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New Zealand Spy Agency Deleted Evidence About Its Illegal Spying On Kim Dotcom

Posted by samzenpus on from the was-that-wrong? dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The latest news in this: GCSB appears to have deleted key evidence in the case in a ham-fisted attempt to cover up its illegal activities. Even more ridiculous, GCSB is trying to cover this up by claiming that the material had 'aged off' — implying that it was deleted automatically. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key claims that they had to delete the information under the law. Of course, there are a few problems with that. The first is that under New Zealand law, like most countries these days, parties have an obligation to preserve documents likely to be necessary in a legal case. But, even more damning is that there's video of John Key in the New Zealand Parliament trying to defend against an earlier claim that GCSB had deleted some evidence by insisting that GCSB does not delete anything ever:"

59 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. Fuck GCSB! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And fuck Beta!

  2. FUCK BETA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    FUCK SLASHBETA

    1. Re:FUCK BETA by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Informative

      If it's as bad as you say (I haven't seen it yet) then there's a simple answer. Boycott the site for a week. Everybody.

      You can bet that classic will be back up and running if you do that.

      Can't live a week without slashdot? You're part of the problem.

      --
      No sig today...
    2. Re:FUCK BETA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Silence demonstrates complacency. The more people are vocal the more they'll feel pressure. Your idea basically amounts to giving up for a week when the time is now more critical than ever to be obnoxiously vocal.

    3. Re:FUCK BETA by Thanosius · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I expect what's more likely to happen is that people will spam FUCK BETA and make similar posts in the comments sections of all stories. Comments are what keep people around Slashdot these days and if the comment sections falls apart, the site will follow.

      It's much more likely than a boycott and since the idea of doing so seems to have spread rather quickly across Slashdot, people like feeling like they're part of a group of protesters who might actually be able to make the change they're after.

      --
      Account abandoned. I can't fucking spell for shit and Slashdot doesn't even allow time-limited edits of posts. Plus you'
    4. Re:FUCK BETA by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The more people are vocal the more they'll feel pressure.

      You believe the bean counters read the comments instead of looking at the advertising stats?

      --
      No sig today...
    5. Re:FUCK BETA by captainpanic · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I totally agree. I only visit Slashdot for the comments (the news is often posted elsewhere up to 2 days earlier). No comments, no slashdot. And I noticed that the comments section is pretty bad in the beta (far less comments fit on screen, with much more whitespace, making it more difficult to browse the comments).

    6. Re:FUCK BETA by reikae · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Does the beta site on your browser look anything like it does on mine?
      I think the readability of comments suffers greatly from the beta design.

    7. Re:FUCK BETA by fatphil · · Score: 2

      Submit a story about boycotting beta, so that we all know when it should be done. Seriously. People who can see the firehose would bubble it up towards selection. (Unless, like me, they can't see the firehose, or do anything if they can see it.)

      At the moment, with no javascript, and only select cookies, I'm managing to stay classic, but I'm prepared to boycott /. to make a stand.

      Can we resurrect Bruce Perens' Technocrat as a home for the old-school nerds?

      --
      Also FatPhil on SoylentNews, id 863
    8. Re:FUCK BETA by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just tried it. It's far from unsalvageable but it has a couple of simple, but massive flaws. One is the skinny comments section. That sucks hard, make it full-width. The next is that Slashdot seems to be following the trend of many sites to become more like Instagram. Lay off the pictures, don't put a big pic with nearly every article for the sake of having pictures, which is exactly what's happening. If it's really relevant use a small one, not some giant pic I have to scroll past taking up big chunks of valuable content space.

      Last one, and it's not a big one, I'm not sure I like the more minimalist content section. I'd definitely miss the comment ID link and friend/foe indicator.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    9. Re:FUCK BETA by richlv · · Score: 4, Insightful

      i had only seen the main page. i had not seen the comments.

      that.
      is.
      unusable.

      whoever designed that is not a technical person, no matter what they might think about themselves.

      so let me join with FUCK BETA

      --
      Rich
  3. Maximum penalty... by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There should be a law that says "Assume guilt, apply maximum penalty, put people in jail" when stuff like this happens.

    Same for Arthur Anderson and their shredding parties, etc.

    --
    No sig today...
    1. Re:Maximum penalty... by Joce640k · · Score: 3, Funny

      What's Slashbeta ?

      --
      No sig today...
    2. Re:Maximum penalty... by EmperorArthur · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Judges don't take kindly to things like this, plus Evidence Tampering is a separate crime.

      Then there's the fruit of the poison tree argument. I don't know about NZ, but here in the US all evidence that comes from illegal evidence is considered illegal. So if the original evidence against Dot Com was illegally obtained by the GCSB, then everything, including all the search warants, is inadmissible. That's probably why it was deleted. When Dot Com's lawyers go to make that argument expect the government to say something like "you have no proof."

      --
      So lets pretend that we've just completed writing this code, as opposed to having just completed sabotaging it -Altera
    3. Re:Maximum penalty... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      All very true, except that the judge isn't going to care what the government does.

      "For reasons of national security, and reasons that can not be made public that had nothing to do with my pension, the government has displayed a compelling argument that demonstrates complete constitutionality with regards to these absolutely necessary actions. Won't somebody think of the children before they are turned into terrorists."

    4. Re:Maximum penalty... by Arrogant-Bastard · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You're correct but it's not obvious that the law will actually be applied in this case. Clearly, the NZ and US both really, REALLY want to crucify Dot Com and are willing to break the law, cheat, lie, steal, defraud and everything else in order to do it.

      Meanwhile, Slashdot Beta is absolute crap, and if the morons, idiots, and assholes pushing it persist in this stupidity, then they should expect a boycott.

    5. Re:Maximum penalty... by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As was stated before, lucky you.

      I was one of the happy few 'til yesterday when I decided I should take a look. I took. And I was kinda glad I didn't have lunch yet or it would have been a waste of money.

      Slashdot beta looks like, well, pretty much any mediocre news aggregation site out there. Not really awful, but it feels a load slower and it looks like someone took a course in some kinda edgy new technology and now feels the urge to show it off. Remember when the AOLlers found out about HTML and how many bells, whistles and FLASHING gadgets you could fill a page with? Like it or not, that was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw it. It sure felt like someone wanted to do a "wow, look at me" stunt.

      I might be an old nerd, but to me, less can be more...

      What I like about the "old" Slashdot is not only that it's faster. That's an additional goodie. But first of all, the pictures are smaller and the text gets more real estate on the page. Yes, I like it that way. If I wanted a picture book, I'd turn to the son of a friend of mine, he's 3 and he has plenty of them. I don't need a news page that looks like it's aimed at 3 year olds. I feel kinda insulted that way. I know, it's the trend with newspapers and online magazines all over, and guess what the net effect was: I STOPPED READING THEM.

      It seems the makers of /. fall for the same fallacy the makers of MMOs all over the planet fall for: WoW did it a certain way, so we have to, too, because WoW is the biggest out there. Possible. But you will not attract the players of WoW because, guess what, they already have what they want! The only thing you can accomplish by becoming more like them is to lose those that are with you exactly because you're NOT like them and because they hate what they are.

      But I trust the market in this very special case. As soon as /. is no longer useful, something else will pop up to fill the void. As I usually say when it comes to others that piss their users off: They need us. We don't need them.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Maximum penalty... by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2

      Scroll to the bottom of this page and click the link "Slashdot Beta".

      To return to sanity, scroll to the bottom again and click "Slashdot Classic". It's in the grey box which takes up the whole screen at 1280x1024.

      --
      Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
    7. Re:Maximum penalty... by Joce640k · · Score: 2

      I tried that in Internet Explorer, just to make sure I had the full experience.

      Ew!

      Was I supposed to be viewing it on a touch screen tablet or something?

      --
      No sig today...
    8. Re:Maximum penalty... by maynard · · Score: 2

      The beta needs work. The comment forum is problematic. Images are a bit too big for my taste and they're not well selected to fit the theme of each story - but that's an editorial problem, not a software glitch. Still, the software clearly isn't ready for prime time. Yet a site update is warranted. And I think /. has plenty of life left in it with the right community and editorial mix.

      ADMINS: If you're reading this, why not post a sticky for community bitching and get the site designers involved? Yank this shit from the stories forums and find a proper place for it that's open to discussion with the players and public so no one feels their view has been stifled. It's for the best. You've got a community revolt going on here.

      But to the bitchfest crew, this shitstorm of offtopic crapflooding has made /. comments utterly unreadable for ontopic discussion. That sucks. I actually clicked this link to read real comments and got nowhere.

      And I'm contributing to the mess. Fuck. Sorry about that.

    9. Re:Maximum penalty... by TheloniousToady · · Score: 4, Insightful

      But to the bitchfest crew, this shitstorm of offtopic crapflooding has made /. comments utterly unreadable for ontopic discussion. That sucks. I actually clicked this link to read real comments and got nowhere.

      Hopefully, everyone will tire of the beta ranting and we can all go back to ranting about all other things soon. And hopefully, the editors already get the message, so all this beta mastering can stop soon. Personally, I'm still on classic (after 30 seconds or so on beta) so I don't even have anything to complain about until they actually take classic away. If that happens, I'll either adjust or go away, I'm not sure which. Meanwhile, they risk destroying the site, ala Digg. (It's not smart to even roll such Dice, Kids...)

      I remember when the current look came in several years ago. I think it had round corners and a different color scheme. I didn't like it at first - cosmetic change is as hard for nerds as math is for Barbie - but I soon got used to it. Hopefully that can happen again if necessary. If not, sayonara Slashdot.

    10. Re:Maximum penalty... by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · · Score: 3

      You're correct but it's not obvious that the law will actually be applied in this case. Clearly, the NZ and US both really, REALLY want to crucify Dot Com and are willing to break the law, cheat, lie, steal, defraud and everything else in order to do it.

      As an American, I can tell you that US definitely wants to get him as it's what our overlords in Hollywood (including the RIAA) want. It's really difficult for me to see why NZ would care much at all, but I can understand that the US might use pressure to make them care. However, I have to agree with what another poster said in saying that NZ might be deliberately screwing up as a way to (secretly) protest being goaded into action by the US.

    11. Re: Maximum penalty... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes, we do but its not like the one in the US, ours is a collection of documents see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_New_Zealand

      I am from NZ and I seer this from the inside, the problem is the Govt has been caught doing something illegal so now its face-saving time, I very much doubt that the documents have been "lost" or "Aged off" Simply because the documents are not that old (your supposed to keep your Tax receipts for 7 years) I doubt that any information was deleted with no other sources.

      The Govt is getting increasing pressure from the US to extradite him so they can lock him up (after a wonderful show trial, prob televised) The US can and does influence NZ quite a-lot, we have been forced (and I do mean forced, though threat of embargo) To approve of quite a few US policies, Hell we are still made to buy surplus US military equipment. The US is a major trade partner for us the loss of their Custom would cost us dearly.

      On the other side of the Coin, Most NZ'ers are outraged that Kim has been target (esp by the US) and are doing Our best to try and stop him being deported, but sadly there is little we can do apart from try and drag this out in the open and slow down the court system. We will most likely lose, he has done nothing wrong by NZ law but with billions of dollars in trade at stake we have little say, In the end it comes down to money.

      We have hope though, if we can stall long enough till november (ish) our next set of elections roll around and with any luck the dominant party will change to labour, if this happens they will most likely stop the cases and allow him to say as a political "we're better than you stun in national face"

      Signed,
      An Angry Kiwi

    12. Re:Maximum penalty... by maynard · · Score: 2

      I'm still on classic (after 30 seconds or so on beta) so I don't even have anything to complain about until they actually take classic away.

      The beta commenting system is so bad I couldn't even preview and post from there. But I'm sympathetic to beta fuck ups. What's actually broken will work out in time and the stylistic issues people dislike will either lead to an exodus or be resolved in some unexpected way. For example, I dumped Final Cut Pro when Apple went to X and have been pleased with Adobe Premiere. But I have to admit that Apple has resolved many of the initial complaints made about FCP X. I'd reconsider now, even though l'm happy with Premiere. /. admins have to do something. They're getting eaten alive by Reddit /r/technology and the site is arguably a better service with more interesting comments. I'd like to see a resurrection of /. as a tech news aggregation power site. Reddit is showing real problems with mod abuse. There's an opportunity retune and challenge for audience share here if they get it right. The admins don't have to target all of Reddit. Just the slice they're perfect to steal market share for.

      Competition is good.

    13. Re:Maximum penalty... by Catbeller · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The point, the very essence, of the electronic surveillance state is that YOU have no privacy or hope of leniency. Your watchers, however, are secret, immune, and implacable. Whenever someone says, "Just don't do anything wrong!", or, "What have you got to hide?" or, best, "Get the fuck over it, privacy is dead.", remember this story. The people who run the panoptikon, who can call in Copyright Commando raids against a home *in another country*, can accuse and prosecute and steal; however, they themselves can lie, hide, destroy evidence, and operate in total secrecy. Power without consequences for the corporations and governments, while *you* will be held responsible for every bad thing you've ever said or did. Anywhere in the world that has power that can get access to the panoptikon can drag your ass back to their jurisdiction (well, America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia can, anyway).

  4. please abandon the beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    pretty please?

  5. Should've deleted Beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Beta sucks. Fuck Beta.

  6. What would Ron Burgundy say about Beta? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    You stay classic Slashdot!

  7. Re:Oh NZ, I had such hopes for you by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sometimes I get the feeling that NZ is deliberately messing this up.
    That the US might have pushed them to get Kim and this is just NZ's way of protesting it.
    The amount of mistakes made in this case is approaching comedic levels.

    --
    Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
  8. SLASHBETA ADMINS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    FYI, The slashbeta admins are modding threads and replies as -1.... like 5-10 posts all at once. No REAL COMMUNITY MEMBER MODS are doing this, but the admins.

    Users don't want Slashbeta, but the admins are trying to suppress this obvious reality. The last 3-4 stories all comments are 99% anti-slashbeta and they still want to pretend they're listening to us and asking for our feedback.

    The feedback is to take your fucking redesign and rm -fr

    Die in a fire slashbeta

    1. Re:SLASHBETA ADMINS by gbjbaanb · · Score: 4, Insightful

      not sure about that - most people with mod points will mod "fuck beta" posts as -1 as they are offtopic, and such posts are easy to moderate (ie you don't have to think if something is insightful or informative for example).

      However,I don't think there are enough mod points available to kill all the fuckbeta posts.

      BTW fuck beta. Really, fuck the stupidity of it. (I wouldn't mind if it still delivered what is important about slashdot but its just sidelined the comments and stories as if they're the irrelevant parts).

    2. Re:SLASHBETA ADMINS by Common+Joe · · Score: 5, Insightful

      not sure about that - most people with mod points will mod "fuck beta" posts as -1 as they are offtopic, and such posts are easy to moderate (ie you don't have to think if something is insightful or informative for example).

      I always mark things off topic, but not this time. I'm making an exception and I'm not the only one with mod points making that exception. The Dice overlords didn't hear the first dozen times we screamed about the beta site so we're screaming louder since they are telling us they are going to take away our classic view. Really... this is the last time before Slashdot implodes. If they move ahead to the beta crap and force us on it, Slashdot is going to be a ghost town.

      -- Common Joe

      Slashdot Valentines Day Massacre: Boycott Slashdot because "Fuck Beta!": February 10 - 17

      And Support Okian Warrior's Alternate Slashdot Idea!

    3. Re:SLASHBETA ADMINS by Sam+H · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well at least I shall use all my mod points to flag fuckbeta posts as “Insightful”, because they are. Off-topic, but insightful.

      --
      God, root, what is difference ?
    4. Re:SLASHBETA ADMINS by gbjbaanb · · Score: 2

      Slashdot Valentines Day Massacre - forget boycotting it, make one of those days the "fuck beta" day where no comment shall be allowed except to say "fuck beta".

  9. Forking Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We need a forking plan for near future when everything goes "Beta" permanently.

  10. Who the fuck is Beta... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...and what's up with all the hate agai...(click).

    Oh. What in the holy fuck is this?

    Nevermind. Fuck Beta.

  11. Fuck Beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Keep Classic

    Fuck Beta

  12. Slash Beta Slash by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hans Reiser would know how to deal with this bitch

  13. Fuck NSA ! Fuck GCSB ! Fuck GCHQ ! by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... and yes, Fuck http://beta.slashdot.org/ !!

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:Fuck NSA ! Fuck GCSB ! Fuck GCHQ ! by schlachter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Whoa, WTF. Just checked it out after seeing all the FUCK SLASHDOT posts.

      I've been on Slashdot since the 90's and the BETA kills the community features.

      Slashdot is not a news site. It's a community discussion site. Discussion is almost impossible in the gimped BETA.

      --
      My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
    2. Re:Fuck NSA ! Fuck GCSB ! Fuck GCHQ ! by thoromyr · · Score: 5, Insightful

      i agree with the outrage, but I guess today i'm feeling particularly pessimistic because I honestly don't think anything we do will matter. After all, as long as they maintain ad impressions that's all that counts. Who the fuck cares what the site is about, that can be changed anytime. Just keep those ads coming.

      The primary problem with "classic" slashdot is that it devotes entirely too much of the available space to comments when it could have more space for branding and advertising. What the fuck were the morons who developed slashdot thinking? That they were providing a forum or something for people to post in?

  14. I couldn't comment on Beta in the proper link by spiritplumber · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I couldn't comment on Beta in the proper link because it's down, so I'd like to go offtopic for a moment, and note that the Beta interface is unwieldy and takes longer to load (which makes a difference on 2G/3G tethering). Therefore, I'd like to vote against it. Thank you.

    --
    Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
    1. Re:I couldn't comment on Beta in the proper link by geekmux · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I couldn't comment on Beta in the proper link because it's down, so I'd like to go offtopic for a moment, and note that the Beta interface is unwieldy and takes longer to load (which makes a difference on 2G/3G tethering). Therefore, I'd like to vote against it. Thank you.

      And ah, no need to apologize for being off-topic my friend. Apparently, every topic has a similar answer here lately. "Fuck Beta".

      And when Beta turns out to be a hot porn star, that answer will be an accurate one.

      Until then, it's the new SlashWarCry to insist our beloved aged-like-XP interface remains unchanged.

      Or at least stop us from migrating to that thing I've now politely labeled as Slashdon't

      Slashdon't. Please.

  15. It starts to be amusing in a sad kind of way. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This site is probably the reason I didn't finish my university degree in 2000.

    I have spent ages here, and took part in some very intelligent discussions.

    Slashdot has always been about the highly educated user base, you could always count one at least one knowlegable person in the comments getting to the heart of TFA.

    It has been in decline the last few years, maybe because new users find reddit first (and then they are reduced to drooling zombie basement dwellers) or maybe because the editors are worse (though complaining about the editors is nearly as old als /. itself), I don't know.

    But this site redesign will be the end of it once and for all. The main selling point of slashdot is it's userbase. Scare them away and all you're left if is a generic 'news' rehashing site.

    But the stubborn pushing of this disastrous beta (office politics? nobody wants to be mean to the nice new designer?) makes shure it will at least go out with a bang and not slowly fade away.

    I watch with a sad sort of amusement as if my old college dorm where I spend so many good parts of my life is burning to the ground because the homeowner thought it would be a good idea to replace all woodwork with cardboard.

  16. How many complaints about the beta... by EzInKy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...will it take for slashdot to abandon this course? I'm only asking because I love this site and want to continue to to support it as long as I am able. Tell us please, this really is a case of Dice asserting it's supremecy isn't it? I can't fathom why the usual slashdot admins would subject their usership to these shenagagins.

    --
    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    1. Re:How many complaints about the beta... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm surprised nobody gets this. The new slashdot isn't for you; it's not for the current userbase. They want a more marketable userbase. They want companies to pay to have stories posted (speculation, but I get that impression from the new layout since the focus is more on the posts than the discussions.) Why? because good community driven discussion sites simply aren't profitable enough.

      The new site doesn't "suck"; it is designed for more consumption and less interaction. Of course it actually sucks, but that doesn't matter. Dice is counting on a new wave of less sophisticated consumers to replace everyone that will leave. Those consumers are accustomed to the kind of website Dice has made, and Dice is betting that those users will be more profitable than the current userbase.

      So there is no real point in bitching about it. The decision to switch to the new beta was made last year, and that decision had nothing to do with the quality of that beta site. I wonder if this beta plan was being kicked around years ago when Rob left....

      Slashdot is dying. Let's not waste the last few months of it's existence bitching about something we cannot change. Instead, lets enjoy what time we have left.

  17. Yeah, by sodar · · Score: 2

    I login here on rare occasions. One of them is now. Fuck beta!

  18. Beta sucks balls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Does anyone notice a cycle?

    They ask for feedback, they say they care.
    5 stories now 99% of comments pure hate. The disgust is everywhere.
    They continue to make it worse pretend that no one fucking hates it.
    We get more pissed
    They tell us we're "griping" and want to know what's wrong...
    Well them what's wrong (everything...again ).....
    Nothing changes...

    LIP SERVICE

  19. No, we won't "get used to it" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hey Dice, remember Digg?

    July 2008 Digg took part in advanced acquisition talks with Google for a reported $200 million price tag
    August 25, 2010 Digg v4 site redesign
    July 12, 2012 Digg announced its sale to Betaworks for $500,000

    Is that what you want?

  20. Re:Dear Slashdot.... by Chrisq · · Score: 2

    Please do not commit a Windows 8 .... err..... I mean suicied!

    FUCK BETA!

    I haven't got beta yet - is it really that bad!

  21. Not really topical, but... by seebs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If you want to hear from us on the beta, why does mail to the given email address bounce? Maybe fix your stuff.

    --
    My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
  22. They should make a story about the beta by fleeped · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It will be cool to see the comments in the thousands, even if all are screaming in unison the same two words.. "Fuck beta". But seriously, fuck beta and you're not google: shove it down our throats and many of us will be out.

    1. Re:They should make a story about the beta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Googling "Fuck Beta" brings up Slashdot as the 10th search. It will be racing to number 1 in no time.

      Have you noticed how much weight Google gives to Slashdot in its searches, Dice? Maybe find a way to monetize that instead of pissing the whole user-base down the drain with a "Let's do something!!!" idea.

      Did you know that Google is easily the world's most profitable web service, Dice? What is most remarkable about their design? Ah yes, the CLEAR UNCLUTTERED INTERFACE.

    2. Re:They should make a story about the beta by balsam-manor · · Score: 2

      Agreed. The beta is terrible. That's not just resistance to change talking, either. Would like to read a story about how 'they' came up with the new format, market research behind it, why 'they' think that these changes are needed, extending to what other changes they have in the works. I think 'they' fundamentally fail to understand that slashdot is not a facebook/google/twitter/pinterest/etc type community. Nor would I, among many others, quite obviousy, like it to be such. Keep the classic format, please.

    3. Re:They should make a story about the beta by Tackhead · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Would like to read a story about how 'they' came up with the new format, market research behind it, why 'they' think that these changes are needed, extending to what other changes they have in the works.

      Now that would be an interesting story. Hear it from their side, and gain some insights into why deathmarches like Unity, Metro, and Slashdot Beta continue on into production despite overwhelming negative feedback.

      It's like nobody in IT understands the sunk cost fallacy: when you're in a hole, stop digging. Managers think they can resolve the waste of dollars in the past by digging up, and in so doing, throw away good money after bad.

  23. Re:Nonsense by DrJimbo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    AC opined:

    They don't delete externally collected data. They obviously delete or age-off internal records.

    Prime Minister John Key, who is in charge of GCSB said:

    This is a spy agency. We don't delete things. We archive them.

    Key's office confirmed that Key was talking about the video that his lawyers had claimed was deleted.

    AC opined:

    Isn't claiming that Dotcom was illegally spied upon putting the cart before the horse here? Where is the evidence? Regardless of whether it was deleted or not, by making the statement one is assuming the conclusion and puts their own credibility at risk.

    Here are some links from the fine article showing that the government and the police have already admitted malfeasance:

    Police Admit That NZ Spy Agency Illegally Spied On Kim Dotcom

    NZ Prime Minister Admits That The Government Illegally Wiretapped Megaupload Employees

    Oddly enough you are correct that these admissions of malfeasance do put the credibility of the police and the Prime Minister at risk although that is probably not what you meant.

    And in conclusion: FUCK BETA!

    --
    We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
    -- Anais Nin
  24. Re:Oh NZ, I had such hopes for you by FatLittleMonkey · · Score: 2

    It could be a little of both. If you were an investigator/prosecutor/advisor/etc and the case is against a genuine criminal, you care about catching/convicting them; this is why you became an investigator/prosecutor/etc. You are going to push for an effective investigation, follow every lead, and try to prevent screw-ups which will harm the investigation/prosecution.

    But if you feel the case is due to political pressure by the US and obsequious douches in government, you just don't really try very hard. That "I don't care" factor amplifies the apparent incompetence, even if there isn't active sabotage.

    [Plus the people who want to be assigned to political case are usually the most suck-up-kick-down douchebags. And they are often that specific type of arrogant-incompetence that causes things like this.]

    --
    Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
  25. Re:Oh NZ, I had such hopes for you by usuallylost · · Score: 2

    I find it hard to believe that the government of NZ is subjecting itself to ridicule, expense and possibly legal jeopardy to protest the actions of the US. They have diplomats to protest whatever they want to the highest levels of the US government anytime they like. No, I'd guess that they really are just that incompetent. That US, entertainment industry, pressure and bribes caused them to ride rough over NZ's laws. With their actions starting to come out into the open and be seen by the NZ public they are working to mitigate the damage and or cover it up. Whether that effort will work remains to be seen.

    Whatever happens here I think the significance of Kim Dotcom's case is that it shows how these intelligence agencies are actively being abused by governments. You can bet that this isn't the only case that sort of thing is being done. This is just the one where they got caught.

  26. Beta means the end for Slashdot by kbahey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I have been a regular visitor to Slashdot for around 15 years. For that, I get the checkbox to disable ads, though I browse with Javascript disabled so my browser does not slow down.

    I come here for the discussions, and often read comments at +5, changing that only if I find a discussion interesting and warrants reading at a lower level.

    The new beta uses JQuery for the comment threshold selector, and changes that on the fly. This means all the comments are loaded, but not visible, and processing any page with considerable number of comments will slow down MY computer! If I have a few tabs open to read later, my computer will be unusable.

    What is worse it that they require you to click on the slider on every article to change the threshold! This is just insane!

    If they insist that I enable Javascript to browse the site at the threshold I want, then they will lose me as a long time. I imagine that others long timers will hate the site too.

    Dice have to remember that this site has two unmatched features, interlocked: a moderation system that is good at cutting down the trolling, spamming, and noise, and a comment section that is frequented by many people who are passionate about technology and other nerdy stuff.

    If they wanted to intentionally ruin the site and drive people away, they would not have done any worse than what they are doing now.

    If they manage to aggravate a lot of their users, the comment section will no longer be attractive to the audience. Perhaps we should revive kuro5hin?

    I wrote the above in a feedback form that I filled a while ago, and I am emailing this comment to their feedback@slashdot.org. Please send them feedback too.

    And mod this up so Dice can see what they are getting themselves into.

    --
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