NDAs and non-compete covenants have been a part of every consulting and employment contract for every job I've ever had. As best I can determine, everyone who has every employed me in some form has assumed that I've signed such contracts previously.

Legally, the non-compete covenants can only prevent me from directly soliciting customers and suppliers of a past employer for one year. However, businesses that find me either via my jobsite postings or via a recruiter can hire/contract me with no penalty to me.

The NDAs only prevent me from discussing things my current and future employers already assume I'm not allowed to discuss. And if said employer legally possesses information or data potentially covered by an NDA, I'm only restricted from discussing how it applied to past employers. Again, already assumed to not be discussable.

NSLs are served to third parties. Courts have upheld compelling third parties to provide evidence.

Once a NSL, warrant or other court order is leaked, the secrecy is broken. The leaked copy is itself the evidence of the leak. The "unspeakable places" are only needed to motivate the recipient to accept a plea deal.

At least in the US, until the SCOTUS issues a ruling about this, it is a gray area. Obviously, the companies doing this are betting that "not making a false statement" is not the same as "making a true statement" even if the underlying information communicated is the same in either case.

The government would hold the recipient of said NSL accountable for failing to enact adequate security measures to prevent said NSL from leaking. Similar to any other crime of willful negligence.

Now that was stupid. They should have strapped a bomb robot to the truck's lift and raised that to the device.

Neither would I, but my cats would probably love it.

I remember back when my GF and I first got broadband in our house. Some of our friends who had it before we did had gotten in trouble with the cable company for using their own router. The cable company was able to detect this because the modem would report the MAC address of the connected device to the cable company. Our friends were forced to rent and use a supplied router, then charged based on the number of PCs that router reported (or for 2, if the router reported

When our subscription started, after getting the service working using a PC directly connected to the modem, we then set our router's "up stream" MAC address to the same as the PC we used for setup. We still keep that PC for when there is a problem. Just before calling the cable company, we disconnect the router and connect that PC. Otherwise, the person at the cable company will just say "The problem is that you have Windows Firewall turned on. Turn that off and the problem will go away."

Yes, the portability is a very good thing. Using a cover with a built-in Bluetooth keyboard, I mostly use it like a netbook that has a touch screen. The touch screen allows me to include simple drawings with my notes and provides easy (2D) navigation of PDF "prints" of complex diagrams. Some things, I still need a full laptop, but most meetings, the tablet is much more convenient.

"Sufficiently intelligent" does not necessarily imply the wisdom to not exploit the resources of solar systems inhabited by "low life forms".

(If there's perceived value in the resources. If not, we're probably safe from them. But we don't know what might be valuable to them. Even without "replicators", advanced material science could make our resources not needed or not worth the trouble. (Our current push to develop alternatives to rare earth metals is an example of trying to make something "not worth the trouble" to obtain.))

Encrypting something already encrypted has to be done very carefully, otherwise the data is less secure, not more. In the widely known 3DES, which was used as an interim upgrade to DES before AES, the second encryption is actually done with the DES decryption function, while the first and third encryptions are done using the DES encryption function.

And when layering different algorithms, it is possible for the weaknesses of one algorithm to exacerbate the weaknesses of another algorithm. This requires understanding how the algorithms effect each other.

Also, to choose algorithms wisely requires understanding the weaknesses of the algorithms.

The vast majority of potential users of encryption will have to trust more than a few experts and other third parties.

I want my fake engine noise to sound like a Jetson's flying car.

Despite the slight change in the curvature of the main mirror, Hubble's images were pretty amazing. It was the press and the politicians that called it a disaster. Fortunately, that didn't prevent NASA from sending a crew to install corrective optics and a better camera.

Years ago, I picked up a $90, swing-arm monitor stand with keyboard tray. That holds my center monitor. When I'm doing routine documentation or coding, I can raise the monitor and keyboard and work while standing. My other 3 monitors can still be quickly consulted even while standing. Granted, I still have to sit for the intense multi-monitor design, debug or unit test sessions, but I generally need a break every hour while doing that. Most of the time, I'm switching between standing and sitting twice per hour.

For laptops (and even desktops) whether touch makes sense depends on the application. I've seen, for example, medical apps that work well on laptops and desktops with touch screen monitors. I've also seen DJ apps that, while designed for mouse control, are easier to use with a touch screen. And where I work, the "Prototype Manufacturing" lab has switched all their monitors to touch screen monitors (keyboards and mice are still available, but a lot of the time, the techs use just the touch screens).