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Comment Re:It's true! (Score 5, Interesting) 457

Like many slashdot users, for most of my life, I've been accused of spending too much time on computers.

As a child of the 80s, I've spent countless hours on BBSes, terminal internet, dialup internet, AOL instant messenger, battle.net, mmos, civilization 1, civilization 2, civilization 3, etc. ;-)

Today, however, I feel like a luddite. I don't use Facebook. I don't use instagram or snapchat or whatsapp. I read one or two twitter accounts, but don't have an account myself. My wife is totally hooked on Facebook, and I'm now I'm the one complaining about spending so much time on the computer!

It's a bizarre world.

Comment Re: Who would believe it? (Score 5, Interesting) 457

Funny, I just had a conversation with the same answer from my low 20-somethings sister. She never uses Facebook and chats with instagram and snapchat. Seems inefficient, but maybe that's just me!

She does have a twitter account--a marketing course in one of her college classes required all the students to open a twitter account. If THAT'S not the death knell of a social network (professors ordering students to open an account!), I don't know what is.

Comment Re:It works (Score 1) 110

Right, but only if you define a need solely as a "basic survival requirement." I do not agree with this definition.

I would use a simpler definition in the context of cars/hardware/software/housing/etc (none of which are "basic survival requirements")--if it's a dealbreaker, it's a need. If it's not, it's a want.

Comment Re:It works (Score 1) 110

Seems like there can be some pretty straightforward guidelines.

If you require a dvorak keyboard, and the lack of a dvorak keyboard is a dealbreaker, then it's a need.

If you want a dvorak keyboard and would use a dvorak keyboard if you could (but it's not a dealbreaker), then it's a want.

It's about degrees. If you limit wants/needs to "basic survival requirements" then pretty much the entirety of modern civilization falls into the category of "wants."

Comment Re:It works (Score 1) 110

I'm a "one app" jailbreak user too. For me, it's BiteSMS. BiteSMS is great--it's a messaging overhaul that implements popup sms/imessage that lets you compose orreply to messages without leaving your current app. You can schedule messages to send in the future, actually see timestamps, etc. Great program. If this is a legit jailbreak and bitesms works, I'll upgrade to iOS7 right away.

Comment Five Eyes (Score 1) 165

How exactly is this news? It's even on Wikipedia--the Five Eyes (FVEY, i.e., the English-speaking countries, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and the United States) share just about everything. There's also the even MORE exclusive sharing group that excludes New Zealand -- ACGU -- Australia, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States (I believe the origins of this clique go back to some disputes around US nuclear warships berthing in New Zealand).

The arrangement is specifically designed so that, for instance, the NSA can spy on British citizens for the Brits (or vice versa) without breaking any local laws. Each country has geographic regions of specialty.

Comment Re:This law is to prtect Republicans. (Score 1) 528

So Democrats elected Regan [sic] and Schwarzenegger?

Yes, they did. You might have heard of Reagan Democrats? Did you realize that only two states voted against Reagan in 1984 (IIRC)? Schwarzenegger ran against a Republican in his first election and got well over 50% of the vote in his second election. Someone other than Republicans were voting for them!

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