'Zactly. PNAC/Likud false-flag plan to shatter the political status quo of the region. Exacerbate identity-based politics (Zionist "tell") and derive opportunity out of ensured resulting chaos.

Iraq and Syria were the two LEADING states that - for varying reasons - minimized ethnic/identity basis for state integrity, opportunity and use of power. One is shattered using ethnic "Balkanization", and another on the verge. Lebanon became valid and healthy only after settling these internal divisions in a loose compromise. The fingerprint of Shin Bet and Mossad in re-opening these conflicts (with Rafic Hariri assassination, etc.) is evident to anyone who evaluates the evidence without starting from a conclusion.

Don't you see? You play into this hand of manipulation yourself, when you drive postings that pose theological difference and superiority.

I can "ghost" MAC on every OS known to man - practically. Most of those with a Berkeley-derived TCP stack are
sudo ifconfig /dev/device lladdr xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx

What we want here is not to just selfishly hide - but to pollute their collection with billions of plausible "false positive" pseudo computers and mobiles.

"We didn't spy on Congressional office holders, or their staffers. We don't conduct mass surveillance. We track only metadata. Our Agency leadership has been exceptionally truthful at all times, under every circumstance. We have never lied about these things in general public statements or in sworn testimony. Edward Snowden is a bad man, a liar and a dangerous enemy of the people of this country."

In other words pretty much exactly what some tried to say when Google first launched Chrome, except for OSS zealots who were blinded by their Mozilla support and "do no evil" slogan.

For Google open source is not a goal, it's a tool. Google funded Mozilla to run a browser war by proxy, as an open source and non-profit organization Mozilla could get massive support from organizations and volunteers that Google never could and a much higher tolerance of bugs and broken functionality. And I mean that both with respect to internal bugs as well as broken web sites due to MSIE-only code. As a means to an end to push a standards compliant web for Google to profit from it was a success.

With Android Google again used open source as a battering ram against an entrenched monopoly, this time against Apple in smart phones. Once again a host of unlikely allies - pretty much everyone except Apple and Nokia, really - jumped on board along with the open source rah-rah and low cost clone manufacturers looking to get a free ride. That you could have things like CyanogenMod and get root on your phone was new - even though some manufacturers blocked that it was a step up from the all-closed platforms.

I'm not saying those are bad things, but those mutually beneficial interests come to an end. Once we've been released from the old stranglehold, Google wants to make a new one with themselves in control. I don't think I can make a catchy acronym for it like embrace-extend-extinguish but it goes something like commodify-bundle-obsolete:

1. Commodify the functionality through open source
2. Bundle it with Google APIs/services
3. Let the open source version toil in obsolescence

Search results are still a major driver of Google's revenue. The default search engine is defined by your browser, the default browser is defined by the platform so from their perspective pushing Android and Chrome both makes very much sense - if you're using a Google product you'll never be pointed anywhere but a Google service. Chrome is also a vital part of that "all-or-nothing" bundle Google is selling to make companies use Google Play which is now their second cash cow.

Firefox is no longer a partner against MSIE, they're a threat against the OHA bundle. If you can take AOSP and install Firefox with no further strings attached that's one of the many pieces you need to replace filled. The less alternatives you have, the more power Google has over the Android ecosystem. If you're still stuck in the mindset where MSIE had 95% market share you'll fail to see that your one-time ally is no longer on your team. They're on their own team, as every for-profit company eventually end up being.

But you have cookies, and browser fingerprints, and logons, and device ID / Application ID info...

Riding on a free uplink doesn't do jack.

I think we can really fuck with them. Chaff, deception traffic...

Let's get started on making more hay for their stacks, people! Hell. You'll run a client for SETI, why not run one to preserve your intelligent life, here on Earth!

It depends on what you need to do, and what you know about it.

If you are not willing to walk away from it, on short notice? Then buying nothing is wise.

The trick about big financing is that you don't own a house - a bank owns you. Your on their plantation.

If you didn't barter or pay cash, you are on Massah's rules, Massah's time.

Yes. Enjoy 15-30 years of BEARABLE slavery. But you OWN something... Just ask the taxman.

You have Stockholm syndrome - and don't recognize it. You should read about Edward Bernays, some time - before lashing out in pseudo-moral rage against a proposition who's arguments you fo not actually comprehend.

We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

The tyranny of location! Don't worry. They have a fix for that with TPP and TTIP. ;-)

One law to rule them all, one law to bind them...

Native speakers, yes. But whether you're in China or India or Spain the most popular second language is English. Functionally you're much better off because at almost any tourist destination you'll find somebody speaking English, while Mandarin is great if you go to China and pretty much useless everywhere else. English got presence in Europe (UK + EU really), North America (USA), Asia (India), Oceania (Australia) and Africa (several former colonies). I'm not going to argue the moral side of colonialism, just say that practically it's the only language with global reach.

Perhaps Lem comes off less morose in jzyk Polski

Lem was critical of Government, of official bureaucracy - whether public or private.

He never singled out the US as a specific target, and could be construed as subtly/subversively anti-authoritarian, in ways that were passable by the Communist governments of Poland and USSR.

The US is now no different than those. We just have Nike Fuel bands, and two cars in front of our debt-bondage. Whoops! I mean home.

Wow. Thanks for maintaining attention span. :-)