Posts by Youngone 1582 publicly visible posts • joined 30 Jun 2009
It was the freetards who broke it for everyone.
I don't agree with that at all.
I blame the copyright owners cartel who have extended the length of their ownership again and again until it has no real end point.
Why, for instance, is Robert Johnson's music still under copyright? He died in 1937 and no-one who had anything to do with his recordings is even alive any more.
It might be a little off to call this system "Trumpian" (although I am sure he is in favour of it).
It seems to me that the whole telecoms industry in the US has been set up to enable regional monopolies to gouge their customers and retain their monopolies.
I can't really see how network neutrality will reduce prices for end users in the system as it stands (although routing packets equally has made the Internet the great thing it is).
They're not only the sick man of Europe, but have gone from being a reasonable company to deal with here in New Zealand, to being one of the least effective organisations I deal with.
I understand they were always a bit crap for residential customers, but as a business that spends about $250k per year, we got pretty good service.
That all changed last year and things have been heading downhill ever since.
The good news is our contract ends this year so i will be able to ditch them.
The bad news is that I live in a "market" owned by two big players, so I'm not expecting much better when we do.
A couple sentences in this piece caught my eye:
...money being pulled away from citizens and given to giant corporations...
Is pretty much what the US is set up to do.
Also:
...the FCC Republican leadership is, like many Republicans, opposed to any form of subsidy program...
Is completely untrue. They are opposed to subsidies to corporations who do not kick money back in the form of "campaign contributions". Also it is "programme".
It sounds like nbn is the worst of all possible worlds really, a monopoly formed by government fiat and with too much expensive debt.
No wonder my Aussie colleagues hate it so much. Try getting a new high speed nbn connection in such out-of-the-way places as Newcastle, or Perth. It can take months.
Also, any "...recent study by well-respected economists.." will be full of wrong, because that's what economists specialise in.
Meanwhile the New Zealand media have been unquestioningly repeating Weta Digital's press releases about their "game-changing" partnership with Magic Leap because I think if they write anything critical of Weta they will be charged with treason.
I am sure it's Magic Leap paying Weta rather than the other way around, because if the guys at Weta Digital know anything, it's how to get paid.
I will never forget the $50 million taxpayers were extorted out of to keep the Hobbit movies here.
Sometime about 1983 or so, I was hanging about downtown with a group of mates when we were approached by a group of attractive, chesty young ladies.
We did what any young man would do and followed them to their office, where the scam was soon revealed. Disappointment ensued, but we had learned a lesson.
Curiously, last year, (34 year later maybe?) an envelope arrived at my house containing a brochure on time keeping and two letters written in Chinese on Scientology letterhead which raised a couple of questions.
First of all, my surname might be construed as Chinese, but isn't. I asked a Chinese colleague if he could tell me what the letters said, but he seemed to think they were either written by a small child or someone who was learning Chinese.
Second question: 34 years later I have moved house lots of times, how did they track me down? Also, why?
Weird.
I think the list of variables that give rise to complex life might wind up being quite long and include such things as a decent sized gas giant (or two) to catch incoming rocks also.
Although everywhere we look on Earth we find life, so maybe life is really adaptable and can arise in almost any circumstance.
We won't really know until we go and have a look.
+ 1 Insightful
A quick look around the office at work shows me exactly 0 current flagship phones.
Most of my colleagues are pretty happy with last years (or the year before's) mid-ranger or a second hand iPhone. I don't think it's a money thing, as they would mostly be characterised as upper-middle class, but what they have works well enough for them so why would they spend more than they need to?
Myself, I have a Galaxy S7, which I bought when the S8 came out and the price dropped $150 or so.
I will probably replace it with a Galaxy S11 when the S12 comes out.
If you've ever wondered whether the FCC boss is a Big Cable stooge...
I'm pretty sure no-one was wondering that.
Removing or undercutting crucial voices just because they say things you don't like may work in a small business, but it only ever comes back to bite you in a larger public policy context.
Based on his work over the last year or so I am quite sure Mr. Pai has no worries about the consequences of his actions, and has an exit strategy lined up.
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