I find it very difficult to be offended by someone referring to me as a cracker, I'd have to stop laughing first.

And would be referred to as a swindler, not primarily as a math genius.

And would be referred to as a murderer, not primarily as a soldier.

If you asked members of the general public what a hacker is, you are most likely to get the definition of a cracker.

While you can find the following on Wikipedia, the first definition from the world of computer security is somewhat of a late comer. Hacker culture was well established before before the term began to be used for the ilk who break things. The term Cracker is much more descriptive, draws a distinction between the two but, just never seemed to catch the ear of the media darlings the put on the news.

It's bad enough that companies like Verizon, in a effort to help us and provide better service, hijack 404 errors and redirect them to their tailored search results, now this. In light of how little vetting some of these take down notices seem to receive before the ban hammer falls, this is truly scary. Scary in that they think this is how to go about business. Like others have already alluded too, this is likely to at worst cause a minor bit of annoyance before a way to protect against this silliness is found.

Sadly too true.

There is often a vast gap between saying what you mean and meaning what you say.

It's a real PITA to have someone interpret your words and force you to accept that they don't mean what you intended them to.

It was meant to be a comparison between Hitler's actions leading up to WWII and not a reference to Putin's role model. Prior to WWII a number of actions were taken to Hitler that were, in some ways, similarly responded to as Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

I find this rather disturbing in light of Russia's Growing Isolation. I'm left to wonder if Russia is 'just being Russia' or if these laws are being passed with the intent of gently nudging companies like Google and Adobe out of the country. Russia's recent actions in Ukraine have left me with a very Hitleresk taste.

Uh, China.

Well this comes to mind:

Does it really matter why, some thinks this is important. It the one before us at the moment. I'd give it less weight than say the kidnappings and atrocities that are occurring in various parts of the world right now but, that's not what the OP was in reference to. While I believe granting "person-hood" to a non-human is not the right answer (look at how well making businesses persons has served us), I do believe that animals in general should be treated much better than they often are and penalties for improper (inhumane) treatment should be much more severe. Then again, I watch a lot of Criminal Minds and know that torture and killing of small animals is a gateway to serial killing.

Gotta give him thumbs up for enthusiasm. One can always hope, he has a few BOFH advisers to scope the project and give it a reality check. I get the concerns about the scale of this type of project but, I do occasionally wish someone would force us to get rid of a couple legacy systems I have to deal with and am forced to find creative and often insecure ways to keep them up and running.

Granted "cloud-based" gives me the heebee jeebees. Whose cloud?

Maybe it's a slow news cycle . . .

In terms of reporting a danger, you may well have a point but, you can also look at it in terms of reporting that once it crosses the ocean the radiation is at a very low level and does not present a threat . . . In which case you may still have a point. Well at least now we have a benchmark for how long it takes radiation to get to the U.S. from Japan, might come in handy someday.

Thanks, now I'm having flashbacks of Chuck Norris jokes in the Barrens on Drak'thul.

Of course now that I want it, I can't find a reference for it . . .

On of the issues in doing a project like this for free, is that many customers equate the cost of an item or service with its value. In the case Anonymous Coward mentioned above the system/website has no cost so some will feel that is has no value. It can also extend to the persons time to develop/maintain the system. As the system grows, change requests are submitted that 'cost' the developer but, add no cost or value in the eyes of the customer.

Several companies that offered support for 'free' services discovered that customers from the free service were much more demanding and intolerant that those that paid even a nominal fee for the same or a similar service. A few companies even discontinued their 'free' offerings as the cost to maintain those services became too burdensome.

Scientific Community

Cheerios are by far the best in the cereal aisle at growing chemically productive fungi

Blue Press

Cheerios discovered to harbor a wide range of funguses