As nice as it is to be able to watch an HD video stream on my pocket-sized computer on a stretch of rural highway halfway from nowhere, I don't always trust my phone to be able to, like, dial 911 when it really counts, and that's a little scary.

> ...They weren't wrong. The sheer number of people who have had their resumes ignored simply because they don't have a degree of some sort attests to that.

This doesn't imply that having any degree would have gotten their resumes looked at, or secured them an interview.

Eh... depends on the job. I don't think that most prospective veterinarians dream of working for the USDA ($$$) when they graduate.

> Are you sure that's the only reason?

I'd be surprised. I'm sure that, as always, budgets and class sizes are concerns as well. There are also other ethical concerns to be considered (e.g. lots of students implies lots of animal cadavers implies...?).

Limiting class sizes to keep wages inflated sounds a little conspiratorial to me, but I won't deny that it could be a factor.

I'm speaking more about "ought" than "is" here. I don't see any reason why Facebook should have to choose between serving everybody, regardless of the regulatory burden that it places on them, and taking a hike from the global market entirely. I'm not saying that they won't be forced to do so anyway.

> ...I don't think most of the people who find Facebook convenient for coordinating groups actually choose the tracking knowingly and willingly (at best begrudgingly)...

And yet, they've probably chosen it all the same. In the hypothetical scenario where somebody has a metaphorical (or literal) gun to somebody's head, forcing them to use Facebook, I don't see how Facebook themselves can be blamed for this, and simply chalking this sort of thing up as a "negative externality" and saddling Facebook with the burden seems to be weaselly way of making Facebook to the will of somebody who just can't bear to give it up.

You can't always get what you want. Some of us would do well to internalize this a bit.

I have no qualms with a competitor starting up to serve those denied by Facebook, but let's not muddy the water by equivocating a monopoly as a result of anti-competitive practices with one that forms simply because nobody wants to use anything else.

I treat that as an insult. As if their ego is more important than me not being launched through a fucking windshield.

The ubiquity of the "funny == upvote" mentality is rather depressing, and I'm glad that HN (generally) tries to avoid that. It makes the comments section a much more interesting place to be (to me, at least).

Well, shit. I've been using the registry cleaner for years now on Windows 7. I've always liked that it seems to clear certain cruft from my system (unused file extensions, crap left behind by uninstalled programs, etc.), as I have a certain need for digital tidiness. I'm now considering abandoning the feature after these posts.

Thanks for the explanations!

I'd certainly also have to justify having this conversation with you. I can't do that, so thanks anyway.

This sounds like justification for having no rules. I don't know if that's a good idea.

>Plus, that's how social sites work. There's no "why X is on top" -- it's on top because it was voted on top.

This is fair enough, I think.

In any event, R.I.P. Robin Williams!