Knicks1214 wrote:I went to a website to buy tickets to a concert next month, and the tickets were sold out...every single seat. Sucks...
You got that Bieber fever?
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Knicks1214 wrote:I went to a website to buy tickets to a concert next month, and the tickets were sold out...every single seat. Sucks...
cgmw wrote:Knicks1214 wrote:I went to a website to buy tickets to a concert next month, and the tickets were sold out...every single seat. Sucks...
You got that Bieber fever?
Crazyknicks wrote:Am I the only Knick fan that likes the Bulls (they're my 2nd fav team) and Miami?
Obviously I hate both when they face the Knicks.

Knicks1214 wrote:cgmw wrote:Knicks1214 wrote:I went to a website to buy tickets to a concert next month, and the tickets were sold out...every single seat. Sucks...
You got that Bieber fever?
You know it lol.
Nah...XV and Donnis (two of my favorite rappers) are touring with Travie McCoy...I was looking forward to going. Oh well...

CHARLYMURPHY wrote:Just watched the final season of that show LOST.. such a great show and the ending was great if you can understand it.. great way and only way i think to end it. Been watch it since 04'.. sucks that it ended and kinda sad.. hopefully theirs a show as good as this though i doubt it.. havent watched a show that has come close to it.
P.S- that girl that play kate austen is one of the hottest girls ive ever seen
magnumt wrote:CHARLYMURPHY wrote:Just watched the final season of that show LOST.. such a great show and the ending was great if you can understand it.. great way and only way i think to end it. Been watch it since 04'.. sucks that it ended and kinda sad.. hopefully theirs a show as good as this though i doubt it.. havent watched a show that has come close to it.
P.S- that girl that play kate austen is one of the hottest girls ive ever seen
You know he died (well they all did), but he made the sacrifice for them, right?![]()
--Mags


god shammgod wrote:didn't watch a minute. it feels good. might not watch more than a game or two for the rest of the season. there's nothing to see. our best player is a midget g-leaguer.

AndroidMan wrote:Lost was a complete waste of my life. Please refrain from any discussions which remind me how horrible the show was.
Even the producer claimed he didn't really have a project outline and basically winged season 2-end. I wish I could get the time back from watching that dragged on series. First season was good but the rest was just utter crap.

AndroidMan wrote:Jitpal wrote:I agree, in concept and ideal terms, open is better. Unfortunately, we don't live in that world. Android is a perfect example. It should be great. The community makes it better, the best new parts get put back into the original source code and released into newer versions. The mass army of the community is better able to deal with incompatibilities and flaws by releasing fixes sooner. Someone thinks they can do it better so they fork the source code and create another version. Now people have the choice of choosing any version they want. It's a model used by various Linux Distros, XBMC and Wordpress, and for the most part it works great.
I think that's what Google envisioned and if that was what happened it would have been great. What Google didn't count on was the carriers. They messed the whole thing up, the great part of open is being twisted and distorted. Instead of the end user having choice, we are ending up with the carriers having choice and shoving it down the users throat. You want to use a different disto of Android? Sorry, we lock our bootloaders. You want to use the stock version of Android? Sorry, we give you our skin and you have to like it.
I think you are mistaking choice vs Open source software. At no point did I promote the virtues of open source projects. Whether or not open source software is beneficial to all is a different discussion altogether. I can see how someone could intertwine the 2 subjects when it relates to Android.
My argument was for choice. The choice to choose any keyboard of your liking, any manufacturer of your liking, and the ability to choose to use flash to have a more complete internet experience. Also many other options that are granted to Android users.
Just to reiterate, Android gives its users multiple options of choice when it comes to OS customization and enhancements. The fact is that Android at least gave its users an option with flash, unlike Apple who barred the door shut. We can continue to make this a discussion about open source and the carriers if you'd like, I can understand that when it comes to freewill and choice, Apple users are not winning that argument. And for the record, I don't think a single carrier has disabled flash to its users. Also from previews, flash is looking pretty stable and versatile on the new Honeycomb tablets.
As for the rest of your post, just to entertain your open source/carriers arguments for fun.....
You may argue that choice is eroded by the carriers, but I believe the carriers do not eliminate choice options for Android users. The biggest complaint against the carriers is that they install bloatware, skin the OS, and 1 manufacturer, Motorola has a locked boot loader. The manufacturers and carriers need a way to differentiate their products from their competitors who also use Android OS. Otherwise, all Android phones would look and act the same way in a stock experience. That's boring like iOS and its row of grids. The skins themselves do add value. The best of the skins, HTC Sense, is so popular that many of its elements have been replicated and sold on the Android market, beautiful widgets and friend feeds widgets.
The manufacturers and carriers need to add value to their devices, and IMHO they really don't interfere with the user experience, but enhance it for non power users, who may even like the skins and added widgets they provide. Even as a uber power user, I know how to hide or eliminate portions of the skin I don't care about. It's the beauty of choice.Jitpal wrote:You want to use Google Maps for navigation? Try (insert carrier) navigation for $9.99 per month instead. You want to get something off the Android market? Sorry use (insert 3rd party or carrier branded market). The Market replacement isn't there yet, but it will be. The writing is on the wall. There is a reason Google is putting their core apps on the marketplace and removing them from the OS. They know that carriers and device manufacturers would rather put their own, crappy versions on and forsake the good Google applications. Best part is they replace them with applications made by the highest bidder. It's a ritual for power Android users, as soon as they get their new phone, they try to remove most of the bloatware. Which carriers and device manufacturers lock to the core OS so you have to root it, the same as jailbreaking.
It's just a mess. It creates a horrible customer experience. Would I prefer open? In ideal cases, yes. I'll take the "closed" Apple ecosystem, at least it works. At least Apple is going to support it and make sure the carriers don't screw it up. Make no mistake, what the carriers are doing to Android is far worse than what you say Apple is doing. -Jitpal
The carriers will be foolish to bound their users to their own navigation program or their own market. They can't compete alone. Android market is well over 100k apps. Any manufacturer that wants to go against 100k apps is more then welcomed to do so, but I guarantee you customers will vote with their wallet. Stop making things up. No carrier would be foolish enough to eliminate core Google features. Even if they do, I can guarantee you customers will vote with their wallets.
Also your reasoning for Google decoupling its core apps from the rest of the OS is inaccurate. They are not placing the apps int he market for fear of the carriers blocking their services, but rather to be nimble in application updates. In the past, if Gmail required a major update then a user had to wait till the entire OS was updated. By decoupling the apps from the OS, Google can provide updates to its core apps much more frequently and with much less hassle. Try again.
Also carriers and manufacturers do not lock to the core so users are unable to root. That is false. Even the Nexus S is locked. All Android phones have permissions structure as do all *nix machines. If they didn't there would be sever security concerns as anyone could write to any part of their file system. User permissions have been around for quite a while. Android however encourages users to gain root access to their devices and play around as they wish. Every single Android phone out there has been rooted to my knowledge. Really not that hard of a procedure. A locked boot loader doesn't prevent a user achieving root. For the record, a locked boot loader only stops the installation of any rom except the original. Try again.
If you want to continue arguing about choice I am a willing participant, although I don't see how you can win that argument. If you'd like to change the argument to a more winnable format for yourself by discussing open source and carriers, I am game to that as well.
The real killers look to be in what Verizon has done with the device, including setting Bing Search as the default search client with no apparent ability to get Google Search back as the default. How in the world can you have an Android device without Google Search as the default? Then I read they also took and replaced Google Maps Navigation with their subscription based Verizon Navigator software. Are you serious? I read that it can be changed to Google Maps, but only after taking several steps that your new smartphone user may never figure out. I could understand if Sprint did this with Sprint Navigation since they bundle that service in for free with no cost to the consumer, but Verizon Navigator is $10/month and not as slick as Google Maps Navigation.
AT&T has crippled the Captivate too with a lock down on what appears in the Android Market, limited side loading of apps, and added their bloatware that cannot be removed. T-Mobile and Sprint have done a pretty good job of leaving the devices alone and I can recommend these two devices if you are looking for a Galaxy S smartphone. However, the T-Mobile Vibrant does have a bad GPS bug that must get fixed and Sprint does limit the customization of the center two buttons and adds some of their services, but at least the services are free.
US carriers have gone mad customizing perfectly fine devices and I wish every manufacturer had the pull of Apple to leave these smartphones the way they were designed to be used. The Galaxy S is a great product, but two of the four major US carriers have done what they can to cripple the experience to increase their revenues.
In fact, the NAND write-blocking mechanism in the G2 is nearly identical to the one that HTC has included in the EVO 4G and other previous devices. Android modders say that it will eventually be cracked, just like every previous attempt by carriers and handset makers to impede third-party firmware modification. The issue of phone openness is worth exploring, but it's a lot broader and more nuanced than New America realizes.
Practically all carrier-subsidized Android handsets have some kind of mechanism in place to prevent users from installing custom third-party firmware. In order to circumvent these mechanisms, users have to obtain root access. The standard process for "rooting" an Android phone is to find a privilege escalation vulnerability (basically, a security hole) in the underlying Linux platform and exploit it in order to gain sufficient access to the device's filesystem and bootloader so that changes can be made.
Handset makers have developed increasingly sophisticated technical solutions to prevent the phone's platform-level software from being modified in the event that vulnerabilities are exploited. HTC has used a NAND write-blocking mechanism to protect against unauthorized changes on several handsets over the past year, including the HTC EVO 4G and a few others that also predate the G2. It's important to understand that the function of this lockdown is, ostensibly, to protect the user from malware like viruses and worms that might exploit platform vulnerabilities in order to modify the phone in a malicious way.
According to the folks over at Good E-Reader, B&N is pulling its entire stock of Nook Colors from the shelves for the next two weeks. Initial rumors were that this was to prepare for the promised Froyo update, but now sources within Barnes & Noble are apparently saying that this is to install some sort of anti-rooting measure. While the reasoning behind their pulling the Nooks is still unconfirmed at this point, it appears to be fact that all Nook Colors are being systematically removed from shelves and online orders for about two weeks.
Consumers, however, continue to vote with their wallets for crapware and lock-in by buying carrier-subsidized handsets. As Google discovered when it launched the Nexus One, the market for open phones is practically non-existent in the United States.

jitpal wrote:I also can write a War and Peace sized post but I'm going to try not to. Look, the main point I was trying to make is that while Android is "open" and the end user is given "choice" that those are both illusions in a practical sense. The carriers and device manufacturers have choice, the end user gets the short end of the stick. So for the end user the choice is made for by Apple or Sprint/T-Mo/AT&T/VZW & assorted Android device manufacturers. Here are some examples:The real killers look to be in what Verizon has done with the device, including setting Bing Search as the default search client with no apparent ability to get Google Search back as the default. How in the world can you have an Android device without Google Search as the default? Then I read they also took and replaced Google Maps Navigation with their subscription based Verizon Navigator software. Are you serious? I read that it can be changed to Google Maps, but only after taking several steps that your new smartphone user may never figure out. I could understand if Sprint did this with Sprint Navigation since they bundle that service in for free with no cost to the consumer, but Verizon Navigator is $10/month and not as slick as Google Maps Navigation.
AT&T has crippled the Captivate too with a lock down on what appears in the Android Market, limited side loading of apps, and added their bloatware that cannot be removed. T-Mobile and Sprint have done a pretty good job of leaving the devices alone and I can recommend these two devices if you are looking for a Galaxy S smartphone. However, the T-Mobile Vibrant does have a bad GPS bug that must get fixed and Sprint does limit the customization of the center two buttons and adds some of their services, but at least the services are free.
US carriers have gone mad customizing perfectly fine devices and I wish every manufacturer had the pull of Apple to leave these smartphones the way they were designed to be used. The Galaxy S is a great product, but two of the four major US carriers have done what they can to cripple the experience to increase their revenues.
In fact, the NAND write-blocking mechanism in the G2 is nearly identical to the one that HTC has included in the EVO 4G and other previous devices. Android modders say that it will eventually be cracked, just like every previous attempt by carriers and handset makers to impede third-party firmware modification. The issue of phone openness is worth exploring, but it's a lot broader and more nuanced than New America realizes.
Practically all carrier-subsidized Android handsets have some kind of mechanism in place to prevent users from installing custom third-party firmware. In order to circumvent these mechanisms, users have to obtain root access. The standard process for "rooting" an Android phone is to find a privilege escalation vulnerability (basically, a security hole) in the underlying Linux platform and exploit it in order to gain sufficient access to the device's filesystem and bootloader so that changes can be made.
Handset makers have developed increasingly sophisticated technical solutions to prevent the phone's platform-level software from being modified in the event that vulnerabilities are exploited. HTC has used a NAND write-blocking mechanism to protect against unauthorized changes on several handsets over the past year, including the HTC EVO 4G and a few others that also predate the G2. It's important to understand that the function of this lockdown is, ostensibly, to protect the user from malware like viruses and worms that might exploit platform vulnerabilities in order to modify the phone in a malicious way.
According to the folks over at Good E-Reader, B&N is pulling its entire stock of Nook Colors from the shelves for the next two weeks. Initial rumors were that this was to prepare for the promised Froyo update, but now sources within Barnes & Noble are apparently saying that this is to install some sort of anti-rooting measure. While the reasoning behind their pulling the Nooks is still unconfirmed at this point, it appears to be fact that all Nook Colors are being systematically removed from shelves and online orders for about two weeks.
jitpal wrote:The carriers and device manufacturers make the big choices just like Apple does on their devices. Now you're going to say that the power user gets around this stuff.
jitpal wrote:Look we can go back and forth. I don't think I'm changing your mind and I've been through this rodeo enough to know that my mind won't be changed. I do respect your opinion though and I do own both iOS and Android devices. I exclusively use Chrome as my browser on my mac computers. Not hating on anything except Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon Wireless. -Jitpal