If that's the case, it makes me wonder if any licensing terms of the software was violated. Using tools that is licensed for corporate use, for personal use, is a violation of most licensing terms I've seen... For example, if MSFT licenses Office for your work to use, you technically can't use those licenses to run a copy of it at home. I wonder if the principal would have standing by arguing that the spyware was not properly licensed, thus any evidence obtained with it is invalid.

Yes, I was speaking to AT&T... But, no, that is still HTC's fault... Samsung didn't succumb to AT&T's desires to lock the bootloader. HTC did tho. My guess is that was part of the deal for carrier exclusivity I suppose, but I don't think HTC is doing themselves any favors by locking that phone into a single carrier, and then locking it down so that geeks won't recommend it to their friends...

exactly! I had HTC phones before and loved them, and recommended them to all my friends. I currently have an HTC One X... While I like the phone, the hoops I had to jump through to unlock the bootloader was crazy. And if I ever have to replace my phone, it will most likely come with the updated ROM and hBOOT so that you can't unlock the bootloader. (You have to root first to be able to unlock bootloader. The OTA doesn't have a root exploit, so unless you already unlocked the bootloader, you can't root. So now I am certain that if this phone ever goes kaput, my next phone will be a Samsung, unless the Nexus 4 has LTE, which I heard doesn't... So now I push Samsung with all my friends, instead of HTC. So as a result, a bunch of my friends have Samsung phones now.

I used to think the same thing when I first came out of college... But actually use math quite a bit in my current job. (Software Architect in a research lab) I use Linear Algebra (which for me, in college comes after Calculus 3), as well as Calculus. You probably will too if you say you want to go into gaming, particularly when you start looking into sensor input. I'm not doing gaming, but I'm looking at sensor input, for things like gesture tracking/recognition, sound analysis, as well as more basic things like looking at accelerometers and magnetometers. I didn't really use Number Theory directly, (graduate course for me, and I flippin' hated that class), but we do have a Math PHd on staff, and I did have to consult with him a number of times.

I don't think it's that they are trying to nickel and dime you. I think they were trying to reduce cost of the base OS, by not including the licensing fees for MPEG2.

This is, for example, what gives supermarkets the "right" (it isn't a right, you've just given permission) to search your bags where this is stipulated in the conditions of entry.

No, it doesn't work like that. In my freshmen year law class, they teach you that you cannot waiver protected rights. Signs do not form a contract/agreement. One of the cases we looked at was a shopping center that had a sign saying that they are not responsible for damage caused by carts. They cannot ask you to waiver that right, because they are legally responsible for their property, which includes their carts. If you think you can form an agreement that asks somebody to waiver a right, with a simple sign... Try wearing a sign around your neck that says, "By allowing me to enter your store, you are releasing me from all liability from my actions, which includes but is not limited to looting, shoplifting, trespassing, and pillaging." and see if they allow you do rob them blind when you walk into their store...

That's just a sign of a crappy architect. (I consider myself a Software Architect, not a Software Developer). Whenever I design a solution, I work with a usability team, that does user research, I work with a Design Engineer to make sure the UI is appropriate and usable. I also work with Field Engineers that are out in the field. I have to work across all these teams to ensure that my software architecture is well architected.

Before I even draw up an architecture, the first thing I do, is storyboard the user flow with a design engineer, so we can mock up what the user facing portion looks like, then we hand that off to a usability team, that will test the user facing portion. We do it this way, becuase our underlying philosophy is that we can invent the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if our users don't understand how to use it, they aren't going to pony up $$$ to pay for it.

This is also why in our research lab, we don't just think up hoky ideas, because otherwise we end up with a solution looking for a problem... We do user studies, so we actually solve a problem that needs solving...

The US is not first to file, it's first to invent. So you don't lose defensive capability just because you don't file, becuase your work will be considered prior-art, which will invalidate any filings made after your research.

Actually, MS did not bar Lindows, they ended up settling because they almost lost that one. And for the record, "Windows" does not describe what it is, "An operating system", however "App Store" is precisely that, "A store that sells Apps".

Further, Apple did not invent "App", as even the mark "AppStore" was registered back in 1998 by another company.

That's why on my Android phone, instead of using VPN, I use SSH, and set it to do a local port redirect, so I can just tunnel all my traffic over it.

That's why you have intelligent infrastructure. I can remotely connect to my bench, and individually set the power state for every electrical outlet on my bench. Likewise, I can set the mapping of all the ethernet ports on my bench, and connect them to any network I want. So if the "computer within a computer" really was hosed, I could just power cycle the electrical port. But in most cases, the computer within a computer has a watchdog timer, that automatically reboots the computer within a computer if it stops responding.

As stated before, many platforms, for example Intel vPro, allow you do reboot, KVM, etc, even if the main OS is bluescreened, crashed, etc. There is a separate "management engine" in the chipset, that maintains an independent network connection. You can remote to the system while it's bluescreened to see what the crashdump looks like, then powercycle it, go into the BIOS, etc. You can even remotely mount virtual boot devices.

People have asked, "But what if you have to reboot the management engine"? There are usually watchdog timers that will auto-reset it if it locks up for some reason, but you can also remote into the infrastructure. For example, in our lab, I can remote over to my bench, and individually power cycle electrical outlets, remap the ethernet ports on my bench to connect to something else, etc.

Broadband, cellphone, electricity/heat/gas/etc. These things add up. Not to mention printer paper, ink, etc.

My office is in the suburbs... And I still have to fight traffic... With that said, even tho my commute is 40 miles each way (I live in the burbs on the opposite side of the metro area), my commute is actually shorter than a bunch of the folks that live really close, because the nicer neighborhoods that are close to work, have terrible freeway access, and have crazy traffic jams on the local streets.

It get's worse... If you read this article from Cisco, it says Apple even approached Cisco to try to license the trademark "iPhone", but couldn't reach an agreement, and came out with their phone and named it "iPhone" anyways.

Isn't that willful infringement?