If they know that, then why are they installing adware with security holes?

Because it's the only way they can possibly spin advertising as being somehow pro-consumer. There's really no other way.

That's HTML, that has nothing to do with HTTP.

That's HTML, that has nothing to do with HTTP.

It's just the result of a drunken mad libs game.

OK, let's sell [noun] kits to fund a [noun] flight over [noun]

Answer it? You didn't ask a question. The point of my link was to show that background checks for regular taxis are not sufficient to have a 100% success rate of weeding out potential sex offenders. Why should that be any different for Uber? (note, that was a question for you) People like to point to stories of sexual assault surrounding Uber as a reason not to use them, when the fact is that sexual assaults happen in regular taxis also. I don't think that Uber made any claim that their service is 100% sexual assault free, but frankly I think it is safer than a taxi. I sent a friend home in an Uber car the other night after some drinking at around 3:30 am. I ordered the car, so I was able to track where it was going on my phone and I verified that it took her straight home (I also entered her address so he knew where to go without asking her). I don't have that same capability with a taxi. If I wanted a further assurance I could have called her and talked to her all the way home. I also have the driver's name, vehicle make and model, and license plate number because Uber tells me all of that information. If I call a cab and she gets in it and she doesn't let me know when she's home, what are my options? (there's another question) Call the police and tell them who I called, and then they can call the cab company and work out with the dispatcher who got the call, then try to locate them over the radio and hope they respond? How long does that take? What else is happening in that car while all of that is going on? How is that any safer than letting me know where the vehicle is, who is driving it, and having a description of his car including location?

Why is it that Uber can operate in California, then? You make it sound 100% illegal, so why do they advertise California cities among the places they operate?

What's your point?

Well there's your problem right there. Good luck with that.

That's fine. But, just so you know, you don't tip Uber drivers. When you arrive at the destination you just get out of the car and leave, you don't pay or tip, the payment happens automatically when the ride is over.

Considering that every Uber car in which I've rode (except one) has been cleaner, more prompt, and cheaper than a typical taxi, you can stick to whatever you want and I'll stick to Uber. Where my house is, the typical time from order to pickup for Uber is 2 or 3 minutes depending on how many cars are sitting in the neighborhood. It cost me $15 with Uber to head downtown last week, and a taxi was waiting right outside when I left so we just jumped in that and the ride back home in the taxi was $25 (plus a tip). In a nice old smelly car, too. You can keep that if you want to spend your time worrying about whether or not it is legal for one person to pay another person for a ride.

Right, back when Uber came out in 2004.

He was referring specifically to the long route incident form, that's the focus of his article - how to know when you're getting ripped off.

Unfortunately, too many people have the attitude that they'll only act in a civil manner towards other people if they are being recorded or otherwise evaluated. There's no reason to not act civil when no one is looking.

You've never used Uber, have you?

In fairness, they are pretty isolated. How many Uber rides have you read about where nothing happened? One of my friends here was getting a ride and she asked her driver how her experiences have been . She once got a passenger who had her go out to an isolated area then tried to drag her out of her car and into hell, but she was able to escape (and continued driving, actually). What you're describing, people being violent towards each other, is not something unique to Uber. Believe it or not, but assaults and rapes have actually been occurring since before Uber was a thing. The fact that they still occur doesn't mean that Uber failed, it means that we still have sociopaths among us who are willing to victimize other people. And it's not as if drivers attacking passengers are limited to Uber.

But, in the case of the Uber drivers attacking people, or in the cases where passengers attack the drivers, with Uber at least you know exactly who your attacker was (unless they stole someone's phone or carjacked someones car and decided to turn on Uber) which is going to lead to an arrest, but even without violent crime or the police getting involved the rating system should (in theory) remove the abusers from the system. I don't see any flamebait or troll comments on Slashdot, for example, but that's not because they aren't here. I just have my settings configured so that the system doesn't even show me them.

A single negative review doesn't lock you out of anything. But, even so, let me know when you come across a story of an Uber driver abandoning a family of 4 in a corn field.

Right. Nevada knows this, which is why they make it so easy for consumers to report when they are getting ripped off. All you need to do is download and print a PDF. Then you need to complete the affidavit and have it notarized, then mail or fax it to the Department of Business and Industry. Which is way easier than giving your driver a rating and leaving comments on your phone. Blake Ross suggests that you pack a few items with you while you're taking a taxi:

Right, because in the 46 or so years he was alive and not president, he probably never flew coach.

I don't understand your gripe with that name in particular. It's not an obscure name, and it evokes some sense of classical grace (as well as being an extension of the Opera name in a sense). There are any number of other projects out there, both successful and otherwise, that have much more ridiculous names. Firefox is a great example. What does "Firefox" have to do with being a web browser? Or SeaMonkey, or Chrome for that matter? What about Twitter? Or Flickr? What about LibreOffice, which I have to actually spell for people who haven't heard of it? How about "The Gimp?" But you're choosing to go on a rant over the name of a classical composer, as if no one has heard of this person?

In the first place, people are obviously fine with using things with names that don't have an obvious connection to the product. In the second place, plenty of people have actually heard of Vivaldi (the man). It's not as obscure as you apparently think it is.

Apparently not.