Would you have preferred someone else had them first?

Editor should be SlickEdit. Programming language should be JavaScript execution of Java code converted with GWT. That's a science experiment right there.

frag count is still zero.

Because we make great pets.

Why protect their identity? Which well-known computer shop?

How about setting up firewall rules to only allow SSH from specific source IPs or IP ranges?

While some folks may require access to servers from unpredictable locations, I bet many are like me and only need access from some specific locations. A firewall rule allows you to drop SSH requests versus exposing an open port and putting a sign out saying "SSH here, I dare you to try and break in".

Stealth is better.

Marijuana possession in Canada gets you the equivalent of a j-walking ticket. No criminal record, unless you have a lot (more than a few ounces?) or are trafficing. My Canadian police buddy tells me people routinely spark up in public and as long as they don't disturb the peace the cops leave them alone. That's not so draconian IMO.

How do they handle the latency involved in getting signals from planes in Iraq to control consoles (and back again)? I would think something close to real-time would be needed to actually fly, land, aim missiles, etc. Bouncing off satellites would be a 100ms round-trip would it not?

If the camera on the plane beams that video to the US, then a pilot reacts to whatever obstacle he's about to fly into and his control signals work their way back to the plane, while the plane is moving at 100's of mile an hour, I would expect some issues.

I don't recall being invited to a DNF beta program.

Of course I managed to completely blow the quote. Perception, ya, that's it.

An ounce of prevention, a pound of obscure?

I don't see how monitoring assumes all users are criminals. Do police speed traps assume all drivers are speeders?