Frequently when I open a new app I need to do something with it immediately, but would like a chance to watch the on boarding information later. This is almost as useful as being able to access it inapp.
I agree with you, but the "quality" of the Senate debate about the actual bill was so utterly low that I think we can reasonably infer that the Senate as a deliberative body doesn't care about Intelligence oversight. Only Wyden, Udall and a few others care at all.
EFF doesn't seem to comment on the provisions of Patriot Act that would be reauthorized by the bill. That is one reason to oppose it IMO. At least, EFF should give me reasons I should sell some liberties again in order to get some others back. I would view Patriot Act finally expiring in 2015 as "a step forward" just as its supporters claim this bill to be for NSA reform.
Update, Nov 18: The USA Freedom Act does not renew the entirety of the Patriot Act, which consisted of over 100 sections changing numerous electronic surveillance laws. The USA Freedom Act does extend three provisions of the Patriot Act: the "lone wolf" provision, the "roving wire tap" provision, and a reformed Section 215.
Thanks for the reference. Hmm, Section 215's "business records" provision, that little thing EFF told us the NSA is using "to collect the calling information of every American"?[0] It sounds like EFF prefers to use "Freedom Act" to put some plastic handcuffs on the program, instead of trying to starve it when its justification disappears. EFF has fought against the renewal of these exact same 3 provisions in the past[1][2]; why do they accept them now?!
I guess they project the 215 revisions will be extended in another bill if necessary anyway? So they supported a more minor reform they thought more likely to pass? I wish they'd be more open about the compromise, then. The 100 vs. 3 comparison seems a little oversimplified -- I would guess many of those >100 sections don't have an expiration date, or at least expire on a different date than these 3 (which were last renewed in 2011[3] against EFF's wishes.) I am making an assumption here about what the 100 sections means.
In any case, I'm rather upset they're on the record fighting these in the past, yet now they barely mention them at all, and only in what I see to be a hand-wavy "lesser evil" excuse. I know "perfect is the enemy of the good", but I don't think "Freedom Act" is even all that good.
The Patriot Act is not going to expire in 2015, it's going to be overwhelmingly renewed, probably with broad bipartisan support, but mostly by the new Republican majority.
This bill isn't selling liberties, they're already sold, it's just trying to win some back.
I tend to agree it will be renewed somehow anyway, but I still can't quite bring myself to wholeheartedly support anything that will renew it. Let them renew it with "minutes to spare"[0] like last time, without the benefit of an Orwellian cover title that lets everyone think Freedom is back again and the NSA has been vanquished. EFF has even said one of these provisions that would be renewed actually supports NSA programs!; see my other comment for links.[1]
I would be open to hearing why the provisions that will be renewed are "not that bad" and worth trading. I'm guessing there are worse things in the Patriot Act that don't even have sunset dates. A lesser evil is still evil, though..
Exactly. The freedom act was an opportunity to get at least the tiniest amount of reform. The White House even supported the bill.
There is no way the patriot act will not be renewed.
Even a congress as dysfunctional the one coming in will come together to TAKE BACK TEH AMERICAS FROM ISIS.
I'd be interested to see if the tech companies could push out something to their users to help educate them. Something similar to the news feed notification Facebook pushed out asking for donations to fight Ebola.
The real resource these companies have to use is the attention of their users, not money.
> push out something to their users to help educate them
That is not going to happen b/c it would draw the users' attention to the problem of mass surveillance being conducted (be that explicitly or implicitly) by tech giants for the gov't.
I am surprised that they did not stream the announcement or immediately put it up for viewing. I think they have the opportunity to turn their announcements into as much of an event as Apple does.
Certainly the amount of hype they got from Elon's tweet shows that people are paying attention, I bet there are people clamoring for Tesla news in the same way people are clamoring for Apple news.
Thanks for the link. I checked the front page of their website, their blog and the Vimeo channel their new car walkthroughs and the model X announcement were on, I thought I checked the youtube page.
My point is more general, they are missing an opportunity to turn these product announcements into as much of a event as they possibly can and vastly increase their visibility.
Update: I show the video having been posted on October 10th. The event and my comment were on October 9th. Their blog post is also on the 10th and starts with "Yesterday we...".
They are missing an opportunity making the resources available the following day, a Friday (take out the trash day) when news viewership numbers are way down.
I found the points about Robert Oppenheimer and Nelson Mandela being on terrorism watch lists to make a particularly good argument for their potential flaws.
It makes the need for good Judicial Oversight readily apparent.
I wish the monochrome icon for Dropbox would do a better job showing me when the app is syncing or in sync. That's the only reason I still have the color icon.
This is much better than the other FDA story today where the FDA declared walnuts a medicine because a manufacture made the factual statement "Omega-3 Fatty Acids found in walnuts have been shown to have health benefits."
This actually makes sense. They're using marketing terminology to be say "walnuts will do this, prevent this, and help you out with this".
If you want to market your product like a drug, you should go through the regular inspection to make sure all your claims are satisfied, just like any other drug.
No, it doesn't make sense. The consequence is that no food marketing can make (even truthful and not-misleading) claims about the healthiness of the product. Carrots are healthier than Twinkies? Not unless they're a medicine.
