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Tee · Nov 12, 2008, 01:25 AM

Obama, McCain campaigns' computers hacked for policy data - CNN.com

MacNN | President-Elect Obama uncovered as Mac user

First story + second story = hmmm

Spheric Harlot · Nov 12, 2008, 04:50 AM

Ah, so you think that Obama's campaign was run from the two private MacBooks the family owns?

CharlesS · Nov 12, 2008, 04:55 AM

1. It probably wasn't Obama's private Mac that got hacked

2. Wrong forum. Take it to the political lounge - this has nothing to do with Mac OS X.

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 05:40 AM

Actually, Obama ran his campaign entirely from his ~~iPhone.~~ Newton.

Tee · Nov 12, 2008, 05:58 AM

So this is one of his personal Macs?

I considered posting this in the Lounge but, frankly, I don't see this as a political issue, I see it as a Mac getting hacked issue.

The campaign was apparently hacked. There is good reason to believe that the campaign uses Macs. Therefore we have a high profile Mac hack.

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 06:04 AM

Originally Posted by Tee

So this is one of his personal Macs?

There is nothing in this that says that it is his Mac, or has anything to do with him

Originally Posted by Tee

I considered posting this in the Lounge but, frankly, I don't see this as a political issue, I see it as a Mac getting hacked issue.

The campaign was apparently hacked. There is good reason to believe that the campaign uses Macs. Therefore we have a high profile Mac hack.

No. Therefore we have a high profile suspicion.

CharlesS · Nov 12, 2008, 06:10 AM

Originally Posted by Tee

I considered posting this in the Lounge but, frankly, I don't see this as a political issue, I see it as a Mac getting hacked issue.

At the very least, it should be in the Lounge. It really has nothing to do with OS X.

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 06:16 AM

Agreed. Mods?

Tee · Nov 12, 2008, 06:34 AM

Originally Posted by CharlesS

At the very least, it should be in the Lounge. It really has nothing to do with OS X.

I strongly disagree.
If OSX was hacked the discussion belongs in the OS X forum!

Tee · Nov 12, 2008, 06:39 AM

Okay , I think I see what has happened here.
When I said 'Obama's Mac was hacked" I should have said, The Obama campaign was hacked and there is good reason to believe that they use Macs since we have photos of the candidate and staff using them.

I could care less who the Mac's belong to.
What I care about is that a Mac was apparently hacked.

voodoo · Nov 12, 2008, 09:22 AM

Originally Posted by Tee

Okay , I think I see what has happened here.
When I said 'Obama's Mac was hacked" I should have said, The Obama campaign was hacked and there is good reason to believe that they use Macs since we have photos of the candidate and staff using them.

I could care less who the Mac's belong to.
What I care about is that a Mac was apparently hacked.

I think the real question is, how much less you could care? Could you care a lot less? Only a little less?

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 09:36 AM

On a scale of 1 to 10; (with 10 being the most) how much less could you care?
The joys of messing up on a NN forum

ghporter · Nov 12, 2008, 09:45 AM

I think it's still a Lounge issue. There are no details about how such "hacking" was done, and it's still speculation that the Obama campaign used Macs to any great extent. A few pictures don't say "this is a Mac shop." Everybody buckle your seat belts; we're moving!

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 09:47 AM

Boom. The power of ghporter.

ghporter · Nov 12, 2008, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by calverson

Boom. The power of ghporter.

I was thinking "BAM!!!" myself, but "boom" will do nicely.

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 10:03 AM

It is a matter of linguistics.

Andrew Stephens · Nov 12, 2008, 10:20 AM

Obama first Mac using prez?

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 10:21 AM

Besides Steve Jobs.

SpaceMonkey · Nov 12, 2008, 10:26 AM

Originally Posted by Andrew Stephens

Obama first Mac using prez?

I don't think he'll be using a computer much for the next 4 years.

besson3c · Nov 12, 2008, 10:56 AM

Does it really matter where the thread is placed?

Just what does "hacked" mean in this case? I'm assuming compromised remotely, but how do we know that some info from the machine wasn't simply obtained physically? If this is all it was, maybe you can say "hacked" in the sense of having confidential information put in the wrong hands, but it is not Mac specific or terribly note worthy from a geek standpoint.

Also, how do we know that the information was stolen from a Mac, and not a non-Mac file server where the info authored on a Mac workstation was saved to?

Laminar · Nov 12, 2008, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Does it really matter where the thread is placed?

Why don't we just have one subforum for troubleshooting all kinds of Macs, applications, gaming, off-topic posts, and political content?

besson3c · Nov 12, 2008, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by Laminar

Why don't we just have one subforum for troubleshooting all kinds of Macs, applications, gaming, off-topic posts, and political content?

You're jumping the gun. I'm not suggesting this. I'm simply pointing out that with the very occasional borderline sort of thread or thread where somebody has different judgment as to its placement, it's not worth wringing our hands over unless we expect a string of future threads about this same precise topic. The original poster created the thread presumably because he wanted to talk about the subject, not debate and bicker over mundane trivialities.

Laminar · Nov 12, 2008, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

not debate and bicker over mundane trivialities.

Speaking of which.

besson3c · Nov 12, 2008, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by Laminar

Speaking of which.

A little uptight, aren't you?

I had no intention in carrying on about this if it weren't for your interjection, I was simply trying to kickstart the thread back on track. Are you here to discuss the subject, or find creative ways to make snide remarks?

Laminar · Nov 12, 2008, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Are you here to discuss the subject, or find creative ways to make snide remarks?

I'll give you two guesses, and the first one doesn't count.

Spheric Harlot · Nov 12, 2008, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by Tee

So this is one of his personal Macs?

I considered posting this in the Lounge but, frankly, I don't see this as a political issue, I see it as a Mac getting hacked issue.

The campaign was apparently hacked. There is good reason to believe that the campaign uses Macs. Therefore we have a high profile Mac hack.

Do you REALLY think that a MacBook Air Joe Biden's aide is surfing CNN.com for the current polls with is the backend database machine that contains all the campaign info and financial transaction logs?

I mean, seriously?

Do you think it might be possible that some of the people on the campaign might be using Mac laptops for connectivity, research, speech-writing, communication, and entertainment, while the actual backend might NOT BE DONE ON LAPTOPS AT ALL?

Have you ever heard of these things called "servers"? People like to use them for managing businesses and large organisations that deal with tens of thousands/millions of transactions daily. They tend to be rather largish, noisy boxes sitting in basements or dedicated buildings, often with thousands of other rather largish, noisy, similar boxes. Very, very few of these big boxes have Apple logos on them, though increasing numbers of people like to use little boxes with Apple logos on them to access the information they contain.

besson3c · Nov 12, 2008, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by Laminar

I'll give you two guesses, and the first one doesn't count.

1) You are a hermaphrodite?
2) You like to pour soy sauce on your genitals?

I wonder how often government servers are successfully hacked into in general...

Jawbone54 · Nov 12, 2008, 01:32 PM

I loved this shot:

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 01:34 PM

That is fcking awesome!

Laminar · Nov 12, 2008, 01:58 PM

If I get another Mac laptop I'd do something like that.

olePigeon · Nov 12, 2008, 02:02 PM

Why is Sylar holding a MacBook for Biden?

Dakar V · Nov 12, 2008, 02:18 PM

More importantly, is that guy goosing Obama?

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 02:26 PM

They are comparing ties.

Railroader · Nov 12, 2008, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by Andrew Stephens

Obama first Mac using prez?

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 03:34 PM

He looks lost.

Railroader · Nov 12, 2008, 03:47 PM

Nope, he won. Twice.

Chuckit · Nov 12, 2008, 03:56 PM

What do you want to bet they actually got phished?

calverson · Nov 12, 2008, 04:02 PM

Obama was surfing and an animated GIF said

"YOU ARE THE 123, 675th PERSON TO VISIT THIS PAGE! CLICK HERE TO CLAIM YOUR FREE PRIZE!"

and it asked him for his e-mail address and password.

Spheric Harlot · Nov 12, 2008, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Nope, he won. Twice.

There's pride yet, even in utter failure.

Railroader · Nov 12, 2008, 05:09 PM

And then there is that subtle condescending that only a select few can pull off.

Spheric Harlot · Nov 12, 2008, 05:11 PM

Pot, meet kettle.

"Hi there."

(Unless you were referring to calverson, which would confuse me)

Jawbone54 · Nov 12, 2008, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

"Hi there."

"I'm old Greg..."

Railroader · Nov 12, 2008, 06:53 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

Pot, meet kettle.

"Hi there."

(Unless you were referring to calverson, which would confuse me)

What did you hope to accomplish with your initial reply to me?

Spheric Harlot · Nov 12, 2008, 08:28 PM

Originally Posted by Railroader

What did you hope to accomplish with your initial reply to me?

Much the same, I'd guess, as you did with your initial reply to calverson's post.

Railroader · Nov 12, 2008, 10:12 PM

Dispute the fact that Bush looked lost and that he is a winnar in my book? Wow, I totally missed that in your post.

ghporter · Nov 12, 2008, 10:19 PM

People! On topic please! If George has been using Macs for a while, he apparently has had something on the ball.

But everybody knows Jeff Goldblum was the first person to bring a PowerBook into the Oval Office...

Railroader · Nov 12, 2008, 10:27 PM

This thread was ripe for off-topic discussions. I am surprised we aren't talking about ponies.

Spheric Harlot · Nov 13, 2008, 03:40 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Dispute the fact that Bush looked lost and that he is a winnar in my book? Wow, I totally missed that in your post.

And somehow, it's not appropriate to respond that he wasn't a "winnar", but an abject failure, in my book?

Twice?

Hey, whatever rocks your boat - just don't blame me.

Blame Clinton.

calverson · Nov 13, 2008, 04:00 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

This thread was ripe for off-topic discussions. I am surprised we aren't talking about ponies.

Besson has showed up in here yet.

I have a feeling this is going to me moved to the polwar lounge, where it belongs.

Mithras · Nov 13, 2008, 07:28 AM

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

I loved this shot:

That really does look shopped to me. The head just doesn't square with the rest of the body. I dunno, maybe he looks like that.

EDIT: I stand corrected -- it was in Rolling Stone; here's the photographer's page. I guess it just must be some weird depth-of-field thing.