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“Grow a pair” presumes the state isn’t actively achieving its goals through these actions.

It’s a big club, and we ain’t in it.

Professionally, my company builds one of the largest EHR-integrated web apps in the US

Ask me how many medical practices connect every day via IE on Windows 8.

I am reminded of the troubles my parents experienced with their phone service when I was a kid. We lived out in the country, and every time it rained the lines would pick up horrific static. It was too much to have a voice conversation, let alone support the (slow) dial up Internet we used.

A multitude of technicians came out and apologetically said there was a problem somewhere in a line, but they couldn’t get approval to really dig in because there just weren’t enough complaints - they theorized there was just one broken line somewhere in a bundle that water would seep in to, and we drew the short straw.

Finally, one technician very quietly suggested that my parents go to the phonebook and call the state public utilities regulation commission. I still remember that their number was found on the one blue page in the telephone book.

Within a few business days, there were half a dozen lineman out stringing new lines, and a supervisor apologizing to my parents, promising the issue would be fixed that day, and giving his direct line to them with the instructions to call if they ever had phone trouble again.

My dad generally distrusts the government, but still marvels at that response to this day.

> Do the chicken go back in to sleep before dusk?

Yes - they are remarkably consistent in following the sun. Most automated doors wait until well past dusk, after which all the birds are up.

> Do the predators never attack during the day?

Raccoons and hawks are the predators I have had to worry about the most. Of them, raccoons are primarily nocturnal, and hawks are best dealt with by having plenty of covered spaces in your run and a rooster to watch the skies.

> I see little reason that buying, for example, a video game online needs my billing information more than walking into a store and buying it there, possibly with the same card.

In your latter example, a nexus clearly exists between the business selling you a video game and the state, so sales tax collection is patently obvious.

When you buy online, they have to ask - it’s the only way to figure out the proper jurisdiction.

Counterpoint: mulch your account every so often.

It fights the development of cliques and forces people to focus on the message, not the messenger. And it sharpens your own need to make a good point, rather than posting as $KNOWN_USER and waiting for the clicks.

I've done this roughly every ~1-2 years or so since I joined about a decade ago, so my ~8-9k of aggregated karma is spread across multiple accounts.

On that topic, it's about time to rotate to a new one. Catch you all on the other side ;)

The good news is that I think no one human is at risk of such an attack. The way I’d frame it: if you assume the NSA can break AES-256 in reasonable timeframes, or the CIA runs every single Tor node, that knowledge gets compartmentalized to such a degree that next to nobody knows, and attacks would only be used at the highest levels against the most significant state level threats. Hell, I wager they wouldn’t even risk parallel construction for fear that it’d tip their hand.

Without Thomas taking an action - speaking - the bug would remain undiscovered. I think that counts.

> Several weeks ago, an EFF supporter brought her car to a mechanic, and found a mysterious device wired into her car under her driver's seat

If I saw this device under my seat I'd assume it was part of some electronic system and never touch it. The only thing that I'd see that would make me go "huh" would be CDMA – and even then I would probably assume it was part of my car's infotainment system like my old Saab's OnStar that used a Verizon 2G CDMA network that died before I purchased the car.

I have a pretty good mechanic as well, and unless I was complaining about a jammed seat adjustment, he wouldn't be down there to see. I wonder if he'd even be able to eyeball it as suspicious as he's an independent; who knows what kinds of things get hooked up below seats.

Assuming this part isn't narrative, kudos to those who found it. Now where should I go look?

Humans notoriously overestimate their competence and underestimate dangers they face. Combine that with a federal investigation that's going to be slow because 1) it's complex and 2) the feds will happily investigate you for years if it increases their chance of a conviction, and you've got a recipe for people who think they got away with it right up until the moment of arrest.

OFAC has broadened enforcement to the point that pretty much any financial transaction across the world has a US nexus. Moving that much stolen crypto without the feds noticing? No chance.

I saw this play out first hand: a local digital agency run by a friend essentially ended up "captured" by a major player in the aerospace industry, to the point that 65-75% of their business came from $BIGCO. They grew by 100%+, had employees flying all over the world to set up for trade shows, and were making money by the truckload.

Then Covid hit, nobody wanted to fly, and $BIGCO took an earnings haircut and decided to cut back. My friend had to let dozens of people go. It ended up costing him his company because he'd neglected bringing other work into the pipeline.

> When his gig is up he has nothing to show and is stuck were he was when taking that job.

The right answer is "start finding a second job, now." Make $180k for 8 hours and 10 minutes of your life! Or alternatively, keep on keeping on and market yourself as a legal document management automation specialist when you bounce.

> Also can't imagine doing nothing and feeling not being needed or not making a real difference.

I have a wife and kids to help me feel needed, and a garden that needs tending when I want to feel myself making a difference. Work is work. 90% of jobs are filled to the gills with bureaucracy and designed to ensure the average employee does very little and accomplishes nothing. Might as well enjoy it when they make it easy to enjoy.

I was wrong – it was $3.99, so $4 :)

I picked up Thundernews when there was an "unlimited for $4" sale going on, and have used it ever since. Keep an eye out for their sales, because they don't seem to expire them. They resell UsenetExpress so pick up a block account or two from another provider for fills as always.