I prefer to read some sorts of technical books on paper. I feel disheartened coming out of a bookstore with nothing but 500 pages of facts that no one will care about in 10 years. If I find myself holding a copy of "Coding FadLanguage for Dullards," I pick up "The Political Writings of Thomas Jefferson," hoping that if I read both, I won't get any dumber on balance. Sometimes the later has to wait. Sometimes the former expires.

I believe it has been alleged that he conspired with and encouraged the now-imprisoned person who leaked the information. Even if he claimed to be a journalist, the first amendment only goes so far. The laws about anyone handling classified information are strict and specific. Besides, there are still some people in Cuba who can attest that habeas corpus also only goes so far.

In any case, if the US government were willing to do something nasty over this, they would have done it before the information was published. They might not have stopped it all, but I have no doubt they could have forced it into the hands of someone who would have handled it more carefully.

Nothing can stop a determined attacker with physical access. The benefit of anything more complex than this is marginal and illusory.

November 5, 1955?

Whenever I leave a job (whether by my or my employer's decision), I always ask what sort of wrap-up or pass-down I should do. I do not get walked because my employers know that I work for the company until the door locks behind me. Of course, you have to demonstrate that in your first two weeks, not your last two.