Forcing Uber out of business won't stop rape by cabbies. And unless there was something that Uber could reasonably have or should have done, but neglected to do, then this is not justice but just someone looking for a payday.

Sometimes the debate is so politicized that even reputable sources get tainted. An example is one of the IPCC reports on climate change, where the summary (what most people and press would read) got changed for political reasons into an overly alarmist version that did not match the scientific data in the rest of the report. Quite a few contributors to that report objected to the change, and rightly so. Not because the report wasn't a cause for worry about our influence on the climate, but because such politics have no place in science. Besides, it gave opponents of the idea of AGW ammunition to dismiss the entire report, and call the integrity of the IPCC in question.

As a European, I agree. To the military I say: buy the best on the market, with a proven track record, with a slight bias for buying local. But for something as symbolic as Air Force 1, it makes sense to go for a domestic supplier. Especially as it's not a bad choice in this case.

I kind of wonder why my own country went for totally unproven foreign F35 JSFs (yay budget overruns), then decided to get totally proven "domestic" NH90 helos. Proven to be crappy rustbuckets.

Also: the free market, which the government actually helped bring about: some telco's had to be dragged kicking and screaming into that. In the Netherlands, the incumbent telco PTT (now KPN) was first forced to co-locate equipment from other ISPs (they actually sabotaged that equipment from time to time), then forced to share the local loop for a reasonable fee. And in this country almost all homes have cable, which meant another option for obtaining Internet. As a result we've always had a good many choices of ISPs and decent fees. I now have fiber to the home, and a choice of 3 ISPs on that fiber. Then there's ADSL and cable if I want another option (but who'd want to with 500 Mb up/down?)

As TFA mentions, detecting these drones is not the issue, the problem is how to stop one without causing too much damage to the surrounding buildings and citizens.

Fox IT Has close ties with various governments that are known to run cyber spying operations and/or have questionable human rights records. I wouldn't trust those guys anywhere near my systems. Also one of the founders, Prins, is politically well connected and lobbies for far-ranging police powers, like letting the police break into private citizens' computers. These guys are Part Of The Problem.

Nothing in that plan seems all that implausible, given other extraordinary measures that have actually been effected (the detention of Japanese-Americans in WW2, the McCarthy commission, etc). And it's highly likely that various governmental organizations had plans on how to deal with imminent nuclear attacks.

I might actually walk up to the guard if I had put a sticker with my name and address on that thing. Running off and hiding behind the sofa when the security guys come calling isn't going to cut it, and might lead to all manner of unpleasantness. Although I can imagine asking the guard "Can I have that back please?" is going to end poorly as well.

Perhaps a curious professional decided to sound out the White House defense perimeter, and ran afoul of the top secret drone death ray. If you're planning to fly a drone near or into a site as well guarded as the White House for some specific purpose, this is exactly what you'd do: try with an inexpensive and harmless drone first, masquerading as a hobbyist.

Google wasn't the first search engine with a minimalist site design; Altavista started that, and I think you're right about it being an important driver for their success. This was in the days of dial-up, and the difference between loading the Yahoo page and the Altavista one was quite a few seconds.

The model for today's social networks appear to be to deliberately start with low-friction, low-bullshit, come-in-we're-open policies (sometimes after a beta-for-the-leet-only period), become popular, then cash in and pile on the restrictions, rules, ads and dataraping. Not that I begrudge the founders of a good startup their fortunes, and I'm not a big fan of the word "sell-out" and the sentiment that it carries, but in some of these cases that word does apply. When you sell your initial users on being all open and huggy, with the intent of adding massive monetization schemes later (or selling your business to someone who will), then you ought to feel a little bit sleazy about it.

Why do you think they have no money? Or no need for financial services like bank transfers or loans? I'm surprised that the image of the average African as a fly ridden naked tribesman grubbing in the mud for meager sustenance, persists to this day. The same idea that prompts the question: "Why would these people need cellphones (or smartphones)?", when there have been so many stories about cellphones having brought about a revolution in local commerce and finance.

Home automation enthusiasts quickly discover that it's wise to always pick equipment that has a manual override, and does not depend on the master controller or even its own electronics. Light switches that function independently of the controller, locks that can still be opened with a key if necessary, etc. And even when no device is broken, the software still craps out or does something unexpected, or needs changes. Some people add an "I am dead" switch to set their HA setup to full manual mode, so that other members of the household can still turn on the lights or the coffee maker in case the system craps out and the expert happens to be away.

FTFY

It sounds like Clippy from Hell: "It looks like you did not pay close attention to the privacy policy. Your computer will be locked until you re-read it and take the subsequent test to confirm your understanding of this policy".

A proper V8 is quiet and smooth. The one in my old Jaguar XJ Sovereign (2000) has its share of problems but it purrs, and is a joy to drive.