Slashdot Mirror
Year In Communications: NSA Revelations Overshadow Communications Breakthroughs
MacRonin writes "Communications news in 2013 was dominated by serial revelations of the National Security Agency's mass collection of data from major Internet companies and mobile carriers, leading to widespread cries of governmental overreach. But those revelations, based on leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, were accompanied by remarkable advances in wireless communications. The Snowden documents also galvanized new efforts at making the Internet more secure and private. The folks at MIT Technology Review have their year-end rundown."
This reads like: This bunch of corporate press releases haven't been getting as much attention as we'd like, so we'll mention Snowden, which is what seems to get attention these days, and then proceed to dump a list of the stuff we do care about.
It doesn't seem to be anything that exciting. Yeah, technology marches on. Somebody figuring out a way to get more bandwidth out of a cell tower is normal and expected. And I can't say I care that much since all this would do is to allow me to consume my tiny quota faster.
The more interesting bits about balloons and IETF proposing Tor already got discussed, so not like they got overlooked either..
Google pushed its high-speed fiber and TV service in Kansas City, and expanded elsewhere; evidence emerged that the result was better prices and faster speeds in those markets.
Increased competition leads to better consumer offerings and lower prices.
You don't say.
In general, there is plenty that the dominant Internet providers can do to provide better deals without much effort, she says. Cable companies like Time Warner Cable and Comcast have the technical capacity to speed up service, and also plenty of room to lower prices, given the estimate from one analystâ"Craig Moffet of the Wall Street firm Bernstein Researchâ"that they typically make 97 percent profit margins on Internet services.
In other words: the average consumer is paying the "fuck you" price.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
But more to the point, have you ever seen any black people who work for the NSA?
Not only they have African Americans who work for NSA, they have set up a special web page for them, and have dedicated a special wall panel to commemorate their contribution, inside the NSA building.
http://www.nsa.gov/about/cryptologic_heritage/african_americans/
But even more to the point - no matter what color of skin they have, - white, black, and all hues in between - those who work for NSA, if they continue to violate the Constitution of America, they are Traitors to the country !
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
the american taxpayer is the owner. the nsa is only an entity that the us taxpayer completely funds and owns - if there were no american taxpayer to provide funds for the nsa, then nothing would be owned. that's the point of the whole snowden protest - beacuse people like you are too blind to realize any true fundamental problems with the system, but instead insist on arguing over stupid shit like which of the elderly rich white men in the usa technically have top secret access to the taxpayers paid for information.
a complete re-haul and transparent oversight of the NSA is needed to redefine your concept of ownership to explicitly state that taxpayers own this information. any attack on the USA should be publicly stated as soon as it's known. oh that's right, all of that is bullshit - the entire organization is corrupt from the NSA to their CIA counterparts. many psy ops have been had to achieve these successes an implant the mind control you've been given to defend an organization such as the nsa. individuals in the military industrial complex need to perpetuate the war myth forever to enrich themselves. these people are protected, but their invincibility breaks when you do not comply. it starts with a change in mentality though, and part of it is not believing the bullshit lie of 'national security'.
the notion that 'national security' can be a scapegoat for anything and everything confidential is now considered unacceptable by the people who pay the bills. now if only the docile , weak minded, enslaved people realize they don't have to comply when someone says "do it for national security!' which has been exposed as a farce. when you state the nsa owns anything, you are literally complying with your own enslavement. because you perpetuate the myth that you have no power, and that only a cabal of rich old guard white men can dictate who enlightened with knowledge and who is not. Slashdot did a good job in sticking with this new idea of thinking - unlike yourself.
> Excuse me, but Snowden didn't create anything.
Excuse yourself; then go look up "galvanized" and consider meditating upon what the difference is between "creating something" and "galvanizing new efforts". Generally if you want to dispute a claim that wasn't actually made, its best to not quote
Makes the shilling for the surveillance state far less obvious.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
Furthermore, whatever has been invented/improved this year is that - 'invented' as in 'here already' and if valuable enough, unlikely to disappear anytime soon and the time will come to discuss and dissect. Snowden's revelations, on the other hand, seem to be affecting more people right now than any new inventions that and as such tend to take a larger share of the collective mind share.
I read TFA. There was not one advancement I would consider to be "remarkable". I would argue that some were really developed before 2013 as well. Of course, throw something about Snowden or the NSA in there, you'll get a few folks to read it. The NSA headlines also overshadowed everything else not worth reporting on.
In the NSA there is no racism, there is clasism. You have the "normal" people that must be watched, herded, manipulated, iied and considered with no rights, of which any vulnerability is exploited, every minor offense is collected for a potential future use, and every hot photo or video is shared for fun.
In the other hand you have the favored ones that are untouchables, the aligned politicians, CEOs of collaborating companies, good part of the 0.01%, certain foreigners and people that buy their pertenence to that class putting enough money high enough, no matter which shady thing they are doing, even accidentally collected info is promptly discarded.
No no no, wrong definition, try this one: "To stimulate or shock with an electric current."
Makes so much more sense that way doesn't it?
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"