I jailbreak my IOS device for one very important reason: /etc/hosts. This is VERY important to me. If I access an internet resource, there's nothing stopping it from telling my device, "Hey, also get this other resource without asking the user for permission!" In other words, it speaks on my behalf. My right to free speech also means freedom from compulsory speech. /etc/hosts means that I can control which resources are accessed on my behalf.

Apple (and all other money-making enterprises) hate this notion because it interferes with their potential profit. This is why we have to rely on jailbreaking to restore these free speech rights. My IOS5 device is jailbroken, but I cannot get an untethered jailbreak for IOS6.

IANAL. Doesn't matter. This is a philosophical issue.

the buttons were at least half the reason why hp48g was the one!

You win! Eleven words to say what I said in volumes: http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3314779&cid=42279293

Reading that first patent is quite interesting. They basically patented a system of on screen objects that you can select in order to handle call waiting functionality....which was a new invention compared to the old way of using the 1,2,3 and send keys, which was confusing for people (according to the patent).

Highlights the ludicrousness of patents. "Hey man, this is groundbreaking stuff here, making a menu system with simple text labels instead of making people remember which number to press at which time". Pretty much NOTHING new about the idea, just the specific application to cell phones .... /LAME

The patent claims that before this awesome "invention" users had to hit either 1,2, or 3 on the keypad followed by the send button in order to manage the call waiting aspect of your phone. It also claims that you had to press a different number to control a given call waiting function (place on hold, hang up current call, combine calls into a three way call, etc) depending on what you were doing on the phone at the time, so this was confusing and cumbersome for users.

So this Sony employee "invented" a simple menu system (though the patent seems to cover any sort of system, aka apple's buttons which pop up on screen when you get a call waiting type of call) which lets you (via a scroll wheel and button, in the example) select "Hold" or "Disconnnect" or what have you by scrolling and clicking. In this way the user doesn't have to remember whether they should press 1, 2, or 3 and instead can just click on words to do what they want.

It's worthwhile to look at the images which contain samples of the menu system (as well as flow charts and block layouts of a typical GSM cell phone).

TLDR: This extremely generic/broad patent is for a simple system to handle call waiting on a cell phone. A system which is novel because it's easier to use than the old keypad based system in use at the time.

Consequently it's ridiculous.

Does anyone want Facebook? How is it that Facebook is free?

When users want "privacy", they want to make sure that their location isn't tracked ... until they want to be able to share that with their friends and know where there is an available parking space. To say that by sacrificing our privacy we will have a much richer lifestyle is a tautology by this point. For example, it's happened more than once that I found someone on the Internet using a service that they didn't expressly consent to, and they were delighted that I found them because they had been looking for me and were unable to find me. What was more important -- that I respected their privacy, or that we have a newly-kindled friendship?

When RMS talks about "privacy", keep in mind the monk-like lifestyle he leads. http://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html

I'd be willing to accept an "apples and oranges" rejoinder.

A mere fraction of the annual defense budget :(

I think the slashdot editor read a little bit too much into this quote "It uses a GOTO instead of a more elegant loop." This doesn't mean it has no loop as stated here on slashdot.

This article is the least interesting thing in a long time. Sure it's sorta cool that one line makes a cool looking screen on your commodore, but to extrapolate the grand claims that the article and the book make is nuts!

Barely viable economically? You might want to look at how many houses are getting solar added every year. From experience I can tell you that it's thousands of homes per month and the pace is steadily increasing. When you consider solar on your home compared to the utility in your area over the next 20 years PV does a lot better than "barely viable economically". (Yes what I'm talking about is happening because of government subsidies, but those subsidies are HIGHLY effective, and within not too many years won't be necessary.)

While I heartily agree, it can be done. I have often used a 0.35 Rotring Rapidograph, but it requires good paper (smooth) and holding the pen within about 20 degrees of vertical. Fortunately this wasn't hard for me to accomodate, and I loved it.

I prefer Rotring because of the way the helix works (replaced with the cartridge, so no having to clean it).

Copic pens are what I use. Definitely can't push hard with the disposables but the aluminum bodied ones are amazing. Then again I get the sense that you want a different style of pen.

Available as a set at Dick Blick These are no Sakura pens, these things are made for professionals!

I understand "sobbery" to mean "using one's experience or preferences as an excuse to abuse or patronize". There is no excuse; hence, I despise snobbery.*

The worst kinds of snobbery exist in things where the experience cannot be proven; i.e., it relies solely on taking the person's word and social proof. The number one candidate for this kind of behavior would be wine. There have been many scientific experiments performed on wine drinkers and even wine tasters and it proves that what people taste is money, not the "subtle nuances of crushed fruit". The "art" of "coffee appreciation" is still in its infancy when compared to that of wine, but it exists nonetheless.

The most important aspect of coffee is that it simply not taste bad. I drink it black, so I cannot tolerate any flavors of like dirt, mold, gym sock, or charcoal. But beyond that, I think most of the good flavors that people "detect", "get", or "pick up" are indistinguishable from the purely imaginary flavors that people "detect", "get", or "pick up". Expresso? French press? Whatever, as long as it doesn't taste bad.

* I have to own up to one kind of snobbery of which I am very proud: I am a snob snob. That is, I am a snob of other snobs. A snobboisseur, if you will. So far, I have found all other snobs deficient. Not a single one of them is good enough for the likes of me.

If you do something stupid, such as leave your laptop in an unsecured location, then will your best friends steal it?

If you just change a few specifics, but not the tenor, in your argument, you'll get a drastically different result. To wit:

"Leaving her hotel room dressed like such a slut was a stupid and idiotic move on *her* part. And yes, I know that this sounds like blaming the victim, but there is a point where you have to take responsibility for your own actions."