Hi APK,

This is what causes people to disparage you. I'm one of the (seemingly rare) people that missed your posts (well, some of them ;-) ), but posting the same thing over and over really doesn't benefit the conversation. I get that it is your style (ironic though it is), but I have things in my style that I leave off Slashdot.

Your premise that hostfiles are a good way to deal with advertising and malvertising is quite valid, but it only applies to Windows (please correct me if I am wrong) PCs, so it isn't really a '1-size fits all, all other methods be damned' solution. At the risk of inflating his ego, as KGIII says, security is a process, not an application. There's nothing wrong with a multi-pronged approach (and, in fact, it's typically better).

So, listen or don't, you're free to do largely as you wish, but I think you'd be more successful if you advocated your solution as a component of good security vis-à-vis ad/malvertising, rather than the only option.

I have 2 FP cellphones (my eldest 2 children) and had a few devices on the old WiMax. This is definitely a YMMV, but I have had no problems that weren't fairly easily solved (shaming them publicly via Twitter is the best method IME). My kids are on the $0 plan ($30 phones, promo at the time was free shipping & activation) and a widget on their phone monitors their usage. I also put a AMEX "gift card" (from a rebate) that has IIRC 37 cents available on it as their payment method, so while they could get cut off for going over (and they know this, so they watch closely), I can't get taken to the bank.

They aren't for trusting people (yeah, they will try to upsell you to a plan that is more than a major carrier), but if you're careful & watch for sales, they offer pretty decent, free service (with a very minor initial outlay for the device).

Whilst this is technically true, it's assuming a home internet connection (when the point I got from the story is you can't assume this). Also, there are cellphone options even cheaper (if you don't need many minutes); specifically, the plan I started my kids off with at $10 every 4 months (100minute pool to use over the course of the 4 months @ $2.50/mo, taxes included, PagePlus). If the primary use of the cell is for prospective employers to reach you, this is plenty of service. If you use a smartphone (maybe a hand-me-down, not everyone buys new), you can increase your minutes by using Google Voice when in wifi coverage (doesn't have to be your own, many businesses have free wifi and most people likely visit someone on occasion that has wifi even if they don't have it themselves.

If a friend or family member 'down on their luck' asked, I'm sure I could come up with one or two spare (older-model but working) smartphones to help them set something like this up & I'm far from wealthy. I haven't bought a new cellphone for myself in at least 6 years (I have picked up a couple used ones).

Hopefully this will be resolved with monitor technology; my 24" 4k is already about 150dpi, an 8k should get us close enough (I print at 600dpi, but 300 to 600 can't affect kerning that much, can it?).

I'm not going to do it (I actually rather like my real name :)), but how hard is it to track you through a name change? I mean, it would stop someone like me, I bet, but I wouldn't expect it to stop the govt. if they were trying to look, but where is it in the middle? Does your old name show up as an AKA every time law enforcement runs a check?

My (mostly Windows) Steam account is 947.3 GB per mysteamgauge.com & that sounds about right. Probably have 1/5 of that installed, though. Ugh, says I have averaged nearly 66 minutes a day (or just over 82 days) in the past 5 years playing ... sigh. I shouldn't be surprised, I have 756 hours in the Fallout franchise alone.

Do you have slightly larger than medium size hands, too?

No, that's not entirely true. If I get myself a talkshow in China and spend all my time critical of Mao (or some such), I expect the government to try to stop me. Might be through coercion, might be through threat of violence (or even actual violence), but either way, to stop me. If I do the same in the US of Obama, I might get picked up by Fox News. There may be people protesting me, and I may have to deal with mean worded emails, but this is the consequences of what I am saying. Not imprisonment or threat of imprisonment. Maybe the IRS will pull out a rubber glove with my name on it, but if someone gets caught using the IRS this way, they (theoretically) get in trouble for it. This is free speech. Not "You can say whatever you want with no consequences whatsoever."

I have done this for the better part of a decade, but I don't do appending - the company gets something like 'amazon@[mydomain]' - it used to be far more effective than it is now for determining who shared my address (looking at you, dropbox), but now it's great for phishing emails as amazon won't email me anywhere but amazon@... & I can see who they emailed.

I'll admit, I paused with a confused look on my face for about 2 whole seconds before considering what the next 'sole' would be ... duhno if you originated that or stole it well, but it brought a smile to my face, cheers!

Not true. I have unlimited 128kbps and I can do 'most anything online I need to, save Netflix. 'Course, I have a wired internet connection at the house (and work, etc), so this is just for when I am out and about, but webpages load fine & I can even listen to Pandora (though admittedly, there is some buffering time between tracks - but not much).

Did you only read that far?

Is it really broken or do you just need someone to show you how to set your VCR again? :)

Ok

Yup

Gmail + Google voice?

I don't see a problem with this. It's more hassle than my time is worth, but not something that should scare a geek.

Oh my gosh, yes. I really hate this particular rule, just struck me funny to see it broken by someone being pedantic :)

Before I get trolled, I think sentences ending with an emoticon should not require additional punctuation. Not (yet) a rule, but it should be!