Math and the N.S.A.
Ok, so I really don't like math. But...Tanvi(our resident math goddess), Gayatri, and many of you other loyal readers do. So, just for you, out of my kind, giving spirit, I give you math geeks a chance to take joy in the various ways that math and mathematical concepts affect our lives. With all the new information and criticism over the telephone customer data that is being viewed by the National Security Agency (N.S.A), I thought this op-ed in the NY Times today might interest you:-)"The N.S.A.'s Math Problem"
posted by payal @ 9:46 PM
2 Comments:
Are you nuts, payal? I would never want to work at the NSA. 'Why not?' you ask. Well, let me just use the words of some one far more eloquent than I. As Good Will Hunting once said...
"Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm really happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin' "send in the Marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number got called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks.
Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink seven and sevens and play slalom with the icebergs and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil, and kills all the sea-life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive so he's got to walk to the job interview which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.
So what'd I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. I figure I'll eliminate the middle man. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? Christ, I could be elected President."
So, for that and many other reasons, I will not be working at the NSA.
Damn girl, that comment was probably longer than all of your posts combined!!! But, I love the quote!! I totally forgot about this moment from Good Will Hunting. You're so good:)
Well, anyway, I was hoping you would "tutor" them as in a manipulative manner and "fight the man". You know, revolution *wink* and all that jazz...:-)
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