Happy Mother's Day.

[silveradept]

Be sure to apologize to your mother for giving her as much trouble as you did while she was raising you. We'll be doing plenty of that tomorrow.

Got to play through the introduction to Kingdom Hearts II today (rather long, that is), and I'm intrigued. I think I need to go back, however, and play the middle chapter, so that later on, if I should play more, things make more sense. As things are, I'm getting ready to start my working self. This should be a welcome change, really, although it does mean that I'll have zero time for gaming for a while.

The Jackson Anime and Manga Society had a meeting today, and we watched a little of Five Star Stories... shoulder pads will save the world there, apparently. As well as an extremely bishie boy.

You ever wonder what's on the magnetic stripes of your various cards? Well, you can build, rather cheaply, a portable magnetic stripe reader. Which probably means, as well, that anyone who wants to see what's on your stripes can build one, too. Hrm. Well, now you'll know.

A little while after having some of the NSA's laundry exposed to the air, the Bush Administration is already trying to discourage prying eyes. The government invoked "state-secrets" status on the NSA's program, which, according to the past, renders it invulnerable to court lawsuits and other such bothersome things. Nothing like pulling rank to try and make sure you don't actually have to fess up and have consequences for it.

Yeah, so I'm going to bed now. Tomorrow's another day.

Comments

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind that anyone can do that if they want. Remember, I can produce a sattelite image of the house you live in right now, just from looking up your name on the net.

This is the information age, and the science fiction writers had it all wrong: it's not a question of who controls the data controls the whole world. Rather, it's a question of how much data can be poured out on us before our society collaspes under its own weight.

Have the best

-=TK

[silveradept]

Or what kinds of data can be misused by anyone to make life problematic for their victim.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

That would be the lead to collapse... of course, first you have to be generating data that would be problematic. Personally, I have absolutely no fear of Homeland Security. Heck, I'd send them my phone records myself if they ask. The only "ferner" I've called was actually a New York native who was visiting her home stomping grounds for the summer with her German husband.

Have the best

-=TK

[silveradept]

Meh. At the moment, admittedly, it's more an objection to principle than of anything significant. The idea of "If they're keeping track of X, what else might they be keeping track of that they aren't telling us?" That makes a lot of people nervous that even though they have nothing to hide, they don't want the government to misinterpret or to pick them out as a potential terrorist because of one reason, fabricated or not. Some see this as a precedent or stepping-stone to keeping track of other things that are problematic.

It can, and probably will, go both ways. The system might catch a terrorist or a cell, and it might end up targeting a pacifist group with no ties anywhere to remotely shady persons. Even if it is an illusion, I hope most people believe that the Fourth Amendment still holds sway. The sophisticated data-mining techniques being employed on available information makes people wonder whether the government still actually goes for a search warrant or whether they just construct a profile based on random data and work from there.

With the current attitude toward "enemy combatants", the administration gives off a very "guilty until proven innocent" aura, and if that is the case, then I don't want the government making a mistake as to whether I'm a terrorist or not. I just don't think that crunching numbers to determine that is a particularly good idea.

This could be blowing things out of proportion, too. It could be unfounded paranoia, but it would be easier to dismiss it as such if the government didn't look like it was sneaking around and wasn't granting itself powers to spy and look at domestic records using laws designed to listen in on foreign agents.

Boy, what a ramble. This is why I'd never do well in logical debate.

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Perhaps. But remember that domestic phone records are public information. It is not AT&T's normal policy to let just anyone read the records, but when Homeland Security asks for them, they really have no reason to say no.

If they get reasonable suspicion, then they can ask for a warrant to listen in to domestic calls. But again, that requires reasonable suspicion. Bear in mind that all it takes to get a warrant is to satisfy the personal bias of a judge, anyway. Find a judge with the right motivators, and the warrant will be gotten regardless. So waiting for that is not the answer to the question.

Our government is made up of humans, and humans make mistakes. I prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt that what they are trying to do is for our benefit than for our harm. And yes, I would have said the same thing were a demoncrat in charge. I was highly critical of Clinton's foreign poilicy (wait for it to-- ahem-- blow over, shall wee say?), but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Have the best

-=TK