skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I think Manning had/has some mental health problems. I'm pretty sure he was struggling with depression. This guy sounds like he's in a much better place, mentally, to go up against the US government. Being a contractor (citizen) will probably also make this a lot easier for him than it is for Manning.
As long as you aren't pissing off powerful organizations that are watching you... oh wait.
Awesome? That opinion isn't universal. I've read perhaps 75% of the 505,040 words (87 chapters) of MoR, and while it was somewhat interesting at first, before long it grew quite tedious. Much of the tedium is due to the length—it's longer than Rowling's first four books combined.[1] The style comes off as preaching in-jokes to the choir, and I don't think it will pay off the time investment as a means of popularizing rational thought.

[1] http://www.writersbeat.com/showthread.php?t=15295
I don't care about privacy for my personal (not corporate) information from Google. The worst they can do is disconnect me, and I can always leave them.

I do care about that an organisation with the power to legally kill or imprison me without trial, with the world's strongest military and a penchant for punishing anyone who embarasses them has all of my data, including who I associate with, what I say and whereever I go. In fact not just my data, the data of their political opponents and the journalists that keep the system honest.

If not Obama, someone at the head of the table is going to abuse this information one day.
There's a reason that over 900,000 security clearances are processed every year. The "defense" contracting industry is booming.

FYI, CISPA is specifically for an NSA program intended to expand collection and give immunity to everyone. The lobbying for it as well as the politicans who proposed it, are heavily funded by these defense contractors.
Not having being born in the U.S. and still having family in several countries, Yes, I do.

The implication is that U.S. Internet Industry is somehow "destroyed" as a result of this is hyperbole. If anything, all it did was give hope to those outside the U.S. that there's still a viable market for the same cloud services (sans FISA leash) even in smaller scales.
> What I find disturbing about these tools is that they are far more suited to retrospective analysis, and therefore to discovering dirt on ordinary people and undermining the rule of law,

Aha yes. Access this kind of system would be Stalin's or any other brutal dictator's wet dream. This is what they'd get a hard on thinking about. "Oh, I wish I had a system where everyone would input their hobbies, interests, connections, all they messages (Facebook, GMail, Skype, etc) and then I would be able to read and access those things, all the phone calls, shopping habits, text messages, what kind of porn they like, who they like to joke about, what they eat,...mmm". Well guess what we have that here and now.

Retrospective analysis is the key here. I have mentioned in the past how the formula for a successful brutal dictatorship is this:

1) Complicated, ambiguous and broad laws (disobedience, being suspicious, obstruction of justice, obstruction of business, disorderly conduct, etc etc)

2) Total monitoring and control & archiving

Just those 2) are enough. With enough background material to scare anyone with jail, a criminal record, disclosure of shameful information ("I see you like foot fetishes, how would you like if your church friends found out about that?... Are you sure you should keep participating in this Occupy movement, think twice about it...") they can control and manipulate anyone.
I expect this from some news sources such as CNN, but not from Slate and definitely not from Farhad Manjoo.

Why can't we celebrate him for having the moral character to have done the right thing instead of assault his character.

A college dropout that did the right thing by whistleblowing is 1000x better to have in this World than an MIT, Stanford or Harvard graduate who is working at the NSA or CIA being enabling or at least complicit in programs.
Follow the Money.

This is a big part of the problem, the massive .mil budgets go to commercial contractors, who in turn support party candidates by donation. Its an incestuous positive feedback loop.

see Lessigs video talk on "LesterLand".
Fair enough.

My gut feeling is about the same on impact of international growth. On one hand it may have been a blessing in disguise. The Internet is supposed to be global in the first place, but we have massive over-representation in pretty much every aspect of its commercial operation.

The same services outside U.S. jurisdiction and influence are suddenly more alluring.
I think the reference is to the war on whistleblowers. That part is more common. Also it is true that protesters are treated worse more recently than they have been for a few decades.

The problem though is that if you go back more than a few decades, it is not clear the trend is downward so much as cyclical.
Aside from the fact that none of those jobs sound like 'eating shit' to me, you might take notice that most of his generation didn't either.
Booz Allen Hamilton "In The News" page highly ironic. Check the first three items. http://www.boozallen.com/media-center/press-highlights

1 Where to Find - And How to Woo - Your Next Hires

2 Application Vulnerabilities Remain Security's Biggest Concern

3 Stopping Hacks from Stealing Corporate Secrets or Disrupting Electric Service
A competing theory is that he is actually spying for the PRC. Hong Kong would be an obvious choice for a wealthy, Western spy seeking Chinese protection. They're semi-autonomous, but military affairs are run by the PRC, and in particular the PRC has control over foreign extradition:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-h...

If this wasn't a priori the best theory, surely the HK part adds some Bayesian weight.
The names change, the tensions stay the same.
Their systems are probably smarter than grep, by now.
What (jihad) are you (allah) talking (semtex) talking about (thermite) dude? That is the worst (white house ) plot or plan I've ever heard in my (uranium) life. I can C4 myself that this plot is not "the bomb", as they say. This needs to bake, or should I say "pressure cooker" a little bit longer before we explode it on people. If we (hack secure systems) find useful (enriched) data and share it (hack the planet) with the people who really need it( secure, classified, NOFORN) we won't let them trash our rights. Trust your techolust.
Flood Washington with 1984
Living like this is likely by his own choice. Yahoo! is actually very good when it comes to work/life balance.
Is China behind the PRISM leak?
I don't think most governments will go that far for casual usage, however I do see more restrictions on confidential, "official business" communication and storage through these (which, I hope is already the case).

Think of how much disruption would be caused if Hotmail, for instance, was forbidden in addition to Gmail. Many of the early adopters of the web in these countries flocked to the most popular platforms (in addition to their ISP email of course). Having to print new business cards would hardly be the only inconvenience.
There have been long-standing and extensive efforts to reduce deaths in traffic accidents too (in fact over time far more extensive than our antiterrorism efforts), and yet in the month of September, 2001, 20% more people in the US died in traffic accidents than in acts of terrorism. Once you aggregate beyond a year, the risk of terrorism is insignificant.

If you don't believe that, let's stop enforcing traffic safety laws, stop requiring manufacturers to include safety features in their cars, and stop designing traffic intersections with safety in mind and see what happens.
Exactly... friendly conversation with people who can lie to you at will to extract information, but to whom you cannot lie at all? No thank you, refer all questions to my lawyer please.
Ah, alright. Thanks for the response.
Guide to use Compass
How can they rule the justification as unconstitutiona when the judges were giving court orders under that justification?

More broadly though, I don't understand how you can possibly have secret courts. Justice not only must be done but must be seen to be done, otherwise its not justice.
actually, as user of google Navigator, i'm dreading the moment waze will show up as a replacement for navigator (as hangouts now replaces gtalk) and I will not be able to get directions without a google+ account and publishing my location to my friends all the time.
I can't often find skirt steak in stores, either, but I was under the impression that this was due to the high demand from restaurants.

I don't consider skirt steak a poor cut by any means. It has a great amount of flavor and is tender enough to be cooked with high heat (though certainly not as tender as the best steaks). I often see "eye of round" and similar cuts sold as "for grilling". Those are what I consider poor cuts (for grilling at least), and I would much rather have skirt steak.
Just remember to add Weak Reference support too. This is really the only missing feature that I want in JS.
I have a Macbook Air. It's my first Apple laptop (I used PCs exclusively from 1993-2008).

It's been a wonderful machine. The battery life is phenomenal, it's fast, it's surprisingly powerful, and it's "air" light. The trackpad is second to none. Everything just works. I've never had to install a driver.

Given Apple's involvement in the recent spying scandals, though, this is also my last Apple product. I am selling my computer and buying something else for Debian or Arch.
The option that somebody already is self hosting and using secure end to end crypto, it may be wise to add that option; it is not really breaking news to the people with the tin-foil-hat.
Meh, you're basically arguing with a religion, which is fine, but a pretty big task. You value the end over the means. Some people believe the reverse, that the process is more meaningful and important than the goal / reward (something I become more and more convinced of as I get older).

If acting according to your beliefs is selfish... well then aren't we all selfish (arguably true)?

Don't be too hasty to judge.
I counted 69, so this article is probably #70 : https://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/submissions&q=+&sort...

An important detail is that the size of HN had increased, so to compare the articles the points should be adjusted. I remember a story a few yeas ago that got a lot of points, but when I searched it I realized it has only ~89.
Yeah, I'm bummed to hear this news too, I've been rooting for them since the beginning. Granted Google Maps is way better than Waze, but, I think the whole crowdsourcing angle that Waze takes is interesting, and I think it's impressive how far they've gotten with a small team comparatively.
Plan to Deal with Even the Toughest Challenge
The author is guilty of thinking that the president is King, as if the entire federal government and all three branches weren't behind these things for that past 7 years.
You should know better than to consider an indictment as a reliable source of information. They're like rejected Hollywood movie scripts. They have every incentive to demonize the target and paint everything in the worst light possible, so it's not surprising that this is exactly what they do.
Obama 'started' supporting gay marriage in 2011. Given the current trajectory of public opinion, I would be surprised if the GOP candidate for president in 2020 or 2024 doesn't support gay marriage.

I have a difficult time getting excited that one party changes their mind when 51% of voters support something, while the other party waits until 60% support it.

You can repeat that story with the drug war (fighting over the 18:1 or 200:1 disparity in crack:powder cocaine sentences without actually reexamining what the hell we're doing) or fiscal policy (should we cut taxes for 99% of people or 100% of people, and should we cut government spending by $1T or $1.1T) or even health care (where no one has the stomach to even mention the words 'single payer').
“I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the President, if I had a personal e-mail,” Edward Snowden told the Guardian.

Well, he's certainly entitled to believe that, but I seriously doubt he could have actually done so. He's either deluded, lying, or both.
Looks like Snowden's former position is available as well: http://careers.boozallen.com/job/Honolulu-Information-Securi...
> Wouldn't it make sense to have reciprocity so it ends up being a game of citizen collaboration

Yes, I'd be perfectly happy with that. In fact, I'd be thrilled to have the same protections when travelling abroad. Unfortunately, most countries don't provide such protections for even their own citizens.
The problem is people always screw up and a decade later they think it's okay to visit the US for a conference or something and don't realize they will never see the light of day again once they step into that airport.

Or some country wants a political favor from the current US president so they turn him over.

Very brave dude but his life is just about as over as Bradley Manning.
There's no formal procedure for this. Remember, the US Constitution is now the oldest constitution still in use. When it was created, the concept of judicial review wasn't really a thing. It wasn't until 15 years later, in the court case Marbury v Madison, that the precedent for a court ruling a law unconstitutional was established. The Supreme Court just sort of gave themselves that power and everyone else agreed to let them. It was never written down anywhere. The European countries already had seen this when they were rewriting their constitutions, so they have the concept baked in to the legal system.
"If anything, it may give a much needed boost to an existing sector of internet industry, privacy and security. I see several companies springing up (some already have) that delivery end-to-end encrypted communication and storage over different media (of course, there would be plenty of Snake Oil as well)."

I think it's worth pointing out that this sector growing as a result of this will mean that those 195 people who responded "I'd like to do something but it's too difficult to avoid using cloud services" will find it easier and easier to make the switch.

Couple that opinion in the tech community with consumer protection laws that may technically forbid a business from storing customer data on these services and you do have a drive for foreign business to move away from US services.

When your talking about a principle such as a right to privacy that's not something that will disappear from society quicker than the time it takes for businesses competing on this principle can be set up.
There are plenty of people in jail and dead for the act of sending a check to someone. Giving money to someone is a crime in many circumstances, among them:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2339A

(Computer crimes are covered there; that is to say, anyone providing money to encourage or support anyone performing any sort of computer crime against U.S. national security is themselves guilty of a crime and liable for up to 15 years in prison.)
A very interesting quote, but how much does the government really restrict my freedom? This is a sincere question, because I honestly feel like it isn't that much. There are some laws that I think really ought to be changed, but there aren't many times in a given day where I think to myself "oh dammit, I really wanted to do [illegal thing] but I can't because the government won't let me." So it's hard for me to really empathize with Epictetus's analogy, unless the angle is privacy: the lion isn't free because he's always being watched, even if his captors allow him to do as he pleases.
I'm not suggesting he is an enemy of the United States, but rather that people in power may declare him one.
Note the author- essentially everything he writes is like this.
I enjoyed the presentation and animation, in particular. It was more fun than any other online quiz I've taken.
Ask HN: Post PRISM - Any companies considering moving their data overseas?
WordCamp Milwauekee 2013, WordPress  Sharepoint as a intranet hub.
It seems kind of hard to get the west coast to protest against this. Perhaps, a lot of people out here are involved in this one way or another.
Russ Feingold of Wisconsin was the lone voice for liberty in 2001 [1]. There were 10 votes against its renewal in 2006. There were 66 Nays in the House in 2001, including—famously—Dr. Paul.

[1] http://educate-yourself.org/cn/patriotact20012006senatevote....
Nice work! Suggestions:

- Unique URL for each price check page (so people can send links to their friends)

- In each orange box on the price page, show a small picture of each material. (bonus: render the object in that material. difficulty: hard)

- Minor: in the orange boxes on price page, don't include both white text and black text on the same background. It looks weird.
> http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920026358.do

If you have any input over the sample chapter, it'd be nice if it could represent a portion of a "real" chapter of the book. Right now it just provides the "how to install Vagrant" section, which isn't really representative of the book's content.
Faking it in China
Really? For example, the 15th amendment of the US constitution doesn't apply to non-citizens (voting rights).

The US actually does a pretty good job of protecting non-citizens. Unless there is evidence that providing a right to a non-citizen is required for the proper functioning of the country, it has to be provided.
In the West Wing, a US TV Show that is no longer on air after 8 seasons, the White House communications director leaked to the press that the US had a military space shuttle. He leaked this so that astronauts on board a disabled shuttle could be rescued. In the TV show, the public generally agreed with what he did and treated him as a hero.

(This is where the relevant part comes into play)

Before the communications director was unceremoniously fired by the President, the President told the communications director:

"When you walk out of here, there'll be people out there, perhaps a great many, who'll think of you as a hero. I just don't for a moment want you thinking I'll be one of them."

(disclaimer/spoiler: The communications director was pardoned by the President after much deliberation on the President's part. This was mainly due to his very close friendship, and the fact that the communications director had a family on the way)
The DHS also claims that the 4th amendment doesn't apply to anyone within 100 miles of an international border - which includes a majority of the entire US population.

http://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights-constitution-free-zone-...

Edit: I appear to be misinformed about this.
Send secure, self-destructing email messages
That seems reasonable to me. Obstruction of justice [1] is and should be a crime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obstruction_of_justice
All of the comments taking umbrage that the article isn't celebrating Snowden's character are missing the point. While it is entirely possible that he was qualified or even overqualified for the position he had at Booz Allen Hamilton, nothing in his resume suggests that which raises the question who else has access to sensitive data and secrets? The answer could be that Snowden was an exceptional individual and that's how he got to where he was, but it could also be that the government is terrible at hiring and granting security clearance and there are a lot of terrible individuals with access to secrets & sensitive data and Snowden just happened to be a standout.
I think there's a difference between the media and the populace.
Edward Snowden's choice of Hong Kong as haven is a high-stakes gamble
What you're describing is essentially 6to4, minus the anycast gateways.

The problem with using 6to4 as the IPv4 upgrade path is that it solves the easy problem (pushing big addresses through the core of the network), but not the hard problem (updating all the edge devices, and every piece of software that stores or manipulates an IP address.)
'If Slate trusts Farhad Manjoo with their Op/Ed writing and critical thinking, why should we trust Slate with their journalism?'

//insert crappy article

I mean, why should we give interviews at all? Obviously someone's resume and a class they didn't complete is all we need to know about them.
This. We are seeing reports that are hours old. How he released the NSA data was thought about long ago. I doubt he is in HongKong.
But to be fair—regardless of the reasons behind it—Paul endorsed Romney for president, who promised to contribute to expanding our spy state like Obama and his High Command.

I find it hard to imagine his father agreeing to do such a thing for any price.
I should have added that it's not very tender, so it's considered a poor cut to use as-is, in most cases, unlike other prime cuts. Fajitas is the only dish I know about that uses skirt steak without grinding it up first, and even then, it is (as far as I know) always marinated first. But I don't pretend to be an expert, just a foodie.

In my country, I believe skirt steak always ends up becoming ground beef for things like hamburgers. Which is a bit odd, when I think about it, since most stores do carry rump (aka round) steak cuts, which is also a not very good, not very tender cut. That's what I think you mean by "eye of round"?
I'm not a lawyer, but I believe they declared only part of FISA unconstitutional. The part they declared unconstitutional happens to be the primary crux of the legal argument for PRISM.

I don't understand how you can have secret courts either. It's a perversion of what this country was founded upon.