The narrative to malign Snowden continues to fall apart. How about some apologies, folks? Then again, the type of people that attacked Snowden arenāt really known for their ability to admit faults/mistakes and stoop to dignified things like apologies when theyāre wrongā¦
These two seem so Monty Python-esqu that after making these comments I feel like they paused then screamed āHeās a witch! burn him, burn the witchā¦ā
Xeni, you say they āadmit [the] leaks were in the public interest,ā but I donāt think thatās a fair characterization of what they said. The DNI is quoted as saying, āIf thereās a good side to this, maybe thatās it.ā Obviously actions can have good effects without being, on the whole, in the public interest.
Well they canāt exactly say that the leaks are the greatest thing since sliced bread because then they look ridiculous for being secretive and calling Snowden a traitor in the first place.
Then youāll start asking for apologies about WMD in Iraq, and then something else, and so and so forth until weāll all be hippy communists with AIDS.
I for one will not fall for your slippery slope, sir.
Yeah, thereās no way Snowden isnāt an American Hero for forcing this issue into mainstream discussion.
Seriously, how would anyone have even found out about the āthis is so secret you canāt even talk about itā club, much less gotten mainstream attention on the issue?
This kind of institutionalized, no-oversight secrecy is poison to democracy. It has to change.
I was posting a somewhat unrelated question on the Apple discussion forums in regards to whether or not any third party has verified that Appleās dmg format has backdoors or not. I asked this question since itās well known that Apple circumvents the security on the iPhone for law enforcement. This is the text:
DMG backdoorHi, Iām trying to determine this for many of my business clients who are considering switching away from Apple products to Open Source due to the recent NSA disclosures.
Does Appleās DMG format have a backdoor to allow Apple access to the data within them to comply with government?
Iām not suggesting that I believe the AES encryption itself has an inherent issue, I want to know if anyone has been able to independently verify that Appleās implementation with DMG is lacking a backdoor that can bypass AES.
We already know thereās a backdoor for iPhones that Apple will access for law enforcement.
Is an Apple DMG also subverted with a backdoor as well?Thank you.
The first time I did posted it, the Apple lackeys deleted the thread almost immediately. I put it up a second time a few days later and surprisingly it stayed up and the conversation started fairly amicable which gave me some hope the Apple establishment would live up to some of Steve Jobs and Wozās supposed anti-establishment āidealsā.
But, It didnāt take long before some uninformed Apple fanboy buffoons steered the conversation towards Snowden, called him a liar/traitor and said he should be executed. Of course this same buffoon also tried to say I was anti-American (for being against the unconstitutional NSA spying) and anti-Apple for even asking such things about their dmg security. He also had very little grasp of the situation with Snowden and was pretty uninformed in general (surprise).
On the positive side, there was one person or maybe two that defended Snowden. Of course, once I politely got the best of the idiots with facts, sources, links (i.e. the FISA court found NSA spying unconstitutional in 2011, etc.) ā they promptly deleted the thread like cowards.
I mentioned that thereās people in the U.S. government that admit Snowden prompted needed discussion and that some even outright support him, but they were just dumbfounded by that prospect and thought I was lying.
Weāve got a long, long way to go to educate more Americans on what Snowden really did for this country. Thereās many angry, ignorant Americans that still think heās a traitor who spied on the USA for Russia and other inane, untrue and downright stupid convictions. I would normally think the extreme invective was coming from trollies, but these were some Level 7 support people. They donāt necessarily work for Apple, but they earn the forum level by assisting people for long periods of time with Apple support questions and donāt get to that point by driving trollies. Obviously, theyāre allowed to be obtuse dickheads there. Although they donāt represent Apple, it still leaves a very bad taste in my mouth towards Apple that they edited my posts but left their invective intact along with deleting the thread entirely once I showed facts about NSA spying, etc.
The more they delete the questions on DMGs, the more Iām becoming suspicious that Apple does have a backdoor for their DMGs. If theyāve got nothing to hide, I would think theyād welcome the question and discount it outright and/or invite third parties to test the code. Not try to hide like cowards and hope the questions go away.
Does it matter? Even if they did, they couldnāt tell you. I donāt understand what the point of bringing this up on a public support forum is, other than to poke a beehive and see who gets stung.
Any company is subject to the rules of the government under which it was incorporated. If you want to change something that matters, work towards changing the government policies. Everything else is a waste of time.
Does it matter? Even if they did, they couldnāt tell you.
I donāt think you understand, the forums arenāt for Apple employees. Itās a collection of Apple users (for the most part). I donāt expect a representative from Apple to answer the forum post. I mean, if Apple had guts they would, but Iām sure theyāll act like cowards like Google, Microsoft, etc.
I donāt understand what the point of bringing this up on a public support forum is
Then you might as well ask why itās brought up on Boing Boing. Where should it be brought up? In a private closet in the dark?
Any company is subject to the rules of the government under which it was incorporated.
Sure, but the users arenāt. Also, keep in mind that some companys like LavaBit can and do take a stand and when they do, it has a wide impact.
Itās not always up to the government to do everything. Can we stop giving people who run companies a pass to do the right thing? Thatās getting to be a very old and tired narrative that needs to stop.
Responsibility shouldnāt end at the front door of every business in America because theyāre filled with cowards who want to hide under an LLC, etc.
If you want to change something that matters, work towards changing the government policies.
Been there, done that and still doing it. But, thereās not going to be any support without awareness.
Everything else is a waste of time.
I disagree and I sadly think youāre suffering from black and white thinking there. Thereās many avenues that should be taken via many fronts.
Yeah, I guess, but thereās a fine line between āIām making people awareā and āIām being a sanctimonious, judgmental pestā.
I mean, things like
Doesnāt imply you have any respect or empathy for the people youāre attempting to engage in so-called discourse. Thatās kind ofā¦ important.
Are you just trying to lecture me or do you want to actually engage in a discussion? Speaking of disrespectful, I asked you some questions in my previous post and you ignored them.
It almost seems like youāve got a bug up your ass and you just want to disagree. I mean, what the fuck is that comment about not using public forums? I asked you about that and you just blew it off. Like I said, if you want to lecture me at least come from a position that makes sense.
Yeah, I guess, but thereās a fine line between āIām making people awareā and āIām being a sanctimonious, judgmental pestā.
You mean like pulling things out of context and starting fights? I didnāt do that. But, youāre kind of fucking with me for some reason at this point. Why?
Cowicide said: uninformed Apple fanboy buffoons Cowicide said: they promptly deleted the thread like cowards Cowicide said: once I politely got the best of the idiots with facts, sources, links Cowicide said: many angry, ignorant Americans Cowicide said: I'm sure they'll act like cowardsDoesnāt imply you have any respect or empathy for the people youāre attempting to engage in so-called discourse. Thatās kind ofā¦ important.
Dude, give me a fucking break. I didnāt say those things to them, Iām just expressing some angst after dealing with them and being treated like shit after politely asking about dmg security.
Aside from the detractors I mentioned, people thanked me for posting the questions and others agreed with me. I wasnāt just in there casting insults at people. I (and others) were polite and despite that we were treated like trash in return.
I showed you what I actually posted. How was that sanctimonious or judgmental? It was just a fucking question about whether or not a third party has examined Appleās dmgās for backdoors.
I approached them respectfully and I got rude, knee-jerk reactions. I wasnāt alone, others that just attempted to address the issue also got attacked. Youāre kind of being pompous and making assumptions against me.
uninformed Apple fanboy buffoons
Um, once again, just venting after being called āanti-Apple and anti-Americanā and other rude insults unprovoked. Forgive me for being human and disappointed when I politely ask some valid security questions and then receive a ration of shit in return. If I had been dismissive or impolite, Iād tell you. I wasnāt. Once again, you can read my post above where I quoted exactly what I said.
Thatās kind ofā¦ important.
You should look into it yourself, frankly. Iāll avoid expressing myself with you in the future. I donāt need, nor deserve this shit from you.
Do you think that the Snowden Attack Squad thinks that āimportant civil debateā is a good outcome? Or that the FISC justices should do anything other than shut their robey mouths and get back to rubber stamping, almost as good as the old days; back before that āChurch Comissionā bullshit ruined the fun?
I just feel like you are not participating on those forums for typical reasons, but rather as part of a thinly veiled, evangelical mission ā and the audience there can see through you. That may be why you are not getting the responses you want.
Or you know, because they are all stupid morons, like you keep telling us. But not us, right, weāre cool?
I just feel like you are not participating on those forums for typical reasons, but rather as part of a thinly veiled, evangelical mission
Well, youāre pretentious and youāre wrong. I have several clients that have contacted me and they have DMGs ingrained into their workflows including scripts, embedded in custom apps, and various other implementations.
Theyāve asked me about the security of the Apple DMG format since the NSA revelations. Like Iāve done in the past, Iāve recommended that they switch to TrueCrypt, but itāll be a very expensive proposition for some of them to do so. Iāve been researching this situation and one of the obvious places to look for info would be the Apple Discussions forum.
Iāve tried other security forums including some that are private that I have to pay for access to and no one seems to have good answers. So, I reached out at the Apple forums as well. A place filled with people who are focused on Apple technology sounds like a good choice to me, anyway.
Are you upset because I didnāt use your beloved stack exchange? 
and the audience there can see through you. That may be why you are not getting the responses you want.
Perhaps I gave you the wrong idea by focusing on the assholes in the thread, but then again, that was kind of my point. But, I see now that youāre taking the negative ball and running with it.
Actually, the majority of the people on the forum were helpful (like usual at the Apple forum) and even had solid recommendations. So much so that it sent me into the direction of collecting some acquaintances to reverse engineer the DMG format similar to what was done at this link below:
http://events.ccc.de/congress/2006/Fahrplan/events/1642.en.html
Or you know, because they are all stupid morons, like you keep telling us.
I never said that. Why are you making a false caricature of me? Youāre very selectively taking my initial post out of context. If you go back and actually read what I wrote, I said that the discussion started out as amicable.
It wasnāt until some rude assholes (yes, stupid morons) derailed the thread that things took a turn for the worse. Meanwhile, the rest of us in the thread who were actually looking at answers for the DMG issue continued to be polite even as they attacked us. I even complimented the level 7 dick on his expertise to try to appease the shithead even as he was calling me anti-Apple and anti-American completely unprovoked.
What more do you think we should have done? Did you bother to read where I quoted in my first post the question as posted? This will be the second time I ask you this. What the living fuck was āevangelicalā about it?
The majority of people there didnāt react negatively. As a matter of fact, as I already told you, some even thanked me for asking an interesting question as well as clicking on the āI also have this questionā button.
Once again, you suggested that I shouldnāt have used a public forum for this question. If so, I ask you AGAINā¦ How then do you resolve this issue being brought up on Boing Boing which is a very public place?
Or can I take it that you think Xeni, Cory, etc. are being foolhardy for doing so?
Can you please stop taking things I say out of context? If I started picking your posts apart in this manner, I think that youād not only get annoyed, but youād also suspect that I was driving trollies you. Please knock it off. This passive-aggressive nitpicking is getting stale. Overall, I like you. If you donāt like me, then thereās more direct, less inane ways than this to let me know.
In the past youāve made suggestions to better my posts (too much bolding, etc.) and Iāve tried to actually take your advice into consideration, I really do. But, I donāt really need you badgering me, either. Youāre just going to annoy me and nothing more. If this is your idea of constructive criticism, then please just knock off the parts where you continue to ignore my questions to you and take things I say out of context.
Iām well aware that you catch more flies with honey, but that wasnāt even the point of my thread at Appleās board. It was to get answers on DMG security. I got it, but also along with a ration of shit for even just bringing it up. I think that shows that thereās a lot of ignorant, hateful people we all still have to deal with. They escalated from talking about DMG security to killing people. As much as you may like to think it, that wasnāt my fault.
Update: I pulled some strings and some people got a ātalking toā. A new thread has been put back up and everyone is as nice as pie now. I think one of the biggest hurdles surrounding the discussion is people are actually fearful of participating in it. Our government is so out of control, I canāt blame them at this point. Going after whistleblowers was meant to send a clear message and itās regrettably worked on many. But, I guess you can blame me for that too. Even if the thread gets nuked again by some spineless chickenshit, itās served its purpose for me already anyway. (just thought Iād throw in some bolded insults to goose you)
Well, Iām glad you tried again and things went better.
I just wanted to warn you that you often come across as extremely negative and too-persistent, and that hurts whatever message it is youāre so eager to communicate with everyone.
Sometimes itās good to just say your piece in as simple and clear a way you can, and leave it be.
Well, Iām glad you tried again and things went better. I just wanted to warn you that you often come across as extremely negative and too-persistent, and that hurts whatever message it is youāre so eager to communicate with everyone.
Itās ironic you say that and youāre continuing to be presumptuous (which is annoying). I approached the new thread I created in the exact, same manner as before. I literally just copied & pasted what I saved from the previous thread that was nuked.
The difference this time is I raised hell with people I know who work higher up at Apple and it was properly moderated. I got it done and achieved goals, thanks.
My advice and warning to you is to stop taking me out of context, being presumptuous and giving advice to me as if youāve got all the answers instead of engaging in dialog with me.
Outright ignoring my questions to you, not engaging in discussion and preaching at me just makes me lose respect for your advice. Want to see less negativity? Practice what you preach, quit being presumptuous and quit acting like youāre above discussing my questions to you. Itās arrogant and unhelpful.
Iām not going to tip-toe around controversy out of fear and from bullies. Thatās going to sometimes cause some people to flip out, but thatās not going to silence me. Never has and never will. And, Iām not going to resort to nothing but ābumper stickerā posts, cheap slogans, talking points and simplistic stances on complex issues to appease anyone, either.
That said, I will take your advice to avoid the namecalling more often. Youāre right, it doesnāt really help much of anything, although it can be rather cathartic when people are being dicks. Yes, I said dicks. Dicks, dicks, dicks, dicks.
Works for me. Cheers. 
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