I think THE biggest reason why the merger was called off was the very likely stipulation from the Federal government that Comcast must spin off NBC Universal to get the merger completed. Given how hard Comcast worked just to purchase NBC Universal in 2010, that was something they would not accept.

RMS himself has said that he would only be okay with getting rid of copyright (and hence the basis on which GPL and its copyleft protection stands), if copyleft itself is written into law - i.e. if redistributing binaries without access to the code becomes illegal.

if I had mod points, I'd mod you as troll.

its not the 'basement dwellers' - those guys have zero experience in unix, given that they are alive less than 20 years, usually, and they know only what they've learned during the obama years and not much before that.

the rest of us who have used and managed unix since the 80's have to dump WHAT WORKED WELL and move to some new shit that clearly has issues, does not fit in or belong very well and is being forced on us.

see, the value of a craftsman is in his knowledge and experience of his tools. some people spend decades learning how to use their tools and work in their trade and the time shows; experience is worth having and paying for!

what happened now: some newbie decided the old way was not good enough and decided to change it all out, for no good reason at all (I have not yet seen a good reason to reinvent a wheel that has been working for longer than most of you have been ALIVE). faster startup is not a reason; this isn't a media player and linux still does not startup in 3 seconds or less, so what's the point of 'faster startup' when its really not fast enough to justify this forklift upgrade of sorts?

basically, the linux distros have been 'google-fucked'. I use that term to mean that some young snotnose didn't have anything better to do with his time and decided to royally break things and redo them, just because he thought it was a 'good idea'. but clearly didn't think it all the way thru and just wanted it because he just wanted it! typical google style; break things and trash all the old history of how things WERE done because, well, we just CANT LEAVE WORKING THINGS ALONE!

each time I read about the recording industry pulling another fast one, it only encourages me to be bolder and download even MORE 'content'.

I now refuse to buy movies or music. and I can well afford it, but I simply refuse. because I can - the same reason they keep breaking their promises and agreements with us, the consumers.

they can, and we can. they don't care, so why should we?

just give up buying and paying. the bastards are just not worth supporting. too bad about the artists, but they never got all that much, anyway; its the rare performer that really gets rich. most are stiffed by the industry.

seriously - why should anyone follow laws when the big guys always ALWAYS get off scot-free and break rules without the slightest bit of care?

Really? So Vietnam war wasn't a war, and neither was the Soviet war in Afghanistan?

I have a very simple definition of war. If you have a "legitimate military operation" with "legitimate military objectives", then guess what, it's a war.

Um, no.

Obama greatly expanded the policies of Bush the Younger, even when he promised to pull out of Iraq (pull out, not forced out), has had a multitude of foreign policy mishaps (ISIS anyone), and has made the region far worse overall.

And more importantly, has greatly expanded drone operations.

One of the arguments for not using drones is that they are too far removed from the area of conflict. It is too easy to take risks when there is no skin on the line.

Boots on the ground tend to make better risk assessments, and have a better feel for what they are getting in to.

Drone operations are too abstracted, and it's not like this isn't in a long line of unintended killings, the only difference being the US gets to take this one on the chin instead of some brown people.

There is a reason people are adamantly against using drones. That's all Obama.

elephant in the room question: why is a jew (I assume) hanging out in a country that does not accept his way of life as valid?

there are places that you should not go if you are deeply hated for your last name. pakistan is one such place.

I will never understand what drives people to go spend time in such a hostile country. it does not forgive what happened, but if you go to dangerous places, bad shit can and will happen.

You've got the same biological responses that have always been in play (sex, emotional cues, peer pressure, etc.) that do just as much to serve as inhibit propaganda (some of the propaganda from WWII inferring peace-niks were back home having relations with lonely wives were just as likely to cause doubt as remind people what they were fighting for), and also disinfo campaigns (serving up several platitudes that you probably accept with a few questionable ones so you are less inclined to question their validity), as well as buzz (think of any viral videos you've seen that were far beyond what you would normally watch).

But especially with fragmented media, it allows you tailor a message to a specific group to where Snowden could have been represented as youthful rebellion to a certain segment, and then altered to following in the grand traditions of the country in another.

What I think most people overlook is that with so many media choices, they think they have a better chance at getting at some type of "truth". Not really, they've just opened themselves up to several venues of manipulation. Especially at a time when everything is seen as biased, you can tell huge bold-faced lies with little in the way of consequences, and for the time it takes to research and debunk, move on to another bold-face lie until no one trusts much of anything (even their neighbors) and leaves them primed for more instinctual propaganda.

And even then, the propaganda only really has to target the vocal. This is why education has become such a partisan issue. Sure, not everyone is going to accept things like they did in the age of Cronkite, but you only need those willing to shout down the dissenters for it to be effective.

well, she took away the work-at-home perk. there's that.

oh, wait, you asked what she did to -improve- things there?

nevermind.

Just as we can compel you to pay your income tax by force if needed, so we can compel you to get yourself vaccinated. You can protest as much as you want, and you're welcome to "fight us to the death", but judging by the fact that you're still alive, it seems that you have diligently filed your tax returns so far, so I'm going to file it as "just talk".

In my state, knowingly spreading disease (e.g. by going to the crowds) if you know that you're infected is against the law.

No-one has an absolute right to anything. All rights are ultimately balanced against the good of society. That's why free speech does not preclude libel & slander laws, for example, and why RKBA doesn't mean that you have a right to own a cruise missile.

In this particular case, your right to control your body is overridden by the extreme degree of common good that results from mandatory vaccinations, combined with a very low degree of personal invasion that such a vaccination actually entails.

Or if it comes to that then, as a developer, you can just sign the app, you know. The fact that other OSs have had these features for years with none of these issues just makes your complaints look even more ridiculous.

How often do you install new un-signed software that you didn't compile locally yourself that right-clicking only on the first time that an app is executed is a problem?

The way that OS X solves the issue is that unsigned apps can still be run, but they require a more explicit first-time-only execution (right-click -> open which then displays a confirmation dialog indicating the app name and the website it was downloaded from) as opposed to signed apps that just run like normal. Its very unobtrusive, never even happens for most people, and works very well in the "least amount of tech to solve the problem" sense.

HBO Now doesn't require a cable subscription either. That was the whole point of its creation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...