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Comment Re:not exactly a lot of money? (Score 1) 99

Just like software optimization. When you've got '1000 things' to fix, you've really got 1 thing to fix: Process/Culture. There is a difference between premature optimization and not doing stupid slow things.

Even if you can eventually 'fix' the mess, it's now a mess with the inner loops optimized, not cleaned up. The original team is likely making another mess.

Not at all, you can be inefficient in non-critial code if it makes it easier to understand or maintain.

But if you're attacking a performance problem you don't start by wasting your time and money on little pointless fixes, you go for the root of the problem with extreme prejudice.

"Well we're still bottlenecked on the DB, but I made the pages load 5ms faster by spending the day optimizing our CSS."

And now nobody will understand it... thanks Bob...

Comment Re:The only way to teach the police statesome resp (Score 1) 330

The U.S. has overall been a force for good in the world, but do not fail to consider your failings as well. Military force requires oversight.

No worries then - they provide oversights aplenty.

I know you're being ironic but... On a global scale, significantly better than average. From an ideal perspective, never enough.

Comment Re:Now taking bets... (Score 1) 214

Honestly if I was working for GCHQ or NSA my response would be: "Of course we're bloody spying, that's what you damn well pay us to do."

Mr. Clapper didn't take that approach because he knows damn well if he told us what he was doing, we'd tell him to stop and/or stop the payments.

Mr. Clapper does not take that approach because he's not allowed to take that approach. Like the Marines, if the NSA is doing something it's because they've been TOLD to do something. (Same for SAS and GCHQ)

Comment Re:not exactly a lot of money? (Score 2) 99

I agree! The budget is so big that we shouldn't even consider looking at an item if it isn't in the "top 100" projects list.

In this sense, let's buy everyone an Alienware computer, upgrade to the most expensive brand of toilet paper, put in a soda fridge that is fully stocked for all federal employees, paint the building every year, and invite Britney Spears to the company picnic.

Waste less than 1% of the budget is still waste. The fact that the employees themselves thought that it was enough waste to report it should be an indication.

True... but this is like software optimization, you can spend your time fixing 1000 things that have a 0.00126% impact and you're still fucked.

Or you can go after something that will actually make a difference.

Comment Re:Now taking bets... (Score 1) 214

I suspect most if not all nations do it to some extent, the questions are which ones and to what extent.

It's not a question of who is spying, it's a question of who is going to get caught spying.

Honestly if I was working for GCHQ or NSA my response would be: "Of course we're bloody spying, that's what you damn well pay us to do."

Comment Re:The only way to teach the police statesome resp (Score 1) 330

There were some pretty nasty genocidal maniacs running around in Europe just 60 years ago.

It takes a considerable amount of balls to play that card after Vietnam, Cambodia, and the so called War on Terror which were all just political power moves back home.

The U.S. has overall been a force for good in the world, but do not fail to consider your failings as well. Military force requires oversight.

Comment Re:Fear: arrogant developers (Score 1) 641

The biggest fear is that a group of people who are clueless about what actual customers want and never talk to anyone outside their small circle believe that they know more about what customers want than people that actually talk to customers.

It gets worse when an arrogant developer becomes a manager and can impose his twisted world view on minions with a complete disregard of what is best for anyone but himself.

Comment Re:Too bad she is pretty (Score 2) 170

When did you last time see a pretty woman doing great things like that? Woman is either fugly and has no choice but study, or pretty and not compelled to do anything besides her hair and nails. This is the way how things are.

The most beautiful woman I ever met was a mathematician who was working on her Phd. Her idea of small talk was Pi. When she walked down a hallway every man she passed literally stopped walking as soon as she passed by and drank her in. I have never seen men behave that way, before or since.

One of my cousins is a lawyer who worked through college as a fashion model.

Perhaps one day you'll get to move out of Mom's basement.

Comment Re:Good for the economy. (Score 1) 451

Come down hard?! Hmm, no. The American people will continue to ignore what the U.S. government does as long as they keep Hollywood pumping out new episodes of "Ouch! My Balls!" If the American people really gave a fuck, then a Congress with 16% approval rating would be wiped clean rather than the majority of incumbents be re-elected.

+1 internets for you sir.

Comment Re:Good for the economy. (Score 5, Informative) 451

What is human right and human freedom that USA Government have been actively accusing other countries of lacking whereby they are spying on their own people in their own backyard? Its a disgraceful joke

You can't handle the truth.

They've been doing it for decades through their intelligence partnerships with various NATO allies. The predecessors of these systems were already in place, the post-9/11 paranoia allowed them to ramp it up to unprecedented levels all over NATO.

For example, Canada has the same rule, a Canadian agency cannot spy on Canadians without specific legal orders. However the U.S. can spy on Canadians, and Canada can spy on Americans. Quid quo pro.

As soon as you have a covert agency in any country is will find some way to dirty itself because most of the time they cannot discuss their operations with politicians.

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