Gah! Where are my mod points when I need them? Thanks for an informative and insightful reply.

Your sane, logical argument almost tempts me to forget my belief that the source of all these silly, over-the-top 'precautions' is not fear - it's greed, and lust for power. The fear you speak of does exist among the people, but it is a fear that has been purposely manufactured and is carefully nourished. Entire industries have sprung up around 'terrorism'; millions of (entirely parasitic) jobs are on the line, as well as minor and not-so-minor financial empires. Creating and fuelling paranoia is big business - hell, it's a growth industry, and a saviour to the military-industrial complex once threatened by the end of the Cold War.

The question to ask, always, is "cui bono?" Governments, (i.e. the executive branches of trans-national corporations), use propaganda as advertising, to sell fear and to promote compliance with authority.

You're right - corporations are among the most organized criminals the world has ever known.

Never mind cost basis, how about making it the global reserve currency? It probably has better future prospects for that role than the US dollar has...

That's fine if you plan on personal/small-scale use only. The BeagleBone folks expressly do not want people using their products as a part of other products-for-sale without discussing it with them first and, (presumably), getting their permission. So if you were to start ordering in production quantities you might find yourself suddenly without a supply of BBBs.

The RPi has no such restriction.

1) Inflate bag with a lungful or two of air
2) Hold firmly in one hand, smack hard with other hand
3) Repeat with additional bags
4) Watch SWAT team disrupt the entire school
5) Get arrested for blowing up lunch bags

Superior to this, for now. The techniques described may be refined to increase the strength-to-area ratio. The new technology described may also be superior with regard to granularity of control, repeatability/consistency of motion, power efficiency, or other factors not immediately evident.

A nation that's focusing its cyber-spying efforts outside its own country! We'll finally have a country that honours the privacy of its own citizens!

Yeah, right. From the country whose formerly Communist half gave us the Stasi. Still, it's kinda hard to blame them for ramping up their spying efforts - sometimes "do unto others as they insist on doing unto you" is necessary for survival.

Any chance we humans will ever come to terms with our animal origins in a way that doesn't involve dominating each other and pissing on each other's territory?

We can only hope that, as has largely happened with DRM, technology will help to address the problems it's being used to create. I can imagine a whole industry, (much of it underground), devoted to taking back the privacy that is being stolen. Of course, for that to happen, an awful lot of sheeple out there are going to have to stop bleating and start shouting. I'm not holding my breath though....

This would still allow for 'fruits of the poison tree' attacks in court, assumin the Brit system has this concept.

I have absolutely NO trust in a governent and judiciary that would allow such eavesdropping in the first place, to use "additional authority" wisely and fairly, nor to put in plae and maintain "checks and balances" with any integrity. Once exceptions like this are allowed, it's a steep slippery slope towards totalitarianism.

Totally off topic for a moment, is it just me, or is Dice finally starting to slip Beta crap into the interface in an attempted 'stealth attack'? All of a sudden commenting seems a lot more awkward than it used to.

FTA

Last time I checked, landlords charge tenants money. Since Facebook users don't pay for the service in any recognized currency, (and somehow I doubt privacy is recognized as a barterable thing), how can Facebook be a landlord?

The attempt to treat Facebook servers as the equivalent of physical premises is disturbing. Judicial over-reach, much?

I agree fully. Things such as social media and cell phones are priceless boons to those governments which aggressively meddle in the affairs of other nations while persistently spying on their own citizens. It's good to see Mr. Hannigan admitting on behalf of his country how "transformational" the latest technology has been for him and his masters.

People and countries that complain about the sword cutting both ways, should just stop living by the sword.

As per the Wikipedia article you linked to, ensuring the metals that are in contact with or close proximity to each other have the same or similar anodic indices will largely address that problem. (That's why copper plumbing pipes are secured to joists by copper clamps; if they wer steel the pipes might eventually develop holes at the contact points).

I proposed either gold or platinum electrodes because they are the metals most resistant to corrosion. And I proposed Alternating Current because the periodic reversal negates any stripping / deposition effects of current flow. That's why electroplating, (and hydrolysis), use Direct Currrent - AC simply won't work for those purposes.

(In fact, some vaporizers available at the drug store don't have heating elements per se - just two strips of metal connected to the mains voltage and immersed in the water. They won't even work with distilled water, as it doesn't conduct electricity).

Cover every bit of metal with an insulating coating, then print, deposit, or laminate gold or platinum electrodes on the surfaces. Connect 'odd' electrodes in one branch of a circuit, 'even' electrodes in another, than apply an alternating voltage between them. The seawater completes the circuit. Unless a life form lands on the metal - then IT completes the circuit. I suspect most life forms will not like a continuous alternating current passing through them, and will 'move to greener pastures". Overall generating efficiency will be reduced, but probably not as much as it would be by barnacles, etc.

I'm not a marine biologist and I don't know if this would work - just tossing the idea out there.