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Comment The problem isn't the new UI (Score 1) 537

It's that they removed the old one. The new UI is good for a tablet. This would be the most powerful operating system by far if I could carry it around as a tablet and then dock it as a desktop PC with keyboard and mouse and go back to the traditional UI. Who wouldn't want that? But then they screwed that up by breaking the start menu and multitasking / non-maximized windows.

Comment Re:No huge chunks in Europe (Score 2) 270

I'm guessing in Sweden, you also buy your own phones? In my opinion, the biggest problem with the US market is that phones are included with all your plans (at least from the 4 major carriers). I bought my last phone outright. It was the Google Dev Phone 1 (Unlocked TMobile G1). Did I get a discount for providing my own phone? Nope. Should I have, since I didn't have them pay for it for me? Absolutely.

TMobile I believe finally offers a bring-your-own-phone discounted rate, but they also have weaker coverage than AT&T or Verizon. Since carriers mostly provide the phones (even if you buy them outright from them), they control what's on them. They control whether data tethering is enabled (in my opinion, valid when we had unlimited smart phone data plans, but NOT when I have 200MB or 2GB fixed plans. . . then I get to use it how I want). They control what features are available. (My old Motorola Razr had IMAP e-mail disabled by AT&T, even though the phone was fully capable of it). AND they fill your phone with bloatware crap that you can't remove without voiding the warranty.

I wish they'd be split up. Carriers sell service. They have absolutely no control in the phones. THIS would be better for consumers. They can finance a phone to you, but it has a separate, line item charge for a fixed amount of time. It can be included in the same monthly bill, but it needs to be clear on the bill what is for your service and what is for your phone. My mom is now using my old G1, and my dad is using the same Razr he got 5 years ago, shouldn't they be getting discounts since they haven't taken a new phone from the carrier in 5 years?

Imagine if your ISP had deals like this. If you want a computer that can play all the cool games your friends are playing and share pictures with them, you HAVE to go to Windstream, even though they are terrible. Of course, Windstream may not have service in your area, but that's really not their problem is it? You can buy the computer that Windstream sells used on e-bay, or you can buy it directly from Windstream without a contract by paying full price, but it won't work on any other ISP unless you void the warranty and have some technical skills.

Comment Re:What? (Score 2) 270

Because it's free. I use Google Voice as my primary number now. Texting would cost me $10/month extra. With Google Voice, I can text all day long for "free" on my included data plan. I get by on the 200MB plan and rarely pass 150MB, even with Trillian for Android on MSN, AOL, Facebook, and Google Talk, Google Voice, and e-mail connected 24/7. Cell phone cost on texting is RIDICULOUS! I have a 900Minute family plan with about 3000 roll over minutes banked, unlimited mobile to mobile, and 200MB data. . . . but they still charge me 10 cents per text message or $10/month, which is outrageous. There should at LEAST be some kind of conversion factor, like 10 text messages per minute, and deduct it from what I'm already paying for. THAT I would accept.

Comment Re:Don't worry about the mobile carriers (Score 4, Informative) 270

In the US you do. It was accepted on phone calls when cell phones first came out, because the caller does not pay extra to place the call as they do in some countries (if I understand correctly). This was more acceptable since I have the option to not answer a call. With text messages, however, I don't have the option to not get one. In the US, I don't know of any company that doesn't charge for incoming texts, but some do charge less for incoming texts than outgoing.

Comment ACT's did this too (Score 1) 663

The science section was more of a reading test than science. I specifically remember one that pissed me off on the practice test, and this was in high school. There was some paragraph about the H2O is something because X, and a bunch of other cause effect patterns, so what is H2O2. Well, H2O2 is Hydrogen Peroxide, which was a choice, so I marked it. Based on all the reading, I was expected to conclude something that was wrong (I don't remember what the "wrong" answer was).

I do well in testing, but that BS just pisses me off. Reading was a poor subject for me, because I'm slow at it, so I never finished in the time provided. Making the science section just another reading test does nothing to test science knowledge. At best, it tests deductive reasoning.

Comment Re:Hard drive companies should fund this (Score 1) 270

My Steam directory alone is 270GB, and just glancing through my library that's roughly half of the licenses I have actually purchased on Steam. No, I don't play them all, but why should I constantly redownload them? When I do decide to play, I want to play NOW, not tomorrow after it's done re-downloading.

Add to that my non-steam games, which are still often 5-20GB per title, though I've only got 3-4 of those installed usually. My DVD library, of DVD's I actually own and are on shelves in my living room: I have about 1.5TB right there. At 1.5TB, that's all MP4, it would be much higher if I also stored special features and raw images. Why put them on HD instead of using the DVD's? Well, I've already got 4 DVD's that I can no longer play without issues, and 2 of them had never even been out of the case before. I bought the DVD years ago and haven't watched it yet . . .because it's long. .. and I have a short attention span. . . . and there's a squirrel outside my window looking for acorns. In addition, I run XBMC in the living room, which gives me a wonderful catalog when everything is in MP4. I travel a lot. Ever tried to travel with DVD's? It sucks. I don't carry my entire digital collection, but it's simple enough to just load up my phone or my laptop with some movies and TV shows for while I'm on the road and don't have netflix access.

Then I've got my DVR, which is also in my computer. Dual HD tuners can fill up space pretty quick, and I only allocated 500GB to that with space recycled as the content ages or gets watched. Now, add 50% to everything for a Raid 5 array.

There's plenty of legitimate uses of that kind of hard drive space. But the **AA doesn't want THAT usage to be allowed either. My movies are not DRM'd and will play on Windows, my Android phone, my iPod classic, my linux machine, my Wii, and at a friends house off a thumb drive if we have a movie night. I don't have to worry about what is compatible with what, what DRM this device can play, etc. It just works!

Comment Re:Career (Score 1) 848

I would point out that you're arguing the same point as Lumpy, just in a slightly different way. You're both sacrificing potential salary in exchange for things that make you happy and mean something important to you, whether that's family and travel, or helping people when they need it most.

During the day, I'm a software developer. I work 40 hours a week pretty routinely, writing number crunching tools for big businesses. I have friends that do roughly the same thing, for more pay, but they may work 50-60 hours a week. They try to recruit me, but the bottom line is I'm happy where I'm at, I make a good living, I'm treated well and respected, and they happily support my personal life. I'm a volunteer firefighter / medical responder, which my company is supportive of, and it does mean something to me to be able to make a difference. I chose to do that, which is meaningful to me and makes an impact in the community, rather than work 60-80 hours. I work in a rural midwest town, instead of a big city. Some of my friends have actually commented on how much cooler my life is, and how great my dog is. . . . none of which they have time for, but they make more money than I do.

When I take vacation, I can leave for a few weeks without having to be "always connected". I just leave with absolutely no plans and see where I end up. I've eaten breakfast out of a cooler in the back of my pickup with a retired couple traveling in an RV. I've literally slept on the beach at Cape Cod. I've driven down the Enchanted Highway, a rural destination that no air travelers would ever see. I've slept in hammocks in the desert. I've watched a pod of humpback wales jump and dive with their calves. I've been to over 40 states and 4 Canadian territories by car. I've biked across Martha's Vineyard with a group of friends from 3 different countries. I'll take all of that over a doubled salary but 80 hour weeks and "always connected" vacations I can't enjoy. Now, having said that and having at times in my life struggled to pay bills, I will say that decision can only really come after you're able to confidently pay your rent and groceries on a regular basis.

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