I'm just so inexpressibly sick of the stupid Reductio ad Hitlerums (technically Reductio ad Terroristiums.)
Because *Insert Offending Group* uses *Insert Technology/Product/Thing*, it's bad and we need to get rid of it because it's bad and we don't like bad stuff.
That's essentially what both Barton's statements, and the whole "we should ban encryption that we can't break easily" arguments are.
Never mind that there are HUGE legal obstacles (and some nasty consequences) to such government overreach.
Never mind that end to end encryption makes users safer, even if the government IS lumped in with all the other bad guys.
It's incumbent on all of us to stand up to these assholes and say "no". And, every time they bring this idiocy up again, stand up and say "no" again.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Even (and especially) with regard to the lot unhanged knaves in our own government.
We are Anonymous! We will DDOS your servers! We are Anonymous! We will Dox you! PH33R U$!!! What? You'll shoot us, and others if we do this? *Weird Al* I WAS ONLY KIDDING!
Basically all this does is provide further incentive to build sub-spec networks and oversubscribe the fuck out of them so that companies can eake every last cent out of the customer that's possible to get, while providing shit service.
Never mind that the "heavyweight" API was anything but. And that most of the current themes were tiny and totally BURIED under about 400+ legacy themes for modern gems such as Firefox 2.0 and Firefox 3.6... They removed it because it wasn't in heavy, regular use. It wasn't in heavy, regular use because Mozilla is total ass at project management. And worse, they're doing it BEFORE even having some sort of viable replacement even in the planning stages, let alone implemented. Pretty much guaranteeing such a feature will remain an ill-documented, ill-maintained backwater.
And if you think chasing a feature-free toy like Chrome is the epitome of "making a good browser", you may as well be using Chrome. Since you're not actually using or doing anything that makes Mozilla worthwhile.
"Sorry, the decision about this has already been made."
Not to mention that a new architecture for this can't be done yet because the new plugin setup isn't ready yet. And anything else they do will be deprecated the second they kill XUL and the old plugin setup. Translation: Wasted time and effort.
Basically this has been a pattern at Mozilla for a good, long while now.
A bunch of these top-down decisions, without actually addressing their user-base FIRST. Stupid non-browser features being added in. Customization and ability to extend function being excised out.
"Oh. We're going to replace that." But they don't have a single fucking line of code in place. They're just looking for "ideas" while they gut the browser of everything that makes it useful to people.
"Great or die" my ass. It's "be a Chrome also-ran or die". I simply do not get why Mozilla is so set on slobbing the Chrome knob. As it relegates them to followers, utterly beholden to the whims of the Chrome crew. Rather than innovating the browser AS THEY SHOULD BE.
Just rename the damn browser to "Chomewannabezilla" and be fucking done with it.
This reminds me of an idiot who went on a zero day, full disclosure forum, advocating that they should "hold the best stuff back" so that they "look like gods" to the next, upcoming generation of hackers.
Let's just say that this silly jackass was laughed off the board, and is now enjoying his second stint in FPMITAP for unoriginal idiocy with a computer.
So the NSA is at the same basic intellectual (for lack of a better term) level...
No. If everyone blasted through the cap, while connections would slow to a crawl, anything INSIDE the Comcast network would still be speedy.
Why?
Because Comcast is basically oversubscribed on peering points.
And they're getting by on a minimum of maintenance and trying to squeeze as many people through such points as they can without upgrading the peering arrangement.
And they've had offers to upgrade such peering arrangements FOR FREE, and still turned it down.
The thing is, in D&D, PCs tend to start off fairly powerful in the world compared to random NPCs.
In Shadowrun, pretty much EVERYTHING out there, save some random sprawl-gangers, is at least or hilariously more powerful than you in a stand-up fight.
Getting away after that, and NOT showing up on the nightly news as a domestic terrorist is MUCH harder if you do.
If you're living on the fringes of society, SIN-less, and trying to keep a low profile, being in the middle of a HUGE shoot-em-up is REALLY going to cramp your style.
Besides, megacorps, Dragons, elf-nations and the like tend to have more bitchin-firepower than A. Random Shadowrunner. Kinda like bringing a toenail clipper to a nuke fight.
Especially with your mobile site with three rows of full-page-height (at 1920x1200 even) ads and a script popping an ad at the bottom that's almost comically impossible to retract?
Why the hell do you think law enforcement is so hot on gun control in most places?
While some people think I'm being low-brow and barbaric, I'm not.
The threat of PERSONAL reprisal by a segment of the populace has ALWAYS been a check and balance on the abuse of this sort of power.
I'm not saying "armed uprising and governmental overthrow".
I'm saying "ventilate them until they encounter a labor force shortage of able-bodied individuals" and/or a fall-off in enthusiasm for government employment.
Seriously. If our own fucking government wants to ignore the rules, both in letter and spirit, why in the bloody hell should anyone "play fair" with them?
Basically to say that science is "settled" is to close your mind to any other options/variations and forgo future enlightenment on the subject. In short, it's dogma.
And why is the alternative to fossil fuels always "DESTRUCTION OF GLOBAL ECONOMY"
It's not.
Also, as I clarified, Global *ENERGY* Economy.
However, the way people generally present decommissioning coal and oil fired plants in favor of renewables leaves us at a SIGNIFICANT energy deficit, with energy priced such that massive, unsustainable austerity measures are virtually REQUIRED.
Slashdot Mirror
Ah, the old "You must watch Fox" canard.
No. Sorry, my commentary was simply on the perceived lack of bias by Wikipedia and it's editorial staff.
Nothing more.
I'm just so inexpressibly sick of the stupid Reductio ad Hitlerums (technically Reductio ad Terroristiums.)
Because *Insert Offending Group* uses *Insert Technology/Product/Thing*, it's bad and we need to get rid of it because it's bad and we don't like bad stuff.
That's essentially what both Barton's statements, and the whole "we should ban encryption that we can't break easily" arguments are.
Never mind that there are HUGE legal obstacles (and some nasty consequences) to such government overreach.
Never mind that end to end encryption makes users safer, even if the government IS lumped in with all the other bad guys.
It's incumbent on all of us to stand up to these assholes and say "no".
And, every time they bring this idiocy up again, stand up and say "no" again.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Even (and especially) with regard to the lot unhanged knaves in our own government.
Sorry?
Wikipedia?
Unbiased?
BWAHAHAHAHA!
We are Anonymous! We will DDOS your servers!
We are Anonymous! We will Dox you!
PH33R U$!!!
What? You'll shoot us, and others if we do this?
*Weird Al* I WAS ONLY KIDDING!
Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of these!
Basically all this does is provide further incentive to build sub-spec networks and oversubscribe the fuck out of them so that companies can eake every last cent out of the customer that's possible to get, while providing shit service.
Never mind that the "heavyweight" API was anything but.
And that most of the current themes were tiny and totally BURIED under about 400+ legacy themes for modern gems such as Firefox 2.0 and Firefox 3.6...
They removed it because it wasn't in heavy, regular use. It wasn't in heavy, regular use because Mozilla is total ass at project management.
And worse, they're doing it BEFORE even having some sort of viable replacement even in the planning stages, let alone implemented. Pretty much guaranteeing such a feature will remain an ill-documented, ill-maintained backwater.
And if you think chasing a feature-free toy like Chrome is the epitome of "making a good browser", you may as well be using Chrome. Since you're not actually using or doing anything that makes Mozilla worthwhile.
I loved this.
"This is why I'm here asking for feedback."
But when given actual feedback.
"Sorry, the decision about this has already been made."
Not to mention that a new architecture for this can't be done yet because the new plugin setup isn't ready yet.
And anything else they do will be deprecated the second they kill XUL and the old plugin setup. Translation: Wasted time and effort.
Basically this has been a pattern at Mozilla for a good, long while now.
A bunch of these top-down decisions, without actually addressing their user-base FIRST.
Stupid non-browser features being added in.
Customization and ability to extend function being excised out.
"Oh. We're going to replace that."
But they don't have a single fucking line of code in place. They're just looking for "ideas" while they gut the browser of everything that makes it useful to people.
"Great or die" my ass. It's "be a Chrome also-ran or die".
I simply do not get why Mozilla is so set on slobbing the Chrome knob. As it relegates them to followers, utterly beholden to the whims of the Chrome crew. Rather than innovating the browser AS THEY SHOULD BE.
Just rename the damn browser to "Chomewannabezilla" and be fucking done with it.
This isn't 100 of them, but it's 57 known domains that need to be blocked.
vortex.data.microsoft.com
vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com
telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
oca.telemetry.microsoft.com
oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com
sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
watson.telemetry.microsoft.com
watson.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
redir.metaservices.microsoft.com
choice.microsoft.com
choice.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
df.telemetry.microsoft.com
reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
services.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
sqm.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
telemetry.microsoft.com
watson.ppe.telemetry.microsoft.com
telemetry.appex.bing.net
telemetry.urs.microsoft.com
telemetry.appex.bing.net:443
settings-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
survey.watson.microsoft.com
watson.live.com
watson.microsoft.com
statsfe2.ws.microsoft.com
corpext.msitadfs.glbdns2.microsoft.com
compatexchange.cloudapp.net
cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net
a-0001.a-msedge.net
statsfe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
sls.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
fe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
diagnostics.support.microsoft.com
corp.sts.microsoft.com
statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com
pre.footprintpredict.com
i1.services.social.microsoft.com
i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
feedback.windows.com
feedback.microsoft-hohm.com
feedback.search.microsoft.com
rad.msn.com
preview.msn.com
ad.doubleclick.net
ads.msn.com
ads1.msads.net
ads1.msn.com
a.ads1.msn.com
a.ads2.msn.com
adnexus.net
adnxs.com
az361816.vo.msecnd.net
az512334.vo.msecnd.net
This reminds me of an idiot who went on a zero day, full disclosure forum, advocating that they should "hold the best stuff back" so that they "look like gods" to the next, upcoming generation of hackers.
Let's just say that this silly jackass was laughed off the board, and is now enjoying his second stint in FPMITAP for unoriginal idiocy with a computer.
So the NSA is at the same basic intellectual (for lack of a better term) level...
Sigh.
No. If everyone blasted through the cap, while connections would slow to a crawl, anything INSIDE the Comcast network would still be speedy.
Why?
Because Comcast is basically oversubscribed on peering points.
And they're getting by on a minimum of maintenance and trying to squeeze as many people through such points as they can without upgrading the peering arrangement.
And they've had offers to upgrade such peering arrangements FOR FREE, and still turned it down.
The thing is, in D&D, PCs tend to start off fairly powerful in the world compared to random NPCs.
In Shadowrun, pretty much EVERYTHING out there, save some random sprawl-gangers, is at least or hilariously more powerful than you in a stand-up fight.
Any idiot can blow huge holes in things.
Getting away after that, and NOT showing up on the nightly news as a domestic terrorist is MUCH harder if you do.
If you're living on the fringes of society, SIN-less, and trying to keep a low profile, being in the middle of a HUGE shoot-em-up is REALLY going to cramp your style.
Besides, megacorps, Dragons, elf-nations and the like tend to have more bitchin-firepower than A. Random Shadowrunner. Kinda like bringing a toenail clipper to a nuke fight.
Are apps I've never heard of and likely would never use.
Especially with your mobile site with three rows of full-page-height (at 1920x1200 even) ads and a script popping an ad at the bottom that's almost comically impossible to retract?
Who said murder?
A bullet in the foot rarely kills anyone.
Yet that person is no longer field-ready.
Again, I'm not talking about violent government overthrow.
I'm talking about agency-specific attrition of said agency's workforce.
I'm not saying "If you're pissed at the FBI, go shoot your mailman".
There's an understanding of timeliness and appropriateness involved.
Sure there is.
It's called "put a bullet into a motherfucker".
Why the hell do you think law enforcement is so hot on gun control in most places?
While some people think I'm being low-brow and barbaric, I'm not.
The threat of PERSONAL reprisal by a segment of the populace has ALWAYS been a check and balance on the abuse of this sort of power.
I'm not saying "armed uprising and governmental overthrow".
I'm saying "ventilate them until they encounter a labor force shortage of able-bodied individuals" and/or a fall-off in enthusiasm for government employment.
Seriously. If our own fucking government wants to ignore the rules, both in letter and spirit, why in the bloody hell should anyone "play fair" with them?
Actually ROT-13 DOES have a key.
It's simply not transmitted with the message.
The key is...knowledge of the alphabet and the way ROT-13 works (letter substitution).
Lumbergh: Yeah...I'm gonnna have to...say...nnnnoooo to this one.
Seriously, if some tool is spouting off and needs to be called on it...
Define a "non scientist".
Howsabout a German Jew working in a Swiss Patent office?
Science is not the sole domain of those who do nothing but fieldwork or write papers for a living.
Basically to say that science is "settled" is to close your mind to any other options/variations and forgo future enlightenment on the subject. In short, it's dogma.
And why is the alternative to fossil fuels always "DESTRUCTION OF GLOBAL ECONOMY"
It's not.
Also, as I clarified, Global *ENERGY* Economy.
However, the way people generally present decommissioning coal and oil fired plants in favor of renewables leaves us at a SIGNIFICANT energy deficit, with energy priced such that massive, unsustainable austerity measures are virtually REQUIRED.
moving to a low-carbon economy even has significant economic benefits,
Perhaps you'd care to list them?