mudlock 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: All Of These Works Should Be In The Public Domain, But Aren't

    mudlock ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2015 @ 03:23pm

    Johnny B. Goode

    It all makes sense now! That's why Back to the Future has that Johnny B. Goode number, and why they travel to 2015 in Back to the Future II, because that's when it was suppose to become public domain!

    Clearly, by traveling back in time, Marty McFly caused both the 1976 Act AND the Sonny Bono act to happen!

    Dammit Marty, didn't Doc tell you that anything you do could alter the timestream?!

  • On the post: Turns Out Cell Phone Location Data Is Not Even Close To Accurate, But Everyone Falls For It

    mudlock ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2014 @ 02:23pm

    Re:

    GPS is good to about 30 feet (10 meters), but the cops don't know that either. A few years ago, a friend was run over and killed while riding his bike home from his night-shift job. Part of the "evidence" used to claim that he somehow deserved to die, was that the GPS data from the app he was using to record his bicycling activity put him in the street instead of on the sidewalk, 3 feet away (and BTW, map-aware programs will often 'snap' your reported GPS location to roads.)

  • On the post: Texas Deputy Displays Ignorance Of Laws He's 'Enforcing' While Trying To Shut Down A Citizen's Recording

    mudlock ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2014 @ 07:11pm

    Re: mudlock

    There are quantifiable statistics saying it does matter.

  • On the post: Texas Deputy Displays Ignorance Of Laws He's 'Enforcing' While Trying To Shut Down A Citizen's Recording

    mudlock ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2014 @ 05:45pm

    Lucky for him he was a white guy.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Math & The Mind

    mudlock ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2014 @ 06:19pm

    Re: Mathematics/non-computability of consciousness:

    "Memory functions must be vastly non-lossy, otherwise retrieving them repeatedly would cause them to gradually decay"

    Uhh, retrieving memories repeatedly DOES cause them to gradually decay.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_consolidation#Reconsolidation

    http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2011/08/05/five-myths-about-memory-and-why-they-matter-in-court/

  • On the post: Trademark Holder Sends Cease-And-Desist To Zazzle Over Products Using 3,000-Year-Old Greek Letter

    mudlock ( profile ), 02 Jun, 2014 @ 04:04pm

    Someone trademarked pi? Damn it!

    What are we going to use for hyperbole now?

  • On the post: Newscasters Reenact Final Four Moments Rather Than Wait For Game Highlight Rights To Clear

    mudlock ( profile ), 02 Apr, 2014 @ 05:51pm

    Re: Re:

    Yes, that's what this is actually about: not copyright, but contracts. The station has a deal with the NCAA, and if they break the deal, they lose their passes.

  • On the post: A Look Back In Techdirt History

    mudlock ( profile ), 24 Mar, 2014 @ 02:35pm

    Re: Re: not a fan

    I LOVE this idea.

    But yes, daily is too often. How about weekly? On the weekend, when nothing's going on.

  • On the post: California Cracking Down On Coding Bootcamps For Teaching Coding Without A License

    mudlock ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2014 @ 06:29pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Seems fair

    Maybe. But, as a previous commenter mentioned, CA had a couple of high-profile incidents where schools closed overnight and run off with the tuition. A big part of BPPE is guaranteeing tuition re-reimbursement. Cost * customers is typically a LOT higher when it comes to schools than with your run-of-the-mill deceptive advertising claim.

  • On the post: California Cracking Down On Coding Bootcamps For Teaching Coding Without A License

    mudlock ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2014 @ 06:22pm

    Re: Re: A worse idea - certifications

    A Professional Engineering license is, indeed, an issue of liability and minimum standards.

    http://www.nspe.org/resources/licensure/what-pe

    Although PE's for software engineering weren't a thing until just last year, and I don't think anyone (states, employers) are requiring them yet.

  • On the post: DailyDirt: Does Bitcoin Matter?

    mudlock ( profile ), 31 Jan, 2014 @ 03:38pm

    Re: My 2 Bitcoins

    1. There sort of are (the miners that verify the blockchain.)
      2. True. (But as always, they can arrest you and demand the keys.)
      3. True-for-now. But when miners stop being paid in new coins (see 1) the only reward will be transaction fees.
      4. I would call the complete inability of the bitcoin money supply to react to demand a downside, not an upside. (But I'm aware that opinions differ.)
      5. I would call every bank's unwillingness to denominate loans in bitcoin a sign of the lack of trust in it, not an upside. This is, at best, neutral.
      6. Mmm hmm. http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115807/bitcoin-thief-steals-100-million-sheepshead-marketplace
      7. Modern goldbuggery. (The same "differing opinion" as in 4.)
      8. ...yet. And if you use that freedom to violate enough other laws, they'll still find you.
      9. I think when the age of mining for more coins ends and the supply is fixed (and probably earlier, when it slows down) that the lack of being able to respond to changes in any way will prove to be a downside.
      10. Again, probably only true because the miners find the payments in new coins sufficient... for now. (See 1.)

      tl;dr: If you think gold is as good as money, then you'll think bitcoin is as good as gold.

  • On the post: California Cracking Down On Coding Bootcamps For Teaching Coding Without A License

    mudlock ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2014 @ 04:48pm

    Re:

    $15,000 worth of harm.

  • On the post: California Cracking Down On Coding Bootcamps For Teaching Coding Without A License

    mudlock ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2014 @ 04:47pm

    Re: Re: Seems fair

    Yes, placement rate. Bootcamps already advertise their placement rates, EXTENSIVELY. Their whole existence is based around "We will get you a job, or the skills to get a job," and they're often primarily funded by businesses hoping to hire people straight out of the programs. Maybe you think most people-who-code aren't doing in professionally (I'd disagree on that being currently true, but that's beside the point) but these organizations are certainly advertising that you will be doing so after you complete their program.

    Your piano teacher? Your free adult literacy meetings at the public library? Completely different. Not covered by the statute. A completely irrelevant comparison.

  • On the post: California Cracking Down On Coding Bootcamps For Teaching Coding Without A License

    mudlock ( profile ), 30 Jan, 2014 @ 03:09pm

    Seems fair

    The regulations, apparently, come down to "pay $3,500 +0.75% of revenue (max $25,000) in fees per year, provide proof that your finances are in order, provide proof that you accurately report your placement rate, don't pay your recruiters per-recruit, have a refund policy, get students to sign a thing saying this is all clear to them."

    http://www.bppe.ca.gov/lawsregs/ppe_act.shtml
    http://www.bppe.ca.gov/enforcement/institution_minreq.shtml

    That does seem to slightly favor larger institutions, but it also doesn't seem unreasonable. If I were considering going to one of these academies, I would like to be confident that those requirements were in place, and think those costs are quite fair to pay for enforcement.

  • On the post: NSA Interception In Action? Tor Developer's Computer Gets Mysteriously Re-Routed To Virginia

    mudlock ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2014 @ 03:23pm

    Re:

    NSA can't break something NRL didn't back-door for them.

  • On the post: NSA Interception In Action? Tor Developer's Computer Gets Mysteriously Re-Routed To Virginia

    mudlock ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2014 @ 03:19pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Solution: Burn the computer and get another from a safe vendor

    TOR developers kinda use the internet.

  • On the post: NSA Interception In Action? Tor Developer's Computer Gets Mysteriously Re-Routed To Virginia

    mudlock ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2014 @ 03:02pm

    Re: Re: NSA Liars

    Three.

  • On the post: NSA Interception In Action? Tor Developer's Computer Gets Mysteriously Re-Routed To Virginia

    mudlock ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2014 @ 02:59pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    Ohhhh, you're just replying in giant blob-o-paragraph form interspersed with DEROGATORY ALL CAPS to every thread in the comments.

    Man, the NSA is really scrapping the bottom of the barrel for astroturf.

  • On the post: NSA Interception In Action? Tor Developer's Computer Gets Mysteriously Re-Routed To Virginia

    mudlock ( profile ), 24 Jan, 2014 @ 02:56pm

    Re: Re: Solution: Burn the computer and get another from a safe vendor

    Good point! No one would ever hide a keylogger in a keyboard!

    And clearly this isn't real: http://www.eweek.com/security/nsa-can-hack-you-even-if-you-arent-connected-to-the-internet.html

    "The target machines first are compromised by way of a USB stick or tiny circuit board that broadcasts the information. ... The geniuses at the NSA with the remote radio access technology have extended the range to a staggering 8 miles."

    So I'm sure it's perfectly safe.

  • On the post: The Grinch Who Stole The Public Domain

    mudlock ( profile ), 02 Jan, 2014 @ 03:55pm

    Re: Re: Copyright length

    "...and sales of James Bond books hit new heights after 1964, which was a decade after the original release of the first Bond book."

    Oh, a whole DECADE. Yeah. Wow. Well, since that's such an exceptional case, we'll take that as a base and, oh, let's multiply it by FIVE or SIX--no, how about 5.6. Yeah, that should more than enough for any artists (or their corporate owner) to recoup the overwhelming majority of the spoils. Sounds fair.

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