...Only wimps use tape backup: real men just upload their important stuff on ftp, and let the rest of the world mirror it ;)

I think you are right. But yet... Imagine this:
I make a little powerplant that, in it's core, works with a fairy inside it. But it works. All tests on the outside (measuring the output, no power goes into it, no additional fuel or whatever) - all tests - show that it really really really works.
I fully disclose the whole machine in detailed drawings, even give my customers and scientist the freedom to open it up. Once they do *pufff* and the fairy is gone, the machine doesn't work any longer.
Do you really think the patent office would grant me the patent?

Because I am not that sure if I am honest. Not even when it clearly, absolutely, beyond any doubt, truly works.

Even Andrea Rossi himself is a little afraid of this. He said that once you open the machine, the self-destruct function will terminate the working bits. He does this to protect his machine from prying eyes and people who want to steel this idea.

Define harmful please.
If a store owner sees me lurking around the high end laptops and comes to me to help me (and his income of course) I think that that is not 'harmful'.
If a server is tracking my every move around the web for years on end. Not so nice. Not harmful either, but annoying... yes, certainly.
If a company is tracking my every move around the web for years on end and sells this to who knows who, and has a 'privacy' policy of 24 pages in fontsize 5. Mmmmnot harmful in the sense that it will harm my health or quality of life, but back OFF!!
If a company is tracking my every move around the web for years on end and sells this to my future boss who wants to inquire my personal habits. This is harmful because it might deprive me of income (and with that food, medical treatments and so on). Yes harmful.

Privacy is not about harmful vs harmless. 25 Shades of harm I would say :-)
A lot of us here remember the time before internet and cell phones. When I wanted to know about herpes I would go to the library and look it up in a book on STD's. No one would ever know (to a certain degree of course). Now this search queries are logged and stored and available to the highest bidder. That is a completely different story!
The teens of today have no clue whatsoever how life would be without the web, social media, cellphones and the integration of all these. They therefore make different choices. Surprised? Not me. They have no 0. No baseline to what is intrusion and what is just fine.

But if youre finally at the questions, things go from bad to worse. One would expect a "Digital Crimes Unit" to:
  - investigate security holes (preferably before shiping it out)
  - make sure that virus-makers dont have a chance.
  - find, cage and string up the idiot that makes Win8 harder to get rid of than a bad case of Herpes.
  - see to it that three-letter-agency's (both US and nonUS) place backdoors in MS software.
  - Explosions, romance, fast car's, flashing badges and glue-on-moustaches

But noooooooh... They really rather cry about the baddies making stupid botnets.
DCU, pffff what a laugh </roll-eyes>

...Then you can buy more of these 'bad boy`s' to make even more BTC, buy even more 'bad boy`s' yet... Before you know it: WORLD DOMINATION!!!
You could be driving around in one of these next week! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDoRmT0iRic)

97% of the dinosaurs agree that God put their bones in the ground 6000 years ago at the creation of the world to confuse people
97% of the intelligent design crew agree to that statement.

Oh, I have to chose now? Fair enough... I don't believe in the man made global warming swindle.
No, wait! I think I gonna opt for "special"!
No stop, wait! Gonna opt for both! Suck it up with your choices.

I agree, and it goes further than just priests! Here are some interesting factoids for you:
97% of the neo-nazi's believe they are superior to black people
97% of the Black Panthers agree to the fact that they are superior to white people
97% of the children believe in Santa
97% of paranoid believe they are being followed
97% of the homoeopaths believe in homoeopathy
97% of the astrologists believe in astrology
97% of the KKK think lynchmobs are a good thing
97% of the intelligent design gang are absolutely convinced that God made it all
97% of all the interviewed Zen budists were convinced it is possible to clap with one hand
97% of the paganist movement think sandals are fashionable
97% of the physicians didnt believe in washing their hands before doing surgery
97% of the politicians think they are doing some great things

In case you are wondering... Yes, I am a 3 percenter!

And I suppose saying that the world is only 6000 years old is the biology equivalent of Narnia? I think the water they found is also 6000 years old, but the intelligent creator made it appear to be older to see ho will doubt him.
The intelligent creator also provided me, a man, with nipples, so maybe some day's he is just drunk or just not /that/ intelligent ;-D

Actually... you should see the politician who thought up this law. Whenever it is about IT (or something else he doesn't know about) He lowers his voice as to be more authoritative and starts droning on about CP. He does that trick every time again. It is quite annoying. Couple of month ago he wanted to make it illegal to keep your facebook passwd to yourself when in custody. And there he was on the telly again in his lowered voice: Well you see... Child pornography, you must know, can only be battled like this you see. That is why we need FB login credentials hhmkay?
Tsjees. As if paedophiles use FB to communicate on their activities... 148 liked this rape!

And that is why rkhunter, clamav, encrypted partitions including swap, well configured iptables and well defined policies are so important. I got nothing to hide and want to make it as hard as possible for the police to find that out just that. Even if they are allowed to try.

Couple of weeks ago I went to buy a new laptop. At the shop I was immediately mugged by some MS employee telling me that windows was the best. I told him that I wanted to install Linux. He couldn't comprehend and I told him that it was more secure. He still didn't get it. So I asked the guy to help me out finding an AV for linux. He checked them all and couldn't find one "they are all for windows machines". I smiled at him and told him: Nice fucking product if you need third party software just to keep it secure.
That was his red pill I guess.

supersupper!
Nomnomnomnom :-P

<quote><p>I wonder if our radar tech is advanced enough to be able to see these small projectiles in time to intercept them.</p></quote>

If "your radar tech" is as good as the Phanlanx CIWS the answer is no. If "your radar tech" is as good as the Goalkeeper CIWS they might stand a chance.

It is politics that made me not take a FB account in the first place.
This is why: In the 1930's Adolf Hitler was ELECTED into government. A couple of years later he invaded a lot of countries, including mine. The nazi's took control of all the files the government had on its citizens. People who had (for example) Rosenbaum or Levi as a family name were 'visited'. Police files on 'crimes' like homosexuality were examined as well and although the original government wasn't actively prosecuting gay people, the nazi's turned out to be slightly more active in that regard. People who had checked the box 'Jehova's Witness' also got to stare down the business end of a rifle. And the list goes on. All straight out of the paper files, with compliments of the former government.
If the nazi's had FB tough, they would have their hands on far, far, far more explicit and far more detailed information, searchable with a mouse click. And people provide those bits of information without hesitation, without complaining and out of free will. The idiots!
And for anyone thinking... nah, that 1940's business would never happen again... You are probably among the first one's rounded up.

Also, politics may change. What is legal now, might not be legal tomorrow (because the elected government puts new laws in place), and the elected government will set their constitutional instruments (aka police, intelligence agencies) on FB to monitor offenders.
Social media and politicians are as dangerous as a box of nitroglycerin. In a roller coaster. Doing 100mph. On square wheels...
No thank you, not for me!

<quote>Preemptive strikes are only allowed on targets approved by the Halliburton Company.</quote>

Or by 20th Century Fox Television.... After all it was 20th Century Fox Television that produced M*A*S*H !
~Suicide Is Painless