The silver lining

Enough with the Orwell references!
This is getting a bit repetitive, doncha' think?

The increasing sophistication of surveillance techniques has drawn comparisons with George Orwell's 1984, but "Weeping Angel", developed by the CIA's Embedded Devices Branch (EDB), which infests smart TVs, transforming them into covert microphones, is surely its most emblematic realization.
The attack against Samsung smart TVs was developed in cooperation with the United Kingdom's MI5/BTSS. After infestation, Weeping Angel places the target TV in a 'Fake-Off' mode, so that the owner falsely believes the TV is off when it is on. In 'Fake-Off' mode the TV operates as a bug, recording conversations in the room and sending them over the Internet to a covert CIA server.

OK, sure. The comparison is entirely appropriate.
In fact, George Orwell should sue the CIA for copyright infringement.
That's probably why they ripped-off Doctor Who instead.

The good news is that the CIA appears to be taking 1984 as a How-To manual.
So if you want to know what comes next you don't have to wait for next week's episode.
Just skip ahead in the book.

In closely related news, George Orwell's 1984 is no longer Amazon's #1 best seller.
It fell all the way to #2.
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Don't watch TV but do have a computer, obviously, so this makes me glad that I'm a boring conversationalist. Although I do have a filthy mind and an adolescent sense of humour, which might get me in trouble with any religious fanatics listening in... but I do think that I might start start changing in the bathroom.

Edited because I cleverly repeated a word. Luckily, I didn't include any of the words I've been muttering...

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

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“Next time you’re at Costco, you can pick up a jumbo bag of Cheetos and a copy of ‘1984.’ Doubleplus good!”

That’s how the Washington Post opened its quick little entry on Wednesday. Continuing, Ron Charles, editor of Book World for the Post, wrote:

“The discount store is now stocking Orwell’s classic novel along with its usual selection of current bestsellers.”

If the significance of the fact that a dystopian masterwork can now be purchased alongside a three-ton bag of cheese puffs instantly strikes you, it should. Strangely, though, Charles and the Post don’t seem to see it.

In fact, it seemed to be a joke to them.

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