Ive read all Corys' books without paying as well, However I got them at the public library, like 90% of what I read.

I am a huge gushing Cory fanboy though and evangelise him and BB constantly. (makes me seem hip to recommend kewl blogs to people)

As a longtime Apple fan I willingly admit they are as evil as the next giant corp.

They do however make it easy to accomplish the mundane "user" tasks I need to, and Hell they even run every other system (not Vax, yet) without bsod-ing on me. (Well they bsod some, but not much)

I soooooo didnt have to compile anything to post this either.

Ignorance is somtimes blissful.

All this talk of security makes me wonder, Can I set up TOR on my Iphone ? or am I just a bit of pyrite ATnT's data mining business now?

Here is the Obama response letter, much the same as Fienstien's. I give his staff kudos for sending an on-topic form letter within 24hrs.
-
Dear Friend,

Thank you for contacting us and sharing your strong feelings about this important issue. Please find a statement from Senator Obama below.

We appreciate hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Obama for America,

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Given the grave threats that we face, our national security agencies must have the capability to gather intelligence and track down terrorists before they strike, while respecting the rule of law and the privacy and civil liberties of the American people. There is also little doubt that the Bush Administration, with the cooperation of major telecommunications companies, has abused that authority and undermined the Constitution by intercepting the communications of innocent Americans without their knowledge or the required court orders.

That is why last year I opposed the so-called Protect America Act, which expanded the surveillance powers of the government without sufficient independent oversight to protect the privacy and civil liberties of innocent Americans. I have also opposed the granting of retroactive immunity to those who were allegedly complicit in acts of illegal spying in the past.

After months of negotiation, the House passed a compromise that, while far from perfect, is a marked improvement over last year's Protect America Act. Under this compromise legislation, an important tool in the fight against terrorism will continue, but the President's illegal program of warrantless surveillance will be over. It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance - making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law and disregard the civil liberties of the American people. It also firmly re-establishes basic judicial oversight over all domestic surveillance in the future.

It does, however, grant retroactive immunity, and I voted in the Senate three times to remove this provision so that we could seek full accountability for past offenses. Unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful. But this compromise guarantees a thorough review by the Inspectors General of our national security agencies to determine what took place in the past, and ensures that there will be accountability going forward. By demanding oversight and accountability, a grassroots movement of Americans has helped yield a bill that is far better than the Protect America Act.

It is not all that I would want. But given the legitimate threats we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay. So I support the compromise, but do so with a firm pledge that as President, I will carefully monitor the program, review the report by the Inspectors General, and work with the Congress to take any additional steps I deem necessary to protect the lives - and the liberty - of the American people.

----------------------
Paid for by Obama for America

>now they smell like they need a diaper change."

Instead of just a shower and a shave down.

Lets hope there's extensive testing on law enforcement officers before they deploy it to cook the brain of civilians.

Ive been addicted to my Roku since day one. It works easily, theres a-lot of content from Netflix. Though its easily 70% B-list content theres still a lot of stuff I wouldnt have ordered a dvd of like a 22 min broadcast of Miles Davis from late 50s. but its great to see it. I would love to see other content sites serve up to it. Yay open good!
Too bad for my 5 years of not watching TV ending.

This makes me think of fromage.

Thank You Mark.

Eww who wants "boiled" veggies. Are we British suddenly boiling our food?

I can't see how this plastic new version of an old tool qualifies as "Eco" either just more to consume.