No, I mean that's what the documentation seems to say. The user can't swap SIM cards when there is no removable SIM card. It has to be done remotely. From the documentation, it seems that the carrier has the keys to do that, but the user does not. Some devices start out in "provisioning mode", from which point (I think) the first carrier to talk to the device downloads a profiile and has control of the device until they release it. Or the device might come pre-locked to a carrier. Whether the user can force the device back to provisioning mode seems to be under the control of the profile downloaded by the carrier.

it's a lot like the way domain transfer works between registrars, with the "domain locked" status being under the control of the "losing registrar". That's led to disputes.

Who tells whom what to do? - V. Lenin

Which brings me to my next point... Throughout the history of Windows, software vendors have found and used "undocumented features" (you and I might call them exploits) in their software. Most of what wan on 3.1 also ran on 95; a lot that ran on 95 did *not* run on 98 because Microsoft had fixed the brokenness that the now non-working applications were exploiting.

Why did FoxPro 6, a Microsoft W98 program, not run in XP?

Plenty of software written for XP exploits a number of security vulnerabilities in the name of user convenience and Microsoft knows they'd be pissing a lot more people off by making their computers not work anymore by patching those than they'll piss off by dropping support.

See above, do you think MS cares about their rivals? It was their own shoddy software they were protecting from user wrath. I'm old enough to remember "DOS ain't done 'til Lotus won't run." You really think they give two shits about any other vendor??

Which patch broke my software? Oops, my backup's hosed; how long will it take me to reinstall, reconfigure, and repatch? Which future patches will also break my software?

Hilarious that those problems are nonexistent in the Linux distros I've used. But that's besides the point -- I said nothing about backwards compatibility, just that MS should support their OSes for a reasonable time, and a few years is NOT reasonable.

Which patch broke my software? Oops, my backup's hosed; how long will it take me to reinstall, reconfigure, and repatch? Which future patches will also break my software?

The copy of XP Home Edition I had (I've lost the CD but not everyone does) cost $125. That's plenty for a fifteen year support period, especially considering that Linux distros do it for free. Plus, I don't have those "Which patch broke my software? Oops, my backup's hosed; how long will it take me to reinstall, reconfigure, and repatch?" problems with the Linux box.

Also, I'd love to know how you use EAC to sample LPs and cassettes; last I checked (a while after the last patch was released, over 2 years ago), it just reads CDs and doesn't touch audio devices at all. Can you point me to a writeup?

I wish I would have had a writeup, it wouldn't have been such a pain in the ass to learn how to use. Once you get past the funky learning curve it's easy. It's a matter of "what does this menu item do?" and I agree, its interface sucks. But I've been using it for years, haven't lately so I couldn't tell you which menu does "record". But you can record a CD or LP, delete the silences between sides and before and after, mark where the tracks change and burn to CD in ten or fifteen minutes. The track marking is what Audacity lacks (AFAIK, maybe it can but I haven't found it).

I used to be a fan of MS, twenty years ago when the kids had those shitty Apples at school. No longer.

+5 funny

Not any more, W8 surpassed it. Yet another triumph for Microsoft!

I'm surprised that nobody thought "aliterate" was a misspelling of "illiterate". I usually get chuckles from that one, although the last time I did it somebody actually looked it up.

Aliterates at a nerd site annoy me. You're a nerd, you read books. But these guys that don't know their from there from they're, well, to paraphrase Twain, an aliterate has no advantage over an illiterate."

I think I'll make that my sig after Christmas.

Talk to my editor, it's his fault.

The point is that no single government could splash it. The statement was silly, Monty Python silly. As in "I'D LIKE TO SEE..."

I don't think Christ would be against BitCoin and yeah, I got the Lennon reference but it was lame, dude. Why doesn't slashdot have a "-1, Lame" mod?

That's why I never comment with the phone. That's what the laptop is four; oops, FOR.

I've never seen that show but read of the controversy.

There are a hell of a lot more Christians in the US than there are gays which is why A&E are fucking morons. What's more, he didn't say that being homosexual is a sin (and he's right, it isn't), he said homosexual acts are a sin, and he's absolutely correct as far as the Christian bible is concerned.

He also mentioned a lot of other sins that probably the majority commit but I see no brou-ha ha about that. The fact is that the Duck Dynasty guy is a sinner, you are a sinner and I am a sinner. The Pope is a sinner.

A lesbian friend (well, former friend, her alchoholism is too much for me) once came to me in pain because the preacher in her church had said that gays go to hell. I told her she was attending the wrong church, that's not Christian. Being homosexual isn't a sin, homosexual acts are. I pointed out to her that it was as sinful for me to eat pussy as it was for her (I don't really like eating pussy but the women love it, I must be pretty good at it).

We all sin. We must repent.

If you don't believe in God or Jesus or sin, fine. But don't expect us Christians to accept sin as not sinful. You're forgiven your sins if you repent, but if you don't think sin is sin than may God have mercy on you, because otherwise you're royally fucked.

I don't know about his Motorola but I imagine it's like my Kyocera; the battery is protected by a rubber seal.

My Kyocera Edge is the same way, 1m. But it isn't "waterproof" so you can scuba dive with it, it's so if you drop it in the sink or toilet or get caught in a pouring rain it won't be ruined. I've lost two phones like that, one dropped in a sink and one when I was caught in a downpour. I started carrying a baggie in my wallet after that, now I don't have to. If it gets wet, no problem.

rental cars when you actually need to go somewhere

With a 400 mile range it will take me from here to Chicago or St Louis with no problem. It's been years since I took a trip longer than a hundred miles.

tow trucks when you run out of charge

I have roadside assistance as part of my insurance. You know when I use it most? When the battery in my gasoline car dies and I can't find a jump. Once or twice when I was stuck in the snow.

opportunity cost because the you can't travel anywhere while your [sic] waiting for you [sic] piece of shit electric car to charge

Again, it's been years since I put that many miles on a car in one day, and it will charge while I'm sleeping. Besides, Teslas have charging stations that will fill you up in 30 minutes, not that much longer than to fill a gasoline car at a crowded gas station... hell, I've waited in line that long at the checkout counter.

So... which oil company do you work for, AC?

Indeed, and it's why I traded my debit card for a couple of credit cards. Quite a few years back a woman watched me drunkenly punch my PIN into an ATM. She later stole the card and a book of checks and emptied my bank account -- and I had just bought my car and the $1000 down payment bounced, leading me to a bit of legal trouble.

The forged checks the bank made good, but if someone has your PIN, even if they stole it, they're authorized to use the card even if they stole that as well.

When I use my credit card, the most I can lose is fifty bucks. I can take that kind of loss (hell, I just paid the veterenarian $277 for a sixteen year old cat).

I haven't been in an airplane since 1987. Why am I forced to subsidize the rich fucks who fly weekly? Airline travel isn't much different than luxury cars; how often do most middle class people fly?

And how about that mortgage deduction that the rich and middle class get that the poor don't, since they rent?

I could think of more if I wasn't drinking. Alcohol never raised anybody's IQ.

Do you realize what site you're on, dufus? If you do, know that you're trolling and PLEASE STOP before every fucking comment you make is modded to oblivion. Now listen up, jocktroll, we're nerds. We LOVE space exploration and if you don't, you don't belong here.

Pay attention to all the folks who responded to you who are at least 25 points higher than you on the IQ graph, you may learn something if you're at least almost normally intelligent.

If NASA were privately funded, we might still not have walked on the moon, we would not have Hubble and the other space telescopes, we would not have robots on mars, we would not now have a craft exiting the solar system, we would not have a HELL of a lot of science we do.

If governments hadn't gone to space, you would not have a Space-X or Virgin Galactic today.

So why don't you just crawl back to your 4chan bridge, troll, and leave us nerds alone.