Palin E-mail Hacker Indicted 846
doomsdaywire writes "A University of Tennessee student who is the son of a Memphis legislator has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of hacking Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail. [...] If convicted, [David C.] Kernell faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a three-year term of supervised release. A trial date has not been set."
Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
Some are more equal than others... (Score:5, Insightful)
How many times a day do bitter exs break into each others accounts? Nothing ever comes of those incidents.
Balance (Score:4, Insightful)
Is it just me, or does that sound a bit excessive for guessing the answers to her all-too-obvious "forgot password" questions? I'm not saying he shouldn't be punished, but no actual harm was done. How does this compare to what the punishment would be for, say, hacking into an ISP's mail server and obtaining root access? Or defacing a company's web site?
Re:Bummer (Score:5, Insightful)
One can only hope that he is prosecuted to the exact same extent that he would be prosecuted for hacking my Yahoo mail account.
Re:What a dumb crime. (Score:1, Insightful)
This is the dumbest crime ever. If he really did it, I just wish he would say, "Yeah I did it, I'm an idiot - just look at my goofy hair." Then they could cite him with a $200 fine for disorderly conduct and we could all move on with our lives. But the fact that he's pleading not guilty is going to give this whole thing legs both in the court and in the media.
Fortunately we live in a society where the rule of law prevails. If you think tampering with email is small potatoes, you just got your wake-up call.
Re:Bummer (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, he is.
Please stop reposting from the DailyKos.
Re:Bummer (Score:5, Insightful)
he's being punished for making Sarah Palin and thus the GOP look bad.
He's being punished for breaking the law in a high-profile way. Millions of people get away with speeding every day, yet if I were to speed past a vigil for children killed by reckless drivers, and TV cameras caught it and it became a big news story, I'd expect to get busted for it. High profile crimes are typically prosecuted in a high profile way.
As for the assertion that it made the GOP look bad, how so? There was nothing incriminating there, he even commented himself on how disappointed he was when he was unable to find something to use against her. If anything, it's a net positive for the GOP since they've been victimized by a crime from Obama's supporters without any damage being done in the long run.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
That's all well and good, but bragging to the world about what you did because you thought it would make you leet is still stupid.
I personally think this deserves punishment, regardless of whose email account he happened to crack. It doesn't matter if it was the Republican nominee for VP or Joe Six-Pack's, and it doesn't matter what portentous revelations came of it.
But the punishment needs to fit the crime. Certainly any sort of jail time would be excessive to say the least. But kids like these need to understand that there are limits and rules which are more important than having a chuckle with the internet. At the very least it should be a lesson on how not to announce to the world what you did.
Re:$200 fine? More like $20,000 (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Bummer (Score:5, Insightful)
> rather he's being punished for making Sarah Palin and thus the GOP look bad.
That would only make sense if he actually *found* any of the kind of thing he was looking for and, thus, actually made the aforementioned persons look bad. The only people who really look bad here are Yahoo, and perhaps other sites that follow a similar practice of encouraging users to use fundamentally highly insecure "Security Questions.
At worst Palin comes off looking she's not a computer security expert (everyone who is surprised about this, raise your hand), and at best she comes off looking like she has nothing to hide. The only way she'd look bad out of this would be if she got hateful and vindictive and angry about it and started screaming for justice, but she presumably has better political sense than that, having already run a successful campaign for office at the state level.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Is that fine a bit large? (Score:3, Insightful)
Seriously. I'm not saying that this guy deserves to get away scot-free, but I would suggest that perhaps the crime here is fraud, not breaking into a computer system (though all the sources I've seen are unclear as to what he's actually being charged with).
Re:What a dumb crime. (Score:5, Insightful)
When the maximum penalty is 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, "Guilty" is a dumb thing to say.
You can't make a deal with a prosecutor if you have zero leverage.
Remember, because of lawyers, common courtesy is dead. For example, you can no longer apologize at the scene of a car accident that's your fault, because then you might be sued.
Re:What a dumb crime. (Score:3, Insightful)
No.
Listen, I am no lover of the McCain-Palin ticket I can assure you, so this is not a partisan slant. But I'll say this: what this dumbass did is _completely_ out of line and he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We don't allow this sort of behavior to go unpunished in a civilized society.
This stance does in no way let Palin off the hook for transgressing her government's policies on using outside email for business work, but that's not the point. Her privacy was violated in an illegal manner, and this cannot be tolerated for an instant. How can a person stand against government electronic surveillance while at the same time say the behavior of this individual is acceptable?
I've been a email server administrator for years. Privacy is extremely important to me, and I consider the attack on Palin's privacy to be an attack against us all. We should work to protect everyone's privacy, and in particular, stand up for the privacy rights of those with whom we do not agree. This is called "taking the high road."
Did I miss something? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:*Democrat* State Legislator (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:4, Insightful)
Really? The contents of the emails were generally posted on-line. Which emails were you referring to?
In any case, remember that the appropriate standard here is what ALASKA law says she should do with her email. The current President is in some hot water over the Presidential Records Act, but that act doesn't apply to the Governor of Alaska.
If you have both personal and business relationships with people, it's quite common for information to be intermingled in personal and business email accounts. Nothing generally wrong with that.
Re:Is that fine a bit large? (Score:5, Insightful)
Enough with this.
I can't believe how many blindly partisan people simply ignore the violation of her privacy.
Would you have the same attitude if you had been the victim?
You'd be OK with someone hacking into your email, or perhaps browsing around your home to look for something that *might* indicate that you've done something wrong?
Would you say, "I guess I had it coming"?
I think it's sad that this (eternal) election has divided American citizens into Republicans or Democrats and not much else.
Damn.
Re:Some are more equal than others... (Score:4, Insightful)
Hell fucking yes. If burglars break into Obama's mansion he should get the exact same response that I would get if a burglar broke into my place.
Obama is not King and we are not his subjects. He's a citizen like everybody else, who just happens to hold a high office. Law enforcement should not treat him specially just because of that.
Re:How strange! (Score:3, Insightful)
My understanding was that illegally wiretapping American citizens carried neither fine nor penalty.
Your argument is pretty weak. Using your logic, because police officers detain suspects we the public should be able to as well. The public is not granted the same powers as law enforcement. The public enacts laws that apply in different ways to the general population vs law enforcement.
Re:Balance (Score:3, Insightful)
Tell that to Gary McKinnon who logged into US DoD and NASA computers because they had no blank passwords and is being extradited from the UK to the US with the possibility of spending the rest of his life in a US jail.
Whilst I agree there's something horribly wrong with such a simple crime with being punished so harshly it seems it's treated as if you walked round someones house looking through their stuff because they left the door open.
I do think realistically the punishment should be capped drastically lower if the victim did essentially leave the door open though as in the case of electronic break ins it's more down to curiosity and less to do with malice in those circumstances. It shouldn't carry a jail term, just community service and a fine of a maximum of a couple of hundred £ or something.
Re:What a dumb crime. (Score:4, Insightful)
although it is illegal, i just dont care because since she is a celebrity right now, she has the pwer to do something about it. just goes to show you dont want her in office, because she thinks that she deserves special treatment. Also, although her daughter is hot (and so is she)
Obama, FTW!
Re:$200 fine? More like $20,000 (Score:2, Insightful)
Had this happened to Obama, by the son of a Republican McCain supporter, this would be front page, top of the hour news with the media demanding investigations into the republican political machine (the new Cyber-Watergate).
But-- since it was a conservative, we're all sure she was breaking the law and thus he was a justified hero.
After Obama wins all 57 states, he should pardon and appoint Kernell as the new Whitehouse Privacy head.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
How could you have learned that?
The entire mail archive was posted to wikileaks. Post ONE email from that archive (with appropriate obfuscations, of course) that supports that claim.
note: I'm not suggesting that she did or didn't do anything, only that I'm not convinced the evidence available supports the claim that she did.
note2: I'm not going to look through the archive myself. I don't want to look through someone else's private mail, and the burden of proof falls on the claim that she did commit wrongdoing, anyway.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
To the extent that there may have been e-mail there that was intended to avoid Alaska's public records law, there could have been a crime. However, we will now never know if that alleged illegal activity was taking place, because by compromising the account, this bozo gave Palin a perfect excuse to close the account and (presumably) destroy all the evidence. (And any evidence that can be recovered will be tainted.)
Given the presumption of innocence in US law, we now must presume that she did nothing wrong... even if she had in fact been doing exactly what is alleged. Way to go, fella!
Re:What a dumb crime. (Score:1, Insightful)
Well hot damn, why can't I get the FBI to investigate and charge someone when we get DDoS'd?
You're out of your fucking mind to call this 'the rule of law prevailing'. The rule of law only prevails when you're a VP candidate and only when it benefits you. Every business that's ever had some asshole root their servers or DDoS their network agrees - nobody gives a shit, nobody will investigate.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
Politicians don't deserve the same freedoms as citizens. Sorry to say this but they cannot be trusted with as much freedom. The most a citizen will do doesn't matter to national security w/e. But the president/vicepresident, congresscritters they can cause really big problems and when there are allegations of corruption and wrong doing they should NOT get the same level of privacy citizens are supposed to (but dont get regardless). Look up congression level hacks and almost ALWAYS corruption is found. Sorry, privacy is nice and all but when you find they took a few hundred grand or a house in bribes (previous congressmen) then the hack was well justified. Its the same as hacking/investigating people when you have a warrant. The bar should simply be set lower for politicians since they seem to set it lower.
Re:Is that fine a bit large? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's rather the opposite, really.
Perform this thought experiment. You discover that your e-mail account has been hacked. You call the police. What happens then?
If you answered "sweet fuck all" then you are correct! A normal person is never going to get law enforcement to dedicate any resources to the hacking of a free e-mail account. If you are very lucky then perhaps you'll be able to do all the legwork yourself, gather all the evidence pointing to the perpetrator, and convince the DA to prosecute. But even this is unlikely.
But if you're candidate for Vice President suddenly the FBI and Secret Service come swarming out of the woodwork and put this guy into PMITA Federal Prison post-haste!
Yeah, it sucks her privacy was violated. But I care much more about the fact that this guy is only getting prosecuted because he hacked the account of somebody "important".
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
I learned that Sarah Palin was illegally using personal email accounts for business email
Um, that's perfectly legal.
What you meant to say was that she was illegally using personal email accounts for government business, which is not.
Re:Bummer (Score:1, Insightful)
The only SCUM on slashdot are those are loyal to a party, and completely against the other.
If you think one is more corrupt than the other, your a dumb motherfucker.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
Gee, I wonder why the system is failing (Score:5, Insightful)
Gosh, why is the system failing. What could possible have happened to the US and democracy in general. Could there be some clue. Maybe something in your post. Geez, lets see.
Personally I forgot it happened
The powers that be thank you, dear consumer with the attention span of a kitten in a chicken plucking factory.
Re:indict Palin (Score:3, Insightful)
What we have is some people who thought that Palin was conducting official state business on her personal account, and for some reason, even though her personal emails have been exposed and cleared as appropriate, they still can't drop their belief that she was/is conducting state business on her personal account.
Let it go--she obviously wasn't, and we know that thanks to the idiot who accessed her emails.
Re:What a dumb crime. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Is that fine a bit large? (Score:5, Insightful)
John McCain can't type because his arms were repeatedly broken by the Vietnamese while he was a POW. Why do you insult disabled veterans?
Well, that's what his campaign claims when the embarrassing topic of his technological ignorance comes up. On the other hand, here [flickr.com] you can see him firmly holding a pad in one hand, while signing his name with the other hand, standing up, with no awkwardness that I can observe. He's hardly an invalid. If he can do that, he can type on a keyboard.
While I respect McCain's sacrifice 35 years ago as a single data point, unfortunately he's also proved himself to be a dishonorable liar since then.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
Sorry, privacy is nice and all but when you find they took a few hundred grand or a house in bribes (previous congressmen) then the hack was well justified.
Machiavelli, is that you? As a fun mad-lib replace politicians with illegal immigrants, terrorists etc. in the beginning of your paragraph, then reread it.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:1, Insightful)
Uhh...that's because he deserves to be punished. He committed a crime, end of story. Just because she might have been doing something unlawful herself does not entitle him to the right to violate federal law with impunity. This isn't difficult to figure out.
Re:How strange! (Score:1, Insightful)
Actually, I believe GP said *illegally* wiretapping. What you describe is *legal* detention.
Police who illegally detain someone should (and are) prosecuted, just as non-police would be.
Re:Did I miss something? (Score:1, Insightful)
There was NO government business or smoking gun found. He said so himself, and every credible report of the content of the e-mails has concluded likewise. Sarah Palin is entitled to private e-mail just like the rest of us. Sarah Palin was clearly NOT conducting state business using her private e-mail account.
(Furthermore, it's unreasonable to expect anyone in public office to *never* mention political words in their private e-mails. A casual mention of a person who holds political office to a mutual friend in a private e-mail is not a violation of any laws, and maintaining that kind of ridiculous assertion will only encourage pols to keep every communication they can out of the system, so it's clearly self-defeating.)
The complaints against Palin are sour grapes and a desperate attempt to defend an indefensible violation of privacy on an unfounded suspicion that there might be some "smoking gun" there.
Personally, I don't think five years in prison is nearly long enough for this sort of deliberate, premeditated, e-crime with the intent to cause harm. A 20-year sentence without parole for any sort of knowing, deliberate breaking of or tampering with public, private, or government e-mail or file/document storage accounts would be more appropriate.
Re:why parent offtopic ? (Score:3, Insightful)
Just because I don't agree with what the current administration has done, doesn't mean I should let the same transgressions be passed against them.
It's because I think that the wire taps were wrong that I think this guy should be punished. It's not an excuse that just because Bush and the teleco's got off scott-free then all republicans shouldn't be given any rights.
Is that you're logic? Really? Because it's a bit of the reason why these comments get modded down and off-topic. I'm sick and tired of people hijacking threads to complain about how evil it was of the administration to tap phone calls domestically. But apparently you fail to realize that, since the only probable explanation you think of is that there's a hoard of republicans modding down comments.
If it's ok for the citizens to hack accounts just because they're republican accounts and republicans are evil than congrats, go work for bush. It's the same logic he used with the phone taps. In the mean time, I hope you get modded down, because sometimes we'd like to read about the FACTS relevant to the discussion and not just your crusade.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
Great. So the Obama campaign will be publishing all of Joe and Barrak's e-mail in the next few days then. 'Cause, how can we know if they're conducting public business with those private accounts, unless we see it all??
The Big Rule of a democratic society is Equality Before the Law. Same rules for everyone. So if Palin's e-mail must all be public record, then the same goes for Biden and Obama, and Kennedy, and everyone else. And you.
Re:Did I miss something? (Score:2, Insightful)
The assertion that there is something illegal has been created in a sort of slashdot liberal love-fest, that ignores facts.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
Also politicians are well identified. I'm perfectly comfortable with known criminals (terrorists) not having as many rights as citizens. Its called prison :/ you get very little privacy in there.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
That's the key. How many webmail accounts do you think are compromised every day in the world? Now, how many are investigated by the secret service and result in a federal indictment?
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
Well I know how much you love the government, so anything the government says is legal must be morally correct, right?
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
Hmm..., you don't suppose Yahoo might have backups? Naw, a little company like Yahoo probably never thought to do that.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd wager it's about the same amount that receive national attention.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's called incorporation [wikipedia.org], so yeah FOIA applies no matter what the Alaska law says.
Also, she hasn't been elected yet, so don't try to the whole "executive privilege" thing either.
Re:Should make for a great trial! (Score:3, Insightful)
On one hand, we have the Governor of Alaska and potential VP of the United States using a public e-mail system (with a really simple password hint) for state work.
Sometimes the written word is tough to interpret, so please don't take this as some sort of macho challenge, but do we really have any official proof that the governor was doing what you've said? I don't want anyone to simply answer "Yes" or give some anecdotal diatribe. I want someone to provide some real proof that I and a bunch of other curious people can read.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:2, Insightful)
No, it's more like saying that a lady who is vying for the vice presidency of BMW is stupid because she can't fix your carburetor.
Re:What a dumb crime. (Score:1, Insightful)
Your missing the point.
The point is that it hurts you more if you admit your mistake off the bat as opposed to saying nothing and letting a lawyer speak for you.
I did something once and when the police showed up I said "Yep I know I did it". Went to court and my lawyer about shit bricks when she heard what I had said.
Its sad but if you just shutup and dont say anything, when it comes time for court you often get pleaded down because they dont feel like wasting time fighting you.
However if you ran around taking responsibility after it happened they know they have your ass and your in a lot worse of a position to negotiate.
Its pretty sad that you make out worse for doing the right thing and admitting your mistakes when they happen, on the other hand be a jerk dont say a word and it helps you much better. What a wonderful world we live in. :/
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:2, Insightful)
However, the government doesn't get to search your house to see if you've robbed a bank. They have to first have reasonable cause to believe that you did, and can then search your house to see if they're right.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Bummer (Score:5, Insightful)
He is being punished for breaking the law. He is being prosecuted for making Sarah Palin look bad.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What a dumb crime. (Score:3, Insightful)
Almost irrelevant. Those were the MAXIMUM allowable sentences, not the minimum. Most likely, this kid gets hit for 3-11 months (so he won't be tainted with that "felon" label), mostly community service, plus $5000-10,000 in fines.
Which is less than he deserves, really. If you're serious about privacy rights, you shouldn't have the attitude that privacy rights only attach to people you like.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
I wouldn't expect the vice president of an auto company to know about mechanics. I'd expect her to know how to sucessfully run a company, particularly if I were a customer or stockholder.
Fuel injectors (they don't use carbs any more) are no more a part of the auto industry than accountancy or IT.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
Media publication of this information has nothing to do with whether or not the data was obtained illegally. News organizations publish information obtained from criminals about their criminal acts on a regular basis, and most of them are willing to shield their sources against investigation.
The fact that Palin was using non-state-sanctioned e-mail for purposes of administering the state is, if not outright illegal under either federal or Alaskan law, certainly underhanded and something that the people should know about.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
For the slow: Lots of older folks, especially, are not completely tech-savvy. It doesn't mean that they are incompetent at their jobs.
I'm also willing to bet that if this had happened to Joe Biden, these types of comments wouldn't be thrown around so liberally (har har, pun not intended, but realized and appreciated after typed).
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'll admit the same thing. I was going to vote Democrat for the first time ever until that reversal went down (voted independant or republican before.) Sadly I wasn't being funny though. The rage on the FISA act was in a full storm, Obama voted for it, storm went away and now no one talks about it.
Me:"He broke his promise!"
Slashbot:"Stop trying to confuse the issue!"
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:5, Insightful)
I do think that Bidens and all other congressional emails (through GOV accounts) should be available/read by 3rd party. And when corruption is found like in palins case...
Uh, nothing was found. You can keep saying that, but there was nothing there. Sorry.
If a congress person (palin)...
Palin is not in Congress. She is the governor. That is an executive position.
She fired the Chief because he was going after funding after Palin denied it. He was trying to go over the Governor's head to get things done. Governor's don't like that much. What would your boss do if you went to his boss, or more accurately, the head of a different department to request funding after your boss had denied it? I suspect you would end up in the same place as this particular chief.
...then she should have her logs checked. Seems pretty simple... citizen emails would not need to be public because we don't make billion dollar decisions.
Government officials are still citizens. They deserve privacy just like you or I do. If they are not above the law, then they have the same rights as you or I. Otherwise, we would be allowed to see into the private lives of the old lady at the DPS office. She is just as much a government employee as the governor.
But, hey! Don't let the facts cloud your judgment.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, because that works so well.
1. I'll never get caught
2. That will never happen to me
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:3, Insightful)
So no, not stupid.
No, still stupid, just not alone.
Re:Maybe the media is what he wants. (Score:1, Insightful)
Interesting...
Based on your 3rd paragraph, are you saying that "we" expect Republicans - who, according to you, generally distrust the government, and that because of this distrust, are less-likely to want to get away with "crap"...and that politicians from the Democratic Party can "more easily get away with this kind of crap without infuriating their government-loving base (i.e. Democratic constituents) because they're expected to want to try to "get away with...crap"?
Hmmmmm.
Based on that, can we surmise the following?
1) Republicans are, generally, more honest - because they don't want to try (or even think of) "getting away with crap" (i.e. being dishonest)
2) Democrats are, generally, more dishonest - because they want to and we expect them to try to "get away with crap" - and that the process of "getting away with crap" is expected of them?
Works for me - especially in light of Sen. Obama's Real Estate scam involved with his home, his "donation" of US$800,000.00 to ACORN to "Help Get-out The Vote" while ACORN is filing phony & bogus Voter Regisrations in at least 6 States...not to mention his association with Weathermen Underground member William C. Ayers AND donations given from the Woods Fund to the Arab American Action Network - whose President, Mona Khalidi, is the wife of Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi...who is, in turn, co-founder of an Arab organization which supported the Palestinian Liberation Organization when the PLO was still labeled a terrorist organization and called for the "obliteration of Israel and it's friend, AMERICA!"...and HE (Rashid Khalidi) even held a fund-raiser for Sen. Obama's campaign!
--ScottKin
Partisan Politics=Dead Brain (Score:2, Insightful)
Democrats:
"He found illegal stuff, so it's OK." or
"No real harm done, it's an innocent prank."
Republicans:
"He broke the law!!! OMG, throw away teh key!"
"It doesn't matter what he found."
Somehow I imagine things would be the exact opposite if somebody hacked Biden's e-mail.
So, for partisan Democrats it's OK to violate privacy if you're sure somebody did something wrong. For Republicans, the whole Christian forgiveness thing goes out the window because their favorite candidate was harmed. Free Barabbas anyone?
It's funny how people abandon their principles so fast when it comes to politics.
Overreaching claims (Score:2, Insightful)
I read through your citations, and not one of them are substantiated; They take a narrow and highly partisan view of the facts available in each case. The last claim is particularly absurd, given that no poll was done, and you have to read to the very end of the article (like many published articles in the press, sadly) to reach this gem:
Yet many on both sides of the political fence who initially were critical of Palin have rallied behind her.
"Everything that's flitting through my mind right now is better left where it is," Rep. Jay Ramras, a Fairbanks Republican who has been a strident critic of Palin, told the Anchorage Daily News last week. The governor, he said, has become "the American idol of politics."
Re:Is that fine a bit large? (Score:3, Insightful)
You're (deliberately, I think) missing the point: briefly holding a pad and pen to sign something or jot something down is NOT the same as taking on the long-term habit of communicating through typed messages, or spending hours delicately pointing a mouse at things. Even people who haven't had their bones shattered in torture sessions can find regular computer use tiring and painful. Why would you expect someone who doesn't have to type his way through his daily communications (because he has cheerful help from someone who's willing to do it for him) to take on considerable pain just so he can get keyboard street cred with you? I suppose you think Steven Hawking should have to pick out every letter in everything he writes because using software that can help him by predicting the words he's likely to be typing is... lazy?