Glad to see this became real. Hope it makes it to the front page.

I'm still waiting for an "Ask Slashdot: Once Slashdot beta has been foisted on me, what site should I use instead". I'm only partially joking. I actually want to know the answer.

I loathe to say this but, HTTPS Everywhere is security theater. It makes your browser have a green icon where it otherwise might not but, that green icon is just an illusion of security. Considering recent revelations about the NSA, I would assume all SSL certificates are compromised. Like, literally, all of them. If the trust chain has been compromised by one party (the NSA), I would assume it compromised by all parties.

Well, nowhere in the glowing reviews did I see that it would also bring back my dog so, country music still has its place.

I will admit that I was skeptical that a piece of software could cure my cancer, bring back my wife and prevent me from beating my daughter but, based on dozens of posts on Slashdot, I'm willing to give it a try.

Some of the big companies that are going to be essentially extorted money can actually prevent this from happening. If Google/Facebook/etc tell AT&T, "That's fine, we'll pay your extortion money. However, since we add so much value to your service, we've decided to no longer provide our services on your network unless you pay us slightly more than we are paying you". If major services started disappear off the AT&T network, I imagine they'd rethink this blatant violation of net-neutrality. I doubt the big internet companies would ever do something like this but, a guy can dream.

I'd take it a step further and say the real story is that people are idiots. On a scale between Dangerously Oblivious and Zombie Apocalypse Prepper, most people heavily lean towards the former. Whether that's dressing for the conditions, driving for the conditions, keeping some basic emergency supplies in your car, having enough food in the house, having an emergency alternative heat source, etc. I'm not saying everyone needs a Unimog and a hardened bunker with a years worth of MREs in their backyard but, a little common sense and a little preparation can make most extreme winter weather nearly a non-event.

The NSA *is* a criminal gang. And, it's a criminal gang that can put you in jail for breaking laws that you don't even realize you are breaking.

Or, that the very least, you should at least tell the tale of the time that a Møøse bit your sister.

Well said and makes me think of this quote from Fear and Loathing:

"We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

You joke but, earlier today there was a story about Starship Troopers on Slashdot. I know that if I still lived in Buenos Aires, I'd give serious thought to getting out of town for a while...

The fossil fuel power plants themselves are less of a danger but, the methods used to extract the fuel can and do render huge swaths of land uninhabitable. There are parts of the U.S. where previously habitable (and populated) land has become uninhabitable (or nearly so) due to the groundwater and air pollution effects of hydraulic fracturing.