I had exactly the same doubt, the setup requires a see-through augmented reality display, which does not seem to be the case with Google Glass. I would love to be wrong though.
"He responded, "when there's something interesting to publish, it'll be published." He seemed to have a sort of disdain for "salami science", where scientific and mathematical papers present the thinnest possible "slice" or result possible."
There is all this talk about how he made a mistake going to Hong Kong because Hong Kong actually has a strong extradition treaty with the United States (although ultimately, mainland China can veto anything if it chooses to do so). Snowden did not make a mistake going to Hong Kong, he was exceptionally clever because most likely he knows more about NSA spying than just the domestic spying that he revealed. He probably knows details of international spying and how the U.S. manages to snoop on countries through technological means. By sitting in Hong Kong he is signaling that he could easily defect to the Chinese and reveal real damage to National Security or perhaps the U.S. will cut a deal with him to let him go home without much jail time. Also, at a time when the U.S. has been admonishing the Chinese for spying, this would be a propaganda gold mine for the Chinese as well as an intelligence windfall if he were to defect to their country. The U.S. would be seething if this were to happen but the Chinese know that the Americans are so tied up with business deals with China that they would not or could not do much to damage relations between the two countries. Snowden could have went to Iceland first but his trump card is sensitive security information that U.S. real adversaries would like to have. Iceland could not use that information.
Aaron makes a parallel between the Batman movie and his own struggles, highlighting the corruption of the system and how the Joker was actually the only "sane" person in an insane world. Sadly, he decided to pursue the same path as Heath Ledger.
This whole case really makes me wonder. A lot of people are blaming the DOJ for leveling so many charges against him. Yet when you read the case, it would seem the only entity who wanted to punish him was the government.
Maybe I'm just being optimistic, but with the sum total of evidence, I would have thought he had a better than 70-80% chance of winning outright. The other possibility is he would get a lighter sentence, or simply cop a plea for lesser time. The fact he may or may not felt compelled to take his own life based on what he perceived was going to happen to him is shocking. Instead of playing the hand he was dealt, he simply folded and ended the game.
It makes me wonder what advice people were giving him where he truly believed he was going to jail for the rest of his life. His case could've been a huge landmark case against this sort of unlawful litigation. Sad, really sad.
I asked the lawyers “Suppose that the government’s case is completely frivolous and Swartz is guaranteed to be acquitted. What would he expect to spend in legal fees to defend the case?” They didn’t want to reveal anything particular to Aaron’s case but said “Generally the minimum cost to defend a federal criminal lawsuit is $1.5 million.”
A daunting prospect for anyone. Apparently too daunting for a 26-year-old.
Wow I liked that decription of the movie better than the movie! Its a huge loss to society that he is gone; if the subject matter was not so grave I'd point to the staged suicide reference.... But it is, sadly.
I just want to say the desire to kill oneself does not have to do with outside circumstances. Its the faulure to realize who you really are, it requires a complete living inside the mind, and into believing that your thoughts actually are reality.
Some emerge from wanting to kill themselves enlightened - they realize the true nature of reality before they go through with it. Some of the most potent spiritual leaders today went throught this - Byron Katie, eckhart tolle both wanted to kill themselves.
Others, dont. There is no blame, it does not make it any less sad for those left behind, especially family members; Aaron lives on in all of us who were touched by him. I looked up to him as a hacker, brave hacktivist, and generally kick-ass guy. RIP Aaron.
