An implementation of R is GPL, but that doesn't extend to all independent implementations, such as the one MS is writing to do this.

SQL Server 2016 will have a Json column type, so its most of the way there.

You realise that Ireland received a massive bailout from the ECB, right? That's spending EU money right there...

Actually, there are written procedures for removing a member country voluntarily or involuntarily from the Eurozone (the ECB can simply stop dealing with that country), but there (deliberately) isn't any procedures for removing a member country voluntarily or involuntarily from the EU. The issue resides with the fact that (apart from countries with a written opt out), EU countries are required to be part of the Eurozone, so leaving or being forced to leave the Euro raises fundamental conflicts with EU membership.

But the numbers you have come up with are not comparable to each other, as they are for different areas and data sets.

25% of calls are pranks, while 70% are dialled inadvertently - an inadvertent dial is not a prank, and a prank is not an inadvertent dial, so these figures are not comparable.

45% of calls in California are for non-emergencies, but that doesn't make them pranks, fraudulent or inadvertent dials. Sacramento is above the average in California for this type of call - but it doesn't mean the 45% figure is poor, as California will certainly have hot spots in higher density population areas.

20% of calls nationally are estimated to be non-emergencies, so that could just mean California is a hot spot with 45%.

So you can't throw the figures out just like that, because you can't compare them in the way you did.

Apple tried the whole "your app must be written natively for IOS in ObjC" before, specifically to kill off projects like Xamarin who were at the time doing a great job of allowing people to write iPhone and iPad apps in c# - the ban lasted a few months, before Apple decided the legal challenges it was facing weren't worth it and dropped the clause.

The main way in which they will force use of Swift is by dropping ObjC library updates - Xamarin succeeded because there were people willing to develop a parallel ecosystem for developers, but will anyone bother to do that for ObjC?

Not really - the NHS will bear immediate costs, but if the victim needs ongoing care etc then that will come out of insurance.

In general its self reported, along with the other aspects such as off road parking, secure parking, roadside parking, commuting only or full business use etc.

The NHS doesn't ask about the reason you ended up needing medical care, but you may find yourself being denied immediate access to treatments for non-life threatening issues if you indulge in activities which either hamper treatment or are exacerbating the issues - for example, smoking when being treated for COPD or lung cancer will get you into trouble, or being very overweight will cause surgery to be put off until you lose weight.

Which is a fucking nightmare the moment your user posts a link to something on Twitter which includes his session id in the URL...

Those are quite low limits, and that surprises me somewhat - here in the UK a car insurance policy has no liability limit, so if an accident costs £1 or £10Million its still covered under the same policy.

I'm surprised insurance has liability limits in the US...

The walled garden here means free access for the user - no data charges, no access charges.

The alternative is for a user to have to pay data charges and/or access charges - in other words, the status quo. In many places, data charges can be expensive - in many parts of Africa, you can buy airtime in 15 cent vouchers, which sort of indicates the level of disposable funds people have. Data charges can fairly rapidly wipe out 15 cents, so people generally dont bother and stick to cheaper SMS and voice services.

So if the user isn't paying the data charges, who picks up the bills? Someone has to...

So why the hate for Facebook et al doing this? Do people really expect them to pick up the tab for everyone just because?

Ok, so what is your argument about Uber flouting the laws in the UK, where anyone can get commercial passenger carrying insurance and then get a taxi cab license from the local council for less than £3,000 to operate from a taxi rank or a private hire license to operate point to point on prebooking jobs?

Is it perhaps because those drivers dont have to prove that they have taken out the commercial passenger carrying insurance, nor pay the license fees, and instead just sacrifice a smaller amount to Uber?

It just shows that when you remove undue barriers to entry, people will still cut corners in order to save that little bit more money, even when the fees are justifiable and fair. And that is why Uber is having the hard time they are.

Mrs or Ms is a personal choice for the woman, and should be respected - so if she is being referred to as Ms its usually because that is how she has requested to be known, or because a publication wants to play it safe when not knowing.

Apple didn't even have the courtesy to say they were discontinuing Safari on Windows, they just stopped releasing versions. So fuck them.