Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 11 Oct 2013 @ 6:50am
Re: BUT MIKE (relativity Mike..... relativity)
+1 on this. I'm a fan of John Green. It took him a little under an hour to apply for coverage under the ACA, even with multiple server failures. He only had to answer a few questions. On the other side, took him over 2 hours to apply on a site that was available both before and after ACA, he had to answer pretty much every health question imaginable and describe every visit or discussion with a doctor for the past 10 years.
So yes, the website has issues. Yes, it should've been done by a company that had more experience on the web. It is far from perfect. But despite all that, it is still better than what was there before (just like the law itself). Which for a government as disfunctional as ours, is almost amazing.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 8 Oct 2013 @ 1:32pm
Re:
The NSA: home of groundbreaking crypto and ground breaking electronics.
or
Yo dawg, I heard you like breaking and wires so I put some breaks in your wiring, so you can break ground in your datacenter after you've broken ground on your data center.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 7 Oct 2013 @ 10:31am
Re: Re:
Another result is that the Feds have lots of sites to now hold up and evidence that they need massively more powerful tools to stop them.
In addition to tools, they need funding. Massive funding, and resources, and people, and beauracracy.
When you are in government, you need to understand the "game" you're playing. Winning does not involve solving a problem. If you solve a problem, you've put yourself out of a job. The object is to manage a problem, such that you can continue to manage it for years or decades.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 1 Oct 2013 @ 1:37pm
Isn't it obvious? The $270,000 is to pay for the government to hire a contractor (probably Booz Allen) to go through the records to answer the FOIA req.
Let's hope that contract gets added in to the report, otherwise the government would have to hire another contractor to do that in an infinite recursion of contractors.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 1 Oct 2013 @ 1:09pm
"The point is that a government inept enough to have the kind of laughable security for legal proceedings sure as hell can't be trusted with my phone records. Period, paragraph, end of story."
1000 times this. Huge amounts of data like the NSA has on people would be a treasure trove for identity thieves and hackers using social engineering. It's bad enough the government has it, let alone that they can't secure it.
It's not far fetched to think that hackers could get at those databases. Foreign governments probably already can access it just like Snowden did. Kevin Mitnick listened in on FBI agent's phone calls. As I posted in chat last week, hackers have had long term access to LexisNexis's and other big data companies' databases ( http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/09/data-broker-giants-hacked-by-id-theft-service/ ).
So when the NSA's database is inevitably breached - if it hasn't been already, are they going to sign me and 300 million others up for a year of free credit monitoring? I somehow doubt it.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 30 Sep 2013 @ 1:48pm
DOJ: "AT&T did not design its system to allow these email addresses to be made public"
This is a very fundamental misunderstanding of computers. Unfortunately even technologically literate make it all the time. I learned the lesson when I first was learning to write code:
"A computer will always do exactly what you* tell it to do. It will not do what you mean it to do."
It follows your instructions exactly - any mistake it seems to make was the result of an instruction it got and followed as designed. It's another form of the 'you can't blame the tool' argument.
*you is the user, in conjunction with the programmer of the application, and however many other levels of coders and system builders it takes for you to get down to the physical hardware.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 25 Sep 2013 @ 1:25pm
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NOR could Techdirt's "report" button, eh?
You're making the assumption that OOTB is trying to add to the discussion in his own misguided way.
He's not. He is trolling and intentionally trying to disrupt the conversation. That's why nearly all of his comments get hidden, because most of the community has wised-up to his methods.
If he actually wants to have a conversation about the merits of any particular viewpoint, he can do so by stopping the trolling and spamming. Since he's poisoned his name so badly, all he's gotta do is stop using the one we skip over as soon as we see the author.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 25 Sep 2013 @ 11:35am
Re:
Because Democracy.
tldr; version
The line of thought you're exspousing sounds an awful lot like the mirror image of the fear-mongerers. Discussion of issues, and introduction of legislation, no matter how stupid, is not anti-American. The legislation itself may be, but we should never stoop to their level and start labeling people as anti-American. Let them introduce the legislation, and then in a functioning democracy, the people can object to kill or fix it, and vote them out of office for being stupid at the first oppurtunity.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 23 Sep 2013 @ 1:31pm
Re:
Completely my thoughts as well.
Gawd that's an ugly carpet. By eyes are bleeding and I think the guy in the next cubicle is having an epilectic fit after looking over my shoulder at that pic.
Josh in CharlotteNC (profile), 19 Sep 2013 @ 8:35am
Re: Re: Re: Re: 77%
people whose chose family over career
A more interesting question may be why they chose one, or why they weren't able to achieve both. Usually "choosing family over career" means "raising a child" in this topic. So, was adaquate child care available? If it was available, how expensive was it? Was any flexibility available from employers?
Was there *really* a choice, or was there only the appearance of a choice?
On the post: 15 Technologies The Legacy Content Companies Have Sued In The Past 15 Years
Re: Re: Now name the number of pirates actually sued.
On the post: Why Healthcare.gov Sucks? Because They Hired Political Cronies, Not Internet Native Companies To Build It
Re: BUT MIKE (relativity Mike..... relativity)
So yes, the website has issues. Yes, it should've been done by a company that had more experience on the web. It is far from perfect. But despite all that, it is still better than what was there before (just like the law itself). Which for a government as disfunctional as ours, is almost amazing.
On the post: 'Restore The 4th' Anti-NSA Activists 'Adopt' The Highway Right Outside NSA's New Utah Datacenter
Re: NSA LITTER
On the post: 15 Technologies The Legacy Content Companies Have Sued In The Past 15 Years
Re: Now name the number of pirates actually sued.
"Blue coherent."
I win.
On the post: NSA's Massive Utah Datacenter Having Serious Electrical Problems: Has Already Had 10 Fiery Explosions
Re:
or
Yo dawg, I heard you like breaking and wires so I put some breaks in your wiring, so you can break ground in your datacenter after you've broken ground on your data center.
On the post: Intellectual Ventures' Evil Knows No Bounds: Buys Patent AmEx Donated For Public Good... And Starts Suing
Re: Promisary Estoppel?
You still need to pay all the high-priced lawyers to argue that in court.
If the settlement costs less than the lawyers, there's not many businesses willing to pay more than they need to.
On the post: James Clapper Thinks That NSA Employees Will Sell Out Our Nation After A Few Days Without A Paycheck
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/10/another-victim-of-us-govt-shutdown-obamas-surve illance-review-panel/
Don't miss the quote in the article. It is sickening and not at all surprising.
On the post: Team Prenda Tries To Flip The Story Of John Steele's Mother-in-Law To Make Alan Cooper Look Bad
Re: Bets on Signature authenticity?
On the post: The Unintended Consequences Of The Shutdown Of Silk Road
Re: Re:
In addition to tools, they need funding. Massive funding, and resources, and people, and beauracracy.
When you are in government, you need to understand the "game" you're playing. Winning does not involve solving a problem. If you solve a problem, you've put yourself out of a job. The object is to manage a problem, such that you can continue to manage it for years or decades.
On the post: FBI Wants More Than $270,000 To Respond To FOIA Request About Booz Allen
Let's hope that contract gets added in to the report, otherwise the government would have to hire another contractor to do that in an infinite recursion of contractors.
On the post: USAF Colonel: Starbucks WiFi Is More Secure Than The Pentagon Network
1000 times this. Huge amounts of data like the NSA has on people would be a treasure trove for identity thieves and hackers using social engineering. It's bad enough the government has it, let alone that they can't secure it.
It's not far fetched to think that hackers could get at those databases. Foreign governments probably already can access it just like Snowden did. Kevin Mitnick listened in on FBI agent's phone calls. As I posted in chat last week, hackers have had long term access to LexisNexis's and other big data companies' databases ( http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/09/data-broker-giants-hacked-by-id-theft-service/ ).
So when the NSA's database is inevitably breached - if it hasn't been already, are they going to sign me and 300 million others up for a year of free credit monitoring? I somehow doubt it.
On the post: The DOJ's Insane Argument Against Weev: He's A Felon Because He Broke The Rules We Made Up
This is a very fundamental misunderstanding of computers. Unfortunately even technologically literate make it all the time. I learned the lesson when I first was learning to write code:
"A computer will always do exactly what you* tell it to do. It will not do what you mean it to do."
It follows your instructions exactly - any mistake it seems to make was the result of an instruction it got and followed as designed. It's another form of the 'you can't blame the tool' argument.
*you is the user, in conjunction with the programmer of the application, and however many other levels of coders and system builders it takes for you to get down to the physical hardware.
On the post: Copyright As Censorship: Using The DMCA To Take Down Websites For Accurately Calling Out Racist Comments
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: NOR could Techdirt's "report" button, eh?
He's not. He is trolling and intentionally trying to disrupt the conversation. That's why nearly all of his comments get hidden, because most of the community has wised-up to his methods.
If he actually wants to have a conversation about the merits of any particular viewpoint, he can do so by stopping the trolling and spamming. Since he's poisoned his name so badly, all he's gotta do is stop using the one we skip over as soon as we see the author.
On the post: When A Senator Reads 'Green Eggs & Ham' On The Floor, What About The Copyright?
Congressional record
On the post: Tone Deaf Dianne Feinstein Thinks Now Is A Good Time To Revive CISPA
Re:
tldr; version
The line of thought you're exspousing sounds an awful lot like the mirror image of the fear-mongerers. Discussion of issues, and introduction of legislation, no matter how stupid, is not anti-American. The legislation itself may be, but we should never stoop to their level and start labeling people as anti-American. Let them introduce the legislation, and then in a functioning democracy, the people can object to kill or fix it, and vote them out of office for being stupid at the first oppurtunity.
On the post: Copyright As Censorship: Using The DMCA To Take Down Websites For Accurately Calling Out Racist Comments
No market?
On the post: 'See Something, Say Something' Campaign Creates Massive Database Of Useless Info From Citizens Spying On Each Other
Re: Sad
On the post: Cosplayer Sent Cease & Desist By Carpet Company For Hotel Carpet Camouflage
Re:
Gawd that's an ugly carpet. By eyes are bleeding and I think the guy in the next cubicle is having an epilectic fit after looking over my shoulder at that pic.
On the post: Another Reason The NSA Can't Prevent Terrorist Attacks: Protecting Its Methods Is More Important Than Protecting The Public
Re:
On the post: DailyDirt: Women's Work
Re: Re: Re: Re: 77%
A more interesting question may be why they chose one, or why they weren't able to achieve both. Usually "choosing family over career" means "raising a child" in this topic. So, was adaquate child care available? If it was available, how expensive was it? Was any flexibility available from employers?
Was there *really* a choice, or was there only the appearance of a choice?
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