Posts by Nameless Faceless Computer User

Apple makes an average of 68% profit on iPhone 5. To offer a "low cost" version, all they need to do is not charge so much.

Hang on a tick

It was Yahoo! who told me they were slurping ALL of my emails so they could serve me targeted advertising.

All nonsense numbers, since Windows 8 is mandatory, not optional with a new PC. And, since Windows 7 is so expensive, few will re-format their machines and downgrade them, like I did. None of these sales figures and app development mean anything when we all have a gun to our heads.

I'm sure the FTC will address patent trolling the same way they currently handle their Do Not Solicit telemarketing regulations i.e. not very well.

Quality of life

yup, Microsoft Windows has enriched my life.

(I fix problems with Microsoft Windows for a living)

I don't know why this is such a surprise to anyone. After 9/11 attacks, Bush introduced the Patriot act which allowed telco's and isp's to snoop our communications. Under that law, consumer notification that any type of surveillance was taking place was illegal. I wrote my representative and told Hillary Clinton that I was not crazy about this. The response was this was for our own good.

Now this is news? It's not news. People are just starting to wake up that we gave up our right to privacy to feel good. This is the dilemma of a free society - snoop and be safe, respect privacy and bad guys go undetected.

It has nothing to do with Obama. This is all old news.

Step 1) Remove critical infrastructure industrial control systems from the Internet.

Step 2) see step 1.

There comes a point where consumers need to tell the company, No thanks, keep your fancy toys. Until we all have the ability to do this we will continue to be enslaved by them.

No, phones in the air do not "confuse" the networks. Do you know how I know? I'm not an expert. I wrote and asked them.

Apologies for injecting some facts into the debate.

do not want

wow - here's a neat gadget I want but will never buy, own, or use. Have I finally reached the end of the Internet?

You can run Office on Mac? Who knew? Ok, I knew, but why would you?

The Head of Privacy at Google leaves...

and there was much rejoicing. yea....

A full Linux install notebook was available years ago through a major distributor, who gave end users the option of Linux or Windows. Microsoft lawyers descended and threatened them until they stopped offering it.

I found the alternate universe. It's in New Jersey.

This is why we can't have nice things!

People have way too much faith in electronic devices. My GPS once told me to make a right turn off a highway overpass and drive into a river. I decided not to do that. See how easy that was?

You can't pay me enough money to install a wireless charging pad anywhere in my home which is an EMI and AC electrical field generator.

What killed Motorola was incompetent management, lack of vision, greed, while pissing on Engineers and worshiping their CEO like he was a god.

(former Motorola employee)

You were in great peril

We were in the nick of time. You were in great peril.

I don't think I was.

Yes, you were. You were in terrible peril.

Look, let me go back in there and face the peril.

No, it's too perilous.

Look, it's my duty as a knight to sample as much peril as I can.

No, we've got to find the Holy Grail. Come on.

Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril?

No. It's unhealthy.

I bet you're gay.

Am not.

Sandy

I went through some of the worst with Sandy. First the landline phone went dead. Next, cell phones could no longer make calls. Then text messaging became slower and slower. I could only send one SMS text message per hour. 4G/3G began to fail. The most reliable communications was Twitter for a couple of days until even that began to go quiet. I was reduced to listening to a battery powered AM radio and lost all other contact with the outside world for several days.

Yea, we really need disaster proof communications.

The dark side

You never get something for nothing. Several malls in the U.S. tried tracking customer's shopping habits by snooping their phone data. Consumers didn't like the idea. Ah, but now you can have maps while Google spies on you. There was much rejoicing.

It works for automobile traffic data. Everyone loves the fact you can view traffic conditions on Google Maps. Few realize that the data comes from Google sniffing your position and speed from your cell phones.

Personally, I love the idea. I have already spied on my girlfriend's GPS data to determine which shops she spends the most time in. Shockingly, the answer is "shoe stores."

Republican...

Republican... more than a philosophy, less than a religion.

Tip of the iceberg

Google.... I attempted to install an Adobe Flash Reader update. It tried to install Flash, Google Chrome, and Google Toolbar. I killed the task and purged my temp directory.

Google... you suck.

> However, considering what happened the last time states decided to secede from the Union, we doubt the response will be an accomodating one

This would assume, of course, that the people residing in those states have gone to skool and reed a history book.

I learned this lesson early in life when I went to court to fight a speeding ticket. Never piss off a judge. It's an act of blatant stupidity.

Our military defends democracy with their lives.

Our politicians keep finding ways to stop people from voting.

Does anyone else see a huge disconnect?

I found a solution to these low life's - simply install a small phone system on my home phone line. I set up an auto attendant with a long list of options, "Press 1 for this, press 2 for that, ..." Few "marketers" sit through the whole message. Robo-calls are captured like flies on fly paper. I turn off the ringer and watch quietly as the annoying robots talk to my annoying robot.

Then, I give out instructions to my friends on how to navigate the twisting, turning passages, all different.

Go ahead - just TRY to make my phone ring. Nobody gets through the labyrinth alive.

Siri is a thin client. Every time you ask it where's the nearest prostitute, where can I buy drugs, etc - even if you're joking these queries are sent and stored on Apple's servers. They collect marketing data on you such as what music you listen to, which restaurants you frequent, and which prostitutes have the best "bang for the buck."

Are you really sure you want to let Siri (aka Apple) know THAT much about you?!

yea, so as the religious right-wing nuts attempt to take control of the most powerful office on the planet we replace it all with pictures of cats. Sounds reasonable to me.

Anyone who calls me at home to sell me something should get 5 years behind bars, 10 years for 2nd offense.