I average 400-500GB per month, no torrents.

I have a family of 4 with Amazon Prime and Netflix.

Since we don't use cable TV, many of us just have streaming shows on for background noise while working. We treat it like broadcast but stream it.

We agree completely on this point.

There WILL be another 9/11. This stuff happens, and it CAN NOT be 100% avoided.

You can do some things that could help (hint: the issue with 9/11 wasn't a lack of info, but a lack of communication. We still have this problem regardless what the NSA does), but you can't stop it from ever happening.

So, no matter what things you do to prevent 9/11, something like it will happen again. The Boston Marathon bombings, while much less severe, show that even with the super surveillance, people dedicated to cause death can do it, and always will be able to.

What makes for more interesting discussion is if there are ways of preventing the root causes for wanting to cause death. Perhaps that can be more effective than ignoring what the cause is & trying to stop the effect?

Yet, you call this man a good friend, even though he supported an agency that you compare to the STASI?

We do agree. So the two of us are good, maybe 200,000 others in the USA, give or take 100,000.

The rest want bars on the school doors and windows to prevent shoot shootings that are a fraction of the deaths caused by the cars they drive their kids to school in. They keep the kids inside so they don't get kidnapped while their kid gets a higher risk of death from poor fitness. They support the "war on drugs" and the "war on terror".

I honestly don't know what to do about them. If I try to talk about it, their eyes roll back into their head.
If I talk about sports or the hit show, they're enthralled.

Again, Huxley was right.

Yes. (Quote from Men in Black)

I want the truth. I don't want to be protected by ignorance.

However, I'm not sure if the majority of people actually feel this way. My wife and I are truthful to the other, in the extreme. It has meant our first year of marriage was AWFUL, and here 15 years later it is AMAZING, and continuing to get better. It is hard to speak and accept the truth, but it is worth it IF you are willing to handle it.

Again, I'm not sure everyone, or even a majority, is willing to handle it correctly. It is an honest question.

Edwards: Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it.
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it.

Since we figured out that electronically changing the message on a sign was MUCH more cost effective than printing a new one each time the message changed.

"Road closed from June 1st to June 14th" Oh, shit, now we need one that says "No left turn from 8a-5p until August 1st", I guess will order a new sign...

Also, don't discount the usefulness of re-routing traffic when there is a large planned or unplanned event, like a sports event or an Interstate closing because of a massive wreck.

This is a lot of great info, but what I want to know is will Sprint move to GSM or T-Mobile to CDMA?

I have a Verizon CDMA phone, and *HATE* it. Call management (3-way or more, call waiting, etc) is a nightmare on CDMA. Plus, CDMA is not common outside North America.

I really hope to see Sprint drop CDMA, but will they, or will they remove features from their T-Mobile imports?

Internet access isn't needed, though. You can do some searching and find ATM hacks using the mag card reader.
I would assume that with enough playing around, there may be a key combination that could cause an exploit on the slots, but the cameras all over the casino do a good job mitigating that threat.

While these are good points, you did forget to point out the 2.7 metric fucktons of snow that Lake Michigan deposits on you.

You are not an asshole.

I've used apps that have payment systems like you describe, and I've found it to be a completely fair balance between free trial and paying, and I usually pay.

Neither are studios like TellTale that create episodic content. Often, the first episode is free, and you pay per episode after that. They create new content, and if I like what I've had so far, I pay for more. We both win. The developer gets more money and I get more content.

EA, et all, ARE assholes. There is no full version, but there is an endless gauntlet of payments that come up for as long as you play the game. THIS SUCKS, and I've stopped this treadmill.

Try again.
Verizon made (net profit, after taxes, etc) over 11 BILLION in 2013. AT&T made over $18B.

I'm sure it wasn't because he made a typo on a comment. Grow up.

You're making a false choice.

Those family members already have POTS service. Some do not need Internet, but all would like it.

Where they live, cellular is NOT an option. No Internet service exists (not even slow and rickety DSL) that they can use for VoIP, as Satellite-based Internet has too high of a RTT to work.

The phone companies want to take away their POTS service.

I'm fine with that, as long as they have something that is at least the same cost & functionality running over VoIP.

Again, MANDATE LTE coverage without limits (my grandma can talk as long as she wants over POTS on a local call with no extra fees), OR, mandate fiber be put in to replace the POTS infrastructure.

Universal service is a something we have had for a long time and depend on. Your food is grown by people that use this.

If that means we have to charge a USF for everyone's Internet, fine with me. If that means we quit spending USF money for things that are not related to providing Universal internet access, also fine (there is a lot of waste there).

What isn't fine is removing an infrastructure that everyone that has ever had a phone paid for with USFs, and not putting in a modern replacement. Essentially, that is theft.