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ThataSmilez55 karma

It's my understanding that the reasons for not using ThinThread are a bit more nuanced than that (that's not to say that they're good reasons), including legality (let's face it, Trailblazer was also illegal, PRISM is illegal, the NSA doesn't seem to give two shits) and cost -- I have my suspicions that Trailblazer was chosen in part because it cost more, and got them more funding. Aside from that, it's my understanding that they did decide to use the MAINWAY component of ThinThread.
Beyond that, it's disingenuous to state that it would have detected the attacks. It's possible that it could have, but that's not a given.

ThataSmilez31 karma

I found a re-upload here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0sZpKXMUtA&list=PLhFPpjYO-PFe_KtbpCQMo6zRPM3vIL8FG, assuming you were talking about the parking garage one. Looks like the user uploaded a playlist of the ads they ran.

ThataSmilez11 karma

A lot of people don't understand the amount of regulations and laws that have to be kept in mind for this sort of undertaking. It's not inherently obvious that the issue isn't one of technology being advanced enough, but rather one of legalese, access control, and the like.

ThataSmilez11 karma

I'm a computer science major, but you won't really learn about it in classes -- while tangential, it's not really the sort of knowledge that gets you a career. It's just a topic of interest for me that I've spent time looking into (thought it certainly helps to have background knowledge in the area).
As others have pointed out, the Snowden leaks are great for learning about some modern practices of the NSA; apart from that, Google is your friend, as well as following (and verifying) links between articles you might stumble upon. Unfortunately, for full details on some of these programs, we still have some time before everything is declassified, so nobody other than those working on them has all the information. One thing I would like to make clear is that while I disagree with these practices, the USA is far from unique in this regard; many countries have similar programs in place in terms of surveillance (terms to google include five/nine/fourteen eyes) and information sharing.

ThataSmilez8 karma

Transvestite means a cross-dresser. If you use it to refer to someone who is transgender, it's suggesting that they are not, in fact, the gender they identify as, and instead just some cross-dresser.
It's not inherently a slur (in fact, there are still people who self-identify as transvestites), but it has been used in derogatory ways a fair bit as some people deride transgender individuals by calling them transvestites instead, and usage in the common lexicon tends to carry negative connotations nowadays.
Trans on its own is typically short for transgender (so yes, someone who is transitioning or who has transitioned).