You are forgetting the fact that the dock connector dates back to the 3rd gen iPod released in 2003. Mico-USB (the EU's standard for charging) came out around 2007. The dock connector was ubiquitous before anybody dreamed of having HDMI output on phones. And originally it carried firewire and usb data, you really think apple would have tried to fit that plus analog audio into a mini-USB port? Especially since mini-USB has proven to be not up to the task (replaced by micro-usb because mini didn't support enough plug-unplug cycles for a traditional cell phone etc.)

Its called differential GPS and is already being used all over the world. Hell its even being used on farms to guide tractors by now. It can get down to the cm level of accuracy. Not News.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_GPS

http://www.deere.com/servlet/ProdCatProduct?pNbr=GT3TAPC&tM=FR

Depends on your state. People in New York State get fucked with higher taxes and it all goes to NYC. California is similar (you think the people living out in the middle of the desert are really getting their money's worth in insanely high state taxes?)

Honestly I think this country needs a government run cell phone network like the post office. It doesn't have to be the latest and greatest (you can go private and pay more for that if you wish). But coverage to everyone, everywhere, for a reasonable fee. Internet is far more necessary than postal service anymore these days anyways.

Its the opposite. If you have health insurance your health insurance is charged LESS than someone would pay out of pocket. This is because the health insurance companies organize bulk deals with the hospitals.

The people who screw you over are the people without insurance who go to the emergency room when they are having a heart attack etc. The emergency room must treat those individuals even if they can't pay (assuming it is an actual emergency). Basically they can't let someone die who is sitting in the waiting room but can't pay. Unless you suggest that happen it actually would be CHEAPER for you if you subsidized those people's health insurance so they would get preventative checkups and not wait until they are about to die to go to the emergency room.

And that would be because all Blackberry apps suck. On an iPhone (I'll use this as my example because I have one so I have experience with it) you have plenty of quality apps to choose from. And don't let the word apps distract you, because yes I know it has become a word that applies to all those stupid fart apps as well.

But things like Skype, Netflix, Pandora, Grooveshark, TomTom, Dropbox, facebook, weather channel, google voice, simplenote, WatchESPN, MLB AtBat, etc. etc. etc.

If you think you have no interest in these apps then you really are just too senile for a smartphone or haven't given it a chance.

Then go to a trade school. GEC's (General Education Courses) are an inherent part of a B.S. And really, they are quite interesting. Yea, there are a few that I didn't like (like British Literature) but you have choices and I found I enjoy Economics so I took my writing class as an Economics writing class where we studied the 2008 crash. If you find you are interested in something different then you can take GEC's in that.

My school offeres a Computer Science Engineering degree. That replaces some of the more fluffy requirements with Electrical Engineering and even a few Mechanical Engineering classes. You may be interested in something like that if you are more into math-type classes.

Oh, and this deserves to be repeated. Don't expect Computer Science classes to be programming classes. They are NOT. Yes a few of them are Software Engineering classes where programming is a big aspect. But there are also a good number of algorithms classes which feel like math classes, that kind of thing.

This is said (although almost in passing) in the article. But I will repeat it because i know how few of us RTFA. Time Warner advertises its PowerBoost feature (and Comcast has something similar) where you get like double your usual bandwidth limit for "burst" downloads and then you get throttled back to your limit after the burst is complete. This is a FEATURE they advertise, not something bad. It allows you to (for example) get 15mbit when download a web page or small file on your 7mbit plan. Notice its a 7 mbit plan, they are not throttling you below your plan's rated speed. They are giving you faster downloads for a quick burst. There is plenty wrong with Time Warner, but this isn't one of the the problems.

This. I see the MacBook Pro models sticking around but the MacBook somehow combining with the iPad. Its not in the near future as the iPad still needs a computer and there are still many limitations it has.

In the end, I honestly don't see this as nearly as bad of a thing as everyone claims. There is a common theme among non-technies that computers are a pain to deal. Even people who use computers proficiently often do not have a good understanding of things like how the filesystem is laid out which can cause confusion if something doesn't get saved in the exact location that it normally does.

The bottom line is that someone like my mom, who uses the computer for pictures, internet browsing, and music really doesn't need much more than an iPad. No, its not quite there yet, but when the day comes that she can get something similar to an iPad and not call me in confusion when things aren't working, I will not complain.

Yes, I will still buy a computer with a full on OS. But I am also a CS major. Not everyone needs/wants a 2-ton truck or a Porsche 911. Some people can get by with a Toyota Yaris perfectly fine.

But 0 AND 1 is 0!

In the case of the original iOS 4 jailbreak, it actually improved system security. The jailbreak was performed using a remote code execution vulnerability in Apple's PDF viewer. Once jailbroken, a patch was available to be installed that closed this vulnerability.

In the carriers defense, unlike in the wired internet world, the solution isn't just lay more fiber. The carriers will always be underprovisioning in a sense because the users a mobile. Of course verizon isn't going to make every tower on their network able to handle all 100 million customers at the same time.

Plus bandwidth is a finite resource. And many municipalities have the NIMBY attitude towards cell phone towers (I WANT MY CELL PHONE SERVICE BUT NO WAY YOUR PUTTING A CELL PHONE TOWERS WITH ALL ITS EVIL RADIATION IN MY CITY!!).

So sure, a lot of this could be solved by more investment by the carriers. But it also make sense that users should have respect for the fact that cell networks don't have the same total bandwidth available as wired connections and wait until they are on WiFi to torrent 5TB of Blueray rips. Er I mean linux ISO's.

Except thats simply not true anymore. Blue-rays ARE the geeky platform. I know way more non-geeks who regularly use netflix than those who play blue-rays. Now I'm sure part of it is that I'm in college so watching TV/movies on a computer screen is a lot more common. Plus pretty much everyone has a wii, xbox, or ps3 so getting netflix onto the TV is not a challange like it may be for the more senile crowd of non-geeks.

Its because installing these systems in expensive. The companies give an option, pay (making up these numbers) $800,000 to install a camera or pay 0 and give us 40% of the profits. Poor city governments are going to be far more likely to take the free plan.

This entirely depends on the city and state. I know we have a reckless driving ticket but its optional. The cop can give it for 20+ mph over in addition to the speeding ticket but usually they don't unless your pissing them off.

Which is why it will take a long long long time to ever have a driverless car in America. Your car is a part of your personality. I remember the day I got my license when I turned 16, it was my first taste of real freedom.

In a world with driverless cars will there be sports cars? Why would they even exist. Think of the classic american idea of the open road, driving down the PCH with the top down on a convertible. There is so much more to driving than the everyday commute.

There seems to be a geek tendency to hate driving that I see on slashdot all the time. Not sure where it comes from. But a lot of people love it.

Of course driverless cars do make a whole lot of sense. Even I will admit that, and I am someone who loves cars even more than I love computers (which is a lot). The way I see the transition happening is things like dedicated computer operated highways. You drive to the onramp, get into a queue, and the computer will take over control. It dumps you off at an offramp, stops the car, and you can regain control.