One reason contributing to Blackberry's low numbers on /. might be that the mobile site tells the Blackberry user that his browser is incompatible, and the links don't work if the user acknowledges this and tries to use the site anyway. (Or, at least, that was my experience the two or three times I tried using the site.) Blackberry's browser is, of course, another hindrance, as any site that isn't heavily pared to accomodate small screens and slow download speeds is excruciating on a Blackberry, which is what drove me to buy an Android tablet.

My first car had an AM radio, but I wanted FM, so I bought an FM converter for it. Car #3 had an AM/FM radio, but I wanted a cassette player, so I ended up buying and installing a radio with a cassette player in it. Car #4 didn't have a CD player, and I remedied that with a portable CD player and an adapter that slipped into the factory-installed cassette player. The current car has a radio with CD player and auxiliary input jack and Bluetooth, but I'm pretty sure it will be obsolete by the time I get rid of it.

Why would onboard computers be any different?

That would be interesting, too, but my intention in using "someone" wasn't an attempt to suggest that I might do such a thing. If I fired a gun on my property, I would be overrun by cops within three minutes.

Google Maps satellite pictures aren't much good for saying something happened at a particular time. The photo of my house shows a minivan that we traded two years ago.

I tend to agree. I believe the minimum altitude for operating an aircraft is 500 feet, so if it's under that altitude, I say it's fair game. But it would be interesting to see what would happen if someone shot down a government-owned drone. Anyone want to bet on how that would go down?

I suppose you mean you came of age during that period, since any males born during that period were required to register. I'm of that age, too, and I felt the same way. Reagan's invasion of Grenada a few years later only strengthened the feeling that I wouldn't be so much defending our country as defending politicians' egos. I have tremendous respect for the people who have been willing to take that risk, but it wasn't for me.

Even with a teenager on our family cell plan, we never use up our monthly allocation of voice minutes. Now, if RIM could figure out a way to convert that voice to data bandwidth, then we might have something to talk about.

Supposing a fellow starts in one of the blessed majors and ends up getting a philosophy degree at the end? Are they going to whack him for the difference in tuition, or will he have made an end run around it?

Again, read the fine decision in Oliver v. United States. There were "no trespassing" signs there, too.

Read a bit of the SCOTUS decision on Oliver v. United States (1984) and tell me how this breaks new ground. I was getting my dander up, too, and then I realized this kind of thing was decided 28 years ago. If you want the cops to get a warrant, grow your MJ indoors or in the "curtilage" behind a tall fence (and hope they're not using aircraft).

I believe the poll must have been edited since my comment. It's possible that my memory is faulty, but I wouldn't have made my comment unless it had read "Democrat". . . unless I misread it at the time. (Is my memory going down the tubes, or are these people messing with my mind?)

Why is the choice for the Democratic party "Democrat" but the choices for the Republican and Libertarian parties are "Republican" and "Libertarian" respectively?

One key is remembering that you can learn something from anyone you meet. I particularly learned this in working with developmentally-disabled people and in retail before I got into IT. And, while it's taken the better part of 50 years, I've learned that it's best for me to just shut up and listen to what other people are saying. I've learned that plenty of people are smarter than I've given them credit for, and I've learned all kinds of interesting things that would have otherwise eluded me.

It may also be worth spending a little bit of time with a counselor to learn some interpersonal skills. S/he can likely recommend some books on the subject. I especially liked Deborah Tannen's You Just Don't Understand. It's more about male/female conversational styles, but it's a good introduction to the out-of-band messaging that occurs in conversation.

The fact that you're aware you have personality traits that you find obnoxious in others is a good thing and will help you become a very likeable person -- which you probably are already.

That's a shame. I got a Verizon Blackberry just about two years ago, and Google Maps has been flawless. Really, about the only things I hate about my Blackberry are that its web browsing takes me back to the days when I was using dial-up Internet service and there is no wifi tethering in the BB OS version I have (6.0). Shame on Verizon for losing a customer by locking down the device. (They're on thin ice with me.)

Good question. I logged into my Verizon account and went to the privacy page. It offered a link to the privacy policy and a link to a page for Location-Based Services (LBS) Privacy Settings. I visited the settings page first, and it said there was nothing to set. What I skimmed said something about Verizon Navigator, which I don't use because it is a paid service, and Google Maps is so good. (Does this mean they take your money and spy on you at the same time? I know Google spies on me, but it doesn't cost me a nickel for the privilege.) Then I visited the privacy policy page and found this:

It sounds a little like breach of contract to me if they sell my information. But, of course, there is an arbitration clause, so the chances of a class action are pretty minimal.

OTOH, Declan McCullagh often cries wolf, and sometimes he stretches things out of proportion.