61–70 of 106 posts
I honestly hope they would do that but I lost hope in such a thing happening a long time ago.
Just dangle some money in front of the and they're just average suckers like the rest of humanity.
The most dangerous and stupid meme percolating in pop tech culture is that the people engaged with tech culture have a unique claim to computer science, electrical engineering, cryptography, information security, and privacy technology. The Slashdot diaspora genuinely believes that most of the world's computer engineering talent reads their comments. The reality is that not only does money do a fine job of buying tal…
Bullshit. They're a pack of morons.
Unfortunately, they're a pack of morons with guns. Not that they have to resort to force. Frequently, they'll just use the legal system to beat you into submission.
Remember, while you have to pay your lawyer, they do not. Their legal funds are, for all intents and purposes, unlimited.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also highly recommend reading the book, American Prometheus. http://www.amazon.com/American-Prometheus-Triumph-Tragedy-Op...
I'll have to pick it up. I've always considered Oppenheimer one of the most interesting people to have lived. He was very charismatic, winning over scientist and bureaucrat alike and a compromiser when necessary, but yet would not compromise when it came to the issue of the hydrogen bomb at the height of "McCarthyism". Too bad he's mostly forgotten in present day history.
Interesting paragraph from the Reuters article: "Some security experts remain supportive of the government. NSA Director Keith Alexander's talk at the Black Hat conference was well received on Wednesday, despite a few hecklers. "...Alexander took a conciliatory tone during his Black Hat speech, defending the NSA but saying he looked forward to a discussion about how it could do things better." The article portrays Bl…
I don't think GEN Alexander's PSD would have allowed him to attend Defcon this year. (not that his life would have been in danger, but enough violent/etc. heckling that people probably would have gotten hurt, which would be horrible press.)
The most dangerous and stupid meme percolating in pop tech culture is that the people engaged with tech culture have a unique claim to computer science, electrical engineering, cryptography, information security, and privacy technology. The Slashdot diaspora genuinely believes that most of the world's computer engineering talent reads their comments. The reality is that not only does money do a fine job of buying tal…
> In fact, I think it's likely that they're significantly smarter than any of us. Bullshit. They're a pack of morons. Unfortunately, they're a pack of morons with guns. Not that they have to resort to force. Frequently, they'll just use the legal system to beat you into submission. Remember, while you have to pay your lawyer, they do not. Their legal funds are, for all intents and purposes, unlimited.
We really need to out and shame any engineer or contracting agency working for the NSA. If they can't hire anyone they can't spy on anyone.
What happens when the people you're trying to shame simply do not care about your opinion, or the opinions of anyone else?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, I do have things to back it up. No, I'm not simply referring to cryptography. NSA is a very large organization; Bill Binney's say-so doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Look at the kinds of people that "graduate" from NSA TAO, and note that that's the program they let us know about . If you want to be wishful about this point, I won't stop you.
All of the truly remarkable intelligences I met, I met at NSA. There are certainly people that aren't (as with any organization), but the NSA is probably the only meritocracy in the USG. The pipeline for advancement is one of either taking a technical route or a management route. This means that you can reach the highest levels of the organization and pay grades simply by being good at what you do in an analytical se…
I think the 'activists' that were derided are also working hard in the interest of the country. As for blacklisting and shaming former servicemen, see the aforementioned Bill Binney, and Thomas Drake, former NSA workers who dedicated decades of their lives to their country, and were blacklisted and prosecuted by their own government for daring to blow the whistle about violations of the constitution and Americans' privacy rights.
The most dangerous and stupid meme percolating in pop tech culture is that the people engaged with tech culture have a unique claim to computer science, electrical engineering, cryptography, information security, and privacy technology. The Slashdot diaspora genuinely believes that most of the world's computer engineering talent reads their comments. The reality is that not only does money do a fine job of buying tal…
> In fact, I think it's likely that they're significantly smarter than any of us. Bullshit. They're a pack of morons. Unfortunately, they're a pack of morons with guns. Not that they have to resort to force. Frequently, they'll just use the legal system to beat you into submission. Remember, while you have to pay your lawyer, they do not. Their legal funds are, for all intents and purposes, unlimited.
The most dangerous and stupid meme percolating in pop tech culture is that the people engaged with tech culture have a unique claim to computer science, electrical engineering, cryptography, information security, and privacy technology. The Slashdot diaspora genuinely believes that most of the world's computer engineering talent reads their comments. The reality is that not only does money do a fine job of buying tal…
> In fact, I think it's likely that they're significantly smarter than any of us. Bullshit. They're a pack of morons. Unfortunately, they're a pack of morons with guns. Not that they have to resort to force. Frequently, they'll just use the legal system to beat you into submission. Remember, while you have to pay your lawyer, they do not. Their legal funds are, for all intents and purposes, unlimited.
We really need to out and shame any engineer or contracting agency working for the NSA. If they can't hire anyone they can't spy on anyone.
Once you have done this outing and shaming, what do you expect to do? Burn the engineer or contracting agency at the center of the town hall? Have a fifties style whisper campaign where you refuse to go to their cocktail party? Apart from the fact that it vaguely sounds discriminatory, I don't see what you could achieve on a practical level.