Am I to believe that there are two bakeshops in the world that, together, dominate over 99 percent of retail baking, one run by Apple and the other by Google?

No joke, but there was a plastic surgeon in Texas who had the same first and last name as I. He specialized in breast augmentation. It's a while ago now, but right around the year 2000 or 2001, I got an email inquiring about his services. Apparently, the young woman writing thought I was he. I was sorely tempted to say that I would need to see what I would be working with, before I could give my "professional opinion," but my conscience got the best of me.

If you go to the DisruptJ20 website and look around a bit, you'll see that they distribute publications that include how to fight with riot police and armored vehicles—I suppose in case enthusiasts want research to write a screenplay or something. For example, the "Egyptian Tactical Pamphlet." https://www.indybay.org/newsit...

I have to say, I used to be all for civil liberties; but now that I'm told that these devious Russians are trying to influence our elections, well then obviously what we need is strict controls in place to shutdown all that FAKE NEWS and ensure that our news sources publish only Real News! Why isn't anybody talking about this!!!!!

With respect to the electrical grid, we deserve what we get. Our entire civilization rests on electricity. If ever there was cause for an air gap or private network, this is it. It goes beyond irresponsible to have hooked our power stations up to the Internet. It is simply moronic.

Wouldn't Trump just start his own Twitter?

You're absolutely right in your characterization of things, but this is what a lot of people fail to get. What we have here are two separate moral standards going on.

Human beings have lived most of their existence in groups of no more than 150 individuals. Even for most of recorded history, most people lived in villages or in neighborhoods in cities where they knew just about every face they saw during the day, every day of their lives. Whatever kind of innate moral sense we have and whatever moral codes we have developed have all developed within this context of face-to-face interactions and persistent relationships. So, human beings have a hard time doing anything that isn't "nice." It's not "nice" to quit without giving notice. What "decent" person does a thing like that?

Companies, by contrast, operate on a system of profit and loss. I am not saying that's a bad thing. What I'm saying is that people shouldn't kid themselves. When a company decides to show you the door, that's excused as being "nothing personal, just business." In other words, they are doing solely what is the interest of the company: most particularly, their bottom line.

People need to understand that these are the rules. By all means, when you're interacting with friends, family, neighbors, or even strangers on the subway, do the right thing—the thing that human interactions have relied on for millennia. But when you're dealing with a company—when it's business—think first what's in your best interest, and then do that without a qualm.

Maybe giving notice is right for you, then and there. Then, go ahead. But, maybe walking right out the door is the best thing for you. In that case then, by all means, don't let the door hit you in the ass.

If I'm paying for the car, it had better be looking out for me.

It's wrong to presume that there was a legal way for Snowden to do what he did, because several previous whistle blowers who went by the book were targeted and prosecuted by the government. The intelligence agencies, and the politicians who support them, do not tolerate leaks—even well-intentioned ones that follow protocol and seek only to expose wrongdoing to the "proper" authorities.

Let's not talk about Edward Snowden being brought to trial. Rather, the people in our intelligence agencies and their allies in elected offices who subvert our laws, or who downright break our laws, and who vindictively attack anyone who tries to expose their unlawful, un-democratic, and anti-social behavior are the ones who need to be brought to trial. Hold them accountable first—and then we can talk about Edward Snowden.

Liberal Arts majors need no longer restrict their job search to McDonald's, Burger King, etc.

There's an old joke that goes: "The Internet: where men are men, women are men, and children are FBI agents—and they're men!"

(I heard it years ago, right hear on Slashdot.)

Apple could just buy its own city, the same way Walt Disney did, and leave Cupertino in the lurch.

The sad thing is that, from the video I saw, the cop who got pulled over by the woman handled it in a reasonably professional manner. The head crybaby over at the union started the "We'll show her" nonsense. All that aside though, I agree with you about what police work seems to do the mind.

Don't the Iranian powers that be have something to say about this? When people began writing apps to publicize checkpoints here in the U.S., our morality police threw a hissy fit.

Is it too much to ask for a "And why this is a big deal" in the summary, or do I have to turn in my nerd card?