http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/examinations/supervisory/insights/sisum11/managing.html

This is the government web page describing targeted businesses. Some of them are legit, and the fact that they are being targeted is disturbing:

• Ammunition sales: guess that's one way to target the NRA
• Firearm sales: likewise
• Fireworks sales: what are they worried we're going to make bombs out of the nerfed "safe and sane" crap that's legal
• Coin dealers: don't want anyone trading gold or silver
• Dating services: yeah a lot of these are scams, but not all of them.
• Government grants: What, are these programs only for their friends who are "in the know"
• Credit repair: why? are they all scams?
• Surveillance equipment: cause only police get this stuff...
• Travel clubs: huh?
• Porn: what the article is about
• Tobacco sales: if you hate it just make it illegal already, instead of this passive aggressive crap

And just what is it you think the populace can do about it? They have the guns.

Don't use Verizon's router. They own it, so it's likely that they own any information you supply to it. If you want privacy or security, daisy chain your own router from it and connect to that.

Why not combine time dilation drugs with torture!? Heck let's bring back the Brazen Bull.

Seriously this is a messed up proposal.

What is a 'Man Making Bank'? I don't know but it sounds provocative...

Users probably won't have that ability. Also I have no doubt that the lawmakers will put a backdoor in for law enforcement to un-brick it.

I don't want a phone, I want a small but working computer with 24/7/anywhere connectivity. The only way I can get that at present is with a smartphone. (Well, if I want it pocket-sized anyway.) I hate phones and I hate phone companies, but there are no good alternatives.

You keep your puffs of flame away from my hairy nipples!

And people living in desert regions of the world don't have easy access to sapwood...

People living in desert regions probably get their water from wells, which is relatively clean.

People living in more temperate regions where there is excess water are more likely to drink the dirty surface runoff. It's not that water is scarce, it's that it is dirty. Where I live, trees are weeds... I have to pull tree sprouts up by the dozens every year to keep my yard from turning into a rainforest. But we don't drink out of rivers or lakes here, even if they look clean. We filter it. We don't drink the tapwater unfiltered either because the government loads it up with chlorine and ammonia. Yuck. A large chunk of the developing world population (where this is most useful) lives in tropical areas with plenty of water and plenty of trees.

A solution can still be useful, even if its not useful to everybody.

Probably about as many as there are male programming witches.

It's good to be the king(s)!

Pain In The Ass?

Of course it's not very helpful. It was never meant to be, nobody really expected it to be, and I'm sure they went to significant effort to ensure that no utility crept in by accident. As soon as the government allows or does anything, it is foregone that it won't be helpful or useful in any way. It is a tautology.

There should be an app for that...

You have more than you need. I know because you have a computer and free time to post on Slashdot. Why aren't you donating 90% of your pay to hunger relief? Why don't you donate it to the Federal Government for healthcare? After all, failure to do so is murder. I guarantee they'll take your check! Don't know where to send it because you're too lazy to ask? Still murder. You could at least donate it to a local shelter. You don't need more than one set of clothes either. Or a car. You don't need the computer you're staring at right now. Liquidate and donate! Or are you selfish?