It feels SO awkward to observe geeks flirting with each other like this.

When I was preparing to give my employer three (rather than two) week's notice, I was fully prepared to be shown the door that very moment, and got all my ducks in a row just in case. As it turns out, they kept me on. But when I gave my manager my formal resignation, I also gave him a note saying (essentially), "I have accounts on the following systems.... for everyone's protection, please see that they are disabled as soon as is appropriate."

Hmm. CCE. I like it! I always called it a Cranial Rectal Infarction.

See, I feel like some people play their own games by invoking "no true scotsman" as the excuse to make sweeping generalizations. If someone in my city (let's call it "Springfield") committed a heinous murder, would you then challenge me about the atrocity done by a citizen of Springfield? I'm going to guess you wouldn't do that... so whats the difference? That this is about religion, so it's easier to hate on people here on Slashdot?

I was shooting for funny/ironic, though I admit I may have miscalculated.

Really? TINSTAAFL? Some kind of grammar nazi...

Now just HOLD ON THERE A MINUTE, cowboy. You can have my coffee when you pry it from my cold, dead hands. If those dead hands are the result of a collision, at least my last minutes will have been spent with coffee...

If you use the same password for scribd and your email account AND you're reading this comment, you're probably lost.

Here, friend. Maybe you'd feel more comfortable here, or maybe here or even here. (after changing your passwords, of course)

It makes me think that hiring an aerial photographer would be like hiring an escort. Someone would find a photographer with whom they can share common interests, maybe have them over for dinner, become friends, and then maybe if the photographer really likes you, he'll leave you with a parting gift of some photography...

I agree with you -- people notice it. But at the same time, I think that the toxic comments work much the same way as advertising on television, billboards, and so on. Even though we are fully aware of the nature of the message, that doesn't prevent it from influencing us. For advertising, even if you scoff at a particularly lame attempt at advertising delivery, you likely still become even MORE aware of the brand itself. It still elevates it above the unfamiliar and unadvertised competitor brands. I think these comments function much the same way.

THIS, a thousand times THIS. Many years ago I watched as an advertising network pushed a flash-based ad that delivered a malicious PDF, exploited a hole in Adobe Reader, and screwed up the machine. Of course it was Windows, yes. But ever since then, I remove Adobe Reader from all machines I support (myself and family), I run AdBlockPlus, Flashblock. THAT's why I block ads.

Seriously, who the fuck is "Lea"?

I know it's too much to ask the Slashdot editors to check their work, but how did THAT misspelling make it past how many geeks' eyeballs?

Michigan is next door to Minnesota? Check a map...

I don't think that your definition of "easy" is the same as mine. I've worked with all kinds of operating systems, hardware, software, and so on. I've read TLDP while deciding how I wanted to configure the multitudes of flags for a new kernel on my Slackware box (Pentium MMX FTW!). I'm not afraid of trying new stuff or reading documentation to get it done. I've used PGP(GPG) and I'd say it's far from easy. I understand PKI principles on a superficial level, but to use PGP hasn't ever been intuitive to me.

It's probably safe to say that a great number of people reading this post have had to field telephoned questions from relatives who didn't know how to download and install a Windows application. And you're telling me that PGP is easy? In the few cases I've used it, I've also had to give my colleagues or business partners tutorials on how to read or compose emails with it, because I'm the techie-guy, not them. And because of the high bar, there were very few people in personal or professional circles who could receive such a message.

HTTPS is relatively easy to implement for administrators and it's transparent to most users, requiring little additional knowledge. I really do welcome the day when a PGP-like product is that easy to use.

If you're conquering the challenge for the short-term, you're doing it for all the wrong reasons.