Thank Verizon for this mess.

Net Neutrality

The FCC did not want to upset the telecoms so it created a watered down version of Title II classifying it as a information service. The republicans liked this since they said it gave the telecoms the ability to adapt in a rapidly changing market. But the telecoms did not use the watered down rules to do anything but make us pay more for a poor service. The FCC hoped they would invest their profits into upgrading their network equipment but it just did not happen. They are a corporations and their primary purpose is to maximize the financial gain for their shareholders. Usually a company has to balance the cost of their product/service on a free demand curve. The demand curve of a monopoly or oligopoly is very different from a free market. They control the market so they can force you to pay more than a free market will allow. Therefore we have laws for monopoly or oligopoly so they don't abuse their market power.

It's not like Verizon does not know what Title II is they are a phone company and they live by the regulations. The watered down regulations where not good enough so they sued. The judge said in the results of the Verizon case that the FCC should have used Title II. Tom Wheeler is upset because POTUS and four million Americans asked him to move to adopt Title II, and he feels bad that a few lobbyist (of which he used to be one) will be upset. Tom Wheeler makes so much money he paid to make hard decisions. May be he should resign and state he has a conflict of interest.

The Oligopoly's don't like it, sure they don't like it but when you have monopoly power and historically have abused it by raising prices and not investing in infrastructure over profits. Can you be surprised that the countries asked for the laws of the land be applied properly. But may be in today's American the laws of the land don't apply to everyone.

So why does POTUS have to make a public statement to a person he appointed as a public (Tom Wheeler). That a good question for Tom Wheeler.

Can you live without an eight hundred dollar smartphone

I've posted some anti Apple stuff in the past but I've come to believe that if people love their smartphones as much as Apple fans do, then its worth it to them the nearly thousand dollars of final cost. It's like somebody who drives an Audi people will pay for what they want (i don't get it but they probably would hate my Prius each to their own).

Do you need an eight hundred dollar phone. It's amazing how we love our smartphone, at lunch today I was out walking. As I past people they were not talking, or shopping but fully engaged in their smart phone. Playing games, email, text etc. I would be a hypocrite judging them since I've been addicted to computer technology for over thirty five years. I heard a story from a co worker whose family members saw somebody murdered on a bus in East Asia for their phone proves just how important these devices have become.

Google has been working hard to bring smartphones to the masses. They have good profit reasons to do this but these are powerful tools to bring knowledge to every corner of the world. They have fully functional phones for a hundred dollars. My Moto G is great and it is just a little bit more. These phones have caused the recent market shrinkage by Samsung as their end.

These are amazing tools they can be leveraged by somebody who may not have reliable power or water. Smart people will used them to learn how to fish rather than buy fish. But as with any tool somebody can use a screwdriver to fix a car or stab their neighbor. Phones make the world a smaller place, spreading knowledge and advance mankind.

If I write a game tomorrow and drop it on the Google store it, could be being played somebody half a world away (though probably not without good marketing). The eight hundred dollar phone is first world issue. The hundred dollar (or $25 dollar smart phone tomorrow) is changing the world. Knowledge is free to travel around world.

Shouting fire in a crowded theater

One of the great thing about this country is the first amendment. But the courts have limited the first amendment particularly [Brandenburg v. Ohio in 1969].

Certain news outlets realized that they could boost rating over the Ebola crises by sensationalizing the problem. They are making good money on using fear to boost ratings. Fear is the currency of tyrants and scoundrels. People in Africa have sold worthless medical kits and profited by it. But how different is it to profit by using unscientific panic to boost ratings.

Ebola is a huge issue but creating an environment of fear may have the effect of causing people who need help not to seek it. This has happened in the effected region of Africa already. Even worse those providing medical help to the sick will be discriminated against and reducing those resources. Making it more likely to cause problems in handling this problem. At which point does it become similar to "Shouting fire in a crowded theater" or likely to incite imminent lawless action.

Time to find a cheaper phone plan.

On my never ending task to reduce my phone costs. I've move to ooma which is basically free except for taxes. This reduced my long distance bill to nil but you can't avoid taxes (unless you want to got to jail). So that leaves my mobile phone bill, I'd moved to virgin mobile two years ago then fifty five dollars a month seemed OK for unlimited text and data. Well T-mobile is advertizing a $100 plan for four lines, that's amazing. Unfortunately our country does not have a phone standard, Verizon and Sprint each use their own custom which means their phone don't work on T-Mobile even if I wanted to switch.

So it's time to buy new phones. I'm really cheap, but google has me covered with the new Moto G. Just check out those spec's.

Giving up on Chrome

Chrome has been my primary browser for over five years and I love it. So why quit, since the webkit split a year ago the browser has slowly slowed to a crawl. My computer at work which only has 4GB of memory and I cannot change since it's a thirty two bit image is maxed out. I switched to firefox no problems. So why is Chrome so slow may be it's the extensions I use but the browser now used nearly a gigabyte of memory for a single page.

I will probably use chrome to debug web pages since that is its star quality but Google has a problem with its browser and they need to address it soon. May be it's extensions that are out of control or a memory usage that is crazy but I need to get work done which is not possible with Chrome.

Windows 8.1 is a good OS except for Metro.

I use windows 7 at work everyday and I use windows 8.1 at home. I prefer windows 8.1 the O/S seems to operate with less resources. The underlying features are definitely improved. The problem is that it got a big old blemish called Metro (no that name got retired). If you kill metro which is very simple then Windows 8.1 is a pleasure to use. Simply boot to desktop and install "Classic Shell" which is free. Another great open source program.

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