Reply All: #32 The Evilest Technology On Earth :-)
July 16, 2015 11:10 AM - Subscribe

What happens when the hackers are hacked?

On July 5th, a hacker leaked hundreds of gigabytes of information stolen from a company that sells surveillance software to some of the most oppressive regimes in the world. Alex looks into what journalists have found so far.

Also, a new Yes Yes No - where PJ is the "no!"
posted by radioamy (12 comments total)
 
Well, that's terrifying.
posted by dinty_moore at 11:13 AM on July 16, 2015


Seriously. How has PJ never heard of Minions?
posted by maxsparber at 1:52 PM on July 16, 2015


I was delighted by the post credits diaper thing.

I don't the Hacker Team hoo-hah all that compelling, but maybe because this sort of thing (exploits for sale to the highest bidder vs actually being fixed, hacking tools being sold to repressive regimes, etc. etc.) has been a constant low level hum on the internet, or at least the paranoid parts of the internet I frequent, for a long time. Now, with leaks to wikileaks, it goes from being the domain of paranoid security researchers to something more mainstream reporters will report on I guess?

Kim Zetter's Countdown to Zero Day is a good read if you want to dive into the world of viruses, malware, and the market for software exploits.
posted by selenized at 3:51 PM on July 16, 2015


I was super surprised that they got the guy from Hacking Team on the phone!

I also am skeptical that PJ hadn't heard of minions. I mean there are ads for the movie all over San Francisco so I'm assuming they're in New York. However, it was a hilarious segment and had a nice twist, so I'm all on board.

And if PJ doesn't know what minions are, I guess he didn't post this tweet?

Have you guys seen the Gimlet Membership yet? Thoughts?
posted by radioamy at 4:36 PM on July 16, 2015


I'd consider it if there was a tote bag involved.
posted by dinty_moore at 5:11 PM on July 16, 2015


I'm also super suspicious of PJ's lack of Minion recognition. The amount of chatter about it through the internet, both direct and second or third degree like this piece from the Awl has been inescapable.

Those t-shirts are no good at at all. I didn't realize until I saw it on a shirt how tacky the Gimlet "(G)" is, given its (intentional) resemblance to the registered trademark sign.

During StartUp, Blumberg had hyped his ability to leverage a community into $$ by talking about the Planet Money shirt. I think the big difference is that the Planet Money shirt was engineered to be something you can wear without looking like a huge sellout dork.
posted by tjgrathwell at 7:39 PM on July 16, 2015


I am considering becoming a member but I'm not impressed by the t-shirts at all. I also agree that the whole reason the Planet Money t-shirts were popular was that it represented something larger (and the design was way cooler, it wasn't a white t-shirt, etc.)
posted by radioamy at 8:18 PM on July 16, 2015


I will say that Alex's (was it Goldman or Blumberg?) minion language imitation was pretty funny.
posted by radioamy at 8:19 PM on July 16, 2015


I seem to recall the Planet Money shirt was more than just a shirt, it was the culmination of a series of podcasts on the making of shirts, which certainly added to the appeal.

I think the minion ignorance was less that PJ didn't know that they were a thing -- that is pretty unbelievable -- but that he didn't know where they came from and why they were a thing. Which I think is somewhat legit? They are everywhere but the tie in to the original Despicable Me is not so obvious, and if you don't go out of your way to look into it you could be excused for wondering why everyone was losing their minds over these little yellow things. In fact, I would say, if you were living in a spider hole for the last several years and just popped out during the marketing blitz for the minions movie it would be downright inexplicable why everyone was losing their minds over these particular animated things versus all the other animated things out there.

(They have invaded my office, people walk around with minion mugs and shirts, talk about how great the movie was, and last October a bunch of people went as minions for Halloween with one manager as Gru. Send help.)
posted by selenized at 8:40 PM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


kanata, I'm not sure what you're referring to?
posted by radioamy at 8:36 AM on July 17, 2015


selenized, I went back and realized I'd missed the last minute or so. That shit was pretty funny. Thanks!
posted by radioamy at 9:34 PM on July 17, 2015


Have you guys seen the Gimlet Membership yet? Thoughts?

I think the shirt is really ugly. The design is huge and bad and it's a shapeless mans shirt (I'm a shapely women) and I'll never wear it outside. But it's also really soft and well made and is a surprisingly flattering colour. So I'm weirdly torn on it. I'm still really glad I gave them some of my money anyway and don't really care about the shirt.

As for the premier episode of a new podcast they are testing, which kanata mentioned above and which is a real thing you get access to when you buy a membership. I liked it OK until the shockingly and unexpectedly misogynistic comment at the end which is all I can really remember a month later. So I won't listen to the new show when it comes out, which I'm sure no one will cry about because I'm just a bike-riding girl instead of an all American sports watching boy, but I'm still glad I gave them my money for Reply All *shrug*.
posted by shelleycat at 11:38 AM on August 28, 2015


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