Water-cooling. It works. Got a Corsair (self-contained) H70 solution with a pair of Delta fans keeping the FX-8150 cool. It works even against ambient temperatures...something fun to watch. Of course, until I find some way to get the motherboard and the fan controller to understand that running the fans at full tilt will eventually leave me deaf, I'm leaving it on manual bypass, and thus at a fraction of its maximum speed.
Because Opterons are not a network admins wet dream for a VM cluster. And the FX series certainly isn't popular...hell, they don't ship with the kind of extensions and overclock capacity that Intel charges you triple for...oh, wait, that's what we're discussing here. And the A series isn't popular either.
Face it, Intel's Marketing division is looked upon with envy by every other marketing division on the planet; they've managed to simplify an a complex issue like technology into a slogan "The right decision is Intel." It helps that careful management of biases, anti-competitive measures, and so on help foster this image -> some code performs better on Intel CPUs, some code will only run on Intel CPUs, some code performs better on AMD CPUs, some code will only run on AMD CPUs; factor in that OEMs typically sell AMD machines for less than Intel machines, and people think that something must be wrong with AMD chips (must be the in house VAL-U brand) to be priced so low...so they demand the Intel (premium in their minds) chips, because they're a "premium" (demanding the best of life, etc.) kind of person.
Hmm. The bottleneck for games has been video cards, i.e. GPUs, for quite some time. Unless you're playing some old DOS games, that is. And AMD, which has ATI, and thus discrete technology here, tends to do pretty well, if you are willing to pay for it (same for Nvidia).
Pretty much. You're facing off against people who can redefine the word treason to mean whatever they want, and have that troop of yes-men known as the citizenry nodding their heads as any charge is read off.
As with all things, assume that your communications are going to be monitored, whether electronic or not. I know, I know, it's not the answer you want; but the truth is...we put innocent people to death. If we are willing to do that, and not tear down our societies in an act of grief over the loss of a single innocent life, looking deeply within and without as to how or why we allowed this to happen, and how we can prevent it from ever happening again, then caring about protecting your privacy from the monsters waiting outside your door is the wrong approach. You're fighting Evil himself, and he aims to win by any means; if putting a gun to the head of one your children's heads to get you to decrypt your hard drive is what it takes, then he will do it, no hesitation.
Working there of their own free will, so that they can gain experience, so that they can get a leg up when it comes time for applying for an Entry-level / Junior job, which they will not get, since it's more cost-effective to use free interns than what is now an 'expensive' employee.
See, a typical company has numerous regular employees, and takes on a handful of interns during the summer / other times. These positions used to be paid; they weren't paid well, compared to when the person actually graduated, but then, they weren't being paid much, and interns were closer to observer status than the backbone of the company. The only organizations who really ran with the unpaid internships were the peace / welfare / non-profit types, who would argue that they couldn't afford it, etc., etc., and people let them go with that because of morality.
Anyway, between the dotcom crash, the housing market crash, and so on, the market is getting so bad, that the business types, who occasionally need a reminder from their fore-bearers why certain lines are not crossed, decided to cross another line. "The market is bad, so all internships will now be unpaid" -> every-time the market takes a dip, a business type will try and cut something; it's almost like a play, and shows that their business is not being run well enough to weather the darker times. Anyway, like all bad ideas, it catches on; soon college students are spending their parent's money to drive to and from unpaid internships, on the gamble that it will all work out in the long run if they put the effort in. Between the rising cost of gas, rising cost of tuition, and senior-level positions being marketed as entry-level positions, they're rolling in debt, and the entire edifice is collapsing on itself.
But the real problem? The real problem, from a business perspective, is this. Suppose I have a company with 12 regular employees, and I pick up 3 paid interns. My rival has a company with 3 regular employees, and 12 unpaid interns. From a strictly fiscal aspect, he's probably going to be more cost-effective than I am. So I downsize all but 3 of my regular employees, and bring on 24 unpaid interns. He responds by firing all but one of his regular employees, and bringing on 36 unpaid interns. He's probably still winning, from a cost effective standpoint...but chances are, neither of our companies are producing much, the quality is going to be very variable, and the market is looking in horror at what has been created -> an incredibly unstable company, where the employees have little reason to be there, can leave in a heartbeat, and so on. The unpaid internship, like email spam and the old registrar's policy of 'trying a domain name for a month before paying for it,' has been abused; any company that cannot afford to pay for an internship (which rarely exceeds, what, the teens in terms of renumeration per hour?) is probably on shaky ground to begin with.
Hmm, I think they're waiting for the next major shift in technology to happen, which is still be developed (got some of the parts, need some of the others). That's optical processing, and every once in a while, a new piece is found. I think Intel has done some work on it, and I know some others have looked into it, but right now, everyone is kind of twiddling their thumbs while the research & development people slowly figure it out.
The Electrical Engineers want it if only because it would make motherboard traces less painful than they currently are, and allow them to really start making use of space. All traces going to and from certain components need to be of the same length, yay!
If I remember correctly, Intel was saved by Intel Israel after Intel went down the NetBurst route with no way out.
AMD needs to get the DEC people back. And the CEO who allowed them to go missing needs to be executed. The current architecture, Bulldozer / Piledriver / whatever is a partially completed DEC design...which is where the problems are seeping in, it's only partially finished. AMD needs them back anyway, whether it keeps with the current architecture, or moves to something different, they're the only people with the expertise who can make AMD competitive again; and I mean that...they're DEC engineers...they aren't even being 'made' anymore, and it would take decades to create new ones with that kind of expertise.
As for getting away from x86...this albatross is here to stay. It's far too entrenched in the business world, and if you have ever tried to convince a business that rewriting a decades old 'critical' app in VB & Access would be a step in the right direction, then you'll know what I mean; people are cheap, and won't move until the old machines / programs are dead with zero chance of resuscitation.
Having never been allowed to take full control of their own lives, they, of course, in time, regress to an infantile childlike state. Such is the price of choosing security over freedom -> an enslaved mind is a child's mind, incomplete; a free mind is an adult's mind.
Many humans will never attain an adult's mind. Even among the rich and powerful, the web of societal conditioning that ties and binds prevents the full emergence of such a mind.
Go, live for seven years in the wilderness; do not make contact with anyone human. If you survive, your mind will have developed.
So much effort to keep one species on one planet. Hahahahahahahahahaha.
I find that highly suspicious. Armed guards who are always one step ahead of the prisoners? Technological genius seemingly raining from the sky if only to impede the progress of the only sentient species on the planet with the will to expand beyond it? A flame of malevolence that never seems to be extinguished, no matter how hard either side tries to finish the other off? My friends, we are being played, from without, or possibly, within. The details matter little, save locating the source.
Surely you've noted the recurring error here, the inexplicable 'it' that cannot be accounted for, yet still is. There's a problem, represented in the calculations, that continuously reappears, but is mentally side-stepped. A little something something which says "pay no attention to this."
Well the simple answer is to de-elect both parties. Up until now, many Americans have scoffed at the idea of voting for a third party, or for not voting for a party at all, but for a person. Much of this, I suspect, is laziness, fear, and loyalty -> they want a button, on the voting machine, that says "The Correct Guy / Gal," but want to do zero research into whether or not it is, in fact, the correct guy / gal. Then there's the perennial fear that if they don't vote for the compromise, the other guy / gal will get in, which will mean the end of the world as we know it. And then there's the loyalty aspect -> "All my friends are voting R or D, so I am going to vote R or D." The wonders of socialization.
As for the moral ambiguity / guilt individuals feel about "letting down the nation by not compromising their beliefs" -> a five minute course with a philosophy major should fix that. It starts with this "Would you compromise your beliefs, your ideals?" The answer is yes, from most people. A person wants a Green party candidate, but chooses a Democrat, because they are swayed by the need to sacrifice their ideals for the greater good. Enough people do this so the Green party never rises in prominence, with every election resulting in Democrats being elected, when an outstanding amount of support had been with Greens up until that moment. Because the Green party never rises in prominence, it is never seen as a viable alternative to the Democrat party...so the sacrifices never end. Every election, the ideals of so many are offered up, out of fear, out of loyalty, out of compliance. This is why things fail to change, in a big way...the only changes you really see are as a result of decay or corruption, as people are so wedded / welded to their ways, it's only when a neighborhood slides into the sea that popular fervor rises enough to do something about it....when the plans to prevent it were on the books for ages, the budget repeatedly voted upon and amended, and the implementation given out to three different departments, which then subcontracted it to someone else.
It would be a model for perpetual stability if the universe allowed for such things, but sadly, it is instead a very slow decline.
Shhhhhhhhhhhh. The intelligent thing for him to have done is use several relays, with them terminating in Hong Kong for his broadcast.
If he's smart, he'll be in a part of the world where neither satellite nor extraction team can get to him. In other words, choose some place thousands of miles away from everyone else, with an overhead canopy. Would make finding him a bitch and a half.
The government hates encryption because it despises the idea that it isn't in control of everything. 'Tis the singular life goal of every government -> to expand and destroy all competition, act with all subterfuge until it completely controls everything within its visible domain. Duh.
It's a simple life-form, with a predetermed mindset, that follows a path laid out for it much like every one of its predecessors. It has all the complexity of an amoeba (a single-celled organism), engulfing everything in its path, and so on.
The current set of scandals? Predictable, sadly so. What this government is planning for later? Already written down in some text book somewhere. But no, we're going to continue as we always have, because hubris demands it.
Frankly I tire of this play, but it's the only thing that anyone wants to watch.
Chicken and Egg, Bob. If I have a bunch of devices held back only by a few switches that can easily be replaced, the switches, when they drop a little in price, are getting replaced.
It's totally different when I need to rip out every single component, down to the wiring in the walls, to upgrade the network.
Oh for crying out loud. Where do you people get off with this kind of thinking? How are you even allowed in technology fields with a mind like that?
It's not needed...technology is about advancing because it's WANTED. It's not run by committee, and it's not run by determination of some group need, because if it were, we'd still be living in caves and worshiping rocks, because fire isn't needed by anyone.
And the reason, reading between the lines, for it taking so long to be adopted, is because everyone has become cheapskates when it comes to technology. The idea of a separate NIC to handle network traffic is a lost cause, as is a dedicated sound card, and now video card. Why? Because you're trying to justify to a group of people who refuse to educate themselves why it would be in their own best interest to pay a little more.
I applaud the people behind 10GB E, and hope they have enough resources / energy to bang out 100GB E. This is progress we can measure, easily, and it should be rewarded.
Ah, but a lot of people seem to think that Roman life is the highlight of civilization. They cannot dream of any city better than that of Rome, and pine for lives they never lived.
Hmm. Give in to fear, or quietly remove those behind this debacle. Wonder which I would choose...
Let's see here. We have at least three scandals, possibly five, in so many weeks, with the US government. We have a President who, despite formerly being an avowed civil rights defender and constitutional lawyer, is acting completely contrary to character, and, for all intents and purposes, is showing what is probably the truth of these matters: he has no power, he's the mouthpiece, and he's the one being ruled. That's putting things in a kind light.
So, who is pulling the strings? We have carte blanche for the intelligence types...I haven't heard or seen a single "No" to them in what feels like ages. We have the Pentagon which appears to want a showdown with China...which we cannot afford (i.e. a Pyrrhic victory...we might 'win' against them, but we'd be relegated to second class status for centuries afterwards).
Now, I am the first to think that a nuclear strike, or death by meteor storm, or just slicing the Earth clean in half would end all of these problems...these options do present themselves on a first name basis when I ponder these situations. However, since we're all trying to get along, no matter how some people seem to test the patience of others, let's try the useless, borderline 'never works' options, if only to say we did. If there is a cancer eating this government, let's find it and remove it, before breaking out the more favorable armaments.
Perhaps the NSA did, perhaps it did not. That it has made its moves known in such a public manner, or rather allowed them to be made known, signals only one thing: they believe they have nothing to fear whether their actions are right or wrong. It's essentially the highest contempt possible for the common man, the equivalent of a king wandering into a peasant's house, and raping his wife as he watches, because the king knows the peasant won't do a thing about it. It's the NSA saying "We've won!"
"For example, I've never been arrested. But the government knows I'm not a stinking law abider because, basically, none of the people I'm in regular contact with are god damn law abiders." -> On the day when they decide that their power is secure, and move in unison to remove those they have long relished to silence, it will not matter whether you abided by any law or not. Ask the Jews whether it mattered when they came for them. Ask anyone else included in that group of unfortunates (Christians, homosexuals, the mentally enfeebled, etc.). Even 'faithful' Germans, of unquestionable blood, were, no doubt, found and executed / imprisoned.
Shhh. You're responding to NPCs...people who would praise the wonders of slavery when clad in irons, and speak of the wonders of 'master.' They're already lost.
Hmm. 'Tis the sign of a mental illness -> the need to control everything around you, no matter the cost. They should probably get that looked at, before it gets the better of them.
Amazing, isn't it? No matter what new system humanity dreams up, what ideals it attests to embrace...it all ultimately degenerates into a single form: that of the master / slave relationship. It's almost like it's a universal constant.
Slashdot Mirror
Check that, FX-8350. Upgraded a while back.
The good news is...I'm ready for AMD's next chip...I think.
Water-cooling. It works. Got a Corsair (self-contained) H70 solution with a pair of Delta fans keeping the FX-8150 cool. It works even against ambient temperatures...something fun to watch. Of course, until I find some way to get the motherboard and the fan controller to understand that running the fans at full tilt will eventually leave me deaf, I'm leaving it on manual bypass, and thus at a fraction of its maximum speed.
Because Opterons are not a network admins wet dream for a VM cluster. And the FX series certainly isn't popular...hell, they don't ship with the kind of extensions and overclock capacity that Intel charges you triple for...oh, wait, that's what we're discussing here. And the A series isn't popular either.
Face it, Intel's Marketing division is looked upon with envy by every other marketing division on the planet; they've managed to simplify an a complex issue like technology into a slogan "The right decision is Intel." It helps that careful management of biases, anti-competitive measures, and so on help foster this image -> some code performs better on Intel CPUs, some code will only run on Intel CPUs, some code performs better on AMD CPUs, some code will only run on AMD CPUs; factor in that OEMs typically sell AMD machines for less than Intel machines, and people think that something must be wrong with AMD chips (must be the in house VAL-U brand) to be priced so low...so they demand the Intel (premium in their minds) chips, because they're a "premium" (demanding the best of life, etc.) kind of person.
Hmm. The bottleneck for games has been video cards, i.e. GPUs, for quite some time. Unless you're playing some old DOS games, that is. And AMD, which has ATI, and thus discrete technology here, tends to do pretty well, if you are willing to pay for it (same for Nvidia).
Pretty much. You're facing off against people who can redefine the word treason to mean whatever they want, and have that troop of yes-men known as the citizenry nodding their heads as any charge is read off.
As with all things, assume that your communications are going to be monitored, whether electronic or not. I know, I know, it's not the answer you want; but the truth is...we put innocent people to death. If we are willing to do that, and not tear down our societies in an act of grief over the loss of a single innocent life, looking deeply within and without as to how or why we allowed this to happen, and how we can prevent it from ever happening again, then caring about protecting your privacy from the monsters waiting outside your door is the wrong approach. You're fighting Evil himself, and he aims to win by any means; if putting a gun to the head of one your children's heads to get you to decrypt your hard drive is what it takes, then he will do it, no hesitation.
Working there of their own free will, so that they can gain experience, so that they can get a leg up when it comes time for applying for an Entry-level / Junior job, which they will not get, since it's more cost-effective to use free interns than what is now an 'expensive' employee.
See, a typical company has numerous regular employees, and takes on a handful of interns during the summer / other times. These positions used to be paid; they weren't paid well, compared to when the person actually graduated, but then, they weren't being paid much, and interns were closer to observer status than the backbone of the company. The only organizations who really ran with the unpaid internships were the peace / welfare / non-profit types, who would argue that they couldn't afford it, etc., etc., and people let them go with that because of morality.
Anyway, between the dotcom crash, the housing market crash, and so on, the market is getting so bad, that the business types, who occasionally need a reminder from their fore-bearers why certain lines are not crossed, decided to cross another line. "The market is bad, so all internships will now be unpaid" -> every-time the market takes a dip, a business type will try and cut something; it's almost like a play, and shows that their business is not being run well enough to weather the darker times. Anyway, like all bad ideas, it catches on; soon college students are spending their parent's money to drive to and from unpaid internships, on the gamble that it will all work out in the long run if they put the effort in. Between the rising cost of gas, rising cost of tuition, and senior-level positions being marketed as entry-level positions, they're rolling in debt, and the entire edifice is collapsing on itself.
But the real problem? The real problem, from a business perspective, is this. Suppose I have a company with 12 regular employees, and I pick up 3 paid interns. My rival has a company with 3 regular employees, and 12 unpaid interns. From a strictly fiscal aspect, he's probably going to be more cost-effective than I am. So I downsize all but 3 of my regular employees, and bring on 24 unpaid interns. He responds by firing all but one of his regular employees, and bringing on 36 unpaid interns. He's probably still winning, from a cost effective standpoint...but chances are, neither of our companies are producing much, the quality is going to be very variable, and the market is looking in horror at what has been created -> an incredibly unstable company, where the employees have little reason to be there, can leave in a heartbeat, and so on. The unpaid internship, like email spam and the old registrar's policy of 'trying a domain name for a month before paying for it,' has been abused; any company that cannot afford to pay for an internship (which rarely exceeds, what, the teens in terms of renumeration per hour?) is probably on shaky ground to begin with.
Hmm, I think they're waiting for the next major shift in technology to happen, which is still be developed (got some of the parts, need some of the others). That's optical processing, and every once in a while, a new piece is found. I think Intel has done some work on it, and I know some others have looked into it, but right now, everyone is kind of twiddling their thumbs while the research & development people slowly figure it out.
The Electrical Engineers want it if only because it would make motherboard traces less painful than they currently are, and allow them to really start making use of space. All traces going to and from certain components need to be of the same length, yay!
If I remember correctly, Intel was saved by Intel Israel after Intel went down the NetBurst route with no way out.
AMD needs to get the DEC people back. And the CEO who allowed them to go missing needs to be executed. The current architecture, Bulldozer / Piledriver / whatever is a partially completed DEC design...which is where the problems are seeping in, it's only partially finished. AMD needs them back anyway, whether it keeps with the current architecture, or moves to something different, they're the only people with the expertise who can make AMD competitive again; and I mean that...they're DEC engineers...they aren't even being 'made' anymore, and it would take decades to create new ones with that kind of expertise.
As for getting away from x86...this albatross is here to stay. It's far too entrenched in the business world, and if you have ever tried to convince a business that rewriting a decades old 'critical' app in VB & Access would be a step in the right direction, then you'll know what I mean; people are cheap, and won't move until the old machines / programs are dead with zero chance of resuscitation.
Having never been allowed to take full control of their own lives, they, of course, in time, regress to an infantile childlike state. Such is the price of choosing security over freedom -> an enslaved mind is a child's mind, incomplete; a free mind is an adult's mind.
Many humans will never attain an adult's mind. Even among the rich and powerful, the web of societal conditioning that ties and binds prevents the full emergence of such a mind.
Go, live for seven years in the wilderness; do not make contact with anyone human. If you survive, your mind will have developed.
So much effort to keep one species on one planet. Hahahahahahahahahaha.
I find that highly suspicious. Armed guards who are always one step ahead of the prisoners? Technological genius seemingly raining from the sky if only to impede the progress of the only sentient species on the planet with the will to expand beyond it? A flame of malevolence that never seems to be extinguished, no matter how hard either side tries to finish the other off? My friends, we are being played, from without, or possibly, within. The details matter little, save locating the source.
Surely you've noted the recurring error here, the inexplicable 'it' that cannot be accounted for, yet still is. There's a problem, represented in the calculations, that continuously reappears, but is mentally side-stepped. A little something something which says "pay no attention to this."
Well the simple answer is to de-elect both parties. Up until now, many Americans have scoffed at the idea of voting for a third party, or for not voting for a party at all, but for a person. Much of this, I suspect, is laziness, fear, and loyalty -> they want a button, on the voting machine, that says "The Correct Guy / Gal," but want to do zero research into whether or not it is, in fact, the correct guy / gal. Then there's the perennial fear that if they don't vote for the compromise, the other guy / gal will get in, which will mean the end of the world as we know it. And then there's the loyalty aspect -> "All my friends are voting R or D, so I am going to vote R or D." The wonders of socialization.
As for the moral ambiguity / guilt individuals feel about "letting down the nation by not compromising their beliefs" -> a five minute course with a philosophy major should fix that. It starts with this "Would you compromise your beliefs, your ideals?" The answer is yes, from most people. A person wants a Green party candidate, but chooses a Democrat, because they are swayed by the need to sacrifice their ideals for the greater good. Enough people do this so the Green party never rises in prominence, with every election resulting in Democrats being elected, when an outstanding amount of support had been with Greens up until that moment. Because the Green party never rises in prominence, it is never seen as a viable alternative to the Democrat party...so the sacrifices never end. Every election, the ideals of so many are offered up, out of fear, out of loyalty, out of compliance. This is why things fail to change, in a big way...the only changes you really see are as a result of decay or corruption, as people are so wedded / welded to their ways, it's only when a neighborhood slides into the sea that popular fervor rises enough to do something about it....when the plans to prevent it were on the books for ages, the budget repeatedly voted upon and amended, and the implementation given out to three different departments, which then subcontracted it to someone else.
It would be a model for perpetual stability if the universe allowed for such things, but sadly, it is instead a very slow decline.
Shhhhhhhhhhhh. The intelligent thing for him to have done is use several relays, with them terminating in Hong Kong for his broadcast.
If he's smart, he'll be in a part of the world where neither satellite nor extraction team can get to him. In other words, choose some place thousands of miles away from everyone else, with an overhead canopy. Would make finding him a bitch and a half.
The government hates encryption because it despises the idea that it isn't in control of everything. 'Tis the singular life goal of every government -> to expand and destroy all competition, act with all subterfuge until it completely controls everything within its visible domain. Duh.
It's a simple life-form, with a predetermed mindset, that follows a path laid out for it much like every one of its predecessors. It has all the complexity of an amoeba (a single-celled organism), engulfing everything in its path, and so on.
The current set of scandals? Predictable, sadly so. What this government is planning for later? Already written down in some text book somewhere. But no, we're going to continue as we always have, because hubris demands it.
Frankly I tire of this play, but it's the only thing that anyone wants to watch.
Check for strange processes?
So...what you're saying, is that this government is effectively an anti-US government?
Chicken and Egg, Bob. If I have a bunch of devices held back only by a few switches that can easily be replaced, the switches, when they drop a little in price, are getting replaced.
It's totally different when I need to rip out every single component, down to the wiring in the walls, to upgrade the network.
Oh for crying out loud. Where do you people get off with this kind of thinking? How are you even allowed in technology fields with a mind like that?
It's not needed...technology is about advancing because it's WANTED. It's not run by committee, and it's not run by determination of some group need, because if it were, we'd still be living in caves and worshiping rocks, because fire isn't needed by anyone.
And the reason, reading between the lines, for it taking so long to be adopted, is because everyone has become cheapskates when it comes to technology. The idea of a separate NIC to handle network traffic is a lost cause, as is a dedicated sound card, and now video card. Why? Because you're trying to justify to a group of people who refuse to educate themselves why it would be in their own best interest to pay a little more.
I applaud the people behind 10GB E, and hope they have enough resources / energy to bang out 100GB E. This is progress we can measure, easily, and it should be rewarded.
Ah, but a lot of people seem to think that Roman life is the highlight of civilization. They cannot dream of any city better than that of Rome, and pine for lives they never lived.
Hmm. Give in to fear, or quietly remove those behind this debacle. Wonder which I would choose...
Let's see here. We have at least three scandals, possibly five, in so many weeks, with the US government. We have a President who, despite formerly being an avowed civil rights defender and constitutional lawyer, is acting completely contrary to character, and, for all intents and purposes, is showing what is probably the truth of these matters: he has no power, he's the mouthpiece, and he's the one being ruled. That's putting things in a kind light.
So, who is pulling the strings? We have carte blanche for the intelligence types...I haven't heard or seen a single "No" to them in what feels like ages. We have the Pentagon which appears to want a showdown with China...which we cannot afford (i.e. a Pyrrhic victory...we might 'win' against them, but we'd be relegated to second class status for centuries afterwards).
Now, I am the first to think that a nuclear strike, or death by meteor storm, or just slicing the Earth clean in half would end all of these problems...these options do present themselves on a first name basis when I ponder these situations. However, since we're all trying to get along, no matter how some people seem to test the patience of others, let's try the useless, borderline 'never works' options, if only to say we did. If there is a cancer eating this government, let's find it and remove it, before breaking out the more favorable armaments.
Perhaps the NSA did, perhaps it did not. That it has made its moves known in such a public manner, or rather allowed them to be made known, signals only one thing: they believe they have nothing to fear whether their actions are right or wrong. It's essentially the highest contempt possible for the common man, the equivalent of a king wandering into a peasant's house, and raping his wife as he watches, because the king knows the peasant won't do a thing about it. It's the NSA saying "We've won!"
"For example, I've never been arrested. But the government knows I'm not a stinking law abider because, basically, none of the people I'm in regular contact with are god damn law abiders." -> On the day when they decide that their power is secure, and move in unison to remove those they have long relished to silence, it will not matter whether you abided by any law or not. Ask the Jews whether it mattered when they came for them. Ask anyone else included in that group of unfortunates (Christians, homosexuals, the mentally enfeebled, etc.). Even 'faithful' Germans, of unquestionable blood, were, no doubt, found and executed / imprisoned.
Shhh. You're responding to NPCs...people who would praise the wonders of slavery when clad in irons, and speak of the wonders of 'master.' They're already lost.
Hmm. 'Tis the sign of a mental illness -> the need to control everything around you, no matter the cost. They should probably get that looked at, before it gets the better of them.
Amazing, isn't it? No matter what new system humanity dreams up, what ideals it attests to embrace...it all ultimately degenerates into a single form: that of the master / slave relationship. It's almost like it's a universal constant.
Any particular reason they are choosing to do this?