You haven't learned as much as you could have.

It is confusing, but this usage of "drops" came first and it doesn't seem fair to complain about that confusion when people use it this way.

I was surprised to learn that 85% of Slashdot poll respondents don't consume any caffeine.

Somewhat recent (at least for several years) macs include recovery firmware which can boot into an environment one can configure a network connection with, and has the option of downloading the operating system from Apple and re-installing it.

Sounds like the watch needs a gesture for "go back to where I was in the app, before the watch auto-reset to the time". And I don't mean a touchscreen gesture, I mean something using the accelerometer. The downside is that's bound to look silly.

I work in HP's software division, and I can confirm this is actually not happening here. New HP employees get a choice between a few different laptop/desktop models, based on their business segment, that are all HP machines.

Getting access to alternative hardware (more powerful machines/macbooks) is possible, but requires a business need and managerial approval. Our iOS devs, for example, obviously get access to MBPs, but 'regular' users still get HP laptops.

I appreciate the response, but I just don't think "we haven't had time to implement it yet" cuts it for important features which are working in the current UI. The obvious solution is to wait until there is feature parity, then start beta testing. So, while VortexCortex's response (http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4771749&cid=46207371) could have been nicer, I'd say it's accurate. A UI replacement just isn't ready for beta testing before it has feature parity with what it's replacing. And it's foolish to think otherwise. Routing any users to an unfinished beta, where plenty of feedback has already been given, shows a fundamental disrespect for the community. It should be taken down until it's at feature parity, then we can provide constructive feedback.

The scary thing about this is AT&T never deletes your call data. EVER.

I used to work for MCI (and briefly Verizon Business after they bought us), and they did this as well. We had access to these archaic DB2 systems with a bazillion records going back to the 80s, with all the standard telco metadata. Our team used the recent data for calls through our IP relay (voice to text/text to voice service primarily intended for deaf people) system to help identify fraud users (the same Nigerian 419 scammers).

If they are looking a way to "shut it down" then they're being way naive.

I also didn't RTFA, but I think (hope?) DARPA is interested primarily to mitigate any threat. The summary's quote referencing "the threat of active data spills and breaches of corporate and government information systems" IS something our country should be concerned about (excluding situations involving corporate/governmental misbehavior), and the optimist in me hopes that our government is acting toward the greater good

Yeah, the article is rife with general grammatical errors as well.

Unfortunately, neither of those really work entirely (or at all? I have both and am not able to see any effects on FB), since the ads are pretty well integrated into the platform. socialfixer is an answer, but it's not ideal (nor is there a mobile analog that I know of).

For some it's really not that easy. Paul Miller's article about leaving the internet for a full year is pretty interesting, and touches on some important aspects of social networking. Facebook enables casual long distance relationships that are often not realistic for many of us. I rarely talk to my best friend from high school on the phone or via text, but we do interact via Facebook pretty frequently. Without that social network link, we would've fallen out of touch over the years - with it, we're able to stay relatively up to date with minimal effort.

Now, do my friends deserve *more* than minimal effort? Of course. But the reality of leaving one's hometown (or college town or longtime employer) makes it unlikely that I'm going to see/call/write those friends of mine on a regular enough basis to keep close connections going, something Facebook has made possible for me.

For those of us with (even mildly) busy lives who have met many wonderful people over the years, social networking has been terribly useful.

Anyone who sat through previous Facebook abuse will sit through this.

It's reaching a breaking point, even among those who use Facebook heavily. I'm a self-described heavy user of Facebook, but recently removed it from my phone to avoid ads (and the stupid bullshit where the app would still try to pull my GPS location even with 'location' turned off - but I digress).

Not having access to mobile Facebook has been a big personal change, but one I'm generally happy with. I do miss being a "part" of some friend interactions (typically sporting events or other immediately-topical events), but I also feel my smartphone usage is far less compulsive - no longer am I idly checking Facebook on my phone during my commute, "forcing" me to read my book, for example - and it's definitely reduced my "need" to know what's going on immediately at all times. I may have a little easier than others because I never got into Twitter, so my Facebook feed is the 'fastest' social networking I do.

Yeah, I lost all confidence in the article and writer as soon as he mentioned "despite having a 3/4 bar connection". I get that he had a tough night, but his litany of frustrations directed solely at Microsoft are kind of absurd. Why didn't he activate earlier? Why didn't he try the "silly" steps of calling in before attempting cracks? Why did he so immediately resort to reformat/reinstall?

Hypocritical, sure, but the Chinese (far more so now than the Russians) are pretty well understood to be behind the bulk of the current hacking activity that occurs today.