Tim Cook's letter to customers

[Muirium]

In the next round Facebook and Twitter back Apple in phone encryption battle with FBI:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... o-shooting

Suprised?

now that is ironic

I know, right? The deeper this goes, the clearer it's getting that Apple is simply telling the precise truth. Who'd a thunk it!

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... efore.html

"But in a similar case in New York last year, Apple acknowledged that it could extract such data if it wanted to. And according to prosecutors in that case, Apple has unlocked phones for authorities at least 70 times since 2008.

Horseshit.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/18/no-app ... forcement/

The conspiracy here is the craving people have to believe.

[matt3o]

it must be true, I read it on the internet!

[Muirium]

Can we get back to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion already? The conspiracy dial needs a sharp twist to the right!

[ReleaseCandidate]

Horseshit.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/18/no-app ... forcement/

The conspiracy here is the craving people have to believe.

Of course they hadn't unlocked the phones - that's wasn't necessary back than.

[Chyros]

Can we get back to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion already? The conspiracy dial needs a sharp twist to the right!

It's the Jewish-American conspiracy! They've closed a deal with the Nepalese to Illuminati the fuck out of us!

[Muirium]

I blame it all on the Somalis, the Afghans and the Syrians. You can see how richly they've been rewarded by the conspicuous lengths they go to in order to *seem* impoverished. Very suspicious!

[seebart]

Jackass and chump John McAfee now says he will break iPhone crypto for FBI in 3 weeks or eat a shoe on live TV .

http://arstechnica.com/staff/2016/02/mc ... n-live-tv/

He's also got plenty of pathetic pics of himself online like this:

chump.jpg (38.87 KiB) Viewed 5472 times

[Muirium]

The BBC let these two clowns off with chocolate versions of the hat and kilt they'd promised to devour!



Do not doubt Professor John Curtice on live television!

[guk]

Jackass and chump John McAfee

He's trying too hard with all those chicks.
There can only be one.

[seebart]

That's right guk. Tony Montana is still the man. God I need to watch that movie again some time.

tony.jpg (63.14 KiB) Viewed 5418 times

[Muirium]

Speaking of Al Pacino, my favourite performance of his is in the stunningly good yet often forgotten Glengarry Glen Ross.



The entire cast of that film is top notch. And the swearing, oh the swearing! It's a µ movie, what can I say?

[seebart]

Yeah he's done some great stuff, I enjoyed him in The Devil's Advocate.

Back on topic, the trumpet now wants to boycott Apple while the feds have filed a motion to compel Apple to work with the FBI.

http://gizmodo.com/trump-calls-for-boyc ... 1760159905

http://www.businessinsider.de/departmen ... ?r=US&IR=T

trump1.gif (158.58 KiB) Viewed 5393 times

[vivalarevolución]

I'm going to attempt to steer this conversation away from Al Pacino for a minute.

I'm highly entertained that the presidential candidates are jumping on this and condemning Apple. When politics get into silly season, we love to discuss all the major threats to our country: terrorism (what that means), immigration, border walls, national security, privacy, etc., we've all heard the rhetoric. Very little of it seems like reasonable long term solutions or attempts to understand the nuances of the situation.

What we choose to brush off are actual violent events that do happen, not threats, like the thousands of American citizens killing other American citizens every single year. That is not a threat, but an actual danger in our everyday lives. To use just one example, the statistical correlation between availability of guns and murder rates is undeniable. Yet actual solutions based on accumulated evidence and understanding are rarely discussed without the same fervor as "terrorism" or slapping walls on the border. What we hear about is what gets the headlines, what sells, or what will garner more votes. How many more people have to die before we change how we address these issues?

I simply wish we could have meaningful discussions about solving real and present problems without the discussion turning hostile. I find that somewhat difficult both in real life and online, so I keep my mouth shut and fingers idle most of the time. Although staying silent is frustrating itself, and perhaps I should be more vocal, but when no one is listening, I'm not sure if there is much of a difference.

But thankfully I have deskthority where everything is off topic and and light hearted (that is actual gratitude, not sarcasm).

[Muirium]

It's a bad time to be a political moderate.

The fearmongers are catering to their natural audience: angry, bitter, covetous, deluded morons. The bigger the lie: the better. Honestly, I'm not even drawing false comparisons. They're literally playing from Adolf Hitler's rulebook. Choose an enemy and demonise them. Blame them for every ill in the world. Do it loudly and often enough, and there is no stopping you. Fools want simple answers. So manufacture them.

You can just sense the moment pretty soon now when the far right candidates start throwing Tim Cook's sexual identity around like the fresh piece of meat they know it must be for their supporters. Homophobia, like every prejudice, plays well in South Carolina, alas.

I fear that the lunatics may have to take over the asylum before America can escape this age of self contempt.

[Muirium]

Everything, all of it, boils down to a single question.

Do we have a right to security?

https://securosis.com/mobile/do-we-have ... urity/full

[webwit]

You'll have to do better than fearmongering with godwins. That stuff killed Pim Fortuyn, who like Trump or Obama is a lot of things, but not Hitler. It's much better to fearmonger with stuff that cannot be proven, like economics or pensions. I heard there's a region in North-England which was thus fearmongered into giving up independence in favour of becoming an English province of sorts. England itself is fearmongering itself into a EU state with the same tactics.

[Chyros]

England itself is fearmongering itself into a EU state with the same tactics.

They want nothing more than to quit the EU ASAP over here, but that has nothing to do with politicians. It's a cultural thing. Call a Brit European and they'll most likely get genuinely offended. National pride is a major thing here, more than in most countries I've been to - and I've been to quite a few.

[seebart]

Yes Chyros, I learned that quickly when I was living in the UK. While not really far away from the rest of europe on the map, the brits will retain their own sovereignty at all costs and with a stubborn pride next to nothing. The current EU / UK negotiations once again demonstrate that perfectly and Cameron is only the mouthpiece for many others.

Because meaningful discussions about solving real and present problems without the discussion turning hostile are always more demanding viva! Humans are lazy apes IMO.

Yes the trumpet's fearmonger strategy is working well sofar, combined with insanely offensive insults that none is spared from, not even the pope. Hitler was far more intelligent and evil though.

[Muirium]

Scotland's voting to stay in. Only England is in play. If we go our separate ways over this question, we may well go our separate ways full stop.

[Chyros]

The Scotland thing is an amazing phenomenon, one of the most interesting political and cultural phenomena of the time in my opinion. The Scots are hugely divided on the issue, but balanced so finely a tiny breeze could swing it one way or the other. The opinions of Englishmen on the issue is also divided; some don't care what happens, others see it as the dissolution of their country. Just before the referendum I saw several of my English friends post rather emotional pleas on Facebook humbly BEGGING the Scots not to tear their country apart.

[Muirium]

Yet my English mum voted as I did: Yes to independence!

It's all about whether Scotland is a country or not. England will be England forever.

[seebart]

I'd guess the Scottish independence vote will win eventually, almost did once already. Not an easy vote.

[Muirium]

That's what most of us here think, too. On both sides. Yes voters are younger, turned out in massive numbers to paint the political map SNP yellow last May, and will do it again this May too. No support, meanwhile, is especially strong amongst over 70s. The more WWII movies you've seen in your life, the more your likelihood to vote against independence!

The Brexit vote is a serious danger for London. Scotland is in the bag, but things are way too close in England for the establishment's liking. I don't think Leave will win ultimately, as Project Fear is very effective when you have the BBC aboard. We saw how that operated here in Scotland in 2014. All due respect to Stephen Hawking, but was there really a need to literally wheel him out along with every other conceivable celebrity? Expect more of the same for Remain.

But if it goes wrong… oh boy, it'll be a doozy! The perfect excuse to hold a second independence vote, and Project Fear will have done the Yes side's campaigning for them.

[seebart]

Right, bigger problem being the entire EU situation right now. Very uncertain months ahead. Merkel can't hold anything together, not here in Germany and even less so in Brussels. Cameron acts like he just negotiated a big UK win win situation ...whatever.

[Muirium]

The negotiation thing was just a dance. People will vote for what they believe.

Many English, but fairly few Scots, will vote to Leave because of straight cucumbers, Winston Churchill, Dame Vera Lynn and the Battle of Britain. Which is to say because they watch and read Rupert Murdoch stuff. It's all about an evil empire and the last nation on earth where the candle of hope and freedom flickers in the darkness for them… ugh!

Most Scots, and hopefully the majority of English, will vote to Remain. Their reasons differ. Some people enjoy the freedom of movement and are willing to put up with the corresponding freedom for disgusting foreigners to live in their parish shamelessly speaking their vile devil tongues. Ugh! Others will be discovering in the months ahead just how perilously awful it will be to Leave because the telly just can't shut up about it. The soap operas will have kindly Poles and whimsical Romanians showing up as regular characters. Some of them may even not be lesbians. What was once such a wide gulf between Albion and wretched Europe may even seem to creep a little closer, for a while, just long enough to reach voting day.

Ach!

I don't care as much about being in the EU as I do about getting out of the UK. We had another thread about this recently where I put my case. Europe is indeed in a good old mess right now, and I'd rather be in a free Scotland outside the EU than stuck with Britain, in or out. My vote is to Remain because, yes that's what I prefer of the two options on the ballot, but also to cause as much trouble as possible if England does rise against its own establishment and vote the wrong bloody way. Getting stuck inside Faragia is as disgusting a prospect as a man with a yellow toupee succeeding Obama as our global president!

[scottc]

How many threads will be derailed by the EU? We need to act now. Disband the EU, save Deskthority!

[Muirium]

Nah, you'd need to disband Europe, the continent. Because if the EU didn't already exist, it would be necessary for the natural bureaucrats among us to create it again!

If I had my druthers, we'd call the institution "Europe", to upset the nitpickers. All the presidents and prime ministers of the nations would pair off in a knockout stage. Speakers of parliaments and party leaders would qualify after a tournament, with seeds of course. Germany would get a whole pot to itself, but they'd have to pay the rest of us for the privilege.

[seebart]

How many threads will be derailed by the EU? We need to act now. Disband the EU, save Deskthority!

Valid point. Then again offtopicthority lives.

Looks like the June 23rd is the big day...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... -live.html

[Muirium]

"By leaving we can take control and show the rest of Europe the way to flourish."

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk ... withdrawal

Here's where you can tell I'm not a card carrying member of any political party. Despite the fact Michael Gove is a widely loathed Tory, who managed the NHS for a while quite like a fox with the keys to a poultry farm, and that I disagree with him on most everything, I can't deny I still like the guy. He's my favourite baddie in London politics right now.

[ohaimark]

That was an inspiring speech -- I don't know enough about the U.K. political situation to comment on its validity though.

Sound like the E.U. is a pain, in any case.