More importantly, it is THEIR job to provide me with a working product. The warranty covers problems with the device caused in the field. If they sold me a product that has known issues then it is their responsibility to provide the fixes, regardless of whether or not I am in warranty. If I plug my 120v (US) router into a 240V (uk) outlet and let out the magic smoke and am out of warranty* that's fair. But if I'm sold an internet firewall that has a secret admin password that can't be changed, it's the company's responsibility to provide the necessary fix so the firewall works as expected.
This should be no different than how automobile companies are expected to act. If a serious flaw is found in a car, it doesn't matter if it is this year's model or from ten years ago, or whether you are the original owner or have purchased it used; you are entitled to that fix. Why some software vendors have somehow gotten it into their heads that they have the right to sell us lemons and then make us pay for the privilege of fixing their mistakes.
* actually, warranty probably wouldn't cover this sort if user-stupidity either, but you get my point;-)
Every single e-book offered in my state's public library system (maybe 1000 municipal libraries, total), for one. I am not sure how many that is, but I doubt it is an insignificant number.
Even if they aren't forced to re-purchase all these books, I have no doubt that the publishers will drag their feet on updating the DRM on all these books (I mean, if the libraries aren't re-purchasing these e-books, what advantage does the publisher get from doing all that work? It's not as if libraries are going to stop buying books). And then there's the added cost to the libraries of updating their websites and dealing with the inevitable technical issues as older devices no longer work...
And the upside of all this is that not only does Adobe push out new DRM that will likely be broken in a month, but it introduces a whole host of new bugs and security vulnerabilities which are the common denominator of all Adobe software! Yay!
The virtual boss will see - contrary to what the eyes of the real bosses tell them - employees who never get up from their desks, never go to the bathroom, and never hang around in the break room... because those badges are left behind on the desk all the time whenever the employees get up from their desks, go to the bathroom, and hang around the break room.
Because employees will quickly learn to "game" the system, rendering the whole thing useless.
Hell, most of the time those badges aren't even necessary to get into the office, since somebody inevitably will open the door for you. And inevitably the employees are going to discover that their badges are ratting them out.
Not that any of this matters. This is just another way for managers to collect "metrics" on their staff, to prove with the magic of numbers that their staff is working, rather than - oh, I don't know - looking to see if the work is actually getting done. But the latter would actually require the managers to understand what their reports are doing, and that requires knowledge and effort on their part. Better to just rely on computers to create a useless spreadsheet that they can point to during the yearly reviews.
The problem I have with the NSA is not just the violation of my (and others') privacy. That's pretty bad but let's face it, that seems to be the direction the world is heading. As our technology matures, we are going to be under observation more and more often, be it from the government, corporations, other organizations (such as religions) or just each other.
As bad as this is, the real issue I have with the NSA is the complete imbalance of power this creates between the people and the government that is nominally there to support it. Of course, the question of who is really in charge of this country has gone back and forth for over two centuries, though the statesmen who wrote the US Constitution and other documents did everything they could to tip the scales in favor of the citizenry, while the politicos have spent generations pushing in the other direction. But the observational power currently solely held by the government (through agencies of the NSA/FBI/CIA/IRS/etc.) could well prove the unimpeachable advantage that ensures the power irrevocably slides into the hands of a select few. It is an exceedingly dangerous power and, unopposed, is a far more dangerous tool for tyranny than any army. A strong military can take a country, but it is the network of informers is what will let you hold it.
Which leaves us with two options: one, we-the-people say "no more", and do what we can to protect our privacy. Unfortunately, because of the ubiquity of these tools - and the temptations for police to use them - this would probably make illegal much of the technology we now take for granted, everything from GPS receivers to cellphone cameras to the Internet. But People and Government would have a closer balance of power.
The alternative is to go completely in the other direction: we achieve a sort of universal panopticon, where everybody is watching everybody; the government sees everything we do in our lives, and we can monitor everything they do in (and out of) office. Informational blackmail by either party becomes impossible; how can government enforce laws if they are shown - as they would be - to be breaking it as often as we?
I don't look favorably at this second option, but the first has such severe disadvantages - and would be so difficult to bring about - that I believe the latter is our future. Already the younger generations are coming to terms with a decreased lack of privacy, and Snowden's heroic actions have shown us how this can be used to keep the Powers-That-Be in check. Personally, I think a panopticon society will be so psychologically and culturally different than what I am used to that I won't want to live there, but I still think it is far, far better than one where surveillance is in the hands of only a few,
Why don't people just say "tenth anniversary" anymore?
Probably because people forgot - or never learned - that the word "anniversary" contains the root "annus", meaning year. Thus, the word has become so degraded that people celebrate things like their "two month anniversary since when we first started dating". Therefore it has become necessary these days to specify how long is each "anniversary".
It drives me nuts too, but you know that if you confront people about it they will just say, "language evolves."
The people that designed the F35 are like bad hockey players: they skate towards where the puck is, rather than where it is going.
To be fair, when the people initially designed the F-35 - back in 1996 - the idea of semi-autonomous drones being an effective combat platform was an idea still in the realms of science fiction. Furthermore, having just come out of the Cold War, the expected threat against which the F-35 would face was high-end manned fighters, which drones fare poorly against.
The technical and political realities have changed dramatically in the past twenty years. I'd put more blame on the corporate and political masters who continue to push this boondoggle rather than the designers who are forced to continually adapt the plane to new roles.
Yes. The volume on many groups is fairly low but not non-existent; there are a number of die-hards still lurking about. Of course, it becomes ever-harder to justify the habit if nobody posts so I recommend that if you/do/ still frequent Usenet, then make it a point to post as often as you can. Other lurkers will be glad of the traffic and with some effort you can resuscitate your favorite groups.
Usenet biggest problem these days isn't spam, binaries or even the lack of easy access; it is that people believe it is dead and gone.
If somebody sends me such a contract/NDA as the above (particularly one that says "don't tell anyone about this agreement") and I do/not/ sign it, am I still obligated to follow its strictures? I would guess not but I am no lawyer.
Actually, TrueCrypt already has most of those features so they don't need to be written in
TrueCrypt 7.1a for Windows has the following options:
AutoDismount If: - User Logs Off - Screensaver Is Activated - Entering Power Saver Mode* - Dismount if no data has been read/written in (xx) minutes
I haven't tested ALL of them but I know the screensaver one works. Features may differ depending on platform.
* with a warning that the Windows OS may not properly alert applications that it is shutting down due to low battery power so this feature is not entirely dependable; this seems more a limitation of the OS than the application
And according to the Truecrypt website: "As Microsoft does not provide any appropriate API for handling hibernation and shutdown, master keys used for system encryption cannot be reliably (and are not) erased from RAM when the computer hibernates, is shut down or restarted."
It is generally thought that Paranthropus bosei is an/offshoot/ of the line that ultimately led to modern man, not a direct ancestor. We share ancestors, but do not descend from his line. The two lines diverged about 3 million years ago to follow their own evolutionary paths - homo towards an omnivorous diet and world domination, panthropus to munching on nuts and extinction.
More to the point, they are basing this judgement on what is commercially viable FOR INVESTORS ON EARTH to mine. Asteroid mining has never been about how commercial competitive it would be versus mining the same materials from the Earth. Rather, asteroid mining has always been suggested as a way to kick-start space industry, because Earth-to-orbit fuel costs are so amazingly high. Sure you could grab some huge chunk of platinum from deep space and drop it down into Earth's gravity well to be harvested by planet-based corporations but - as the study proves - is a stupid way to invest your money.
On the other hand, if you were interested in space industry, it is probably cheaper to harvest the resources "locally" rather than expensively hauling them to Earth orbit. However, this requires a far, far greater initial investment than merely sending out "miners", since you will also have to construct the initial infrastructure (refineries, factories) to make use of those resources. But in the long run - if your goal is more expansive and forward-looking than simply enriching a few people - asteroid mining has clear advantages.
In other words, while accurate, the study misses the point of mining asteroids entirely.
Except this isn't an example of the third "something you are" factor; it is just more of "something you know".
Now, if the system analyzed your data, created an accurate profile of you and then postulated a rhetorical situation, asked you how you would respond to same, and gave access based on your response, that might be a better example of a third-factor. This changes it from a recitation of a fact (be it a password or personal data) which anyone can answerto an analysis of attributes unique to the individual (biometric data or psychological traits), which purportedly can only be provided by the authorized person.
Example
Computer: It's Friday night, and your girlfriend wants to go to see %chickflick%, but you want %scifiepic%; what do you do? Slashdot User: Neither, on Friday nights I play World of Warcraft with my guild! Computer: Access granted. (alternately, "what's a girlfriend" would also have sufficed)
Of course, that would require the system to make a 100% accurate/and unique/ profile for each user, and somehow I don't think the proposed system is quite up to the task.
No, what is being suggested is just changing a static password to a collection of facts which supposedly are both easier to remember and only known in full to the authorized user.
(I know, I know; the mentioned headlights don't actually shoot lasers out of the car... but that's the first thing that came to mind when I read the headline).
And for those of you who are really interested, you can read where it is mentioned in the the actual backstage rider here.
The bit about the M&Ms is on page 9.
Actually, a rather fun site. Apparently Dick Cheney's contract required that his hotel room have the TV set to Fox News. And Iggy Pop's contract is pure rock'n'roll.
Anyway, the point of it all is that it is important to read the whole contract and then follow up with the agreed upon conditions. It's as true for venues signing Van Halen as it is for businesses running 57.5 foot wide boring machines.
The CIA can only spy on the NSA operatives working outside the country. We need the FBI to spy on their domestic agents. And then we'll have the Secret Service keep tabs on the G-men!
We're paying for all these agencies; we might as well get use out of them!
He's in debt to the courts for millions, fails to show up for his court appearances and has repeatedly returned to a life of crime. It's not even as if his lawyer is getting him off. He's a continual recidivist and shows no intention of reforming his ways. Even if the cases themselves were merely civil disputes, his failure to live up his court-ordered responsibilities should have consequences.
Why isn't this jackass in jail yet? He's far more deserving than some poor punk who had the bad luck to get caught with a baggie of pot in his pocket.
Indeed. By only pardoning Turing, what the government is implying that they were not wrong about persecuting people - including Turing - for their sexual beliefs. Rather, they are saying that they were wrong to persecute Turing because he happened to be useful to the government.
I would have been more impressed if the government had issued a blanket pardon to any and all who were caught out by this miscarriage of justice and named the act after Turing. As it stands, it is just a bit of blatant PR intended to appease a small but vocal segment of the population.
Perhaps the story instead is that the RSA did not purposefully weaken their encryption during development for the benefit of "security" agencies such as the NSA. Any backdoors or weakened encryption were bugs created during development. However, when these problems were discovered (possibly by the aforementioned agencies), rather than fix the problems the RSA agreed to leave the problems in their code for a nominal fee.
That would imply both incompetence/and/ malfeasance. It also means their press statement is 100% accurate since they did not/enter/ into the project with the intent of creating a weak project; that was a bug. Nor would the $10 million payoff be a contract to "weaken" the encryption, just to maintain it in its current state. Weasel words for the win!
I'm not qualified to state if this is actually the case; I'm just randomly speculating. I barely RTFA. But I got my bucket of popcorn and think this is gonna be one hell of a show!
It's to the point that I tend to believe a person is morally right as I hear more and more dirt on them.
Whether you believe them or not is besides the point; as far as they are concerned, they have managed to sidetrack the issue of their wrongdoing to a discussion about the moral equity of the whistleblower.
Snowden could be a Neo-nazi pedophile murderer and his revelations about the NSA would still be relevant. Regardless of what Snowden has done, the NSA's crimes against this nation (and the world) are worse and those crimes should be the focus of our attention.
Once/that/ is taken care of, then we can worry about the righteousness (or lack thereof) of the whistleblowers.
As important, even if Snowden was a scurrilous, devious shithead who cheated to get a job and stole that information for all the wrong reasons - as claimed in the interview - , that still in no way vindicates the actions of the NSA. Their methods were both morally and legally untenable and no matter the motives of the whistleblower, it is better that the citizens of the nation (and the world) are aware of the actions of the US government. It's the only way we can possibly hope to rein them in and prevent such abuses in the future. Even if that is a distant fantasy, it has a far greater probability of happening thanks to Snowden's actions. So no matter how the NSA - and the government at large - attempts to deflect the issue with attempts at character assassination, in the end we are still better off knowing their misdeeds.
The fact that DOOM is available for practically every platform there is (although I have no bothered to confirm, I'm sure I can even play on an iPhone)
(Although I found the Doom2 RPG to be far more enjoyable game; FPS games and touchscreens are not a good combination)
But you are right about how widespread Doom has become in the computing world. According to Wikipedia, the following platforms had official versions of Doom ported to them
Computers: MS DOS, NextStep, IRIX, Solaris, MacOS, Linux, MS Windows, Acorn RISC OS Consoles: Atari Jaguar, Sega32x, Playstation, SNES, 3DO, Sega Saturn, Game Boy Advance, XBox, XBox360, Playstation 3 Other: Tapwave Zodiac, IPhone/IPod Touch/IPad
Unofficial ports include: BeOS, Amiga, ZX Spectrum 128K, Commodore VIC-20, Nintendo DS, iPod, Android, Sony Ericsson, Symbian, Zune, TI-Nspire
Doom was also ported to Adobe Flash and Java, so any device that can run those languages can also play Doom. I seem to remember some company once released a "smart" refrigerator that used Java; it's possible you could have played Doom on that too.
Slashdot Mirror
More importantly, it is THEIR job to provide me with a working product. The warranty covers problems with the device caused in the field. If they sold me a product that has known issues then it is their responsibility to provide the fixes, regardless of whether or not I am in warranty. If I plug my 120v (US) router into a 240V (uk) outlet and let out the magic smoke and am out of warranty* that's fair. But if I'm sold an internet firewall that has a secret admin password that can't be changed, it's the company's responsibility to provide the necessary fix so the firewall works as expected.
This should be no different than how automobile companies are expected to act. If a serious flaw is found in a car, it doesn't matter if it is this year's model or from ten years ago, or whether you are the original owner or have purchased it used; you are entitled to that fix. Why some software vendors have somehow gotten it into their heads that they have the right to sell us lemons and then make us pay for the privilege of fixing their mistakes.
* actually, warranty probably wouldn't cover this sort if user-stupidity either, but you get my point ;-)
Every single e-book offered in my state's public library system (maybe 1000 municipal libraries, total), for one. I am not sure how many that is, but I doubt it is an insignificant number.
Even if they aren't forced to re-purchase all these books, I have no doubt that the publishers will drag their feet on updating the DRM on all these books (I mean, if the libraries aren't re-purchasing these e-books, what advantage does the publisher get from doing all that work? It's not as if libraries are going to stop buying books). And then there's the added cost to the libraries of updating their websites and dealing with the inevitable technical issues as older devices no longer work...
And the upside of all this is that not only does Adobe push out new DRM that will likely be broken in a month, but it introduces a whole host of new bugs and security vulnerabilities which are the common denominator of all Adobe software! Yay!
The virtual boss will see - contrary to what the eyes of the real bosses tell them - employees who never get up from their desks, never go to the bathroom, and never hang around in the break room... because those badges are left behind on the desk all the time whenever the employees get up from their desks, go to the bathroom, and hang around the break room.
Because employees will quickly learn to "game" the system, rendering the whole thing useless.
Hell, most of the time those badges aren't even necessary to get into the office, since somebody inevitably will open the door for you. And inevitably the employees are going to discover that their badges are ratting them out.
Not that any of this matters. This is just another way for managers to collect "metrics" on their staff, to prove with the magic of numbers that their staff is working, rather than - oh, I don't know - looking to see if the work is actually getting done. But the latter would actually require the managers to understand what their reports are doing, and that requires knowledge and effort on their part. Better to just rely on computers to create a useless spreadsheet that they can point to during the yearly reviews.
The problem I have with the NSA is not just the violation of my (and others') privacy. That's pretty bad but let's face it, that seems to be the direction the world is heading. As our technology matures, we are going to be under observation more and more often, be it from the government, corporations, other organizations (such as religions) or just each other.
As bad as this is, the real issue I have with the NSA is the complete imbalance of power this creates between the people and the government that is nominally there to support it. Of course, the question of who is really in charge of this country has gone back and forth for over two centuries, though the statesmen who wrote the US Constitution and other documents did everything they could to tip the scales in favor of the citizenry, while the politicos have spent generations pushing in the other direction. But the observational power currently solely held by the government (through agencies of the NSA/FBI/CIA/IRS/etc.) could well prove the unimpeachable advantage that ensures the power irrevocably slides into the hands of a select few. It is an exceedingly dangerous power and, unopposed, is a far more dangerous tool for tyranny than any army. A strong military can take a country, but it is the network of informers is what will let you hold it.
Which leaves us with two options: one, we-the-people say "no more", and do what we can to protect our privacy. Unfortunately, because of the ubiquity of these tools - and the temptations for police to use them - this would probably make illegal much of the technology we now take for granted, everything from GPS receivers to cellphone cameras to the Internet. But People and Government would have a closer balance of power.
The alternative is to go completely in the other direction: we achieve a sort of universal panopticon, where everybody is watching everybody; the government sees everything we do in our lives, and we can monitor everything they do in (and out of) office. Informational blackmail by either party becomes impossible; how can government enforce laws if they are shown - as they would be - to be breaking it as often as we?
I don't look favorably at this second option, but the first has such severe disadvantages - and would be so difficult to bring about - that I believe the latter is our future. Already the younger generations are coming to terms with a decreased lack of privacy, and Snowden's heroic actions have shown us how this can be used to keep the Powers-That-Be in check. Personally, I think a panopticon society will be so psychologically and culturally different than what I am used to that I won't want to live there, but I still think it is far, far better than one where surveillance is in the hands of only a few,
Or simply software that waits a long time for the user to be idle (four or five hours) before it does its thing.
Why don't people just say "tenth anniversary" anymore?
Probably because people forgot - or never learned - that the word "anniversary" contains the root "annus", meaning year. Thus, the word has become so degraded that people celebrate things like their "two month anniversary since when we first started dating". Therefore it has become necessary these days to specify how long is each "anniversary".
It drives me nuts too, but you know that if you confront people about it they will just say, "language evolves."
The people that designed the F35 are like bad hockey players: they skate towards where the puck is, rather than where it is going.
To be fair, when the people initially designed the F-35 - back in 1996 - the idea of semi-autonomous drones being an effective combat platform was an idea still in the realms of science fiction. Furthermore, having just come out of the Cold War, the expected threat against which the F-35 would face was high-end manned fighters, which drones fare poorly against.
The technical and political realities have changed dramatically in the past twenty years. I'd put more blame on the corporate and political masters who continue to push this boondoggle rather than the designers who are forced to continually adapt the plane to new roles.
Yes. The volume on many groups is fairly low but not non-existent; there are a number of die-hards still lurking about. Of course, it becomes ever-harder to justify the habit if nobody posts so I recommend that if you /do/ still frequent Usenet, then make it a point to post as often as you can. Other lurkers will be glad of the traffic and with some effort you can resuscitate your favorite groups.
Usenet biggest problem these days isn't spam, binaries or even the lack of easy access; it is that people believe it is dead and gone.
The owners of CandyLand should sue them out of existence.
CandyLand was created by the Milton Bradley Company, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of... you guessed it! Hasbro, Inc.
Out of curiousity:
If somebody sends me such a contract/NDA as the above (particularly one that says "don't tell anyone about this agreement") and I do /not/ sign it, am I still obligated to follow its strictures? I would guess not but I am no lawyer.
And if Yahoo isn't for you, there is still always Usenet ;-)
Actually, TrueCrypt already has most of those features so they don't need to be written in
TrueCrypt 7.1a for Windows has the following options:
AutoDismount If:
- User Logs Off
- Screensaver Is Activated
- Entering Power Saver Mode*
- Dismount if no data has been read/written in (xx) minutes
I haven't tested ALL of them but I know the screensaver one works. Features may differ depending on platform.
* with a warning that the Windows OS may not properly alert applications that it is shutting down due to low battery power so this feature is not entirely dependable; this seems more a limitation of the OS than the application
And according to the Truecrypt website: "As Microsoft does not provide any appropriate API for handling hibernation and shutdown, master keys used for system encryption cannot be reliably (and are not) erased from RAM when the computer hibernates, is shut down or restarted."
A somewhat minor nitpick, but...
It is generally thought that Paranthropus bosei is an /offshoot/ of the line that ultimately led to modern man, not a direct ancestor. We share ancestors, but do not descend from his line. The two lines diverged about 3 million years ago to follow their own evolutionary paths - homo towards an omnivorous diet and world domination, panthropus to munching on nuts and extinction.
He was a relative, not an ancestor.
More to the point, they are basing this judgement on what is commercially viable FOR INVESTORS ON EARTH to mine. Asteroid mining has never been about how commercial competitive it would be versus mining the same materials from the Earth. Rather, asteroid mining has always been suggested as a way to kick-start space industry, because Earth-to-orbit fuel costs are so amazingly high. Sure you could grab some huge chunk of platinum from deep space and drop it down into Earth's gravity well to be harvested by planet-based corporations but - as the study proves - is a stupid way to invest your money.
On the other hand, if you were interested in space industry, it is probably cheaper to harvest the resources "locally" rather than expensively hauling them to Earth orbit. However, this requires a far, far greater initial investment than merely sending out "miners", since you will also have to construct the initial infrastructure (refineries, factories) to make use of those resources. But in the long run - if your goal is more expansive and forward-looking than simply enriching a few people - asteroid mining has clear advantages.
In other words, while accurate, the study misses the point of mining asteroids entirely.
Except this isn't an example of the third "something you are" factor; it is just more of "something you know".
Now, if the system analyzed your data, created an accurate profile of you and then postulated a rhetorical situation, asked you how you would respond to same, and gave access based on your response, that might be a better example of a third-factor. This changes it from a recitation of a fact (be it a password or personal data) which anyone can answerto an analysis of attributes unique to the individual (biometric data or psychological traits), which purportedly can only be provided by the authorized person.
Example
Of course, that would require the system to make a 100% accurate /and unique/ profile for each user, and somehow I don't think the proposed system is quite up to the task.
No, what is being suggested is just changing a static password to a collection of facts which supposedly are both easier to remember and only known in full to the authorized user.
Do not look at oncoming car with remaining eye.
(I know, I know; the mentioned headlights don't actually shoot lasers out of the car... but that's the first thing that came to mind when I read the headline).
And for those of you who are really interested, you can read where it is mentioned in the the actual backstage rider here.
The bit about the M&Ms is on page 9.
Actually, a rather fun site. Apparently Dick Cheney's contract required that his hotel room have the TV set to Fox News. And Iggy Pop's contract is pure rock'n'roll.
Anyway, the point of it all is that it is important to read the whole contract and then follow up with the agreed upon conditions. It's as true for venues signing Van Halen as it is for businesses running 57.5 foot wide boring machines.
No, no, no.
The CIA can only spy on the NSA operatives working outside the country.
We need the FBI to spy on their domestic agents.
And then we'll have the Secret Service keep tabs on the G-men!
We're paying for all these agencies; we might as well get use out of them!
(insert expected comment about how Slashdot editors... don't).
It is LinkSys, not Linkys.
Although "Linky" seems almost appropriate, considering that's what routers do!
He's in debt to the courts for millions, fails to show up for his court appearances and has repeatedly returned to a life of crime. It's not even as if his lawyer is getting him off. He's a continual recidivist and shows no intention of reforming his ways. Even if the cases themselves were merely civil disputes, his failure to live up his court-ordered responsibilities should have consequences.
Why isn't this jackass in jail yet? He's far more deserving than some poor punk who had the bad luck to get caught with a baggie of pot in his pocket.
Indeed. By only pardoning Turing, what the government is implying that they were not wrong about persecuting people - including Turing - for their sexual beliefs. Rather, they are saying that they were wrong to persecute Turing because he happened to be useful to the government.
I would have been more impressed if the government had issued a blanket pardon to any and all who were caught out by this miscarriage of justice and named the act after Turing. As it stands, it is just a bit of blatant PR intended to appease a small but vocal segment of the population.
Interesting observation.
Perhaps the story instead is that the RSA did not purposefully weaken their encryption during development for the benefit of "security" agencies such as the NSA. Any backdoors or weakened encryption were bugs created during development. However, when these problems were discovered (possibly by the aforementioned agencies), rather than fix the problems the RSA agreed to leave the problems in their code for a nominal fee.
That would imply both incompetence /and/ malfeasance. It also means their press statement is 100% accurate since they did not /enter/ into the project with the intent of creating a weak project; that was a bug. Nor would the $10 million payoff be a contract to "weaken" the encryption, just to maintain it in its current state. Weasel words for the win!
I'm not qualified to state if this is actually the case; I'm just randomly speculating. I barely RTFA. But I got my bucket of popcorn and think this is gonna be one hell of a show!
It's to the point that I tend to believe a person is morally right as I hear more and more dirt on them.
Whether you believe them or not is besides the point; as far as they are concerned, they have managed to sidetrack the issue of their wrongdoing to a discussion about the moral equity of the whistleblower.
Snowden could be a Neo-nazi pedophile murderer and his revelations about the NSA would still be relevant. Regardless of what Snowden has done, the NSA's crimes against this nation (and the world) are worse and those crimes should be the focus of our attention.
Once /that/ is taken care of, then we can worry about the righteousness (or lack thereof) of the whistleblowers.
As important, even if Snowden was a scurrilous, devious shithead who cheated to get a job and stole that information for all the wrong reasons - as claimed in the interview - , that still in no way vindicates the actions of the NSA. Their methods were both morally and legally untenable and no matter the motives of the whistleblower, it is better that the citizens of the nation (and the world) are aware of the actions of the US government. It's the only way we can possibly hope to rein them in and prevent such abuses in the future. Even if that is a distant fantasy, it has a far greater probability of happening thanks to Snowden's actions. So no matter how the NSA - and the government at large - attempts to deflect the issue with attempts at character assassination, in the end we are still better off knowing their misdeeds.
The fact that DOOM is available for practically every platform there is (although I have no bothered to confirm, I'm sure I can even play on an iPhone)
You would be correct in that assumption
(Although I found the Doom2 RPG to be far more enjoyable game; FPS games and touchscreens are not a good combination)
But you are right about how widespread Doom has become in the computing world. According to Wikipedia, the following platforms had official versions of Doom ported to them
Computers: MS DOS, NextStep, IRIX, Solaris, MacOS, Linux, MS Windows, Acorn RISC OS
Consoles: Atari Jaguar, Sega32x, Playstation, SNES, 3DO, Sega Saturn, Game Boy Advance, XBox, XBox360, Playstation 3
Other: Tapwave Zodiac, IPhone/IPod Touch/IPad
Unofficial ports include: BeOS, Amiga, ZX Spectrum 128K, Commodore VIC-20, Nintendo DS, iPod, Android, Sony Ericsson, Symbian, Zune, TI-Nspire
Doom was also ported to Adobe Flash and Java, so any device that can run those languages can also play Doom. I seem to remember some company once released a "smart" refrigerator that used Java; it's possible you could have played Doom on that too.
Doom. It's everywhere.