And such classifications are at the discretion of the FCC.

This coming from the same schmucks who tried to pass off "payola" as a positive thing.

Are you still throwing that bullshit around? The last time you checked, it was an "Information Service" because the FCC reclassified it as an Information Service in 2003. It was under Title II before that, and moved OUT of that classification by the FCC.

Those two statements are contradictory. The last mile is a natural monopoly.

It's only libel/slander/defamation if it's false information about a person. There are plenty of lies one can spread that don't fall under that umbrella.

I agree with you that it's not "trolling" though, and it wouldn't be caught by this simplistic bot, anyway.

I went through the same thing growing up. Bullying was real, not bullshit "mean words on a screen," and deciding not to bow down and take that shit anymore was a major turning point for me.

I suspect a sort of emotional antibacterial soap effect - thirty years of well-intentioned idiots, coddling and sanitizing reality for their precious little snowflakes makes sure they can't deal with (and this is, in fact, a great term) "typical human dickishness."

Only if you set it that way (if it even still has that setting). Otherwise it (and most of the other ad blocking extensions) prevent the connection from being made in the first place, which is what makes them worthwhile for users on metered data connections.

If that's your metric, then by your own definition of "golden age", your "objective proof" fails to support your assertion. The time period I spoke of elsewhere (mid-90s to early-naughties) was still more deserving of the title than what we have now. Both eras had their share of shovel-ware that made up the majority of the "variety" (Sturgeon's Law and all) but we haven't gotten any new "types" of games since the rise of the MMO with Everquest, other than perhaps the "non-game" art-games which DO legitimately fit GPs complaint about being (barely) interactive movies (Journey, Dear Ester, e.g.). The games we do get are either the homogenized, "safe" crap with some production value from the ever-consolidating established studios, warmed-over rehashes or navel-gazing self-indulgence from the independents, and cynical shovelware from mobile ad companies which come close to (or surpass) most objective definitions of "malware."

And there are some types which have been all but abandoned by both groups -- such as space combat simulators (XWing, Wing Commander, B5:IFH, e.g.) which belie that assertion, as well.

What we have now are the union of the manufactured mega-hits, console exclusives which might as well not exist for any player who can't/won't pay $1200 every five years, and indie developers putting out 9 turds for every diamond, all with the technology that the music and movie industries have been dreaming of for decades - the power to make every full-price purchase into a long-term rental, and our own version of the "loudness war"

That's hardly a new thing. That's the exact situation that caused the Atari crash.

The major paradigm shift has been smartphones, which opened up the "casual" market to people who might want to play games but not buy separate expensive equipment (consoles or a gaming-rated PC) and is largely dominated by the third group mentioned above. That doesn't make a "golden age" for anyone other than the people grubbing for money, and certainly not for the players.

Actually, L90 Optimus. :P

I'll be able to test it over the weekend. Crossing my fingers, but I at least have a fallback in that I can forward calls to her house line for free.

Thanks, that's helpful to know.

I just hope it solves the weird issue of my phone's Wifi freaking out (bouncing around with "Certificate Error Er01") like the rep suggested it would. Hard to use WiFi calling in that situation. :)

You have one? I've still got to get mine set up when I get up there again.

How is it different from your basic off-the-shelf dual-band wifi router? I assume (hope?) they do something with the software to make the phone work better?

I was more struck by the lack of an articles or possessives. It does sound more stunted than

"...but keeps revising in the likelihood that the request is denied" or somesuch.

They explain that. It's not to determine if the cadet (it was given in Starfleet Academy) knows how to handle a no-win scenario, it was to see HOW they handled it. There wasn't a pass/fail (except, I guess, if the cadet curled up under the captain's chair and cried or something), it was a personality assessment.

> you can watch "Get Over It" on Netflix.

Is that a crack that GP should get over wanting to play his old games, or is there an actual video on Netflix that's actually like A Midsummer Night's Dream?

I ask as one who very much enjoyed the play, and wants to know if there's something I need to add to my weekend queue. :)

Please provide the "objective proof" that we are in this "Golden Age" of gaming, rather than rattling off a list of games that you think are good.