Circular Reference Warning
One or more formulas contain a circular reference and may not calculate correctly.
I thought he looked familiar… I think that I used to give him my lunch money so that “I would stop hitting myself”.
To answer your questions, Xeni, hells no.
Be a doll and point them out. Otherwise you are just a web forum equivalent of a car alarm that everyone ignores.
I do believe that he was pointing out that Mister Alexander’s former employment/current employment protection-from-security-holes-that-he-may-have-helped-create-or-cover-up-scenario is creating a circular reference…
Dangit! I should have gone with the “stop hitting yourself”, much better anology. I was at work however, so I wasn’t able to think too far outside of the excel.
I think I see a big problem. The head of the NSA isn’t an engineer - they’re always an executive, political appointee. There is no way in hell Mr. Alexander has invented some amazing new hacker-sniffing technology.
It’s possible his employees did. Engineers working for the government are often required to sign over patent rights - but not to the director personally. I’m guessing he’s just a blowhard, but if he actually has some clever new tech, then he’s misappropriated government property and should be arrested like… right now.
Perhaps someone more versed in legalese can advise me on this, but I was under the impression that any employer had first right of refusal over intellectual property developed while on the clock, or using proprietary information or technology that would only have been available to the inventor through said employer? Also under the impression that this is what kept people who work in tech industries from learning trade secrets then quitting shortly thereafter to work on their own “improved” versions of their old employer’s tech.
If this applies to government workers, then I’d suggest waiting until he and his company fully develop and start to market said tech, then file claims for it as it’s using information only available through his former employment (classified info), and once the US govt. owns the patents, continue selling it, feeding the $ back into govt. coffers.
This seems all a little too neat.
Reminds me of something…
This’s a nice li’l place ya got 'ere."
Yeah, be a shame if sum’n 'appened to it…"
Came to say the same thing–he didn’t do shit, other than manage people and overall strategy. Which leads me to think he’s gotten some of his former employees to leave the government and join his little startup.
“Is it ethical for an NSA chief to pursue patents on technologies directly related to their work running the agency?”
No. No it is not. I seem to remember the current occupant of the White House going on about lobbyists and undue govt influence. Isn’t this just the same ridiculous revolving door?
Then again, given Mr. Alexander’s record of violating the law routinely, maybe this is a case of “You gotta use a thief if you want to catch a thief”
Obligatory: “You didn’t build that!”
This reminds me of a bit of Roman history – how Crassus made his fortune by (among other things) running a fire brigade that only put out fires after the owner sold the building to Crassus at a (literal) fire-sale price.
Whether or not Mr. Alexander actually has dirt on anyone in office who would try and oppose him, he can certainly make a credible threat of it.
All I wanna do is BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM ka-ching, RING!
And take your monay.
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