One of the key concepts in computer programming is the idea of state, essentially a snapshot of the measure of various conditions in the system. Most programming languages require a considerable amount of state information in order to operate properly - information which is generally hidden from the programmer. For a real-world example, consider a three-way light switch. An ordinary switch turns on a light when it's in the "up" position, but in a three-way switch the "up" position could be on or off, depending on the state or "configuration" of the other switch, which is likely out of view.

In fact, the state is often hidden from the computer's hardware as well, which normally has no idea that this piece of information determines program state, while that piece is a temporary variable and will soon be discarded. This is a serious problem^{[dubious – discuss]}, as the state information needs to be shared across multiple processors in parallel processing machines. Without knowing which state information is important and which isn't, most languages force the programmer to add a considerable amount of extra code to indicate which data and parts of the code are important in this respect.

Glenn Greenwald (born March 6, 1967) is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor (columnist and blogger) to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics. He has also contributed to other newspapers and political news magazines, including The New York Times,The Los Angeles Times,The Guardian,The American Conservative,The National Interest, and In These Times.

Greenwald has written four books, three of which have been New York Times bestsellers: How Would a Patriot Act? (2006); A Tragic Legacy (2007), and With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful, released in October 2011. He also wrote Great American Hypocrites (2008).

In March 2009, he was selected, along with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, as the recipient of the first annual Izzy Award by the Park Center for Independent Media, an award named after independent journalist I.F. "Izzy" Stone and devoted to rewarding excellence in independent journalism. The selection panel cited Greenwald's "pathbreaking journalistic courage and persistence in confronting conventional wisdom, official deception and controversial issues."