There's also no indication that other carriers are immune from this problem; and unlike t-mobile, other carriers are still collecting these charges.

Sounds like you want to compare the cheapest android devices with the most expensive apple ones. The more expensive android devices are much more likely to keep getting updates. And if they're a Google branded device, even when official updates end there's a community to support it. That's why a four year old Nexus One can run Android 4.4 today.

That was a new $700+ iPad, from the Apple Store in the summer of 2010 about five months after launch.

Wikipedia reports: Operating system iOS 5.1.1 (build 9B206) Released May 7, 2012; 2 years ago

No longer supported; third party operating systems available

So it was abandoned by Apple 28 months after launch. The hardware is still functional. It even still holds its charge. But there's no security updates whatsoever.

Clearly you want GSM, so that means AT&T or T-mobile in the United States. AT&T has much better coverage nationwide, but if T-Mobile has coverage where you are heading they are great.

You can get a Net10 sim with unlimited calls, texts and 2.5GB of internet access, and pay $50/month. They're an AT&T MVNO. Probably not as cheap as you've seen in Europe, but it's pretty good when compared to most other plans. Net10 sim cards are available on Amazon.com I don't know if you can find it in stores.

Over a decade ago, there was a GNU project for internet voting. With no financial incentive, the driving force was a belief that there would be a benefit in making voting easier. The project was abandoned after they realized how difficult creating a secure, reliable and anonymous internet voting system actually is.

The founder of the project quotes Bruce Schneier as saying, "a secure Internet voting system is theoretically possible, but it would be the first secure networked application ever created in the history of computers."

Of course, if someone here wants to show their credentials and explain why Schneier is wrong, I'm sure many of us would love to hear their reasoning.

Administrators care only about getting more students through the door and the tuition dollars rolling in therefrom.

If you want to quickly solve this problem, have US News add percentage of faculty in full-time tenured position as a weighting factor to school rankings. Overnight you'll see tens of thousands of adjuncts being offered tenure.

While a simple faculty/student ratio is used there is actually a huge pressure to have the highest number of faculty, and therefore pressure to drive down cost. Quantity is weighted more highly than quality.

Supply and demand. If you make travel by road artificially cheap (which it is - at least 1/3 of road budgets come from general taxation) then people will drive more rather than looking for public transit alternatives. The result is those alternatives are never created and those who would otherwise rely on them, for example the disabled who are unable to drive, lose out big time.

1280x720 resolution on a 4.7" screen is plenty.

My Moto X and Nexus 4 are both clear. of course they're both half the price of Amazon's offering.

I wonder if this price is more about maintaining AT&T exclusivity than being a real reflection of the phone cost. Still, I think the contract requirement while being tied to a single network is going to be a deal breaker.

Good thing people hosted their stuff on the cloud...

Hosting stuff on the cloud wasn't the problem. It's really no different from hosting anywhere else. The problem was a lack of off-site backups.

Something as simple as s3cmd and cron would have protected them. Or if really necessary they could have backed up servers to an independent s3 account.

This is a simple case of someone keeping all their eggs in a single basket, breaking the fundamental rule of backups needing to be independent of their source.

Amazon does highlight if the item was purchased through amazon though, so there is a way to pick reviews from those you can be fairly certain paid cash for the product.

Just this once, being Scottish doesn't make you right.

Here's an explanation. I notice you said everyone else is doing it wrong, but neglected to explain why your car lets you ride the clutch without wearing parts.

If permission is granted there is no infringement. So it's incorrect to say the only response is to send a cease and desist. It would seem that they may be able send a letter saying "we grant you permission to use the ikea name and colors in exchange for a clear disclaimer on each page that you are unaffiliated." They could even state that permission is revokable at any time, in case they want some degree of protection should the site do something Ikea later dislikes.

They have to go after everybody or lose the mark.

Or simply grant permission?