Since the 1990s I have been very involved with fighting the military "don't ask don't tell" policy for gays in the military, and with First Amendment issues. Best contact is 571-334-6107 (legitimate calls; messages can be left; if not picked up retry; I don't answer when driving) Three other url's: doaskdotell.com, billboushka.com johnwboushka.com Links to my URLs are provided for legitimate content and user navigation purposes only.
My legal name is "John William Boushka" or "John W. Boushka"; my parents gave me the nickname of "Bill" based on my middle name, and this is how I am generally greeted. This is also the name for my book authorship. On the Web, you can find me as both "Bill Boushka" and "John W. Boushka"; this has been the case since the late 1990s. Sometimes I can be located as "John Boushka" without the "W." That's the identity my parents dealt me in 1943!
Telecommunications providers are not always required to use standard firmware in locating you when you place a 911 call, which can make it difficult for police to find you in emergencies.
TheFCChas been criticized for not regulating 911 technology more closely. Users should consider using landlines if possible (which may not be so in some crime situations).
The FAA has taken draconian action against owners of all Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, as this story on WJLA reports.People may have to abandon them to return home from flights. Even replacement phones have been reported to smolder, so passengers bear the loss from the remote chances of incidents on aircraft.
I do wonder what would happen if some incident occurs with another smartphone, or with a laptop of some kind. Can we be sure this cannot happen to any other models?
There simply is not an adequate infrastructure for travelers to rent computer and communications equipment on the road.
Back around 2000, I was content to travel with nothing, depending on occasional visits to Kinkos that I could find to stay wired. I’d have to call a home number to check for messages. That used to be good enough. No more.
Brian Fung reports that Comcast/Xfinity will enforce charges for usage over data-caps (about 1 terabyte) in about 16 states,
Users will be warned at 80%, and few home users are likely to be affected. But there could be problems in households where several people like to watch lots of movies.
Still, this news makes landline connections sound a little more like wireless.
Facebook wants to set up partnerships with wireless
providers that would enable Facbeook to help low income families get limited “free”
Internet, possibly around the world as well as here. Brian Fung has a detailed
storyin the Washington Post.
But some providers, like Comcast Xfinity, are starting to
offer very low cost basic Internet.
The underlying controversy is the same as in the content
area: how can you compete with “It’s free”?