ccarter84

Re: 2 - got a page number you could point a lad to to help enlighten us? thx

At somepoint, instead of just trying to get more secure through encryption, I'd love to see some folks try and find a way to just clog their systems by increasing the amount of background noise / data.

Kinda like when you're in a large company, and someone does a mass e-mail by mistake to a whole hidden distribution list... and then someone else replies telling them to take them off this d-list, etc, etc, and next thing you know the company turns off the e-mail until they sort it out.

Or maybe when loading your desired webpage, an extension pulls in 10 other random text-intensive pages at the same time in background tabs...

Obviously I'm not operating on the level that it'll actually work, but that Doctorow book had some fun concepts in it.

I'm on this plan, and it's adequate but the service is pretty shoddy during parts of my commute (...no reliable 4G within a 5 min drive either side of Golden Gate Bridge?!) VZW definitely didn't have that problem.

I'm not sure if it's T-Mobile hardware or towers, but given I just use the phone to f around and am not reliant on it for work, I don't really feel it's worth trying to RMA or anything

Bitcoin is only as anonymous as the blockchain allows. The sooner LE & bitcoin exchangers unify forces and convince Congress to act on a national level (thus removing the regulatory uncertainty), the sooner BTC will be allowed by existing players to be adapted into mainstream financial system.

The shifting of BTC abroad aspect is a problem from the LE perspective, because it's akin to everything 'going dark.' Yes there are downsides to more regulation if you're looking for truly being off the grid, or are mainly a user of silk road --- but it will also allow the system to live in the open, much like the recent rulings from FinCEN equating BTC exchangers to MSB's and pulling them in to the existing framework that way.

yea, or they were having some fun with the whole 'two options for interpretation' bit...

Like the Manning/WikiLeak revelations, I kinda wonder at what point will the mainstream just get bored, move on, and essentially stop acknowledging the shock power of these revelations at some point...

That Doctorow book "Little Brother" sure seems to have hit the nail on the head in a lot of the examples he was giving of government activity...

Anyone else instantly thinking of that Archer episode? So many classic lines....

I've heard of payment processors marching to the drumbeat of sanctions --- but this is a really stupid way to do it.

Well...at least the German authorities were civilized about it.

Not so sure our authorities (in the US) would have the same reaction.

Agreed, but asking for 20+ % raise over 3 years was a poor PR approach.

I think unions served a purpose in the past, and hopefully still do now, but honestly once you look at the overtime pay it's painful.

http://www.mercurynews.com/salaries/bay-area/2012

p.s. Some dude took a stab at liberating the data further, but it could use some work. http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/BARTsalaries/BARTsal...

On the upside - Google+ reviews are showing some potential for hilarity.

https://plus.google.com/109979622757916923877/about?gl=us&hl...

Jibes pretty well with the theft of Glenn Greenwalds partners laptop just 2 days after he communicated over Skype that he would be sending the Snowden files to him.

“When I was in Hong Kong, I spoke to my partner in [Rio de Janeiro] via Skype and told him I would send an electronic encrypted copy of the documents,” Greenwald noted. “I did not end up doing it. Two days later his laptop was stolen from our house and nothing else was taken. Nothing like that has happened before. I am not saying it’s connected to this, but obviously the possibility exists.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/06/snowden-distribut...

D*mmit. Guess I finally should break down and burn a linux bootdisk for banking.

I would as well - old econ reading is a little rusty, so layperson is probably the right level to restart my brain at.

ccarter84 (at) the all-surveilled google mail

Thanks!

I think anyone who actually cares about this stuff has two simultaneous responses here.

1. Do you actually care if you get it?

2. Go f* yourselves

I'd be quite surprised if they went at this guy with anywhere near the ferocity they went after that idiotic IRS chief's testimony.

Glad the NYT Editorial board has stepped up and been so blunt.

"But Americans should not be fooled by political leaders putting forward a false choice. The issue is not whether the government should vigorously pursue terrorists. The question is whether the security goals can be achieved by less-intrusive or sweeping means, without trampling on democratic freedoms and basic rights. Far too little has been said on this question by the White House or Congress in their defense of the N.S.A.’s dragnet. "

BoingBoing points to Muckrock (http://boingboing.net/2013/06/11/howto-foia-the-nsa.html)

But it seems like Muckrock has done this sort of thing before, and the take-away I am getting is: ----make sure to request fee estimates before completion of request ----

$1,200 bucks for records of parking complaints @ NSA HQ! - get outta here. https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/nsa...

Yea sorry about that - In retrospect I shouldn't have included a brain-deadening link

POTUS v leakers & press.

Infants in Congress.

Finally have legit gripes

Interesting theory about helping recipients of large numbers of subpoena's streamline their responses / minimize workloads. Personally I think that's giving the government too much credit as if they cared about the burdensome nature of generating such large numbers of overreaching requests.

But...but they're helping us secure our home networks!

"The Information Assurance Directorate (IAD) at NSA recently released a new technical guide entitled Best Practices for Securing a Home Network." - http://www.nsa.gov/ia/index.shtml

It's amazing how often government seems to act like a vengeful ex.

On timeline: "After he consulted with Legal, he refused. As a result, NSA canceled a bunch of unrelated billion dollar contracts that QWest was the top bidder for. And then the DoJ targeted him and prosecuted him and put him in prison for insider trading "

If that's a legit summary, the retaliatory removal of contracts his company was in-line for --- doesn't seem very far stretched.

Well...on the upside at least we're not making more mice glow in the dark

There's gotta be some kind of organizational size:responsiveness inverse metric for stuff like this

That last one is where they get ya

Great - Austin households get two giga-bit networks competing to get first to their doorsteps and the rest of the country gets to watch in wonder.

Ah, agreed - congrats on getting out of the rat race and properly compensated yourself