It seems that everything on Android does this. The first thing I do after installing something is to remove the shortcut from the main pages. I have a whole screen with nothing but my apps - why would I want that on my main screen too?

As an aside, Code Monkey's is currently on Netflix instant streaming. I've been watching it since my path was the opposite (knew the song, never saw the show).

I don't know if you have an Android but whenever I download apps there's always a list of permissions it will have. That alone probably constitutes a degree of permission by the user, I'm sure.

I've a friend that's flip-flopped from telling me I needed an iPhone (when I got a Galaxy SII) to telling me how wonderful his wife's Galaxy SIII is. He's not even a tech-type guy and he's talked about the Apple vs. Samsung trial specifically because he wants to get a Galaxy SIII for himself soon.
Customers are fickle (outside of the the fanboy spectrum) and will jump on whatever is "hot" at the time. That's the whole purpose of the "walled garden" that Apple - and yes, Google "Play Store" also - encourages. It's an attempt to lock people into a specific set of devices (ones that you profit from) by discouraging change. Who wants to lose music, games, etc just because there's a new device out that is a little better? The better they can convince people to stay, the more money they can extract.

So yes, outside of the walling of the gardens, I suspect people want those choices. I would find it really interesting to see people genuinely upset that they're getting taken away from them.

At one former job, if anyone announced they were going outside to take a smoking break I would loudly announce that I was going to go outside also for a flatulence break. After some odd looks and laughter the first few times, they got used to me joining them and sitting upwind of their smoke. Of course, actual flatulence was optional but they got the point that I was going to be certain to take a break if they were going to get one.

USB webcam is a great and inexpensive way to go. My dad did this very thing one time - leave it on and set to record when it senses motion. A windy day left him with a bit of extra footage when the bushes would shake, but he also got every single car and person that drove/walked by on the sidewalk.

As a Kentuckian I'm extremely disappointed that the sponsor would even think something of this nature is a good idea. As a Republican (technically) I'm noticing that I'm less and less "in line" with the party as time goes on. It's especially noticeable to me the last election here... I need a party that's young and flexible enough to be smart about technology, strong on individual rights and liberties (but balanced with individual responsibility!), and that has the teeth to take on bonehead moves like this. Anonymous doesn't count.

Whole life insurance policies are usually designed to pay out the death benefit if the person in question reaches age 100, since there is no mortality tables calculated beyond that point. I imagine that would change significantly if longer life spans became commonplace.

If they paid in coins, you might say exact change would be even easier than with dollar bills. No "rounding" required in that case :)

Now that it's banned on twitter, it'll be the number one trending topic.

Aye or Nay. Which one means yes?

Doesn't bother me. While I'm sure someone will do something to prove that it can operate just fine on "Vista-or-less-than" OS, do we really care when we've got better options in Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and many more? Oh, I forgot, I need it to run a "Native HTML5 experience", darn them.

I read once that the decision on who to sue was always based on who would be able to pony up the most money. To a victim's lawyer, liability is directly related to the potential for profit. Of course, that's just who to sue FIRST. Parent post is correct, all of them eventually.

Step 4 is really a mystery, because Step 3, "Banning customers" doesn't naturally lead to Step 5, "Profit!!!" in any way, shape, or form.

Same here, although a category lower. Essentially, 0-10 minutes a day talking on a personal phone. 10-60 or more taking calls at work. Happily most of my work is either email-related or at least off the phone.