You can't avoid second hand smoke either, but you don't have to pay the clerk at the corner store $10 every two days for a pack of cigarettes. Will you reduce your chances of lung cancer to 0? No. Are you less likely to die of it than a "pack a day" smoker? Yes.

Mea culpa. I did not read my own second paragraph. I meant to (and remembered writing) a point to the effect that the carrier does exert control, and that discretion or lack of concern is *certainly* part of their final product. That is implied (but not explicitly stated) in my original comment where I note that I will leave and no longer patronize a site with popups or any ad that makes noise unprompted.

And of course, as I *do* state in the second paragraph, some scammers will get annoying ads that violate the site's rules or are criminal in intent now and then, even with a genuine effort on the part of the carrier. Thus the occasional prominent note similar to "Sorry about the autoplay video ads; I'm working to eliminate them with my ad service." So long as it is handled promptly and in good faith, I have no problem, any more than a health hazard being handled at a restaurant in a prompt and safe manner is fine.

I'm fairly certain you're just restating the point I made in the second paragraph which you did not quote (or seem to read).

Yes the LEDs are under the computer's control. But that still doesn't make those LEDs "output devices" in the general sense of the word.

A modern keyboard is both an input and output device. At a high level its primary function is to input things into the computer; however, the USB HID communications are bi-directional communications, there is both Input and Output. The computer can set the state of LEDs and some other features of the keyboard.

In some cases, the computer can upgrade the firmware on the Keyboard which definitely requires sending output.

Don't certify developers. Certify IT workers.

The best demonstration of developer quality is their portfolio of code and a 4 year university degree from a suitable full-time schooling program.

the only people who don't see the value in them are those who don't have the skills/experience or sufficient free time and disposable money to throw away necessary to acquire them.

TFTFY.

The hackers' main point of contention is with the fact that Ashley Madison charges users a fee of 15 pounds to carry out a "full delete" of their information if they decide to leave the site. Although users have the option of permanently hiding their profile free of charge, the company's advertisements claim that the full delete service is the only way to completely remove their information from the servers.

Still don't approve of the hackers, but I have a lot less sympathy for the company, if this is true.

Of course, Amazon have a different business model. They know they're going to make a lot more money from the average consumer from media sales than hardware. It costs them a lot more to piss of customers.

Not that I think it makes sense to Sling to do this. These days it's harder than ever to cover up bad corporate behaviour, and this is going to bite them.

While my initial point of puzzlement is why you would ever click on an ad, the core issue you're bringing up seems flawed: I'm not quite sure why the product is the responsibility of the carrier. A newspaper isn't responsible for the food in a restaurant that advertises in them, nor is PBS responsible for what the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation does -- even though they namecheck them as sponsors quite often. The telephone company and postal service carry scams without intent to do so, but Verizon is not generally seen as culpable for the mess a computer can get in when "Microsoft called" somebody in the house to walk them through "free support."

You are of course correct in that carriers do bear an onus to reasonably and in good faith remove scams when they are brought to them. There's always a struggle there, and there will likely always be, as the scammers are adept at countering such effort.

I think you mean the memo from 2002, and so others can find it, here's a link to it.

In all seriousness, I do not use ad blockers, and I have the "disable advertising" off, although it is offered to me. I view my use of a web site and their ads the same way as walking into a restaurant and paying for the meal. They are putting content into a rectangle, and if I like the content, I will return. Some smaller groups provide free food or community supported food (heck, I do that on Wednesday game nights at my home), and some smaller sites provide free content. But in general, it's part of the assumption. If the cost is too high (too many ads, or even one that makes any kind of noise), I don't go back.

I do, however, block the hell out of popups. The agreement is a page of content. You don't get further access to my desktop unless and until I agree.

However most of them quickly convert it to dollars or another currency.

The important thing is they accept it for trade, Not that they choose BTC as a long-term store of value. Surely anyone can see how that could create undesirable risk.

Merchants might accept BTC, but most of their suppliers, including employees and the tax man are going to want their payments denominated in local currency.

Yes to #1, take your TV, throw it out the window. Tune your radio to NPR, install Ad Block, Flash Block, uBlock, Ghostery, etc. on your web browser. You will be shocked - SHOCKED - to find out from your friends when the latest summer blockbuster movies are coming out.
 
When I moved out of the house at 19 I did not take a TV with me, and I did not miss it. Only at 29 did I buy a TV, and only then so I could watch Netflix on a larger screen, in my living room.

when can I exchange it for money that shops actually accept

Of course you can exchange it for money that shops actually accept.

What's not happened yet.... is.... most shops won't yet provide acceptance of Bitcoin directly for goods.

However, you can exchange some BTC yourself for cash in your local currency. There also may be some options where you fund a prepaid credit card using BTC, Or accounts where you charge the CC transaction and they convert from a held BTC balance.

Software (yes, I know, with some exceptions) can mostly be written anywhere.

If that were true, then how come there is a need for H1Bs? Why not just outsource the work?

No, there must be some value loss from outsourcing, otherwise they wouldn't need to bring people into the US and have exiting workers here train them.