excell

Sure, but can you guarantee the recipient computer/network/etc. isn't and will never be compromised? And again, can you guarantee the recipient intentions? What is the individual going to do with your data after they're done with it, can you guarantee data-at-rest protection? What about five years from now? Now think beyond just your recipient - who else might have access to the hardware? It's impossible to guarantee information security 100%. Impossible. I haven't even touched on sophisticated man-in-the-middle vectors. This is the problem with staking faith in encryption, it leads to a false sense of security. Once the data is out of your hands you really, truly have no idea. You can have faith and trust, but all faith and trust do is help you sleep at night until whatever it is you're trying to protect is compromised. Information security practitioners wear a lot of tinfoil, but for good reason.

Encryption isn't the savior of privacy. Don't forget, it has to be decrypted at some point on both sides to be usable. At either point there are myriad ways it can be intercepted, exploited, and manipulated. When you send your encrypted data to the other party, can you guarantee that it's really the other party and a not an impostor? Can you also guarantee that the other party hasn't been compromised, or that they're not going to use your data for whatever means they see fit without your knowledge or consent? Of course you can't. There is no way to guarantee your privacy on a computer. Period.

It's not. False. Extraordinarily false, actually.

I use it heavily and find value in it for these reasons: As an IT professional, I have made an incredible amount of industry contacts and learned quite a bit through the connections I make. Example: I attended a fantastic information security conference in Albany, NY last month hosted by the State of New York. It was $150, yet the quality and caliber of similar conferences is usually in the thousands. I would never have known about it if I didn't use Twitter. Again, as an IT professional, many of these same contacts work for the largest IT vendors and providers (I.E. Dell, Microsoft) and they're ready and willing to help in real time. Example: Our ISP and collocation provider was having trouble connecting to a hosting provider called ThePlanet out of Texas. Rather than calling and sitting in some queue and talking to someone in India, I sent a message to ThePlanet's Twitter account and learned of peering issues with my provider from a real person - total time to resolution: three minutes. If you like IRC, you'll like Twitter. It's IRC on a global scale. Yes, Twitter has its share of spam and self-proclaimed "social media experts" but what social networking service doesn't? We get that shit on CR at different levels. Twitter makes my job easier, life more fun, and the hours I spend online more interesting. @cgreenoh

That would be so sick in a Fox.

We're praying for you, Andy.

<-- ??

Cool, Steve.

Good to know. Sorry for the slow updates, the position has not been filled yet. Not sure who's following-up on people, checking into it.

Good luck Ben. Gotta have you over for a beer soon now that things are settling down a bit.

Great to hear man, great to hear.

Step 1: Note who the issuing agency is (Federal or State). Step 2: Call them and ask "But why would I get this check anyway? I'm confused and want to know if I can spend some of this money." Step 3: ??? Step 4: Profit!?

Congratulations Jono. Can't believe we've all (mostly) grown up.

For what it's worth, Ohio - Columbus specifically - has weathered this significantly better than much of the "boom" areas of the country. Now, it's worth noting that in an area already depressed, how much further depression can be sustained? I personally say we could have fallen much farther and deeper, and am thankful we've had moderation thus far.

I think I'd rather wait for the bus.

True that.

Congratulations, Derek. Sorry I didn't make it this time, next time perhaps.

Was shining you on.

Ever heard of this concept called "inflation"? 20 years ago Mustang's were 10k. Everything but a ride is usually covered. When I ended up on 670 after my motorcycle engine failed, they came and patched me up and I never heard from them.

Fuck Detroit.

Some of you people are real idiots.

Regretful news, Andy. Keep your faith up, she'll see it through.

Pens. Fuck the Red Wings.

Second. I was just there this weekend - we didn't camp, just hung out with friends there and stayed in a hotel. We're not camping people.

I use and love Dell BH20's. About $40.