FYI: I don't know about your language skills in general but https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/commata#English. Point I want to make: Please stop correcting so many people in general on HN.
Edit: Yes, this was not a perfectly warranted criticism. Yes, I may come off as smug. It's my opinion that needing perfect english should not be a requirement to have a conversation about tech in general.
I often get the feeling that in an academic setting every native English speaker assumes that everyone needs to be perfectly conversational in his English but when asked which other languages they even tried to learn you often learn that the English native hasn't put considerable amount into learning something else. Again, did not want to offend anyone.
I personally do not get offended, I like to learn. Still, I often experience corrections by an English native which are simply not called for.
Finally. I am so so hyped for SpaceX's development. Hopefully they can stay afloat to experience stability and a stage where they can sit on funding and provide credit for fusion and/or antimatter research. Glad they're here to give us a glimpse into the future of space travel.
But even if was, then your logic would be absurd. You would be saying that every urban myth is true because a single example was true. That is nonsensical.
Let me spell it out for you: You claim that X is nonsense without any reasoning whatsoever. Why was NSA surveillance before 2013 not an urban myth? Why is facebook eavesdropping on you nonsense?
And no, I wasn't implying anything - I'd like some arguments regarding your point. And saying 'thats nonsense', 'you're wrong' does not make any of your points valid.
Things like Amazon Echo exist and are used for all sorts of purposes, including making purchases and being available for law enforcement.
Gmail is an advertising company who actively listens in on the conversations you have on on their services (i.e. gmail) and uses it to display ads.
Facebook is an advertising company and data mines the hell out of all the data about you they can get their hands on to be able to sell targeted ads.
The specific use-case of "listening to you talk with your mouth, analyzing it and then showing you ads based on it" might not be explicitly be mentioned in the Facebook TOS, but it's the very natural extension of their business model keeping in pace with technology.
If someone says that lizard aliens rule the world, then I don't need to prove or explain why not. I can simply say that it is absurd, and that such extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Everything on this page has been "I talked about x and then I saw an advert for x a few days later". It's absurd cringe.
The OP did not make an absurd extreme claim. He or she asked for evidence attempting to diagnose whether it's true. You reject the commenters' anecdotal evidence.
The OP took the time to write up some actual criticisms and you've waved that off with "you must be American". That's not fair criticism. You can be disenchanted with American democracy and still see Chinese authoritarianism as far worse.
Do you have any response to the OP or are you just going to wave them off?
Numerous human rights groups have publicized human rights issues in China that they consider the government to be mishandling, including: the death penalty (capital punishment), the one-child policy (which China had made exceptions for ethnic minorities prior to abolishing it in 2015), the political and legal status of Tibet, and neglect of freedom of the press in mainland China. Other areas of concern include the lack of legal recognition of human rights and the lack of an independent judiciary, rule of law, and due process. Further issues raised in regard to human rights include the severe lack of worker's rights (in particular the hukou system which restricts migrant labourers' freedom of movement), the absence of independent labour unions (which have since been changing[3]), and allegations of discrimination against rural workers and ethnic minorities, as well as the lack of religious freedom – rights groups have highlighted repression of the Christian,[4][5][6][7][8][9] Tibetan Buddhist, and Falun Gong religious groups. Some Chinese activist groups are trying to expand these freedoms, including Human Rights in China, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, and the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group. Chinese human rights attorneys who take on cases related to these issues, however, often face harassment, disbarment, and arrest.[10][11]
Really off-topic, but: Are there (tech) news-sites which do not have this 10-100MB bloat with three js framweorks and gifs, ads and whatnot? I'd gladly pay for a minimalist news source...
I think the FBI is knowingly leaving the public in the dark about internal advancements regarding codebreaking and data analysis. But they somehow try to make a point appealing to the emotional need of security through state surveillance.
Edit: Yes, this was not a perfectly warranted criticism. Yes, I may come off as smug. It's my opinion that needing perfect english should not be a requirement to have a conversation about tech in general.
I often get the feeling that in an academic setting every native English speaker assumes that everyone needs to be perfectly conversational in his English but when asked which other languages they even tried to learn you often learn that the English native hasn't put considerable amount into learning something else. Again, did not want to offend anyone.
I personally do not get offended, I like to learn. Still, I often experience corrections by an English native which are simply not called for.