
'MythBusters' co-host backpedals on RFID kerfuffle - nickb
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10031601-52.html
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mechanical_fish
This was bound to happen. The guy wants to keep his show, right? _I_ certainly
want him to keep his show.

And now for something completely different. Apropos of nothing at all, I was
thinking the other day about how pretending to be senile and apologizing for
it is a timeless legal strategy. It can also work well in family conflicts.
I've known a few crazy-like-a-fox elderly geniuses who do a great senility
impression. In a _real_ emergency, they might even try drooling a little.

~~~
stcredzero
Is our society now particularly corrupt, or has it always been this way?

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mechanical_fish
I think you're failing to look on the bright side. This little exchange
represents a lot of progress.

If you want a good idea of what powerful rulers _used_ to do to people who
said things they didn't like, google "Giordano Bruno". Or, for an
international perspective, ask a 60-year-old Russian, or a 40-year-old
Cambodian, or a contemporary Tibetan.

Note, though, that I'm not saying our society couldn't use a lot of
improvement on the corruption front.

~~~
stcredzero
So our society isn't less corrupt than it used to be. It's just that the
overlords have realized that they can be a little subtler and not have to
hack/burn/behead/hang/shoot people to subjugate and control them.

Yes, there's progress, but I think we can still complain.

~~~
shard
Unfortunately, in human society, the source of corruption is _humans_.

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stcredzero
I've always said those things should be _outlawed_!

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biohacker42
That is one hell of a long (10 minute speech) brain fart there.

And my how eager to help all those corporations were, why they sound sad that
the segment won't air!

Good news everyone, all the bad publicity has jogged Adam's memory and he now
remembers things _correctly_.

~~~
jrockway
Adam does seem like the kind of person that would make things up to make a
story more interesting. Maybe he didn't realize it would end up on YouTube?

Too bad nobody interviewed Tory, the primary source, before the shit hit the
fan.

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icey
Except the article was intimating that the primary source was Grant, and not
Tory.

~~~
biohacker42
I'm sure there are embellishments and inaccuracies in Adams speech.

But the point is that he got the gist of story 100% wrong, not just wrong but
exactly opposite of what happened. The corporations were trying to help them,
not stop them. No one can be _that_ confused.

In addition to that, we all know that in general (yes I am generalizing)
security through obscurity and legal threats tends to be the norm.

~~~
icey
That's my point exactly - his story was so wrong that he couldn't even get who
told him the story right. Doesn't that set off some BS filters?

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DenisM
So he pretends to back off, we pretend to believe him, lawyers pretend to be
satisfied. RFIDs are still a can of worms.

Everything is back to normal then?

