See, that's what I'm talking about. "Humans can accomplish anything" is basically your way of saying "facts don't matter". It's hand waiving away anything you don't like. That's not really an argument.

At this point the number of things we've attributed to the NSA is so staggeringly high the only logical conclusion is that the NSA has turned the internet into a sentient being and has made it subservient to their will.

This is exactly what I was thinking. I am also a computer engineer and I know how absurd the infrastructure is to support emailing services. If the US gov did record every email from every user on the internet, they would have to be in control of the largest and most sophisticated data centers in the world, which…

As a network engineer, I call bullshit. Or even who give a shit. If every security agency is truely getting every unencypted "message" (what the hell does that even mean?), then awesome. That's so much data that it becomes useless.

Really, as a computer engineer should have an idea of how much traffic there is on the internet. You should also know the cost of storage, and how much storage one would need to store all the traffic on the internet, and how much infrastructure one would need to build to support all that storage. And then you'd know…

Ditch the fork. Use chopsticks to eat EVERYTHING.

I agree with you 100%. There IS in fact an "information race" that replaced the "space race" and the "nuclear supremacy race". And you are also 100% correct that the scariest part about this new race is that it's not between two or three titan countries. It's an all out war between any group that can "claim" an…

Huh - I'm a little surprised that you guys didn't get more into this one.

I think you're right within a certain area. If you wanted everyone in a gym class, or a bank, or a casino, to be monitored, it would be possible. As the area of surveillance expands, though, the system will be more and more porous. Whether it's the surveillance itself, or the reporting system, or the storage, at a…

this is the best point and one that is very rarely made by anyone - the simple fact that the amount of data accumulated is beyond our ability to sift through for specific kinds of behaviour (this includes data like e-mail and phone calls etc), and then escalate these actions for further analysis in order to determine…

I realize this is the most controversial one. I should probably have said "Massive useful security networks." We have massive security networks already. I just doubt that they're ever going to be usefully employed by any dystopian government. There's a certain disorganization inherent in any bureaucracy, but a big…

Person of Interest immediately comes to mind...

As to Jodie Foster's over-the-top-ness... I had the feeling that it was supposed to be a play-up of the (sometimes) bizarre affectations of wealthy culture. Left in a total bubble of their own, floating in space away from outside influence, how weird and ostentatious do you think the culture of perpetually competing…

As heavy handed as the film was, I think both liberals and conservatives can sympathize with Damon's character. After he got radiated, thrown out by Fitchner's character, and started vomiting from it when he got to his friend's house, I almost started to cry. This is basically what happens to thousands of veterans…

As bad as being trapped in a metal tube full of other people is, it would not be improved by the asshole next to you trying to pass the time by yacking to anyone and everyone who will pick up the phone. People start doing that, and we're going to find out if the Razr is thin enough to be used as a murder weapon.

This article topic is tired. There are good reasons, and people who don't understand them are usually choosing to do so.
It's really quite simple... put your phone next to your computer speakers. Now start sending and receiving data, and crank up the volume on your speakers. 90% of the time, you will hear an odd sound…

I think the real reason is loud talkers.

ah the 'rendezvous with Rama' episode.

There are so many of those kinds of things in Star Trek, the options are limitless. Just think of all of the strange planets that the original series visited. How about the black ooze being that killed Tasha Yar? The strange creature from Encounter At Farpoint? We've only really heard about the war with the Cardasians…