Aside from Assange's accusations and the posturing of random congressmen, what evidence is there are the US is behind the attempt to extradite Assange to Sweden? If the US wanted to go after him, having him in the UK would be much more advantageous, seeing how they have a close legal relationship with the UK.
Your logic seems a bit circular to me. "The voters are morons because they keep electing the same people over and over again. They keep electing the same people over and over again because they're morons."
The most meaningful way that we as individuals can voice our opinions in this society (short of owning a multimedia empire. Hi, Rupert.) is through our vote. You've recognized this, and take it to mean that because people keep voting for the two existing parties that they are stupid. I take it to mean that they recognize they only have two choices and are trying to make their voices heard with the few options they have available.
If you want an example of this in action, look at the Tea Party. Regardless of how you feel about them (I happen to disagree with them on just about everything), they're a group that is certainly going outside the political orthodoxy. However, they've recognized that the only way to impact politics on a meaningful level is to join the existing two party system. If we had a system that provided representation based on support rather than geography, they would certainly be their own party. With the current political structure, voters who don't like their party's platform have to try to change it from within rather than abandoning the party entirely to side with people who better support their interests. And you, rather than looking at this and saying "Maybe our system needs restructuring" say "They're all sheep".
And how convenient for you. It lets you keep your conviction that you don't need to do anything but complain about the way things are. If nothing changes, it's everyone else's fault. You do have a problem with apathy, just not in the way you meant it.
You're mixing up two different cases. The DEA is in the United States, the "we noticed you're using too much electricity, mind letting us have a look?" case is in Canada.
WRT the federal agencies, my point was that saying that there's no point questioning the actions of the police until they cross the line into blatant tyranny is a dangerous position to take. As to federal agencies not counting for abuses of police power, there we disagree. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and arrests people like a duck, I'm going to call it a duck. Pointing out systemic abuses in local agencies is more difficult because each state (and even each municipality) have different laws. But if you want to go down that road, the new Arizona-style immigration laws springing up across the nation are certainly worrisome, especially if the don't get slapped down by the federal courts.
If this ever does become a full-on police state, I'll be one of the first to grab my rifle, fill up some molotovs, and start taking back our rights. But until then, let's be reasonable - on both sides.
In regards to this specific case, how is en masse monitoring of everyone's electricity consumption not an abuse of power? We're not talking about a cop seeing something suspicious from the road and using that as probable cause for a search. We're talking about monitoring the records of everyone with no probable cause or warrant and then using that as the basis for a search. Granted, Canada is not subject to the same laws as the United States, but this seems pretty damn abusive no matter where you are.
You joke, but curing deafness with cochlear implants can ruin the lives of patients if they have the surgery as adults.
I can't find a link, but I remember a story I head on NPR years ago about a man who got the implant and had to not only learn how to understand spoken English, but also learn how to tune out all the environmental sounds that he had never experienced before. The latter is something those of us with hearing probably take for granted, but it was making it impossible for him to concentrate on work. An air conditioning unit running in the background was impossible to tune out.
GP is right, the success of these implants is very much tied to the amount of time between loss of sight/hearing and the surgery.
It's an issue with current Verizon phones, I believe the explanation was that they use the same radio for voice/data. I think the new LTE phones are going to be able to do both simultaneously.
Two points. 1: Valve does DLC properly. Instead of using day one DLC and charging for things that should have been free, they charge for cosmetic things (yes, you can buy weapons in TF2, but you can unlock those through playing as well). Sure the hat thing is silly, but it's let Valve finally get a return for all the free content they've produced for TF2 (4 years worth).
2: Railworks is a sim game for hardcore train fans. It's a niche product, so it's no wonder the DLC costs quite a bit. The developers are going after a very limited number of sales. And it certainly isn't "an entertainment product with parts loped off and sold along side it". If you paid any attention to the New Releases section of Steam, you would have noticed that the DLC in question has been released over a period of years.
If you want to take issue with DLC, go ahead, but at least aim your ire at people who deserve it.
Why are you so sure that it's the American Corporate ruling class that's making money off the wars? Halliburton et al. have made a mint, unquestionably, but foreign firms (some of which are Iraqi/Afghani, some of which are not) have been getting tons of money as well, not to mention the money that has just "disappeared". Allison Stanger's new book does a good job talking about the contractor culture we have now. The wars would have cost a ton even if the US military had been doing it themselves, but instead they've contracted out massive amounts of work to avoid having to start a draft. But the bottom line is that even if some people are profiting, the country is taking a massive loss.
It's really only an issue for the Kindle folks right now. Other readers (Nook, Kobo, ect) can use EPUB files, available from many different sources. If Amazon starts driving smaller stores out of business or the other stores start censoring as well, then it might be cause for concern. As it is, you can still find Yaoi from Barnes and Noble:
The University of Cincinnati has recently dumped it's Computer Science undergrad program (to balance its budget since Governor John Kasich slashed education funding). The administration says the current students will still be able to graduate, but the program is being reevaluated for accreditation next year. That probably won't go so well if they're in the process of shuttering it.
The TSA has never caught anyone trying to smuggle explosives onto a plane. All such attempts have been foiled by passengers. Patting down the kid does as much as patting down the rest of us (i.e. fuck all).
From TFA: "For the past few days, a mystery has been unfolding in Silicon Valley. Somebody, it seems, hired Burson-Marsteller, a top public-relations firm, to pitch anti-Google stories to newspapers, urging them to investigate claims that Google was invading people’s privacy"
Not only that, but BM also hired Eric Schmidt's ex mistress/fiancée, presumably connected with their ongoing anti-Google efforts. And they were behind the National Smokers Alliance campaign back in the mid '90s. Plus, if this post is to be believed, they were also involved with a number of other very dubious organizations (I didn't have time to run them all down, but the ones I did check into seem true).
The whole "Facebook and Google are having a spat" thing isn't really news, but I find it interesting how such a scummy company can be considered "one of the top international PR firms out there". Also, I regret that I didn't find this Slate article until after typing this post. It backs up the list of clients in the forum post above (but in case you don't want to follow either link: the Argentine junta, the Nigerian junta, Union Carbide, Blackwater, and Nicolae Ceausescu are among the undeniably bad/evil ones).
How do you define "membership in Anonymous"? Where can I apply to get my member card?
Anonymous is a community. Participation in that community amounts to membership. Stop being obtuse.
What are those "Anonymous' activities" that are consistently on hacktivism side?
The afore mentioned HBGary hack is one. The DDOS attacks against perceived enemies of Wikileaks are another. I could go on. Note that I did mention that Anonymous' actions are crimes. I don't condone the methods or actions of Anonymous; I was just rejecting the original Parent's argument that Anonymous is so amorphous that it is "impossible to define" as he or she put it.
Do you equate some AnonOps or 4chan or whatever else with Anonymous and "Anonymous' activities"?
I've seen anonymous willingly go raiding social nets and brute-force hacking accounts on dating sites, were those "Anonymous' activities", and were they on the "hacktivism" side of the computer crimes spectrum than the "for-profit crime" side?
There's a distinction between people who go to 4chan and members of Anonymous. There's even a distinction between AnonOps and Anonymous as a whole. But they are related. I still stand by my statement. There's no profit to be made from defacing someone's Facebook page or griefing an epilepsy forum. The Sony breach appears closer to something like the TJX hack than the previous actions of anyone even remotely involved with Anonymous.
You're just the other side of the coin with mass-media and all those "Anonymous!" and "hacktivist group!".
What the hell are you talking about? I'm going to assume you're saying I'm a mindless apologist for Anonymous, but you're unclear. Next time don't just quote my words back to me with added question marks, actually articulate a point.
If that is what you mean, I disagree. Both they and I value free speech and freedom of information, but there we part ways. My post was not meant as a defense of the organization, but rather an assertion that they are in fact a real entity that can be observed and evaluated. The original post seemed to argue that Anonymous is just a concept, which I disagree with. My use of the word "hacktivist" doesn't carry any endorsement; it's a description of their methods rather than a judgement of their morals.
Anyone can claim to be a member of Anonymous, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are. Even though Anonymous doesn't have a defined leader, that doesn't mean that it doesn't have specific membership. If someone is not in contact with the preexisting members of Anonymous and claims to be acting on their behalf, then the person claiming to be Anon is just appropriating the name.
That is a different situation than if an existing member does something that runs contrary to the will of the group. That seems to be what is happening with the current AnonOps situation. If I had to guess at which category the Sony breach falls into, I'd guess the first. Anonymous' activities are consistently more on the "hacktivism" side of the computer crimes spectrum than the "for-profit crime" side. If Anon had been the ones to break into Sony (even if it was a subfaction of the larger group), I'm sure we would have seen PSN user lists and/or credit card numbers (maybe sanitized, maybe not) released. They were very vocal about their actions when they went after HBGary and they promptly released the data they acquired. The Sony breach far more closely matches the Eastern European or Chinese organized crime MO than the Anonymous MO.
You watch to watch Firefly? The boxed sets are $15 used on amazon.
It's also available to stream on Netflix. So are Babylon 5, the various Stargate series, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Farscape, and Battlestar Galactica (and probably a few others I missed).
this blows. we should all go out and kill anyone who claims to be anonymous, this is freaking stupid go away you dam hackers
This was the only post that mentioned Anonymous in the first 50 comments. Looks like Sony's users are starting to blame them for the breach and the downtime.
It provides ability to view screenshots and take webcam shots but it is only used when a computer is reported stolen and we have a copy of a police report than we utilize it.
Slashdot Mirror
Aside from Assange's accusations and the posturing of random congressmen, what evidence is there are the US is behind the attempt to extradite Assange to Sweden? If the US wanted to go after him, having him in the UK would be much more advantageous, seeing how they have a close legal relationship with the UK.
Your logic seems a bit circular to me. "The voters are morons because they keep electing the same people over and over again. They keep electing the same people over and over again because they're morons."
The most meaningful way that we as individuals can voice our opinions in this society (short of owning a multimedia empire. Hi, Rupert.) is through our vote. You've recognized this, and take it to mean that because people keep voting for the two existing parties that they are stupid. I take it to mean that they recognize they only have two choices and are trying to make their voices heard with the few options they have available.
If you want an example of this in action, look at the Tea Party. Regardless of how you feel about them (I happen to disagree with them on just about everything), they're a group that is certainly going outside the political orthodoxy. However, they've recognized that the only way to impact politics on a meaningful level is to join the existing two party system. If we had a system that provided representation based on support rather than geography, they would certainly be their own party. With the current political structure, voters who don't like their party's platform have to try to change it from within rather than abandoning the party entirely to side with people who better support their interests. And you, rather than looking at this and saying "Maybe our system needs restructuring" say "They're all sheep".
And how convenient for you. It lets you keep your conviction that you don't need to do anything but complain about the way things are. If nothing changes, it's everyone else's fault. You do have a problem with apathy, just not in the way you meant it.
You're mixing up two different cases. The DEA is in the United States, the "we noticed you're using too much electricity, mind letting us have a look?" case is in Canada.
WRT the federal agencies, my point was that saying that there's no point questioning the actions of the police until they cross the line into blatant tyranny is a dangerous position to take. As to federal agencies not counting for abuses of police power, there we disagree. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and arrests people like a duck, I'm going to call it a duck. Pointing out systemic abuses in local agencies is more difficult because each state (and even each municipality) have different laws. But if you want to go down that road, the new Arizona-style immigration laws springing up across the nation are certainly worrisome, especially if the don't get slapped down by the federal courts.
If this ever does become a full-on police state, I'll be one of the first to grab my rifle, fill up some molotovs, and start taking back our rights. But until then, let's be reasonable - on both sides.
At what point do you cross that line? Suspension of habeas corpus for non-citizens? Detaining American citizens without charge? Detaining Muslim Americans as they try to legally enter America after going abroad? Spying on Americans without warrants? Using National Security Letters to avoid what little oversight still exists?
In regards to this specific case, how is en masse monitoring of everyone's electricity consumption not an abuse of power? We're not talking about a cop seeing something suspicious from the road and using that as probable cause for a search. We're talking about monitoring the records of everyone with no probable cause or warrant and then using that as the basis for a search. Granted, Canada is not subject to the same laws as the United States, but this seems pretty damn abusive no matter where you are.
You joke, but curing deafness with cochlear implants can ruin the lives of patients if they have the surgery as adults.
I can't find a link, but I remember a story I head on NPR years ago about a man who got the implant and had to not only learn how to understand spoken English, but also learn how to tune out all the environmental sounds that he had never experienced before. The latter is something those of us with hearing probably take for granted, but it was making it impossible for him to concentrate on work. An air conditioning unit running in the background was impossible to tune out.
GP is right, the success of these implants is very much tied to the amount of time between loss of sight/hearing and the surgery.
It's an issue with current Verizon phones, I believe the explanation was that they use the same radio for voice/data. I think the new LTE phones are going to be able to do both simultaneously.
- Fewer apps than iOS = Less choice = less freedom
Then Windows is logically the most free OS, right?
Are the console versions going to be getting the free coop levels that I remember hearing about? I know the Xbox won't, but not sure about the PS3.
I'd rather they charge for hats than for levels.
It's not just you, & comes out as " for me.
Two points. 1: Valve does DLC properly. Instead of using day one DLC and charging for things that should have been free, they charge for cosmetic things (yes, you can buy weapons in TF2, but you can unlock those through playing as well). Sure the hat thing is silly, but it's let Valve finally get a return for all the free content they've produced for TF2 (4 years worth).
2: Railworks is a sim game for hardcore train fans. It's a niche product, so it's no wonder the DLC costs quite a bit. The developers are going after a very limited number of sales. And it certainly isn't "an entertainment product with parts loped off and sold along side it". If you paid any attention to the New Releases section of Steam, you would have noticed that the DLC in question has been released over a period of years.
If you want to take issue with DLC, go ahead, but at least aim your ire at people who deserve it.
Why are you so sure that it's the American Corporate ruling class that's making money off the wars? Halliburton et al. have made a mint, unquestionably, but foreign firms (some of which are Iraqi/Afghani, some of which are not) have been getting tons of money as well, not to mention the money that has just "disappeared". Allison Stanger's new book does a good job talking about the contractor culture we have now. The wars would have cost a ton even if the US military had been doing it themselves, but instead they've contracted out massive amounts of work to avoid having to start a draft. But the bottom line is that even if some people are profiting, the country is taking a massive loss.
Yeah, why should the government use tax money to help its citizens? Obviously government's function is to piss it away blowing people up overseas.
hello? ha looow?
With the lights out, it's less dangerous?
Kindle can use those epub files as well. It just requires a simple, quick conversion
Then it can't use them, can it?
Does the average Kindle user know about format shifting? Do they care? It might be trivial for Slashdot users, but I doubt it's the same for everyone.
It's really only an issue for the Kindle folks right now. Other readers (Nook, Kobo, ect) can use EPUB files, available from many different sources. If Amazon starts driving smaller stores out of business or the other stores start censoring as well, then it might be cause for concern. As it is, you can still find Yaoi from Barnes and Noble:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/King-of-Debt/Sanae-Rokuya/e/2940012508836/?itm=1&USRI=king+of+debt
The University of Cincinnati has recently dumped it's Computer Science undergrad program (to balance its budget since Governor John Kasich slashed education funding). The administration says the current students will still be able to graduate, but the program is being reevaluated for accreditation next year. That probably won't go so well if they're in the process of shuttering it.
It's not a federal offense, but individual states can pass (and have) criminal defamation laws. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_defamation_law#Criminal_defamation Convictions are infrequent, but they do happen.
The TSA has never caught anyone trying to smuggle explosives onto a plane. All such attempts have been foiled by passengers. Patting down the kid does as much as patting down the rest of us (i.e. fuck all).
From TFA: "For the past few days, a mystery has been unfolding in Silicon Valley. Somebody, it seems, hired Burson-Marsteller, a top public-relations firm, to pitch anti-Google stories to newspapers, urging them to investigate claims that Google was invading people’s privacy"
Burson-Marsteller, Burson-Marsteller... Why does that name sound so familiar? Oh yeah. They were slinging anti-Google propaganda for ICOMP (Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace), which (scroll down to the very bottom) is a lobbying arm of Microsoft.
BM has claimed that the smear job for Facebook "was not at all standard operating procedure and is against our policies", but it seems to me that it's just business as usual for them. The last time they did this, pitching to business executives that time, they also didn't disclose who hired them ("Others suggested that by not disclosing who Burson-Marsteller was representing, the firm was breaking the spirit of political lobby firms' code of conduct.").
Not only that, but BM also hired Eric Schmidt's ex mistress/fiancée, presumably connected with their ongoing anti-Google efforts. And they were behind the National Smokers Alliance campaign back in the mid '90s. Plus, if this post is to be believed, they were also involved with a number of other very dubious organizations (I didn't have time to run them all down, but the ones I did check into seem true).
The whole "Facebook and Google are having a spat" thing isn't really news, but I find it interesting how such a scummy company can be considered "one of the top international PR firms out there". Also, I regret that I didn't find this Slate article until after typing this post. It backs up the list of clients in the forum post above (but in case you don't want to follow either link: the Argentine junta, the Nigerian junta, Union Carbide, Blackwater, and Nicolae Ceausescu are among the undeniably bad/evil ones).
How do you define "membership in Anonymous"? Where can I apply to get my member card?
Anonymous is a community. Participation in that community amounts to membership. Stop being obtuse.
What are those "Anonymous' activities" that are consistently on hacktivism side?
The afore mentioned HBGary hack is one. The DDOS attacks against perceived enemies of Wikileaks are another. I could go on. Note that I did mention that Anonymous' actions are crimes. I don't condone the methods or actions of Anonymous; I was just rejecting the original Parent's argument that Anonymous is so amorphous that it is "impossible to define" as he or she put it.
Do you equate some AnonOps or 4chan or whatever else with Anonymous and "Anonymous' activities"?
I've seen anonymous willingly go raiding social nets and brute-force hacking accounts on dating sites, were those "Anonymous' activities", and were they on the "hacktivism" side of the computer crimes spectrum than the "for-profit crime" side?
There's a distinction between people who go to 4chan and members of Anonymous. There's even a distinction between AnonOps and Anonymous as a whole. But they are related. I still stand by my statement. There's no profit to be made from defacing someone's Facebook page or griefing an epilepsy forum. The Sony breach appears closer to something like the TJX hack than the previous actions of anyone even remotely involved with Anonymous.
You're just the other side of the coin with mass-media and all those "Anonymous!" and "hacktivist group!".
What the hell are you talking about? I'm going to assume you're saying I'm a mindless apologist for Anonymous, but you're unclear. Next time don't just quote my words back to me with added question marks, actually articulate a point.
If that is what you mean, I disagree. Both they and I value free speech and freedom of information, but there we part ways. My post was not meant as a defense of the organization, but rather an assertion that they are in fact a real entity that can be observed and evaluated. The original post seemed to argue that Anonymous is just a concept, which I disagree with. My use of the word "hacktivist" doesn't carry any endorsement; it's a description of their methods rather than a judgement of their morals.
Anyone can claim to be a member of Anonymous, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are. Even though Anonymous doesn't have a defined leader, that doesn't mean that it doesn't have specific membership. If someone is not in contact with the preexisting members of Anonymous and claims to be acting on their behalf, then the person claiming to be Anon is just appropriating the name.
That is a different situation than if an existing member does something that runs contrary to the will of the group. That seems to be what is happening with the current AnonOps situation. If I had to guess at which category the Sony breach falls into, I'd guess the first. Anonymous' activities are consistently more on the "hacktivism" side of the computer crimes spectrum than the "for-profit crime" side. If Anon had been the ones to break into Sony (even if it was a subfaction of the larger group), I'm sure we would have seen PSN user lists and/or credit card numbers (maybe sanitized, maybe not) released. They were very vocal about their actions when they went after HBGary and they promptly released the data they acquired. The Sony breach far more closely matches the Eastern European or Chinese organized crime MO than the Anonymous MO.
You watch to watch Firefly? The boxed sets are $15 used on amazon.
It's also available to stream on Netflix. So are Babylon 5, the various Stargate series, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Farscape, and Battlestar Galactica (and probably a few others I missed).
How are you able to tell that from the "Blue sedan with plates 123-ABC"? That's generally all we get on the Artemis signs around here.
But regardless, the system is used for "real" disappearances as well. I've seen alerts for missing adults on several occasions.
this blows. we should all go out and kill anyone who claims to be anonymous, this is freaking stupid go away you dam hackers
This was the only post that mentioned Anonymous in the first 50 comments. Looks like Sony's users are starting to blame them for the breach and the downtime.
It provides ability to view screenshots and take webcam shots but it is only used when a computer is reported stolen and we have a copy of a police report than we utilize it.
Clearly that isn't the case.