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Feds Ask IT Execs To Throw Away Cellphones After Visiting China
sholto writes "US intelligence agencies are advising top US IT executives to weigh their laptops before and after visiting China as one of many precautions against corporate espionage. Symantec Chief Technology Officer Mark Bregman said he was also advised to buy a new cellphone for each visit and to throw it away after leaving. Bregman said he kept a separate MacBook Air for use in China, which he re-images on returning, but claimed he didn't subscribe to the strictest policies. 'Bregman said the US was also concerned about its companies employing Chinese coders, particularly in security.'"
how much does data weigh? I'm sure the 1's are heavier than the 0's....
Paranoia.
Symantec Chief Technology Officer Mark Bregman [...] was advised to buy a new cellphone for each visit
Yes, heaven forbid China learns the secret of bloated antivirus software that ignores state-sponsored keyloggers.
Amnesty International
I'm sure glad that the laptops and cellphones in question weren't MADE in China in the first place...
Oh, wait..
This is a substitute for a clever sig that fits within the maximum number of characters.
The laptops and cell phones were probably manufactured there. In fact most US businesses outsource there manufacturing overseas.
UNIX/Linux Consulting
The same outsources plants that produce the goods just do a second run at night to produce grey market versions. Microsoft found this out after finding perfect counterfeit copies of their software that were only distinguished by having serial numbers that were never activated in their database, the plants that were producing packaging and holograms for their official packing were making exact duplicates for the counterfeiters.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
How about using phones and notebooks manufactured in China? Is that ok or do we have to assume they are bugged-at-factory? Are the US starting to move their production lines back to home?
It's almost impossible to tell whether additional software has been installed unless you either 1) diff your HDD (hard and time consuming) or 2) weigh the laptop and see if any data has been added. The government is, for once, correct and providing helpful information.
More on this topic at this old Slashdot story.
The real story in the article should be "CTO of world's largest Windows security software company uses a mac."
Its far too easy for the Communist government to tap into those, a Thuraya or Iridium satellite phone should be a bit harder but if I went to China I'd still be using a one-time pad to send messages home.
I'm just curious. Isn't it a bit of a coincidence that this warning comes out when there is a growing trade dispute with China happening now? We have been using China as our factory an major offshoring partner for quite a few years and now there are warnings.
It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
So they are able to bug your cell phone while it is in your pocket or in your hotel room charging. Or do they check all cell phones at the door like in The Dark Knight? Even when you RTFA it does not give you any support for these claims. I think he is a little paranoid.
It's not racial profiling, it's (current or previous) nationality profiling, you know, the information that's visible on your passport?
"..."
(The following discussion is based on real experiences and is not meant to profile people, but to state facts.)
This is really ridiculous. If the Chinese want to steal our technology, all they have to do is to contact several of the thousands of Chinese nationals who are working in the US until they find someone who needs money or other help for their family back in China.
One company I worked for had a Chinese national who was not allowed to work on part of a project because it was protected technology. The same person could have dropped the entire project onto their iPod and carried it out the door, but did not.
The ethics problem is represented by an experience I had while at an American research university. A Chinese faculty member met with the Chinese students in order to tell them in America, cheating and other ethical breaches are not considered a good way to get ahead. This suggested certain cultural differences which should not be used to discriminate, but need to be recognized because of the risks involved.
-Todd
Omne ignotum pro magnifico.
The article is referring to planting physical keylogging or other devices on specific machines. As in breaking into your hotel room, opening up your laptop, and installing something that will send information back. This is why you should weigh before and after. TFA metions 3-letter agencies telling him to do this, so maybe they know something you don't.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
For all the barking of the agencies, it's obvious they haven't encountered the treatment I and my colleagues have encountered re-entering the US from abroad only to have laptops have the data examined, and that data be copied for "further analysis" or even the laptop confiscated for an undetermined amount of time. It's just a matter of time before other countries make the same advertisment about travel to the US.... What's the old saying (Kettle calling the Pot black).
I believe they mean either coders physically located in China (through outsourcing/remote offices), or Chinese nationals working in the US (who would be identified by the immigration/work authorization paperwork they should have filled out). I really doubt they mean "if he looks Asian, don't put him on security projects".
The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
me go pee pee in your coke!
"The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars."
Where ya' takin' 'em? Your mama know about that? Ya' gonna' put 'em back where ya' got 'em from, when your done with 'em?
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
The US border guards are just going to swipe the laptop and smart phones at customs anyway.
-Ours is the wisdom of Solomon, the magic of Merlyn, the fall of Icaris.
No, through nationalism. This is against a specific nationality, nothing to do with ethnicity. Taiwan is not covered by this warning, and they're the same stock.
Remember the Cold War, when the Soviets were 10-foot-tall super soldiers who could read your mind and fart atomic infernos out of their asses? Everything was thought to be a commie conspiracy.
Is this happening again, but now we are instead fearing the Chinese?
I have a bad feeling about this...
If everyone who visits China buys a new cellphone and laptop for the trip...
Where were those cellphones and laptops likely manufactured? China...
China stands to make quite a profit from people doing this.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
and yet we have everything built in China for sale in the US (iPhones, Lenovo, etc).
It's pretty hard to bug something at manufacturing time, since you usually don't have a clue as to who it's being shipped to. It can be done, but odds are you'll end up bugging a lot of 19 year old teenage girls going off to college instead of corporate execs.
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
Maybe I'm taking this a little personally because I'm an IT guy. I dunno. But I do know I'd rather not work in IT for a large, tech-based company where the CTO is quoted publicly as saying: "I don't let my IT department near my laptop".
Anybody else have a WTF moment when they saw that? Or is it only me?
"Thing is, the Chinese have this whole "for the mother country" thing going on, so it's a sensible precaution."
And Americans don't? Americans practically invented RSI with all that damn flag waving they do, you sir are a racist.
Since in the US they'll take your phone and laptop, MP3 player and any other good stuff and demand to see your company documents if they think there's something nice in there.
PS the US has used Echelon to get Boeing a european contract by finding out the figure they had to bit under to get the contract.
This didn't require a cell phone either, so throwing away your cellphone isn't necessary there either.
So much nicer being spied on by the US government. You don't have to buy new kit all the time, just accept the espionage.
As a non-American citizen I feel the reverse holds true. When I enter the USA from Canada I should bring a seperate bare-bones, no thrills cell phone and an empty laptop. Because if the TSA decides that they want to snoop through my electronics there is no telling what information they are pulling out, government created spyware being installed, or some sort of magical chip that transmits everything I am doing back to them.
See, Conspiracy theories work both ways... No more fear mongering, okay? Lets play nice kids.
This is very good advice, as it would instantly catch the loss of weight if any data was stolen from the laptop. You hear of data theft all the time, and all it takes is something low-tech like a scale to detect it.
No - you, sir, have no clue about Americans. Americans are in it for themselves, bar none. Any social interest arising from an American economic activity is merely an unintended side-effect of a self interest the executor couldn't turn into profit.
Yes racial profiling. Thing is, the Chinese have this whole "for the mother country" thing going on, so it's a sensible precaution.
You say "sensible precaution", I say "blatant xenophobia/racism". The only reason people are worried about any of this to begin with is that America has that same childish and ignorant "for mother country" thing going on as well. It really disturbs me that in 2009 such hatred and bigotry is still the norm and is spouted, not only without consequence but to rave reviews and record ratings, on Fox News and right-wing pseudo-fascist radio programs. We need to realize that all of these boundaries we have set up are simply arbitrary, artificial constructs that have NOTHING to do with reality. To quote the great poet Bill Hicks, "I hate patriotism! It's a round world the last time I checked."
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
Aka profiling.
Weigh your laptop before and after you enter and leave the country... to do what? How are you going to detect a 15g to 100g logging circuit that's more than likely (if there was malicious espionage intent) designed to fit or mount into current hardware and not be detected on a scale that's accurate down to 0.5 pounds. My point, you're not. I'm not ignorant to the fact that something as compact and sealed as a Mac Airbook or alike would take some real damn EE talent to pull something off but it's nice that ITFA they choose to have a separate laptop for overseas verses state side and re-images it when they leave. Just hope they practice good VPN security measures at their companies...
What if China hired "coders" from Russia to complete their objectives? Their passports wouldn't be Chinese.
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
Assuming the cell phone stays in your possession, why are phones so insecure that the software can be modified presumably through the network? If all phones are so bad, there must be state sponsored hooks to do anything to the phone. Do any cell phones support secure firmware loads? I guess the Sectera Edge is out of the question for your average traveler.
Nationalism is as much of a correlation as racism, since the cause of all of this is paranoia.
Weigh our laptops? Exactly how much does a 1 weigh? a 0 weigh? If I create some new data and delete old data, will my laptop weigh less? Or more? How much more does a 200k keylogger weigh?
Seriously, this is silly, because TFA is talking about re-imaging laptops before/after. That would imply malware/spyware being surreptitiously installed, but that won't change the weight directly.
Re-imaging the laptop if a hardware keylogger has been installed wouldn't have any effect either (but could possibly be detected by weighing).
There's ABSOLUTELY NO WAY AROUND IT
At the risk of being slightly OT, I'm thinking about several comments noting that these systems were made in China to begin with, so it got me thinking.
If a ridiculous set of circumstances arose where certain organizations banned the use of computers "made in China", is it possible to obtain/assemble a system that's "made in the USA"? Or "made in <NATO_member>"?
I'm just wondering if there's a way to source all the parts domestically and what it would cost. I'm guessing the answer is "impossible", but I'm curious if anyone knows about it.
Be fair... this type of thing happens on both sides of the political divide. The far right might blame immigration, but the far left blames CEOs in their own country. I definitely wouldn't call the far right Fascist either. The Left is doing it's fair share of that by taking over companies and setting policy.
From Wikipedia: "Fascist governments forbid and suppress criticism and opposition to the government and the fascist movement. [flag@whitehouse.gov] Fascism opposes class conflict, blames capitalist liberal democracies for its creation [Those damn corporations and their liberal capitalist spending causing all that economic turbulence! We must get this under control!] and communists for exploiting the concept."
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
And they could have them based in of Brazil! BRILLIANT!
America has that same childish and ignorant "for mother country" thing going on as well
If we had international laws, policies, standards of living, etc. I'd agree with you. As we don't, I don't see a problem with wanting to take care of our own. International espionagers aren't going to share information--they only want to take it.
It's similar to the prisoner's dilemma. We'd probably all do better overall if we all worked together. China's not going to work with us, though, which means that if we just give them the technology, we're the suckers.
You say "sensible precaution", I say "blatant xenophobia/racism". The only reason people are worried about any of this to begin with is that America has that same childish and ignorant "for mother country" thing going on as well.
Plus the fact that China uses its technical workers for both industrial and political espionage quite frequently, and has been caught doing it several times.
It really disturbs me that in 2009 such hatred and bigotry is still the norm and is spouted, not only without consequence but to rave reviews and record ratings, on Fox News and right-wing pseudo-fascist radio programs. We need to realize that all of these boundaries we have set up are simply arbitrary, artificial constructs that have NOTHING to do with reality.
To quote the great poet Bill Hicks, "I hate patriotism! It's a round world the last time I checked."
The reason I distrust China is precisely BECAUSE they are too "patriotic"/nationalistic; they're even worse than the US I think in this regards, hell they're still mad over the OPIUM WARS. It has bred a very "us vs. them" mentality (obviously, some of it is understandable because of the country's history) that I think is a hell of a lot more dangerous to us and the world than the communism was.
Just as a side note, Hicks was kind of overrated.
But what if they're using a Chinese font?
This is not the sig you're looking for.
And that's the way it should be. "Society" shouldn't be the religion of the 21st century, punishing us for our success and demonizing us for our humanity, all the while demanding we tithe to a new God.
Self interest is why we're alive. It's why we have kids, it's why we fall in love, and it's why we go to work. Why isn't it good enough for a law-abiding, hard working citizen to live his or her life without the new original sin that is a "debt to society" for thier success? Maybe if everyone was more concerned about how they live *their* lives and less concerned with how their neighbors are living their's the world would be a better place.
Assassin's Mace, anyone?
While few people recognize it as such, China is waging war against the west. And, they are claiming victories every day, because we have trouble just spelling "asymmetric warfare". I wonder if that recto-cranial insertion so common in Washington and on Wall Street have anything to do with it?
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
You say "sensible precaution", I say "blatant xenophobia/racism". The only reason people are worried about any of this to begin with is that America has that same childish and ignorant "for mother country" thing going on as well
I think China's neo-colonialist actions in Tibet, Xinjiang and Mongolia are another reason that people are worried about her ambitions on the World stage.
We need to realize that all of these boundaries we have set up are simply arbitrary, artificial constructs that have NOTHING to do with reality
You need to realize that such a statement is woefully naive. Reality says there's a huge difference between those boundaries. Standard of living, human rights, privileges and immunities all vary when you cross one of those "artificial constructs". If you think they are just artificial constructs then why don't you try living in North Korea for awhile?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
"We need to realize that all of these boundaries we have set up are simply arbitrary, artificial constructs that have NOTHING to do with reality."
The human race has drawn lines on the earth, and those lines are typically guarded by people with weapons. Furthermore, when you step across one of those boundaries, the people there might have an entirely different world view, and will use varying degrees of force to impose certain standards of behavior. That's the REALITY, and from an end user perspective, there's nothing "artificial" or "arbitrary" about it. Bill Hicks was taking hallucinogenic drugs when he came up with a lot of his theories.
Plus the fact that China uses its technical workers for both industrial and political espionage quite frequently, and has been caught doing it several times.
I never said that China was not using tech workers for industrial espionage -- all I am saying is that it is racist to avoid hiring Chinese people because of this. By this sort of reasoning, cops ought to pull over every black man they see operating a motor vehicle, and Arabs should not be allowed to utilize air travel. Both of these have come into the courts and both have been shot down. Repeatedly. They are shot down because they go against EVERYTHING that a free society stands for -- you can't judge a whole group of people by a select few individuals. It is unconstitutional, unjust, and it does not even make practical sense from a probability standpoint.
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
I believe you are referring to citizens of the People's Republic of China which are not all of the same race. So to call it racial profiling is inaccurate. It would be more accurate to call it nationalism profiling. It is clear from the replies you have received so far that racist/nationalist bashing is en vogue so here goes my karma. There is no way to guarantee safety 100% of the time but to ignore the fact that a foreign government that, while not openly hostile, is known for its intense dislike of your countries policies would be derelict. So basically I agree with what I think you were trying to say but not what you said.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Assassin's Mace, anyone?
While few people recognize it as such, China is waging war against the west. And, they are claiming victories every day, because we have trouble just spelling "asymmetric warfare". I wonder if that recto-cranial insertion so common in Washington and on Wall Street have anything to do with it?
I recognize that the Chinese government is "waging war" on the west in order to become the next century's superpower. This does not mean that we ought to resort to xenophobia and racism to "beat" them. That is completely back-asswards and will only serve to give them more ammunition against us.
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
If you think they are just artificial constructs then why don't you try living in North Korea for awhile?
These artificial constructs create places like North Korea. We would not tolerate part of our own nation becoming like North Korea, now would we? There would be massive amounts of effort and capital thrown into improving that part of our country so as to bring it up to at least an acceptable standard of living. When we create an artificial construct such as national boundaries, however, it becomes very easy to ignore such horrors and pit them on somebody else. This sort of territoriality is deeply ingrained in the human psyche but is every bit as primitive as when your dog pisses on your sofa to claim it as his.
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
Does it strike anyone else as just a bit ironic that the CTO of a company whose business is plugging the holes in Windows and repairing the damage when there are leaks chooses to use a Mac instead of a PC?
I weighed my laptop before and after I installed malware as a test. The weights are the same. I don't think the scales had the resolution necessary to measure the extra bits:)
How are you going to detect a 15g to 100g logging circuit that's more than likely (if there was malicious espionage intent) designed to fit or mount into current hardware and not be detected on a scale that's accurate down to 0.5 pounds.
Here's a long shot... how about using a postal scale that's accurate down to a gramme? Do you think there might be one in the mailroom?
We would not tolerate part of our own nation becoming like North Korea, now would we?
We would if the only way to prevent it would have been to fight World War III in the nuclear age. You think Lincoln would have fought the American Civil War if the South had allies like the PRC and Soviet Union?
When we create an artificial construct such as national boundaries, however, it becomes very easy to ignore such horrors and pit them on somebody else.
And when we don't have those artificial constructs our rights and liberties will be eroded to the lowest common denominator. Which model do you purpose to use for your great society without national borders? The American one? The European one? The Chinese one? The African one?
This sort of territoriality is deeply ingrained in the human psyche but is every bit as primitive as when your dog pisses on your sofa to claim it as his.
It has nothing to do with territoriality. It has everything to do with the fact that our country is free enough that you can spout this nonsense while many others are not. Take away that "arbitrary" border and watch your freedoms go with it.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Thank you for proving my point fully. You admit yourself that people made these lines. Did it occur to you that these wildly differing world views and the resulting violence are not just the cause of these borders, but also an effect? That keeping the world cut up into little nationalistic pieces only serves to further divide us and creates a nasty feedback loop?
I can clearly tell by the end of your statement that you know nothing about hallucinogens. Please do a little bit of research into the subject and you will find that these substances can have extremely profound, positive effects on the human mind. Just because they make you see funny colors does not make the experience less valid.
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
Just because its constitutional and just doesn't make it a smart move though.
So are you saying that it would be a smarter move to re-institutionalize racism?
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
To be fair China is still a Command economy that let's "Capitalism" play because it's a useful way to get people to work harder.. they are a long way from the idea of "Free Markets". This is where it's not a "round" world.. The Chinese government has their eye on the 50 year game and is more than willing to tie up all of a natural resource... and throw people in jail when the "free market" price goes up.
While the US punishes "intervention" by state banks in places like Japan and Korea for making sure their chip makers don't go under, China is stacking the deck on a NATIONAL level for resources... setting prices that corporations are allowed to SELL to China for.. and nobody is really stopping them. Just last week China "decided" they weren't going to be exporting any more rare earth metals (needed for high power magnets in electronics) They just issued a directive it wasn't allowed to be exported anymore....for any price. Back in 2007 one of the things that knocked US auto makers on their butts was China using scrap US steel instead of imported ore. It nearly doubled the price of scrap here (ironically bought with trade surplus dollars no less!) and made it even harder to complete with Asian companies... it was the straw that caused a good deal of the auto maker meltdown earlier this year. China manipulates their currency by not allowing dollars to be converted into Chinese money except for specific state-sponsored investments, and they don't allow US companies to take their Chinese profits OUT of the country either. It sets up a situation where they pile up money in US banks to buy US resources... but US companies can't pull their capital profits OUT of China...
China is playing the long game, highly protectionist and stacking the deck with our own money and resources against us. It's economic "war" played at the highest level and the US government has no grasp that the "invisible hand' won't save them.
One question, who gets to pick the rules?
One advantage of having decentralized government is that if you don't like it in one area, you can move to another. Yes, this has its faults, again we can use North Korea. However, with a single, unified entity making the rules, if you don't like it, tough. At the very least, the folks in North Korea currently have the possibility of getting somewhere else. I'll agree that it's not a great option, and the risks are very high, but it exists. In a unified, one world government, no one has that option. If I disagree with the way the government is run, I don't have the option of leaving. It's just eat whatever shit they hand out or die. And with the UN as the closest proxy to what a world government might look like, no thank you.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
America has that same childish and ignorant "for mother country" thing going on as well
If we had international laws, policies, standards of living, etc. I'd agree with you. As we don't, I don't see a problem with wanting to take care of our own.
I assume that's the reason why you blasted trillions in a war but got bitching crazy about the proposal of universal healthcare.
"I'm never quite so stupid as when I'm being smart" (Linus van Pelt)
we already know of cases where China has broken into hotel rooms, stollen blackberry's, etc.
Any link that supports your claims?
Catalin Braescu
Ofaly.com
If anything, the Chinese already know more about how to make our products than we do. After all, they built them.
I work at a huge, universally hated TLA in the U.S. The next time someone tells me the way we do things is lousy because complete idiots at the highest level must have set up our business processes and private industry would never do anything that stupid - I'll have another good counter-example.
Thanks. I really appreciate the insight.
Well I didn't. I don't even have trillions to blast.
But yeah. The war, a thinly veiled attack on terrorism, was pretty much exactly there to protect US interests, keep the dollar afloat, and maintain regimes that will be friendly enough to supply us with oil. It's fundamentally in line with what I said--we're protecting our own (not from being attacked, but protecting the status quo.)
I'm not making a moral judgment about the war, incidentally. The war is in line with protecting our own, but in that case, I think it's going too far.
The universal healthcare issue is really broken, but no society is perfect.
So you think a country should experiment with LSD and try to take over the world? Sorry, that didn't work out to well for the last guy.
It's common knowledge that the Chinese, whether sponsored by the government or not, have concerted attacks against US computer systems. They have succeeded quite a few times in gaining access to technological data from high security sources. It's simply common sense. If you visit a bad neighborhood, you take precautions.
You would rather they ignore a known security risk all in the name of being 'PC'?
Here's a few more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082402318.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123834671171466791.html
http://www.securitywatch.co.uk/2009/09/02/new-wave-of-sql-attacks-from-china/
I can't speak for everyone, but my opposition to universal healthcare is that I have yet to see a proposal that satisfies all of my concerns. Socialist policies -- although all warm and fuzzy and humanitarian in theory -- fail to address one major flaw: if people don't have to work to take care of themselves because the government will do it for them, then who is going to pay the bills when everyone is staying at home expecting a government handout? TANSTAAFL, and all that.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
"It is better that a hundred unjust men should go free than that a single just man should be punished unjustly." --Plato
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Long Live Bill
He maybe resting in peace, but what he said will live forever in the hearts of those that have one.
Are you kidding? The US basically gave away the entire manufacturing sector to china, gratis, brought them a century ahead in wealth and technology in just 20 years. We rebuilt germany and japan after we defeated them in wars, partially because we helped russia so much during that war and they became belligerent towards us just because they felt like it, they were jerks to us.. And so on. We've been the most generous to other people nation ever, all we ask is don't screw with us, and even then, we still get shafted. If anything we aren't nearly enough nationalistic and protectionist. We are now on the ropes economically from this misguided policy. It was stupid and pushed by a small number of ultrarich and traitorous globalist fatcats to make profits, that's it.
I'm all for having the US turn a little more turtle, stop exporting tech, throw the big smackdown on those wallstreet pirates, rebuild our own manufacturing, get 100% energy independent so we aren't exporting cash to nations that don't like us, stop all our lame corporate military expansion that has nothing to do with self defense and everything to do with, again, making wall street profits and stop supporting that racist and fascist loon little Mediterranean nation, and just be done with it.
Get rid of harmful foreign entanglements, it always goes sour and turns into a big fat mess.
That's partially my point. How do you define what he's talking about? At what point is the coder Chinese? When they work for China? How are the people working for him supposed to understand what is meant?
(And how was my original post trollish? It's an honest question.)
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
No - you, sir, have no clue about Americans. Americans are in it for themselves, bar none. Any social interest arising from an American economic activity is merely an unintended side-effect of a self interest the executor couldn't turn into profit.
aptly said by those who renamed "french fries" to "freedom fries"
The Opium wars were fairly recent, I hear yanks on here going on all the time about the revolutionary war....
To prove a point, or make a historical statement, or to be funny, but not out of anger or resentment.
Anti-tamper tape has been available for a LONG time, and it is really cheap.
Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
Socialist policies -- although all warm and fuzzy and humanitarian in theory -- fail to address one major flaw: if people don't have to work to take care of themselves because the government will do it for them, then who is going to pay the bills when everyone is staying at home expecting a government handout?
This is called Begging the Question.
Now, that's funny. Thanks. I needed a laugh this afternoon.
1) diff your HDD (hard and time consuming)
You also need to DIFF the BIOS on your motherboard.
And DIFF the microcode in your CPU.
And DIFF the EEPROM on all your PCI cards.
And on and on and on...
BONUS PROBLEM: Describe an algorithm which can be run within the confines of an operation system so as to determine whether the operating system is running directly on metal or is running within an emulation environment that is running directly on metal [or is running within an emulation environment that is running within an emulation environment that is running directly on metal, or...].
is why you are carrying sensitive information across an international border?
"Traveling light" is good advice for anyone headed abroad.
But perhaps especially so for the geek whose more incendiary political rants, porn stash or internal corporate memos aren't as well secured as he thinks.
This whole discussion is making me think of Avenue Q. Everyone's a little bit racist.
Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
This, friends, is the real reason behind the famed Apple design of no user serviceable parts. Not to save weight, not to give Apple a few measly bucks for battery replacements but to prevent FOREIGN ESPIONAGE. Think about that that when you drop your Dell and 12 little plastic panels pop off.
Best of all you'll WANT to throw away your Apple device and buy a new one after just a few days of frustrating use. That is if it's not already scratched itself or cracked.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
To be fair China is still a Command economy that let's "Capitalism" play because it's a useful way to get people to work harder.. they are a long way from the idea of "Free Markets".
Making them different from the US (or any other country) in what way?
The US has:
A fiat currency produced by government edict. The price, interest, is centrally determined by the fed.
Price controls on labor.
A labor force conditioned in a centrally controlled compulsory school system (As proposed in the Communist Manifesto).
Seriously, how many people in the US operate independently of the centrally controlled banking system? As far as I can tell, the difference between the US system and the Chinese system is one of degree, not principle. Both capital and labor in the US are to a large degree centrally controlled.
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I can't speak for everyone, but my opposition to universal healthcare is that I have yet to see a proposal that satisfies all of my concerns. Socialist policies -- although all warm and fuzzy and humanitarian in theory -- fail to address one major flaw: if people don't have to work to take care of themselves because the government will do it for them, then who is going to pay the bills when everyone is staying at home expecting a government handout?
Nations where this happens go bankrupt, nations where this doesn't happen thrive
Your concern arises from the misconception that just because the government is providing for the most essential needs people will stay at home rather than go looking for (and finding) a job. In fact, at least as far as Europe is concernted, the employment rates tend to be higher in the countries with a better welfare system (Norway, Denmark) than in those with a worse one (Italy, Spain).
"I'm never quite so stupid as when I'm being smart" (Linus van Pelt)
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