Cost reduction, maybe. It really involves management that is afraid to trust the very people it hired, and wants to keep them under constant surveillance. It's the modern way: trust no-one, watch everyone. It never seems to occur to such types that if you hire good people, pay them well, treat them well, and give them reasonable goals, you don't need to be so paranoid.

As a long-time software developer, I know that such an environment would severely impact my ability to focus and do what I'm being paid to do. Furthermore, any employer that would trust me so little is one for whom I would not choose too work.

I suspect that China does. They just haven't had a Snowden happen to them.

Awesome Captain Kirk impression.

... is to be disbanded.

I really hope you are trying to be funny.

One can always hope, but it seems we've managed to go from "climate change isn't real" to "it causes everything bad that happens."

Of course, a big enough eruption would actually trigger a global cooling trend for a while. Think Krakatoa and Mount Pinatubo.

I read that as "A Woman's Mind in a Leggy Body."

I'm going to bed now.

"Mickey Mouse" search engine.

Heh.

As an American, I don't. Like it that is.

Technically, what they care about is control of distribution, because in their (relatively tiny) minds, that equates directly to profit. Loss of control is likewise perceived as inevitably causing loss of profit. That they might make even more money with a less dickish business model is way outside their comfort zone, because all they understand is what always worked before.

So yes, they are analogs to the recording industry. Those legitimate customers who are harmed by the quest to control content distribution are acceptable collateral damage.

Hewlett-Packard did much the same under Carly FIorina.

voiced by 'muricans online it is very hard to tell.

Just a quick note: insulting people with differing opinions (no matter how right you may think you are) doesn't actually help you make your case, although it may increase your innate sense of superiority. In addition, those "'muricans" who might otherwise agree with you may just write you off as another bigoted foreign asshole who lumps everyone in a given country together.

Actually, I read that the proceedings were _ex-parte_ ... No-IP wasn't even informed that there were any proceedings. Consequently they had zero chance to defend against this forfeiture. And that's exactly how Microsoft wanted it. There's more going on here than malware. My guess is that Microsoft's big media buddies want to use Microsoft as a front for domain seizures under cover of "protecting the public", without having to get their hands dirty or take any PR hits.

Ripples occur when there are rapid stops. A very gradual slowing down should really minimize the downstream effects, providing other drivers are paying attention and not following so closely that they have to slam on their brakes when the speed of the car in front of them decreases even the slightest.

Everyone seems to believe that, but it's not really true. Here's what some Japanese researchers found (watch the video):

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/those-inexplicable-traffic-jams/

It's the idiots who accelerate to the last possible moment to close the gap with the guy slowing down in front of them who are causing the ripples.

A common misconception. Some Japanese scientists demonstrated, using several cars on a closed track, that even when people are trying their best to maintain a constant speed and distance ... they simply can't. Those "ripples" occur regardless of driver behavior when there is sufficient traffic.

Yes, but only until the Psychlo space probe happens across Voyager I. At which point copyright will rapidly become irrelevant.