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Great, but to be honest this all feels almost cynical at this point coming from Google, headline might as well read: > NSA unleashes Coder for Raspberry Pi as

by da_n 13y ago

Great, but to be honest this all feels almost cynical at this point coming from Google, headline might as well read: > NSA unleashes Coder for Raspberry Pi as kid-friendly tool Don't get me wrong, I have a Raspberry Pi and think it has great educational potential, I think it is great that Google is doing this, but I have lost all trust in them that anything they do they actually give a shit about anymore, this just feels like a crappy PR move.

freehunter 13y ago
Don't get me wrong, I hate the NSA spying as much as the next person on HN and I think it's great that people are upset, but this might as well read: >Google has no choice but to comply with the NSA, continues operating despite their pending lawsuit against the federal government. Not everything Google does has to be framed within the confines of the NSA debate. I'm struggling to understand how the NSA has anything to do with teaching kids how to code on a Raspberry Pi through a Google project, or even why the NSA would care.
- da_n 13y ago
  Yes, I guess my comment was about how ridiculous it is that this was my feeling and reaction, that the situation we are in makes me jump to such conclusions. I have a lot of faith that the ground level sys admins and engineers at Google are actually good people who probably are as angry about all this as I am, they do not design their systems with agendas or back-doors, only the few are compelled to. Unfortunately the well has been poisoned and all trust is now gone, I can only view the actions of the company Google with cynicism and skepticism.
  - hobolobo 13y ago
    You are most definitely not alone in your reaction. I am still bemused that Google's owners were, and remain, too scared to speak out publicly about what is going on, even after the revelations which have been made. Not just Google, however. All the major tech firms appear to be on the hook.
    - da_n 13y ago
      +1. I think a lot of people just want this thing to "go away", be happy and remember the great stuff the US does, just admire the philanthropic endeavours this multi-billion dollar company is doing, all in the name of education and access to bash. I am not surprised by the downvotes on my comment. The US Gov has burnt all their bridges, the world trusted them as a thought leader on anti-censorship, pro-freedom. At this point I feel the rest of the world needs to cut the cable (literally) and leave the US alone, you want to monitor every fucking email, go ahead, we route around you. You stood up and gave yourself the role of steward of the internet (I know Al Gore invented it), and you did a great job un until the NSA fucked it all up. Mission accomplished? Sorry to be so cynical, but seriously you need to make your Gov. accountable for the insane fuck-up they have perpetuated here, I would go so far as to say the NSA is now a terrorist organisation and needs to be stamped out. Edit: just to make it clear, I admire the USA and love the core values of your country. I am British, and my country is way worse than yours in many ways (Mr Douche Cameron introducing filtering for example because "think of the children"). You have been bestowed stewardship of the internet (you invented it after all, Darpa etc) but have done a terrible job in recent years. This is due to the terrible FISC/FISA rubber stamping allowing those who would always seek more power to get it. Your bad example of stewardship however only gives countries like China and Iran more excuses to enforce their disgusting filters and firewalls. You can still do something about this by telling 'them' it is not OK. Oh, and never allow them to take away your guns, that is a good thing to have.
      - magicalist 13y ago
        First look up the Guardian's coverage of GCHQ. Stones, glass houses, etc. It still has nothing to do with wanting the subject to "go away", it's that your post is completely irrelevant to an open source programming environment for the Raspberry Pi. That's why I downvoted your comment. It adds absolutely nothing to a conversation on the subject at hand, and is generic enough that a decent bot could generate your top-level comment on any subject with Google in the submission title. Seriously, you're like one step away from those blog comments that try to stay on topic while "subtly" working in a link to their discount counterfeit purses or whatever. Mindless knee-jerkery is not something I want to see encouraged, so I'm happy to help downvote it to oblivion.

by da_n 13y ago

freehunter 13y ago

Don't get me wrong, I hate the NSA spying as much as the next person on HN and I think it's great that people are upset, but this might as well read: >Google has no choice but to comply with the NSA, continues operating despite their pending lawsuit against the federal government. Not everything Google does has to be framed within the confines of the NSA debate. I'm struggling to understand how the NSA has anything to do with teaching kids how to code on a Raspberry Pi through a Google project, or even why the NSA would care.

da_n 13y ago
Yes, I guess my comment was about how ridiculous it is that this was my feeling and reaction, that the situation we are in makes me jump to such conclusions. I have a lot of faith that the ground level sys admins and engineers at Google are actually good people who probably are as angry about all this as I am, they do not design their systems with agendas or back-doors, only the few are compelled to. Unfortunately the well has been poisoned and all trust is now gone, I can only view the actions of the company Google with cynicism and skepticism.
- hobolobo 13y ago
  You are most definitely not alone in your reaction. I am still bemused that Google's owners were, and remain, too scared to speak out publicly about what is going on, even after the revelations which have been made. Not just Google, however. All the major tech firms appear to be on the hook.
  - da_n 13y ago
    +1. I think a lot of people just want this thing to "go away", be happy and remember the great stuff the US does, just admire the philanthropic endeavours this multi-billion dollar company is doing, all in the name of education and access to bash. I am not surprised by the downvotes on my comment. The US Gov has burnt all their bridges, the world trusted them as a thought leader on anti-censorship, pro-freedom. At this point I feel the rest of the world needs to cut the cable (literally) and leave the US alone, you want to monitor every fucking email, go ahead, we route around you. You stood up and gave yourself the role of steward of the internet (I know Al Gore invented it), and you did a great job un until the NSA fucked it all up. Mission accomplished? Sorry to be so cynical, but seriously you need to make your Gov. accountable for the insane fuck-up they have perpetuated here, I would go so far as to say the NSA is now a terrorist organisation and needs to be stamped out. Edit: just to make it clear, I admire the USA and love the core values of your country. I am British, and my country is way worse than yours in many ways (Mr Douche Cameron introducing filtering for example because "think of the children"). You have been bestowed stewardship of the internet (you invented it after all, Darpa etc) but have done a terrible job in recent years. This is due to the terrible FISC/FISA rubber stamping allowing those who would always seek more power to get it. Your bad example of stewardship however only gives countries like China and Iran more excuses to enforce their disgusting filters and firewalls. You can still do something about this by telling 'them' it is not OK. Oh, and never allow them to take away your guns, that is a good thing to have.
    - magicalist 13y ago
      First look up the Guardian's coverage of GCHQ. Stones, glass houses, etc. It still has nothing to do with wanting the subject to "go away", it's that your post is completely irrelevant to an open source programming environment for the Raspberry Pi. That's why I downvoted your comment. It adds absolutely nothing to a conversation on the subject at hand, and is generic enough that a decent bot could generate your top-level comment on any subject with Google in the submission title. Seriously, you're like one step away from those blog comments that try to stay on topic while "subtly" working in a link to their discount counterfeit purses or whatever. Mindless knee-jerkery is not something I want to see encouraged, so I'm happy to help downvote it to oblivion.