So when you create a new account and the same people tag you in pics and send you email and you write in the same way from the same geolocation..you get the picture. There is no reset, there is no hiding. We have turned the corner and there is no turning back. Welcome to the machine.

Exactly. Either that, or realize that it is unsecure and treat it as such.

When the hardware, the software, and the transport medium are all compromised it is moronic to continue this "security" game.

A while back I realized that the most social sites are actually Pavlovian driven drool buckets where you get a "treat" for every like, or comment or whatever.. so this little device is somewhat like putting a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room and letting them fight it out..

It is not about the employer, it is about who you are. Take the high road, give the notice, and if they do the escort, then so be it. It is not about tit for tat, it is about being a decent person in spite of asswipe management, a company that would just as soon outsource you as look at you and the other million reasons why sticking it to them may seem right. Its not. Unless you care to be an asswipe too, in which case, it doesnt really matter now does it?

I decided to go LInux a few months ago, and actually went Mint from a post I was reading here on /. Although I had only tried LInux a few times in the past, with mixed hardware issues, Mint installed flawlessly, found all my laptop hardware, and has been pretty much all I wanted in an OS. Mint comes in various flavors.. I started with Cinnamon and moved over to KDE. While I realize it is heavier, it really brings the whole experience to a new and polished level. Very happy noob in Mint.

The most ironic and insidious part of this whole mess is.. They got us to pay for the surveillance network above our taxes. They got us to pay for the cable lines, they got us to pay for the websites, they got us to pay for Windows, they got us to pay for iPhones and Android phones, they got us to practically beg for all of it and take our money.to build our own cages.

The problem with GMO is not the science of it, not the benefit of it, it is that GMO is driven by short term profit, plain and simple. If a company can splice in a beneficial trait for short term profit, they will do it. No questions.

The problem arises in not requiring or possibly even being able to conceive the mid or long term consequences.

An example is a story I read a few years ago... basically an ecosystem had collapsed because of the elimination of wolves. The strange part was that the system was collapsing because of the rivers running dry. An excerpt from Here
The chain of effects went roughly like this: No wolves meant that many more elk crowded onto inviting river and stream banks. A growing population of fat elk, in no danger of being turned into prey, gnawed down willow and aspen seedlings before they could mature. As the willows declined, so did beavers, which used the trees for food and building material. When beavers build dams and make ponds, they create wetland habitats for countless bugs, amphibians, fish, birds and plants, as well as slowing the flow of water and distributing it over broad areas. The consequences of their decline rippled across the land.

The point being, we are introducing unexpected consequences to a system that has come to balance over millions of years.

Its not the Oranges today we should worry about.. its the new breed of resultant pine trees in 20 years that kill all the butterflies and cause the grass on the plains to stop growing... wild example.. but did you really think exterminating wolves would make the rivers run dry?

When the patent trolls begin crapping all over 3d printing it will be only the behemoths and shell "intellectual property" companies who control it..like every f*cking thing else of any scale.


/end grumpy rant

How do you even have time to thoroughly beta test things on a schedule like this? It seems run and gun and eventually people doing this kick their users in the nads with some security or stability flaw that SHOULD have been found with enough time to do it right.

For a long time, I thought like you, that it was my duty to ward off and protect the "children". After a while, you realize 2 things.

First, it is most likely your duty to inform and educate. Do that. Do it well, do it loud, and do it as often as you can. When someone eventually opens up one of those attachments, it will get around, and peer pressure will make everyone else gun-shy. After a user or two of mine got bit by an attachment, and I had repeatedly warned my users about these things.. I ended up with people at my desk occasionally asking..can you come look at this.. it just looks funny.. it was all about the peer pressure and not wanting to be That Guy who clicked the stupid link.

Second, and I hate to say it, this is what we do, and this is job security. You can't save em all Hasselhoff, if ya did, there would be nothing left to do..

At least for me its not, its about not feeding the beast directly. I jumped to Linux, Opera, and DDG as a way to add a few more cycles and maybe a few more man hours to the mess rather than hand it over directly with Windows, IE or Chrome, and Google. If anyone thinks they can really be anonymous in this ecosystem they are sorely mistaken. I do believe however there are less trodden paths and a little more pains in the rear that can be had, and as a silent protest, I chose to use them.

Its the last 20 years of coddling and telling kids thay can do anything, handing out prizes to everyone, and boring the crap out of anyone with an extra IQ point above average that makes the mentality that well, of course you can dear, all you have to do is work hard and you can do anything.

Then you get a classroom full of people who expect a prize every time they do anything.

/ old grump rant..

First thing I did was install Opera.. Since Google has been basically up FF rear from square one I figured Opera would be an easy choice to get out of the Googlopoly.. I went Opera before I even jumped to Linux.. also fwiw.. Ive been DDG for a while too.. cant blame them for tryin to make money.. even so.. its been a worthwhile learning experience and i am enjoying it..

This has been my limited experience as well. I havent run into any major stoppers, found all the tools I need to do my little web dev biz, and the forums, although maybe not real pretty and sometimes grind a little, are well stocked with helpful folks. All the hardware on my laptop came right up, even my wireless mouse and speaker/usb lapdesk deal. Its been a real positive experience. I particularly enjoy just installing apps right from the software manager.. its a nice change from the windows world..