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blash
11/23/09

In reply to AT&T Lets You Pay-As-You-Go For Notebook DataConnect Coverage
As emergency back-up for business people, it's good.

The problem is that it should be more widespread than that and for widespread service, the prices need to come way, way down. In Israel, people can get 2.8/1.2 cellular for $35/month, no data caps - a far, far cry from $60/month in the US with a 5 GB data cap.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
11/23/09

In reply to AT&T Lets You Pay-As-You-Go For Notebook DataConnect Coverage
I'm not sure about you guys (and gals) but I read that headline as: AT&T Let's You Bend Over and Take-It-As-You-Go. Vaseline Not Included.
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weatherman
11/23/09

In reply to AT&T Lets You Pay-As-You-Go For Notebook DataConnect Coverage
I've definitely been in situations where I would love to have some PAYG data, and $30 a week or $50 a month doesn't seem too unreasonable. On trips a couple of times in the last year for instance, I found myself with no reliable internet and I absolutely needed it for business. At that point, paying $30 seems like a bargain compared to wardriving for a WiFi connection or trying to hack my iPhone for tethering, only to get 19.2kpbs. It's the cost of the hardware that is the only thing about this deal that I don't like. I'd have a hard time justifying the $250 that they charge for the modem without a contract.
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Edited by weatherman at 11/23/09 2:31 PM weatherman was starred weatherman was unstarred

AmphetamineCrown
11/23/09

@weatherman: I agree, the moaning about how this is high cost is kind of silly--when you pay for convenience, you usually pay a lot. See, for example, the comment about bottled water. Or take car rentals. Paying for data as you go, on the fly is no different.

Also agree wrt the cost of the modems. I can't see AT&T subsidizing the things when its PAYG. That hurts a lot.
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Mr.Gawn
11/23/09

@AmphetamineCrown: i still think this is a bit extreme, especially when phone/net tether is such a capability under a 20 buck unlimited plan...

from a martketing stand point, this doesnt sound like a good plan
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AmphetamineCrown
11/23/09

@Mr.Gawn: I'm not sure I understand--does AT&T have a $20 phone/net tether plan?
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Mr.Gawn
11/23/09

@AmphetamineCrown: in other countries ATT allows net tether, not yet in the US (and im crossing my fingers is around the corner)

but compared to Verizon which does allow for it, these prices are a lil, meh..

unless i misunderstood the topic and verizon's pricing

#tips
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AmphetamineCrown
11/23/09

In reply to AT&T Lets You Pay-As-You-Go For Notebook DataConnect Coverage
I think this makes an awful lot of sense for a particular class of users and AT&T is pretty smart for doing it. There are times when I'm traveling where I'd pony up the money for a day or week of wireless access. But, I don't get an AT&T card because most of the time I don't need it, and paying even $30/mo for unlimited data isn't worth it. $15 is about what people used to pay for Wi-Fi in an airport. And, yeah, while the data caps kind of suck, I think the audience they are targeting aren't downloading movies, they are probably interacting with email.

And who knows, you get business users used to the idea behind this, they start using it more... Pretty soon its cheaper to take on the $30/mo data plan, etc. I think it is a sharp move on their part.
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rambo3060
06/16/09

In reply to Elephant Flash Drive's Junk Is Bigger Than His Trunk
lets curb all these usb drive posts...i think we get the idea that anything can become a usb flash drive.
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92BuickLeSabre
06/16/09

@rambo3060: Let's not and say we did.
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rambo3060
06/16/09

@92BuickLeSabre: let's do it and not talk about whether or not we actually did it.
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92BuickLeSabre
06/16/09

@rambo3060: Let's not do it at all but keep talking about it a lot.

(Betya a dollar that mine is the one that will come true!)
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The-Ohio-Player
06/16/09

@rambo3060:

I say round up four or five of them and put them in the same post so we can all just laugh and point and feel good about that post. One per post just leaves one slightly unsatisfied.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
06/16/09

@The-Ohio-Player: Agreed. Do a 'Weird USB drive' of the week, or month post.
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92BuickLeSabre
06/16/09

@Jrsy Devil's Food Cake® and The-Ohio-Player: I'm really disappointed in your blasé responses to a squishy elephant with giant penis gadget post.

*shakes head to indicate how seriously disappointed he is*
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Curves
06/16/09

@rambo3060: And miss the elephant bone? I think not.
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The-Ohio-Player
06/16/09

@92BuickLeSabre:

Ok. Then. How about the fact that there cute squishy elephant might be carrying a virus. And the moral is you can't tell who has an STD by looking at them.
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92BuickLeSabre
06/16/09

@The-Ohio-Player: See, but for this post you would not have developed the most humorous and effective PSA of the last five years.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
06/18/09

@92BuickLeSabre: "I'm really disappointed in your blasé responses to a squishy elephant with giant penis gadget post."

But he doesn't even hump, he just lays there...
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92BuickLeSabre
06/16/09

In reply to Elephant Flash Drive's Junk Is Bigger Than His Trunk
This strikes me as the kind of gift that somebody's aunt picks up for them as a high school graduation gift because they know that in college the kid will have to move things around on computers and they heard something about thumb drives and the aunt will see this while speed-walking at the mall and won't realize that the fact that it is for sale at Spencer's should be a big clue and say to her friend (let's call her friend Arlene) she'll say Arlene isn't that just the cutest! and so she'll buy it and give it to the high school kid in front of her whole family and the kid'll just stand there mortified and her mom won't get it either and will say oh sweetie you just love elephants and her father will be partially cracking a grin but mostly communicating with his eyes saying don't you dare react just say thank you and the HS graduate will say thank you auntie and thank Arlene for helping to pick it out and ultimately it will serve as a funny story/just naughty enough ice-breaker with that cute boy down the hall during the first week of college and lead to her first sexual experience and she'll think it meant something but he won't think so and a few months later she'll realize he hasn't called while she's home for the holidays and it will lead to her first broken heart of college.

Moral: Elephant USB -> Broken heart
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The-Ohio-Player
06/16/09

@92BuickLeSabre:

Yeah, but can you imagine that guy who went to the college to get away from home and has to make all new friends. He doesn't like his dorm assignment and puts in for a transfer. That night he wanders down a couple of floors to borrow some notes from a classmate and sees the girl and the elephant dongle and strikes up a conversation. One thing leads to another badda-bing, yadda yadda yadda his request is granted and he's transferred to another dorm and lost her number when someone stole his phone.
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92BuickLeSabre
06/16/09

@The-Ohio-Player: And god is it going to be awkward when they are in the same upper-level Gov class junior year when each of them turns to their friends and says can you believe oh my god, but when the last chance dance comes around senior year fireworks again! and they both end up moving to NYC at the same time and somebody needs a roommate and somebody else has a roommate leave and so they end up shacking up for a few weeks and next thing you know they're married but really she never said she wanted kids and so things start to fall apart all over again and at her aunt's funeral the next fall all she can think about is that stupid elephant dongle usb thumb drive.

Morale: Broken Heart -> Broken Heart
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The-Ohio-Player
06/16/09

@92BuickLeSabre:

lol. That's pretty sad. Though had he just managed to make a elephant dongle mixtape of her favorite songs, she would have been knocked up at graduation.
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92BuickLeSabre
06/16/09

@The-Ohio-Player: Ah...the ultimate moral!

Quality Mixtape > Everything
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CoH
06/16/09

In reply to Elephant Flash Drive's Junk Is Bigger Than His Trunk
Maybe I'm just being too practical, but it doesn't seem like the USB will actually be able to plug into a USB port as the elephant's upper body is in the way.

Maybe it's squishy and just scrunches out of the way?
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CoH
06/16/09

@CoH: Okay, I'm so bored I've investigated ... It IS Squishy! The elephant is made of silicone (squishy or removable according to the GeekGadgets link) and comes in four colors, black, blue, pink, and brown.
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92BuickLeSabre
06/16/09

@CoH: Ohhh yeah. Say more about that!
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
06/16/09

In reply to Elephant Flash Drive's Junk Is Bigger Than His Trunk
Looks like this Flash drive has elephantiasis.... Which is rather swell for a USB drive, but not so much for a guy.
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92BuickLeSabre
06/16/09

@Lite:

"Dude. Has. Got. Some. Serious! Balls."

"Right on!"

"No, I mean it's like some crazy illness. They're the size of grapefruits. He has to wear special underwear and stuff."

"Oh."
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exploded
04/27/09

In reply to The 10 Most Confusing Terms in Tech Are Mostly Unneeded Anyway
One thing that I have encountered as very confusing to tech newbies is the word "flash".

There are at least 3 different meanings.

Flash memory
Flash a BIOS
Adobe Flash
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Nick
04/27/09

@exploded: just don't use it with "elementary school"
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elementary
04/27/09

In reply to The 10 Most Confusing Terms in Tech Are Mostly Unneeded Anyway
I get a lot of offers for cookies, and I always accept. I mean, who wouldn't? Anyway, I have yet to receive any. I must need to update my address or somthing.
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Nick
04/27/09

@elementary: nah, you just have to get in the van. it's ok. you're mother sent us to come get you. wanna see a dongle?
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/27/09

In reply to The 10 Most Confusing Terms in Tech Are Mostly Unneeded Anyway
What I concluded after reading this list are: 1) People are confused about everything tech-related, 2) Therefore, this list is just comprised of the most common tech-related words.

I mean, "Desktop"? "Ethernet"? Seriously?
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Geisrud
04/27/09

@Hello Mister Walrus: The ethernet is that thing you use to catch the etherbunny
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tande04
04/27/09

In reply to The 10 Most Confusing Terms in Tech Are Mostly Unneeded Anyway
Confusingly enough the PC Suite isn't just a nokia thing, they just linked to the nokia wiki for it.

Theres LG ones, Sony, etc.
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IN THE FACE!
04/27/09

@tande04: Yeah most phone manufacturers that include PC/Mac software will refer to that software as their "PC Suite", I even got a "PC Suite" with my Sprint Touch Pro, all it really included was a user manual pdf, an outdated copy of ActiveSync, and the Win98SE USB driver...

sheesh.
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frigg
04/27/09

In reply to The 10 Most Confusing Terms in Tech Are Mostly Unneeded Anyway
Of course, these are only the 10 most confusing terms in tech out of a total sample of 11 terms, that also included "television set." I guess most people know what that means.
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DeadWriter
04/27/09

In reply to The 10 Most Confusing Terms in Tech Are Mostly Unneeded Anyway
Anti-malware programs have my father believing that cookies were as bad as viruses.
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IN THE FACE!
04/27/09

@DeadWriter: They seem to know where I keep my cookies...

We need a lock for the pantry...
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Purple Dave
04/28/09

@DeadWriter:
Some are, but it's pretty much impossible to surf many sites without letting some sort of beningn cookie land on your system, particularly if you want to submit information by some sort of posting system (such as this). The only site I can think of where you can post sans cookies is Lugnet.com.
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drewheyman
04/27/09

In reply to The 10 Most Confusing Terms in Tech Are Mostly Unneeded Anyway
i'm not telling my grandma what a dongle is. she'd wash my mouth out with soap.
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Xeno
04/27/09

@drewheyman: "It... it ...it was... soap POISONING!"
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Dr. H. F. Danger
04/27/09

@Xeno wishes there was a preview button: You'll shoot your eye out, kid.
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IN THE FACE!
04/27/09

@drewheyman: Grandma, your incontinence doesn't have anything to do with hitting "Ctrl+P" to print that email...

No grandma you don't have to apologize to me for not being able to control your pee... Do you want me to help you print that email? Then stop talking about your pee.

That's it, I'm hanging up...
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