Super74

To say your reply to my opinion was blatantly aggressive (numerous caps) would be an understatement.

Actually, I was quite positive from my point of view. I believe the security officials were acting in their capacity to do so. They treated him with respect, returned his hw and left him with nothing but free publicity.

The fact that PayPal chose to take action as well, shows I am not the only one to hold the opinion that there was probable cause.

If you disagree, then that is your opinion.

Let me get this straight. This is a person who has openly admitted to knowing how to hack banking systems among others, then travels to countries like Abu Dhabi and the Dominican Republic to present that information.

We are surprised that he is searched at the border to the US? He was treated politely, not physically harmed and had his hardware returned. Sounds like the government is finally doing their job.

Maybe there are "certain" people out there throwing his name around and the government was obligated to look into this.

I would not support gross negligence by our government and this sounds like normal procedure to me, given the extenuating circumstances.

The iPhone was initially a hit because it was the first smart phone that was really designed for the consumer. Yes, you are correct, because consumers want the bells and whistles I mentioned earlier. Apple's marketing was a success in highlighting the eye candy that the Mac OS X has been known for. Even MS eventually added most of the visual effects associated with Apple's OS.

The consumer is mostly uninformed when it comes to their hardware needs and that is where the manufacturer should step in. As another HN article discussed, the confusion in PC model labeling is another example of this carelessness. Steve Jobs has always said the consumer does not know what they want, you have to tell them.

I should have said most consumers use Mac OS X or W7 and those machines need more than 512M of RAM.

In helping large data centers improve their power consumption, creating consumer products that inspire and ignite a passion or pushing larger competitors to continually have to innovate, smaller companies always make a difference.

"Even Ubuntu needs an upgraded graphics card and RAM to utilize all of the bells and whistles."

Bells and whistles are what makes computing fun for the average user. Why do you think the iPhone is such a hit? It's basic functionality? or the fact that you can have a lot of fun on it? It even sucks as a phone and people don't seem to mind.

In my IT business, the first thing I do for most customers is upgrade their RAM because their desktops come so poorly packaged and the performance is abysmal. Once done, I have never heard a complaint.

We need to stop talking about exceptions and start discussing general usage. Most users are running W7 or Mac OS X, and run a multitude of programs, apps and at the same time. I believe in breaking bottlenecks.

Lastly, I am glad to see smaller companies making a difference, like the one in the article.

I agreed with the article in the sense that a smaller company has seen the error of some major manufacturers' ways. My opinion was that these major manufacturers do not have the user's best interest in mind and used their PC sales as another example.

They have billions for research at their disposal and they couldn't see that their equipment was too power hungry, would not be sustainable in the long run and probably needed re-tuning? I'm guessing they did.

Well, you can't effectively run Mac OS X or W7 on 512 to start, the most used operating systems in the world. Even Ubuntu needs an upgraded graphics card and RAM to utilize all of the bells and whistles.

As I said before, I was referring to the general public. There will always be hackers or high-end users that can make miracles.

Big surprise, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and IBM not innovating? I can't believe it...

Just look at the computers they are selling. most still offers 512M of RAM as a default. What can you run on 512? Nothing like having to upgrade the day you receive your product. Consumers by and large need the guidance of manufacturers to make the right HW choices and the manufacturers just want the cash. They will suck each segment dry until the market forces them to make the changes. That's progress?

With all the advances in multi-monitor add-on SW or the fact that Windows and Mac OS have been supporting multi-monitor control for years, try finding hardware already fitted with multiple display connections. In the end, the user is forced to customize their own equipment. And yes, I know most HN readers do this, but I am talking about the general public.

Great to see the little guys are still fighting. The big ones really don't give a damn.

Avoiding distractions is not a physical addiction that one needs to go "cold turkey" with. If so, the user has bigger problems than information overload. Game addicts would fall into that category, not those following Twitter or any other real-time media.

Widening the bottleneck allows one to view, arrange and process more information. I bet you are using both monitors directly in front of you, as one large display. That's a bottleneck as well. Try putting another to your right or left and filter certain information to it. Worked wonders for me.

Controlling what your fingers do, is another matter.I am in total control of my body when using the computer.

Sounds like you might have an addiction.

You countered with "So a period of cold turkey pain is some times necessary."

How does that apply to turning off your services? Doe one then seek counseling before turning them back on? Or in the case of the alcoholic, never turning them on again? Goodbye Twitter!

Maybe I made a bad analogy, my point was that information overload is more a general problem than addiction, another topic altogether. But in both cases, you still have to face your problem. Cold turnkey is only a temporary solution.

Avoiding distractions is not a physical addiction that one needs to go "cold turkey" with. If so, the user has bigger problems than information overload. Game addicts would fall into that category, not those following Twitter or any other real-time media.

I use several monitors and have dedicated my social media to only one of them and I removed the audible alerts which I never liked anyway. My work area always remains on the center monitor, whether I am reading an article, writing a proposal or the like. When I need to stop and catch up on my real-time media, it is always there to my left. I don't need to re-open any apps or log back into any services or un-hobble my network. That alone would take more time from my schedule than a little self control.

If we are talking about addicts, then this is another discussion altogether.

So the only answer to controlling ourselves is to hobble our equipment? I totally disagree. That's like saying the only way to quit drinking is to lock yourself in a room with no alcohol. Eventually you have to come out and face your problem. But I think it is more than a self control issue.

It's the bottleneck that forces us to make choices as to what we are doing at any given time and keeps us opening and closing applications or minimizing screens to fill the single desktop real estate.

Hardware needs to adapt to the amount of information out there and it hasn't. The single monitor desktop environment is 30 years old. Break that bottleneck and you will have more information under your control at any given time.

I totally agree and was just contemplating the same topic. Spooky.

What gets me is even some of Twitter's own employees don't know how to use the service in a 100% useful manner. And you would be surprised who....Tweets like: "He said that?" or "Can't wait to see it" without references are GARBAGE. I also don't care that you are currently eating or thinking, in general, without learning SOMETHING in the process. They don't teach that at the company? In this age of videos, location-based tagging and pics, we have the power to do so much more than just talk.

Finally, I think this is an author controlled issue. We have the power to dictate what we write/ tweet and should respect our audience for listening/ following us. Unless we don't understand the tool, then it's a training problem.

I, @super74, try to direct message any personal or conversational tweets to only those who know what I'm talking about. My public messages tend to lean towards disseminating information, sharing creative ideas and offering my opinion on public topics.

Although I'm not perfect and may err from time to time, I have occasionally looked back and have been somewhat pleased with the bulk of my tweets.

By the way the, VPNs of choice for China are Skydur and Freedur. Cheap and reliable.

If nothing else, I think we can all agree that the "China" topic can bring an emotionally heated debate and it's great to have the platform to discuss such issues. Thanks to pg for that! Forums such as these are not as common in the rest of the world as one could naively believe. But to bring this back to dublinclontarf 's original comment, I will write my last words on the subject.

As we are becoming more and more dependent on this thing called the internet, we must begin to create and offer the same types of securities, rights of access, usage and opportunities to the world, equally. Under the guidelines of free trade, like the WTO, we should have these already in place in some areas As online businesses are businesses, none the less, they should be given their due protection.

By restricting internet businesses from others and controlling what can and cannot be said on them is wrong. As China grows to become more powerful and has more ability to control their internet, I can only see a darker future for the state of freedom in China.

What we see now, are only examples of the type of governing and leadership in the CCP today. Human rights, free speech, social stability and environmental well-being all grow from the same tree. That tree looks to be quite unhealthy.

Bottom line, you do not have the freedom to discuss what you like on the internet in China. Period. Do so and you risk anything from losing a business license or police harassment to imprisonment or worse, in extreme cases. You do not have complete access to the online businesses being created daily across the globe. These are facts.

These freedoms that we take for granted in the US (I am an American) come from a basis of law and order. As I said before it is not perfect. Nothing humans create is. But from that law, we have much prosperity. the clean air comes from regulations and restrictions on wanton over-development, national parks have come from the common man fighting big business to protect something pure. By the way, even our president had to use his constitutional power to save one of the world's most precious gifts, the Grand Canyon, from the might of big business. And millions of immigrants have found a home to raise their families and prosper in their own unique ways.

Governments that oppress these freedoms and deny those rights have never fully grown to become world powers and beacons of hope. They made money and won some wars, but were never considered safe havens.

The problems associated with Internet and Freedom in China are merely symptoms of larger issues looming on the horizon. As we build this world wide web ever larger and stronger, we will see just how those two ideas are so intertwined.

I cannot imagine what "quality" IT solutions you sold over here. Where did you get your HW and SW from, the IT malls run by teenagers? Internet blocking not a problem? I guess you don't read much online. It amazes me what I cannot get access to without my VPN. No videos, no blogs, no web 2.0. The world is passing China by.

But, I guess you are back in the safety and security of the good ol' USA, so it ain't your problem anymore.

Cost of living ain't low, unless you live in a village. Shanghai is more expensive than NY. A beer is 45RMB, and that's for a Bud, not a fancy micro. Live like a local and you forgo comfort for cost. Anything foreign or of genuine quality is 2x the price as the western world. Even HK is a deal, unless you have to buy or rent property.Every time I go for business, I do all my shopping for 100% originals, not fakes. The price difference is astounding.

By not caring about the politics, you enable the problem. The CCP is making a mint off the US and becoming unstoppable. Society is crumbling and the rights and freedoms of the average citizens are falling as quickly. Culture? Where does the CCP fit into that? Communism, when did that become China's culture?

Stepping on 1 billion people to raise up 300 million is not progress.

As I write this I too am having to go through a VPN to access the world. Even when it works properly, I constantly have to "play the VPN game."

I really don't have the time to list out every item from jhancock that I disagree with, but pretty much all of them made me grimace. And I find it poignant that he no longer lives here. I too live in Shanghai and have for the past 5 years. I came here looking for another view on life and to see what all the media fuss was about.

Don't get me wrong, I love the food, the excitement of living in a foreign country, have a wonderful chinese wife and in-laws and now take the good with the bad. But I now see why the US is #1 in many areas and continues to bring positivity to the world, for the most part.

I fully understand why millions of people attempt to immigrate to the US every year. Clean water, clean air, freedom to buy property, move where you like and a legal system that can be counted on. Nothing is perfect and there are exceptions, but China is a land with no law and it really never was. What the emperor wanted, he got. Contracts mean nothing, police cannot be counted on for much, other than brokering bribes between parties on the street and judges feel if you are in front of them, you did something wrong, regardless of the situation.

I have run my own business as well, legally, and have seen actions on part of my partners and customers that have blown my mind. The scams and lies now make me smile and I take them as lessons on what a person can do. It is the wild west over here.

As for the internet service, forget about it. Without SLAs, your provider is obligated to give you nothing. Either pay or they turn off your service. My home service is 150RMB/ month, my office, 2500RMB/ month because I am in an office building and they think we can afford more. My home service works above and beyond my best day in the office.

IP also means nothing, so the West continues to get raped over anything that might bring a profit from SW to design to web 2.0 opportunities. It's about block and copy and we are letting them step all over the WTO guidelines. Cisco? MS? Those sell-outs? They built the great firewall! I can tell you, they have not made more money than they have invested, but they will never admit it. Everyones' hope to finally make a buck someday in the future over here. The dream of any foreign company.....that never comes. Ask Grumman. Ask Pepsi. Ask GM with their 49/50 joint venture.

The air smells, the water putrid and cars drive on the sidewalk. Oh, and what is a red light? A color. And this is in their greatest international city. The rest of the country dives into the 18th century. I have been from top to bottom.

US creativity and ingenuity in technologies, film, music , popular trends, fashion, social improvements were all built on a legal system that has lasted over 200 years and continues to roll with the punches. China? The CCP just hit 60 and they still don't know what to call themselves. Communist? Socialist? Quasi-capitalist? A little copy of all of them. That's confusion, not progress.

Mark my words, we will be dealing with the worst kind of monster, an enabled one. I am talking about the CCP, not the Chinese people themselves. Know the difference. Blocking the internet is nothing, remember Tienanmen? They killed their own students and that says it all. Those leaders are still in power and are about to "elect" their children in 2012.

Well, I guess I did cover most of his comments. ha! And by the way, this summer, I will be finally coming home for good and will kiss the ground of a National Park when I do.

Here's a great infographic (http://mattmckeon.com/facebook-privacy/) highlighting Facebook's changes to their default policies regarding the stuff the general public can view on your profile.

The trick they are pulling is to default "yes" for you when they update the policies. You are then forced to go through the labyrinth of settings to change everything back. Clever, no?

Slander: a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report.

Since when did calling someone on their verifiable actions become slander? When America becomes complacent to the lack of moral and ethical accountability of our CEOs and business leaders, the end cannot be far away.

We must expect and demand a certain level of trust from the people who safeguard our personal information. The possibilities offered within the concept of "the cloud" will never come to fruition without this essential component.

What if your bank decided to publish the activity on your accounts?

Absolutely brilliant! Just start with all of the articles citing direct actions on his part. I'm sure the compilation would end any speculation as to the nature of his character, if there ever was any.

Have you heard of the phrase, "When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck."

Well even from the beginning of Facebook, within the Harvard campus, Mark Zuckerberg has been surrounded with allegations ranging from questionable personality traits, unethical behaviors and outright illegal activities.

Now with the release of a new "biography" detailing the early days of Facebook in Silicon Valley, these instances continue to highlight character flaws that seem to some to be quite disturbing. So why are we so surprised to witness continued actions of betrayal and lack of customer-focused decisions on behalf of a company that he runs and guides on a daily basis? "Zuck IS a duck!"

Personally, I totally agree with the concept of a more open society and the need for a platform in which to exchange personal ideas and personal media with friends and family. What I don't agree with are the blatant decisions that manipulate that information in ways contrary to the users' choices.

Many times in the past year, I have been literally offended and personally shocked at the amount of attacks to this information of mine and have contemplated closing my account for those reasons.

Instead, I have controlled my privacy options as best as I can and have held on to see where this all leads, in the hope that Facebook will finally get their act together and re-focus their energy on connecting people, not causing anguish those people who make them the billion dollar company that they are, their customers.

With Zuck the duck in charge, I'm not so sure that this will happen.

I will throw my 2-cents in. My wife posted the name CCP on the Chinese version of Twitter and received an immediate message. Scared her enough to quit for good. For those who can read mandarin: http://twitpic.com/19h81p

We need to push our representatives to call foul on WTO violations. These are unfair business practices as web-based companies need to be protected too.

It's all about "block and copy" so the west is losing precious resources and hard-earned IP.