Apple did not out source any work. They own the store, really more of a consignment shop. The content owners set the prices and terms. The content owners provide the product descriptions, etc. Apple handles delivery and payments on behalf of the content owners.

What I'm saying is that this can happen in any country where your data is stored or with any company that is vulnerable to pressure from any government. Remember RIM caving to India on the protection of messages originating or terminating there? RIM's servers are in Canada. They've since (or it became known since) to other governments as well.

That was IBM. ITT is/was not IBM. Different deal.

It's hardly shocking that the U.S. government will pressure companies or anyone with in its reach to serve its interests. Every government does that though some governments have more evil aims than others. (Like people, the U.S. is not evil though sometimes it does bad things.) Did AT&T ever refuse a government request to tap a phone line? I've read that in the 1930's the U.S. pressured ITT which was installing Germany's telephony infrastructure to include things to help us tap their lines. Not sure exactly what that was, but I'm glad they did.

The "news" here is that the U.S. is better positioned to apply leverage to get the information and access it wants than other governments are. It also has a stronger military and a greater influence over international financial institutions. It's good to be king. Thankfully Putin and the Chinese Communist Party do not have the same reach, but they certainly do their best with what reach they can muster. Most of the posturing by EU officials is hypocritical. They directly benefit from the U.S.'s position and protection. That's why so many secretly cooperate.

The point is that if you put information or valuables where somebody else can get it, assume someone will. There is no permanently "safe" place for your information. There never has been. Why does anyone expect that there is?

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/06/iphones-can-auto-connect-to-rogue-wi-fi-networks-researcher-warns/

I"ve never bought that argument. When the IBM PC was introduced, businesses flocked to it because 1) it was from IBM, 2) it was cheaper than the more proprietary machnes (e.g. Displaywrite, System 23, etc.) and 3) more versatile than dedicated word processors. MS-DOS was the version of PC-DOS that could run on clones so businesses began to accept clones because they were compatible, cheaper and usually faster. Windows was written to run on MS-DOS so it was natural that businesses would give it a try. Window's PC's could run all the DOS software and were getting more "Mac like". They tended to either be cheaper or had more options than Macs. OS/2 was way too complex to install and had limited applications that ran natively. OS?2 was a great host for Windows though. So for businesses to use OS/2 they'd have to write custom applications - many did - and then they'd run packaged office applications in Windows

Myself and most everyone I know bought Windows machines because 1) that is what we used at work, not the other way around, 2) that's what OEM's offered and 3) there were tons of apps that ran on it - including the ones we used at work. I don't remember Microsoft ever being all that good marketing to consumers. XBox is a rare exception. OEM's and the business experience is what has driven Window's dominance - not home computer users.

He was informative. The rules of modding are that you don't mod based on whether you agree or not, you mod based on the quality/usefulness of the information provided. Some idiots mod down everything they disagree with so effectively they are trying to censor others. That would make /. much worse. Modding up because you agree would have a similar though less harmful effect. Less harmful in that low modded comments tend to get filtered out. If you'd prefer a site where nothing was posted except what you agreed with then you should start your own.

It also exposes the hypocrisy of the right. They both argue that these folks take jobs Americans don't want. The truth is that these folks accept wages that Americans won't for those jobs. It benefits businesses because illegal immigration and very liberal immigration policies put downward pressure on wages. Somewhere there is a balance between what is fair and what is best for the economy, but neither side cares what that is.

Let me clarify - the feds only fine you if you really screw up and drag your feet fixing it. Most disclosures are incidental or accidental or an employee or contractor who misuses their position. If the company has policies and training, takes corrective action and cooperated fully, they don't normally get fined. Nevertheless, the threat of fines keeps everyone on their toes. That doesn't mean our systems are nearly as secure as they should be, but at least you know people are worrying.

Different kind of violation. We get fined if we allow unauthorized access to someone else's medical records. That's different from not providing access to the person who the records are about. Obviously we don't publicize it when it happens unless there has been a breach of a system (like in Tennessee in the past year). We do have to notify the individuals whose records were exposed.

I work for a health insurance company. HIPAA fines are not unusual. It's strictly enforced. Our potential liability for a breech due to gross negligence or willful conduct can run 10's of millions of dollars.

Technology available to intelligence agencies like NSA is not always made available to law enforcement.

Timmy, is that you?

I don't know why some idiot scored you as "informative". There is more to content creation than programming. Development may not be possible on a tablet, but you certainly can create a lot of other content. Diagrams, documents, artwork, video, music, etc. Want a physical keyboard? Well just like a Surface Pro you can select from a variety of keyboards. Mine is part of the cover, real keys, lasts 40 hours of use and recharges with microUSB. Personally, I'd prefer an ultrabook because I do development and I'm a geek, but for most people tablets like the iPad fit their needs very well.

Quite relevant because what matters is the true count of useful applications - not the filler. By your reckoning (1:1000) that means RIM has 15 useful applications for BB10. Nothing to brag about. I've got 4 times that many very useful iOS apps on the devices I own and I've just scratched the surface. Android using friends of mine have dozens of useful apps on theirs.