Either that, or we realized that a lot of the shit that AT&T did sucked, but you could see that it sucked far less with AT&T and thus lifting both brands.

Honestly, what did Apple ever have to blame anyone else for? The signal strength? Ohes noes...I get shitty reception if I hold it wrong, how many millions of dollars can I spend to get this fixed. Oh wait...I can just hold it differently like using a different hand.

This is the only real PR fiasco Apple encountered with their product outside of the nerd crowd screaming BUT ITS DRMWARE!@!@!@! Which most of the pragmatic nerds like me just said Yup, I'll Jailbreak It and never thought twice about it (Ironically, the first person to help me break DRM on an Apple product is now an Apple VP.)

Why would you want to install something like computrace on a $400 tablet (thats how much my institution pays for them)? Get insurance and be done with it. If you are talking the Fire, its a $200 device. If its lost, its lost...on the iPad, you can do a remote wipe just as easily as you can Computrace if something is lost. However, not sure why you'd allow FERPA protected data on a tablet anyways, and thus its a moot point. With the Kindle, you can sideload almost anything you want. If you are with a school system, you most likely have access to a consortium that allows you to get etexts straight from the manufacturer at a huge discount without ever dealing with Amazon, and load it up from there.

As for AS, I'm assuming you mean Active Directory...who the fuck actually needs this except for managing PCs. Oh yeah, PC nerds that can't think outside of the Microsoft paradigm...I use to develop student testing software (as well as psychological testing) and it was amazing when I actually talked with any school techs. By and far, they were the most basement of dwellers I'd ever met. They weren't just nerds, but by and far they were MICROSOFT NERDS. I developed both the psychological side of things, as well as the technical backend, so I could actually address the needs of school nerds, but honest to god, I think most of them just made up rules and regulations because either they weren't smart enough to do anything new -- or they were the SYSOP FROM HELL and needed to protect their job so they kept things as byzantine as possible so no one could ever take their jobs away. Granted, the most computers I've ever had to manage myself (well, and two assistants) was about 1000, and these days, I only have about 100 to deal with...but really...off the shelf technology that really didn't take much time to deal with. For some reason school nerds never understood simplicity and everytime I heard any of them talk, it pretty much sounded exactly like you...EVERYONE ELSE IS SO RIGID, THEY WON'T FOLLOW MY RULES, FUCK THEM...I'M BUYING WINDOWS!!!

Ok, that was over the top...I don't know you and you may not be this bad. I realize I'm being an asshole, but your post brought back way too many bad memories.

Same with Dell who's laptops are made there, as are Compaq's and HP's, and Microsoft's products including the Xbox 360 -- in which the factory where Apple was getting all the hate because Foxcon employees were threatening suicide weren't even manufacturing Apple products -- but the XBOX360 and Kinect in the ramp up to Christmas.

Its funny that Apple gets all the shit, when in fact, they make up a small part of this company's output -- and they are the only ones that for the last several years have been asking for reports from the companies involved, been actively reducing child labor (they fired a company that was found to have child labor two years in a row), they have asked the wages of the employees making the devices in these companies be raised (far more than the ones making the XBOX products), and are actively trying to change the culture. Last year, a lot of the products that were being manufactured by hand were transitioned to robots because of the repetitive nature of the task...and were shit on for 'firing employees' when they did this.

Its fucked up how much Apple gets shit on with this...its like Greenpeace going after Apple and listing them lower when their practices were far better than any other manufacture with Greenpeace first stating that they were looking for improvement from a baseline (i.e., where was the company a few years ago vs. now...not who is actually better), and then pretty much admitting it was a publicity stunt because of Apple's image...never actually admitting that their products were far ahead of the competition.

That said, I would fucking shoot myself in the head if I had to work in conditions like in Foxcon...that is if my family wasn't fined for me doing so and put into prison camps to pay for my crime against society. Even the best fucking sucks...

In a sense, Apple forced Amazon to treat the publishing industry fairly.

Amazon was devaluing books by buying them at one price and selling them for a lot less than they paid for, ensuring that because of their size that they would eventually be the only company to deal with...and thus set prices exactly where they wanted to in order to make the most money.

It was a very monopolistic act and ironic that the only company that forced them to stop doing this wasn't a bookstore but a company that sold phones. Pretty much because they killed off all the other bookstores by selling books cheaper by not needing to pay sales tax or to have a physical location (back when people would come to most other bookstores to browse the books and then turn around and buy online).

That said, I browsed bookstores and bought online too. And I never reported the tax savings either. Then again, I rarely buy ebooks unless its cheap enough...I buy a physical version and then scrounge the next for an electronic one that I'm not going to pay for (why should I pay for something I already have). Actually, there have been a few times where I couldn't find the book and sent my physical book to a conversion service (and it STILL was cheaper than a lot of books!) Sadly, when you do this, you don't get the book back because they've practically destroyed it in the process.

But regardless, the point was Amazon was using monopolistic practices to pressure publishers into lowering prices so that they could drive out even more small businesses. And most of us were all too willing to help out.

Nah...Cory represents some of the worst I find about the FOSS community. He is a prettier version of RMS. Sorry.

I *LOVE* opensource, but I've been burned several times by people like him. No matter what you do, its not good enough.

Again, I am not a fan of GPL with my own works...I straight out PD it when I get around to it (I keep about a 2 to 3 year cycle that anything I sell myself is open)...and yeah, I know I technically need a copyright for it. I put out a few statistical routines for a number of languages last year...ones that actually work (i.e., I was surprised how many actually didn't). These were for running my own experiments and I needed them to work correctly. Honestly, I find it odd that someone would try to copyright something that is another representation of a mathematical formula. I got shit on because I didn't explain how some of this works...I mean FUCKING TAKE A GRADUATE LEVEL STATS COURSE IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO REGRESSIONS OR FACTOR ANALYSIS...I'M NOT GOING TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR YOU.

These were public domain...as they should be. And I have no idea how these people tracked me down because they aren't intended to be used by people that don't know stats. If you know stats? You know how to implement them. Wasn't supposed to be a text book, nor was it supposed to be for the nerd that their boss said HEY I NEED THIS FEATURE, FIND IT...

Most of the opensource people I know are pragmatic. Its the 1% that seem to actually represent the movement that make it look bad. I could care less about telling someone what to do with the product after I'm finished. GPL does that. Telling someone how to live their life and mandating their morality is not free. BSD gets a little closer...it says HEY, AT LEAST GIVE ME CREDIT...I don't even want the credit.

But yes, Cory represents the part of the FOSS movement I can't stand. He is a cheerleader that puts out shitty works and people pay him for cheerleading. You should find out the inside story of how he convinced a nonprofit to move him overseas, spent most of his time promoting his own works, and then quit once they paid for his expenses. Not even a great evangelist if you dig deep enough...more like an opportunist. So yes...he represents the opensores part of opensource.

Not a troll...just someone that has interacted with the man for a long time and realized that he is a bigger douche than I am. And that is telling...

"I don't tip the waitress until I get the check. "

No, but you do pay for the food. The content creator isn't asking for a tip...they are asking for a specific amount of money to watch their movie. In the case of a loaned DVD...the person paying for the DVD originally paid for the right to loan this. When I wrote software and it had to run from disc (this was YEARS ago), my only rule for loans was that you had to loan the original media -- not copies. I gave a shit load of my software away for free -- both opensourcing the older stuff (actually public domaining it and disavowing the code...I stripped all references to my name because most of what people were paying for was my personal service and support and for some reason people thought free software with the code gave them the right to call me an asshole publicly when I told them they could pay if they wanted any support or communication what so ever...and I specifically wrote in the code DO NOT CONTACT ME FOR SUPPORT).

Hell...then again, sometimes poor musicians would write me and ask for my software and I'd give them a copy if they weren't dicks about it. 90% of the time I did.

I'm not a bit fan of the current copyright code, but at the same time, I'm almost 40 and there is only about 5 years of my songwriting or code that wouldn't be covered by the 20 years. I would be happy with it being exactly as it was. And places like TPB would STILL be dealing with software that was 3 months old.

As for Doctorow...I've had conversations with him for 15 years and he has always been wrong about so many things. He use to be a hypercard 'hacker' back in the day...until Apple wouldn't suck his cock and he got righteous about it. His works suck. I use to buy them because I thought he was a decent guy...but my god the man cannot write. I know a lot of others that feel the same way and buy his works...almost like a pat on the head because he is the most outspoken opensores evangelist that doesn't publicly eat his toe cheese in public...he is grating, but acceptable company if he isn't lecturing you. As such, he is a big deal to a lot of nerds who reward him for this, not his writings. As for his other success stories...he points out artists that have made a shit ton of money through the use of their copyrights, live comfortably and then realize they can give a little back and STILL make a shit ton because they have the name to do it. He doesn't talk about the 99% of the people that try this and fail. For me? I sold a shit ton of music over my life and I love the obscurity. Every so often someone will find my name in the credits of an album, but even then...I'd rather my name be on the books in some labels safe and let those that are more talented in performing or comfortable doing PR and interviews take the credit. And they paid well to take the credit.

A true artist doesn't give a fuck who's name is on the works. All I ever cared about was making enough money to be able to continue to do what I needed to do. Fuck obscurity...it never hurt me a bit...it paid for my house and 4 years of college and I've been pimping some of my works to friends again after almost a decade out of the industry so that I can go to med school without having to take on loans. Van Gogh...did a lot of work in obscurity that paid the bills. His paintings were an afterthough and personal. His life as an art collector made a lot of things easier. He used his collection -- and the fact that these works were like currency -- to live a good life that allowed him to paint obscurely. And it didn't hurt him...what would have hurt him? If someone could have come along and made exact works of the paintings in his collection from others that allowed him to live well.

Point is, Cory is wrong about those going broke from piracy but starving from obscurity. They aren't connected...and yet, I've known a lot of talented well known people quit industries because their work was too widely available and they weren't getting compensation for their work (or the investment that it took to create it).

"That's what the Pirate Bay is for. I'm not going to pay to watch something I wouldn't pay to watch..."

I've never understood this idea...if it isn't worth paying for, it isn't worth stealing / copyright infringing / taking something that cost someone else to make that you find crap and thus shouldn't even view unless willing to pony up for it. At least if you REALLY wanted to see someting and couldn't afford it, it would at least make sense...

It just doesn't seem right even if you don't believe in intellectual properties...someday when people don't make bad movies or television for money and are compensated in other ways...I'll agree, but for now, the expectation is that people are compensated for their work if you use.

I figure if I don't want to compensate someone for entertaining me, I don't let them entertain me. It isn't that hard to avoid the garbage...especially if you have to resort to TPB for it.

As for priorities? I agree...I don't drink coffee...and one cup of tea at Starbucks that I can refill all day long and get out of my office for 20 minutes at a time...costs me less that $2. At the same time, I know plenty of people that don't bat an eye at paying for this, and yet they complain about Netflix.

Quality isn't about the bells and whistles...its about the content.

I have tapes recorded in lowfi mono that are far more artful than anything in 7.1 recorded at 192khz. This is not quality...its a numbers game. Does 7.1 sound nice? Yes...but if the content is good, it shouldn't matter.

I look at Netflix as something that I can test out movies I wouldn't have otherwise watched. For $7 a month, I'm not sure if I'm going to care if I don't get 7.1 out of something that costs as much as 2 coffees. And yet, this is exactly why Hastings was kicked in the gonads pretty hard...people were upset about having to pay the equivalent of one days coffee for something that lasts a lot longer and enriches their lives far more. (it is just television...but c'mon...in the scheme of things, it is still better than coffee!). People getting upset that they are getting something that if it would have come down coax instead of Cat5 and they didn't have a choice of what was being played or when that they would be paying 3x that just for the basics (let alone premium channels) and yet people still found reason to complain.

But some people want to complain about $7 and talk about flashy audio formats that really don't add much to 99% of the films out there...

We do not all believe speeding is wrong.

A large percentage of people believe speeding to be perfectly legitimate because speed laws are artificially low to increase revenues from fines and otherwise. Or may believe that they are good enough to speed, but most others shouldn't. Or that disregarding the law is perfectly legitimate if there is an excuse.

Not one of these tells us they feel speeding it wrong...they feel it is justified under many many circumstances.

I don't speed...and yet I don't find speeding wrong. I find breaking laws that were made that don't affect my life to be wrong. There is nothing that the speeding laws stop me from doing that wasn't my fault to begin with (i.e., get up 5 minutes earlier to get to work). As such, I find it moronic to break the law. I also feel the same about drug laws...I don't like drug laws, but I don't make up excuses as to why the law is bad when all I'd want to do is to get high. I don't see this as a human right that needs to be protected by breaking the laws. At the same time, I don't judge someone that wants to get high...its their life. I do find people that go to jail for this to be morons that took a risk for no apparent reason knowing its against the law.

Taking these ideas out, lot of people could believe that cheating might be wrong EXCEPT IF IT IS JUSTIFYABLE....i.e., they know the material, but just didn't study. Or feel more worthy than someone else. Or otherwise...cheating isn't wrong...others cheating is wrong.

This is the problem with a decade of psychology behind me...these things are not simple questions nor answers...

All anecdotal?

I keep track of the types of tests and the students that were suspected of cheating. I've been doing this for 10 years. A few years back, I was asked to see which tests were being cheated on the most. A large international exam testing English speaking skills (not going to say the name) was the one that by and far was the largest group of suspected cheating. Note: suspected cheating is most likely actual cheating, but in a lot of cases, I couldn't take the risk of accusation. For instance, I can dismiss someone for talking to someone else, but I can't really say its 'cheating' unless I knew what was being said.

When I went in to names and otherwise, sometimes I have their country of origin...and sometimes just the names...but I can make a pretty good determination that over 10 years that students from certain countries by and far elicit more cheating than others. And not just a little...a LOT. Even when I look at the other tests other than this English Language test...its the same thing.

Who knows, you may be right...unless I went to another large university and repeated these results, I don't know if it is just the locals that have congregated here and not an indictment of the countries...but an indictment of the locals that just happen to cluster from those countries and have heard it was easy to cheat. However, though friends on the national collegiate testing association...this is generally true anecdotally -- even if they haven't kept the same records I have.

You seem to have a lot invested in your belief that it is systematic and not just localized to cultures. I've spent a LOT of time with two diverse cultures -- I am white, but I really don't have many white friends -- living with one family for 15 years, and growing up with another where I spent more time with them than my own family I can definitely tell you they have very different values and norms compared to the average 'white' family (what ever that may be). There are things that make you say What The Fuck...and then when you leave and go back to your 'own' culture...you realize in some ways theirs is so much fucking better and you sit around going WHAT THE FUCK about your own...90% of it all is going to be the same. But where it deviates...it really deviates. And understanding the cultures...it makes sense why.

But going around believing everyone is the same? No...cultures differ and values differ and this is why its great to get out of a monoculture and live with others to see the world for what it is...you might end up agreeing with your own more...or you might go back sickened by your own...I did the latter...