've been wondering that myself. The TSA, at least in their normal operation, is annoying but hardly monsters that deserve a vendetta. I'm guessing there's a specific event - something that happened to a loved one or family member, perhaps - that triggered this shooter. I'm also guessing we'll never hear about it; that would be just awful for security, to hear there might be some justification.
Just what we need, now we'll have a security checkpoint before our security checkpoint to prevent you from bringing a gun into the security checkpoint.
My girlfriend actually suggested that today.
Frankly, that was my thought as well. The erratic movements at that stage of flight seem to be either a vehicle that's dangerously unstable, or a remote-controlled subscale model.
If they're still shut down April 15th, do I still have to...? Seriously, I haven't noticed a thing. I've always maintained 80% of what the federal government does, no sane person would want them to. What people WILL notice, come April 15th, is the fines for failure to hand over your soul to some insurance company. Once people start having to pay that, it'll all hit the fan and they'll have to eliminate that provision - effectively defunding Obamacare anyway. Smarter to get it out of the way now, before too much time and money are spent building the bureaucracy of a program that HAS to go away at some point, regardless.
To the guys complaining about slow starts at lights, perhaps you are the ones with an inflated sense of entitlement. Perhaps your honking at people who don't anticipate the green by a second and peel out in a cloud of burning rubber is the more annoying behavior. Because, guess what? Not everyone on the road in front of you is from your area or travels on your little habit trail from home-to-work-to-PigglyWiggly-to-home, and don't know every pothole and timing of every light intimately so they need to consult GPS.
No, sorry - you're wrong. No one is looking for JATO-assited takeoffs. If they're stopped at a light, they have all the time necessary to decide what direction they'll go in when it changes. Then when the light changes, they release one pedal and press another. That doesn't require familiarity with the area, analysis of road conditions, or research. Or if it DOES, they can darned well pull off and do the research.
"The one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception a neccessity." - Oscar Wilde
