What I gleaned most from the article(s) is that it's becoming increasingly important for all of us in the tech community to take a stand ourselves along with TOR to promote online anonymity in our companies (& possibly even think about supporting the TOR Project itself in some way).
That's what I like about the mind of an entrepreneur- the ability & desire to innovate.
San Francisco has through the roof high rent? Well, why not innovate & live in an RV? An innovative way to overcome the problem of containing personal costs. Also, this is a way to actually own something that can open up some very cool travel possibilities as well.
Totalitarianism is on the rise and the mass surveillance age is proof of it. It could also be an observation that we the public bought the lies of safety and security that was being fed to us in erecting all of these government programs.
I guess now many of us are seeing the light that it seems much more likely that this is really all about controlling the masses to the benefit of the state and not about security at all. However, those being given such powers may very well have figured that we would later figure this out but by then it would be too late for us to do anything about it. I would like to believe that we the people will prove them wrong.
We know we have a problem when transparency is largely demonized. Allegations of "terrorism" seems to be bringing much benefit to government. I saw a movie recently from the 1980's called "They Live!" I noticed that in the movie the word terrorism, allegations of terrorism or terrorists toward those who opposed them, was the weapon of control of the disguised, camelion totalitarian regime in power. Only those with special glasses could see them. It would seem as if this would be the playbook in protecting criminal government activity done under the auspices of law. Al Capone would have drooled for such type of power.
Top Secret should not be an excuse to undermine the law, the rights of individuals, and the Constitution of the United States. Those who witness such crimes have the duty to come forward to the public. By keeping quiet and turning a blind eye to crime, one partners with it.
Crime grows in the dark while the light of day exposes it. Freedom requires transparency. A war on whistle-blowers is really a type of barometer as to the amount of freedom that we really have.
This is a great way of holding the banks accountable and asserting fairness in the citizen's fight against the corprotacracy that has a chokehold on our nation at the moment. If the banks that have received huge amounts of taxpayer money in the form of bailouts refuse to right the abuses that they created then it is incumbent upon a free people to stand up or continue to be run over. It is unfortunate that our federal legislators have allowed things to get to this point. Local governments are going to have to do something as the legislators at the federal level are unwilling to go against or are themselves corrupted by the corporate lobby. This is why we should not allow for career politicians.
I am taking two classes at the moment and the only option the college offers for them is to take them online. (One is supposed to be a hybrid but only in theory.) What I have found is that the workload in one of these online classes actually compares to one of my MBA grad school classes. Many times the assignments do not have adequate instruction provided from the text in order to complete them. For these reasons, I have been left me really desiring that this was a traditional class with a real instructor and instruction provided in the classroom. There is something to be said for classroom interaction for sure. It would at least have been nice to have been given an option to take the class in an actual classroom setting. This way I could actually be taught the content rather than left trying to figure it out by with a learning lab instructor or by myself.
God has made it possible for me when it should not have been possible at all. Somehow, God proves that He is real to me in that against all odds I keep going. All of these answers in this thread that I have read are great answers for doing all that you know how to do. Sometimes it takes God to put you over when nothing else can. If all else fails, try God! Lol!
This is something that has hit my consciousness only recently as a result of the gun debate (3-d printers are being used to manufacture magazines). Since then I have checked out some uses for it on YouTube and have seen everything it used to manufacture model airplanes that fly to hand-grenades (yikes!). I have already been pricing out units myself and would like to purchase one of these one day in the not-so-distant future. The change that this technology will bring to so many individuals around the world is nothing short of revolutionary. I believe that it will really impact our society over the next decade in ways we would not even realize yet- kind of like the Internet did in the 1990's.
I have home-schooled kids and have planned to start my daughter in Code Academy. Knowing how to code is a leg-up in the digital age. However, it's not for everybody. We still need those with basic trade-skills who seem to be getting kicked to the curb in favor of someone in China who could do the job cheaper. (If we want to build the American economy we are going to have to become self-sufficient inside of our own country again and have no trade-deficit.)
Personally, I have observed this becoming more of an issue related to the times that we live in. Let's face it, America has been so ingrained with the survival of the fittest mentality for so long that finally it is sinking in.
Until people start valuing others more in society I do not feel that this will change. Behaviors flow out of beliefs. When the beliefs change then people change. Loving our neighbor as ourself is not a cherished value right now.
Look for Microsoft to try to squash those in open source who are already nicely serving up quality office products without charge. Could this be why Oracle stopped working to develop Open Office (who btw allowed you to not only open but also save in MS Office file formats)? Did they know something about this that we didn't know? What happened with Open Office did not pass the smell test. Perhaps this is why. Hopefully, Apache can revive the efforts and get things moving forward again with Open Office.
I have used Ubuntu since 2008. I have seen it grown increasingly more user friendly over the years. I have always been impressed with it's stability and would never go back to running Windows. If you want something that is easier on your equipment then this is a great option.
It is only through the responsible use of freedom that people can continue to remain free. Freedom used for selfish ends leads to bondage. History has proven over and over again that in cases when self-serving attitudes spread throughout the culture that they are ripe for picking by their enemies with freedom soon lost. Freedom used responsibly always is to the benefit and welfare of others.
George Washington: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indespensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars."
To those of you who out there who are consumers of this type of material... buyer beware.
Dennis Ross is my congressman as he is based in Lakeland, FL. I am also pleased that he is one of my LinkedIn connections. It's a small world. Good job Dennis! (Yes, I voted for him, fyi.)
A really great idea. I have been befriended by a native pastor in Kenya. His son came down with something unexpected and had to go to the hospital. The hospital did not want to let the kid out until he was fully paid up and he couldn't pay it all . This escalated the bill even further. Something like this could have really helped.
Something anyone working on a startup idea should bear in mind. You may find similarities out there to what you have vision to do once you get started working with your idea. However, it is helpful to realize that just because something is similar to you does not mean that it has to be the same. Adding your own personality, twists to the product that differentiate yourself, and your own insight as well can set you apart from others. That's getting it right by focusing less on what others do with their ideas and more on what you want to do with yours. Focusing more on innovation & less on the competition is a much better way to succeed in the long-run.
When I was searching for a domain name for my startup idea, it became very evident to me rather quickly that a number of domain squatters have used the dictionary to snap up domain names. Let me first say that I really don't have an issue with someone purchasing a domain that goes along with an idea that they do intend to use at some reasonable future time. However, I do have an issue with those who search the dictionary for every possible domain name that someone with an idea might want to later use in order to later profit off of you and your idea. To combat this, I found myself having to come up with a creative variation of what I initially wanted to use in order to register a domain. In the end, I feel it benefited my creativity and led to a really catchy name. It is nice to now be aware of a tool that can help someone facing this process and hope that it falls only in the right hands.