Oh popycock! The market you refuse to acknowledge they are a monopoly in is... Wait for it... Marketing which this move is directed at. It attempts to limit the tracking to themselves being the only one who can track you albeit very poorly. Other marketers will have to find the loopholes in this strategy which gives Google the upper hand for a while.

If you opened a package with someone else's name on it, you have committed a federal offense.

In the US that is only true for the US Postal Service. Private delivery services like UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc do not have the same protections. This is because the USPS is a quasi-government agency and the only official way the government will send checks and other personal mail such as tax info.

always wondered if there is anyone who actually clicks on advertisement links, I mean, yeah I can see the type of people who would click on a lotto 999,999,999th visitor ad, but does ANYONE really buy things after clicking on them?

In the 25+ years I have been on the Internet I have never, ever clicked an ad. In this day and age of malware it is very dangerous to do so. In fact, the more I see an ad for a particular product, the more likely I am to use a competitor's product that hasn't bombarded me with advertising.if I really want it just to be spiteful.

I do the same with political ads. I vote for the one I heard the least from. One sure way to get me to vote against you is for you to send me an unsolicited ad for your campaign. That is my way of saying the millions you are spending on advertising is working against you.

I have a Nokia C3-00 phone that I got from Walmart. It is a pre-paid phone I got because... Well... I need a phone not a damned computer. It works very well as a phone with a far longer battery life than any of the so called smart phones out there. A single charge lasts me a week on this thing. Can you say the same about an iphone or galaxy?

Almost 100% of all coal is shipped to electricity providers. Reliability and Economies of Scale.

Absolutely false. Most of the coal here in West Virginia actually goes for metallurgical (steel production) uses. The 1/3 to 1/4 that is used for power production comes from the southern coal fields.

If obesity was really a "chronic but treatable disease," where has it been the last 200,000 years? Why has it only existed on a large scale for the last 20 - 30 years? Changes in physiology don't move that fast, but changes in culture, attitude, economics, etc certainly do.

Most of the reason things in culture get classified as a disease is so insurance will pay for the treatment. That aside, the biggest changes in the last 50 years has been the advent of chemistry in food production. Processed food has more chemicals added for flavor, color and shelf life than ever before. The further you get away from natural the more unhealthy it is for you. The problem is those same processed foods also happen to be the cheapest.

"Have the Indians fill it in and charge a buck a head to cross... It's a sound business solution!" -- George Carlin

As I pointed out above, a restaurant surveillance system is trained on the cash registers to record transactions (or thefts) from them. They don't follow you around the damned place like someone wearing Google Glass can.

Also, the surveillance video cameras are fixed usually on a front counter to record the cash registers and those dealing with it. They aren't following you around the whole damned diner.

Also, please remember that not everyone who uses a computer is an "IT pro". This should not be necessary to avoid shit like this crap.

And there is the problem. People pay hundreds or thousands for a computer and still want to treat it as an appliance like their toaster. Why should I give a shit about their safety if they don't give a shit about it? The real question is when are people going to take responsibility for their own actions? Install crapware and get infested with shit like this. It is that simple. It all comes down to greed. Greed on the part of the producers of shit like this and greed on the part of the user trying to get a free lunch when no such thing exists.

An even better way was stated above. Remove the links as ordered and while they are at it remove any and all links to the complainant's sites. Turn them into the black hole of the Internet.

Which completely ignores not only the other points I made but the market dominance Google has and their influence on other companies. Assuming this application is even on other services, this move by Google will be copied by them in short order. Google also has dominance in the Android store market simply because of the fact that every Android device ships with the store by default much like every copy of Windows ships with Internet Explorer. And just like Internet Explorer, getting those other venues installed requires the double whammy of knowing it is on that other venue AND going through the hassle of installing that other venue.

Although not as restrictive as that iDevice it is still restrictive.

Google deciding not to distribute an application is not akin to making you into their slave. Pointing out that a warranty might be voided if you do certain things is not akin to making you into their slave. All your analogies to "walking off the plantation" do is highlight that you have absolutely no sense of perspective on this matter.

Several problems with your statement there...

1. Google didn't just "point out" that this application may void your warranty. It was already pointed out in large red, bold letters on the play store for the application so no further action on Google's part would be "pointing it out".

2. "Certain conditions" (whatever that means) ignores that in other conditions the application works just fine and has worked fine for thousands, even millions of users. If "certain conditions" was the deciding factor, then literally ALL the applications on the store could void your warranty in "certain conditions". Yet they aren't shutting down the store because of that fact.

3. Although the master / slave imagery is a bit strong you are still sacrificing the freedom to do what you want with the device that you own at Google's will. Google has made itself the gatekeeper by implementing that store and by seeing itself as the total arbiter of what is the best interest of their users.

4. Voiding of the warranty is only an issue where the warranty is in effect in the first place. Google is unilaterally deciding that ALL users, not just those covered by a warranty, should not be allowed access to this application. Although they own the store and have the right to do this, that doesn't make the decision correct.

That's if they know the higher cost is because of the bag. If the cost is hidden in the total grocery bill, then the blame for that cost will be shifted to the store.

Look, most people use these bags because they are there, usually free and they are in a hurry. Until the reusable bags are given away as freely you will continue to see plastic bag usage no matter the cost.

If my kids don't want this, they can buy their own cars and pay their own insurance. If they want to drive my cars... well... :)

you do know there is no way to distinguish who is driving your car right? You do realize this data will be sold to the highest bidder right? You do know that your driving habits will also be recorded and sold as well right? You do know that anything and everything on the internet is insecure and inherently dangerous to personal data right? You do know that the next step is to have law enforcement send you citations in the mail when it records you went through that stop sign without coming to a full stop or went 2 miles over the posted speed limit right?

And you are still fine with that?!?!?!