Agreed, most people are idiots and/or under informed.
Uber or Lyft I think you could get support for being non tech companies and personally I could probably be convinced on Facebook as a company which only utilizes technology and the Internet for business. Suggesting that Google and similar companies are not tech companies however is a bit of an overreach. Intel is indeed a tech company since they physically make it, but this is only 1 of the definitions of the word technology. (Let's not forget that Google isn't just a search engine or research company, they actually invent real things too) It would be like saying most mobile phone companies are not tech companies because Foxconn actually builds them. Having and applying the knowledge is just as much tech as the physical chips themselves; or would you prefer hardware without software?

While a phone is indeed a locating device in order to function there is an extremely large difference between your cellphone company being able to locate you at a single moment in time should the need arise and "some company" storing everyone's location over time in order to build trend information and knowledge about you, your home, behaviour, family/friends, place of work, etc. A single point in time tells you nothing, even between 1-4am there is no guarantee on that day of that year you were asleep much less that you were at home, but tracking people over time does just this and is indeed frightening and literally defines digital stalking.

This didn't need a study, a little common sense would have sufficed. Students who aren't invested in their own learning/future -distracted, disinterested or otherwise- will obviously not score well when tested on the material. Don't blame the laptops, blame the kids without focus dedication or self control.

I don't know what the record for comma use in a short blurb is, but this must be close. Hopefully the FCC is getting a cut of that extra profit so they can hire an editor...

By extension, nothing can be patented. Any idea or concept which is currently patented is expressed through language. I agree that the code itself should not be patented as it is indeed a form of language, but the implementation or methodology by which an application achieves an end result is the true value that needs to be protected; not the package it comes in. All that being said, I'm definitely in favour of open source happy-happy code sharing instead of patents and copyrights.

Exactly right, not to mention a large portion of the code from SO was copied from somewhere else to start with. Simply find your answer there, spend 2 seconds looking for the same answer somewhere else and copy that instead. Assuming anyone is paranoid enough to think there will be any consequence for a breach that can't possibly be monitored.

I don't know what's worse. The fact that this story is true or the headline's grammar... I hope they intended plurality and missed the possessive Dictionaries', but it would make far more sense to be Dictionary's. I guess proper grammar doesn't mean anything to a dictionary these days...

And there's nothing wrong with punishment without someone dying. If someone destroyed your car (physically or digitally) there is harm done to your wallet regardless. Of course as has been said repeatedly it is not yours nor my wallet/life/<important thing here> this is aimed at protecting.

completely agree on both of these! I would also say yatzee and scrabble are must haves. I always find myself replaying Super Mario 1 and 3, so personally I'd include them as well.

I don't mean to be picky, but this statement deviates as far as you can from instilling confidence or stating a fact. This equates to "definitely might", "100% maybe", "completely possible" or <insert your favourite overly supported flip-flop statement here>. While I certainly don't doubt COBOLs use in the banking system; unsubstantiated 'facts' are merely opinions. Java is embedded in everything these days and large companies hate change. While its evolution will probably cease to exist in the near future, Java isn't going anywhere.

One step closer to VGHS! I don't know if it should be called an athletic scholarship, but I'm all for it.

I can't argue with the good debate that has arisen from trying to come up with a great analogy, but I actually hadn't intended it to be so literal, simply that the ends don't always justify the means. I feel these sorts of law suits make the scope of the results too small, which makes it easy to get caught up attempting the wrong solution, despite the appearance of a 'solution'. Especially since the 'ends' in this case is to remove records from Google which, while a good first step, is far from the desired effect of removing it from the internet.

That is definitely one possible outcome. It is beyond ridiculous that this is Google's problem at all. Sue the company who is making the illegal product and force them to take down all sites and advertisements. Once the proper approach has been established, then requesting, not demanding that Google remove the historic links to fraudulent material would be in order. When your cat is stuck up a tree; shooting it gets it down... but that doesn't mean it is the proper course of action.

If this Public WiFi is free for Comcast subscribers without additional fees (and assuming the speeds are acceptable). Every Comcast customer should drop to the cheapest package and connect using the public connection SSID to receive all the free bandwidth they could want. I feel like there are some details that are being overlooked. The public connections will likely require a login of the comcast user and the wifi bandwidth used will come off the connected user's cap instead of the owner of the router being used.

Ranking MSDos over ME is reasonable, but realistically including it in this list is not. It is a part of every Windows OS in some form (no matter what M$ has claimed over the years) and while it may constitute an OS when installing the full versions (v6.* or 7.* were decent, I've used them to breath life into old laptops once or twice) it is not intended to 'compete' with the likes of a GUI OS. It's like saying RHEL or Ubuntu are better than the Shell. There are still things I can do more easily on Windoze with the command prompt than with any amount of clicking/GUI interface which personally would rank it parallel and equal with 7. (but still lower than nearly any Linux Distro)