Oh, by the way, the person with the device has to have received one that wasn't already tied to THEIR account in any way. You know, like by the automated system that sends these things out reading a barcode on the side of the box that associates device IDs with a particular account. Not sure about anything else but this was the case a decade ago when I bought my first Kindle. I'd imagine it's a bit more sophisticated now.

Go hang around a random apartment complex with wifi sniffing boxes and see how long it is before someone tackles you.

Honey, if you think a wifi password is needed to pivot to a network then you don't know what the word pivot means. At that point you're fucking BREACHED, BITCH. There's no pivoting, only ownership.

Ah yes, just jailbreak the Amazon device with phantom software that somehow has completely different checksums but still... has the same checksums.

All of this just illustrates you're an ignorant-ass that doesn't know how any of this works, wringing your hands about scenarios that DO NOT EXIST IN THE REAL WORLD.

If I absolutely need to get into your network I'm not fucking around with a fucking rooted Amazon FireTV I'm just going to CRACK YOUR FUCKING WIFI PASSWORD DIRECTLY.

Apparently I have all day every day to fuck around so why do I give a shit about it taking a week or two?

More likely, I'll walk up to your door with my phone in my hand and go "Hey, I just moved into the apartment next to yours and the wifi up at the office is broken. Could I log onto yours for a moment and pay a bill real quick? I apparently don't get any damn signal here either. I just moved from a fuckin' building where I had no signal, you'd think they'd have figured it out by now!"

And almost every time this will be more than enough.

My dude, if someone is able to just walk up to your house with a random device and hang out long enough to establish a wifi connection and pull out any sort of useful data you have WAY BIGGER PROBLEMS than someone potentially using your Amazon account to order dildos.

First of all, they have to already know you have that device.
Then they have to physically get close enough to it for a connection to be made.
THEN they have to hang around long enough for any sort of updates and shit to happen.
THEN THEN they have to try and figure out how to get any useful data from this connection, which is likely an extremely limited one unless they've already established how to pivot out of the device and into something else in which case they probably would have just done that through your original device anyway.
THEN THEN THEN they have to find a way to remove said useful information to a device that can actually store it.

All while standing next to your front door holding their dick.

It would be FAR easier to just leave a random USB stick on your porch and wait for your dumb ass to forget it isn't yours.

Or, even easier than that, just goddamn buy your information on the open market. They already have your address. It's not like you can't be found.

Have I illustrated quite yet why these low percentage attacks are the realm of movies?

Because, as we all know, it's ONLY the Republicans that are out of session right now... right?

Imbecile.

I do astrophotography, dingus. I'm well aware such mounts exist. I'm also aware of NASA's history of shooting lasers at the moon to track changes in its distance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiments

Have a look at that table. See all those specific wavelengths? If your dumbass idea is even remotely feasible then every single photographic satellite in orbit will ABSOLUTELY have filters that will carve out those narrow bands and others that could be realistically used to damage a camera. Lasers operate at specific wavelengths.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_laser_types

I do, however, doubt that any satellite has this type of filtration because this idea is inherently stupid. Say you do somehow manage this. Guess what? You've put a few pixels out of commission. What happens then? It's pretty fuckin' simple. The satellite moves slightly and another picture gets taken with the obscured area now in view.

Because that's how satellite imaging works.

If you laser is powerful, accurate, and fast tracking enough to destroy an entire imaging sensor from 400km away you're better off just using it to ransom passing aircraft.

Which is just as stupid.

American. Texas, specifically.

Keep the good shit going, dispose of the cruft.

"Hey, honey, it's the episode where OP learns how the internet works!"

That's what a baseball bat and dumpster are for.

Nowhere. I install whatever will actually get through the installation process without fucking itself up on the hardware that I'm using.

MOST of the time that ends up being Mint because the developers aren't idiots. SOMETIMES it's Ubuntu. But neither wants to install properly every time, because of course not.

If you don't understand the difference between an enforced national religious cult (DPRK) and a tenuous "democracy" that's only allowed to exist for as long as the oligarchs are able to maintain their income...

...learn.

I have only used a printed boarding pass once, when I decided last minute to take an extra bag and had to pay at the airport. They printed a new pass.

Otherwise, it's all been apps. Plane or train. App.

You can add the boarding pass to whatever wallet is on your phone. No wifi needed.

If you get ads from signing up for the app you just unsubscribe from them. It's pretty easy.

Something both gross and beautiful about the sci-fi awards falling victim to dystopian dictatorship.