NSA is in the news again.

[OldCoyote]

NSA using super computers to break encryption so they can spy more on U.S. citizens. 

Tell me ?  Why are we not standing at the gates of every one of these government and political agencies with flaming torches, pitchforks, tar and feathers, giving them a party that they

deserve for their actions.

They write the rules for themselves,  They have a secret group judge if the rules are being followed.

cos investigating cops,  Government investigating government,  What could possibly go wrong here?

[billisonboard]

Sept 6, 2013 10:03:08 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

NSA using super computers to break encryption so they can spy more on U.S. citizens. 

Tell me ?  Why are we not standing at the gates of every one of these government and political agencies with flaming torches, pitchforks, tar and feathers, giving them a party that they

deserve for their actions.

...

Buttercream frosting

[djAdvocate]

Sept 6, 2013 10:03:08 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

NSA using super computers to break encryption so they can spy more on U.S. citizens. 

no.

the NSA is using encryption breakers to hack into financial accounts looking for unscrupulous transactions.

the SAME TECHNIQUE COULD be used for personal correspondence.  there is no evidence that this has taken place, however.

[djAdvocate]

Sept 6, 2013 10:14:50 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Sept 6, 2013 10:03:08 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

NSA using super computers to break encryption so they can spy more on U.S. citizens. 

Tell me ?  Why are we not standing at the gates of every one of these government and political agencies with flaming torches, pitchforks, tar and feathers, giving them a party that they

deserve for their actions.

...

Buttercream frosting

weapons grade buttercreme frosting.

[Tennesseer]

Sept 6, 2013 10:50:05 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

Sept 6, 2013 10:14:50 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Buttercream frosting

weapons grade buttercreme frosting.

It's the bomb!

[djAdvocate]

Sept 6, 2013 10:56:56 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Sept 6, 2013 10:50:05 GMT -5 djAdvocate said:

weapons grade buttercreme frosting.

It's the bomb!

to die for!

[Virgil Showlion]

Online transactions should be secured with a 1,024-bit cypher. That's industry standard. The NSA can't touch it. At least not until quantum computers become a reality. Even then there are classical forms of encryption believed to be immune to brute force cracking by quantum computers.

Anything at 256-bit encryption and below has been vulnerable for quite a few years now. And not only to the NSA.

If any good comes of this, it's that holdouts will push to update their encryption protocols.

[djAdvocate]

Sept 6, 2013 12:13:36 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Online transactions should be secured with a 1,024-bit cypher. That's industry standard. The NSA can't touch it.

look into what the claim is, and report back to us. 

 At least not until quantum computers become a reality. Even then there are classical forms of encryption believed to be immune to brute force cracking by quantum computers.

Anything at 256-bit encryption and below has been vulnerable for quite a few years now. And not only to the NSA.

If any good comes of this, it's that holdouts will push to update their encryption protocols.

yeah, that would probably be wise.

[Virgil Showlion]

Sept 6, 2013 10:14:50 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Sept 6, 2013 10:03:08 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

NSA using super computers to break encryption so they can spy more on U.S. citizens. 

Tell me ?  Why are we not standing at the gates of every one of these government and political agencies with flaming torches, pitchforks, tar and feathers, giving them a party that they

deserve for their actions.

...

Buttercream frosting

You two were two of the most--if not the most (in DJ's case)--active posters on those threads. And you created the second thread, billis.

It seems to me you're the last person who should be ribbing us about our priorities.

What do you propose Americans do about the NSA run amok? What have you done about it? Do you even know what types of encryption your browser uses? Do you know the encryption strength? Do you care?

[Virgil Showlion]

look into what the claim is, and report back to us

It's incredibly vague. Most of the articles seem to suggest it has little to do with encryption and more to do with backdoors being installed on various major web servers. I imagine it's some combination of backdoors, breaking low-level encryption, and government-sponsored trojans being pre-installed in certain types of consumer hardware.

[djAdvocate]

Sept 6, 2013 12:27:39 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

look into what the claim is, and report back to us

It's incredibly vague. Most of the articles seem to suggest it has little to do with encryption and more to do with backdoors being installed on various major web servers. I imagine it's some combination of backdoors, breaking low-level encryption, and government-sponsored trojans being pre-installed in certain types of consumer hardware.

ok, thanks.

[workpublic]

so is my PGP still "pretty  good"

[billisonboard]

Sept 6, 2013 12:22:11 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Sept 6, 2013 10:14:50 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Buttercream frosting

You two were two of the most--if not the most (in DJ's case)--active posters on those threads. And you created the second thread, billis.

It seems to me you're the last person who should be ribbing us about our priorities.

What do you propose Americans do about the NSA run amok? What have you done about it? Do you even know what types of encryption your browser uses? Do you know the encryption strength? Do you care?

Who the hell is "ribbing". I started the second thread to see how far it would go for the very reason that I figured I would end up being able to make the above posting. Since August 27th, I have made 35 postings on threads pertaining to the Syrian situation. I made 17 postings on the Bakery threads, 6 of which were reporting the number of replies. One of those did hint at the issue of Syria not getting nearly the attention the the bakery threads were getting. 2 to 1 ratio is something I am comfortable with as far as prioritizing.

I propose we vote in individuals who support things like not letting the NSA run amok. I voted accordingly in the last election and will continue to do so in the future. As far as technological knowledge, I have about as close to zero as a person living in our society could have. And no, I don't really care to develop much more knowledge than I currently possess.

[Deleted]

We are currently learning new things throughout our entire lives.  To willfully not want to ?  I fear for the future of our country.  Please keep this person away from my families children !  (Not bad philosphophy for a gun toting hillbilly from Arkansas)

[billisonboard]

Sept 6, 2013 15:02:54 GMT -5 @jma23 said:

We are currently learning new things throughout our entire lives.  To willfully not want to ?  I fear for the future of our country.  Please keep this person away from my families children !  (Not bad philosphophy for a gun toting hillbilly from Arkansas)

Yes, we continue to learn. Most of those lessons are of a practical nature. I am becoming more adept at the use of my smart phone each day. I am learning how to make changes to the website I am responsible for. I am not learning about encryption technology. And I am good with that.

[Virgil Showlion]

Sept 6, 2013 14:15:25 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Sept 6, 2013 12:22:11 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

You two were two of the most--if not the most (in DJ's case)--active posters on those threads. And you created the second thread, billis.

It seems to me you're the last person who should be ribbing us about our priorities.

What do you propose Americans do about the NSA run amok? What have you done about it? Do you even know what types of encryption your browser uses? Do you know the encryption strength? Do you care?

Who the hell is "ribbing". I started the second thread to see how far it would go for the very reason that I figured I would end up being able to make the above posting. Since August 27th, I have made 35 postings on threads pertaining to the Syrian situation. I made 17 postings on the Bakery threads, 6 of which were reporting the number of replies. One of those did hint at the issue of Syria not getting nearly the attention the the bakery threads were getting. 2 to 1 ratio is something I am comfortable with as far as prioritizing.

I propose we vote in individuals who support things like not letting the NSA run amok. I voted accordingly in the last election and will continue to do so in the future. As far as technological knowledge, I have about as close to zero as a person living in our society could have. And no, I don't really care to develop much more knowledge than I currently possess.

There's no disagreement on the Syrian situation. Everybody agrees the US going in is an extremely bad idea. Discussion over.

There's no disagreement on the NSA spying situation. Everybody agrees that it's a blatant abuse of power and wants it shut down. Discussion over.

In the Oregon bakery thread, there's a stark ideological disagreement. Lo and behold, the debate thrives and the replies are plentiful. Message board longevity is linked both to degree of interest and diversity of opinion. A thread where all participants are more or less in agreement will accrue only a fraction of the bulk enjoyed by a thread with a comparably interesting topic ("interesting" in the sense of being of general public interest) in which some of the participants challenge the consensus.

If you want to get a discussion going on Syria, find an issue likely to elicit a broad range of opinions.

[billisonboard]

Sept 6, 2013 18:28:43 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Sept 6, 2013 14:15:25 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Who the hell is "ribbing". I started the second thread to see how far it would go for the very reason that I figured I would end up being able to make the above posting. Since August 27th, I have made 35 postings on threads pertaining to the Syrian situation. I made 17 postings on the Bakery threads, 6 of which were reporting the number of replies. One of those did hint at the issue of Syria not getting nearly the attention the the bakery threads were getting. 2 to 1 ratio is something I am comfortable with as far as prioritizing.

I propose we vote in individuals who support things like not letting the NSA run amok. I voted accordingly in the last election and will continue to do so in the future. As far as technological knowledge, I have about as close to zero as a person living in our society could have. And no, I don't really care to develop much more knowledge than I currently possess.

There's no disagreement on the Syrian situation. Everybody agrees the US going in is an extremely bad idea. Discussion over.

There's no disagreement on the NSA spying situation. Everybody agrees that it's a blatant abuse of power and wants it shut down. Discussion over.

In the Oregon bakery thread, there's a stark ideological disagreement. Lo and behold, the debate thrives and the replies are plentiful. Message board longevity is linked both to degree of interest and diversity of opinion. A thread where all participants are more or less in agreement will accrue only a fraction of the bulk enjoyed by a thread with a comparably interesting topic ("interesting" in the sense of being of general public interest) in which some of the participants challenge the consensus.

If you want to get a discussion going on Syria, find an issue likely to elicit a broad range of opinions.

good points

[EVT1]

Yep- though I just love watching the GOP members resist military intervention for once.  So out of character for them- but anything to stop president Sambo.