That is easy, when you flash the firmware on many of the high security types of systems it increments a counter when the bootloader loads the new firmware. they simply look at the counter and see if it matched the last time it was in for an update or was reported on the last update.

It's as simple as a small cheap i2C eeprom hidden away on the system that is not easily read from the running OS. the hacker would haveto disassemble the system hardware and basically reverse engineer the board to discover it. I have seen them hidden under other chips to save board space, but doing that would hide it from most hackers.

We are talking about something "regular" people can do.

That's incorrect. Look up the codecision procedure, it's been around since a long time. Since the Lisbon treaty, directives on more topics have come under codecision, but that one has been in effect for quite a while now.

No, it's not just blocking or passing. They can, and do, also amend directives. These amendments then have to agreed upon with the Council of Ministers, but the opposite is also true.

That's true, only the Commission has this power.

It's indeed not, since a lot of member states are heavily opposed to a "Federated States of Europe"-style organisation.

Actually most of America would applaud the SWAT team entering banks with shotguns and tasers.

Listening to an investment banker on the floor screaming "dont taze me bro" would pretty much make every single person on the planet smile at the same time. It would cause world peace and make cold fusion work.

Far more OI, better all the way around.

https://www.olimex.com/Product...

you have been able to buy cellphone watches for years now. Search ebay for "GSM watch"

"Siri, How do I get icky dying person off my shoes?"

If you think you have nothing to hide, you should probably spend a bit of time studying the history of the FBI. Leading an exemplary life has never been a protection from them, if they suspect you may be part of whatever conspiracy is popular at the time. A few decades ago, it was Communists, and having no connection to any Communist organization was never protection from them or their colleagues in organizations like HUAC. It's quite clear that the "anti-terrorist" push nowadays is no more concerned with whether you have anything to hide; if they need a scapegoat and you're handy (perhaps because your name is vaguely like some name on one of their lists), they'll go after you and make your life a hell on Earth.

Having "nothing to hide" is one of the most naive misconceptions going around, and has been for at least a century. Dig into the history of the FBI and assorted other similar organizations. Google can find a lot of it for you. Then come back and tell us again whether you have anything to hide.

(And they probably already have a copy of your pron collection, added to their own. ;-)

She should at least sue Al Gore, since he invented the damn thing!

Regular people can build web apps. It's called "Microsoft Sharepoint."

Except for all of the copies in the iCloud.

Google allows it, which is wrong. Google can easily say, "if you do not provide a clean pure android on your phone you can NOT call it android in any way and you can not even say that it is "compatible" Also it's not just AT&T. HTC bakes in all kinds of complete crap that ruins the phone.

That would stop it instantly.

Not if you buy a phone from AT&T or Verizon. They pile so much crap into the locked storage it's not funny.

"Users do not have control because we're experiencing what Oligarchy feels like."

no Users do not have control because they refuse to learn. Cyanogenmod is your path to bliss and control for Android. If you "cant be bothered" with learning how to install it, then privacy and control are really not that important to you.

He has a special edition otterbox case that is filled with C4 explosives. if the phone gets more than 6 feet from him it detonates. sadly he goes through about 40 phones a year.