I think this is the direct consequence of the way IT is taught in many places. The guy was truly a researcher, a scientist. He was able at doing theoretical tasks well, and this is also an important work and good calling. But as I understand he chose the "commercial IT" career. This is not science, in fact they don't need smart people, although they hire them. And the result is you work in a wrong place: too much chore, brain not needed, technical dishonesty, and often you cover your management's ass with your work.
I think programming is easier for those who learned it at non-IT work: they don't have passion for theoretical, ideal things, and every chore solved is a holiday. I did like this. I had no time to argue about semantics/approaches/OOP, just to resolve problems with very limited time. Then I went to professional IT companies, and except for money and some smart guys around, the work isn't inspiring.
As a Russian citizen I can only add that in the same days Putin accepted the new digital copyright law, more severe than SOPA, lobbied by media corporations, allowing domains seisure (like the 3-letter agencies do in the US), and other ridiculous measures. All in the name of movie and music corporations.
This means Putin is totally loyal to the US.
What also fascinates me is that CNN/FOX/3 other letters TV anchors speak EXACTLY like Soviet TV in '70s and '80s, making statements in place of questions:
"Julia, to start [the White House statement canceling the summit] with the Snowden factor, for the Russian statement to say, 'this is a situation which we did not create,' is of course a lie.
Welcome to the USSR :)
On the situation: punishing Snowden does not make any difference: he is already punished, and others won't dare whistleblowing. On our side, the government is involved in anti-American campaign, so they can't afford sending Snowden to the "enemy" after Manning has been sentenced that severely.
(sarcasm on) Why bother insisting on extradition? I think to an average American who saw Russia in Hollywood movies, Snowden is like in hell already.
I think our state diplomacy and propaganda could have negotiated the Russian SOPA with the US & corporations better, they should have demanded making more noise and scandal, accept Assange and somebody else. (sarcasm off)
I'm glad to see this comment from a Brit, because it's exactly what I was telling to the Western friends for some time: formal procedures do not make democracy. (I think Iraq and Afganistan are clear examples.) It's a whole culture of participation of citizens and accountability from those who take the power, and those cultures are mutually dependent.
We had all formal procedures in USSR & Russia in 1988-1991, but the citizens did not know what to do with them, and then they were gradually taken away. Democracy is a grassroots phoenomenon, it grows ground-up.
There is a famous whistleblower now running in the elections for Moscow mayor office. And there are a lot of such people, although they haven't dug as deeply as Snowden.
Unfortunately, the story here in the media has boiled down to international spying scandal, the original statement - that it violates some US constitution amendment - has been forgotten.
He _is_ cooperative. Inside, he claims we're under an attack of US spies or US propaganda, etc. But when it's time to act abroad, he is too weak to make anything substantial that would annoy the neocon US President.
Just as Italy replied to Snowden that he should have brought the request personally, our ministry of immigration finds excuses like "the procedure takes time..."
He was not just an inventor of the mouse, but of almost all things we use in development today: collaborative editors, video calls, hypertext, versioning.
There's a nice book about positive attitude, "Bright Sided" by Barbara Ehrenreich (IIRC). Follows the history of positive thinking from the epoch of calvinism up until today. Will be useful to read for you.
I think programming is easier for those who learned it at non-IT work: they don't have passion for theoretical, ideal things, and every chore solved is a holiday. I did like this. I had no time to argue about semantics/approaches/OOP, just to resolve problems with very limited time. Then I went to professional IT companies, and except for money and some smart guys around, the work isn't inspiring.