I agree with most of what you said. The big problems that have arose, I think, have been in the federal government taking away state's powers for really bad reason and even no reasons at all. It has been a utter disaster in most all cases and yet they have no intention of returning power to the states. That's why the spin machines of BOTH political parties made sure to try their hardest to get the "crazy" label attached to Ron Paul. Maybe not all things Paul would do if he ever got in would be the best, some might be a disaster. But how much worse is that then what we have now?

I have to laugh every election year, or lead ups too, that we have people decreeing for change, for different out comes, yet the guy that has different ideas then the same old that has gotten us where we are is disregarded in favor of people that tow the same lines, year after year.

Did anyone find the video a little hard to watch? I understand the effort and it's a valiant one, but with trying to watch the videos to see whats going on and the creator going on at quite a brisk pace to his speech, I found it a little more then disjointed. Explain the video so I can REALLY tell what is going on in each step (the graphics are not really that explanatory) , then go on your rant of what the TSA refuses to fix about itself. Both together are a little confusing.

Does it use any bits of zune? Oh it does? Then I would have to say Woz was only looking at half the picture. If it has zune stuff (i.e. software for syncing) then Woz hasn't even seen how horrible that experience can be and why it is something that trumps whatever pluses the phone has.

Microsoft refuses to let the zune stuff die and it will likely take down this phone too.

"Cats are cunts" - Triumph the Insult Comic Dog

Is it me or is the race card becoming like the boy that cried wolf? Really, 9 times out of 10 now I instantly discount anyone that brings race as either a flamebaiter or someone that uses it as a crutch for their own short comings. It's like every forum has to have a person that stretches as far as they can to inject racism in to a topic.

Nice that they feel so strongly about it that they posted anonymous.

Oh Oh!!! I want to help!! Can I bring a cashiers check in to a US border country anywhere to help??? That's the only way I can think of helping

Ah no, this has been the case at MANY retail stores, not just one experience. Thanks for reading half what I wrote and making a judgement call.

It just happened to a buddy of mine the other day. He bought a 3-D blu ray and asked me to stop by to hook it up to his home theater. When I got there I ask immediately upon looking at the blu ray player if he got a open box one and he said "no, I paid full price". Low and behold the tape was just like I explained in my previous post. I have seen this more in resent years then ever before. I would have no issues if it was resold as a open box item, but they are not doing that. They are trying to sell it as NEW!!!! I would also bet is happens a heck of a lot more now then it ever happened in the 70's. The volume of sales in these stores is 10, if not 100's time more then it ever was in the 70's.

But nice job staying current. Nice job also soaking up all the propaganda your employer sells you.

What do you mean? The majority of stores are now re-taping products, certainly the bigger box items, and trying to float them off on unknowing consumers. And it's been going on AWHILE. You can tell when a person has re-taped a product because new items from the factory that are taped by machines are taped smooth with no bubbles, wrinkles or creases and will be perfect down the middle.

I found this out from a circuit city that sold me broken speakers. I realized the tape was wrinkled and put on by a person. Upon trying to return they argued that it was new, then brought out another person taped box that I refused to take. Taking the speaker to another location (with apparently a more honest work force) reviled the speakers were listed as "in service" in the computer system, meaning they were supposed to be sent back. Did I pay less for the original speaker? No, they tried to pass off a defective one on me and I have seen this again and again from other retailers since. That's the reason they want all the manuals and equipment back with it. So they can try and pass it off to some other sap that will accept the broken product and either live with it or pay to have it fixed.

It's unbelievable some times how a sales person will argue that something if just "taped that way at the factory" when I ask for a different unit that doesn't have wrinkled tape. Most times when they have a retaped unit, that is the one they will try to pass off first.

Then you have Pres. Obama throwing in to tonight's State of The Union that "It’s not right when another country lets "OUR" movies, music, and software be pirated".

All fits the bill of our politicians being lap dogs for media makers and that things like SOPA and PIPA need to be continued to be rallied against because they are trying still going to try and push them through.

Best bet with electronics is to look at the tape on the boxes. If the tape is not smooth without winkles or bubbles don't buy as it has been opened and re-taped. Factory taping is done with a machine that gets it perfect every time.

Have had to sit there are argue with salesmen about me not wanting to take a product because it had been clearly re-taped. Funny thing is that it will not be the same between all stores in a chain. Circuit City was bad for this, but other local locations didn't try to re-tape/resell returned items. Once bought a pair of speakers that one was a re-taper. Had to argue at one store, then told they didn't have any more. Took it to another and they scanned it to find it was listed to be returned for service. That location couldn't believe the trouble I had and got corporate to send out a $100 gift certificate. I never when back to the original location.

Most teens now are dumber then ever and rarely look at consequences outside of a week away or so.

Is this the origin of the "Bow chick a bow wow" music?

The Volt's issue arose from the NHTSA doing a side impact pole test, then flipping the car over to see if fluids leaked from the battery. The only thing that leaked was coolant. They then proceeded to park the car with a full charge in it, which it ignited after 3 weeks of sitting with a full charge and no coolant in the system. That is something I wouldn't do with any Lithium battery. The NHTSA even said at the time that the condition was highly unlikely to happen, yet they tested further by taking the battery out of the car and recreating the test with it out of the car. It started on fire this time 1 week after the test. Since I don't think to many people will be taking the battery out of their volts and smashing them in a crash test, I think any worry is a little bit more then dramatic for no good reason. It's close to being worried about being hit by lighting.

Yeah I recall it being a "Republican Paradise" every time I think about Pres. Clinton getting China in to the WTO and brokering the deal that opened up the trade flow with China.

I still can't believe, here, on slashdot, that there are people foolish enough to think one side is so much worse then the other. When all the fooled people start to realize that BOTH parties will sell us all out to make a buck this country might begin to correct itself.

Hearing this would happen from many different people in and around the industry when it seemed like a new Android phone was coming out every week. That the marketing wouldn't be targeting the usability of these devices and that diluting the market with so many phones would actually hurt in the long run.

I really think about 10% of people that by Android phones actually know how to get the most out of them. The rest use it for simple tasks and game playing, and most important to them, as a status device. With a iPhone, in my opinion, useability for the most part, is made so that the user explorers more of the features of the phone.