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Comment: Re:Any Android (or if you have to iPhone, but why? (Score 1) 294

by Fazeshift (#39147107) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Best Mobile Phone Solution With No Data Plan?

It must be carrier dependent. I have a 3+ year old non-smart phone, through Verizon. No data plan. I specifically had them block data usage, to prevent inadvertent charges due to bumped shortcut keys. Even though data is blocked, it can send/receive MMS just fine, including those sent from friends/family with smartphones.

The ghost towns of China-> 1

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes "These satellite images show sprawling cities built in remote parts of China that have been left completely abandoned, sometimes years after their construction.

Elaborate public buildings and open spaces are completely unused, with the exception of a few government vehicles near communist authority offices.

Some estimates put the number of empty homes at as many as 64 million, with up to 20 new cities being built every year in the country's vast swathes of free land.

The photographs have emerged as a Chinese government think tank warns that the country's real estate bubble is getting worse, with property prices in major cities overvalued by as much as 70 per cent."
Link to Original Source
Television

Discovery Threatens Fan Site It Also Promotes 287

Posted by Soulskill
from the in-the-case-of-right-hand-v.-left-hand dept.
An anonymous reader writes "It seems the lawyers and the marketing people at The Discovery Channel don't talk to each other much. The marketing people behind the show 'The Deadliest Catch' have been supporting a fan community called DeadliestCatchTV.com for a while now. They've regularly sent the site info, free clips, previews and information about the show. On top of that, they link to it from the official site, including it in a list of 'fan sites' as a part of the 'Discovery Network,' and even will frame the site with the show's own dashboard for those who click through. Discovery's lawyers, on the other hand, have threatened to sue the site out of existence and have demanded that the owner hand over the domain name — which he is going to do, because he doesn't have the money to fight this. While there may be a trademark issue (which could be easily resolved with a free license), the lawyers are also making the ridiculous argument that posting the videos Discovery sent him to post are copyright infringement. They're also claiming that embedding the official Discovery Channel YouTube videos (which have embedding turned on) is copyright infringement. This is exactly how you turn lots of fans into people who hate your entire channel."

Comment: Not accepting update = future warranty hassles (Score 1) 750

by Fazeshift (#31286632) Attached to: Should I Take Toyota's Software Update?

My $0.02 and experience on this...
Several years ago, I refused an update to a 2003 Nissan. To sum it up, the engine could stall due to a poorly-made crank position sensor (CPS). Nissan determined it was cheaper to issue a firmware update than replace the all of the sensors. The update lets the PCM cope with bad CPS signals, so that it does not stall, but other side effects (tach stops working, etc) remain because the root cause (CPS) went unaddressed. I declined the update, as I had already taken the initiative to replace the bad CPS with the updated sensor myself. It resolved all issues.

Fast forward a couple years. Due to other mechanical design/manufacturing defects the engine failed (QR25DE - prone to pre-cat failure and power-valve screw ingestion, causing scoured cylinder walls then ring failure) @ 59K miles. The vehicle was well-cared for, unmodified, etc. When it came time to make a warranty claim, several dealers flat-out refused to help me, many citing the unaddressed firmware update.

That might not have been legal, moral, or business-smart (retain me as customer) but point is - if you care about your warranty, refusing an update is opening the door for future hassle, should something (even unrelated, like my issue) happen. Apparently being an informed/educated/opinionated owner isn't an advantage.

Your reasoning powers are good, and you are a fairly good planner.