Um, no: Orban publicly announced that he plans to eliminate liberal democracy in his country and turn Hungary into an 'illiberal state,' modeled after China or Russia. Pretty much no other country does that, which shows that Orban's Fidesz is not like any other authoritarian regime IMO.

I distinctly remember when touch screen voting came out the same thing happened in several Republican districts around the country in races which were too close to call.

Mysteriously, people who were voting for the Democratic candidate had their votes changed to the Republican candidate and the same excuse was used.

For reference, reference 2, reference 3.

Based solely on the description provided, this would make for a great setting in D&D.

Lich? Wight? Vampire? Evil mage? Jar Jar Binks?

Even in the US such an amount wouldn't be a tax in the sense of raising revenue, but an attempt to stifle usage. That is a lot per GB, even at US income levels. As such in Hungary, this is even more restrictive, given the lower income levels. It is for sure an attempt to stifle usage, and not a legitimate revenue measure.

Looks like it is out in more than just the report. More news agencies are publishing extra details.

The news agencies are pointing out the brand (Hospira) and the exact models of devices that are Internet-controllable. They mention the type of signals that need to be sent (multiple commands to infuse the drug) and they discuss the security measures already in place.

It seems the only thing they left out of news stories is the actual payload.

In the engineering community that is so standard it entered into the common usage. "Fail safe", meaning that for any failure you need to go to the safe option. A gate or switch or lock should either fail open or closed, which one is safe depends on the circumstances.

On a more prophetic note, the story two weeks ago predicting the first online murder by the end of the year seems that much closer. The reports nearly give explicit instructions.

Seems like this Billy Rios researcher identified the problem but didn't kill anyone with it. But he could have if he wanted. Someone else could read the details and figure they are anonymous enough to flip the switch just for grins and giggles.

Don't do critical things in hastily-written, poorly designed software. Instead, take sufficient time and make the design and implementation robust. Tried and tested methods exist for all of this. (Consider avionics, for example).

The word "architecture" is bandied around a lot, partly because it sounds so important. But if architecture means anything, it should include scoping out ALL limits embedded in the software or adjustable through a UI. At the very least the limits should be documented in such a way that those responsible for managing and maintaining the system are fully aware of them at all times. Because they are just as important as the speed at which your car will come off the road when you drive round a tight bend.

Ideally, resources permitting, a better solution should be systematically adopted. Such as having the software itself warn (in good time) that a built-in limit is being approached. Or simply allocating a type that can store numbers vastly greater than could ever conceivably arise. This, of course, is one of the useful aspects of strong typing: before using any variable, you MUST specify its type, and a good programmer will learn to stop at that point and find out what the requirement is.

Remember this one:

But don't we have an agency that is competent and less "Ministry of Information Retrievaly" than the DHS?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

I still don't understand what "problem" they are trying to solve.

You're missing the point. This isn't about solving a problem, it's about using technology. It doesn't have to solve a problem so long as technology is involved.

Even better, you get to use a laser!

but it is the left's investment in ongoing hysteria.

Sort of like the right's hysteria over Ebola. Less than 5K deaths on the entire planet and they panic, completely ignoring the 50K+ deaths from flu or the 30K+ roadway deaths which occur in this country every year.

As well as Yosemite does?

This sort of thing, shelter in place, what's happening in the Poconos, the police response to the Boston bombers is to acclimatize the sheep to a police state

Since it's not your money, why do you care?

I don't.

Since it's not your wife or husband, why do you care?

I don't.

Since it's not your dog, why do you care?

Since it's a living, breathing creature, unlike a blob of cells, mistreating it shows ones lack of civility, humanity and general lack of morals.

Since it's not your house, why do you care?

I don't, up to the point where your negligence in keeping your property maintained interferes with my property because critters from your area migrate to mine.

Since it's not your city, why do you care?

I don't.

Since it's not your book, why do you care?

I don't.

Since it's not your life, why do you care?

I don't. But then a blob of cells isn't a life.