...of bullshit. How this poorly written piece of crap got on Slashdot, I have no idea.

Actually, you are saying that PROFESSIONAL drivers have conversations and don't get into abnormal amounts of wrecks. Ok, I believe that. The bad part is that most drivers are amateurs.

I drive two hours a day on the interstate (not a "professional", just reasonably cautious with phone features built into car and never text and drive). You would be amazed at how many "professional" truck drivers I see crossing the line while fiddling with a phone. Whether they are texting or calling, I don't know. I don't see this daily, but I do see it about once a week. I85 in NC.

Physics.

You've already failed, they don't have magnetic fields. All the oxygen in the world is useless for real habitation without a magnetic field. Not a place I would want to live, with cosmic rays flying through my brain all the time.

In American CIVIL courts, money is king, and often the side with the most money wins. In CRIMINAL court, it is a bit different. One side is always the government, the other is you. There are tons of protections in place.

Where it gets fucked up in the US is Federal criminal law. State criminal law is pretty straight forward, but your protections in Fed cases is greatly reduced. The vast majority of cases are State, not Fed.

Ask Ed Rosenthal, who was convicted of being this mass marijuana producer.....because he wasn't allowed to tell the jury that all the pot was grown only for medical dispensaries. After the case was over, the jury was PISSED OFF and said they would have acquitted. On appeal it was knocked down to "time served" but still. That is the Feds for you, they aren't interested in justice, just notches on their gun barrel.

Guantanamo is a fucked up situation, and it is being used for the wrong reasons in many cases, however, it does prove the fact that if you are on US soil, the government can't do those things to you under the law. Otherwise, Guantanamo wouldn't be used to begin with.

COI isn't against policy, it is simply discouraged. I've participated in a number of policy discussions (as an admin) and tried to initiate a number of policy initiatives on the subject matter, but there is no consensus. Disclosure is a good idea, but in no way, shape or form is it required by policy. Knowingly adding bad material or inaccurate material (regardless of COI) is still prohibited.

Plus the products we sell are the same price they were 10 years ago. We've offset cost increases by increases in productivity, and our margin has actually gone up. I have prime, I would drop it if it goes up. I also have Netflix, which kicks Amazon's ass when it comes to video interface. Amazon is constantly trying to up sell you, making it much harder to find and enjoy videos than Netflix. Right now, I have Prime only for the shipping savings.

I believe utilities have fixed rates, but also charge fuel surcharges, for times when fuel prices go up or down. Even carriers such as UPS, Fedex an long haul truckers do this. Right now, our trucking prices are based on a percentage discount against normal rates, PLUS fuel surcharge, around 22% right now. Power companies do the same. Of course, this varies from state to state.

We got a petition, so they would know how much money they could earn, thus know the investment would pay off. Took a year, we got underground cable. Persistence and organization won the day. This was just over 10 years ago with Time Warner and we all lived on 4 acre lots. 40+ of us.

The NSA isn't spying on them to get that information. My point still stands, the NSA shouldn't be spying on anyone without a valid warrant signed by a judge, just as the constitution clearly states. That they are elected doesn't make them better than you or I, and their outrage should be the same regardless of who is being spied upon without a warrant.

No, hackers are just like anyone else and this proves it. People overdose all the time, they just don't make the front page of Slashdot.

More importantly, why is a member of Congress more important that I am? So it is bad to spy on me but REALLY BAD to spy on someone just because they are elected? Fucking elitism at its finest.

It doesn't promote the progress of science and the useful arts. It just stops other companies from promoting the progress of science and the useful arts. So everyone has to buy your "art" instead of the other guys. In other words:

4. Profit.

Xbox requires Xbox games, BFD. If you don't like it, don't get an account, don't use it.

I've been on Steam since, well, before Steam existed. Back when TFC was distributed by Sierra. They have the least amount of DRM, often none, and the least restrictive policies of anyone. They have successfully bridged the needs of the user and the wants of the publisher. It isn't perfect, but it is less offensive than any other DRM method, and they have a lot of free stuff. And frankly, I don't mind a company making money for selling software anyway, it's a free fucking country, and part of freedom is being able to sell your wares. Don't like it? Don't buy it.

Unlike any other publisher, I don't feel like Steam is trying to constantly screw me out of more money all the time, and is instead trying to keep me as a customer by giving good service and fair prices. I hope they continue to be successful.