Eileen 's Techdirt Comments
Latest Comments (64)
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On the post: Homeland Security Finally Admits To Latest Domain Seizures; Arrests Guy For Selling Unauthorized 'Sons Of Anarchy' T-Shirts
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On the post: Intelligence Chief To Wyden: It Would Be Difficult To Reveal What You Want Us To Reveal Because We Don't Want To Reveal It
Eileen ( profile ), 28 Jul, 2011 @ 12:01pmRe: If you'd please pay attention
True.
Yet, here we are. -
On the post: Is Filing A Defamation Lawsuit Really The Best Way To Respond To A Potentially False Hotel Review?
Eileen ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2011 @ 09:03amRe:
data point for you:
I regularly search out reviews of hotels on trip advisor. I am often on the lookout for "bad reviews by hysterical/crazy people" -- you can often tell because they don't fit well with other (good) reviews, and HAVE RESPONSES by the hotel which explain the problems, etc. Not saying all bad reviews are from people detached from reality, but it does seem to happen.
Now if in this case I saw the hotel respond with links to reports from pest companies, etc. I would be very impressed with their thoroughness. If instead I find a second review a few lines down that mentions they SUED THEIR CUSTOMERS I would never, ever go there.
Clear enough for you? -
On the post: Aaron Swartz Indictment Leading People To… Upload JSTOR Research To File Sharing Sites
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On the post: Feds Charge Aaron Swartz With Felony Hacking… For Downloading A Ton Of Academic Research
Eileen ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2011 @ 02:18pmRe:
He may have done some stupid things involving the security closet and the network at MIT (who is not pressing charges). However, those documents were free and open to the public. He did not steal or disrespect ANYTHING.
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On the post: How Copyright Lobbyists Are Making The Child Porn Problem Worse
Eileen ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2011 @ 03:56pmRe: Re: Re:
The problem is their positions on everything else. I mean, I will probably vote Ron Paul, because he seems like the only person NOT owned by someone. But it will be with an uneasy conscience, because I really don't agree with him on most social issues. And not the small things like abortion or gun control... but roads, public schools... that's where me and the libertarian ideal diverge, big time. I'd hate to vote for a libertarian to avoid modern serfdom, only to watch them create an enormous, uneducated underclass by essentially destroying education.
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On the post: How Copyright Lobbyists Are Making The Child Porn Problem Worse
Eileen ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2011 @ 10:04amRe: Re: Re:
Too true. What I am amazed at is that they do not seem smart enough to know when to stop. Basically they squeeze and squeeze... until you get a revolution. This observation makes me realize there is no master plan, just typical human values at work. Pretty much the same thing would happen if you switched out the top 10% with the bottom 10%. :(
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On the post: TSA Planning New, Even More Invasive Security Measures In Response To 'Threat' Of Implanted Bombs
Eileen ( profile ), 09 Jul, 2011 @ 06:03amRe: D?j?-vu... all over again...
Agreed.
More practically, there is almost no way this is a credible threat. I read some years ago that the amount of explosive you would have to implant would be MUCH larger than you woulds, say, wrap around yourself, because of the damping effect of the human body getting in the way. Some guy who has just been surgically implanted with C4 is not going to feel well or act normally, and I even wonder if it's possible to put enough in a person to actually bring down a plane (vs tearing a small hole, or killing a few very nearby passengers).
At this point the "terrorists" must just be jumping up and down giggling at how stupid we are... -
On the post: Should Americans Have To Ask What They're 'Allowed' To Express?
Eileen ( profile ), 05 Jul, 2011 @ 08:27amI'd like to point out that the US is not the "most free country on Earth" by many objective measures (although I will admit that such a statement contains enough ambiguity to be almost useless except as a signal of chest-thumping patriotism/idiocy).
Here is one example:
http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2010,1034.html
(We're number 20. Oops.)
That's without getting into the rising numbers of convenient disappearances of political dissidents, suspicious deaths of whistle-blowers (Sunny Sheu), or surveillance operations of run-of-the-mill activists. Even more frighteningly, some of these surveillance operations appear to stem from corporate interests, not the government (though disentangling the two is surely becoming more difficult).
There's also the troubling trend in supreme court cases, which starting with Citizens United through the most recent class-action ruling, have become quite pro-corporation (or anti-the-masses).
Food for thought, AC. -
On the post: Why ISPs Becoming Hollywood Enforcers Won't Actually Solve Hollywood's Problem
Eileen ( profile ), 23 Jun, 2011 @ 10:52amRe:
Exactly. I fall into the same class of "pirate", and the only thing these actions by the industry do is make me realize I have enough stuff already. I've cut off cable (still use netflix), and I'm working my way through all the unread books in my library. When they bother to offer a product at a reasonable price, I buy it (amazon video, a few years ago, was like this... not anymore). If they don't, I go without, or on rare occasions, find other means. Their loss. Media is about the opposite of an inelastic good, after all, and thanks to the growing plutocracy, we all have less to spread around these days. My non-sympathies to the RIAA.
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On the post: Blog Posts About Crusing Around The Caribbean On New Boyfriend's Sailboat Leads To Alimony Reduction
Eileen ( profile ), 03 May, 2011 @ 04:10amEveryone missed the big alimony loophole: women should clearly start cohabitating with rich lesbians to avoid alimony reductions!!
David,
While I agree alimony is an outdated concept and should be phased out, I think our society is not 100% there yet. There is still a huge pay gap for women doing the same jobs as men - this is documented - and many women are still encouraged by their families to essentially go straight into being a wife/mother with little or no experience in the job world. If their husband does later divorce them, then that woman is at a significant disadvantage.
But rather than pay her money for nothing the rest of her life (here I can sympathise with guys a lot)... it seems like paying for a shorter time-frame (long enough to get some job training, perhaps) would be better in this situation. Hell I would say that it should go the other way as well if a working woman divorces her "stay at home dad" husband who has been raising the kids. -
On the post: Is It Possible To Salvage Open WiFi?
Eileen ( profile ), 02 May, 2011 @ 07:40amI leave mine open on purpose. I do most heavy work at school where I have a fast connection, and I'm gone almost all day, so if someone gets use out of it, more power to them. Sadly, my neighbors do not really reciprocate. I live in a dense complex, and a few months ago when my DSL went down for 2 days I had to walk with my laptop all the way around to the other side of the complex to find an open signal (among dozens of locked). Of course, I know how to break encryption if needed but I would only do that in an emergency (which I can't really imagine what that would be, exactly).
Basically, I do it because I'm a nice person. So, I guess I'm a part of this "movement" already. I check periodically and I've never had anyone seriously hogging bandwidth (I think most people get that that's uncool). -
On the post: We've Trained The TSA To Search For Liquid Instead Of Bombs
Eileen ( profile ), 27 Apr, 2011 @ 12:28pmI've been avoiding going through the X-ray scanners for various reasons. Sometimes I get a pat-down, sometimes they punish me by looking through ever piece of clothing for 30 mintues to waste my time. Other times they do nothing. It's like some kind of unspoken rule that Orwellian/faschisty crap like this also has to be maddengly inconsistent on top of everything.
My last pat-down was in Houston, where the TSA agent whined that I wore a skirt. She really wanted me to ask for a private screening room. I told her "no, I want everyone to see how absurd this is". I think she was more upset about having to put her hands up my skirt in plain view of the public than I was. After telling her I didn't believe the machines were necessary or very safe, she just said "Yeah, I don't know if those are really safe either..." -- well thanks for the honesty, TSA! -
On the post: Monsanto Sued By Organic Farmers Who Don't Want To Be Accused Of Patent Infringement
Eileen ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2011 @ 11:23amJojo, your words are appreciated. I'm one generation off the farm, but I know how it is to be blackmailed on what you grow on land your great-grandfather owned.
Agribiz is so short-sighted, in their attempt to make themselves the kings and we the peasants, they may kill us all. A sociopathic corporation in full form.
For a more fanciful (but sadly, not far-fetched) view of a future in which dead-end seeds, patents on grains and biological warfare make for a pretty dismal planet, read "The Windup Girl" by Bacigalupi. It's really good.
And actually the author intersects nicely with this blog, as he has offered up 3 of his short stories in a free pdf here: http://www.thinkgalactic.org/current-reading-list/2009-reading-list/bacigalupi-think_galactic_reader-pdf/
(and I believe you can also buy his e-books drm-free). -
On the post: The Awkwardness Of Cutting Out The Middleman
Eileen ( profile ), 01 Feb, 2011 @ 05:04pmRe:
The price isn't really that high, especially if it were going for a group. I regularly booked local acts to play at parties in college/graduate school for a few k. True, local or really new acts you might score for a few hundred, but they aren't going to live off that.
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On the post: New TSA Report: Every Test Gun, Bomb Part Or Knife Got Past Screeners At Some Airport
Eileen ( profile ), 18 Dec, 2010 @ 08:02amTo the (I'm sure) well-intentioned person who pointed out that it's the plane of 150 passengers that must now be the target (as we have pointed out that locked cockpits preclude much else)... have you considered the gross inconsistency with TSA gropings/scanning required for the congregation of 150 on a plane but NOT for congregations of 150 elsewhere? I mean, they could bomb a 300 person wedding! No security, more damage, yay! OR pray-tell, what is stopping them from bombing the damn security line when it is congested with 200 people because TSA moves like molasses? hmmm? Are you starting to see, yet?
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On the post: Broadband Providers Pretending Metered Billing Is About Helping The Poor
Eileen ( profile ), 03 Dec, 2010 @ 07:00amAny of you "free market" people going to argue that we'll be able to choose an uncapped provider and thus voice our displeaure? Somehow I doubt that will be an option, ugh.
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On the post: NY Times Tests A Paywall With A Regional Paper
Eileen ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2010 @ 05:13amI'm as liberal as they come, but I have grown pretty damn tired of the NYT of late. I used to enjoy their (typically) well-written, and occasionally well-chosen stories, but they seem to to be headed toward a parody of their former selves. The rhetoric is more evident and grating, and the writing more pompous than refined. Coupled with the fact that they write PR fluff pieces for their favorite corporations, taking statistics and "facts" wholesale from the devil's mouth, meanwhile attacking others when it is popular (ex: BP, who I am no fan of, but consistently treating all corporations as possible criminals would be more to my taste).
One feature I did like was that the comments on some articles were generally far more thoughtful, mature, and well-written than (for example) CNN, which are downright depressing in both their ignorance and typical venom. Of course I haven't seen comments for some time, I have no idea why they took that away.
A pay wall will only ensure that I never read the NYT again. No great loss, really. -
On the post: Rethinking Peer Review As The World Peer Reviews Claimed Proof That P≠NP
Eileen ( profile ), 12 Aug, 2010 @ 04:23pmfrom a scientist...
While I agree that the way science is published is badly in need of a makeover (largely being answered by open source journals, however slowly they are being adopted), I agree with the above AC that you are somewhat misunderstanding what peer review is for. Peer review is partly to determine if the science is "worthy" of a publication (e.g., most rejections from Nature are not because the science is faulty but rather it is not noteworthy enough), and of course to ensure the scientist has not done anything egregiously wrong (which would include lacking controls, erronious conclusions, etc).
But it is certainly not expected to be an exhaustive review of the science for veracity. Something key here: not all published science is expected to be correct! All kinds of slightly incorrect/misinterpreted data get published all the time. A lay person would be a fool for accepting a result simply because it is published, even if it is in Nature. This is how science *really* operates - you build concensus through many researchers and many experiments. Each piece of evidence (publication) is weighed in the balance. -
On the post: Some Fiction About Fan Fiction
Eileen ( profile ), 17 May, 2010 @ 10:36amRe: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: You sir, are an idiot
I see you are unwilling to have a rational discussion.
Intent and results are very different here. If it is ok to write fanfic, you can't suddenly make the same act (writing the story) illegal based on the actions of a third party. That would be ridiculous. If you really think that, you're admitting what I have already suspected, that you think *all* fanfic of any sort should be illegal. Which is just sad.
Re: Re:
That made me ACTUALLY lol. Rare these days, thanks.