Civics classes aside, the OP must have just observed what's been going on lately at local airports, for example.

I agree with you that the solution, as a citizen, is to simply not break the law. But there is, of course, the larger question: at what point do we, as a society, say, "enough is enough" with the surveillance?

You must not have heard of Quick Draw. Here in New York, there's a new game every 3 minutes.

Ha! You've clearly not actually USED Sync.

Here's a tip: the fuse that needs to be pulled in order to do a hard reset of the system every month or so requires you to have about 7 joints in your hand to get to.

I will say this: when it's working, it's awesome. But it was developed by / in conjunction with Microsoft.

In the OP's defense, though, it's a DIGITAL picture frame. When they first came out, I bet a lot of people said, "Why can't an analog picture frame just be an analog picture frame?" He's got something that probably does have other uses besides simply displaying pictures and all he did was ask if anyone has any other ideas.

In the spirit of Halloween, I give you this.

Not quite sure why this became about bashing one party or another. That's the trouble, really. Forget the parties. They BOTH suck. Hard.

The Constitution is probably one of the most ingenious guides ever written and both parties use it and abuse it as they see fit. In fact, it's high time the People of New Hampshire, for example, get us started on the right path. From their state constitution:

Actually....that's the reason the Federal government's power was [supposed to be] so limited. All the laws and regulations that REALLY affected John Q. Public's day-in-day-out life was supposed to be handled at the state (and even local) level. THAT way, the politician responsible for the act would at least have a chance of having to look Mr. Public in the eye after sticking it to him in the rear.

Ah....the Constitution....what a great idea.

You know, I'm embarrassed to say I never thought about it this way. I've always been against the record companies, et. al. on this topic, but it's never really occurred to me how completely right you are. In fact, there's almost zero chance, for a first offense, that you'll have to pay anything or even have any kind of punishment. I'd image you'd get some sort of suspended sentence that will be expunged if you keep your nose clean for a year.....

I think this is one of the fundamental differences between iPhone owners and Android owners: I don't care as much about the aesthetics of the phone and what it's made of. Talk to me about what version of Android it's running and on what hardware. It's also why I wear my phone in a holster even though I know it's not "cool". It's functional....and that's why I have a smartphone in the first place.

I'm not suggesting that everyone who owns an iPhone is about fashion and looks, but there are certainly a good portion of iPhone owners I believe purchased the phone because it's the "in" thing.

LOL. I thought *I* was a Libertarian. I get your slippery slope argument. But saying that a volunteer firefighter, for example, may park in my driveway while he's across the street putting out the fire in my neighbor's house or rescuing a cat from the tree is not a "slippery slope" to allowing police to search my house whenever they want to. Is it? And if it is, surely there's a better place to draw the line.

You guys need to re-read what I said. I suggested that a hardware switch be placed on routers that ALLOWS--at the router owner's discretion--first responders to make use of the equipment in emergency services. I did not say anything about forcing anyone to give up their liberty, etc.

...and I now COMPLETELY understand why volunteer rates across the country are dropping so substantially. Your data is more important than my personal safety. Wow.

I'm sorry. I was talking about MY LIFE being more valuable than anything on your computer. Give me your address, though, and I'll be sure to let the first responders in your community know that--in your house--you'd prefer they follow the "Property and THEN life" motto, contrary to everywhere else in the free world.

I'm certain they'll be fine with searching for your computer first and then your wife and kids.

I think what really needs to happen is that the switch LITERALLY be a hardware switch. You, as the owner of the router and user of the network, should be allowed to decide whether you want to turn it on or not.

I would seriously be happy to open up another "vector to be hacked" to do good, in spite of the potential for abuse by hacker and, yes, first responders alike

Of course, I'm a volunteer firefighter and EMT, so I guess the "specter" of a hacking attack vector kinda pales in my mind to the specter of burning alive, etc., because my "narrow band" radio signal wasn't clear enough.

Hmmm....funny. That's how most "religious" people feel about the LGBT movement.