So, it seems to me those most unlikely to take FB up on this offer are the ones who are most in need of doing so.

Maybe Billy Bob Nye knew this, and just ignored it, but NASA's customers for time in its wind tunnels at the Langley Research Center include several NASCAR teams.

From the first article linked:

You're assuming the PIN was in any way related to the 3DES key. That's almost certainly not the case. More likely, Target requests a transaction key from the bank which is then used to encrypt the PIN and sent the encrypted PIN to the bank. The bank then decrypts the PIN using the 3DES key and verifies the PIN.

They probably should switch to RSA or some other public key algorithm. With 3DES, both parties need to share the key. With RSA, there is a public key and a matched private key. If the public key is compromised, it's no big deal. Since the bank retains the private key and doesn't share it, it's at least theoretically more secure for this kind of transaction.

The article also says "Target does not have access to nor does it store the encryption key within our system." The problem is that 3DES is a symmetric encryption algorithm; both parties need to share the same key to encrypt or decrypt anything. So at some point, they needed to have a key for the transaction.

I think you'll find the Japanese consider China's intent to wrest control of the Senkakus from Japan's administrative control as an aggressive act... or do you consider Japan to be "on the other side of the planet" from China? The U.S. considers it aggressive (to the extent the Obama administration has a coherent foreign policy which can be differentiated from abject appeasement at least) because it has important strategic allies in the area, namely Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations. In economic terms China is also an important trading partner to the U.S., and anything which destabilizes the area, or interferes with the flow of trade will impact this partnership to the detriment of both. And lastly, the U.S. has a possession in the area (i.e. Guam), not to mention its treaty obligations to assist the Japanese from outside threats.

Failure to recognize these and to take them into account, while may be good from a "rose colored glasses" perspective, is nonetheless both naive and ignorant.

It's more than purely symbolic. There are extensive undeveloped natural resources in the area which the Chinese would like to control. The islands also lie at a strategic location between the Pacific and the East China Sea, and just north of Taiwan. If the Japanese, Americans and Taiwanese do nothing to abate this, the Chinese will be emboldened to act more aggressively in the area.

In Kelo v. City of New London, SCOTUS decided a municipality could use eminent domain to transfer property from one private owner to another.

I thought the real threat of the Internet was the time people waste posting to FB or reading /. comments. Think of all that lost productivity.

It's France... they talk to enjoy the sound of their language.

Jeff Atwood had good things to say on his blog about some of the no-name monitors you're talking about.

Just because they can get it into the air once, doesn't mean they can do so a second time ... assuming it's not part of some Photoshop Air Force.

I respectfully decline to tilt at your strawmen a second time, and instead leave you with the following, which summarizes the ideal Christian perspective on how we are to live in this world.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

You would do well to exhibit some of these qualities. Farewell.