Posts by alpacaherder

Net neutrality nonsense: Can we, please, just not all lose our minds?

This Has Gone Far Enough

Perhaps I should move back to the South Pacific and set up on UUCP? The derangement we’ve been left with from the Age of Obama, the failed false messiah, is tearing up civil society. I miss the simplicity of listening to the BBC World Service actually rather reliably via shortwave radio. With Brexit perhaps that global radio broadcast could return to the non-neutral network world of the USA?

US domestic, er, foreign spying bill progresses through Congress

Well

There are days I miss Man From Mars. These farces in Congress are getting worse and worse. As John Ekdahl once said: "What a stupid time to be alive."

Microsoft goes to bat for Dreamers: Windows giant sues Uncle Sam to block staff deportations

Re: Posturing

But I’ve seen the lifestyles of the DPRK’s rich & famous too much where they talked about Dear Leader’s treatment plan...

I’ll get my coat...

Posturing

The current global security situation is not a good one for concentrating talent into big clumps easily targeted by ICBMs. Planting seedcorn elsewhere is a valuable long-term investment when a wacky guy with gout can apparently make Silicon Valley a radioactive wasteland on fairly short notice. Let the DACA recipients go from this territory but expand your global workforce. The need for fallbacks outside North America grows.

Slain: Unions' US OPM mega-hack lawsuit against Uncle Sam

"Fines against government agencies do not result in altered behavior. To them, it isn't real money."

Firings, getting drummed out of the Senior Executive Service, losing your pension, being sent to count penguins in the Arctic Circle by virtue of a written Direction of The President...those things result in altered behavior.

How Would We Know When The Harm Happened?

The initial thought after the hack was that a state-sponsored entity was behind it. How can individuals know when they've been impacted until frankly a spy scandal is likely in progress? Individual civil servants can't undertake massive counterintelligence efforts on their own. There are other units for that. I'm not trained to do counterintelligence. It is bad enough trying to work daily with a museum piece mainframe. The early days of BOFH pre-2000 describe my job today.

I don't buy Lenovo now. I shy away from Xiaomi. I'll never be visiting the People's Republic of China for the rest of my natural life.

I'm glad Tony Reardon at least tried with the lawsuit on behalf of NTEU members. There wasn't much hope to it even at the outset. Hopefully union dues aren't wasted on pursuing any long shots on appeal if counsel say there is no hope of success.