Actually, in Italy mobile operators are required by law to collect and keep that data for law enforcement purposes.

However, the Italian equivalent of the social security number is not meant to be a secret and is never used as such (as it can be easily computed from the name, date and place of birth). It's also mandatory on invoices, so a lot of businesses have it. Identity theft is less of a problem in Italy, because information alone is not enough to impersonate somebody. In all sensitive situations (like opening a bank account, or even getting a SIM card) you have to show your ID card in person (and there are only a couple of valid government issued IDs).

Someone could still use that data with a bit of social engineering to get access to some accounts, probably.

My internet is nice and fast (220ish down, 50ish up), but I pay a $20/mo base and $0.20 for each gig used.

Some months it's great and cheap, other months not so much...

As a small business owner that lives in a small town in the middle of nowhere, that $80 a year makes perfect sense.

Being able to order computer parts with free two day shipping is a huge boon. I can't buy them locally (as in, they don't exist in a 130 mile radius), less downtime makes my customers happy, and free shipping increases my margins.

I place anywhere from two to ten orders a week with Amazon. First name basis with my UPS and FedEx drivers AND their backups. Amazon Prime has been tremendously helpful to getting my business going.

Sure, if you live in a metro area surrounded by Best Buys and WalMarts it makes less sense, but many of us don't.

Amen to this.

The only downside would be having to buy a joystick again. I haven't needed one in years, but a new X-Wing or TIE Fighter would change that.

Such a dumb name. Anyone that's ever seen one knows they're clearly jackadeer.

How many of us did a similar "brief animation project" in BASIC on an Apple II, TI-99/4A, or Coleco for a 7th-12th grade project back in the early to mid 80's?

Granted, it wasn't on paper, but still... I did a four minute graphic story on an Apple II in 8th grade back in ... math math years .. 1983ish that this reminded me of.

Not my fault the dirty reds were 15 years ahead of me. These guys were all PhDs and shit.

Still got an A... bah.

Color me naive, but I imagine that things will go bad with EITHER Israel or Iran... one leads to the other. We'd have to REALLY fuck things up for things to go bad with both.

Then again, I still don't fully understand what Obama's got planned...

Alex Trebek?

Even in the Windows shops I worked in, most people just locked their systems at the end of the day and left.

Who reboots every day?

You haven't read the article, have you? (I know, I know, this is Slashdot)

He wasn't talking about Microsoft, he was talking about the equivalent of patent trolls. He was talking about being sued by someone who buys a failed company with whom you have such an agreement.