I can’t tell if this is some right wing diatribe or something based in some sort of fact. I had heard that if you log on to some govt “cash for clunkers” website (I don’t know which one), you have to agree to give control of your computer to the government…that your computer is now considered property of the federal government; and that anything they find while poking around on your computer will be scrutinized and sent to any goverment agency “they” deem appropriate.
Don’t know if this is true, or if I got misleading facts or what. But I’d be interested to know if the general gist is true, or if it is some conspiracy nut theory.
Here is the website: http://www.cars.gov/
There is no indication that you have to agree to anything to visit it.
Clicking on the “privacy” tab says the government collects the usual “cookie” information - browser, time visited, etc.
The TL;DR version is that what Beck is talking about is the dealer login. Even then, it sounds like the government owns and is just holding onto the records when you send them info on the site. I assume that’s pretty standard when dealing with the gov, but I don’t really know. The hostess with Beck later talks about the site installing malware and using cookies. I have no idea what they’re going on about there, other than that, yeah, the site probably uses cookies and cookies generally aren’t evil little bits of code that lets the government track you and put you into a FEMA camp.
Our jack-booted thugs are way ahead of you. Not clicking a button on a site isn’t going to foil our evil plans. Just don’t ‘go Galt’ Mr. Beck. We’d be utterly powerless then.
Nothing to do with Clash For Clunkers, but Intel has a technology which allows them to log into your computer and access its data even when it’s powered down.
This is useful if you’re having trouble with it, but scary if you’re writing an investigative report on government corruption. Or downloading music illegally. Or your geeky neighbor is able to use it to embezzle money from you.
If your machine is turned off, how can the Illuminati communicate with your machine?
I used to help maintain a server test lab for a large software company headquartered in Redmond Washington, and nobody bothered to tell us that we could access machines that weren’t even powered up.
See, in order to send a message to your computer, the computer has to be able to receive messages. Which it can’t do if it isn’t, you know, on.
Nit: that wouldn’t be embezzling, it would be stealing. Embezzlement implies the money was entrusted to you in the first place, but you used it dishonestly.
Look at your computer the next time you turn it off. It’s like a TV, it doesn’t go completely dark. If you’ve got an always-on internet connection they can touch your computer. Read the article before you jump to conclusions.
I have read the article, and the notion of a computer being accessible when the hard drive is turned off is absurd in the highest degree. Also, since I do happen to know a little bit about computers I’m finding it hard not to laugh at this whole ‘it doesn’t go completely dark, it’s like a TV’ thing.
Huh. Haven’t heard that one before, but it sounds like something the crazies would come up with. Are the converter boxes just supposed to monitor what you watch or do they tape you or what?
There are a lot of highly experienced and accomplished IT professionals on this board, myself included. What you or anyone else has to say on this type of impossibility has no bearing. It is crap and you shouldn’t repeat it on a message board dedicated to fighting ignorance.
