I know enough to say that this sentence reveals a lot about what snowden knows, and what he doesn't. Mostly the latter. He doesn't seem to understand the context and meaning of acronyms he uses.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9297990
Are you seriously expecting us to believe that your friend is telling you how the NSA is internally structured and how sensitive foreign operation intelligence programs work?
Plus in another comment of yours you claimed to know how General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle worked behind the scenes but when asked to post more info you never did.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10954248
So you're seemingly a Linux admin, but know tons about the inner workings of both military contractors, the DoD, and NSA from your single friend? Seems uhh a stretch, let's just say that.
He spelled it "Grey Eagle". It's unlikely one can actually speak "professionally" about a program when they can't spell it correctly.
If you're part of the program, you're seeing/typing/writing the name "Gray Eagle" day in/day out.
To use an analogy this is like someone saying the "US Army" in reference to infantrymen specifically and then someone, such as yourself, coming along throwing their hands up and saying "The US Army is composed of much more than just 'infantrymen,' this comment shows willful ignorance of that fact."
We can all read the Wikipedia article on the TAO[0]. You aren't fooling anyone by acting like you know more than is publically available, and trying to correct someone who provably worked for the NSA seems at best arrogant, at worst ridiculous.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailored_Access_Operations
You say acronyms as a plural.
Can you please identify two or more specific usages (hopefully with citation!) of Snowden using acronyms incorrectly?
They apparently don't shy from morally questionable ways to accomplish their goals. So if you are into it.. Snowden actually wasn't and that was one of the reasons why he decided to quit CIA and eventually become a whistleblower.
There was this part, i also tend to think there are more technically interesting problems than circle jerking over the latest js framework for engaging with skinner boxes that more people get the so wonderful opportunity to make decent money for.
>* Snowden actually wasn't and that was one of the reasons why he decided to quit CIA and eventually become a whistleblower.*
I also dont see snowden as a hero like most paint him to be, binney, drake et al. and many others came before (whose opinions get often ignored compared to the latest lord savior). The fact that he tends to get the most paid press offerings and stamp of approval from the media™ tends to make me think lower of him, as with his dubious "service" in the first place… shrugs… his life, not mine.
However, you may want to consider Snowden isn't hostile enough to go through and list ever group in the US that maintains an arsenal of malware for operations in public. That doesn't necessarily mean ignorance, a more generous interpretation is everyone knows about TAO so he calls it TAO.
I realize you probably don't like the guy, but would you really preferred he list off every SigInt group in the US with a malware arsenal just to cover all his bases and all of their component groups that operate in relation to it?
Idk about you, but I don't need him to post org charts of all of that to get the gist.