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Comment Net neutrality (Score 1) 242

Could someone explain what this means for net neutrality? Lets assume he's opposed to it (evidently he's made some vague statements in favor of it in the past, but let's not be naive). As I understand it, there's a court case currently with Verizon trying to challenge the FCC's ability to regulate net neutrality period.

Can this lobbyist flat out give up on the court case? If the court case upholds the previous rules, can this guy immediately revoke the rules or are they staying?

Can Wheeler singlehandedly end net neutrality forevermore?

Comment Re:What? (Score 4, Insightful) 435

In the summary? Because TFA was.

Despite Google's lofty rhetoric about open standards, the Gmail protocols are undocumented and not available for licensing. Apps can perform a limited set of interactions with Gmail via its API, but if you want to build a communications app that connects directly to Gmail, you have to use either IMAP or (shudder) POP. Either way, you get a severely compromised experience. And neither configuration gives you access to calendars and contacts.

I've never tried to build yet another e-mail program using Gmail, but there are at least dozens out there for iOS and android, the ones I've used seem to work just great, so I'm inclined to think this is an overstatement.

Also

The biggest problem with getting Gmail to work with third-party clients is that it doesn't use the same filing system they do.

I'm guessing you can actually configure gmail to work that way. I'm also skeptical that there aren't clients out there that work with one of the most popular e-mail services out there. Specifically because I use some of them and they do actually work fine.

He tries to generalize it, but it seems like he's talking about outlook specifically not working with gmail. Maybe he should try not using outlook? I dunno. Maybe that's just me. I hate outlook, but my work seems to love it. I have to forward my work e-mail to a gmail account to use it on anything besides outlook.

Comment Re:Dare to Hope (Score 2) 242

I think you're onto something there actually. After the NSA revelations and too big to fail, the government may have realized "Hey, these morons literally do not care what we do, why hide it?"

At what point does it stop being corruption and start being "Stupid shit that we let happen?" I mean, if someone says "I'm going to drive off in your car and not give it back, that cool?" and you're like "Meh," that's not really stealing your car. If Obama says "I'm going to let these industries make their own rules," and we say "Oh, well they have experience, so I guess that makes sense," that's probably not something you could quite call corruption.

Comment Re:free power (Score 1) 93

Businesses have an addiction to expansion. And they aren't going to be happy with the government saying "Alright, you've tapped enough, close that big fancy plant you built." It will be one plant this year with no effect. Then it will be more for longer. Then they'll be funding studies disputing anthropogenic geothermal change. "Old Faithful was going to stop erupting a decade after we started anyway. Besides, JOBS!"

Perhaps there's enough heat to tap without any effects, just I'd rather err on the side of not allowing greedy people to plunder a national treasure until we know it's actually a hazard not to.

Comment Re:Carbon is carbon (Score 1) 329

Forcing them to skip coal could indeed be pretty fitting if it backfires on us. First world forces third world to not use the fossil fuels first world nations are addicted to. Third world countries become leaders in clean renewable energy. Those cheap manufacturing jobs and IT jobs that were outsourced there combine to make the third world a formidable economic and political force as the first world crumbles. Third world begins telling the US what's what. Demands we disarm all our nuclear weapons or face sanctions.

Hopefully at this point, technology to reanimate the corpses of the assholes who got the first world into that mess will. Make them work as slaves until the first world is back up to standards. Hopefully I will not be part of that zombie slave class.

... Am I high right now? I don't remember smoking anything...

Comment Re:We also need... (Score 1) 322

Careful, they just want us to think that, so that when they pass the "Mandatory rectal monitoring device" and "All citizens are hereby stripped of all rights and must work for the state" acts, we'll think they're something actually good. But surprise! They will ACTUALLY insert machines up our asses that record all our travels and conversations and fiber intakes, and we will ACTUALLY be forced to work in salt mines!

Comment Re:KY gets it (Score 2) 333

If everyone is doing something that seems stupid to you, then either everyone else is stupid or you are missing something.

The bells and whistles in those cases are perhaps more to generate buzz among non-nerds. If I go to say university website and it has all the information (like address) I need in plain black text on plain white background, and I can ctrl+F and get on with my life in a second, I appreciate that. However, for every one person like me who doesn't want any frills, there are a dozen silly people who will complain about how boring the website is and oh can't we do better and maybe highlight some of the unique features of state college university like maybe the bell tower and some multiracial group of kids playing frisbee on the quad and the logo and at least have some sports updates and twitter and facebook link and I saw a dancing baby image a few years ago...

It's not made by us and it's not exclusively FOR us. Yes, the bells and whistles shouldn't need to be there, but there are a lot of idiotic customers who want silly bells and whistles, even with health care.

Doesn't justify websites not having their basic functionality of course. I'm not trying to rationalize that.

Comment Re:Lawyer settle (Score 1) 172

"Should" and "shouldn't" are fun to discuss, but I think were there not a payoff for lawyers, few lawyers would ever go after giant corporations. Moreover, why not? A company being punished for bad behavior = good. A company being punished for bad behavior AND a few lawyers getting a lot of money = same amount of good.

Comment Re:I don't get it.. (Score 1) 172

I guess it depends on if they discriminate against unemployed people. If they don't actively hire people from other companies, and they don't hire unemployed people, and if they don't employ people for life, then that could easily be an abusive situation. A steady stream of fresh employees to replace the ones who would otherwise be getting pay raises, leaving a bunch of unemployed or underemployed people.

Comment Re:Exciting prospect (Score 1) 406

Nearly everyone hates hearing other people say things they disagree with.

You might be thinking of immoral, selfish, or stupid people. Honestly, the stupid/immoral/selfish side of the spectrum causes SO many problems that I don't see why you would bother trying to frame it in terms of political spectrum. Sometimes the SIS is associated with the fringes, but there are plenty of political moderates who angrily try to shut down the internet with lawyers when someone says something about them they don't want said.

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