Hurlshort

Well the report is saying they record 1.6% and file it away, then tag 0.025% of that for review. I doubt they can actually store every email sent, that would be a massive amount of data just in one day. The annoyed bureaucrat would also be exposing themselves to some risk here, because in order to act on any information they are going to need to bring more people into the loop, and that means more complications to the witch hunt.

I don't think it is harmless or good for me, I think it is a completely ineffective way of spying on people. I simply don't think the NSA is efficient enough to sift through all these haystacks and find the proverbial needles. And if they started to target a regular schmuck like me, they are just going to look ridiculous. We just aren't that close to a big brother scenario here. That is clear by the lambasting the NSA is receiving in the media. This is the worst thing possible for a supposed spy agency. They don't want to be in the public eye. This is drifting from the point a bit, but think about how easy it is to go public with stuff nowadays. You can upload a cell phone video to youtube in seconds. Government conspiracies and coverups are a nightmare to pull off today. A Watergate scenario would end up pasted across every website in the world in a matter of minutes. I don't have faith in politicians. As a whole they seem to be petty and power hungry. But that's the beauty of the system. If all the politicians started to agree on everything and act as a single entity, I'd be terrified.

That's tough GD, but I hope he can look back on those two years with no regrets, not many people get to even play at that level. In 20 years he probably won't regret getting a bit of a late start on adulthood. Also the military is still a great way to help pay for an education if he wants that.

Looks like a beautiful place to hike!

I played Skyrim for 5 minutes, realized I was bored to death, and then I noticed I had a new card in my inventory. It must have been special, because I sold it for 25 cents. Made me feel a bit better about that 5 minutes.

It's a cool idea, but I really hope they send people qualified both in the engineering and technical elements of living in space, and in the role of building a community. If they send a bunch of weirdos who don't fit in on earth, it's going to go badly.

The whole idea that there is some sort of homosexual propaganda machine is as silly as it sounds. Does anyone believe that a child is going to see 'gay propaganda' and suddenly become gay? This isn't a political idea, it's a matter of personal identity. The entire point of the gay pride movement is that gay people should not have to hide that identity. This is a civil rights issue. It isn't a hip movement that the West is having a fancy with. It is the exact same thing as women's rights, desegregation, even religious freedom has the same story. Countries are slowly creating a more tolerant society, and Russia is way behind in this. In 100 years we aren't going to look back and say it was great that Russia discriminated against gay people. It will look as terrible as every other act of discrimination and intolerance that has happened in history.

I was pretty sore the first time I bought a game on Steam and then it made me log into Uplay to play it. I still avoid those games if I can.

The same difference between Muhammad and The Messenger, I suppose. Jesus is a fairly common name, Messiah is a pretty tough expectation to grow up with!

It's weird because most here agreed that Russia should still host the Olympics. We actually have a full consensus on that, so I'm not sure where tolerance died, Bruce was the only one who agreed with Stephen Fry about stripping Russia of the Olympics. It's interesting you use the word tolerance Boo. There is nothing tolerant about the recent laws that were passed in Russia.

That sounds about right. They can have a computer gathering as much data as they want, but you still need a real person to sit down and look at it to make any sense of it. edit: And honestly if I am one of those 1.6% who are touched, the NSA has just wasted their time.

I'm not into Uplay, but you can register for it without giving over a bunch of personal information. My Uplay account really is no different than a forum registration, it has a username, email, and a password associated with it. It doesn't have any payment stuff or even real information on it.

I've made about $2 selling those cards. It's really just like a rewards program for Steam players.

New Girl is a pretty fantastic comedy. At this point it's at the top of my list, followed closely by Community.

Planes - I took the family to see it, was pretty decent.

Rest in peace Tarna. He will be missed greatly. It is very difficult to write anything about this sad news, but I feel blessed that Tarna considered us important enough to let in on his health struggles over the years and I wish the best for his family as they cope with his loss.

I think Microsoft owns the Shadowrun rights, no? So everything they do under the Shadowrun name needs to be approved by Microsoft.

This really isn't funny, but Volourn is absolutely correct in his point. Throughout history religious buildings have served as the backbone of communities, and that is very true even today. But the poster isn't really worth a debate, it's just a little jab at religion based on a very tenuous connection.

Are those any good to eat? My daughter calls brussel sprouts brains, and thankfully this doesn't stop her from eating them.

I'm not sure if you are referring to me personally, I've always expressed the opinion that the President has a lot less power than people give them credit for. But with the NSA and Drone strikes, the complaints about the President being Big Brother are as loud as they have ever been. I've been unimpressed by Bush and Obama. The last really effective President for me was LBJ.

You probably don't have a suggestions list filled with My Little Pony and Iron Man cartoons

Was it ever the majority? I mean, Obama promised to shut Gitmo down, and the majority elected him. And now the Gitmo is still running and funded. Gitmo is a pretty complicated situation. http://swampland.time.com/2013/05/30/why-gitmo-will-never-close/2/ The article really shows how limited the President's power is.

There are plenty of people in the US protesting what the US does on a regular basis. Gitmo, Drones, and the NSA received a huge amount of flak in the public eye. You even have congressmen speaking out against this stuff. The trouble is they need a majority to enact change.

Actually now that I have three computers, desktop at home, personal laptop, and a work computer, Steam is way more convenient than discs. I can easily access the game on all three devices and most games even let me store saved games on the cloud. I used to hate Steam, by the way. I lived in the boondocks and had a spotty internet connection. But I've been converted by my fancy high speed wireless. Now I am a rabid fanboy!

I like Origin well enough, but yeah it is a hassle that 95% of my games are on one service and only a few of them are on Origin. It means I can go a year or more without logging in to Origin, and when I do, I can't remember my info and it takes forever to update everything.