discostrings

15 ms·

91.
by discostrings 13y ago
A lot of people would love a cheap, small laptop. That's what they wish an ultrabook was. Unfortunately, they're only getting the small, not the cheap. If the specs could have been a bit higher and increased in a timely manner, ne
92.
by discostrings 13y ago
> No. Tablets killed them. I'd argue that Microsoft and Intel killed them with their arbitrary restrictions on what could be a netbook.[1] I imagine they realized netbooks would put a huge dent in their sales of more expensive syste
93.
by discostrings 13y ago
If you feel like doing some not-too-difficult patching and running an AOSP-based ROM, take a look at OpenPDroid[1], which does exactly that. It would be much better if Google would come to their senses and include that functionally in Andro
94.
by discostrings 13y ago
This is in the context of New Zealand (but it does raise many questions about international intelligence sharing and the nature of these systems). New Zealand has already admitted that their targeting of Kim Dotcom was against their laws. T
95.
New Zealand appears to have used NSA spy network to target Kim Dotcom(arstechnica.com)
144 points by discostrings 13y ago|34 comments
96.
NSA Analysts Intentionally Abused Spying Powers Multiple Times(bloomberg.com)
34 points by discostrings 13y ago|3 comments
97.
by discostrings 13y ago
Perhaps they believe that gaining the necessary amount of public attention and support requires these things to be revealed slowly and to consume many news cycles. I would argue that the pace things have been proceeding at has been perfect
98.
by discostrings 13y ago
One important thing to keep in mind while reading this opinion is that this is the opinion of the FISC --a court that operates in secret, whose members are chosen by a single man, that has a reputation for rubber-stamping almost every requ
99.
by discostrings 13y ago
The first of the instances mentioned in footnote 14 involves the NSA running overly broad queries on telephone records that violate the court's allowances. The second is fully redacted. Sounds pretty serious!
100.
by discostrings 13y ago
My optimism for real, important change is still small, but it's certainly increasing. While those in control haven't changed their position, the fact that this government malfeasance has been grabbing headlines for a few months ha
101.
by discostrings 13y ago
This, along with "I put it on my Facebook" and even "Do you have Facebook?" bother me every time I hear them. Unfortunately, this usage seems to be gaining momentum even outside colloquial conversation--I cringed when I
102.
by discostrings 13y ago
In every U.S. jurisdiction I'm familiar with, the person doing the rear-ending is liable, not the person who brakes unexpectedly. The idea is that everyone should leave stopping distance. In heavy traffic, people generally don't l
103.
by discostrings 13y ago
You're presenting two options, of which you imply only one can be chosen: * "Getting out of the building" and engaging others with an important issue * Continuing to discuss the development of that important issue and org
104.
by discostrings 13y ago
He worked at NSA since 2009--just not through Booz Allen. I imagine he saw things that struck his conscience in his previous roles, and he took the latest position at Booz to gather hard evidence.
105.
by discostrings 13y ago
It looks like the reddit user "kaax" is taking insightful posts from HN and posting them on reddit [for karma?]. See the Bitcoin comments at http://www.reddit.com/user/kaax and https://news.ycombin
106.
by discostrings 13y ago
As I understand it: 1) Another friend had your name and your phone number or email address in a contact list. 2) Facebook got access to that contact list. 3) Facebook matched your entry in your friend's contact list to your Facebook ac
107.
by discostrings 13y ago
No--it seems that if you downloaded your info, you would also download email addresses and phone numbers of your friends that other people had in their address books, without your friends ever knowing Facebook had that information .
108.
by discostrings 13y ago
The people using the term "treason" are either using it ridiculously or only to characterize their opinions of his actions. From the Constitution: > Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against t
109.
by discostrings 13y ago
So it sounds like when people give Facebook access to copy their contact lists / address books from an email account or phone, Facebook tries to match those email addresses and phone numbers to other Facebook accounts. Sometimes, those
110.
U.S. Privacy & Civil Liberties Board as mysterious as the agencies it oversees(guardian.co.uk)
7 points by discostrings 13y ago|0 comments
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Revealed: the top secret rules that allow NSA to use US data without a warrant(guardian.co.uk)
45 points by discostrings 13y ago|1 comments
112.
by discostrings 13y ago
That's how I originally read it, and I think that's a valid reading. I think Orwell probably wanted readers to get that appearance. But the use of the subjunctive "would have" suggests--though doesn't prove--somethi
113.
by discostrings 13y ago
But is Anderson Cooper making that money as a journalist or as a TV personality? I don't mean to demean him by saying that, as I'm not very familiar with his background or his career. I would question, however, whether he is paid
114.
by discostrings 13y ago
Are you basing that on a reading of the appendix, or just on the sentence I excerpted? It's not really clear from the sentence itself, but in the context of the paragraph, it makes a lot of sense. Pay close attention to what's cas
115.
by discostrings 13y ago
Sure--the perspective of the appendix seems open to interpretation, which is great. The very fact he chose such a strange tense, though, leads me to believe he wanted you to at least wonder about such a thing. I only looked to see whether t
116.
by discostrings 13y ago
I thought that before re-reading the appendix. But take a look at this line: "It was expected that Newspeak would have finally superseded Oldspeak...by about the year 2050." Why not just "It was expected that Newspeak would f
117.
by discostrings 13y ago
Thanks for the citations! It seems this isn't new information then--just that a lot of the current news hasn't even gotten to this point. In most of what I read, I see the perception that writers think most orders from the court a
118.
by discostrings 13y ago
It was one of the most memorable parts for me, too, and I don't remember interpreting it that way. I just pulled out my copy of 1984 to check the article's interpretation. Through most of the appendix, the tense is a bit ambiguous
119.
by discostrings 13y ago
I guess I got a little ahead of myself. In my comment, I was referring more to the near future than to the present. I think you're correct--until this becomes common and has undergone a few rounds of revisions, the numbers I gave are n
120.
by discostrings 13y ago
Thanks for pointing that out. The current cost of high-end surveillance drones is higher than helicopters, yes. I do wonder if that $18 million is only for the drone, or for its associated infrastructure on the ground as well, though. My po

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